The above quote, ascribed to Richard Strauss, is said to have originated during a rehearsal for the world premiere of Strauss’s ELEKTRA, in which Ernestine Schumann-Heink was cast as Klytemnestra and the composer was conducting.
Perhaps it was the beginning of a trend towards conductors allowing opera orchestras to swamp the singers…a trend much in evidence at The Met these days.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunday November 30th, 2025 matinee – This will be brief, since I did not stay for the entire opera. Having found much to admire in Daniele Rustioni’s conducting of DON GIOVANNI on November 15th, I was curious to hear what he might do with LA BOHEME. The cast featured singers I love: Juliana Grigoryan as Mimi, Stephen Costello as Rodolfo, Mané Galoyan as Musetta, Alexander Köpeczi as Colline, Iurri Samoilov as Schaunard, and Donald Maxwell as Benoit/Alcindoro. New to me was the excellent and big-voiced baritone David Bizic as Marcello.
As the first act progressed, it became evident that the conductor was not particularly interested in supporting the singers. Like other current Met conductors, he seemed intent on grabbing every chance to have the orchestra play loud and fast, sometimes covering the voices.
Oc course, there were beautiful moments along the way: Costello’s hauntingly prophetic “Che visa da malata…” when he first gazes at Mimi, and his ravishing pianissimo (down to a whisper) at the end of his aria; Ms. Grigoryan’s narrative was so appealing, especially at “Ma quando vien lo sgelo“, wherein she took her time, luxuriating in the lovely warmth of her timbre. But the intro to the love duet was too grandly played from the pit, spoiling the poetry of the couple’s first exchanges of affection. Mr. Costello harmonized on the duet’s final note…something I wish more tenors would do.
The tenor sang lovingly as he introduced Mimi to his comrades at Cafe Momus, and Mssrs. Köpeczi and Samoilov (who have more to sing in this scene than one might think) excelled. Ms. Galoyan, arriving at Momus, eschewed the usual screeching that many Musettas use to attract attention; her Waltz was caressingly sung, with a spectacular diminuendo on the top-B as the end. Then Mr. Bizic showed us the value of a powerful voice as he reprised the waltz theme…Bravo! The marching band and the pit players provided a noisy finale to the scene, at time slightly out of sync.
In the last minutes of the Momus ecene, I decided not to stay for the rest of the opera…there would be a 45-minute intermission coming, followed by a 30-minute one after the tavern scene…and then there was to be a “Curtain Chat” after the opera ended, meaning a long wait at the stage door to meet these people who had given us a beautiful BOHEME…despite the intrusive music that sometimes rose from the pit.
Back on November 8th, I’d been at a BOHEME conducted by Keri-Lynn Wilson; on that afternoon, I was happy to experience a performance where the voices never seemed to vanish behind a wall of orchestral sound. Talking to some of the singers after the show, they had kind words for Ms. Wilson. I couldn’t help but wish that she had been on the podium this afternoon.
~ Oberon
Oberon's Glade 