Customer Reviews

Metropolitan Opera Gala honoring Sir Rudolf Bing

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

To DG--Please release on CD the rest of this Gala. On DVD, at least the portion that was televised. I always want more whenever I hear this one. It was one of the outstanding nights at the Met during the Bing era.

Certainly I applaud the wonderful singing of the celebrated artists at Sir Rudolf Bing's gala, for which I was fortunate to buy a standing room ticket. Every artist imprinted his/her vocal style in the arias selected: Caballe's pianissimos, Domingo's and Corelli's virility and nuances, Price's ethereal upper register, the duet symbiosis of Tucker and Merrill, etc.

Yes, I stood through the entire event and was used to this posture from my years of opera going. But when La Nilsson sang the finale of Strauss' Salome at the end, it was a transcendent experience as I forgot I had any limbs and was absorbed in the moment. Ms. Nilsson may lack the nubile figure of the biblical Salome, but you will hear her phenomenal voice covering a wide range of keys and tempi as she effortlessly shifts the character's moods from a clarion, dramatic soprano to a subtle girlish seductiveness. What a ravishing middle voice she reveals. One wonders how Jokanaan could resist such overtures. Her performance was so impressive that the audience could hardly contain themselves. At the end we all went completely mad, just screaming at the top of our lungs with a release of emotions at hearing this tour de force. What a night to relive!

I eagerly await the remaining performances at some future date, but I'm content with these testimonials to the great artists I was privileged to follow.

This must have been a special night for the Met and all in attendance. What an array of stars! The big highlights for me were the Otello, the Salome, but especially Tucker and Merrill in Forza del Destino. Not to diminish any of the other performances: all were superb in every respect. Sir Rudolf Bing created the greatest era in the history of opera, and this night showed it off. 'Invano Alvaro' marks the start of a life-long love of opera, and this little gem is a must-have for any opera lover!

I give this five stars mainly because of Nilsson's "Salome." She was the curtain closer for this event as she was for the farewell to the old Met gala for which she sang Wagner's "Immolation." And the climactic moment for the met Centennial celebration was her "Spottleid" from "Tristan und Isolde." That and her extemperaneous offering of a Swedish folk song.And for James Levine's 25th year at the Met celebration, Nilson had the last word, or rather the last "Ho Jo to ho Jo," sung acappella at the age of seventy-six or seventy-seven. They always saved the best for last, perhaps as a reminder there were indeed some Golden Age Giants among us, and as Met General Manager Schulyer Chapin said , "Nilsson was her own golden age."