tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9458752.post3507654775145450550..comments2023-10-26T08:19:23.900-04:00Comments on an unamplified voice: Met Council Finals 2012JSUhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02477558636942883735noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9458752.post-90710141136483146992012-04-30T03:24:16.792-04:002012-04-30T03:24:16.792-04:00The only winner I didn't agree with was Mezzac...The only winner I didn't agree with was Mezzacappa. Let's go on to your comments about Evans, I don't know what Finals concert you attended but the only true opera singer was Evans. Tell me the last time you heard Si, Puo sound like that. Wait, when have you heard a baritone sound like that in the past 10. 15, 20 years??? We literally got to hear probably what was closest to Leonard Warren your ever gonna hear and from recordings I don't think I heard them hold the Ab as long as he held it. The voice was true and quite frankly seeing and hearing that the opera world doesn't want a voice like that on the stage, really scares me for its future. It really makes me wonder if Pavarotti would have had a career in these "modern" times. Also you said Will Liverman had the most impressive instrument well obviously you weren't sitting in the balcony. And makes me wonder if your a Julliard groupy, lets keep in mind of why some students even make it to the finals.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9458752.post-18122223593729647692012-03-21T20:36:48.099-04:002012-03-21T20:36:48.099-04:00Perhaps I am slightly biased in favor of Evans bec...Perhaps I am slightly biased in favor of Evans because I know his "story" better than the others. I found his victory to be extremely refreshing considering that he had very little formal training and no connection to the NY opera scene. He hasn't had a lesson in several yeas and dropped out of music school to work on cars. But all that aside, to my ears he had the most "true" sound of the lot. His phrasing was simple and honest and the sound had none of the typical young-person-trying-to-sound-like-an-opera-singer affectations to it. His sound is much more colorful than most of the pro baritones (Hampson, Hvorostovsky) I've heard there this season. I hope he chooses wisely and doesn't spoil that voice, because the voice is golden and resonance seems to be sorely lacking on the MET stage these days.<br /><br />I definitely heard Brugger's musicality, but the sound occasionally got jittery to my ears and she had most definitely listened to Fleming's interpretation of "Depuis le Jour" many times. I commend her for making it through the Charpentier one piece and at least attempting to make music out of that treacherous aria. On the other hand, I found her Pamina to be anodyne.<br /><br />Mezzacappe was the only one whose winning slightly annoyed me. The voice is a skosh wobbly as you pointed out (and she's awfully young to be walking down that path) and I felt that she did nothing interpretatively with either of her selections. It seemed that after the Sapho aria, the audience was cheering for the piece more than her actual performance. But it seems that if you're at AVA, what you actually do on the stage doesn't matter. It's a bullet train to success after admission. Some of their big stars (Meade, Costello, etc.) have left me decidedly unmoved this season.<br /><br />I found the other baritones to be rather generic in sound and interpretation. Good instruments, but a rather throaty production. Sumuel gave a dull reading of the oft done "Madamina and Liverman was far beyond his artistic resources in that Dr. Atomic aria. Though as was the case with Mezzacappe's Gounod, Adams got a nice ovation for his thrilling music.<br /><br />Nezmer was accurate, but the tip top seemed incredibly forced to me. <br />But to be fair I am not fond of countertenors. The sound just doesn't excite me.<br /><br />Kevin Ray has a good instrument, but was straining. After a short while he was difficult to listen to.<br /><br />Matthew Grilles had a nice clear sound. I would put him in second after the Evans in terms of sheer voice. I'm more than a little over the 9 high Cs thing, but he did negotiate the aria very successfully and his voice was well coordinated.<br /><br />Snouffer has an accurate soprano with a nice extension, but the sound had no "spin" to my ears. I don't think it's about size either, I think the voice isn't being produced ideally. There are many light voices who can kick it to the back of that house (where my friends and I were listening intently in the family circle).<br /><br />In short, I wasn't mad about the choices, with the exception of the mezzo. And honestly, the first baritone was my favorite. I don't really see the point of doling out 15 grand to singers who are already affiliated with major opera houses (Snouffer and Sumuel were with HGO, Brugger with LA Opera, and Liverman is about to enter the Ryan Center at the Chicago Lyric Opera) and the selection fo Evans reassured me that the business is about more than who you know if you can actually deliver the goods.<br /><br />Cheers!Jeremyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04686398829446982418noreply@blogger.com