J. D. Florez & D. Damrau "Addio, addio" Dresden 2008

[piasecznik]

At this point I have the feeling that a lot of commenters are just mindlessly attaching themselves to the conventional wisdom of "JDF in Rigoletto *must* be terrible".

[piasecznik]

This particular section of Rigoletto fits JDF like a glove. Not saying most of the opera does, but this part is much too high in tessitura for most ordinary Ducas.

[sttar1982]

TERRIBLE

[schjon]

Incredible! It's so fantastic. The best performance i ever seen or heard.

[diegoscaryo]

Manga de acartonados!! La ópera evoluciona...

Florez tiene una voz estupenda y con Damrau juegan un dúo impecable!

[OPERAFAN1986]

No se asuste ELTECOLOTE1986, como cantante, le puedo decir, que no es tan peligrosa ña opera rigoleto para la voz de florez, el tema es que florez es muy liviano para esta opera, pero esta cantando muy comodo...no se asuste....y si cohincido que ellos aceptan y despues abren las puertas a la direccion y escenografia....

[arturovelazquezavila]

Ambos Son increibles!!!!!!

Pero sin duda en este montaje la dirección no fue la indicada......

Ellos firman contratos y solo hasta que estan en los ensayos se dan cuenta de la dirección y montaje de la escena.....

Yo me confieso un fan inegable de DAmrau y Flórez, y ambos son excelentes.....pero lo repito una vez más la producción no fue la mejor......

[privatjakomo]

Is terrible

[privatjakomo]

Is terrible

[cmorgan22]

Perhaps as JDF ages and his voice lowers he will be better as the Duke. Love Damrau!

[Masassonia]

nella vita come nel canto bisogna andare oltre a ció che bisognerebbe o non bisognerebbe fare... e non fermarsi al giudizio fine a se stesso.. Viva FLOREZ!!!!

[eltecolote1986]

Toda esta adaptación de Rigoleto es lamentable. La escenografía es más propia de un ballet para niños que de una ópera de Giuseppe Verdi. La escena de la cama es forzada y grotesca. Por último, no se debió exponer a Flórez y Damrau a algo para lo que sus voces no están hechas. Ellos también tienen parte de culpa por haber aceptado y la penitencia la llevan en el ridículo vestuario que les han puesto. Flórez, no te alejes del belcanto, por favor!!!

[mrluistena]

@eltecolote1986 Bravo por usted, tiene razón, esto no es ópera, esto es un cachondeo y un insulto a la ópera. Saludos.

[nadopera90]

diana è proprio una brava attrice oltre che cantante strepitosa! bravi!!!

[1810fox]

Questo ragazzo é bravissimo, ma non debbe cantare il Duca de Mantua.

[nis0]

I think Juan Diego Florez did so extremely well in this Opera , i hope to see him soon at the Met Opera in New York

[castelsantangelo]

sembra una burletta e il rigoletto non lo e'!!!!!!!!!) 0:52 (Damrau che fa un esagerato movimento di braccia, 'na specie 'e Filumena Marturano per intenderci); 1:31 drammaticita' portata al ridicolo (mentre Florez sa controllarsi nel movimento la Damrau lo rende farsesco); 1:46 per finire atteggiamenti da ragazza sfrontata e impaziente (vedi il tocco delle labbra con le dita o ilgesto di impazienza con le braccia) gesti che non si addicono a una vergine quale Gilda. E non mi dilungo oltre.

[1968OPERA]

Belli e fatali....Bravi!!!!!

[IntuitaePersonae]

¿Quién le ha engañado groseramente a este tenor belcantista de que puede interpretar Verdi? No es un rol para él; su voz chillona y en exceso aflautada (más que la de Kraus) es inapropiada para roles verdianos. Lo suyo es el belcanto en donde es sin duda la voz más interesante del momento. ¿Quién le ha mentido a Flórez de esta manera?

[tena2]

Totalmente de acuerdo y muy buena apreciación la tuya, bravo por tu comentario, ya está bien de oir voces donde no se deben oir, y les digo a todos una cosa, si yo estuviera ya en un punto de mi carrera como en la de JDF, ni loco cantaba ahi bajo esa decoración, que cosas más horrososa por Dios, cómo se puede insultar a la ópera de ese modo???

[alfonsorama1]

@IntuitaePersonae Kraus voz aflautada. La verdad es que no, en absoluto.

[Vathorya2]

Ora qué???

ya en la cama?, si en las anteriores producciones estaban en un patio chiflando y aplaudiendo =S

[AUDIOPHlLE]

My God what an awful looking production.

[Satirike]

Ach, Mio padre!....Tutte le feste al tempio is even uglier! ;-] the palace, mon dieu.

[svviftsure]

indeed! Singing is great, though

[ellerveira]

He has stopped singing Rigoletto after a few performances. Said that it is not good for his voice. His voice is too light for the role. You can hear this when he and she sing the same note and she drowns him out.

[matthieusarah]

Rigoletto is one of my favourite opera but I was quite disapointed by Florez which voice is not enough powerful enough for this role (and I'm not talking about his playing that I found quite cheesy) Diana was absolutely wonderful and Rigoletto (Zelko Lucic) was great. I'd like to hear him in other roles

[LaMostraESopra]

What the hell is the deal with Juan's puff-ball ponytail?

[Satirike]

rofl i know..! i love her dress. and his costume's definitely not shabby. just the puffball detracts :]

[fabfourfanatic4]

This is really just the wrong type of role for Mr. Florez! At his age, he should be building and nurturing his voice for a long prosperous career! Not breaking it down with roles that are not right for his voice!

[g4thz]

Juan Diego!!!

It's not the repertoire for you!!!

Please don't ruin your voice so young!!!

[crazymanitaliano]

I agree~ Such an excellent bellcanto voice will be ruined singing those roles

[Satirike]

just curious: How does singing ruin someone's voice?

Analogy - if you overtrain athletically you can injure yourself, but it heals in time..

it's possible to permanently injure a voicebox?

[crazymanitaliano]

Taking on heavier roles sometimes requires adjusting the natural technique born with the singer. Florez is an excellent tenor for bellcanto. I don't think anyone can overpower him at this time. Example: Pavarotti on his younger years sang bell canto and the famous 9 high Cs just as Flores but his voice was darker and lyric (look up the fille due regiment live version here in you tube) Again don't get me wrong, Florez is the best Tonio today's day.

[soundlogik]

The vocal folds unlike muscles and tendons are paper thin and pushing them to work unnaturally can damage them and once they are damaged are irreparable. Vocal technique is all about letting your muscles (diaphragm) do the work, this is what is meant when singers talk about support you use your diaphragm for the heavy lifting to take pressure off the vocal folds

[Pavarotti4eva]

what boring staging! honestly, you cant fit classical music with modern staging! it gives me the impression that they cant do good enough with the classical staging so they need to do something out there.

[Satirike]

Damrau's way better in this one than she was in Caro Nome.

[saagua1953]

I agree that the modern setting is very wrong for this opera. I also don't like the "excessive realism" of his lying in bed with her and her jumping all over the room in Caro Nome. The singing is what is important, not the acrobatics.

[dragig00]

deux grands chanteurs,je n,aime pas ces productions modernes ça dénature les grandes oeuvres,décors et costumes de merde.mise en scèene nulle.

[olympicobligations]

I really like this but I don't think the Duke is the right part for Florez. Damrau is great!

[dchemaly396]

Diana is just a superb Gilda. Florez is not the Duca - wrong role for him. Why does he insit in doing Verdi? He should stick to Donizetti, Rossini and Bellini.

[mariastuarda51]

I do agree. His Duke sounds like Lindoro. There are definitely better Dukes than JDF.

Why doesn't he keep to his repertoir where he is so great, perhaps best and #1 like Lindoro and Tonio? Anyway, Diana is superb, both singing, acting. One can fell the emphaty she puts into the role.

I feel sorry for the scene, this cage :-(

The scene is modern but acting (fortunately) is traditional like in Zeffirelli or Otto Schenk's.

[albertlechat]

Artistes magnifiques, décor et costumes de merde !

[maggeo78]

Your comment it's a bit rude, but I quite agree with you!!! Even if sometimes they are not so bad!!!!

[gabhai7]

I also agree that the comment is a bit rude, but monsieur albertlechat is right! I've seen it live and I was happy that I had a seat in the centre of the balcony, because in the last part, Sparafucile's house built in the shape of an L was posted on the stage so unluckily that the left half of the audience couldn't see anything of what was happening in that house!!! I also agree that though scene and costumes are modern, the acting is quite "normal", sometimes even boring.

[maggeo78]

I don't know why directors make Opera in modern or such surreal context.... Anyway you were very lucky to see Diana performing this.... Rigoletto was boring when was not singing... Isn't it???

[gabhai7]

That's right. And it's a pity because he's not only great in singing but also in acting. I'm also always a bit annoyed when the directing is so strange that it attires too much attention, the most important thing has to be the music (opera italiana per sempre!!)and a good director supports it instead of putting his own work in the foreground.

[maggeo78]

German Opera is as good as italian!!!!

I think that in Germany and Austria there's a great problem with staging!!! Let's think about Salzburger Festpiele or the Rigoletto with Diana before this one that looked like the planet of apes!!

I don't know why they make this, because everybody ate this kind of staging....

In my opinion the charm of opera is also to see singer acting as they were in XVIII or XIX century...

[gabhai7]

I definitely agree with you, staging is a great problem here and in Austria, Planet of apes describes quite well what is going on here... Maybe we should import more Italian directors! Of course German opera is also fine, Mozart is one of my favourites, he's a genius to me. My father is a pianist so I'm into classical music and opera since I was a child, Aida was my first opera at age 7, so Verdi will always remain something special to me. But I also love Bizet, Händel, Rossini and many more.

[maggeo78]

Mozart is my favourite!

I think that in Italy we don't make Operas in modern style only because we're a traditionalist country!

Anyway I think the magic of Opera is even the "taste" of the past!!!!

Are you a musician??

[gabhai7]

Unfortunately I'm not a musician myself, I'm only a passionate fan! I think the problem with directing in Germany is that directors here fear nothing more than being marked as boring by the critics when they make opera in a traditional way and it's considered as a lack of talent if they respect the composer's original intention too much. But neither me nor anyone I know wants to see Königin der Nacht in a minidress or the Duca in an undershirt!! You're right, the magic is the taste of the past.

[maggeo78]

I'm not a musician too... Anyway, I don't know if you understand italian, but once Pavarotti said a really true thing about musician and critics: «Chi sa fare la musica la fa, chi la sa fare meno la insegna, chi la sa fare ancora meno la organizza, chi la sa fare così così la critica».

What about Diana Damrau as queen of the night in Salzburg Festpiele??? Great voice, but orrible dress!!!!

[gabhai7]

Maestro Pavarotti aveva ragione!!! I don't know if it's written correctly, I understand Italian quite well, I'm even speaking it a little, but writing is still difficult. Thank you for that quotation, I also think that critics are some failed musicians who always find mistakes even if there aren't any. Diana is a stunning Queen, but the costumes are really a nightmare. I like the one she wears in the production of the Royal Opera House better. Is Zauberflöte your favourite of Mozart' operas?

[maggeo78]

To criticise the others is always easy...

Well my favourite Mozart's opera??? I'm sorry but I don't know which is... I'm not able to choose between Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni e Nozze di Figaro.... Mozart is really a genius!!!

Anyway Diana's Zauberflöte in ROH is surly the best production I've ever heard!!!

[gabhai7]

I like all of Mozart's work, not only the operas. He was blessed with an extraordinary talent, what a pity that he died so young. When I heard Mitridate for the first time, I couldn't believe that it was written by a teenager! Have you ever read his letters? They are very interesting.

The ROH production is to me also the best I've seen until now, not only because of Diana, I also like Simon Keenlyside very much.

[maggeo78]

Well Simon Keenlyside and Dorotea Roscmann are with Diana the greater singer in Roh Zauberflote!

Of course I read Mozart's letters...

I like very much Mozart's music, in particular I love his requiem...

[anoperamusician]

Yeah it's written correctly, complimenti!

I agrre with you all, this staging is really awful which is a pity because D.D. could be a memorable Gilda in the right production.

And yes, it's really too early for JDF singing this role. He's just unbelievable in Rossini, maybe the best ever... he should keep on singing those typical JDF roles, and patiently wait for his voice to fully develop, and gain more lyrical power. Maybe in a dozen years...

[Vericuester]

I agree! The Planet of the Apes staging was just.. wtf?

[Homoclassicus]

I don't know, for me Rigoletto needs to look medieval or at least renaissance, even its music evokes that particular atmosphere. I don't like modern productions for this opera at all.

Damrau and Flórez are vocally great, even if the latter doesn't convince me as a shameless seducer. But their singing together is amazing, no doubt about it!

[neduddki21]

That D-flat by him was rather flat, otherwise excelent. Damrau is super.

[madeyetonks]

Haha, I'm not saying you're wrong, but there's something funny about saying 'that Db was flat'.

[neduddki21]

O.k. I will try to put it otherwise: The pitch of that Db was incorrect, unaccurate.

[ihaas]

Vocally beautiful, but the staging of this particular act is...strange. Damrau sounds lovely, as always, and Flórez as the Duke is wonderful.

[yeongiwon]

Thank you for posted this video.

[maggeo78]

Thank you for posting more Rigoletto....

Diana and IDF are so great.....