Marlis Petersen - Hamlet's mad scene - Pâle et blonde

[Cissy97]

Damn it - she had not had any rest before fluing in from Vienna to join this performance.

On this basis, her singing is well-nigh miraculous.

[cantanteporsiempre]

I like her!! She is so expressive, and her legato is very nice!! a very diferent voice than Dessay indeed.

[emilytransex]

TUTTA INGOLATA.....UN URLO CONTINUO....

[gustopheles]

she's really not awful. The cadenzas are all hideously butchered, but her voice is nice - decent vocal agility, decent high notes.

[gayoperadude63]

having only sung the role a couple of times, isn't really enough to learn how to pace the part. its obvious that she was exhausted by the mad scene,several more productions and she will be fine! she needs time to get more aquainted with the role. are you critics singers? could you walk in and replace Dessay in this role and be competent????? i didn't think so!!!!!

[Transoxiana94]

Knowing that Dessay wasn`t able to perform that night and Petersen had not enough time to rehearse, this is a wonderful performance. I didn`t know this singer before, her voice is SO beautiful! Dramatic coloratura? Delicious!

[Renfeildette]

I feel bad for her. She's taking away some of her natural brilliance to make those high notes. She's hyper-extending her soft palette, and so throwing the whole thing off. :(

[pikamom11]

This chick has the acting chops to play the heroine of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, but Ophelie??? No way, Charlie. The Met should have given everyone their money back.

[ChristineFlora]

I saw Marlis at the Met on April 2nd. My son & I were disappointed that Dessay had canceled, but we were in for a surprise. Marlis was fantastic! I now have Dessay's performance on DVD & she owns the role, but Marlis also does an incredible job as Ophelie. So, calm down, naysayers!

[asisecanta]

nice instrument. the pitty is that she has several technical problems. For instance, we can clearly hear how she takes breath wherever she cans, even in the middle of the phrases and syllabes... Not a singer to sing such a role at the Met....

[Pywacket2]

I'm puzzled by how Marlis is dissed. Her coloratura is lovely as is her legato. Quite skillful. She sounds swell.

[skitzo429]

shes aweful...

[pfeliks]

I was at the Prima of Hamlet at the Met. Regarding Peterson: in the house 60% of the time she was inaudible, the other 40% you wished she was.

[harpguy18]

plain and simple, not my cup of tea. thats all

[phoeunix]

Saw Hamlet on 27th March, and her performance was far better than this one. She was exquisite and perfect this day. I think on the 24th, she must have been a little more tired so she did her best. But frankly, she has the potential to do something very great like on the 27th.

[NinoGualdo]

E` incredibile. Quanto e` bella. Direi che sia l'ottava meraviglia del mondo.

[DessayBestSingerII]

Tu as raison...la pauvre Marlis "s'en ramasse plein la g***le" mais bon...la comparaison était inévitable. Puis bon je la trouve pas mal, j'aime bien la voix, mais à la fin elle a quand même un peu de mal....

[volcan313]

awful! what a shame! Obviously this is not a role for her! She's not a coloratura : she has no brilliance, no high notes ! she's not agile! Bad diction! No colors in the voice... Dessay must be laughing at hearing this!

[thecelticspirit]

Knowing that she is the one who cancelled, that would be awfully unappropriate. Anyway, I was there the 31st, and she did a very good job. I'm tired of hearing "Dessay would have been better" and so on, She wasn't there, Marlis was and had to be, and given the very short time she had to rehearse, and that she only sang the role once... Again, on the 31st, she was more than correct.

[DessayBestSingerII]

31st? pas 30th?

[thecelticspirit]

30th, whatever

[Rcoppin91]

@thecelticspirit I have to agree with you about Natalie, she would have not done well. But, if I had paid to see this, I would have demanded my money back. Peterson did do an good job with the amount of time she had, but this is not Met worthy.

[thecelticspirit]

@Rcoppin91 Well frankly, I think that the performanvce of Anna Netrebko as Lucia was far worse than what Marlis did. These things happen all the time, the show must go on, sometimes you're lucky, sometimes you're not. I payed quite an amount of dollars for this show, but I wouldn't dream asking my money back. After all, Keenlyside and Larmore were there...

[Rcoppin91]

@thecelticspirit Peterson just couldn't sing the part though. (Netrebko, just shouldn't be singing that rep.)She was so tired by the end of her mad scene, it just completely ruined it for me. It honestly just sounded like she just gave up :/

[llamasaresmelly]

@thecelticspirit I agree with you celtic. She's not magnificent, but it's still impressive considering how little time she had to rehearse. Also, Dessay definitely pulled out for a reason not concerning her health, as she pulled out two weeks before performances began but then sang in Switzerland less than a month later. My guess is that she can no longer sing this role.

[principae122]

@volcan313 you are a IDIOT!!! You don´t know something about Operasinger.!!! Your posting is only bla bla!!!! Stupid and mindless!!!!

[bmp6768]

I saw the MET opera 2010 show broadcasted in french cinema through the Live HD MET. What a fantastic surprise! I didnt know about this opera before. But now, I cant stop listening to Ophelias song Pale and blond Willis in the blue lake. Waow! Get my tears at each time One of the best music Ive ever heard. Although disappointed not to see Natalie in the performance as originally expected, I spend a lovely time. I found Simon Keenlyside brilliant in his role and couldnt get my eyes out of him.

[schmitterly]

All fanatic Dessay fans should accept by now that it's over once and for all. She has screamed her voice to pieces and some great recordings is all that will remain. Petersen does a good job here and may rest assured that she has the respect of those who actually know something about singing.

[eurydike]

she sings so beatifully!

[eurydike]

thecelticspirit: can´t you put here a video with the final scene of hamlet in MET please?

[miirabilis]

Opinions are personal and variably informed. I am a Dessay fan, but found Petersen's performance both strong and satisfying. In the lower registers, her voice is even arguably richer. The coloratura was adequate if not as brilliant as what we expect from Dessay. The point for me is that she gave a creditable performance on very short notice. We perhaps lose sight of the very high level of competence we are witnessing in these performances, and we natter when we should be appreciating.

[sospello]

@miirabilis--agreed. Good comment.

[suzanneetmoi]

@miirabilis  Excellent comment and I fully agree with you. We should be thanking Ms.Petersen for stepping in and making the run of Hamlet possible.

[andreanb457]

This is really a shame..she is not a true coloratura and it obviously shows in her interpretation of this piece. It lacks the brilliancy quality and the powerful high notes that it needs that Dessay does incredibly. It almost sounded painful for her..

[Leporello18]

@andreanb457 In fact that it IS painful for Dessay and her voice ... She has one operation after the other ...

[andreanb457]

This woman is not a true coloratura and it shows in her interpretation of the piece. It lacks the fluttery quality and the power behind the high notes that is much needed and that Dessay does Brilliantly.

[jontenorboy]

I went to this production on a whim and very satisfied with it. yes Dessay would have been wonderful. From an acting standpoint I was more than pleased. I thought she actually sounded better during the mad scene than her other stuff. It's just hard to compare anyone to Dessay, she pretty much owns anything with coluratura in it.

[brightboy86]

I went to the HD transmition in my local theater and I was shocked when I saw this woman saying she was Ophelie! I didn't know about the change and I was really angry, she has a pretty voice but Dessay is just out of this world, and that was what I wanted to see :(

[suzanneetmoi]

@brightboy86 It had been announced weeks before that Natalie was "ill" and canceled her Met performances. The truth was that she sang through pharyngitis to honor her commitment in Paris and left the Met hanging. They were lucky to get MsPetersen in early to save the production (she will be singing "Lulu" there), as not many singers perform Ophelie. I do know that the movie theatres were issuing refunds, but there was more than adequate warning about the cast change.

[oneveron]

J'aimerais rajouter que je suis française et une grande fan de Nathalie Dessay... Néanmoins, Marlis Petersen était hier soir véritablement formidable!

[oneveron]

J'ai vu cet opéra hier soir et j'ai trouvé Marlis Petersen vraiment extraordinaire! Bravo

[bojakovlev]

This is so unfair! She's no Dessay but she was quite competent in the live transmission from the Met yesterday.

[sour7lemon]

She accidentally did basically the same cadenza both times after each verse..... both times just as unpleasant as the other

[WolfofSega]

Marlis Petersen was wonderful!

[velazquez2009]

@WolfofSega

surely you must never heard dessay perform this role....this is just TERRIBLE!!!!

[suzanneetmoi]

@velazquez2009

Yes, Dessay's diction is better, but it's because she is singing in her native tongue, and yes, I have heard both ladies perform. I still say "Brava to Ms.Petersen, and thank you for rescuing a production which might otherwise had to have been scrapped. Very few singers take on the role of Ophelie, and the Met was lucky to have her available.

[suzanneetmoi]

What you are hearing here was likely from the internet radio broadcast that night.I've just come from HD broadcast of Hamlet & I take issue with those who think that there is only 1 way to perform. Ms.Petersen was amazing & put her stamp on the role of Ophelie- amazing!.Her voice has a different quality to it, a darker color& I felt very privileged to have been able to witness this.The scene is set differently, with Ophelie clinging to a pillow, cradling it as the child she hoped to carry.

[velazquez2009]

@suzanneetmoi

That might all be great, but I didn't go, there is no comparison between Dessay in this role and Petersen to me.

Her high notes are terrible and her diction is no good.

[Orfeusz]

Terrible, ugly

[ortruda2009]

Guau Guau Guauuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

[SsteinwayS]

Oh my gosh...we want our amazing Dessay, not this Marlis Petersen!

[SsteinwayS]

And after hearing the terrible end with those nasty squeaks at the top of her range, I'm sorry I even gave her two stars!

[velazquez2009]

@SsteinwayS

you are right!!! How I miss Dessay.

Petersen sings terrible, those high notes terrible and her phrasing is frail and unsteady, terrible sounds...

[actionsrlouder]

Terrible!