Mathieu Duplay 🌈
@mathieuduplay.bsky.social
Music for a while. He/him/his. Reposts are not endorsements. TERFs need not apply. I am Albert Gregor.
Was it the production SFO showed on their website during lockdown, with Karita Mattila as Sieglinde? I enjoyed it too.
November 25, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Was it the production SFO showed on their website during lockdown, with Karita Mattila as Sieglinde? I enjoyed it too.
Act 3 was also the best musically, but still not fully convincing due to subpar conducting. The overall pacing was better, but the big numbers fell curiously flat, several degrees short of incandescence. The singers saved the day.
November 24, 2025 at 11:12 PM
Act 3 was also the best musically, but still not fully convincing due to subpar conducting. The overall pacing was better, but the big numbers fell curiously flat, several degrees short of incandescence. The singers saved the day.
Act 3 was the best. The final scene was touchingly done and very atmospheric. The rest looked very much like a toned-down version of his Salome, which I enjoyed (hazmat suits, etc). So, it's not very original in that sense, but I still liked it.
November 24, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Act 3 was the best. The final scene was touchingly done and very atmospheric. The rest looked very much like a toned-down version of his Salome, which I enjoyed (hazmat suits, etc). So, it's not very original in that sense, but I still liked it.
Visually, the Paris production is unexceptionable but not terribly original. It doesn't interfere with the music, but doesn't add much to it either.
November 24, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Visually, the Paris production is unexceptionable but not terribly original. It doesn't interfere with the music, but doesn't add much to it either.
I wouldn't be surprised, but his very public and militant antivax/anti-masking stance during Covid really sticks in my craw.
November 24, 2025 at 9:10 PM
I wouldn't be surprised, but his very public and militant antivax/anti-masking stance during Covid really sticks in my craw.
The opening sequence, with Brünnhilde's battle cry, was still somewhat tepid, but the drama is back on track. This will be a very fine production with a different conductor, or if this one decides to let his hair down a bit.
November 24, 2025 at 9:07 PM
The opening sequence, with Brünnhilde's battle cry, was still somewhat tepid, but the drama is back on track. This will be a very fine production with a different conductor, or if this one decides to let his hair down a bit.
Act 2 is still hit-and-miss, but overall much better. Tamara Wilson is vocally secure and dramatically convincing. De Barbeyrac is pretty much ideal; the low tessitura of the Todesverkündigung doesn't seem to bother him at all, and his Siegmund is deeply moving. "Umfängt Siegmund Sieglinde dort?" 💔
November 24, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Act 2 is still hit-and-miss, but overall much better. Tamara Wilson is vocally secure and dramatically convincing. De Barbeyrac is pretty much ideal; the low tessitura of the Todesverkündigung doesn't seem to bother him at all, and his Siegmund is deeply moving. "Umfängt Siegmund Sieglinde dort?" 💔
He's great. Lovely voice, fine presence. His Wälse, Wälse was impressive. Looking forward to the Todesverkündigung.
November 24, 2025 at 7:09 PM
He's great. Lovely voice, fine presence. His Wälse, Wälse was impressive. Looking forward to the Todesverkündigung.
He has the benefit of an excellent cast. De Barbeyrac as Siegmund really deserves better. I detest Groissböck as a person, but I have to admit he does a creditable job as Hunding,the man everyone loves to hate. A better conductor would have had a field day.
November 24, 2025 at 7:05 PM
He has the benefit of an excellent cast. De Barbeyrac as Siegmund really deserves better. I detest Groissböck as a person, but I have to admit he does a creditable job as Hunding,the man everyone loves to hate. A better conductor would have had a field day.
I have seldom heard a Winterstürme so devoid of passion or erotic tension. No wonder Hunding is able to sleep through it.
November 24, 2025 at 6:55 PM
I have seldom heard a Winterstürme so devoid of passion or erotic tension. No wonder Hunding is able to sleep through it.
Maybe Brünnhilde will zäume her Ross and wake everyone up.
November 24, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Maybe Brünnhilde will zäume her Ross and wake everyone up.
Paris today.
a cartoon of snoopy laying under an umbrella on a beach with the words here comes the sun
Alt: a cartoon of snoopy laying under an umbrella on a beach with the words here comes the sun
media.tenor.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Paris today.
Paris yesterday.
a black and white photo of a snowy road at night
Alt: a black and white photo of a snowy road at night
media.tenor.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Paris yesterday.
Patti's ghost:
two ghosts are standing in front of a microphone .
Alt: Two ghosts are standing in front of a microphone; one is singing.
media.tenor.com
November 23, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Patti's ghost:
...one gifted with an extraordinarily lovely voice. For a couple of seconds I failed to recognise her. Then it hit me all of a sudden. I was being pursued by Patti's ghost.
November 23, 2025 at 7:41 PM
...one gifted with an extraordinarily lovely voice. For a couple of seconds I failed to recognise her. Then it hit me all of a sudden. I was being pursued by Patti's ghost.
I thought I was hearing the voice of an amateur singer accompanying herself on the piano, and was mildly surprised that a soprano was singing this mezzo aria -- but why on earth not, I also thought, it is such a lovely piece. Then I started really paying attention. This was no amateur, or else...
November 23, 2025 at 7:34 PM
I thought I was hearing the voice of an amateur singer accompanying herself on the piano, and was mildly surprised that a soprano was singing this mezzo aria -- but why on earth not, I also thought, it is such a lovely piece. Then I started really paying attention. This was no amateur, or else...
Ah, yes. Always have the "difficult" "modern" piece at the end of the first half, before the intermission -- followed by Rach 3, if possible. :)
November 23, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Ah, yes. Always have the "difficult" "modern" piece at the end of the first half, before the intermission -- followed by Rach 3, if possible. :)
I was really wondering about the comparative standing of people like Nono, Scelsi, Maderna, Bussotti, etc., and how their reputations fare these days compared to Berio's.
November 23, 2025 at 3:02 PM
I was really wondering about the comparative standing of people like Nono, Scelsi, Maderna, Bussotti, etc., and how their reputations fare these days compared to Berio's.
Walk-outs during Sinfonia! I should have thought that was one of his most easily accessible compositions. In my teens, I had to study Sequenza III (for *voce femminile*) for an exam, and I still love the piece (Cathy Berberian sang it beautifully).
November 23, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Walk-outs during Sinfonia! I should have thought that was one of his most easily accessible compositions. In my teens, I had to study Sequenza III (for *voce femminile*) for an exam, and I still love the piece (Cathy Berberian sang it beautifully).
I'm curious about Berio's current standing among post-WW2 composers. I have always enjoyed his music, but I seldom hear him mentioned nowadays, and I suspect that he is no longer regarded as one of the great "radicals" of his time. Not that it matters very much to me, as long as I like what I hear.
November 23, 2025 at 2:08 PM
I'm curious about Berio's current standing among post-WW2 composers. I have always enjoyed his music, but I seldom hear him mentioned nowadays, and I suspect that he is no longer regarded as one of the great "radicals" of his time. Not that it matters very much to me, as long as I like what I hear.