Ballo in Maschera (Met 2012)
Aug. 27th, 2020 08:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cahnHmm, I had a draft of an opera post that seems to have vanished -- at least I can’t find it now -- and one of the operas I wanted to talk about was the Ballo in Maschera with Hvorostovsky as Renato, and Radvanovsky as Amelia, and Marcelo Álvarez as Gustavo. It’s streaming free for the next, umm, 18 hours? So I want to talk about it now and encourage you to watch it, because it’s great, and sorry I didn’t get to it until now. (And also sorry you’re not getting the post I can’t find, which was rather more detailed!)
The staging/choreography is abstract, stylized, over-the-top, and I love it madly. There’s a sort of hilariously Broadway component to it, where e.g. in this clip near the end everyone starts doing a chorus line with hats, I laughed so hard :D The bits with Ulrica are also hilariously over-the-top. There are a couple of missteps -- I thought the villains defacing Gustavo’s portrait was Too Much -- but generally speaking I really thought they did a good job of doing it so that the essential nature of the opera shone through.
I feel like there are some things Hvorostovsky is really good at, acting-wise, and playing the devoted, slightly ominous friend is one, and playing the pining lover is another, so being Renato is playing to his strengths :)
But I was totally shocked Álvarez (whom I’d never watched before) was the one who won my heart, because his acting was so good. He actually made me believe that Gustavo was conflicted about Amelia and Renato, instead of when I watched Domingo when I just felt super creeped out by Gustavo hitting on Amelia. (I suppose, somewhat presciently…) I could also see why Amelia fell for him -- on one hand, okay, Hvorostovsky, why would you even ever look at anyone else, yeah… but on the other hand Hvorostovsky plays Renato as very reserved and closed, and Álvarez is so energetic and peppy that you can just see how she might have been attracted to that.
And the end is just so great. When I watched Domingo, I was a bit “why are you suddenly all ‘I super didn’t have an affair with your wife’?” but with Álvarez it’s very clear that his Gustavo knows he’s hurt Renato, and he wants more than anything to make that right before he dies. It’s not about whether he’s had an affair with her, it’s all about Gustavo and Renato and their friendship in that moment, and… yeah, he totally sold it to me.
(I feel bad for not having much to say about Radvanosky! She was good, but I don’t remember all that much about her in particular.)
The staging/choreography is abstract, stylized, over-the-top, and I love it madly. There’s a sort of hilariously Broadway component to it, where e.g. in this clip near the end everyone starts doing a chorus line with hats, I laughed so hard :D The bits with Ulrica are also hilariously over-the-top. There are a couple of missteps -- I thought the villains defacing Gustavo’s portrait was Too Much -- but generally speaking I really thought they did a good job of doing it so that the essential nature of the opera shone through.
I feel like there are some things Hvorostovsky is really good at, acting-wise, and playing the devoted, slightly ominous friend is one, and playing the pining lover is another, so being Renato is playing to his strengths :)
But I was totally shocked Álvarez (whom I’d never watched before) was the one who won my heart, because his acting was so good. He actually made me believe that Gustavo was conflicted about Amelia and Renato, instead of when I watched Domingo when I just felt super creeped out by Gustavo hitting on Amelia. (I suppose, somewhat presciently…) I could also see why Amelia fell for him -- on one hand, okay, Hvorostovsky, why would you even ever look at anyone else, yeah… but on the other hand Hvorostovsky plays Renato as very reserved and closed, and Álvarez is so energetic and peppy that you can just see how she might have been attracted to that.
And the end is just so great. When I watched Domingo, I was a bit “why are you suddenly all ‘I super didn’t have an affair with your wife’?” but with Álvarez it’s very clear that his Gustavo knows he’s hurt Renato, and he wants more than anything to make that right before he dies. It’s not about whether he’s had an affair with her, it’s all about Gustavo and Renato and their friendship in that moment, and… yeah, he totally sold it to me.
(I feel bad for not having much to say about Radvanosky! She was good, but I don’t remember all that much about her in particular.)
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Date: 2020-08-28 09:58 pm (UTC)Also Kathleen Kim is just. Holy fuck. Dat voice?!
I miss Dima :( He was especially beautiful and heartbreaking as Renato. Whoever designed that grey suit deserves an award :D
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Date: 2020-08-29 04:01 am (UTC)Kathleen Kim is wonderful and I can't believe I forgot to mention her! The only thing is that the only other time I've watched this opera it had Sumi Jo as Oscar and. I mean. She is so good it's unbelievable!
That grey suit. Yeeeeeeah. This was a great role for him and that suit :D