#goodbye met

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Goodbye Met–opera ask games day 6

It’s time for another Mariusz Kwiecien appreciation hour. Thank you @opera-my-beloved​ for coming up with questions just for this purpose. 😉

Any favorite weird/funny lyrics?

I’m embarrassingly useless with lyrics. I really need to restart Duolingo Italian.

What are some opera songs that make you lose your mind?

Perhaps I just have it on my mind with tonight’s stream, but how fun is it to see a really great tenor stand in the middle of the stage and belt out “Mes amis”? But also the Carlo/Rodrigo duet, and the Le Comte Ory trio, and the patter duet from Don Pasquale!

Are there any Met interview moments that live rent-free in your mind?

Speaking of Don Pasquale, there’s a moment where Anna and Mariusz grin at each other and it’s so goofy.

Oh, and when Fabio Luisi begins his explanation of why Mariusz is such a good Don Giovanni with, “Well, he’s very good looking.”

What’s an opera production that you positively rant about for an hour and a production that you could angry rant about for an hour?

Positive rant: Warner Eugene Onegin

Negative rant: Leaf Magic Eugene Onegin

You are all wrong, and I’m going to die out here on my hill all by myself screaming that. 😂

Are there any weirdly specific moments from a stream/production that you love?

Mariusz: “sentire odor di femmina”

Which opera production was the most visually pleasing to you?

Damnation of Faust. Just so freaking gorgeous and inventive. Akhnaten is a super close second.

Is there any singer who changed your opinion on an opera character?

Tatiana Troyanos. I didn’t get what was so great about Eboli until she strutted out with that eyepatch and just owned the stage.

Are there any productions you wish had been filmed but are only available in audio form (or not available at all)?

On the Met’s On Demand list, there’s audio of a Damrau, Florez, Kwiecien Elixir I would love to see. And apparently, at some point in time, Matthew and Mariusz did Cosi together at the Met, but there isn’t even audio of that. Sigh. And I’m sure there are dozens of things I don’t even know I’m missing.

(gifs by the lovely @automaticdreamlandkid​)

[monotonous-minutia]

Thanks @opera-my-beloved <3 can't believe the week is already over

Day #8 asks

What's your favorite new opera you discovered because of the streams?

Oh, SO MANY! But in particular probably Cendrillon, La clemenza di Tito, and Idomeneo.

Are there any stream you wish you had watched but didn't?

A lot...kinda lost track of all the ones I wanted to because I was busy, tired, or not emotionally available.

Finally, what have the Met Nightly Streams meant to you?

I feel like I can't say anything that hasn't already been said...it helped connect me to the operablr community; it gave me something to do and a way to tell the days apart when I was out of work for six weeks near the start of the pandemic; it gave me something positive to look forward to every night when work sucked that summer; it gave me a reason to gush and scream about my favorite performers/stories/characters/productions...I think most importantly it gave me a platform to interact with such a lovely group of people on a regular basis, know which operas we'd freak out about collectively, which ones certain people would be excited about, and ones a bunch of us discovered together.

[wrybility]

Met opera asks

im terribly late with these and im so sorry!! my internship has been crazy lately and im also balancing a part time job :(( thank you to everyone who tagged me and a big thank you to @opera-my-beloved for running this- ill catch up quickly by combining the days i missed here:

Met opera asks day 1

What’s a production you’ve seen that changed your whole opinion of an opera?

2017 rosenkav (aka the one that launched a thousand gifs)- I already adored Strauss's orchestral works (the two years i studied his oboe concerto were so worth it) but this production somehow made a story which felt very remote to me hit home and cemented rosenkav as one of my favorite operas

What is an opera composer you’re trying to explore more?

just to list a few- Massanet, Donizetti, Handel (mostly composers i haven't been exposed to as much through orchestra, wind quintet, and solo oboe rep)

Did you discover any new favorite singers?

so many!! juan diego flórez, natalie dessay, deborah voigt, piotr beczala, isabel leonard, and ofc elīna garanča <3 also gained even greater appreciation for renee fleming, dmitri hvorostovsky, and joyce didonato

What’s an opera (or production) that you wish you could watch again for the first time?

nothing will ever top that 2007 eugene onegin- tchaik's music is always an incredible emotional journey and i was literally in a state of semi-shock the whole time

Met opera asks day 2

Out of all of the new productions/operas you’ve seen, what has been the most meaningful?

2007 eugene onegin; quite literally life changing

What’s an opera that changed your opinion about a composer or genre?

Rossini's la cenerentola- ngl i had (and still have) a bit of a grudge against rossini for that hellish la scala di seta excerpt but this opera won me over completely (he still did not have to inflict la scala on me though)

Are there any operas that you'd listened to but never seen on stage before?

eugene onegin (which really showed me the visual power of opera)

What's an opera you would love to see performed in-person? (even if it was in the past)

eugene onegin w fleming and hvorostovsky, rosenkav w fleming and elīna garanča, elīna garanča's carmen...

Met opera asks day 3

Are there any operas you strongly associate with a specific time in your life?

prokofiev's war and peace in feb/march because i read the book over those months and watched the opera for the first time (idk why the met doesn't have any recordings available though)

Do you know the next opera you want to discover?

i have a running list but the one on top is la forza del destino

Are there any operas you'd write fanfiction for (or you wish had more fics)?

rosenkav, esp because there's plenty of room for very queer reinterpretations

What is your comfort opera?

kind of weird, but cavalleria rusticana (its cathartic or something) and for something lighter, la cenerentola

Met opera asks day 4

What’s an opera that became an unexpected favorite?

def dialogues des carmelites (though i should have known bc i love poulenc so so much) just bc it seemed so heavy and dark

Are there any operas you cannot get into no matter how hard you've tried?

the ring cycle- i have tried but it just does not do it for me (also has the unfortunate association w this weird philosophy major who asserted this was his favorite opera but had never listened to like,, tristan und isolde; pls do not try to flirt w me this way)

Do you have any opera comfort characters?

carmen (i could talk for hours abt her!! but succinctly: girlboss), the marschallin, octavian, santuzza, tatiana...

What’s an opera/production that you'd like to get teleported into?

if we're talking about aesthetics: 2017 rosenkav, 2018 samson et dalila, 2012 manon, marnie

the actual world of the opera: capriccio (what could be better than living in luxury, being courted, and enjoying art? the dream life)

[vera-dauriac]

Goodbye Met–opera ask games day 7

Thanks once more for the questions, @opera-my-beloved

A singer that pleasantly surprised you in a role?

At the Met specifically? Hmm. OK. I have one, but this is going to prove super unpopular with some folks. After not liking Eva-Maria Westbroek in any of the verismo things I saw her in, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I did like her in Tannhäuser. I think maybe she just needs to stick to Wagner for me.

Any costume(s) that you would want to have? (+pictures if you have them!)

I don’t know what it is, but there are so. many. coats.

Opera characters that are meant for each other and you will not hear otherwise?

Again, so very many. Susanna and Figaro. Tosca and Cavaradossi. All three leads in Pearl Fishers, Le Comte Ory, and Un Ballo. Malatesta and Norina. I could do this all night.

Opera singer that you can't dissociate from a certain role?

I hear tell that there are other Nadirs and Zurgas in the world besides Matthew and Mariusz, but I think that’s fake.

Opera you think is a complete masterpiece from first to last note? (or an opera that you know by heart?)

Traviata. Figaro. Cavalleria rusticana. Tosca.

Favorite conductors/conducting moments?

I feel like such a fraud, because I don’t pay super close attention to the conductors, in spite of the fact that I entirely appreciate how important they are and so much of what I like or don't is because of them.

A unique acting choice that you cannot stop thinking about?

Literally everything Mariusz Kwiecien and Natalie Dessay ever did. They are such remarkable actors and honestly, now that they have retired from singing, they should both just start second careers as straight actors.

Battle of the productions: for an opera that was streamed in many different productions, which production do you think is the best (or do you like them all equally)?

I love every Don Giovannithe Met showed, but the 2011 means everything to me. And as I sit here watching the genuinely good (and incredibly moving ☹ ) 2015 Trovatore, the 2011 cast is unquestionably better.

[vera-dauriac]

Goodbye Met–opera ask games the last day

What's your favorite new opera you discovered because of the streams?

I discovered, I’d say, a full 75% of the operas I now know thanks to free streams, and the vast majority of those have been from the Met. Just looking at my Top 10 Met streams, I discovered thanks to the Met: Glass Akhnaten, Verdi Un Ballo in Maschera, Rossini Le Comte Ory, Donizetti Don Pasquale, Bizet Les Pêcheurs de Perles, and Donizetti Roberto Devereux.

Are there any stream you wish you had watched but didn't?

I at least started almost everything, except stuff I had no interested in, such as a lot of the Strauss after I’d started 3 Strauss operas and didn’t like any of them.

Finally, what have the Met Nightly Streams meant to you?

They’ve meant more than anything else since March 2020, as they’ve helped me rediscovered my love of opera. Plus, I met so many folks because I needed to flail about opera, and it brought me back to tumblr.

Thanks for this @opera-my-beloved!

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Goodbye Met–opera ask games day 4

What’s an opera that became an unexpected favorite?

So many! Just to name three that I didn’t even know existed before the pandemic, Pearl Fishers, Roberto Devereux, and Un Ballo in Maschera. I would take a bullet for any one of these.

Are there any operas you cannot get into no matter how hard you’ve tried?

Well, there are the composers that I just don’t like despite my best efforts (Strauss, Britten), but when I think about operas I can’t get into in spite of trying, it’s the ones that don’t click by composers I usually love, like Macbeth and Otello. I also keep trying to tell myself that if I just watch one more Manon, I’ll dig it, but I think after sitting though four or five, my husband will veto further attempts, because he can’t get into it, either.

Do you have any opera comfort characters?

I have comfort operas, and comfort singers, and there are characters I love and others I relate to, but I don’t know that I’d call any of them comfort characters. (Confession--I wonder if I’m just defining comfort character differently from other people, but that’s a post of its own.) Anyhow, I rarely have, at least what I consider, comfort characters in books, TV, and movies, so this isn’t odd for me.  (People who got to know me when I started this account know how I feel about Athos, and through writing them in fic, I feel like Ragnar and Athelstan qualify, but honestly, that level is connection is rare for me and hasn’t happened with an opera character. Yet.)

What’s an opera/production that you’d like to get teleported into?

Ooo! Debating between the 2012 Un ballo in Maschera, 1995 Simon Boccanegra, and the 2014 Marriage of Figaro. I’d take any of them!

 Thanks so much for these @opera-my-beloved

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Goodbye Met--opera ask games day 2

Out of all of the new productions/operas you’ve seen, what has been the most meaningful?

Hmm. I feel particular attached to Pearl Fishers. It was really early in the streams, and I just popped it on while I was doing some other work because I was amused at checking out Bizet’s other opera. But so quickly I stopped what I was working on, completely focused, trying to figure out who the tenor and baritone were, because I was in love. As soon as I finished, I grabbed my hubby and made him watch it with me again. The rest is history, and that opera still owns my heart.

What’s an opera that changed your opinion about a composer or genre?

You know, it might be Vegas Rigoletto. I liked certain Verdi, but I wasn’t sure I liked Verdi altogether. But at some point last summer, and I think it might have been Vegas Rigoletto, I realized that maybe it just takes me a few tries to warm to any particular Verdi, and man, do I ever fucking love Verdi now that I watch multiple productions of anything before I make up my mind with his stuff, because chances are, I’ll end up loving it. (Except for poor Otello and Macbeth, I fear.)

Are there any operas that you’d listened to but never seen on stage before?

You know, I’m not sure I’d ever seen a Barber of Seville before. Now I’ve seen half a dozen probably! I’m sure there are others, but that was the first that came to mind.

What’s an opera you would love to see performed in-person? (even if it was in the past)

All of them!!!! Sigh. Although, specifically in person from the Met, I feel like it should be one of the productions that has a lot of stage magic best witnessed in the theater like Akhnaten or Damnation of Faust.

Thanks @opera-my-beloved for coming up with the questions!

[vera-dauriac]

Goodbye Met--opera ask games day 1

Tagged by @revedebeatrice​ Thank you!!!! All I’ve done all afternoon is write, think about, and listen to opera, so this is perfect.

What’s a production you’ve seen that changed your whole opinion of an opera?

There are soooooooooooo many operas I’d never even listened to before the pandemic, so it’s kind of a small list of ones that seeing a production from the Met could make me rethink. On the positive side, I really feel like Vegas Rigoletto made that story easier to connect to than medieval court jester of traditional productions. On the negative side, that creepy puppet Butterfly, coupled with me really watching that opera for the first time as an adult, made me hate that story so hard I’ve avoided it like the plague every since. Pinkerton is legit the worst. Ever. The whole opera is so gross because of him I can’t even with it anymore.

What is an opera composer you’re trying to explore more?

The pandemic was great that I gave literally every composer a bunch of chances I wouldn’t have otherwise. But once I got started, I now have a very real need to gobble up all the Verdi and Donizetti I can get my hands on.

Did you discover any new favorite singers?

Ha! I discovered almost everyone during the pandemic. Sondra, Jonas, Matthew, and my most beloved Mariusz.

What’s an opera (or production) that you wish you could watch again for the first time?

Nothing was as exciting as seeing the Met actually go there with the OT3 in Le Comte Ory the first time. Not that I don’t love it every single time I watch, but that was such a glorious and unexpected surprise!

Not tagging anyone, because I feel it is the duty of everyone on operablr to just do this thing. 😉