Patrick Summers

Patrick Summers

62 (1963-08-14)
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I Puritani 2007

It's hard to imagine a video opera collection without this superbly sung MET production of Bellini's I Puritani. Not that it's perfect by any means, but its excellences--most especially Anna Netrebko's electrifying singing and acting of Elvira--banish carping about other aspects of this memorable night at the opera. Netrebko is fragile from the start, her facial expressions and hand movements immediately conveying the girl's vulnerability. She has a mad scene in each act; the first when she realizes her fiancé has disappeared with another woman, the third, in the final act, a brief relapse when her returned fiancé is taken by the army to be executed. But it's in the second act that the real fireworks occur, with a Mad Scene that rivals Donizetti's Lucia for bel canto primacy. Here, Elvira is first heard off-stage, after the chorus has informed us that she's deranged. She enters wearing her wedding gown and begins Qui la voce in a voice as frail as her psyche.
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Rossini La Cenerentola 2008

This is an excellent version of one of the greatest of all comic operas, featuring superb singing and orchestral playing. And it's not just the two headliners; listen, for example, to the entrance of the stepsisters at the beginning of Act One. Nevertheless, some viewers may find the staging problematic, with singers in clown-like costumes and sets featuring human-sized rodents. Those seeking a more conventional production might want to consider the Houston Grand Opera DVD, also on Decca, with Cecilia Bartoli and Raul Jimenez. Both sets are wonderful, but, for me, Joyce Didonato and Juan Diego Florez are slightly to be preferred. Highly recommended.
Patrick J. Summers

Patrick J. Summers

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Most Known for...

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Sharkula: Diarrhea of a Madman 2010

An accomplished graffiti writer, breaker, and MC, Sharkula is the antithesis of commercial Hip Hop music. His passionate rhymes are bizarre, surreal, personal, sometimes downright nasty massive free association. Sharkula is an artist whose passion is living and breathing Hip Hop at all times. What keeps him in the game is making his music and pushing it exclusively on the streets every day. His uncompromising D.I.Y. approach brings him face-to-face with infamy, rejection, and misunderstanding. Featuring interviews with fans, friends and longtime collaborators including PNS of The Molemen, J2K of Flosstradamus, Roburt Reynolds Wrap, The Graduate, and many more. Complete with unreleased 16 mm and VHS archival footage, live performances, candid street interviews, and an original score by Jeremiah Jae.