Customer Reviews

Previn - A Streetcar Named Desire / Fleming, Futral, Gilfry, Griffey, SF Opera, Previn

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Those who reject opera since Turandot are not the best people to judge new works! Previn's entry into opera only makes me regret he did not come to the genre sooner. STREETCAR is a gripping, powerful work with an intelligently adapted libretto and a brilliantly effective score. The performances of singers and orchestra in this recording of the world-premiere are uniformly outstanding. Renee Fleming -- for whom the part of Blanche was specifically written -- stands out for her stunning voice and strong dramatic instincts, but Gilfrey, Futral and Griffey are each outstanding in their respective roles.

Previn stands with Harbison, Bolcom and others as (I hope) the vanguard of a new wave of strong modern operas. Previn's score is grounded in traditional music (no John Cage absurdities of silence, noise, pointless repetitions, etc., all those self-consciously 'artistic' foolishnesses that have ruined so much modern art) yet he pushes the boundaries of tonality in interesting and exciting ways, integrating a New Orleans setting of Jazz without letting it dominate his classical treatment of his score.

This is opera evolving from twentieth-century masters such as Britten and Barber. If you like them, you certainly should like this.

Also consider the DVD of this same performance! (Though the CD includes a libretto, and the DVD does not include subtitles; as in any sung performance, you sometimes miss some of the words, though the singers' diction is very good.)

First I must say that Renee Fleming renders a marvelously complex Blanche. Brava! Now down to business: While reading the other reviews posted here, I've noticed that much criticism stems from the fact that this is an adaptation of a play which didn't need improving. From my point of view, this work is not "Tennessee Williams set to music." It is an entirely different piece, using his words as a backbone, but leaving behind some ideas and highlighting in bold relief other concepts. Opera is rarely as subtle in its characterizations as legitimate theatre. Certain key elements of drama and character are retained for operatic adaptations because it is nearly impossible to musically portray the full complexity and nuance present in the spoken (and unabridged) word. Among the composers to attempt to convey through music the myriad emotions that may cross a stage actors face is Wagner, whose music is incredibly intense and rich but notoriously dense and difficult. Essentially, don't expect to see or hear a play set to music. Previn has created his own Streetcar here, and it shines in its own light.

Streetcar Named Desire is the most operatic of plays and one of my all-time favorite plays. I think it would make a terrific opera. But unfortunately this isn't it. Andre Previn's previous Musical Theatre works include several lackluster shows: Coco and Good Companions. They were both moderately agreeable but plainly derivative and neither one of them was successful.

I was hoping Streetcar would prove an exception. But for me it only confirms the shallowness of Previn's musical imagination. Once again we get a pale imitation of other people's work. This opera sounds like a rip off of Carlisle Floyd's Susannah--- accompanied by some phony, cliched 1950's jazz soundtrack music. This was the general consensus among critics when the show debuted and I concur.

Oh sure, there are some effective moments like Stella's bedroom music, Mitch's big aria and the finale--- but where is the real passion and beautiful melody this story cries out for? Renee Fleming is in splendid form as a singer but I am sorry... I just don't see Blanche Du Bois as a loud mouthed belter. For God's sake, she's supposed to be a fragile creature who has been crushed by the brutality of the world. If this is not made explicit, then all the pathos disappears and the power of this great work is lost. I'm afraid Fleming's Blanche is far too robust to be seen as fragile. Her acting skills are simply not strong enough to convince me that she is teetering on the twilight edge of reality. Fleming's Blanche seems like a cheesy hustler trying to con Mitch into marrying her.

Leonard Bernstein might have been able to create a masterpiece with this material but I'm afraid Previn is out of his league. He has all the right ambitions, but after watching and listening to this I have to agree with the majority of the original reviewers that he will never be known as anything but an "also-ran."

The PBS telecast of Streetcar was excrutiating to watch, plodding and dull. But, when I spent some time with this recording, I was delighted by the beauty of the voices and the lovely if not profound music. Then, again, how often is opera profound? It may well be that this work will suffer on stage because it requires better actors than the singers can be or better singers than the appropriate actors can be. The music is fine. And, this recording is very sensuous. Worth a listen if not a look.

Opera written post Puccini's "Turandot" tends not to grab me. Having said that, I was amazed and delighted by how much I enjoyed Previn's "Streetcar." There are many moments of lyrical beauty made more shimmering and powerful by this stellar (or should I scream, "STELLAR! STELLAR!") cast. Fleming, Futral, Gilfry and Griffey are magical, each create strong and touching musical and emotional portraits, yet work well as an ensemble. Lord and Lentz nicely add to the drama. Gayer offers an effectivly huanting presence. Forst is the only one to miss the mark. While fortunate to see the San Francisco Opera production, I hope to see "Streetcar" again but can enjoy this wonderful recording in the meantime.

I think that Andre Previn is one of contemporary music's most underrated composers. I really love his Honey and Rue cycle for Kathleen Battle (as well as cycles for Sylvia McNair and others). It comes as no surprise, then, that I find this opera to be consistently attractive and engaging. I'm not prepared to call it a "masterpiece" -- yet -- but I think it's infinitely better than the recent operatic treatment of Gatsby. Really, if you like Previn's other music, you will like this opera as well. The performance is wonderful, and so is the sound quality. Definitely worthy of your attention. Enjoy!

To do an american/New Orleans/southern monument like this and do it well is probably not easy but Previn do it well.

This opera could have needed some MORE jazzy elements in it (I cant understand why some people seems to be so scared about that?.. is opera lovers SO sensitive?) but choosen elements gives this the magic it needs to be a streetcar with N.O. feeling and singing is overall really good.

Previn has done a nice work on this even if it might had been even more better as an "ordinary" musical instead?

Sure... there is some stagenoises, laughter and applauds and I mostly prefer studio-records because of that but this is really really good so dont let that fact scare you a bit.

DG 20/21 series has always a good sound so you have even more than good singing, good music and a great story here because of that and booklet is really something extra because Previns insight of the theater/movie world, Lyle Leverich insight text (choosed by Tennessee Williams himsel to write his biography), texts from Elia Kazans notebook and -of course-libretto.

This is good and a safe choise if you understand that it is contemporary opera with SOME jazzy elements... some (I would even have MORE of it in this).

Another excellent contemporary opera is Boesmans "Wintermärchen" on DG 20/21 (Pappano conducts) but they dont sell it here at Amazon. That one is also live but both operas are very well performed indeed and music is up there by high standards like singing is.

This is an excellent recording of a very interesting work. I really enjoyed it. Unlike some, I have never seen the opera in performance, so I don't know how it worked. I have seen the play, and the now classic movie version. Whenever standard spoken theatre plays are rewritten as operas some of the touching moments change. The importance shifts, and the subtleties alter. That has happened even when the Great Verdi wrote his Shakespeare operas. The two types of works must be judged separately and one their own terms.

This opera is really quite beautiful, and the music quite exciting. The performers seem to work well together as a group and not a collection of egos and stars, which is so necessary for this story to work. Modern opera is a funny thing, for in many cases it is very alienating, it literally drives the listener/audience away because it is so foreign and the composers are so stuck on themselves and some theory of music they are trying to present they bore the audience completely. It is as if they are writing deliberately to spite those who would eventually make the opera last, the paying audience. This opera, on the other hand, does NOT do that at all. It engages the listener right from the start. True, it is more "traditional" in some ways than many modern operas (excepting a very new one premiered here in Calgary where I live, written specifically for our local opera company, Filamina; it even deals with a locally historical incident; sadly, since it has just had its world premier there is no recording of it available) but it is really completely modern.

Like other modern operas I have spoken of, I have to admit, it is not something that will grow on you. This one impresses right from the beginning, but if you are not into modern opera, it will leave you flat. It does have its "meandering" moments, like most modern opera have, and those are often even more boring than the pages of endless recitative one finds in Baroque opera. Fortunately, in this opera these moments are very rare and very far between.

My only complaint with this opera, and I guess with English opera in general, is the poor diction. The singers may as well sing in meaningless syllables for all the meaning one gets out of what they do sing. I don't understand it, for one can go to some super old and horrible historic recordings of singers at the turn of the century and their English is flawlessly easy to understand. I have recordings of Edward Johnson singing Canadian songs (and anthems) along with operatic music, and his English is so perfect and unmannered it is a real treat to hear and understand every word, particularly in ones own language (a treat only foreigners seem to have when listening to opera). Most singers of today, and it started before the complaints about Sutherland and her diction, simply make English sound like they are singing with a mouth full of mashed potatoes. Diction is so important in opera, and we have all come to expect it in other languages, but why it is allowed to be so poor in our own language is simply unacceptable. English is a funny language and has NO pure vowel sounds as other languages have. It is nothing but dipthongs, and to sing it correctly each and everyone of them must sound. Even in words that one thinks are Pure Vowels aren't if a little thought is put in. Until directors and singers stop singing English with the same pure vowels they learned as singing students (everything based on Italian) and learn to think through the dipthongs (like the old singers did) we will never understand the words, and thus we miss half the fun of the work. English also requires a far more "forward" sound. That is why the broadway belt was invented. Belting is not loud singing, or shouting, as is often thought. It is a form of singing, well supported with the breath like classical singing, but the dome or raised soft palat is not stressed. The tone if focused very heavily into the upper teeth/nasal area, but the tone is not "nasal." Broadway developed belting without really thinking, really. All it learned was the old "operetta" way of singing English, though pretty, made the words unclear, and the transition from speaking to singing too noticeable. To be understood clearly, that sort of forcus is necessary for English, and until singers start adding it to their way of singing, we will never understand a word of things when sung in English, and that in and of itself is one reason English opera, and modern opera like this is often disliked by the opera going public. The old adage and complaint about opera rings completely true, "you can't understand a thing they sing." Renee Fleming should have done much better in this than she did, as she was first before an opera singer a jazz singer. Of all the cast she should have known better what to do to be understood.

Still, you will either like this opera, or you won't, there is no middle ground. If you are not sure, borrow it from the library before buying it.

There is NO music to speak of, only endless boring segments of recitative, and not even good recitative, it's more like the work of some hack that Rossini or Haydn would used when under the gun to finish an opera in a month. The only highlight is when the hot guy takes off his shirt, and you don't get to see that on the CD. So if you feel compelled to torture yourself watch the video so you at least get to see the hot guy take his shirt off. Going forward, on a practical basis, this is going to be a difficult opera to stage. There just aren't very many male singers that have the body necessary to pull off the part, and even purists that say "looks are of no consequence it's the voice, that is the only thing that matters" would have to concede that Pavarotti singing Stanley would have been pretty hilarious

I love opera, and Tennessee Williams is, hands-down, my favorite playwright in the world. So this set should have been a double blessing, right? Unfortunately, no. Perhaps I am a bit biased in writing this, but I find the idea of setting "Streetcar" to music ludicrous (a fact which was proven on a particularly funny "Simpsons" episode). But in all seriousness, does Previn not realize that "Streetcar" has its own special music already? The poetry and beauty of the language says more than any arias written for it ever could. This is not the first Williams play to be set to music: Lee Hoiby wrote a version of "Summer and Smoke," which works a little better than this bland, overblown adaptation. The music sets an unbreakable mood, which is death in a piece that requires subtle, instantaneous shifts in nuance and intent. All the singers are quite good, but I question the integrity and conception of the project as a whole. If you know (and love) the play or film version, stick to that. This set can be bypassed.