[from Geof. Riggs; not Eliz. H., my better half]
Post by Jon A ConradPost by HPLeftI was told by the DG people that Lenny thought he was retaining Alberto
Remedios rather than Jose Carreras for this role. As the story goes, he
apparently confused the two singers.
This is a rumor (probably originally a joke) that won't die. But it has
no credibility on its face: first, that DG, with its name-oriented casting,
would have considered Remedios for this role;
Granted, although Remedios, though without quite the name recognition of
a Carreras, had already sung at the Met by this point and been heard in
a b'cast to boot, so he wasn't an entire unknown in the U.S.,
particularly at that time. And the U.S. would arguably have been the
new set's chief audience. I take your point, however, that Remedios
didn't "sell" in the way that Carreras did!
Post by Jon A Conradsecond, that Bernstein would
have imagined him as the ideal casting for Tony;
Here, I might demur somewhat more: we're not necessarily talking about
"ideal" casting as such after all. Compromises were already being made
for the sake of bringing in rich operatic voices to begin with. That
being so, the question is not necessarily who is ideal but which
exciting-voiced genuinely operatic tenor might be relatively more
comfortable singing a role in English. English was Remedios's native
language, let's not forget, and I own up to finding it fairly surprising
just how natural, and also distinct and clear, Remedios in fact sounds
when singing in English translation -- not easy in Wagner, BTW
(Remedios's main claim to fame).
Obviously, Remedios is British and the role of Tony is that of an
American; yet the gulf that might separate a British-English singer from
an American-English role like Tony would be far narrower, IMHO, than the
gulf that obviously separated the struggling Carreras from that same role.
Most definitely, I can very well see precisely how -- even if the
Remedios story is pure rumor -- the Remedios story could still have
gained very strong traction nevertheless, given Remedios's clearly
easier grasp of singing in English.
Am sincerely curious, BTW: please, does Professor Conrad himself have
specific reasons for feeling that, on an artistic level, Remedios's Tony
might have been no better than Carreras's? As I say, just curious<G>.
Sincere thanks.
Post by Jon A Conradthird, that so
knowledgeable an international opera conductor as Bernstein would have
confused the two;
But that's not the story. The story is that it was some flunky, other
than Bernstein, who jumped to the conclusion that Bernstein wanted
Carreras. It was the flunky then who confused the two tenors, according
to the story, thus perpetuating the error down the chain of command [see
closing paragraph below].
Post by Jon A Conradfourth, that major label casting deals are made on the
basis of a hasty confused phone call or whatever, in the manner suggested
by this story.
Actually, I tend to agree that the story is open to some question. But
I don't see it as altogether impossible that something along the
following lines _might_ have happened -- _if_, for the sake of argument,
we take it that such a mistake was made at all (a big question, of course):
Leonard Bernstein, say, a couple of years before the recording's made,
hears Remedios singing something in English in a surprisingly natural
and direct way. He's struck by the combination of clarity and ease in
Remedios's diction. He remarks casually to some idiot who doesn't know
opera from a hole in the wall that he has heard this very relaxed singer
whose name has an "os" ending doing a few things in English and doing
them very engagingly.
The idiot then sees a chance to earn some kudos and cover himself with
glory by securing this "Hispanic" singer for the Bernstein recording.
Jumping to the conclusion that it's Carreras, he contacts Carreras and,
without actually inviting him for a specific recording of any kind
(that's not his perogative), confirms with Carreras that, by a miracle,
Carreras is available on the needed dates. "WOW" he thinks in all his
Lilliputian cretinism.
He contacts the producer, or whoever is his boss, and tells her/him that
this Hispanic singer whom Bernstein likes so much is available on the
needed recording dates: "Isn't that just wonderful?!"
The boss, ignorant of any mixup, not being privy to the original
exchange with Bernstein, assumes that the flunky knows what he's talking
about, and she/he says very excited to the underling "You get Carreras
signed on right away! I can't wait to tell Lenny the second you
have a signed contract with this singer. But you first have to tell me
the second you've secured a contract. I don't want to tell Bernstein
too soon and then disappoint him. So get Carreras on board TODAY if you
can. There's a promtion for you if you do this immediately. And get
back to me the second it's a done deal."
The rest, alas, is history. The idiot secures Carreras's name on the
dotted line. The boss then joyfully tells Bernstein "Guess what? We've
got your Carreras guy. Isn't that marvelous?!"
"AAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH", comes the response.
"What the *&%*&*&^ &I^OIY&OO*&O 8o8i**(&*((*)& *&*(&(*()(* 90908909088
have you gone and done??!!!!!!!!! It was REMEDIOS, you morons!!!!"
"I don't see what we can do now. Carreras has already made his
arrangements. We've already gotten his name on a contract. It's done.
We thought we'd surprise you."
"Oh, you surprised me, all right!:-("
You know, human nature can be funny -- and as someone who, in a
relatively humble capacity as a sometime producer of a young singers'
series, has had to make compromises of my own after others have made
ghastly mistakes risking our good rapport with a number of very
promising performers, I can understand the urge to maintain good
relations with singers in general at all costs. To cut to the chase, I
don't see it as improbable that, having inadvertently snagged Carreras,
it was felt eventually that it would entail less headaches to continue
being nice to Carreras, not to breathe a word of the excruciating
misunderstanding to him, now that he was signed on, and to treat him as
a desired colleague as if nothing were wrong.
In short, they may have felt that it was too late now, and that it was
better not to hurt Carreras's feelings. In any case, Bernstein himself
may have figured there might be times in the future when Carreras might
well be singing with him in a real opera, and he may not have wished to
jeopardize a future professional relationship with, after all, a very
famous and a very "sellable" colleague.
I recognize that there may be problems in the initial premise of this
story. Can we really be sure that Mr. Moores acquired his story from a
strong source? But the plausibility of the story itself may not be as
far-fetched as all that, given the possibilities I've outlined here.
With sincere respect, what say you?<G>
Best,
Geoffrey Riggs (Assoluta Monster)
www.operacast.com/assoluta.htm