It's been reported that what will almost certainly be the last studio recording of an opera ever made is to be made by EMI: a new recording of Tristan und Isolde to be released next summer. And who will be the Tristan in this Tristan? Why, that great Heldentenor, Placido Domingo, that's who.
Unbelievable. Domingo, with his execrable German and all-wrong Italianate declamation, can't even realize a convincing Siegmund. How he'll even begin to realize even a just-passable Tristan — a role he could attempt only via recording as he'd never make it through just the second act on stage — is beyond my imaginative capabilities. Ditto why EMI has made the decision to undertake this project.
For an industry widely reported to be in its final death throes (i.e., the classical music segment of the music recording industry), this does not bode well either for the industry or the art.
Acting In Opera
Hillary
