off again...

Though I normally would never post anything with Pavarotti*, this video really is apropos. I'm headed to New York for a long weekend to see opera (Turandot, il Trittico, Guilio Cesare) at the Metropolitain Opera, to do some shopping (Barney's and the new Tom Ford store are calling) and to visit friends. Though this video was made at Carnegie Hall, it's close enough to the Met.

I will post if I get a chance.



*Why would I not post Pavarotti? It's a preference thing on my part. I really don't think that he is that great of a singer, in technique especially. He had a great sound that is masked with power and charisma. Yes, he continued what Maria Callas put into place with bringing opera back as a major art form in the world and for that I am thankful, but...

If you notice in the video he is constantly looking at the stand while he is singing with Liza Minelli. It's not to read the music. He can't read music. He doesn't remember words. So his performances are either memorized, punted or cribbed.

I saw him do his first Otello at the Chicago Symphony with Kiri Te Kanawa. It was a concert version. He should not have been singing it. The opera is one of the most difficult in repertoiry.

In front of him was a giant black box. Afterwards, speaking with friends in the orchestra, they informed us that in the box was Pavarotti's little man. His own personal prompter who was not only helping him with the lyric but also the music because it's not easily memorized. He also spit eucalyptus all over Te Kanawa when they were doing the duets. Our friends told us that when they got to New York to do Otello at Carnegie, she finally blasted him in front of everybody.

I was one of the people who cheered when the audience at La Scala booed him when his voice cracked during a Don Carlo, another opera he should never have sung. He was well past his prime and the La Scala fiasco finally made him realize that he should retire and only do concert.

Yes, most everyone loves him. everyone except...