Goody, Goody Giddiness Poem by gershon hepner

I feel a giddiness that’s goody, goody,
but cannot sing like Turandot
about it when awarded with a woody,
because to do so would be not
polite unless the gal who brought my woody on
would join me in my aria,
approving of me as no jerk but John
who’s unprepared to marry her.

Inspired by Anthony Tommasini’s review of the new Metropolitan Opera production of Puccini’s Turandot, with Lise Lindstrom singing the title part, Marcello Giordani taking the part of Prince Calàf and Marina Poplavskaya as Liù (“He’s Come to Melt the Heart of an Ice Princess, ” NYT, October 30,2009) :
Though Ms. Lindstrom may not have the biggest Turandot voice, she sang with chilling power and nailed the top notes. Her sound was impressively focused, with a vibrant vibrato on sustained tones and no wobble. The youthful shimmer of her singing was balanced by rich emotional maturity. Yet there was often a hard edge to her sound, not quite strident but close. Whether this coloring is simply a characteristic of her voice or a sign of strain for a singer in her early 40s is the question. Her performance was strong. But I worry about her future. After Act II, when Ms. Lindstrom took her first curtain call and was greeted by a lusty ovation, she certainly broke character, jumping in place, clapping her hands with “goody, goody” giddiness, looking like the California gal that, after all, she is. It was hard to adjust my perception of her for Act III….The most complete performance came from the elegant Russian soprano Marina Poplavskaya as Liù, the slave girl devoted to Timur and in love with Calàf. She sang with warmth, beautifully earthy colorings and captivating pianissimo high notes. And Zeffirelli fans mourning the retirement of his “Tosca” production can flock to the biggest, grandest Zeffirelli show of them all.

10/30/09