Gheorghiu, 59, a diva of the old school known for her preternatural voice and strong-willed demeanor, faced an immediate backlash.... Her managers released a statement on Wednesday saying that she had been assured by the conductor, Jee Joong-bae, and the production team in Seoul that there would be no encores. She said she had declined a suggestion by Jee that she sing an encore “to maintain the integrity of the performance.”...
Gheorghiu saw the encore by Kim, who was singing the role of Cavaradossi, Tosca’s lover, as a “personal affront given her strong convictions on this matter,” the statement said....
She's right about encores. They interfere with the immersion in the theatrical narrative. But so do breaking character and storming off. Both are pretty amusing though, I would think. But how can the audience reengage with a love story between Cavaradossi and Tosca when Kim and Gheorghiu are in hot conflict? I don't know. Maybe that's amusing too.
What do you say — encores or no encores? At least it's obvious that there should be agreement on the subject before the performance starts... unless this whole thing is a publicity stunt. It got me interested in Gheorghiu. Was that the point?
ADDED: I like the quote in the post title, but in what language was it spoken? It's an Italian opera, and the performance was in South Korea. Gheorghiu was born in Romania.
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As I recall, Tosca is pretty short as operas go, but they're both dead at the end, so getting up and singing some more does spoil the mood.
Encores and standing ovations have long since been out of control.
An encore in an opera happens during the performance? Never having seen one, and only attending part of an opera once, this is surprising. I have been at a number of off-Broadway musicals where the cast did a song after the ovation. I thought an encore happened after the artist had left the stage.
There are several very popular showpiece arias in Tosca that the audience might demand to hear again, no matter what the Diva thinks.
I suspect some of us don't care one whit about this.
I enjoy encores. Concerts and sex. The former has become to be expected, the latter not so much as you age.
Excuse me, she's talking now!
My suspicion Is that some performers start to dislike encores after the audience stops asking for them
She's a Diva, playing a Diva. I don't know if she's breaking character.
At least she didn't stab the tenor, too.
At concerts, encores are sometimes the best part of the performance. I went to a concert this past spring where the performer did a Liszt piano concerto, but for his encore did Gnomenreigen, which was a delight.
But an encore in the middle of an opera seems a bit more unusual. I guess it depends on the period. Like if it's Purcell then sure, no problem. Donizetti, probably fine. Wagner, impossible. Puccini, I think it would work. When playing recordings, I do sometimes loop bits I like.
All that said, storming onstage to interfere with an ongoing performance is grossly unprofessional, regardless of what you think about encores.
It took me awhile to figure out that the encore did occur in the actual performance, as opposed to after the entire show being over. If I'm understanding this correctly, a male tenor sang an aria in the show, got a lot of applause, and then right then-and-there, sang it, or parts of it, over again. I get her perspective on this.
Bring my doggie, get my doggie, bye-bye!
"An encore in an opera happens during the performance?"
Yes. It's not an extra performance after the curtain call. It's repeating the aria you just sang.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encore#Opera_performances
"Beginning in the 18th century, if an aria was strongly applauded, it might be repeated. For example, at the premiere of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, 1 May 1786, and other early performances, "many pieces were encored, almost doubling the length of each performance." For "Figaro", on 9 May 1786 Emperor Joseph II of Austria issued an order limiting encores. By tradition, some world-class opera houses, such as La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera, officially discourage encores, especially for vocal solos, as encores were associated with less serious performances.In the mid-19th century, encores were officially banned in northern Italy, since the Austrian-Italian authorities felt they would lead to public disorder. In 1921, encores were forbidden at la Scala (in northern Italy), because the conductor Toscanini felt they would interrupt the pace of the opera and drew attention to individual singers as opposed to the work.Toscanini had, in 1887, been challenged to a duel after stubbornly refusing an aria's encore. Wagner was similarly against encores. The ban at the Metropolitan was explicit in the printed programs at the beginning of the 20th century, but was nevertheless often broken at the insistence of the audience. Encores at the Met became rarer later in the century."
Notice that if you allow this, you end up with a stupid amount of audience participation calling for encores.
Good for her. The guys in the pit ******* hate encores. They are always preceded by a deep inaudible sigh from the orchestra. Get me to the end of this.
Maybe some forward-thinking audience members might have brought along a Pez dispenser.
Encores made some sense for new operas and before inexpensive audio recordings, but now I imagine it's people trying to get more product for their extremely expensive ticket. Personally, I don't even like applause in the middle of an act, and curtain calls usually go on too long.
Puccini wrote some of his best music for Tosca, and the prime villain, Scarpia, is a chilling preview of the Twentieth Century's secret police. ( The opera premiered in 1900.)
However, Tosca, and Cavaradossi, her lover, are two of the stupidest characters in all of opera. (Stupidity exceeded only by Otello in Verdi' s opera.)They unwittingly betray the escaped political prisoner they meant to help, who, like me, is a bass, for all love. They deserved to die.
Excuse me for straying off topic, but the behavior captured in this story is very much in character for Tosca. Have a great weekend, my friends.
I didn’t realize Opera encores can happen after the song, rather than after the Opera. I vote no—inappropriate and unprofessional (even if that means the profession is unprofessional—such a thing can be true).
It’s disrespectful to the audience members who want to lose themselves in the story.
Well, my experience with operas includes seeing only two in person in my life, spread apart by 30 or so years. So, while I may be the barbarian my name suggests and not properly suited to comment on opera, I'll say this about an operatic encore. From my experience with opera, it always seems quite long enough. I see no reason to insert an 'encore' to stretch out the most loved aria. If people want to just see 'Best of' arias that would be a different show. But if there's a storyline (and I am told there is always a moving storyline), why would you then stop the storyline to do a reprise of what you just did?
I'm already staring at my watch wondering why I just don't get operas. Why stretch it out and repeat things out of line?
Gheorghiu, 59, a diva of the old school known for her preternatural voice …
Does she still have that “preternatural” voice at age 59? Or is she more than a bit over the bill?
I don’t much care for opera performances, and I especially don’t care for old, fat divas waddling onstage to play a young lover. That goes quadruple when her male counterpart is decades younger.
We’ve heard from the diva, now how about we hear from the audience? Who thinks they paid out their hard-earned cash to watch a diva’s meltdown? They paid to be entertained, and if what they want is an encore then by all means give them the encore.
Why not respect the musical composition instead? The conductor was just preening, and wanted to hide in the company of other preeners. He's a Preener Wienie.
Just sing the opera, and make it convincing. That's what audiences come for. Only the Philistines want immediate encores and standing ovations for insufficient reasons. When I go to the ballet or opera, nowadays every performance is worthy of a standing ovation, if you believe the audiences. This destruction of musical value, when you think about it, is the most convincing argument against putting up with grade inflation in universities.
I would say no encores during an opera. An encore during an instrumental concert would be OK because there is no storyline to interrupt. And I agree with others that standing ovations have gotten way out of hand.
Regarding the language spoken in the title statement, I would guess it was not Italian (just because the opera was in Italian, why would you use that language in a conversation where the audience in non-Italian)? From her bio, I don’t see anything that would suggest that she knows Korean, so I’m guessing she spoke in her native Romanian language.
There's long been this conflict between those who think opera and classical music should be treated reverentially versus as sophisticated entertainment. When they were first performed, they were entertainment, and audiences were noisy and called for encores, but over time they become sanctified. There's a similar debate over whether to applaud between movements of a symphony. (I don't go to ballet much, but I think there's a similar debate about applauding in the middle of a performance.) Personally, I'd rather watch or listen without interruptions from others in the audience, but I realize that others may want to spontaneously respond.
Only encore worth watching: James Brown
Seems like whatever your opinion on encores mid-performance is, it wasn't (and shouldn't have been) her call. She doesn't like it, let her stage her own performance.
Angela Gheorghiu, the Kanye West of the opera world (as in Kanye hopping in stage to interrupt a then 20 year old Taylor Swift at the video music awards).
I hear the word encore, I think "Free Bird". That's how musically literate I am. Anyway, I think give the people their money's worth. Angela, just shut up and sing.
One Vissi d'Arte a night is enough.
Thanks for spoiling it.
"Never leave 'em wanting more."
I don't really like encores because they have become pro forma. Like so many other things, the spontaneity is gone and that detracts from their specialness.
Now do standing ovations for every and all performances. Aargh. Brainless and maddening.
Standing ovations have certainly been cheapened now that every single performance gets them. I think people who rarely go to the symphony or the opera and have paid a lot of money for a ticket like to think that the performance was exceptional. Or perhaps they want to make the musicians feel good. Or perhaps they just see one or two people doing it and feel like they ought to do as well.
I've sometimes felt a bit awkward sitting down while everyone around me is standing up and clapping and shouting "Bravo!" When I was younger I tended to give in, but in comfortable middle age I no longer do. I think there's only one performance I've been to where I really felt like giving a standing ovation -- a performance many years ago of Mahler's Song of the Earth, where I was moved to tears by the singing in the final movement. Not that it was an exceptional performance taken as a whole, but everything came off perfectly for a few minutes right when it needed to.
Minneapolis audiences have perfected the Walking Ovation.
instead of encores why not alternative event/ending?
What a prima donna!
It's a performance, not a religious service. If the audience wants an encore, give them an encore. Don't forget that it's the audience that calls for the encore.
The encore has a very long tradition in live musical theater and many audience members expect to have it.
If you want a performance without encores, finance the production yourself and only let audience members in who agree in advance that there will be no encores.
instead of encores why not alternative event/ending?
are mechanism to bring curtain down hard to access?
She is correct about the encores but her histrionics are out of place. I don’t know if the NYT story covers this but she once refused to put on a blonde with for her Micaela (Carmen role - Jose’s sister) while on tour in Japan. Joe Volpe then GM at Met Opera famously said - “the wig goes on with or without her.” They fired her from that run. She was one of Solti’s favorite sopranos. An excellent (not great) but excellent voice but more histrionics that the composer and librettist called for.
if tenors can compete why not aria-lists - she could have belted objection!!
This reminds me of the end of the Get Smart movie, where Max knocks down the orchestra conductor to stop the performance (so the hidden bomb won't go off), and the otherwise-bored President claps enthusiastically, "I liked the part at the end where he tackled that guy!"
over time they become sanctified. ...
soon to come === encore drive/putt in golf?!
I like encores as long as they aren't of what I just sat and listened which, as far as I can tell, is of what most encores consist.
An encore performance demands improvisation to entertain and reward the audience. Brava, bella... perhaps next time.
She sounds like a lot of fun.
not
I don't believe I've ever seen an encore at an opera I've watched. But unless someone dead is rising from the dead to do it, just get over yourself
"Di quella pira" is commonly encored in the moment. It's a very showy one-minute tenor piece, and it's short enough that repeating it is not so disruptive.
Standing ovations are like grade inflation. They're so common that audiences start to feel as though it's an insult not to give one.
Opera's unusual, because at many performances much of the audience has seen the show before. Many in the audience are there to see what this particular singer does with this role, and with this tricky aria. An encore would only be desired for that particular song
I suspect sentiment played some part here - a Korean singer singing in South Korea.
In over 20 years in the business I have only ever sung one bis, the showdown between Laura and Gioconda in a concert performance. It was a total rush, a joy for all concerned and we sailed on into the rest of the evening with everybody sparking off each other. The audience asked for it, I and my colleagues gladly gave it. If you are into it, opera performances are not something to "get through", they are a pleasure. A big part of the pleasure is the dynamic feedback between audience and performer. Often inaudible, sometimes, very audible indeed, but always palpable. If either the artist or the audience don't want a bis, they don't get it. There is an element of a sports event in the art. Instant replay. Local team singing famous aria in a moment in the story that is by its very nature outside of time, sure why not. (Killing Scarpia over again, not so much.)
La Gheorghiu's behavior was beyond the pale. It's all over the profi network. By no professional standard is breaking up a performance for an onstage temper fit OK. You're TOSCA, for God's sake, you've got a monster revelation scene and dramatic death coming up, and if you can't bring it to captivate for the rest of the show, go home. She'll be traveling further than Korea for her next engagement, I bet.
Dogma and Pony Show: Thanks for spoiling it.
No one goes to opera for the plots, and the playbills give it away.
tcrosse: One Vissi d'Arte a night is enough.
Yeah, Puccini shoved too many words in that tune, so she has to Va Tosca.
Micaela (Carmen role - Jose’s sister)
I should hope not! (village girl next door)
She's too old to blame it on hormones or time of the month, though as Maugham said, there's no one on earth more ruthless than a woman of a certain age who thinks she's doing good.
I remember my HS French teacher telling us that despite "encore" being a French word, the French yell "Bis!"
Didn't Kathleen Battle scupper her career with excessive divanity?
No -- on encores during an opera. Can you imagine going to a play at a theater and the audience demanding a scene be repeated?
Well, I tried this during a movie I was watching at the cinema, and it didn't go over very well at all.
“Free Bird”? Slowly I turn…
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