I just saw a performance at the Met. I can unequivocally say it was the most devastatingly cathartic theater experience of my life. (And I've seen about 500 operas, musicals and plays, not to mention about the same number of concerts.) I thought the final trio was going to be a rip off of Rosenkavalier. By the time we got to it, I was an emotional wreck - I had already been non-stop crying for about 25 minutes. The impact and meaning of THIS Trio has nothing to do with the one in Rosenkavalier.
We saw this in its un-staged debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra last year. It ripped me to pieces and taped me back together. It so blew us away that we came back the next night for the second performance, and will see it this weekend at the Met.
Renee Fleming Kelli O Hara and Joyce Di Donato three excellent american singers two sopranos and a light mezzo in a beautiful trio that reminds Strauss Der Rosenkavalier but its different a misture of Strauss and Philip Glass
It was HEAVEN listening to this live. Didn’t even miss the visuals.✨🎶✨ The sound on this does not make it justice I’m afraid. Usually I do not mind. I recorded it and it sounds a lot better. Problem uploading?
Unfortunately, my local radio station (WCPE--"The Classical Station") has decided that "The Hours" and six other contemporary operas on the Met's schedule this season are too adult to air. Apparently the theme of suicide is not suited to opera, according to the survey they sent out. I laughed at that.
I like everything about this opera. I hate the book. It tells me that women are productive even in severe depression and they are all very much to blame for the misfortunes of a 50-year-old boy.
Well, here's another view. IMO, Nezet-Sagan and Gelb will destroy the Met artistically and economically by constantly wasting money on so much contemporary trash. These productions cost a small fortune; and, although they may initially sell out to curiosity seekers, there is no life in them for the future. Think of 'The Great Gatsby", "An American Tragedy", the works of Glass, "Fire in My Bones" - All one-time productions that faded into economic disaster. Few people will want to see any of them a second time, let alone think they would become standard repertory pieces. The horror from that Finiish composer is yet another example. One time, a huge expense and it's gone forever into dust. Added to that are the disastrous reinterpetations of rep. staples. "Tosca" lasted one season with no church before they had to scrap the production. Millions of dollars wasted on the 'machine' for a Ring Cycle that was an abyssmal failure. Latest travesty was the oratorio staging of ""Lohengrin" - despite what some critics were charitable enough to say, the production remains a gigantic expensive waste of talent, even worse than than the previous production, which was ghastly. Wake up Gelb and give the audiences the masterpieces as they were intended to be presented. Grand opera sells. Zefferelli should prove that to you. His Boehne and Turandot sell out houses 20+ years after their original appearance. What's wrong with presenting works in the period and style for which they were intended? Audiences want romanticism, they want escape, they want to explore historical places and cultures; they don't really want clap-trap that tries to reinvent something that doesn't need reinvention. This trio from The Hours is a case in point. We'll all be listening to Rosenkavalier long after this garbage is buried in the trash bin. IMO there are only two or three contemporary operas staged at the Met that have legs - Corigliano's "Ghosts of Versaille" and Ades' "Tempest" and "Exterminating Angel" - and even those worthy pieces have quickly disappeared from the repertory.
I pretty much agree with you that the Met is pissing away millions on absolute dreck, Brett Dean’s Hamlet, the lobotomizing Akhenaten, Marnie and the like, all doomed to take their rightful place on the ash in of history. The Ghosts of Versailles with some judicious tweaking is a worthy piece. i i am on the fence re The Hours, which has some commendable parts but lacks the seamless dramatic urgency of classic operas. Yes, the new Lohengrin is just as insane as the previous one, and setting Lucia in the Rust Belt and Faust in an atomic bomb factory was ludicrous. The problem with contemporary operas is that they don’t sing. i attended the 2nd performance of Fedora, no masterpiece but clearly replete with old-fashioned operatic magic -- a beautiful score that celebrated the voice and a gorgeous production that was a visual treat. Lets hear more Giordano, Leoncavallo, Zandonai et al, guys who knew how to write for singers. God knows what awaits the Met with next season’s lineup…and it has the nerve to ask us for money on top of the already outrageous price of tickets.
@@asdfopera5210 No. But I think Gelb and Nezet-Segin should be of the past and as quickly as possible. He's a fine conductor but lacking judgment of what opera should be.
A brazen and failed attempt at invoking the magic that Strauss accomplished in HIS inimitable final trio in Rosenkavalier. Or maybe the composer of the new work sought to invoke ‘I Want Magic’, as in Previn, given their shared vocalist. Either way, keine Magie.
@@Marcel_Audubon I didn’t say Strauss INVENTED “the trio”. Moreover, I am neither a dearie nor your dearie. In other words, I never granted YOU the right.
I just saw a performance at the Met. I can unequivocally say it was the most devastatingly cathartic theater experience of my life. (And I've seen about 500 operas, musicals and plays, not to mention about the same number of concerts.) I thought the final trio was going to be a rip off of Rosenkavalier. By the time we got to it, I was an emotional wreck - I had already been non-stop crying for about 25 minutes. The impact and meaning of THIS Trio has nothing to do with the one in Rosenkavalier.
Yes! Experienced the same!
So lovely, really. Three great singers in concord. Rare . . .
"this is the world, and you live in it." 🥺💓
Hauntingly lyrical, moving and gorgeous.
UNBEATABLE LEVEL OF ARTISTRY. THESE 3 LADIES LIKE GOLD
I'm speechless... like something in my heart. This is AMAZING!
One of my favorite movies now in an opera! Looks and sounds amazing! Can't wait to see it. Hope The Atlanta Opera brings it to town.
We saw this in its un-staged debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra last year. It ripped me to pieces and taped me back together. It so blew us away that we came back the next night for the second performance, and will see it this weekend at the Met.
Overwhelmingly beautiful. Brilliant. Will it be with different singers? These three were magnificent. Thank you ladies.
Simply breathtaking
Really looking forward to seeing this live HD broadcast from the Met next month!
Beautiful --------3 of the very best.
Renee Fleming Kelli O Hara and Joyce Di Donato three excellent american singers two sopranos and a light mezzo in a beautiful trio that reminds Strauss Der Rosenkavalier but its different a misture of Strauss and Philip Glass
Three perfectly tuned voices!
It was HEAVEN listening to this live. Didn’t even miss the visuals.✨🎶✨
The sound on this does not make it justice I’m afraid. Usually I do not mind. I recorded it and it sounds a lot better. Problem uploading?
HSimply Astounding
Unfortunately, my local radio station (WCPE--"The Classical Station") has decided that "The Hours" and six other contemporary operas on the Met's schedule this season are too adult to air. Apparently the theme of suicide is not suited to opera, according to the survey they sent out. I laughed at that.
I like everything about this opera. I hate the book. It tells me that women are productive even in severe depression and they are all very much to blame for the misfortunes of a 50-year-old boy.
Well isn't it so ? The weak sex and its... witchery... 😂😂🤣😅😅
@@theogoldberg8919 Did someone call me? 🔮
ooh I never saw it this way. damn.
@@alexanderbetka4660 This book has different facets for different people.
we see things through the lense of our own problems?
Well, here's another view. IMO, Nezet-Sagan and Gelb will destroy the Met artistically and economically by constantly wasting money on so much contemporary trash. These productions cost a small fortune; and, although they may initially sell out to curiosity seekers, there is no life in them for the future. Think of 'The Great Gatsby", "An American Tragedy", the works of Glass, "Fire in My Bones" - All one-time productions that faded into economic disaster. Few people will want to see any of them a second time, let alone think they would become standard repertory pieces. The horror from that Finiish composer is yet another example. One time, a huge expense and it's gone forever into dust. Added to that are the disastrous reinterpetations of rep. staples. "Tosca" lasted one season with no church before they had to scrap the production. Millions of dollars wasted on the 'machine' for a Ring Cycle that was an abyssmal failure. Latest travesty was the oratorio staging of ""Lohengrin" - despite what some critics were charitable enough to say, the production remains a gigantic expensive waste of talent, even worse than than the previous production, which was ghastly. Wake up Gelb and give the audiences the masterpieces as they were intended to be presented. Grand opera sells. Zefferelli should prove that to you. His Boehne and Turandot sell out houses 20+ years after their original appearance. What's wrong with presenting works in the period and style for which they were intended? Audiences want romanticism, they want escape, they want to explore historical places and cultures; they don't really want clap-trap that tries to reinvent something that doesn't need reinvention. This trio from
The Hours is a case in point. We'll all be listening to Rosenkavalier long after this garbage is buried in the trash bin. IMO there are only two or three contemporary operas staged at the Met that have legs - Corigliano's "Ghosts of Versaille" and Ades' "Tempest" and "Exterminating Angel" - and even those worthy pieces have quickly disappeared from the repertory.
Do you think that composer should be a profession of the past?
I pretty much agree with you that the Met is pissing away millions on absolute dreck, Brett Dean’s Hamlet, the lobotomizing Akhenaten, Marnie and the like, all doomed to take their rightful place on the ash in of history. The Ghosts of Versailles with some judicious tweaking is a worthy piece. i i am on the fence re The Hours, which has some commendable parts but lacks the seamless dramatic urgency of classic operas. Yes, the new Lohengrin is just as insane as the previous one, and setting Lucia in the Rust Belt and Faust in an atomic bomb factory was ludicrous. The problem with contemporary operas is that they don’t sing. i attended the 2nd performance of Fedora, no masterpiece but clearly replete with old-fashioned operatic magic -- a beautiful score that celebrated the voice and a gorgeous production that was a visual treat. Lets hear more Giordano, Leoncavallo, Zandonai et al, guys who knew how to write for singers. God knows what awaits the Met with next season’s lineup…and it has the nerve to ask us for money on top of the already outrageous price of tickets.
@@asdfopera5210 No. But I think Gelb and Nezet-Segin should be of the past and as quickly as possible. He's a fine conductor but lacking judgment of what opera should be.
@@foley325405 Agree 100% - oust Gelb!
A brazen and failed attempt at invoking the magic that Strauss accomplished in HIS inimitable final trio in Rosenkavalier. Or maybe the composer of the new work sought to invoke ‘I Want Magic’, as in Previn, given their shared vocalist. Either way, keine Magie.
Get over yourself
Strauss didn't invent the trio, dearie
@@Marcel_Audubon I didn’t say Strauss INVENTED “the trio”. Moreover, I am neither a dearie nor your dearie. In other words, I never granted YOU the right.
@@doGreatartistsgrowontrees you granted me the right the moment you decided to post your comment on this most public of forums, dearie
Missy, it is an opera set around 3 female characters, how else would it end.