This would seem to make it even colder for the Met to dump Gary Lehman (who, it seems, was actually good -- without needing bonus points for the circumstance) from Saturday's moviecast in favor of yet another debutant (who, admittedly, is big in the part at Bayreuth and elsewhere). Of course, the way things are going they might both end up singing in it somehow.
UPDATE (9AM): Two articles on Lehman and his debut, from his hometown (Ohio) papers. The second one notes (about the moviecast):
The Met hasn't announced who will sing the role of Tristan for that show, and Lehman said he should know by Wednesday if he will appear in that performance.
UPDATE 2 (9PM): Cold... And killing a nice storyline.
When Kurwenal and the shepherd sang about Tristan's injuries when the performance resumed, there were a few giggles from the audience, but Lehman used his distress and shock to give an even more energetic performance.
ReplyDeleteHave previous Isoldes in this production died in the end? Voigt's Isolde stood over her dead boyfriend's body with a satisfied expression as the lights went down.
Levine and the Met Orchestra were fantastic.
Hmm... Gary was supposed to be my Eisenstein in Shreveport, and then went on to be a friend's Germont at Kentucky. I was always kind of confused about how one goes from a swichenfach role like Eisenstein to singing Germont (admittedly one of the more lyric Verdi baritone roles), but nobody asked me.
ReplyDeleteBut heck, I'm just glad he's getting Met work. Good for him.