Ben Bliss sings an excerpt from Don Ottavio’s Act I aria in the final dress rehearsal. Production: Ivo van Hove. Conductor: Nathalie Stutzmann. 2022-23 season.
Lovely voice - I like the variations. Not his fault that the director chose to have him sitting down like that! Overall it was a great production. Would love to hear him sing Rodolfo.
For those of you who have been criticizing his "variations" I have a challenge: Have you heard Alagna's Una Furtiva Lagrima or Camarena's for that matter? And that's an aria that's NOT to be changed at all. Are you aware that the high C in Di quella pira is not written? The added high note that I detest the most is Leontyne Price's high B or C or whatever in the duet with the baritone in Trovatore. Don't get me going on Gilda's Caro Nome going to a cadenza at the end and to a high E. Many of the high notes in Rigoletto are not written but they have become part of the tradition. Muti brought a Rigoletto AS WRITTEN many years ago to Carnegie Hall, with Cecilia Gasdia of all people, and HE was booed!!!! As a matter of principle, I don't like variations of any kind, except those that have become part of the "tradition", yes I want my high C in Di quella pira. And if you don't like variations and ornamentations, don't listen to Joan Sutherland. As Callas said "the problem with Richard Bonynge is that wherever there is a long note, he adds a variation". And for those pining for singers like Jerry Hadley, granted he was great, then you are in trouble because before him there were Anton Dermota, Peter Schreier, Nicolai Gedda amont others. THE SHOW MUST GO ON. As far as production goes, for my taste (even though I saw it only on tv), it kind of worked, although I don't understand that all those houses moved for the finale and showed a very bright street. Do you want to see an idiotic, non sensical, stupid staging ? You can pick many since Peter Gelb took over but last night I saw Ballo in Maschera and it almost made me grab for the bag they give you on airplanes in case you get sick to your stomach. HORRIBLE!
Why does The Met make these excerpts so short? It's only the second half of the aria, and they even truncate the orchestral postlude. Are our attention spans really so short?
Don Ottavio is more or less the straight guy in Don Giovanni. He's not going to be sitting on the sidewalk wearing a suit and tie pining for Donna Anna.
I saw this production live at the premiere this past Friday. His singing is very throaty and unconvincing, with a mediocre bel canto technique. I often despair of the tenors at the Met these days.
@@BellaFirenze Seriously? "Quel che le incresce vita mi rende"? It means "that which displeases her gives me life". That quite changes sense, don't you think?
This is senseless knit picking. Reordering a couple words in an aria that repeats the same phrase over and over does essentially nothing to overall delivery of the aria.
@@JacquelineLanceTenor Yeah, I know this is not important, I simply noticed it (because this changed meaning is quite funny), absolutely not to belittle his great performance. Besides, it was only dress rehearsal, everyone can make mistake sometimes (I'm not counting how many times Callas messed up text, and she was still the best), during the actual performance (radio broadcast) he didn't repeat it 😉
@@JacquelineLanceTenor So you're saying the text doesn't matter, especially if there's repetition? What if you are Italian and are listening to a singer with excellent diction? Wouldn't you notice and distract from "the overall delivery of the aria"?
Buona voce, ma non ho detto : magnifica ! Ma, soprattutto e a mio parere, non calibrata per cantare questa magnifica edenica aria ! Le " variazioni " personalmente le lascerei perdere , perché sconcertano oggi, in tempi in cui non vi è praticamente più l' arte perfetta di " variare " mantenendo sempre il rispetto per lo stile dell' autore, e in questo caso l'autore è Mozart, il che " fa tremar le vene e i polsi ..."
During Mozart's time period, it was all about the virtuosic musician. Instrumentalists and vocalists alike were expected to improvise a lot of their of their melismatic phrases. What has become expected just was what was published after the fact and then mass produced. It is really hard to say what Mozart would have expected without talking to Mozart himself. And knowing what we know he probably would've had a good time with any of it. I think we trust the performers and directors at this level to have some artistic license at this level.
@@nw4smthgcmpltlydiffwhat tradition, which is important in opera as well as in so many areas, asks for when Mozart is involved, is absolute respect for what he wrote. Trying to improve upon Mozart's score is, let's say, risky (others would say "arrogant", maybe).
You are very wrong, in fact the variations are more difficult than the original, he has a gorgeous sweet instrument, expressive and very good technique
Jesus Christmas you’re negative. If I ever need anyone to find the dark lining on silver cloud, I’ll know to look up you. All the previous retorts to you were on the money.
Mediocre singing, but that's all we can expect from the Met these days. It boggles the mind that only 30 years prior great singers like Jerry Hadley were singing the same role on the same stage.
@@peteradaniel He did not give his opinion, and read again what he wrote. He wrote a fact. It would be a personal opinion if he wrote that he likes the color of the voice of the singer, but this is not the case here. The singer has such an inconsistent and nonexistent singing technique that he probably had to swallow 3 microphones before going on stage. Lombardi's microphones even got stuck in her throat, and now she literally gargels Donna Anna. In recent years, TheMet has become a completely ridiculous circus. Just look at the production, which has nothing to do with the original characters and the place where the opera takes place and the message Mozart wanted to say. The roles are sung by a Wienerknabe Chor boy (Don Ottavio), the ingolato gargled mezzo-soprano (Donna Anna, Elvira) and the squealing wooden stick (Zerlina) and don't forget the self centered, self glorified wannabe conductor who has always been bad and third-rate (Stutzmann). This can only lead to a fiasco, and that's what happened.
![[EXTRAIT] DON GIOVANNI by Mozart (Ben Bliss - "Il mio tesoro")](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ySNVUOgE1T0/mqdefault.jpg)
Lovely voice - I like the variations. Not his fault that the director chose to have him sitting down like that! Overall it was a great production. Would love to hear him sing Rodolfo.
Ben Bliss is a superb singer and a superb actor.His Il mio tesoro is as good as any of the singers of the past.Bravo Ben!👌
One of my favorite tenors 🤩🤩🤩
For those of you who have been criticizing his "variations" I have a challenge: Have you heard Alagna's Una Furtiva Lagrima or Camarena's for that matter? And that's an aria that's NOT to be changed at all. Are you aware that the high C in Di quella pira is not written? The added high note that I detest the most is Leontyne Price's high B or C or whatever in the duet with the baritone in Trovatore. Don't get me going on Gilda's Caro Nome going to a cadenza at the end and to a high E. Many of the high notes in Rigoletto are not written but they have become part of the tradition. Muti brought a Rigoletto AS WRITTEN many years ago to Carnegie Hall, with Cecilia Gasdia of all people, and HE was booed!!!! As a matter of principle, I don't like variations of any kind, except those that have become part of the "tradition", yes I want my high C in Di quella pira. And if you don't like variations and ornamentations, don't listen to Joan Sutherland. As Callas said "the problem with Richard Bonynge is that wherever there is a long note, he adds a variation". And for those pining for singers like Jerry Hadley, granted he was great, then you are in trouble because before him there were Anton Dermota, Peter Schreier, Nicolai Gedda amont others. THE SHOW MUST GO ON. As far as production goes, for my taste (even though I saw it only on tv), it kind of worked, although I don't understand that all those houses moved for the finale and showed a very bright street. Do you want to see an idiotic, non sensical, stupid staging ? You can pick many since Peter Gelb took over but last night I saw Ballo in Maschera and it almost made me grab for the bag they give you on airplanes in case you get sick to your stomach. HORRIBLE!
Traying to improve Mozart always was a tricky thing.
He's got such a beautiful voice.
Quite wonderful! And I like the variations, which were common in Mozart’s time.
Why does The Met make these excerpts so short? It's only the second half of the aria, and they even truncate the orchestral postlude. Are our attention spans really so short?
Ben Bliss 👏👏👏
One of the most beautiful instruments of my generation 🥹
And they question. Why there’s not much audience 💁🏻♂️
Mister Roger's Neighborhood. Where is John Reardon to perform the Don or Leporello? And why could not have Francois Clemmons played Don Ottavio?
Don Ottavio is more or less the straight guy in Don Giovanni. He's not going to be sitting on the sidewalk wearing a suit and tie pining for Donna Anna.
Wow, now even sitting is gay? How hard it must be to be a straight guy, so fragile ego to protect! 😂
I saw this production live at the premiere this past Friday. His singing is very throaty and unconvincing, with a mediocre bel canto technique. I often despair of the tenors at the Met these days.
He has a wonderful voice! One of the best tenors at this time. But I hate that he changed the original score!!!
It never makes it better. Simply.
Great singing! But this mistake in text is rather unfortunate 😅
It is not a mistake, much less an unfortunate one. There are many recordings with the inversion of that phrase.
@@BellaFirenze Seriously? "Quel che le incresce vita mi rende"? It means "that which displeases her gives me life". That quite changes sense, don't you think?
This is senseless knit picking. Reordering a couple words in an aria that repeats the same phrase over and over does essentially nothing to overall delivery of the aria.
@@JacquelineLanceTenor Yeah, I know this is not important, I simply noticed it (because this changed meaning is quite funny), absolutely not to belittle his great performance. Besides, it was only dress rehearsal, everyone can make mistake sometimes (I'm not counting how many times Callas messed up text, and she was still the best), during the actual performance (radio broadcast) he didn't repeat it 😉
@@JacquelineLanceTenor So you're saying the text doesn't matter, especially if there's repetition? What if you are Italian and are listening to a singer with excellent diction? Wouldn't you notice and distract from "the overall delivery of the aria"?
😢😢😢
Buona voce, ma non ho detto : magnifica ! Ma, soprattutto e a mio parere, non calibrata per cantare questa magnifica edenica aria ! Le " variazioni " personalmente le lascerei perdere , perché sconcertano oggi, in tempi in cui non vi è praticamente più l' arte perfetta di " variare " mantenendo sempre il rispetto per lo stile dell' autore, e in questo caso l'autore è Mozart, il che " fa tremar le vene e i polsi ..."
run of the mill. Nothing special to set himself apart. He's no Kaufmann!
Kein Vergleich mit großen Sängern wie Dermota.
The voice-good
The orientation- wrong, bad, distracting. Why?
He cannot sing the original score and distracts us with variations. Opera transformed into musical. This has nothing to do with lyrical singing.
Mozart expected his singers to ornament his melodies, as did all composers of his time.
During Mozart's time period, it was all about the virtuosic musician. Instrumentalists and vocalists alike were expected to improvise a lot of their of their melismatic phrases. What has become expected just was what was published after the fact and then mass produced. It is really hard to say what Mozart would have expected without talking to Mozart himself. And knowing what we know he probably would've had a good time with any of it. I think we trust the performers and directors at this level to have some artistic license at this level.
@@nw4smthgcmpltlydiffwhat tradition, which is important in opera as well as in so many areas, asks for when Mozart is involved, is absolute respect for what he wrote. Trying to improve upon Mozart's score is, let's say, risky (others would say "arrogant", maybe).
You are very wrong, in fact the variations are more difficult than the original, he has a gorgeous sweet instrument, expressive and very good technique
Jesus Christmas you’re negative. If I ever need anyone to find the dark lining on silver cloud, I’ll know to look up you. All the previous retorts to you were on the money.
Not enough breath
And to many "embellishments". That kind of singing maybe fits to Rossini's opera but Mozart?
Mediocre singing, but that's all we can expect from the Met these days. It boggles the mind that only 30 years prior great singers like Jerry Hadley were singing the same role on the same stage.
Opinions are like arseholes; everyone has one.
@@peteradaniel He did not give his opinion, and read again what he wrote. He wrote a fact. It would be a personal opinion if he wrote that he likes the color of the voice of the singer, but this is not the case here. The singer has such an inconsistent and nonexistent singing technique that he probably had to swallow 3 microphones before going on stage. Lombardi's microphones even got stuck in her throat, and now she literally gargels Donna Anna.
In recent years, TheMet has become a completely ridiculous circus. Just look at the production, which has nothing to do with the original characters and the place where the opera takes place and the message Mozart wanted to say. The roles are sung by a Wienerknabe Chor boy (Don Ottavio), the ingolato gargled mezzo-soprano (Donna Anna, Elvira) and the squealing wooden stick (Zerlina) and don't forget the self centered, self glorified wannabe conductor who has always been bad and third-rate (Stutzmann). This can only lead to a fiasco, and that's what happened.
He’s fantastic. Let’s see how you sound singing opera while laying down on the ground in front of 4,000 people. Fool.
I’ll be happy to venture a straight out opinion: He’s a so-so singer who wouldn’t have made it into the Met chorus 20 years ago. And, miked?!?