Having seen that LUCIA w/Dessay at The Met; it was awful---Dessay made a brave effort but Zimmerman didn't know what she was doing. I heard Vickers last GRIMES at The Met and he was tremendous.
Thank you for including Peter Grimes! I know Britten didn't care for Vickers (he was a notorious homophobe, which understandably made for a fraught relationship), but for me Vickers IS Grimes in ways Pears is not. Vickers I think is closer to the Grimes in George Crabbe's original poem who is a very unsavory person (full disclosure, my undergraduate Senior Thesis was an analysis of how the poem changed when Slater wrote the poetic libretto (intended to stand alone as a work of literature) then was changed again in Britten's and Pear's conception of the Outcast Everyman).
The first time I saw that scene by Dessay I had goosebumps and cried. I didn’t like Sutherland that much, not sure why. I adored, for a very long time, Callas in that role, I think that cd was stuck in my car player for years.
I think there is something cathartic in these madness scenes. When you are suffering, or even when you are only frustrated to the point that you want to shout, a good madness scene at top volume in your car, singing along as loud as you can, can do miracles!
Having seen that LUCIA w/Dessay at The Met; it was awful---Dessay made a brave effort but Zimmerman didn't know what she was doing. I heard Vickers last GRIMES at The Met and he was tremendous.
Vickers had such a ferocious commitment to craft. In awe of him.
One of the great ones to be sure.
Thank you for including Peter Grimes! I know Britten didn't care for Vickers (he was a notorious homophobe, which understandably made for a fraught relationship), but for me Vickers IS Grimes in ways Pears is not. Vickers I think is closer to the Grimes in George Crabbe's original poem who is a very unsavory person (full disclosure, my undergraduate Senior Thesis was an analysis of how the poem changed when Slater wrote the poetic libretto (intended to stand alone as a work of literature) then was changed again in Britten's and Pear's conception of the Outcast Everyman).
The first time I saw that scene by Dessay I had goosebumps and cried. I didn’t like Sutherland that much, not sure why. I adored, for a very long time, Callas in that role, I think that cd was stuck in my car player for years.
I think there is something cathartic in these madness scenes. When you are suffering, or even when you are only frustrated to the point that you want to shout, a good madness scene at top volume in your car, singing along as loud as you can, can do miracles!