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Thursday, June 18, 2009

Memo to San Francisco Opera Copy-Editors

The name of the opera is Il Trovatore for a reason, and no one goes to see this opera primarily because of the baritone singing the Count:
Verdi's audience favorite Il Trovatore features intense action and an all-star cast led by Dmitri Hvorostovsky.

10 comments:

  1. There's one of everything. Few remember who the Count was in the legendary Callas/Bjoerling Trovatore in Chicago, though. (I happen to know who the Azucena was, because I know someone who was there, and he told me she stole the show despite being near retirement.)

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  2. You go with what you've got. I'd probably go to see Dmitri in anything at all. So who was the Azucena?

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  3. It's a fall production; cast is Radvanovsky, Blythe, Berti, and Hvorostovsky.

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  4. The copy on SFO's website is beyond embarrassing, but the tutorial for pronouncing "Porgy and Bess" takes the cake for egregious stupidity.

    Second prize goes to the disclaimer stating Salome "may" contain nudity- don't they know this yet? When does this get decided?

    I really don't care for Trovatore, but it is a hell of a cast.

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  5. I think the question was... Who WAS the Azucena, i.e., in Chicago?

    And doesn't blogville courtesy call for a link to the cited website?

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  6. Ooops. Ebi Stignani.

    The bit I cited above came from email, but I'll link to the web site anyway.

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  7. So the copy at SF Opera names the Leonora last. Yow.

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  8. I did, at the Met this Spring. It was worth it.

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  9. I was in NYC for 3 or 4 days in March, but never made it to the Met unfortunately. But out of the operas playing, I would have seen Il Trovatore, with Hvorostovsky being the key draw for me.

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