# What have you seen recently?



## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

I can't find a thread on this & apologies if I've missed it.

I'm going to start writing short reviews of operas I see and would love to read other people's reviews.

For starters it's Don Pasquale which I saw a few weeks ago in Wolverhampton.

We had great seats - front row centre of the dress circle.

In this production Don Pasquale is a conductor and Norina an opera singer & the start is very funny. Don Pasquale comes on stage, faces the orchestra & the audience & conducts the overture. One of the musicians makes a well telegraphed 'mistake' & is duly harangued by the 'conductor'.

All the main players were excellent if a bit overwhelmed at times by the orchestra. In fact we enjoyed the arias/duets with minimal accompaniment best & these showcased the singers' skills perfectly.

My main objection however was that it is sung in English. I love Don Pasquale so much & know most of the words & kept feeling irritated that little bits of story had to be changed so words could fit the music. There were several instances of this and the first was in the very first scene. Don Pasquale didn't consult his watch & comment it's 9 o'clock which he should have done. Also he didn't sing that he was expecting babies to appear - which reinforces (in pre-viagra days) the notion that a man in his 70s would be ridiculed for getting married & hoping for children.

This didn't bother my friend at all; he just adores the music & doesn't care about the words.

I must just be picky & apart from the language I would recommend it.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

La Fille du Régiment from ROH on Tuesday 25th May.

I went with a friend who had not been to ROH before & knew neither the music nor the story. I had loaned her my copy of the 2007 production but she didn't have time to watch it.










We went to the pre-production talk which was given by Paul Wynne Griffiths, the cover conductor. I was slightly disappointed as all he did was talk about what we were going to see anyway, (and what lots of people had already seen, either in 2007 or on DVD). I could have done with hearing about some behind the scenes stuff as well but my friend found it invaluable.

We had great seats - Stalls Circle centre right.

It is the same cast as the 2007 production with exception of Ann Murray taking the part of La Marquise de Berkenfeld instead of Felicity Palmer.

From quite different perspectives, we both had a wonderful evening. My friend had no idea it was so funny and, knowing the music & story, I could concentrate on the singing (and the amazing acting). Natalie Dessay's comic timing was brilliant and she could surely have a career as a non-singing actress if she wanted to.

Anyway to get to the important bit, I had not seen Dessay live before and I thought she was amazing and as far as I could tell, she nailed everything. I loved the antics & singing-while-you-iron stuff but _Il Faut partir! Adieu!_ really touched me. The audience must have agreed as there wasn't a rustle, cough, sniff - not even a pin was dropped during this.

So much has been written about Juan Diego Flórez and the legendary _Ah! Mes amis_ that I thought it might be a bit of an anti-climax but it was as spectacular as everyone says and with all the applause, cheering, foot stamping, "encore", "bis" it made me think that one day there might actually be an encore at ROH. (If La Scala allowed it…) and the beautiful _Pour me rapprocher de Marie_ got us all sighing!

The rest of the cast were superb as was Dawn French (surtitles in French when she spoke English!)

9 out of 10.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Lucky you to be there in person. and what a great production to see live for the first time. Dessay apparently planned to be an actress long before she chose opera, and it shows.


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

Hi I am new to this forum and this is my first post and very much like what I see. I am lucky to live within 45 mins bus ride from the Royal Opera House and attend roughly once a month. The last thing that I went to see was Aida directed by David McVicar and have to admit I was disappointed by the production as McVicar tried to introduce some Guilio Cesare style dancing in the triumphant march and some of the costuming was very much left to be desired. Amneris looked like something you see at Glastonbury at 4.00am.

The singing was a bit rough and ready and I thought that Marianne Cornetti as Amneris was the best on the night. Marcelo Alvarez as Radames was very patcht whilst Michaela Carosi as Aida had no real control.

The best thing about the night was the fantastic playing from the ROH orchestra and the conducting from Nicola Luisotti.

I was meant to see La Fille Du Regiment but have sucumbed to a bug. But will report back when I see Salome and Simon Boccanegra.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

It must be great to live so close to ROH jflatter - it costs me ticket + hotel so I can't go as often as I'd like.

Interesting review of Aida but I'm not surprised. McVicar's work occasionally misses the mark.

Shame you missed La Fille. In my opinion JDF's voice has matured and has a warmth it sometimes lacked before.

My next treat is Boccanegra so we'll compare notes!


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## classidaho (May 5, 2009)

What a brilliant and interesting thread. This is exactly what I hope for in a forum like this.

I live a life 'alone' in a 'non-classical' enviroment (I must lower the volume for everything I listen to, and I have purchased only one opera DVD, because I am the only one I know who will watch it).

This type of thread is a great extension to my life and I am really enjoying it. I don't blame the members of my family, because I cannot really enjoy the 'tunes' that they listen to either.

Keep the great reviews coming!


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Went to the NZ Opera production of Le Nozze di Figaro last night with my 14-year old daughter. It was great to share my favourite opera with someone who has never seen it (it’s her favourite opera too now). She laughed at all the funny bits – especially Figaro saying that two men must have jumped out of the window and he wasn’t going to comment on things he knew nothing about. She also proffered her expert opinion that Cherubino's "Non so piu" embodied “the unbelievable horniness of 14-year-old boys”. 

It occurred to me what a blessing surtitles have been; when I first started going to the opera you missed all these finer points unless you had a perfect grasp of 18th century Italian or whatever the language was.

I always love the experience of live opera, the camaraderie with the audience (when they are not coming in late, talking or rustling sweetie packets), the feeling of risk, the glorious rounded 3D sound of the orchestra – I really heard the dialogue between oboe and voice yesterday.

The production was beautiful and simple, making very good use of a set of sliding doors and panels that provided little rooms for the action to take place in. Costumes were denim 18th century (go figure). The production emphasised the buffa aspect, was well planned, executed and rehearsed, genuinely funny, and the singers paid praiseworthy attention to the recitatives, always essential in Mozart.

The Suzanna and Figaro of the real-life married couple Emma Pearson and Wade Kernot were the standout performers, particularly the light footed and creamy-voiced Pearson, a fantastic soubrette characterisation. Nuccia Focile was the advertised “star”, but was more to be praised for her acting (still the Rosina of Barbiere, if a little depressed) than her singing; her Porgi was particularly strident and she seemed to have real trouble with both line and tone. Can’t think why anyone would want her to sing Mozart. Other singers were competent and involved. 

Two funny things: one of the younger and less experienced violinists started panicking as what he was playing was manifestedly different from everyone else, and had to have his place found for him by an exasperated colleague (no credit to da Ponte for that one).

Overheard as we were leaving: Old lady, looking bewildered: “Well, I wonder what happened to the “Figaro, Figaro, Figaro” (to the tune of Largo al factotum).


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## karenpat (Jan 16, 2009)

I saw L'incoronazione di Poppea about a week ago and I posted a kind of review of it in my blog.
I can think of several other things to say about although it doesn't really fit in anywhere... I'm hopeless at writing reviews...


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> Went to the NZ Opera production of Le Nozze di Figaro last night with my 14-year old daughter. It was great to share my favourite opera with someone who has never seen it (it's her favourite opera too now). She laughed at all the funny bits - especially Figaro saying that two men must have jumped out of the window and he wasn't going to comment on things he knew nothing about.


What a great introduction for your daughter. She'll always remember her first Nozze.



mamascarlatti said:


> She also proffered her expert opinion that Cherubino's "Non so piu" embodied "the unbelievable horniness of 14-year-old boys".














mamascarlatti said:


> It occurred to me what a blessing surtitles have been; when I first started going to the opera you missed all these finer points unless you had a perfect grasp of 18th century Italian or whatever the language was.


My German is rubbish so I find surtitles invaluable.



mamascarlatti said:


> I always love the experience of live opera, the camaraderie with the audience (when they are not coming in late, talking or rustling sweetie packets), the feeling of risk, the glorious rounded 3D sound of the orchestra - I really heard the dialogue between oboe and voice yesterday.
> 
> The production was beautiful and simple, making very good use of a set of sliding doors and panels that provided little rooms for the action to take place in. Costumes were denim 18th century (go figure). The production emphasised the buffa aspect, was well planned, executed and rehearsed, genuinely funny, and the singers paid praiseworthy attention to the recitatives, always essential in Mozart.
> 
> ...










Great review.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

OK just got home from seeing Rigoletto by Welsh National Opera & even though it's been a long day & I'm tired, I'm too hyped up to sleep.

Gwyn Hughes Jones (Duke) was patchy. Annoyingly the show piece arias were good - his Donna è mobile was perfect but he fluffed what I would call easy bits.

Sarah Coburn (Gilda) was a revelation. I'd not heard her before & she was excellent; vulnerable & sparkling.

David Soar (Sparafucile) was sinister & frightening & one of the best Sparafuciles I've ever heard. (He's leaving WNO & I hope to see him in other roles in the future)

Simon Keenlyside (Rigoletto) was spectacular. (I can't find the words to describe this magnificent performance) & outshone the others.

But I hated the production - Rigoletto set in Washington DC in the 1960s just did not work for me. I couldn't help thinking all that talent & hard work was wasted on a story which at times was farcical. I know opera plots are farcical but I don't think the White House employs people with disabilities for their amusement.

Hopefully Simon Keenlyside will do it again with a more traditional production.

Quality not good but I only take photos of the curtain call & even then never use flash.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

sospiro said:


> Simon Keenlyside (Rigoletto) was spectacular. (I can't find the words to describe this magnificent performance) & outshone the others.


Glad SK did the trick - but in the photo he is just too good-looking to be Rigoletto. He needs at least a hump, a silly hat, a pair of tights, a huge false mole and a heap of make-up.



sospiro said:


> But I hated the production - Rigoletto set in Washington DC in the 1960s just did not work for me. I couldn't help thinking all that talent & hard work was wasted on a story which at times was farcical. I know opera plots are farcical but I don't think the White House employs people with disabilities for their amusement.
> [/URL]


Honestly you have to tell us more. How on earth did it work? Who was the Duke supposed to be? JFK?

I mean I can see the point of updating Rigoletto to a period and place where the mores reflect the story - like Jonathan Miller's 50s Little Italy mafioso production at ENO, but this sounds totally ludicrous.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

To add a bit more: Yes, the President is the Duke & it's set in the early 1960s so I suppose it's JFK. Act II "Ella mi fu rapita!" scene is the Oval Office.

For me though there was a scene in Act I which I didn't like at all. Rigoletto has a disability (polio?) which means he has to wear a leg brace. He is a sort of gopher for the President/Duke rather than a Court Jester. At the end of "Gran nuova! Gran nuova!" all the courtiers/entourage mimic Rigoletto by limping while they dance & then they do a conga around the stage exaggerating one of their legs.

I'm sure 50 years ago people with disabilities were mocked and not just in private, I remember the "DOES HE TAKE SUGAR?" campaign & maybe I'm being too sensitive but people around me were shifting in their seats & I thought the cast looked uncomfortable & embarrassed.

However I'm still very pleased I went. I wish I could describe SK's conviction & passion & skill better. The first duet with Gilda & "Deh, non parlare al misero" had me in tears & his acting is better than anything which has ever won an Oscar. As he tries to get to the door in "Cortigiani, vil razza dannata" his anger gives him such strength he almost overcomes his disability & his tormentors. They fling him across the stage & his "Ah! voi tutti a me contro venite..." is heartbreaking.

"Bella figlia dell'amore" was absolutely superb & I would love to see all the cast (even the patchy Gwyn Hughes Jones) re-united & do this in a traditional setting.


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

I saw the first show in the run of Salome last Saturday at the Royal Opera House. I have noticed that it was very mixed reception from the critics but I have to say that I very much enjoyed it. Angela Denoke was Salome and although there was some slight struggle with the some of the high notes, I thought that she was very convincing. Johan Rueter was very good as Jokanaan. Gerhard Segal was a compelling and sleazy Herod and was vocally in much better form than when I saw him as Mime in the Keith Warner Ring. Irina Mishura was a solid Herodias, whilst some of the best singing came from Andrew Staples Narraboth. 

The production seems to be updated to the inter war years and was generally well thought out. The Dance of the Seven Veils has video projections of what appeared to be different parts of Salome's life, this seemed to also infer abuse during Salome's chilhood at the hands of Herod.

Hartmut Haenchen in my view conducted a very account and the orchestra seemed in very good form.

I shall next report on Simon Boccanegra with Placido Domingo, after I have seen it on Thursday.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Thanks jflatter for an interesting review. Some of the publicity shots looked very gruesome though! 










Hope you enjoy Boccanegra & I look forward to reading your review.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

*Simon Boccanegra*

Simon Boccanegra is my favourite opera & I'd been looking forward seeing it so much. It wasn't perfect but in a way that made it perfect.

First 'imperfection' was announced before the opera started. Ferruccio Furlanetto (Fiesco) was unable to sing owing to illness. He would act the role and John Tomlinson would sing the role from the side of the stage. Me & several others couldn't understand why his understudy just didn't step up but we think it might have been something to do with the fact the performance was being broadcast live to several venues in UK. To be honest it didn't really work & John Tomlinson sounded rusty.

No matter, Plácido Domingo made a fantastic impersonation of a young man, bounding around the stage during the Prologue. I can't describe his voice apart from unique but it was wonderful to hear him & his baritone/and-still-some-tenor which was strong & beautiful. I was even more impressed with his keeling over at the end. He'd obviously had some lessons on how to fall flat safely. He looked very dead but perked up for the curtain calls.

Marina Poplavskaya was a puzzle. She has all the skills but seemed to lack confidence at times. But she made a beautiful and vulnerable Amelia. The reconciliation scene with her father was brilliantly played - she burst into tears which I think is what would happen in real life. I always cry at this scene & this was 100 times worse or do I mean better? [waterproof mascara isn't]

I'd read lots of very positive reviews of Joseph Calleja's Adorno & he was even better than I'd hoped. Calleja is a big handsome guy & his voice is the same & he's ideal in the heroic tenor role. _O inferno! Amelia qui!_ was exquisite & brought huge cheers and applause.

I only took one photo of the curtain call. I can't clap, cheer & take photos at the same time. But I took more later.

 

 



Pappano at the top, Domingo at the bottom, spider scrawl in middle Calleja. 
Baby spider scrawl top right, stage hand having a laugh with us.

Only other 'imperfection' had nothing to do with the performance. I had an Opera Bore of the worst kind sitting right behind me. He'd obviously been classically trained as his voice would have reached the upper slips. It was over & over "OF COURSE I SAW DOMINGO'S (insert nearly every role) AND HE WAS MAGNIFICENT" (my thought - well he's singing the Doge tonight) "BOCCANEGRA IS NOT MY _FAVOURITE_ OPERA BUT OF COURSE ONE HAS TO SEE DOMINGO" (my thought - well SB is my favourite opera no matter who sings the role). But the worst was during the applause for Calleja's _O inferno! Amelia qui,_ OB shouted "OF COURSE DOMINGO SUNG THIS ROLE AND HE WAS MAGNIFICENT" I turned round & gave him a filthy look. I wanted to say "I KNOW HE DID BUT CALLEJA'S SINGING THE ROLE TONIGHT AND HE'S MAGNIFICENT" in other words 'shut the bleep up'.	Perhaps he read my mind because he did after that!


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## Gneiss (Feb 3, 2009)

sospiro said:


> Only other 'imperfection' had nothing to do with the performance. I had an Opera Bore of the worst kind sitting right behind me.


You have my sympathy... We had a woman sitting behind us when we went to see Manon I think had visited every opera house in the universe probably including some they haven't built yet. She spoke very poor French thanking couple who stood up to let her get to her seat despite the fact they were obviously ITALIAN! The culmination was that between act three and four it became apparent that she had no idea who the soprano (Anna Netrebko) was, how to pronounce her name or how many acts there were... I could go on, but clearly you have already met her brother


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

I too saw Simon Boccanegra at the ROH last Thursday. As Sospiro stated Ferrucio Furlanetto was struggling with an ailment but did not appear at all for the performance I attended. The Georgian bass Paata Bucherladze, whose name I have not heard in long time took over the role of Fiesco and I have to say did very well. His voice was strong and baleful and he dramatically was very convincing. Placido Domingo was excellent as Boccanegra and although he was a tenor sining the baritone role he was utterly compelling both vocally and dramatically. I thought Joseph Calleja sang well as Adorno. I have to say I am unsure with Marina Poplavskya as a Verdi soprano. She sounded she would do more justice to her voice in other reportoire, although I recall I have seen her sing Elisabetta twice in Don Carlo and the second time she sang with Jonas Kaufmann she was powerful. However sometimes I feel her voice lacks the warmth for Verdi roles. The minor roles were taken very well and the chorus as ever was wonderful voice. The conducting as as ever with Pappano and Verdi was top notch and the orchestra as has been the case in recent months has maintained its wonderful form.

The evening began with a small speech from Antonio Pappano paying tribute to Charles Mackerras who died the night previously. He will of course be a man much missed by those who love classical music and attend concerts and operas in the UK.

For the purposes of this thread. My next review will be a concert performance of Act 2 of Tristan at the Proms in period instruments by the Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment conducted by Simon Rattle. After that I am going to a semi staged version of Tristan conducted by Essa Pekka Salonen at the Festival Hall.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

> Anyone lucky enough to have seen Plácido Domingo's Simon Boccanegra at the Royal Opera House will recall that the Doge's lingering death scene is concluded abruptly and somewhat scarily. Instead of sinking safely to his knees, the 69-76 year old baritenor crashes convincingly to the floor. It's a wonder he doesn't break anything. Of course he rises unharmed a couple of seconds later to remind us that it's all showbiz.


I wasn't the only one then to admire Plácido's falling flat safely skills. 



> For his semi-staged Proms performance - baking in full sofa-upholstery costume in sweltering conditions that had already sent a few Prommers into a faint - naughty Plácido went one step further. Down he went - smack! And there he lay, motionless, as the seconds ticked on. The concern on Marina Poplavskaya's face spread to Joseph Calleja, then Tony Pappano and a few in the orchestra. We wondered whether he'd ended his career on stage in South Kensington. But then, proving you're never too old for a sick joke at other people's expense (the best kind!), up he popped, laughing.


I was listening to it but the commentator never mentioned this. The Prom was amazing though & wish I'd been there.

http://intermezzo.typepad.com/intermezzo/


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

Apologies for the late review. However I saw Act 2 of Tristan und Isolde at the Proms on 1 August 2010. It was a concert staging with the Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment conducted by Simon Rattle. Ben Heppner was Tristan, Violeta Urmana was Isolde, Sarah Connolly was Brangane and Franz-Josef Selig as King Marke.

If anyone who saw Ben Heppner as Tristan at the Royal Opera's production in October will know that he had serious problems with his voice. This sadly has continued and you do wonder if it will return to its glory days. Covent Garden must be worried about engaging him in Peter Grimes next summer. The problem for much of this performance was lack of power and struggling with the high notes of the love duet.

Violeta Urmana was a confident Isolde and did well in the love duet as well as her opening scene with Brangane. Sarah Connolly was an excellent Brangane but in the opening scene with Isolde and during her moving warnings during the love duet.

However the best singing of the evening was Franz-Josef Selig as King Marke. This was a performance of the highest quality. Selig was able to convey the absolute agony of Marke in his humiliation but vocally and dramatically, despite it being a concert performance. 

I have to admit to being apprehensive before this concert as I was concerned about Tristan working on period instruments. However my fears were allayed and the OAE's rendition of the score was of the highest standard and they helped by Rattle's even paced conducting.


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## Poppin' Fresh (Oct 24, 2009)

jflatter said:


> If anyone who saw Ben Heppner as Tristan at the Royal Opera's production in October will know that he had serious problems with his voice. This sadly has continued and you do wonder if it will return to its glory days. Covent Garden must be worried about engaging him in Peter Grimes next summer. The problem for much of this performance was lack of power and struggling with the high notes of the love duet.


Yikes. I'm scheduled to see him as Lohengrin at the Los Angeles Opera in December. Now you have me a bit worried.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Thanks for the interesting review jflatter. 

Shame about Heppner & although 54 can be quite old for a tenor, with some R&R he may be OK for Los Angeles.


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

Poppin' Fresh said:


> Yikes. I'm scheduled to see him as Lohengrin at the Los Angeles Opera in December. Now you have me a bit worried.


I really do hope that he does recover as he has been probably the best Wagnerian tenor of the last decade or so. Poppin Fresh maybe you can do a review when you see Lohengrin?


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## Poppin' Fresh (Oct 24, 2009)

jflatter said:


> I really do hope that he does recover as he has been probably the best Wagnerian tenor of the last decade or so. Poppin Fresh maybe you can do a review when you see Lohengrin?


Oh yeah of course, I was planning on it.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

*Il Guarany from Antonio Carlos Gomes*



sospiro said:


> I can't find a thread on this & apologies if I've missed it.
> 
> I'm going to start writing short reviews of operas I see and would love to read other people's reviews.


Great idea. I plan to be a regular contributor to this thread.

I had posted the review below in another thread - "what you've been watching" - but it is much more appropriate here, so, I copied it and will past it below:

-------

Relatively obscure Brazilian composer, his style is very close to Verdi's (who respected him). I have just finished listening to his most known opera Il Guarany, with Placido Domingo (available commercialy on 2 CDs with the libretto in Italian, translated into English, French, and German). Here is what I thought:

Beautiful overture (_Sinfonia_)

Nice start with the chorus of the 'cacciatori.' It does sound like Verdi. Quality without originality, I see.

Wow, this is very beautiful, Cecilia's second aria (after a very brief and tuneful pollaca) is very good, with a very effective choral punctuation. _Deh! Riedi... deh riedi!_

Antonio's Ave Maria is beautiful too. _Salve, possente Vergine_.

All these arias turn to ensembles and the effect is impressive.

Now I got to the gorgeous duet _Sento una forza indomita_. Excellent!

End of first act. Homogeneously good. A+

Act II starts with a scena and a nice Pery aria, _Vanto io pur superba cuna_, majestic. Wow, this is a really good opera!

It is followed by a rather theatrical scene full of action, then a dramatic duet - _Serpe vil_. The steady high quality continues. We're getting to a chorus piece now - _Udiste? - L'ore è un ente sì giocondo._ Verdian again.

What a nice, tuneful waltz-like rondò follows - _Senza tetto, senza cuna_, Canzone dell'Avventuriere!

Now, Cecilia's ballata, _Oh, come è bello il ciel! - C'era una volta un principe_. Delicate orchestration with guitar sounds, light, with beautiful opportunities for the soprano to work the musical lines and do some coloratura. Very lyric, very romantic. I like it!

Here, in a Brazilian production (nice soprano!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=GRXK...eature=related

The duet between Cecilia and her assailant Gonzales is very dramatic, with a good dose of pathos._Donna, tu forse l'unica_

Some more good theatrical action, and we get to the finale of Act II. Majestic and impressive ensemble, in two parts, the second one start with the attack of the Aimorès and is appropriately solemn with a moment of frozen fear, then everybody jumps to the arms and prepares for the fight. Good Verdian orchestration.

Poor Carlos Gomes, if only Verdi hadn't done it before him! I mean, if only he had Verdi's creativity as well and weren't just a copycat...
Regardless, even if it's a copy, it's a pretty good copy and Act II earns from me another A+.

Act III now. Opens with a ballet - which unfortunately I can't see. But I can look at it on YouTube later.

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=8L0Q...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=aHEt...eature=related

Chorus piece, _Aspra, crudel, terribil_, pretty good, finishing by a rather effective line, Ferro e fuoco (steel - or rather, iron, and fire).

Next, the chief Aimorè indian sings a bone-chilling aria, it does feel salvage and evocative of the fierce tribe's warring ways (the Aimorès historically were very bellicose indians). He turns more mellow and romantic as he sees the beautiful face of his prisoner and falls in love with her, addressing her more gently. The change in tone is striking. Well done, Gomes!

Then, we get to a big gaffe from the Italian librettists, I don't know why a genuine Brazilian like Carlos Gomes didn't correct it. The Cacico calls Pery 'the desert tiger.' What desert, and what tiger??? LOL, the Rio de Janeiro surroundings at the time in 1560 were a luxurious subtropical forest, no desert in sight for thousands of miles, and tigers were not part of the Brazilian fauna. A metaphor, sure, but how would the chief Aimorè even know about these things to be able to formulate such metaphor??? [laugh]

Another quite dramatic and theatrically rich scene, when the Cacico is calling for Pery to be killed and eaten, Cecilia pleads for him, etc. Pery's line is exquisite and plaintiff, _Ah! tu me vedrai morir!_ (Ah! You'll see me die!).

The theme of the overture comes back briefly to a beautiful effect. The Cacico grants to Pery and Cecilia a moment alone to express their love for each other before Pery is killed.

Then, a duet between the two protagonists, pungent and tearful. Superb! _Ebben, che fu - Perché di meste lagrime_. A+ quality material.

All right. Pery drinks poison. Why does opera like poison so much?[laugh]

Now a chorus with the Cacico and his tribe. The overture theme comes back in full force while the indians kneel and pray to their gods. The effect is very solemn and the orchestration is very beautiful. The choral piece is gorgeous, followed by a short finale to ACT III when the Portuguese come to the rescue.

Did I mention that it all deserves an A+? LOL

Act IV

Very beautiful orchestration again with elements from the overture (different ones) into which the voices of the coro di avventurieri melt; wavy music, again it starts well.

Another gaffe from the libretto - Pery is alive - what happened to that poison?!? Ah, OK, it is explained later that he got antidotes from forest herbs, how convenient.[eyes]

Beautiful aria for Gonzales, _In quest'ora suprema_.

Good dramatic scenes continue, there is the baptism scene, this is turning more into theater than music, Act IV seems dramatic enough but less musical so far, they're having to pack too much action into a short span and there is no space for good arias. A pity, it's the first downside so far of his entire opera.

OK, Pery's soaring aria (although short - can't really call it an aria, it's more like a short arioso) when he converts *is* beautiful, so, never mind._Al Dio che in me regenera_.

Beautiful display by Cecilia._Che sento? Ed io dividermi_

Now, for the Gran scena e terzetto finale ultimo. Spectacular! Don Antonio gets to be a suicide bomber 450 years before they became fashionable[laugh] and it literally ends with a bang, with the overture theme returning for a - er... - bombastic finale. Goosebumps!

A+ all around. Excellent opera. I wonder why in the hell this is not part of the repertoire. Not very demanding, not too long, full of dramatic potential, beautiful orchestration, some outstanding arias, duets, and ensembles... A winner from beginning to the end.

The only way to explain its failure to endure is the fact that it is, note by note, done in the exact style of Giuseppe Verdi, and it was composed by an obscure South American composer.

But while not matching a _Don Carlo_ or _Aida_ in terms of majestic impact, or _Il Trovatore_ which is stylistically closer, if only we got Verdi out of our mind and just listened to this opera, we'd easily see that it is extremely good, and certainly much better than _I Lombardi_ which gets staged fairly often.

I'd like to know its history of performances.

Folks, if there is anybody reading this long post about an obscure opera composer's least obscure work, get this one.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

*Gounod's Faust*

A warning / disclaimer - unlike most, when I write a review I'm mostly reviewing the opera itself, not the production or the singing (although about this one, I touch on it at the end). These reviews for me are ways to create a ranking of my favorite operas and I try to concentrate on the strenghts and weaknesses of the music (score, voice) and the theatricality of the scenes, and to curb myself from overestimating the opera if the production is good, or underestimating it if it is not (hard to do because I'm human, but I try). So, I'm not exactly reviewing this DVD, but rather trying to review Gounod's Faust.

I offer no guaranties about the names of the arias I write down when I'm reviewing from a DVD that lacks its insert (as is the case today - it's a Netflix rental). I just try to copy them down as I get them, and sometimes I don't get them right and the "official" name of the aria is different.

---------

1985 production from the Vienna State Opera. Erich Binder conducts. Ken Russell (!) directs (and makes a mess).
Francisco Araiza is Faust, Ruggero Raimondi is the Devil, and Gabriela Benackova is Marguerite.










Starting soon.

Overture - ominous music to start with. Getting more melodious now. Still, so-so. Too long. B-

Rien! En vain j'interroge - Faust's first arioso/recitatif mix. I don't care for it very much. B-

Le ciel pallît - more forceful and haunting than the preceding one - better. Faust prepares himself to commit suicide. Two choruses are heard - girls, harvesters, good people but Faust is not moved. A good scene. B+

Faust curses God. Vocal lines and orchestration are both sort of overdramatic and the orchestration feels conventional. B-

Me voici - d'où vient ta surprise? The Devil comes up.

Faust asks for la jeunesse - À moi les plaisirs. The devil replies, Fort bien! The dialogue continues and is interesting. B+, spinning, merry rhythm and melodie, the best part so far.

End of Act I. B- overall.

---

Act II brings up six choruses, supposed to be lively and joyful. The first one is a drinking song, not very good. the ones that follow are not any better. The orchestration is pallid. C+. Then at the end they merge and it gets a little better. B-. This doesn't seem to be Gounod's forte. I've seen much better.

O sainte médaille - a solo by a soldier. Very short. Started well but then ended abruptly. Not enough for a score.

Avant de quitter ces lieux - this is above what we've had so far but nothing extraordinary. B+

Another drinking song, a little better than the first one, with some drôle d'histoires told by members of the crowd. The devil comes to interact with people. B

Le veau d'or - the first really good piece. A

Mephistopheles makes a mess in the plaza - rather uninteresting scene. C+

De l'enfer qui vient - pretty good piece. B+

Ainsi que la brise legère - pleasant waltz. Not bad at all. A-

Ne permettez vous pas la belle demoiselle - a lyric duet. It's an OK one. B

the waltz comes back and ends the act.

Overall - B+

-------

Act III

Interesting prelude. B+

Faites-lui mes aveux - OK. B

Quel trouble unconnu me penètre - Salut, demeure chaste et pure - OK, now we're in business, finally a really good piece. A+. It was about time.

Il était un roi de Thulé - charming. B+. However it spots the plot dead on its track, and is rather useless.

Ah! je ris de me voir - The Jewell Song. Lovely, A+

Seigneur Dieu, que vois-je - it starts a good stretch of melodious arioso, and some ensembles in rapid succession.

It leads to a nice quartet: Je ne vous crois pas. A

Il était temps - Mephisto sings his big aria, very impressive, with lots of gravitas. A

Now it's time for a long love duet between Faust and Marguerite in various parts:

Laisse-moi, laisse moi contempler ton visage. He sings, then she sings. Romantic, melodious piece. A. Followed by I'l m'aime, I'l m'aime pas. B. 
Then Ô nuit d'amour! Cel radieux! Big time melody, rolling, enticing, serenade style. A+, I like it a lot. Partez, partez, oui, partez vite! Marguerite has a pang of guilt and pushes Faust away. Overdramatic let down. B-.

Divine pureté! comes to close the act. Again, the melody soars, and we get back to A territory, with a nice tune to end it after Mephisto comes back, and Faust and Margueritte exchange some more passionate lines, her back to her room and singing with the window open. Effective. A

This act is far superior to the first two. I give it an A overall. The opera is getting progressively better: from B- to B+ to A. Looking forward to the last two acts to see what the global score will be.

-----------

Act IV

Elles ne sont plus la - it's pungent, but somehow rubs me the wrong way, seems too lachrimose. I'm not impressed. B-. I'm not very much into this sort of thing (this is one of the reasons I don't care much for Madama Butterfly).

Siébel comes in, it all continues in the same style. I still don't like it. There is something missing from this version - according to my synopsis, we're supposed to get a Mephisto aria her, and a pray by Marguerite. Nothing like this in this version.

A march comes in. Deposons nos armes. A bunch of people arrive. By now the entire pace of this thing is pretty much shot. Gounod was unable to maintain what he had achieved in Act III.

But then, Gounod recovers. Next is Gloire Immortelle - pretty good march. A-.

This followed by Vous qui faites l'endormie, by Mephisto. Rather clichéd piece, punctuated by diabolic laughter. B-. The pace continues to suffer and the whole thing feels forced.

Valentin, Faust, and Mephisto get to a trio. Redouble, O Dieu puissant. Again, rather mondaine stuff. B

Lame sword fight ensues, Valentin gets killed. Or dying. As usual, in opera, people sing after they are poisoned, stabbed, or pierced by sword. What he sings is not that enticing, as he keeps insulting his sister. C+.

Long, long, death scene. By now I'm bored. C-

It ends on some tuneful, melancholic orchestration that is actually better than what came before it, B+.

Act IV comes to an end, the weakest of them all so far. B- overall.

-----

Act V now.

OK, now we get Marguerite in a church, trying to pray and Mephisto stopping her from doing it, ballerinas come around for a few seconds (no full ballet in this production, pitty, because I heard that the ballet music in Gounod's Faust is very beautiful), she is arrested. Souvient-toi du passé - the Mephisto aria that was missing before, is now up next. I guess this production switched the order of scenes. It is pretty good. A-.

Seigneur, accuillez la prière - Marguerite sings, very lyrical, beautiful. Again we are in A territory. The scene ends well with the Devil shouting À toi l'enfer!

Sc 2, the ballet, is skipped in this production.

There is a long brass/clarinet introduction to Sc 3, I like it, B+ at least if not A-.

Marguerite is in her prison cell. Faust and Mephisto come along, Mephisto leaves, Faust sings. Oui, c'est toi. Rather good. A-.

Gounod, Barbier and Carré try to move into high drama. I'm not sure if they succeed. It all seems to lack punch, since this love duet is definitely not as good as the one in Act III. B-

A waltz tune comes up while they recall their first meeting. Nice. B+

The orchestra comes alive and comments on the action rather nicely (unlike in most of the opera). It's ending well, and moving back into an A for this scene.

Marguerite's melody, helped by the orchestra is actually quite beautiful and gets an A+. Le diable drags Faust away. Marguerite is about to be beheaded. Jugée... sauvée. Some church-like music comes... Paix et félicité, they sing. But then Ken Russell screws up - he changes the ending!!! The guillotine falls. A gory, bizarre scene comes up when we see Marguerita's beheaded corpse raising from her coffin. Whaaaaat? This isn't Gounod's ending. Final curtain.

Act V gets an A.

-----------

So, time for the final judgment of this opera. Five acts. B-, B+, A, B-, A.

The two As cancel the two B-, and we get to an overall B+ score. Seems fair.

A B+ for me means that it doesn't surpasses the threshold to become one of my favorites, but has its merits.

It is hard to understand why this opera is so much more popular than the vastly superior _La Damnation de Faust_ by Berlioz, which shares the same topic and is better in every way we look into it (orchestration, libretto, pace, lyricism, dramatic impact, creativity, effectiveness, duration, etc.).

About this production - meh. Rather weak staging with outrageous betrayal of the opera's ending, and some stage director gimmicks (come on, Ken Russell!) that didn't work at all (Marguerite is depicted as a nun). So-so singing. Gabriella and Ruggero did fairly well, but Francisco was subpar. But I don't think what I'm saying about this opera has to do with the production. Of course this opera can be made better by more talented singers and better stage directing, but it won't ever be as good as Berlioz's.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Hey Almaviva, thanks for the reviews.

Just for the record, this thread is usually for live opera that you have attended in person.

We usually put DVD reviews on the Opera on DVD threads.

I don't think we've got a CD reviews thread, maybe you could start one for your next CD review?


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> Hey Almaviva, thanks for the reviews.
> 
> Just for the record, this thread is usually for live opera that you have attended in person.
> 
> ...


Oops... darn, in this case I won't be a regular contributor to this thread, since like I said, I live in a small metropolitan area with 3-4 productions per year.

It is true that in late October I'm going to New York City and will attend in person Don Pasquale with Anna Netrebko and Boris Godunov with René Pape, so, I'll be able to post then.

But like I said, I'm not exacting reviewing the DVD. I'm reviewing the *opera* itself. It's actually one of the main reasons I joined - that I would be able to discuss the merits and demerits of the *operas* themselves in terms of the vocal music, the orchestration, and the theatricality. I'm more interested in this kind of discussion than on whether a given production is good or bad (which of course has its merits too, it's just that I'm less interested in that - it's nice to have recommendations for good DVDs and stuff, but I find more stimulating to discuss the works themselves). So, what thread do you recommed for this kind of discussion, or should I create one with this focus?

PS - should I delete my two reviews above?


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Why don't you create a thread - I don't think we've got one.

IMO don't delete your reviews, they still make interesting reading.

We'll look forward to your live reviews.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> Why don't you create a (CD) thread - I don't think we've got one.


Good idea. We could include collections as well (I've got lots of those)


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> Why don't you create a thread - I don't think we've got one.
> 
> IMO don't delete your reviews, they still make interesting reading.
> 
> We'll look forward to your live reviews.


Sure, but the thread should then be about the *musical* strenghts and weaknesses of different operas, regardless of the medium of the recording, and regardless of the quality of the production.

Whether an opera is on vinyl, CD, VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, streaming site, broadcast, or live performance, with or without good singers, with or without decent stage directors versus those who get 'too many ideas,' with or without great conductors, what I'm mostly interested in discussing is whether the opera itself is good or not.

I've not seen people really discussing this part. Do you think there is interest for this kind of discussion?

There seems to be a convention among opera lovers that we discuss the performance, not the opera. It's like we see these works as sacred, and can only say if a given performance does justice to it or not. It's not my preferred approach. I think operas can be just as bad in themselves as they can be outstanding, and I like to discuss their musical and theatrical characteristics and potencial.

Since I'm new here, I'm deferring to you guys - are there threads with this kind of approach? If not, should one be created?


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> Sure, but the thread should then be about the *musical* strengths and weaknesses of different operas, regardless of the medium of the recording, and regardless of the quality of the production.


That's a good idea. Will bring depth to the discussions.



Almaviva said:


> Whether an opera is on vinyl, CD, VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, streaming site, broadcast, or live performance, with or without good singers, with or without decent stage directors versus those who get 'too many ideas,' with or without great conductors, what I'm mostly interested in discussing is whether the opera itself is good or not.
> 
> I've not seen people really discussing this part. Do you think there is interest for this kind of discussion?
> 
> ...


You have just as much right as anyone to suggest different perspectives. More right than me anyway, your knowledge is far superior to mine.

We can develop the discussion on whether the opera itself is any good on any of the threads the DVD, CD or 'current watching' 'current listening', or we could start another one :lol: for just that discussion. Our forum is our oyster.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

sospiro said:


> That's a good idea. Will bring depth to the discussions.
> 
> You have just as much right as anyone to suggest different perspectives. More right than me anyway, your knowledge is far superior to mine.
> 
> We can develop the discussion on whether the opera itself is any good on any of the threads the DVD, CD or 'current watching' 'current listening', or we could start another one :lol: for just that discussion. Our forum is our oyster.


Thanks for the encouragement and for the compliment, but as a matter of fact, I'm not sure about the 'far superior knowledge' part. While I try hard, sometimes my comments are ridiculed by learned musicians - I'm definitely not one of those and have no training whatsoever; I'm just a fan, and I consider myself a begginer in need of lots of additional hours of listening/watching/reading/studying in order to achieve some expertise in the future. But I do have the *goal* of becoming an expert in opera, just for my own pleasure. So, my point in the style of review I posted above is basically to learn - if someone then comes along and challenges what I'm saying, the discussion will certainly increase my understanding of that opera.

When I write down this kind of review, it means it's the first time I see/hear the opera. I don't do it for operas I've seen/heard already - in which case I'll focus more on the performance/stage directing, etc.

Why do I do it? Why share with others my often ignorant views? It's because it beats talking to oneself (like jotting these comments down in some sort of personal diary). Having a real body of interlocutors/addressees beats having a dialogue with an imaginary interlocutor or with oneself. And when there is an "other" on the other side as the recipient of these words, one can get feedback.

One of the goals is to one day be able to look back at my first impression of a work (I periodically save these reviews in Word files). This first impression evolves (relatively recent example, I hated my first contact with Der Rosenkavalier, just to see my opinion of it evolve to the point that now it is one of my favorite operas - thanks to feedback given to my review by a very knowledgeable user in another board).


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

Went to see Tristan und Isolde last night at the Royal Festival Hall in a concert performance with video imagery from Bill Viola. Also during a lot of the opera and particularly in Acts 1 & 2, much use was made of the whole auditorium with the singers performing in the boxes, gallery, and when Tristan and Isolde reunited in Act 2 they walked through the stalls to meet each other. I thought that this was a good way of keeping the concert performance fresh. Peter Sellars was the artistic force behind this and it showed. The video projections were not entirely satisfactory and sometimes you felt that they were distracting rather than anything else, particularly in Act 3. There was a male and female nude scene in Act 1 which did shock some audience members. However when the love potion was taken the imagery was at its best when the two actors in the images jumped in the water seemingly free to love. Musically I thought the performance was of the highest order. The Philharmonia Orchestra under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen played absolutely superbly, displaying some of the finest Wagner playing I have been lucky to witness in a live performance. Salonen was very singer friendly which can be difficult for conducters to be with this type of work. The singers were also very good. Violeta Urmana was a strong yet beautiful Isolde. Gary Lehman was a heroic Tristan and got through this draining part very well. A singer I don't associate with Wagner, Anne Sophie von Otter was superb as Brangane, whilst Jukka Rasilainen was good as Kurwenal. Matthew Best was an imposing King Markeand the minor parts were taken very well.

All in all a fine night of Wagner music.

If you are curious to see a glimpse of the show see the following link.

http://www.philharmonia.co.uk/thesoundexchange/backstage/features/tristan/


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## classidaho (May 5, 2009)

I hope someone can give a review of Bellini's ' La sonnambula'.










I really like the story, the setting and the incredibly good ending , but have never heard of this opera before today.

Also, would someone please translate the following for me?

The phrase "Ah! non credea mirarti / Sì presto estinto, o fior" from the aria "Ah! non credea mirarti" of La sonnambula is inscribed on Bellini's tomb inside the Cathedral of Catania, Sicily.

Thanx much for any help. I think I must have this opera! Chuck


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

classidaho said:


> The phrase "Ah! non credea mirarti / Sì presto estinto, o fior" from the aria "Ah! non credea mirarti" of La sonnambula is inscribed on Bellini's tomb inside the Cathedral of Catania, Sicily.


"Ah, you would not have thought to see yourself so quickly faded, oh flower"

Pretty apt epitaph for someone who died at the age of 34


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## classidaho (May 5, 2009)

Ah! Yes.....and thank you for the quick reply, Natalie.


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## kingtim (Feb 23, 2010)

I love opera... what has everyone seen recently.


My home town (Houston) recently had Madamme Butterfly and it was great! A beautiful piece couldn't have been done so well.


What did you see recently and how did you like it?


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Hi kingtim

There's a thread on this already (Personal opera reviews) but your title makes more sense than mine  so I've asked admin to merge them if they can & keep your title.

I am so jealous you've seen that Madama Butterfly. I'm a big fan of Joseph Calleja & the reviews have been fantastic (I put some in 'Opera News')

I go when I can - saw Boccanegra with Domingo, Furlanetto & Calleja at ROH which was out of this world. Going to see Rigoletto with Hvorostovsky next Tuesday.


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

sospiro said:


> saw Boccanegra with Domingo, Furlanetto & Calleja at ROH which was out of this world.


Ditto.... and I agree with your review!

I was lucky enough to be at the opening night of WNO's _Meistersinger_ this summer, to see Bryn Terfel's debut as Sachs. A magnificent occasion, boosted to dizzier heights by superb performances - especially from Mr T himself, Christopher Purves as Beckmesser, and the remarkable WNO Chorus & Orchestra pulling out all the stops under Lothar Königs in the pit.

More recently, I saw _Radamisto_ at ENO (Lawrence Zazzo on fine form), and _Ariadne auf Naxos_ in Cardiff - another winner for WNO as an ensemble, superbly conducted by Lothar Königs once again, with Sarah Connolly mesmerising as "The Composer".

Next up, it's _Tannhäuser_ at Covent Garden in December. Can't wait!


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Reichstag aus LICHT said:


> More recently, I saw _Radamisto_ at ENO (Lawrence Zazzo on fine form), and _Ariadne auf Naxos_ at Cardiff - another winner for WNO as an ensemble, superbly conducted by Lothar Königs once again, *with Sarah Connolly mesmerising as "The Composer"*.


One of my dreams would be to see Sarah Connolly live, after her fantastic performance in Giulio Cesare.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

welcome to the forum. this weekend i'll be seeing Don Pasquale and Boris Godunov. What do I like? Pretty much everything. I like 98% of them, it's rare that I see an opera that I don't like.


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## Elgarian (Jul 30, 2008)

mamascarlatti said:


> One of my dreams would be to see Sarah Connolly live, after her fantastic performance in Giulio Cesare.


You wouldn't be disappointed. I've seen her play Romeo in Bellini's _I Capuleti _and she was outstanding (nothing like the Giulio role, of course - very dashing!).


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## Reichstag aus LICHT (Oct 25, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> welcome to the forum.


Thank you, Almaviva 


> What do I like? Pretty much everything. I like 98% of them, it's rare that I see an opera that I don't like.


Same here. Offhand, I can't think of too many other genres that lend themselves so well to eclecticism!


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

I managed to see Rigoletto last night at the Royal Opera House. It was a very satisfying evening. Plenty has been mentioned regarding David McVicars production over the years, particularly the opening scenes. Seeing it for the first time live I really picked up on the bleakness of the production. McVicar was very clever in expressing the darkness of this tale. 

Having been a fan of Hvorostovsky as a singer I have to admit that I have never thought him to be a great actor. However I was pleasantly surprised by the powerful characterisation the Russian gave to the role. As always he sang beatifully. Patricia Ciofi was also great as Gilda with a powerful yet sublime soprano voice. Wookyung Kim is a a strong tenor but I did feel that he lacked the sparkle that so many Duke of Mantua's in the past have had. The other roles were taken well especially Daniela Innamorati as Maddalena.

Overall a great night of opera!


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

jflatter said:


> I managed to see Rigoletto last night at the Royal Opera House. It was a very satisfying evening. Plenty has been mentioned regarding David McVicars production over the years, particularly the opening scenes. Seeing it for the first time live I really picked up on the bleakness of the production. McVicar was very clever in expressing the darkness of this tale.
> 
> Having been a fan of Hvorostovsky as a singer I have to admit that I have never thought him to be a great actor. However I was pleasantly surprised by the powerful characterisation the Russian gave to the role. As always he sang beatifully. Patricia Ciofi was also great as Gilda with a powerful yet sublime soprano voice. Wookyung Kim is a a strong tenor but I did feel that he lacked the sparkle that so many Duke of Mantua's in the past have had. The other roles were taken well especially Daniela Innamorati as Maddalena.
> 
> Overall a great night of opera!


Thanks for the insight. It's always interesting to read a review from a punter rather than a critic.

I'm seeing it next week & can't wait.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

*Rigoletto ROH 02 November 2010*

*Pre performance*

Did a ROH Velvet Gilt & Glamour tour which concentrated on the auditorium. It was interesting but very strictly regimented. Doesn't compare well with tours I've done this year of Opera Garnier & La Scala where you could wander at leisure (within defined areas) & were allowed to take photos.

*Performance *

Sparafucile - Raymond Aceta
Fabulous & extremely powerful voice. Great charisma & presence. He kept the note at the end of the 2nd _'Sparafucile'_ for about 10 seconds!! - amazing

Maddalena - Daniela Innamorati
One very sexy seductive lady, beautiful rich tones & great acting.

Gilda - Patrizia Ciofi
Superb, beautiful, believable.

Duca - Wookyung Kim
Great singing nailed every note in every aria but not convincing.

Rigoletto - Dmitri Hvorostovsky 
Poignant, beautiful, overwhelming, stunning, powerful, heart wrenching. I am very much aware that what I saw and heard last night was something extraordinary and I know that the memory of his performance will stay with me for the rest of my life. I don't know enough of these things but at times his breathing came in great rasping gasps & at other times you could hardly discern his in breath but power tone & clarity of voice were the same. So I don't know if the rasping was all the act but I do know it made his character totally convincing. I just about managed to keep my emotions in check until his scream of

_Non morire, o ch'io teco morrò! 
Oh, mia figlia! Oh, mia Gilda! _

*Post performance *- we were allowed into the Stage Door lobby but it wasn't cold

Dan Ettinger (conductor) - young, funky & punky. Friendly, chatty - see smiley face on autograph

Raymond Aceto left smartish didn't realise it was him until he'd gone out into the street.

Daniela Innamorati - friendly & gracious. Even more beautiful in civvies.

Patrizia Ciofi - friendly, chatty, gracious

Wookyung Kim - shy modest a really nice guy

Dmitri Hvorostovsky - I don't know whether he never comes to the Stage Door or this time he left by another exit or he may still be inside for all I know but we fans stayed until past midnight but he never showed. (Serves me right for being selfish with Natalie's kisses)

I got chatting to a French lady, who had come from Paris especially, she was in tears. Made friends with two delightful Polish music students. He's a baritone & she a soprano. The guy's grandmother is Russian, he can speak Russian & he so wanted to speak a few words in Russian to his all time hero. He had brought a music score with him for Dmitri to sign & was terribly disappointed.

We had it all planned as to who would photograph who with Dmitri & all we did was pass the time photographing each other.

I couldn't help comparing the last time I waited at the Stage Door & how happy Domingo was to sign & chat with fans.

*Post post performance musings*

Metro strike so decided to walk to my train station & together with slow train home gave me plenty of time to think about last night. It was an amazing emotional experience & only had four hours' sleep. Going to refrain from listening to or watching any opera for a few days to ensure the sights & sounds of this Rigoletto are indelibly imprinted in my consciousness. I don't want anything to 'tape over' what's in my brain.

Have got over the disappointment of not seeing Dmitri & sent a very complimentary email to his agents, Askonas Holt.

Thinking about it I might actually have been more upset if he'd made an appearance & then was grumpy or offhand. I can pretend he was deep in discussions with ROH about a spectacular new Boccanegra he's going to be doing soon, especially for me. 



* Ciofi*



*Waiting for Dmitri*



*Dmitri-less signed programme*


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

sospiro said:


> *Rigoletto ROH 02 November 2010*
> 
> *Pre performance*
> 
> ...


Lovely, Annie! It's Dmitri's loss for missing out on meeting such a classy lady like you.


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## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

Great story there of night at the opera......
Love that florid ornate signature of Miss Ciofi (like a Diva)

*Alma*
Where is your Netrebko signed program from a few nights ago? :lol:


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Bad luck about Dmitri, Annie, but I'm so glad he lived up to expectations in the role. What did you think of the production itself?


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> Bad luck about Dmitri, Annie, but I'm so glad he lived up to expectations in the role. What did you think of the production itself?


The set is spectacular, it's massive. As for the production, 'like' isn't really the word but it worked for me.

One thing was odd. It took a long time for the set to revolve after Act1 Scene1 and Sparafucile had a long wait before Rigoletto appeared. Don't know if there was a technical hitch or Dima had a wardrobe problem but we sat in total silence & darkness for what seemed like ages.

I sat in Orchestra Stalls Row E & loved being that close. I'd love to see what it's like to watch from the very front.


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## Elgarian (Jul 30, 2008)

Loved the story, loved the photos (esp. Ciofi!!), and envy you the signed programme. Thanks ever so much for telling us about it.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

DarkAngel said:


> Great story there of night at the opera......
> Love that florid ornate signature of Miss Ciofi (like a Diva)
> 
> *Alma*
> Where is your Netrebko signed program from a few nights ago? :lol:


I have a signed bra and panties, would that be enough?


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

Apologies for the fairly late review. Anyway I saw Adriana Lecouvreur at the Royal Opera House on Thursday 25 November 2010. It is now infamous for the non appearence of Angela Gheorghiu who was replaced by Ángeles Blancas Gulín. Jonas Kaufmann played Maurizio, whilst Michaela Schuster played the Princess of Bouillon and the Alessandro Corbelli played the manager Michonnet. Sir Mark Elder was in the pit in a new production by David Mcvicar

Whilst seeing other threads there are many people who have a high regard for this opera. I would say that my regard stretches to two or three arias and I personally don't think that this piece will be revived constantly despite the money this wonderfully opulent production must have had thrown at it. It is a good thing that opera houses combine forces nowadays. I can only see it being revived if it is a vehicle for A-List casting. My only experience of this piece previously was seeing it on the Met Player with, if I recall correctly, Domingo so I am no expert on the piece. (Now ex Met Player subscriber due to my baby son hogging my bedroom with computer in )

However I did have positives. I did not think that the understudy had a dreadful night like some people on blogs etc have said. True, she had an unwieldy top but I liked the basis sound of her voice and if properly coached, she could be a star of the future. Plus all the cast must have been unsettled as to what had gone on earlier.

Relating to another thread, I am in the Kaufmann is good camp (although it took me two performances to be won over). He did take a little time to warm up but when he sang his main pieces, he was in top form.

I enjoyed Michaela Schuster's performance as the Princess. She did manage to convey the vengence of the role well as being very good vocally. I look forward to her Venus in Tannhauser shortly at Covent Garden.

Personally, as in many cases when I see him, the star of the show was Alessandro Corbelli. Out of his usual Mozart/Bel Canto roles he sang beautifully as well as being the best actor by far. I personally feel he is one of the best singer/actors in the Italian repetoire at the moment.

Minor roles were all taken well. Mark Elder treated the music at an even tempo and seemed repsectful of it. 

The production as stated earlier was lavish but for Mcvicar very traditional. (No orgies either).

One however cannot wonder whether the resources of a great production could have been used for a much better piece. This harks slightly to the same point when Richard Jones did a great production of the Gambler by Prokoviev.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Oh, I'm envious. Angela's no-show wouldn't have bothered me as I can't stand her although all the simpering and affectation would for once have been in character. And I love the piece, and Jonas, and Corbelli.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

Recently I have seen him:


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> Oh, I'm envious. Angela's no-show wouldn't have bothered me as I can't stand her although all the simpering and affectation would for once have been in character. And I love the piece, and Jonas, and Corbelli.


To be honest I wasn't bothered that much either as the cast had strength in depth.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

jflatter said:


> One however cannot wonder whether the resources of a great production could have been used for a much better piece. This harks slightly to the same point when Richard Jones did a great production of the Gambler by Prokoviev.


Really? I think Adriana Lecouvreur is a fine, underrated opera.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Almaviva said:


> Really? I think Adriana Lecouvreur is a fine, underrated opera.


Yes, I only heard it recently too but loved it immediately and got another version out straight away. It's very filmic music and I find it quite rich.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

jflatter said:


> Apologies for the fairly late review. Anyway I saw Adriana Lecouvreur at the Royal Opera House on Thursday 25 November 2010. It is now infamous for the non appearence of Angela Gheorghiu who was replaced by Ángeles Blancas Gulín. Jonas Kaufmann played Maurizio, whilst Michaela Schuster played the Princess of Bouillon and the Alessandro Corbelli played the manager Michonnet. Sir Mark Elder was in the pit in a new production by David Mcvicar
> 
> Whilst seeing other threads there are many people who have a high regard for this opera. I would say that my regard stretches to two or three arias and I personally don't think that this piece will be revived constantly despite the money this wonderfully opulent production must have had thrown at it. It is a good thing that opera houses combine forces nowadays. I can only see it being revived if it is a vehicle for A-List casting. My only experience of this piece previously was seeing it on the Met Player with, if I recall correctly, Domingo so I am no expert on the piece. (Now ex Met Player subscriber due to my baby son hogging my bedroom with computer in )
> 
> ...


Thanks jf - it's always more interesting to read a review by a real person than one by a professional expert. I wish now I'd made the effort to see it as it may not be performed at ROH for a while.



> Now ex Met Player subscriber due to my baby son hogging my bedroom with computer in ..


Couldn't you sit him on your knee while you watch?


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

sospiro said:


> Couldn't you sit him on your knee while you watch?


If I understood correctly, it's a baby of the grown kind.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

jflatter said:


> To be honest I wasn't bothered that much either as the cast had strength in depth.


I meant to ask you - did David Soar sing the role of Quinault on the night you went? If so what did you think?

I saw him in the WNO's Rigoletto (Sparafucile) earlier in the year & was very impressed.


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

sospiro said:


> I meant to ask you - did David Soar sing the role of Quinault on the night you went? If so what did you think?
> 
> I saw him in the WNO's Rigoletto (Sparafucile) earlier in the year & was very impressed.


Yes. From what I recall he sang well. I saw him sing the doctor role in Wozzeck a year or so back at the South Bank. What was bizarre was that he was sitting in the next table to me at Wagamamas underneath the South Bank pre performance.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

jflatter said:


> Yes. From what I recall he sang well.


I'm seeing Il Trovatore (WNO at Birmingham Hippodrome) next year & he's singing Ferrando. The first scene is fabulous & I'm really looking forward to it.



jflatter said:


> I saw him sing the doctor role in Wozzeck a year or so back at the South Bank. What was bizarre was that he was sitting in the next table to me at Wagamamas underneath the South Bank pre performance.


Nice! Did many people recognise him? I usually end up in the Covent Garden Wagamama when I'm down there.


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## Poppin' Fresh (Oct 24, 2009)

So last night I finally attended LA Opera's presentation of _Lohengrin_. It was my first time attending a performance of the opera, but given the company's common practice of presenting "updated" productions, I wasn't expecting anything close to traditional. So when the curtain rose and it looked as though I could have been attending a performance of _Wozzeck_, I was not surprised in the least. The opera was set during World War I, and King Heinrich the Fowler arrived dressed as the Kaiser in a Brabant that consisted of a causality of war/medical camp in front of a church somewhere in Germany. Needless to say, there was no swan, and Lohengrin was portrayed as a soldier who had been resurrected with a silver prosthetic leg. Strange to say the least. But thankfully, outside of some of the first act (which depicted a bunch of wounded soldiers in bandages littered throughout the stage) and a few other quirky moments here and there, the production didn't actively detract from the drama. Still, it was far too drab a production in my mind for the radiant, shimmering, "silver-blue" quality of the music in _Lohengrin_. It would be nice to attend a brighter, more romantic-tinged production someday.

Ultimately the music and artists made it a rewarding night. James Conlon led a brisk and sufficiently dramatic performance that could have used a punchier brass sound, but overall was excellent. The choral work was top-notch throughout. James Johnson was a very convincing Telramund, Kristinn Sigmundsson had a commanding stage presence as King Heinrich, and Dolora Zajick stole the show with awesome singing as Ortrud. I was skeptical going in as to how Ben Heppner would hold up in the title role. He definitely sounded a bit weak at times, and his voiced cracked once at the beginning of scene 2 in Act III, but I thought overall it was a very passable performance. At times he even managed to sound quite good and almost noble.

In the end it was a good night of music that left me feeling like it was time and money well spent.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Poppin' Fresh said:


> So last night I finally attended LA Opera's presentation of _Lohengrin_. It was my first time attending a performance of the opera, but given the company's common practice of presenting "updated" productions, I wasn't expecting anything close to traditional. So when the curtain rose and it looked as though I could have been attending a performance of _Wozzeck_, I was not surprised in the least. The opera was set during World War I, and King Heinrich the Fowler arrived dressed as the Kaiser in a Brabant that consisted of a causality of war/medical camp in front of a church somewhere in Germany. Needless to say, there was no swan, and Lohengrin was portrayed as a soldier who had been resurrected with a silver prosthetic leg. Strange to say the least. But thankfully, outside of some of the first act (which depicted a bunch of wounded soldiers in bandages littered throughout the stage) and a few other quirky moments here and there, the production didn't actively detract from the drama. Still, it was far too drab a production in my mind for the radiant, shimmering, "silver-blue" quality of the music in _Lohengrin_. It would be nice to attend a brighter, more romantic-tinged production someday.
> 
> Ultimately the music and artists made it a rewarding night. James Conlon led a brisk and sufficiently dramatic performance that could have used a punchier brass sound, but overall was excellent. The choral work was top-notch throughout. James Johnson was a very convincing Telramund, Kristinn Sigmundsson had a commanding stage presence as King Heinrich, and Dolora Zajick stole the show with awesome singing as Ortrud. I was skeptical going in as to how Ben Heppner would hold up in the title role. He definitely sounded a bit weak at times, and his voiced cracked once at the beginning of scene 2 in Act III, but I thought overall it was a very passable performance. At times he even managed to sound quite good and almost noble.
> 
> In the end it was a good night of music that left me feeling like it was time and money well spent.


Well, good for you that you watched and thought you got your money's worth. But going by what you described, I don't think I'd have liked it. Like you said, I think _Lohengrin _requires a very bright setting.


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## Poppin' Fresh (Oct 24, 2009)

Almaviva said:


> Well, good for you that you watched and thought you got your money's worth. But going by what you described, I don't think I'd have liked it. Like you said, I think _Lohengrin _requires a very bright setting.


Unfortunately, coming from San Diego where they've only staged 3 Wagner operas in the last 20 years, I'm inclined to sit through even the most disappointing productions every once in a while to quench my thirst for seeing and hearing these works live.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Last night I saw L'elisir d'amore at Munich Opera House.

It's the same production as reviewed here by blogger Intermezzo, but with the following cast.

*Nemorino - Joseph Calleja
Adina - Nino Machaidze
Belcore - Nikolay Borchev
Dulcamara - Alessandro Corbelli
Giannetta - Tara Erraught*

I still can't decide if it's absolutely awful or absolutely brilliant, maybe it's both. As you can see from the photos in Intermezzo's blog it was Star Wars meets Dune meets Jules Verne meets Ugly Betty with a good dollop of what-the-?? thrown in.

The show starts off with lots of pink balloons going up and down & then disappearing. Then Giannetta (or Ugly Betty as I called her) stumbles through the safety curtain with misted up glasses & then stomps off in her net skirt & Doc Martin's just as the overture starts. The curtain rises to show a telegraph pole and Nemorino making a phone call (more of the telegraph pole later) so plenty of clues that this was not your traditional L'elisir.

To be honest my first thought was 'OMG I've got to sit all the way through this again on Thursday' but I wasn't going to get up & walk out; well I couldn't anyway as they lock you in in Munich & nothing can really spoil Donizetti's froth so I settled back to enjoy.

First of all Joseph Calleja was fabulous; his voice has changed since July (Boccanegra) and rumour has it that Domingo gave him some impromptu coaching but for whatever reason he has definitely improved and the audience agreed with me. His acting which in the past has been wooden at the best of times, has also improved tremendously. He's lost quite a bit of weight & works out regularly & maybe this has given him more confidence, but he flung himself about the stage with real energy & enthusiasm. After the village girls discover Nemorino is a millionaire, they descend on him like piranhas & he emerges in only his underwear, much to the amusement of Calleja's two young children who were sitting in the audience.

*Nino Machaidze* was excellent but I find her voice rather harsh but that might be just me, she got plenty of praise, especially from the guys in the audience. She and Calleja had great rapport & looked good together. As for *Nikolay Borchev*, Belcore is not the role for him. Nikolay looks about 17 and is small & skinny & the kindest thing I can say is he'd be better in a different role. He wasn't booed but all Belcore's arias were met with silence. *Alessandro Corbelli* was fabulous as ever but even he seemed perplexed as to why Dulcamara should arrive in a sand crawler, and he had to sing over the sound of the machinery at times. And why was the elixir/wine kept in something which looked like a fire extinguisher with a pump & nozzle? As I said Giannetta *Tara Erraught* was an Ugly Betty look-a-like but she sang nicely.

I have saved the best and the worst til last. Nemorino climbs the telegraph pole, carrying pink balloons to sing _Una furtiva_ and Joseph Calleja sang this with a beautiful and plaintive clear tone and with heart-rending emotion. OK, at a push, I'll accept Nemorino singing _Una furtiva_ from up a pole, but what I can't accept is the fact that I couldn't see any part of his face as he sang. The pole has hand and foot holds & a small platform to perch on but Calleja was positioned so the pole and the stupid pink balloons were between him and most of the audience. Once he was up there and in position, he couldn't move so he ended up singing to the left of stage boxes only. The woman next to me started saying something and gesturing but by then the aria had begun so she just sat back shaking her head. Nemorino is singing about something so special to him and the audience need to see the emotion. I sat with my eyes closed and it was fabulous to hear but sort of defeats the object of going to see live opera.



*A very different L'elisir*



*Nino Machaidze*



*Joseph Calleja*



*Stage Door*



*Some of the 'Friends of Joseph Calleja' group celebrate*

As I said I'm going again on Thursday so it will be interesting to see if Nemorino sings _Una furtiva_ to the whole audience this time


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Great review Annie, pity about the pink balloons. Looking at the production pics on Intermezzo it appears that Una Furtiva Lagrima was supposed to be balloon free. Better luck on Thursday.

I agree about Nino Madchaize, I have her in Romeo et Juliette and she's not a patch on Alma's Anna. But she does really enjoy curtain calls, what a smile!

What's Joseph doing at the stage door, putting his number into your cellphone? He's definitely looking trimmer, and love the little curl in the middle of his forehead.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

L'elisir d'amore II

I enjoyed this much more 2nd time around. But before the performance started it was announced Nino Machaidze was suffering from a virus but would sing and asked for our understanding. She sounded fine to me and actually not so strident. For _Una furtiva_ Nemorino shuffled on stage holding pink balloons but sang sitting in a chair & didn't climb the pole this time. Much better.

Alessandro Corbelli showed it's possible to sing and eat at the same time. In Act II during:

_NEMORINO 
Voi qui, dottore!

DULCAMARA 
Sì, m'han voluto a pranzo 
Questi amabili sposi, e mi diverto 
Con questi avanzi.

NEMORINO 
Ed io son disperato, 
Fuori di me son io. Dottore, ho d'uopo 
D'essere amato ... prima di domani ... 
Adesso ... su' due pie'.

DULCAMARA 
S'alza 
(Cospetto, è matto!) 
Recipe l'elisir, e il colpo è fatto._

He ate frosting from the wedding cake and sang without any loss of tone or volume. I was able to ask him afterwards how he did it & he just grinned and said "I practice - easy".

Nino Machaidze went up in my estimation, she really was poorly. As she stood signing autographs poor girl was coughing and sneezing and shivering.

I learned too late to change my plans that Joseph was the "special guest" of Prince Orlovsky in Fledermaus on New Year's Eve, he sang "non ti scordar di me" and "o sole mio". I've heard that the audience loved him.

 

 

Review from the local paper

http://www.sueddeutsche.de/E5q38B/3814115/Kraeftiger-Trank.html


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

sospiro said:


> L'elisir d'amore II
> 
> I enjoyed this much more 2nd time around. But before the performance started it was announced Nino Machaidze was suffering from a virus but would sing and asked for our understanding. She sounded fine to me and actually not so strident. For _Una furtiva_ Nemorino shuffled on stage holding pink balloons but sang sitting in a chair & didn't climb the pole this time. Much better.
> 
> ...


Nice, Annie!!!


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

I have two reviews to submit. 

The first was Hansel und Gretel which I saw at the Royal Opera House. This was a revival of a production by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier and was conducted by Rory Macdonald.

Overall I found this to be very good effort on the musical front. Hansel was played by the mezzo Christine Rice whose voice shone through very well. Gretel was played by Ailish Tynan a former winner of the song prize at Cardiff singer of the world. Her lieder style very much came to the fore at the beginning of Act 3 where some beautiful phrasing and delicate sounds produced the best vocal sounds of the evening. 

The witch was played by Jane Henschel who used her powerhouse voice to great effect and her acting abilities were perfect for this role.

Mother and Father were played by Yvonne Howard and Thomas Allen respectively and they both very good in their roles. Allen in particular was convincing as the Father. The supporting roles were well taken and the conducting by Rory Macdonald was highly distinguished.

This leaves me to the production. Traditonally this has been an opera that has been marketed for some reason or another at families and one to take the kids to. This production was quite scary (and yes children do need to know what peril is) but the hanging children in the witches house I thought was unnecessary The gingerbread house was also literally a house of cake which the children ate. and you don't see the children going into a house. This again would confuse children who would see it.

This leads me to ask the question and having a four year old son myself, should opera houses market the opera towards children. Older children yes but the Royal Opera had a very English speaking cast (Henschel being the only person not from the British Isles) and I do wonder if they are going to market it as a Christmas outing whether they should do it in English like the Met has done in the US.

It maybe they could do a small run of shows in German at another part of the year. I do think that the piece itself is wonderful and on reflection wonder whether it should have gone higher up the list in the 100 recommended operas project. I feel that you hear the past in Wagner but also hear the future with some of the melodies having an obvious influence on Strauss. He of course conducted the premiere.


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

Next Review is Tannhauser. This was a production by Tim Albery and conducted by Semyon Bychkov and seen on 2 Jan 2011 at the Royal Opera House.

Musically from the outset this was an absolute triumph. Bychkov once again proved at Covent Garden that he can get the orchestra to play out of its skin as well as commanding very complex choral parts. It was such a good performance it has even made me consider re-evaluating the piece further up my own personal pecking order (although the libretto is lacking in quality). Bychkov used the later Vienna version of the opera which was probably the sensible decision as it gives you some post Tristan rescoring with Venus.

In the lead role was Johan Botha. Botha is a top class heldentenor and vocally I very much doubt there are many singers nowadays who match his power but also some of his beauty. It was only towards the end of the Rome narration that he strained a little bit, but this is a devil of a role to sing and Botha aquitted himself admirably. However one cannot ignore his dramatic shortcomings. The scene when Tannhauser was in Venusberg or at the end of the opera where Venus is trying to get Tannhauser back you felt that in the real world Venus would be looking elsewhere. A lot of the time Botha was sitting on a chair.

Venus was played by Michaela Schuster who dramatically very good and played the seductive goddess very well. Vocally she demonstrated power if maybe lacking the beauty of a Christa Ludwig (I know I set high standards).

Christian Gerhaher played Wolfram. This was singing of the highest standard. His Holde Abendstern had me melting away. Not being a regular on the lieder circuit I had not heard him live before, only once on TV on a Proms broadcast. He may possibly have the most beautiful baritone voice in the world. If you get the chance to hear him sing anything you should take it. Unusually for a lieder singer he filled the auditorium without any problems.

Eva -Maria Westbroek played Elisabeth and sang the role well. I just had the slight feeling though that maybe she should be singing heavier roles and wonder whether she should be considering taking on Isolde and the like in the future. 

Christof Fischesser was very solid Landgraf and I would like to hear him in other Wagnerian bass roles.

The chorus's part in this opera was outstanding. Hearing the pilgrims chorus in Act 3 for the first time live (this is the first time this opera has been performed in the UK since 87) was an excillerating experience as well as the completion of the piece. 

The production was modern and Venusberg was in fact a replica of the proscenium and curtain although this just turned into bare stage when Tannhauser left Venusberg. 

In the Wartberg scence we were left to see a war torn area with the proscenium damaged by bombs etc. The programme led us to believe this could be any war torn area late 20th century to present day.

Overall I am not sure what the production was trying to say. But the music was so good you weren't that bothered. Even if you hated the production you could have just clsoed your eyes and wondered at the glorious sound being produced by Bychkov and the Orchestra with Chorus.

If as rumours do persist that Pappano leaves Covent Garden in 2014 or before to take up a job in the US then Covent Garden would do no better than to offer Bychkov the job as every visit has been a blazing success.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Great reviews jflatter.

I am especially interested in your comments about Christian Gerhaher. I will definitely look out for him in the future.


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

Voigt / Dessay *Ariadne auf Naxos* showed up today  This will be my first exposure to this work. Review to follow in the Strauss thread in the DVD subforum, but here's my first impression, 10 minutes in: Natalie Dessay makes me swoon 

e: Hmm, seems this thread is about live opera. Well we hardly get such in Omaha so I'm leaving my post as is 

e2: What fach is Ms. Voigt? Full lyric?


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

rgz said:


> ...
> 
> e: Hmm, seems this thread is about live opera. Well we hardly get such in Omaha so I'm leaving my post as is


After you've seen Natalie in Lucia you'll be able to start a separate thread like Alma did for his trip to see Anna in Don Pasquale


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

sospiro said:


> After you've seen Natalie in Lucia you'll be able to start a separate thread like Alma did for his trip to see Anna in Don Pasquale


Hopefully with video, assuming my phone doesn't get confiscated


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

*Next Tuesday*

I have tickets for Renée Fleming..Yummy!

Martin


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

http://www.laplacedesarts.com/pda-e...ue-de-la-place-des-arts,-renee-flemin.en.html

Renée Fleming.

Martin


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## bassClef (Oct 29, 2006)

Ah so here's the opera thread. Anyway, I've been to dozens of classical concerts but I had my first experience of attending the opera the other night when I saw Dvorak's Rusalka at the National Theatre in Prague. I've never been a huge fan of opera but was invited so went along with an open mind.

I have to say I enjoyed it very much. The singing style in opera has always been the factor that has put me off a bit, I find it overly dramatic, it doesn't sound too natural to my ears. But in a real performance I didn't even notice this at all. I was captivated by the story-line (it showed English surtitles), the imagery, and the melodies of course.

I didn't really appreciate reggae until I heard it live in the West Indies, perhaps it's the same with opera - you have to be there.

A word about the staging. There was very little scenery used, but excellent use was made of imagery to set the natural forest scenes (for Acts I and III at least), including pools of water with plays of light, screen projection, and a double-depth stage. It really did create a magical world.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

bassClef said:


> Ah so here's the opera thread. Anyway, I've been to dozens of classical concerts but I had my first experience of attending the opera the other night when I saw Dvorak's Rusalka at the National Theatre in Prague. I've never been a huge fan of opera but was invited so went along with an open mind.
> 
> I have to say I enjoyed it very much. The singing style in opera has always been the factor that has put me off a bit, I find it overly dramatic, it doesn't sound too natural to my ears. But in a real performance I didn't even notice this at all. I was captivated by the story-line (it showed English surtitles), the imagery, and the melodies of course.
> 
> ...


Great! Welcome to the club. Rusalka is a beautiful opera. The operatic singing style takes a little getting used to, that's why opera is often a late acquired taste, but once you get into it, you're in for a lot of pleasure.:tiphat:


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

*Lol*

I prefer the Dargomizhsky's Russalka but...this is a Russian composer and my friend Almaviva will become mad. This is based on Pushkin. It is a very folkloric opera. I like Dvorak's too.

LOL

I like very much Dvorak's Saint Liudmila and Vata.

Martin


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## bassClef (Oct 29, 2006)

myaskovsky2002 said:


> I prefer the Dargomizhsky's Russalka but...this is a Russian composer and my friend Almaviva will become mad. This is based on Pushkin. It is a very folkloric opera. I like Dvorak's too.
> Martin


I'll try to find that - sounds interesting.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

myaskovsky2002 said:


> I prefer the Dargomizhsky's Russalka but...this is a Russian composer and my friend Almaviva will become mad. This is based on Pushkin. It is a very folkloric opera. I like Dvorak's too.
> 
> LOL
> 
> ...


Become mad? I've been mad for years already.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

bassClef said:


> A word about the staging. There was very little scenery used, but excellent use was made of imagery to set the natural forest scenes (for Acts I and III at least), including pools of water with plays of light, screen projection, and a double-depth stage. It really did create a magical world.


Lucky you to see a "magical" Rusalka. Now if they'd only record one for DVD (there is one but it's old and a film).


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

bassClef said:


> Ah so here's the opera thread. Anyway, I've been to dozens of classical concerts but I had my first experience of attending the opera the other night when I saw Dvorak's Rusalka at the National Theatre in Prague. I've never been a huge fan of opera but was invited so went along with an open mind.
> 
> I have to say I enjoyed it very much. The singing style in opera has always been the factor that has put me off a bit, I find it overly dramatic, it doesn't sound too natural to my ears. But in a real performance I didn't even notice this at all. I was captivated by the story-line (it showed English surtitles), the imagery, and the melodies of course.
> 
> ...


I'm so pleased you enjoyed your first live opera & hope you can develop your interest. It really is a magical world!


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## bassClef (Oct 29, 2006)

mamascarlatti said:


> Lucky you to see a "magical" Rusalka. Now if they'd only record one for DVD (there is one but it's old and a film).


I've seen the generally-available DVD - how can they set it all indoors??


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

bassClef said:


> I've seen the generally-available DVD - how can they set it all indoors??


Wow, they did that? How can you sing to the moon indoors, do you sing to a light bulb? Oh, these silly stage directors!


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Almaviva said:


> Wow, they did that? How can you sing to the moon indoors, do you sing to a light bulb? Oh, these silly stage directors!


No silly, a bedside lamp. Obviously.


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

*Russalka*

http://www.amazon.com/Russalka-Darg...=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1296231493&sr=1-1

I don't know why Almaviva hates Russian opera...I'd like to have an explanation about that...

Martin


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

myaskovsky2002 said:


> http://www.amazon.com/Russalka-Darg...=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1296231493&sr=1-1
> 
> I don't know why Almaviva hates Russian opera...I'd like to have an explanation about that...
> 
> Martin


I don't hate Russian opera, I'm just not as enthusiastic about it as you are. But there are many Russian operas that I like. I only know the most popular ones, but the ones I do know I generally like.


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

bassClef said:


> The singing style in opera has always been the factor that has put me off a bit, I find it overly dramatic, it doesn't sound too natural to my ears.


That's the big hurdle and the great reward of opera. I liken it to ballet -- it is certainly not 'natural' for people to move in that manner, but that's what makes it great  It is the furthest possible development and extension of the human voice and it absolutely can come across strange, but there are varying levels within it as well. I find, tone-wise, coloratura sopranos to sound more "normal" (though their agility is certainly extraordinary) compared to, say, full lyric sopranos.

There's an interesting section at the end of this wikipedia article that has the same aria sung by 5 different soprano vocal types to show the various possibilities of the operatic voice
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soubrette


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

rgz said:


> There's an interesting section at the end of this wikipedia article that has the same aria sung by 5 different soprano vocal types to show the various possibilities of the operatic voice
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soubrette


Interesting. I'm at work now - during a small break - but will check it out later at home.


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> Interesting. I'm at work now - during a small break - but will check it out later at home.


What I found interesting was that Susanna was considered a soubrette role. I guess in my mind I had it classed as a light lyric. But as the links indicate, it seems to be a role that virtually any soprano in any fach feels free to take on.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

But isn't "soubrette" more of a definition for the kind of comic character, the wiseckracking woman of humble origin, the maid like Despina, etc, than a question of the singer's fach?


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

Perhaps so. The wikipedia page seems to describe a vocal type (_A soubrette voice is light with a bright, sweet timbre, a tessitura in the mid-range, and with no extensive coloratura.[4] A soubrette's range extends approximately from middle C (C4) to "high C" (C6).[5] The voice has a lighter vocal weight than other soprano voices with a brighter timbre._) but it may be a chicken-and-egg question -- i.e., those kinds of parts tend to be portrayed by younger types who have a less mature voice, rather than that type of voice being sought after specifically.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

rgz said:


> Perhaps so. The wikipedia page seems to describe a vocal type (_A soubrette voice is light with a bright, sweet timbre, a tessitura in the mid-range, and with no extensive coloratura.[4] A soubrette's range extends approximately from middle C (C4) to "high C" (C6).[5] The voice has a lighter vocal weight than other soprano voices with a brighter timbre._) but it may be a chicken-and-egg question -- i.e., those kinds of parts tend to be portrayed by younger types who have a less mature voice, rather than that type of voice being sought after specifically.


Yes, my notion was more that "soubrette" is the role, not the fach. But then, naturally, we get this kind of fach to sing those roles. You wouldn't expect a dramatic Wagnerian soprano to be yelling her lines at the top of her lungs if she was to portray a soubrette (and nobody would cast her there), so, I think what Wikipedia is referring to, is the type of voice that has been traditionally assigned to sing those soubrette roles, and composers will also compose in these ranges when they have a soubrette character in mind. Then usage may have made it even more true and now the definitions are interchangeable, but I'd think that originally the term came about to refer to a specific kind of character. Better proof, the very examples you've given of five different singers with different fachs singing the same role of a soubrette, Suzanna. So, the role is the same, the fachs vary. Certainly we can't say that people as different as the five singers depicted in the example are all typically soubrettes, if the definition was entirely linked to the fach. They can take on a soubrette role, though.


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

Though some would be well advised not to. Not going to single anyone out to avoid the wrath of certain posters whose usernames start and end with 'a', but singers in certain vocal fachs should *not* sing Susanna. IMO, of course


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

rgz said:


> That's the big hurdle and the great reward of opera. I liken it to ballet -- it is certainly not 'natural' for people to move in that manner, but that's what makes it great  It is the furthest possible development and extension of the human voice and it absolutely can come across strange, but there are varying levels within it as well. I find, tone-wise, coloratura sopranos to sound more "normal" (though their agility is certainly extraordinary) compared to, say, full lyric sopranos.
> 
> There's an interesting section at the end of this wikipedia article that has the same aria sung by 5 different soprano vocal types to show the various possibilities of the operatic voice
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soubrette


OK, back home from work, and I'm glad to say that my Anna was by far the most spectacular performer among these four (Cecilia's link is broken) with another of my favorites, Lucia Popp, being a close second.

Egypt burns while we have fun here. Just to keep things in perspective.


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> OK, back home from work, and I'm glad to say that my Anna was by far the most spectacular performer among these four (Cecilia's link is broken) with another of my favorites, Lucia Popp, being a close second.


Are ... are you serious? Everything about that production is horrible save Anna, and she can't save it all by herself. The conducting and tempo, the stage design and presentation ... 
FWIW, among those four I quite like Diana Damrau's version. Of course, Natalie would blow them all away but I can't find any evidence that she ever portrayed Susanna, despite her saying she planned to in an interview I linked in another thread today (interview was from the late 90s, and if memory serves she said she would portray Susanna in 2001). Perhaps the surgery ended that plan, although it would seem to be a natural fit for her now.



> Egypt burns while we have fun here. Just to keep things in perspective.


As Kurt Vonnegut says, "So it goes". Beyond my power to fix or even affect.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

rgz said:


> Are ... are you serious? Everything about that production is horrible save Anna, and she can't save it all by herself. The conducting and tempo, the stage design and presentation ...


I own that production but haven't seen it yet. I was judging solely by the clip, which I found lovely. But don't mind me, regardless of actual merit, as you'll realize when you get to know me better, I'll be likely to pick *anything* that features Anna above everything else. I know I'm biased. Can't help.









Oh well, sometimes I do wear my unbiased hat. I have just voted for the best Nozze DVD for the Project (see subforum, please vote as well) and I didn't pick Anna's.


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## the_emptier (Jan 27, 2011)

The last opera i saw was Hansel & Gretel at the Portland Opera. Next is Turandot next sunday! can't wait.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

rgz said:


> Though some would be well advised not to. Not going to single anyone out to avoid the wrath of certain posters whose usernames start and end with 'a', but singers in certain vocal fachs should *not* sing Susanna. IMO, of course


Yeah, I see that there is a new junior member called Adriana. Is she a fan of Natalie Dessay?


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

:shakes fist in Almaviva's general direction:


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

I went to see Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Royal Opera House on 21 January 2011. Thanks to a tip off from the wonderful Intermezzo blog (essential reading for opera goers around the world). I was lucky to take advantage of an offer of stall seats for £55 each with a free glass of champers. 

Anyway the production is now the well known Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier one that is on DVD which starred Juan Diego Florez, Joyce DiDonato, Alessandro Corbelli et al and was famous for Ms DiDonato ending up in a wheelchair. I attended the first night of that run when Ms DiDonato had the accident and due to the all round class of that cast, particularly Florez, it was one of the best nights of Italian opera I am ever likely to hear. 

This cast was less starry (hence cheap seats). John Osborne played Count Almaviva and took a little while to warm up particularly in the opening aria however vocally he warmed up but of course is not in the same league as Florez. Wisely he chose to cut out Cessa di piu resistere. Also I found his acting slightly less than charismatic which the Count needs to be. 

The young baritone Levante Molnar was Figaro and I quite liked his performance both vocally and acting and he will be a voice to hear in the future.

Bruno Practico was Dr Bartolo and comically he was perfect as the villian of the piece, although he got tired during some of the pitter patter moments of the role.

Ildar Abdrazakov is very funny as Don Basilio and he has the great booming voice that will suit many roles.

The star of the show was Aleksandra Kurzak as Rosina. Some say this is a role of a Mezzo but if I hear a soprano sing this role as good as Kurzak every time then it is a soprano role. Kurzak's colouratura was astonishing and gave a real lesson in bel canto singing. Her characterisation of the role was very sweet as well. Decca have done the right thing in signing her up.

Overall though the production did not the heights of the previous revival even though Rory MacDonald did the best he could to liven things uo in the pit.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Good for you to get stalls + champers for £55!! Great review. That's the trouble when you see a fabulous performance - you start comparing, but interesting to 'find' new talent. When they're mega stars you can say I remember seeing him/her back in 2011 ....


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

"The star of the show was Aleksandra Kurzak as Rosina. Some say this is a role of a Mezzo but if I hear a soprano sing this role as good as Kurzak every time then it is a soprano role. Kurzak's colouratura was astonishing and gave a real lesson in bel canto singing. Her characterisation of the role was very sweet as well."

Hmmm... interesting. I think I saw her in a performance of L'Elisir d'Amore if I'm not mistaken. Good voice and all, but call me callous, juvenile, and silly: I don't find her pretty. She can be sensual but she is not pretty. And my juvenile self can only develop strong attachments to pretty sopranos...


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

*Tchaikovsky*

The Enchantress by Tchaikovsky on DVD...A fiasco in 4 acts.

Martin


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

myaskovsky2002 said:


> The Enchantress by Tchaikovsky on DVD...A fiasco in 4 acts.
> 
> Martin


Martin, this thread is usually for live performances that people have attended in person, rather than for DVDs (they have a whole subforum for them). Just FYI.


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## Rasa (Apr 23, 2009)

Last opera I saw was La Bohème at the Brussels Mint Opera.

Quality production. I found that Mimi was vocally surpassed by the "supporting" cast. (but I don't want to imply she was bad).

I'm starting to doubt wether I can agree with today's modern settings (decor, costumes etc). The line between stylistic minimalism and money-saving productions is wearing thin.


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## the_emptier (Jan 27, 2011)

I just came back from Turandot. I loved it! The set, costumes, vibe was very modern and I enjoyed it. Singing was great, but I thought the acting was kind of lackluster...not a ton of moving around/emotion. Also I'm really disgruntled with people who attend operas. First of all, they are all OLD. not that it's a bad thing, but i see a sea of white haired people every time I go and I have to strain for a person my age, who are few in numbers. And is it just me or is going to the opera considered just a snooty social thing to do? because that's what it seems like a lot of people come for. I dress nice and all but some people over do it to the extreme and generally seem to not care at all about what's going on. And the biggest thing....was the amount of people who criticized it throughout it. In between acts of course, I realize there's a large amount of people who would like to see it in a "traditional" way and don't like the modernism but people have to realize it's 2011!! this isn't your opera production from 1954....get with the picture. and if you don't like, don't be a hag about it the whole time. leave if you have to. and people were even dissing the general director when he made a TWO MINUTE speech in the beginning, they were whining that they came to hear the opera and not him. I mean seriously, I may be a 17 year old kid that knows nothing but I hope that I have more decency than to do something like that. 


/rant


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

the_emptier said:


> I just came back from Turandot. I loved it! The set, costumes, vibe was very modern and I enjoyed it. Singing was great, but I thought the acting was kind of lackluster...not a ton of moving around/emotion. Also I'm really disgruntled with people who attend operas. First of all, they are all OLD. not that it's a bad thing, but i see a sea of white haired people every time I go and I have to strain for a person my age, who are few in numbers. And is it just me or is going to the opera considered just a snooty social thing to do? because that's what it seems like a lot of people come for. I dress nice and all but some people over do it to the extreme and generally seem to not care at all about what's going on. And the biggest thing....was the amount of people who criticized it throughout it. In between acts of course, I realize there's a large amount of people who would like to see it in a "traditional" way and don't like the modernism but people have to realize it's 2011!! this isn't your opera production from 1954....get with the picture. and if you don't like, don't be a hag about it the whole time. leave if you have to. and people were even dissing the general director when he made a TWO MINUTE speech in the beginning, they were whining that they came to hear the opera and not him. I mean seriously, I may be a 17 year old kid that knows nothing but I hope that I have more decency than to do something like that.
> 
> /rant


Where did you see it?


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## the_emptier (Jan 27, 2011)

Portland Oregon


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I looked up some pictures. Lovely production. I think Turandot lends itself to static acting, especially in any "grand spectacle" staging.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

the_emptier said:


> I just came back from Turandot. I loved it! The set, costumes, vibe was very modern and I enjoyed it. Singing was great, but I thought the acting was kind of lackluster...not a ton of moving around/emotion. Also I'm really disgruntled with people who attend operas. First of all, they are all OLD. not that it's a bad thing, but i see a sea of white haired people every time I go and I have to strain for a person my age, who are few in numbers. And is it just me or is going to the opera considered just a snooty social thing to do? because that's what it seems like a lot of people come for. I dress nice and all but some people over do it to the extreme and generally seem to not care at all about what's going on. And the biggest thing....was the amount of people who criticized it throughout it. In between acts of course, I realize there's a large amount of people who would like to see it in a "traditional" way and don't like the modernism but people have to realize it's 2011!! this isn't your opera production from 1954....get with the picture. and if you don't like, don't be a hag about it the whole time. leave if you have to. and people were even dissing the general director when he made a TWO MINUTE speech in the beginning, they were whining that they came to hear the opera and not him. I mean seriously, I may be a 17 year old kid that knows nothing but I hope that I have more decency than to do something like that.
> 
> /rant


There is always a struggle between traditionalists and modernists. I generally enjoy both types of productions. As for dressing up, I almost never do. I go to the opera on jeans and sneakers most of the time. Regarding the age of operagoers, it is true that the national statistics show a high average. It's probably because opera is often an acquired taste. But it is great that you already love it at age 17, congratulations!


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

the_emptier said:


> I just came back from Turandot. I loved it! The set, costumes, vibe was very modern and I enjoyed it. Singing was great, but I thought the acting was kind of lackluster...not a ton of moving around/emotion. Also I'm really disgruntled with people who attend operas. First of all, they are all OLD. not that it's a bad thing, but i see a sea of white haired people every time I go and I have to strain for a person my age, who are few in numbers. And is it just me or is going to the opera considered just a snooty social thing to do? because that's what it seems like a lot of people come for. I dress nice and all but some people over do it to the extreme and generally seem to not care at all about what's going on. And the biggest thing....was the amount of people who criticized it throughout it. In between acts of course, I realize there's a large amount of people who would like to see it in a "traditional" way and don't like the modernism but people have to realize it's 2011!! this isn't your opera production from 1954....get with the picture. and if you don't like, don't be a hag about it the whole time. leave if you have to. and people were even dissing the general director when he made a TWO MINUTE speech in the beginning, they were whining that they came to hear the opera and not him. I mean seriously, I may be a 17 year old kid that knows nothing but I hope that I have more decency than to do something like that.
> 
> /rant


An excellent review - I could really 'get' the feel of the evening. I can't remember if you've mentioned this elsewhere, but was this your first live experience? If so don't be discouraged and do go again.

You say you're a 17 year old kid that knows nothing - you're wrong & you know more than I did at 17.


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## the_emptier (Jan 27, 2011)

no this was just me ranting, if you want a proper review i could do that 

this is my 4th opera so far, and in no way will people ever stop me from going! i'm a season ticket holder anyway. The last opera is actually a Ravel double bill, can't wait!


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

the_emptier said:


> no this was just me ranting, if you want a proper review i could do that
> 
> this is my 4th opera so far, and in no way will people ever stop me from going! i'm a season ticket holder anyway. The last opera is actually a Ravel double bill, can't wait!


L'Enfant et les Sortilèges, and L'Heure Espagnole?

These are two spectacular operas. I think you'll like them very much.

Like Annie said, you're 17 and you have season tickets for the opera already! Wow! Would you please come to the East coast and bite my son, in the hope that it is contagious? He is 19 and I can't seem to be able to convince him to appreciate opera...


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

Watching Das Rheingold for the first time! As many of you know, I'm still new to opera and have been cutting my teeth primarily on Mozart, Handel, and the bel canto composers. I haven't enjoyed the Romantics and verismo so much, and the one Strauss opera I've seen, Ariadne auf Naxos, was hit or miss.
This will be my first exposure to Wagner. Any predictions on whether I'll love it or hate it?


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

rgz said:


> Watching Das Rheingold for the first time! As many of you know, I'm still new to opera and have been cutting my teeth primarily on Mozart, Handel, and the bel canto composers. I haven't enjoyed the Romantics and verismo so much, and the one Strauss opera I've seen, Ariadne auf Naxos, was hit or miss.
> This will be my first exposure to Wagner. Any predictions on whether I'll love it or hate it?


My main tip is listen to the orchestra at least as much as the singers - that's what carries a lot of the information, the melody and the leitmotifs, the musical motifs associated with ideas, people, and significant objects in the story.

Which version are you watching, Ian?


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

I'm watching the 1990 Met version.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

rgz said:


> I'm watching the 1990 Met version.


That's the one I started with, and it's a good entry point.


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

I can't believe this actually exists


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## the_emptier (Jan 27, 2011)

Almaviva said:


> L'Enfant et les Sortilèges, and L'Heure Espagnole?
> 
> These are two spectacular operas. I think you'll like them very much.
> 
> Like Annie said, you're 17 and you have season tickets for the opera already! Wow! Would you please come to the East coast and bite my son, in the hope that it is contagious? He is 19 and I can't seem to be able to convince him to appreciate opera...


those two precisely. it's in a smaller intimate venue so i'm really excited for it. hey hopefully if i scrounge up enough money i'll be in boston fairly soon


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## rgz (Mar 6, 2010)

nvm, meant to post in other thread


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## emiellucifuge (May 26, 2009)

Rasa said:


> Last opera I saw was La Bohème at the Brussels Mint Opera.
> 
> Quality production. I found that Mimi was vocally surpassed by the "supporting" cast. (but I don't want to imply she was bad).
> 
> I'm starting to doubt wether I can agree with today's modern settings (decor, costumes etc). The line between stylistic minimalism and money-saving productions is wearing thin.


But minimalism is only one niche in modern staging. There are many other 'modern' styles that are perhaps even more costly than traditional settings.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

emiellucifuge said:


> But minimalism is only one niche in modern staging. There are many other 'modern' styles that are perhaps even more costly than traditional settings.


The LA Ring lost US$6 million.


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## Sieglinde (Oct 25, 2009)

Seen Billy Budd in Vienna on the 5th. Finally live! I knew this staging from dvd but it's much more powerful live.

Billy: Adrian Eröd. He's Austrian, his voice is excellent... but he lacks that "something", that charm... he's nice and lovely but just not angelic pretty enough (sorry for bad pun). 

Vere: Neil Shicoff. Announced he was fighting with some illness but I didn't feel much of it, he was still awesome. I came for him originally...

...but who stole the show and my heart was Peter Rose as Claggart. Vocally by far the best of the evening, with a tremendously malicious presence and such a gorgeous tone that makes me wish to hear him a LOT more. No matter how evil he was he still played him as vulnerable and tormented, I just wanted to hug him. And that's how I like my villains! Claggart just needs some love. I often wonder what if Billy answered with a kiss instead of hitting him... but that would be fanfic territory. 

Also a lot of fine voices in the smaller parts and a very powerful chorus. Who needs women on stage when we can have this slashy paradise.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I went to see Xerxes at the Civic Theatre here in Auckland last night, in a sparse production by NZ opera. This is the first staged Handel opera that has ever been put on here, and two countertenors were imported to perform Xerxes and Arsamene. Ironically it is the only Handel opera I had ever seen live before as well, in the "Vauxhall gardens" production at ENO.










Tobias Cole as Xerxes is a fine and accomplished singer who can use his voice to good effect, but unfortunately said voice in not particularly pleasing to the ear, rather like sucking on a grapefruit. He brought out all the rather mad and quirky aspects of the tyrannical ruler's character and his discomfiture in the final scene when he is revealed as a two-timing cheat was hilarious. William Purefoy as Arsamene sang excellently and sounded beautiful; I was particularly impressed by his projection and clarity when singing pianissimo. I enjoyed having a couple of young and good-looking men in the male roles, makes up for all those girls in breeches. The rest of the cast provided good support, with Tiffany Speight as Romilda being the standout voice of the evening, with a lovely rich sound. The acting was good, really paying attention to the emotions expressed in the arias - for example in the scene when Arsamene and Romilda are accusing each other of betrayal they really looked as though they were having a tiff. Very funny. A German Baroque orchestra, the Lautten Compagney, provided inspired accompaniment and sensitive dialogue with the singers.

The production was very minimal, a series of white columns with swivelling piece of stage furniture which represented a bench, the bridge over the Hellespont and a podium. There was a lot of use of virulent coloured lighting effects and the costumes by local designer Trelise Cooper also used acid colours for the women, fuchsia and lime and emerald . The men looked elegant in breeches and boots, although I'm not sure why Arsamene had to wear a pashmina draped around him when he went into exile.

The interior of the Civic looks like the Taj Mahal filtered through a twenties opium-smoking Hollywood mogul's imagination.










I was disappointed at first at the absence of the most enchanting feature of this theatre, a replica of the night sky complete with tiny twinkling lights set in the shape of recognisable constellations, but the director was reserving the effect for the second act which begins at night and this added to the atmosphere of Arsamene's lament.

My enjoyment of all this threatened by the appearance halfway through in the empty seat next to me of a rather inebriated young woman smelling strongly of cheap perfume who obsessively texted on her iPhone, swigged alternatively on bottles of water and vodka, and finally rummaged both furtively and noisly in her Mary-Poppins-like handbag and produced a nectarine which she proceeded to suck juicily on for about ten minutes. I rigged up a barrier with my programme next to my ear and eyes so that I could ignore most of it but my daughter was in hysterics.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> I went to see Xerxes at the Civic Theatre here in Auckland last night, in a sparse production by NZ opera. This is the first staged Handel opera that has ever been put on here, and two countertenors were imported to perform Xerxes and Arsamene. Ironically it is the only Handel opera I had ever seen live before as well, in the "Vauxhall gardens" production at ENO.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Sounds like good performances by all



mamascarlatti said:


> The production was very minimal, a series of white columns with swivelling piece of stage furniture which represented a bench, the bridge over the Hellespont and a podium. There was a lot of use of virulent coloured lighting effects and the costumes by local designer Trelise Cooper also used acid colours for the women, fuchsia and lime and emerald . The men looked elegant in breeches and boots, although I'm not sure why Arsamene had to wear a pashmina draped around him when he went into exile.


:lol: at the pashmina!



mamascarlatti said:


> The interior of the Civic looks like the Taj Mahal filtered through a twenties opium-smoking Hollywood mogul's imagination.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


What a fantastic picture. Does the theatre always look like this?



mamascarlatti said:


> My enjoyment of all this threatened by the appearance halfway through in the empty seat next to me of a rather inebriated young woman smelling strongly of cheap perfume who obsessively texted on her iPhone, swigged alternatively on bottles of water and vodka, and finally rummaged both furtively and noisily in her Mary-Poppins-like handbag and produced a nectarine which she proceeded to suck juicily on for about ten minutes. I rigged up a barrier with my programme next to my ear and eyes so that I could ignore most of it but my daughter was in hysterics.


:scold:

Why oh why do some people think this sort of behaviour is OK.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

sospiro said:


> What a fantastic picture. Does the theatre always look like this?


Did you never get there when you were living in Auckland, Annie (although it might not have been in use then, I think it was restored more recently). It really is mind-blowingly OTT, extravagant, convoluted, gilded, baroque. Very appropriate to this opera, really.










The exterior is more stark:


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> Did you never get there when you were living in Auckland, Annie (although it might not have been in use then)


I don't remember it but maybe walked past it. I worked here for a while.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

sospiro said:


> I don't remember it but maybe walked past it. I worked here for a while.


Yup, the Civic is about 50 metres down from there, so you will have seen it.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Natalie, can you please check your PM and reply at your earliest convenience? Thanks. Nice pics, by the way. Interesting theater you have there.


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

Last Friday I went to see Parsifal (sung in English) at the English National Opera, The Coliseum, London.

This was the Nikolaus Lehnhoff production that originally started at the ENO in 1999 and since then has travelled the world including famously on DVD at Baden Baden. This DVD was of course the top choice of the forum regarding this piece. The only person who appeared on DVD and was appearing at the ENO was Tom Fox as Klingsor. Irene Theorin who was the Brunnhilde of the famous/infamous Copenhagen Ring was originally cast as Kundry but quit the show a couple of weeks before the opening night due to 'artistic differences' and replaced by Jane Dutton. The rest of the cast were Sir John Tomlinson as Gurnemanz, Stuart Skelton as Parsifal, Andrew Greenan as Titurel and Iain Paterson as Amfortas. The ENO orchestra was conducted by Mark Wrigglesworth.

This overall was again a highly satisfactory night of Wagner music (amazingly I've had three on the trot now). I shall start with the conducting. If Mark Wrigglesworth is not doing more high profile work after listening to his wonderfully crafted account of the score then it really will be an injustice. The lavish sound he managed to get out of the orchestra was exceptional. The last time I had previously heard the prelude live was when Rattle and the Berlin Phil were at the Proms but this was a better account. The strings throughout the whole piece would have given some of the top orchestras a run for their money. Plus the conductors use of tempi was excellent. The 1st act was evenly paced whilst the 2nd act was more driving and very rarely did the singers get overpowered by the score. Act 3 again was more of an even pace. The reading reminded me of Kubelik's wonderful recording.

Right as another thread considered this subject opera in translation is a bit of a sticky subject on this forum. I have to admit I would have preferred to have heard this music in German and the translation did sometimes seem out of place but I notice that both the conductor and John Tomlinson had amended parts of the original translation and so this obviously helped. Also if this had been the first time that I had seen or heard Parsifal it would have probably helped being in English in order to make sense of the wacky libretto.

Right now the singers. John Tomlinson as Gurnemanz was wonderful. It was the best I have heard him sing in a long time and usually our paths cross at least a couple of times a year. None of the bark and bluster which had been getting prevalent appeared to be there whether he is managing to nurse his voice better I don't know. The one thing I would say is that although the ENO does have surtitles you did not need them at all for him as his diction was crystal clear. His characterisation of the role as to expected with such a fine actor was great. He seemed to be really more into the role than when he did it at the ROH in 2007 under Haitink.

Stuart Skelton as Parsifal was also very good and could be a heldentenor to watch out for, although I would like to hear him sing some roles in German. His singing in Act 3 in particular was very good and his acting was of a high standard.

Jane Dutton as Kundry was okay. She did seem to have problems with some of the high notes in Act 2 where she seemed to be a bit squally, but her characterisation again was very good. 

Iain Paterson was Amfortas and was a very touching role whose voice seemed perfectly suited to the role. Again I would like to see him try it in the native language. Paterson really demonstrated well the relationship between Anfortas and his son which involved their shared torture.

Tom Fox was Klingsor and again he impressed for his short role and those who have seen the DVD know what to expect.

Andrew Greenan had a strong bass voice which was perfect for the role of Titurel.

Seeing this production live made me love it even more than I did before it is a very powerful production and on DVD you don't get to experience the full effects, espeically when it comes to the lighting effects. The ENO says its the last time it is staging it which will be a shame. If one day it turns up near your town you should get a ticket straight away.


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## delallan (Jan 4, 2011)

I am going away for a week's holiday, and have borrowed a couple of Operas from our local library to watch on my laptop: "'Barbiere di Siviglia' with Cecilia Bartoli as Rosina (1988 production with the choir of Cologne); the other is AIDA, from Barcelona (2003) with Daniela Dessì, Elisabetta Fiorillo, Fabio Armiliato, Juan Pons and Roberto Scandiuzzi.

Have any of you watched these? I'm looking forward to it!

Peace,
Del


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

delallan said:


> I am going away for a week's holiday, and have borrowed a couple of Operas from our local library to watch on my laptop: "'Barbiere di Siviglia' with Cecilia Bartoli as Rosina (1988 production with the choir of Cologne); the other is AIDA, from Barcelona (2003) with Daniela Dessì, Elisabetta Fiorillo, Fabio Armiliato, Juan Pons and Roberto Scandiuzzi.
> 
> Have any of you watched these? I'm looking forward to it!
> 
> ...


This is the Barbiere you're talking about:

Il barbiere di Siviglia by Gioacchino Rossini performed in Italian
Conductor Gabriele Ferro - 1988(LI)
Orchestra - Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart
Chorus - Kölner Oper
Figaro - Gino Quilico
Il Conte Almaviva - David Kuebler
Rosina - Cecilia Bartoli
Dr. Bartolo - Carlos Feller
Don Basilio - Robert Lloyd
Berta - Edith Kertesz-Gabry
------------------------------------------------------------------
DVD (Video) - ArtHaus Musik 100 090 (Europe) (2001); ArtHaus Musik 100 091 (USA) (2003); ArtHaus Musik 100 930 (+L'Italiana in Algeri - Weikert) {2DVDS} (2003)

And this is the Aida:

Aida by Giuseppe Verdi performed in Italian
Conductor Miguel-Ángel Gomez-Martinis (Gómez Martínez) - 2003(LI)
Orchestra - Gran Teatro del Liceo
Chorus - Gran Teatro del Liceo
Aida - Daniela Dessi
Radamès - Fabio Armiliato
Amneris - Elisabetta Fiorillo
Amonasro - Juan (Joan) Pons
Ramphis - Roberto Scandiuzzi
Il Re di Egitto - Stefano Palatchi
Una Sacerdotessa - Ana Nebot
Un Messaggero - Josep Fadó
------------------------------------------------------------------
DVD (Video) - Opus Arte OA 0894 D (2004)

Apparently neither one was considered by our members, on the Most Recommended DVDs thread (you should consult it and join the vote). Once you watch your versions, tell us what you think, on the Rossini and Verdi threads of the subforum.

The ones that our members have recommended are:

Barbiere:

Pappano 2009 Covent Garden: 7 votes
Zedda 1991 Netherlands Chamber Orchestra: 1 vote
Weikert 1989 Metropolitan Opera: 1 vote


Aida:

Levine 1989 Metropolitan Opera: 3 votes
Stefanelli 2001 Fondazione Arturo Toscanini: 2 votes
Maazel 1986 La Scalla: 1 vote
García-Navarro 1987 San Francisco Opera: 1 vote
Fischer 2006 Zurich Opera: 1 vote


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## delallan (Jan 4, 2011)

Thank you for providing that information on the DVDs that I've borrowed!!

I will join in upon my return and let you know what I think of them. I'm quite interested in hearing Bartoli; her 'Sospiri' CD has been playing quite regularly on my ipod lately!!

Peace,

Del



Almaviva said:


> This is the Barbiere you're talking about:
> 
> Il barbiere di Siviglia by Gioacchino Rossini performed in Italian
> Conductor Gabriele Ferro - 1988(LI)
> ...


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Hope you have a good holiday delallan.

You may want to post your DVD reviews on the Rossini/Verdi 'opera on blu ray & dvd' sub forum. 

This thread is usually kept for stuff we've seen live.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Went to see *Il Trovatore* last night by Welsh National Opera at Birmingham Hippodrome

*Manrico*: Gwyn Hughes Jones
*Leonora*: Katia Pellegrino
*Conte di Luna*: David Kempster
*Azucena*: Veronica Simeoni
*Ferrando*: David Soar

*Conductor*: Andrea Licata

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some of this was very good and some of it wasn't.

I liked the dark & minimalist production. Huge semi-circle walls of dark 'stone' were used to good effect. The costumes & props were non-era-specific but not modern. Some reasonable sword play but not as good as Dima & Cura in the DVD.

*Andrea Licata* did a fine job. The acoustics at the Hippodrome aren't brilliant but the voices were never drowned.

*David Soar* was absolutely superb, great acting and fabulous rich dark velvety voice. I'll actively seek out what he's doing next as I really want to see him in a bigger role. But with proviso*
He debuted at ROH as Quinault in Adriana Lecouvreur & will debut at the Met in Don Giovanni (Masetto).

*Veronica Simeoni* was actually the best Azucena I've either seen or heard. She was spectacular. Her portrayal was emotional and believable without being ott & she was note perfect (to my ears anyway).

*Katia Pellegrino*. A really good Leonora. The role needs a soprano with a good range and Katia has that & with plenty of oomph. Not conventionally pretty but very attractive and convincing.

*David Kempster* was a real puzzle. I found a CD he'd done of arias & Welsh songs & wasn't impressed. At the start of _Tace la notte!_ his vibrato was definitely wobble and it was so bad it was embarrassing. But by the time he'd got to the end of it he actually sounded quite good. It was like that all the way through, starting off awful & improving dramatically. Thank goodness he'd warmed up by the time he got to _Il balen del suo sorriso_. He got enthusiastic & well deserved applause for that.

* David Soar is due to sing Leporello (WNO) in November but Kempster is Don Giovanni & I couldn't sit through Kempster's Don. Soar is Figaro (WNO) next year so if Kempster isn't in it I might go.

*Gwyn Hughes Jones* should have asked AG for some tips on how to cancel because he should have stayed at home. He was awful as the Duke in last year's WNO Rigoletto and he was awful as Manrico. I'm struggling to describe his voice. He can sing the notes but by the time they reach my ears they're a cross between a shout and a screech. There were several telling side-glances between the audience & mostly silence after set-piece arias. And unfortunately he's not that attractive to look at, he's a podgy little guy with a silly beard. In future I won't bother going to any WNO production if he's in it.

There's a review in The Guardian which says he emerged with honour so he obviously has good days.

I missed the curtain calls as I had to run for the last train. 'Industrial action' by some rail staff meant later trains had been cancelled. Then a fight broke out, some guys were arrested by onboard security, the train halted at the next (un-scheduled) station, the police boarded, handcuffed & hauled off the suspects & interviewed witnesses. I'd needed a good loud dose of my José's Manrico on my mp3 as an antidote to Gwyn Hughes Jones so I didn't hear what the fight was about. The police don't get involved if it's just a fight so there must have been more to it. My earphones really block outside sound and the very nice policeman didn't believe I'd heard nothing until I plugged him in. He said he "quite liked it"  policemen lie.

Oh the joys of public transport.


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## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

sospiro said:


> Went to see *Il Trovatore* last night by Welsh National Opera at Birmingham Hippodrome
> 
> Oh the joys of public transport.


Kind of you to give your limo driver a night off.....:lol:


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

sospiro said:


> I missed the curtain calls as I had to run for the last train. 'Industrial action' by some rail staff meant later trains had been cancelled. Then a fight broke out, some guys were arrested by onboard security, the train halted at the next (un-scheduled) station, the police boarded, handcuffed & hauled off the suspects & interviewed witnesses. I'd needed a good loud dose of my José's Manrico on my mp3 as an antidote to Gwyn Hughes Jones so I didn't hear what the fight was about. The police don't get involved if it's just a fight so there must have been more to it. My earphones really block outside sound and the very nice policeman didn't believe I'd heard nothing until I plugged him in. He said he "quite liked it"  policemen lie.
> 
> Oh the joys of public transport.


Good heavens, it sounds as though you had almost as much drama AFTER the opera as you did during the performance!
(I also have the recording of "_Il Trovatore_" with José's Manrico, and he is marvelous!)


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Sounds like a fairly good evening Annie although a little disappointing on the all important tenor and baritone front.

I'd love to have seen that policeman's face when he listened to Trovatore!

I saw José's Manrico at Covent Garden in the 80s.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> I saw José's Manrico at Covent Garden in the 80s.


Wish I'd seem him in his prime, but if I remember, you said he was a rather lacklustre Manrico?

Update on my Bass du Jour, Mr. Soar. According to the Hippodrome website David Kempster isn't in _Le nozze_ & booking is open so have got my seat.

I can't believe I've booked up to see an opera on 10th March 2012.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

sospiro said:


> Wish I'd seem him in his prime, but if I remember, you said he was a rather *lacklustre Manrico*?
> 
> Update on my Bass du Jour, Mr. Soar. According to the Hippodrome website David Kempster isn't in _Le nozze_ & booking is open so have got my seat.
> 
> I can't believe I've booked up to see an opera on 10th March 2012.


He was, but he was probably sick by this point.

The Hippodrome sounds huge. What's it like?


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> The Hippodrome sounds huge. What's it like?


It's really nice & have met some friendly people. Before the performance started, I went to look at the pit & got chatting to a woman doing the same. We were speculating if the catch netting had ever been used! Couple next to me were interesting & interested to hear where I'd been. They were great travellers & use an opera as a reason to visit a particular city.

Capacity is quoted (Wiki) as 1,935. Info here. Multi-use theatre & Stalls Rows A B C & D are over the pit & removed for opera & ballet.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

sospiro said:


> It's really nice & have met some friendly people. Before the performance started, I went to look at the pit & got chatting to a woman doing the same. We were speculating if the catch netting had ever been used! Couple next to me were interesting & interested to hear where I'd been. They were great travellers & use an opera as a reason to visit a particular city.
> 
> Capacity is quoted (Wiki) as 1,935. Info here. Multi-use theatre & Stalls Rows A B C & D are over the pit & removed for opera & ballet.


Annie, when you post a link but replace it with a word like you just did - "Info here." - how do you do it? I'd like to learn to do that.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> Annie, when you post a link but replace it with a word like you just did - "Info here." - how do you do it? I'd like to learn to do that.


First find the website you want to quote. Highlight the address, *copy*, then click on the icon (don't know its name) below the white smiley face on the tool bar, *paste* address of website. Click OK. Then type in your description/text in the space highlighted in blue.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

sospiro said:


> First find the website you want to quote. Highlight the address, *copy*, then click on the icon (don't know its name) below the white smiley face on the tool bar, *paste* address of website. Click OK. Then type in your description/text in the space highlighted in blue.


OK, let's see if it works:

La Bellissima

Yep, it does!
This gave me a wonderful idea: I'll edit Anna's Wikipedia page to include our moniker for her!


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

sospiro said:


> First find the website you want to quote. Highlight the address, *copy*, then click on the icon (don't know its name) below the white smiley face on the tool bar, *paste* address of website. Click OK. Then type in your description/text in the space highlighted in blue.


Even easier:

Type the whole text as you want it to appear.

Copy your Url address from the website.

Go back to your text, highlight the bit you want to use as your display, click on the "insert link" icon, pop in your address, Ok, and there you go, magic.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> Even easier:
> 
> Type the whole text as you want it to appear.
> 
> ...


Whaaat? OK, let me try your method.

La Bellissima

It works too! And do click on the link to see my little addition to her page!


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

DarkAngel said:


> Kind of you to give your limo driver a night off.....:lol:


:lol:

Actually public transport usually works well in UK. For years I couldn't afford to run a car and then when I could afford to I'd got so used to not having one I decided I could do without.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> Whaaat? OK, let me try your method.
> 
> La Bellissima
> 
> It works too! And do click on the link to see my little addition to her page!


Looks good 

What about editing this page?


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

sospiro said:


> Looks good
> 
> What about editing this page?


Do you think we should insert "El Guapo" into the page? He'll hunt us down and set Mrs Guapo on us.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> Do you think we should insert "El Guapo" into the page?


Sorry that's what I meant



mamascarlatti said:


> He'll hunt us down and set Mrs Guapo on us


I'll tell her it was all Alma's idea


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

sospiro said:


> I'll tell her it was all Alma's idea


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

His page needs updating, anyway. He and Mrs. Guapo and the three little Guapos are no longer living in Zürich, but have moved back to his hometown of Munich.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

MAuer said:


> His page needs updating, anyway. He and Mrs. Guapo and the three little Guapos are no longer living in Zürich, but have moved back to his hometown of Munich.


How do you know? Are you the person that I read about who's stalking him?


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

sospiro said:


> How do you know? Are you the person that I read about who's stalking him?


Oh, Lord, my secret's out . . .:devil:


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

*Andreas Scholl concert, Auckland Town Hall*

I have been looking forward to this for 6 months when I got my tickets. Auckland is so off the beaten track that I simply couldn't believe it when I read that my very favourite counter-tenor was coming to sing here. I've loved his voice and compusively bought his recordings ever since my then 4-year-old and I heard him sing the alto and baritone parts of "Wraggle-Taggle Gypsies" on the radio and she wanted to hear it again.






You see how that might appeal to a child.

Unfortunately she is still too wriggly to cope with a whole evening of singing, so I took my 15-year-old to the concert instead. We started off the evening at a new Latin American restaurant being run by a couple of ex-students of mine, so we had a wonderful time being treated like royalty and sampling a delicious array of Mexican, Bolivian, Cuban and Argentinean food. I can't remember the name of anything except Flan Frida Kahlo which comes from her recipe book and indicates she could cook as well as paint.

Then off to the Town Hall. Andrew Scholl was being accompanied by what turned out to be a very fine choir, Musica Sacra, and the local baroque orchestra, AK Barok. We had fun spotting all the people we knew in the orchestra, at least seven of whom are Suzuki teachers, including my daughter's violin teacher. She told us that the rehearsals for this concert had been exceptionally well-disciplined and well-behaved, and they certainly played to a very high standard.

The Handel and Bach programme consisted of some arias from Rodelinda and Serse, Cantata BWV170 "Vergnügte Ruh", and extracts from the last part of Solomon where he was joined by local soprano Pepe Becker. From the moment when that first note of "Ombra mai fu" rose and soared up to the ceiling I was in bliss- it's always a little anxiety-provoking, hearing one's hero in person, but I wasn't disappointed. I just love the masculinity of his voice, and his phrasing and dynamics were particularly impressive. He managed the florid demands of Vivi Tiranno, sang the cantata with careful attention to the words, and was a heroic Solomon. As encores we got Wayfaring stranger (reduced me to tears) and I think Purcell.

We queued up to get a signature on CDs at the end - the poor guy looked shattered, not surprisingly after the mammoth flight.

I'm still floating on air after this and am having trouble concentrating on real life







.

View attachment 1544


View attachment 1545


View attachment 1546


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

I'm so glad he wasn't a disappointment & it sounds like you both had a fab time. Great photos.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> I have been looking forward to this for 6 months I'm still floating on air after this and am having trouble concentrating on real life
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Good for you, Nat. I'm glad for you!:tiphat:


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Almaviva said:


> Good for you, Nat. I'm glad for you!:tiphat:


Thanks. We had a violin lesson today and the teacher said that Scholl had been wonderful to work with, very collegial and friendly, socialising with the orchestra in the interval - she introduced him to feijoas










which are in season at the moment and he had two of them.

She also said that his singing teacher had always said "sing as if your life depends on it" and he did - apparently this was the last concert of an eight week tour and he was so tired in the rehearsal that his eye was twitching, but you would never have known it in the performance.

Newspaper review here


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

I'm coming home from the theater where I just saw Woyzeck the play (_Woyzeck on the Highveld_), done with life-size puppets by South African company Handspring Puppet Company. I liked Wozzeck the opera a lot better. The show was interesting but after some 20 minutes the novelty was gone and I was a little bored.


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## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

I got to see a really terrific recital at my school today by Katharine Goeldner, a mezzo-soprano who had just come from singing Carmen with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. She sang Debussy, Schumann, Schubert, R. Strauss, and a couple others, and sang the Habanera as an encore. It was _wonderful_. I feel lucky that we get visits from such special guest artists, being in the middle of nowhere as we are. She's also performing in a Bach cantata with our early music ensemble tomorrow night.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> ZOMG Andreas Scholl!


Can I just say how insanely jealous I am right now? You lucky duck, you, Natalie.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Aksel said:


> Can I just say how insanely jealous I am right now? You lucky duck, you, Natalie.


Trust me, I'm feeling lucky. The trick, I am told, is to entice a childhood friend of Scholl's to live in your neck of the woods. He'll come to sing and then visit his friend.

And he is more gorgeous in real life than on camera, very tall and slim.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> Trust me, I'm feeling lucky. The trick, I am told, is to entice a childhood friend of Scholl's to live in your neck of the woods. He'll come to sing and then visit his friend.
> 
> And he is more gorgeous in real life than on camera, very tall and slim.


I will try that then. Will post results on how it has gone.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

*Lucia di Lammermoor*
Deutsch Oper Berlin: 6th April 2011

Enrico: *Fikile Mvinjelwa*
Lucia: *Elena Mosuc*
Edgardo: *Joseph Calleja*
Arturo: *Gregory Warren*
Raimondo: *Arutjun Kotchinian*
Alice: *Katarina Bradic*
Normanno: *Jörg Schörner*

Conductor: *Guillermo García Calvo*

Chor der Deutschen Oper Berlin 
Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin

-------------------------------------------------

I do love a traditional production and this was certainly traditional. Not sure if they actually dressed like that in the early 18th Century but the costumes looked authentic enough for me.

When I first read who would be singing _Enrico_, I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to 'believe' he was Lucia's brother (see Ian's comments in the 'Singing Actors' thread) but as soon as Mvinjelwa started singing I forgot that he was black. He has a fantastic dark (no pun intended) baritone voice and could easily sing bass/baritone roles. He's a good actor & the change in _Enrico_ from arrogance & anger to a repentant & remorseful brother was very well portrayed.

I didn't know anything at all about Elena Mosuc. Joseph had been at home in Malta & didn't arrive in Berlin until the day before the performance & I was thinking this didn't leave much rehearsal time. Surely modest, hard working Joseph hadn't turned into an 'I'm so good I don't need to rehearse' sort of person?? When I mentioned this to Gila (one of the JC supporters group) she said Joseph & Elena had done Lucia together so often they could do it backwards & only needed a couple of sessions.

Anyway Mosuc was absolutely brilliant. She sounded better than anything I've since found on YouTube & she looked fabulous. I'm maybe in the minority but I don't like OTT mad scenes of the Dame Joan variety. Good acting, plenty of emotion & passion & of course a sensational voice is all that's needed (all :lol and Mosuc's mad scene had these. At the risk of ending up on the TC's *banned until the end of eternity* list, I thought Mosuc's _Lucia_ was better than La Bellissima's. Haven't seen Dessay's so can't compare with hers.

Arutjun Kotchinian is another singer I didn't know. He's tall & aristocratic so really fits the part of _Raimondo_. His voice is so rich & dark it reminded me of draught Guinness. It's also incredibly powerful & his _Pace, pace ... egli abborrisce_ in Act2 Scene4 made your teeth rattle.

All the supporting singers & especially the chorus were great, excellent balance between orchestra & singers which the conductor brought out well... which just leaves me to review Joseph.

I know he's been getting some great reviews recently, especially for his Met _Edgardo_ but I also know his voice isn't to everyone's taste so I won't go on about it, well not much. 

His voice has been compared to Pavarotti's but to my enthusiastic but totally untrained ear, he sounds more like early Carreras. Maybe subconsciously that's why I love Joseph's voice so much. I'm no good at describing voices but it's the purity which gives me goose bumps. And it just seemed so effortless. Maybe in _Boccanegra_ he struggled a bit but with _L'elisir d'amore_ and now with _Lucia_ he just makes it all look so easy.

I waited for _Tu che a Dio spiegasti l'ali_ with mixed feelings. It was this aria by Carreras that first got me thinking I might like this opera thingy & I wanted Joseph to sound as good as, if not better than José & I wasn't disappointed.

Joseph has difficulty keeping his weight down but he's been working out regularly again & it's really paying off. I'm the first to admit acting is not his strong point but it is improving. _Edgardo_ was very convincing when he flung his ring across the stage at _Lucia_ but it was the suicide which impressed me. Half lying on the stage, choking on the words _ A te vengo ... oh bell'alma ..._ & coughing so realistically I half expected to see blood trickle down his chin.

And I'll get to see him do it all over again on Sunday. 

There is a 'but' though & a fairly big one. They cut both the Wolf's Crag Scene and the fabulous duet with _Lucia_ and _Raimondo_ where he advises her to accept her fate & please her brother. Oh well you can't have everything.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Great review, Annie. And the Enrico had an awesome name! If I ever get a son, I'm probably going to call him Fikile. Totally.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Fabulous review Annie. Glad the whole experience worked and not just Joseph. Judging on the pics from the Deutsche Oper site, the costumes look beautiful, 1630-40s, good for once to see an opera set in a time when the events make sense in the context of the historical culture.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

mamascarlatti said:


> Fabulous review Annie. Glad the whole experience worked and not just Joseph. Judging on the pics from the Deutsche Oper site, the costumes look beautiful, 1630-40s, good for once to see an opera set in a time when the events make sense in the context of the historical culture.


A more traditional staging does not have to equate to a boring staging, and this proves it.


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## Poppin' Fresh (Oct 24, 2009)

Went to see _Der Rosenkavalier_ at the San Diego opera last night.










Everything was beautifully done. The only complaints I had were regarding members of the audience around us. It was my wife's first time seeing the opera, and unfortunately she was distracted during the majority of the first act by the woman to the right of her who was munching away on potato chips with a crinkly bag and everything. Then there were three ladies in the row behind us who apparently did not think they had to quiet down until the curtain went up and were chatting throughout the overtures. A stern "AHEM!" quieted them down for the overture to the third act, but by the end of the opera they were growing restless and nothing would stop them whispering back and forth throughout the last 30 minutes. I was willing to be understanding because I thought one of them might have been confused about the details of the plot and was asking for an explanation, but my wife informed me she overheard them saying something about what they would be wearing the next day. 

On all my other visits to the opera, I had sat in the Mezzanine or Lodge levels and there were no problems with audience members behaving badly. This was my first time sitting up in the Balcony. I don't know if it has anything to do with the relatively lower ticket prices, or if this was just extremely bad luck, or what.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Poppin' Fresh said:


> On all my other visits to the opera, I had sat in the Mezzanine or Lodge levels and there were no problems with audience members behaving badly. This was my first time sitting up in the Balcony. I don't know if it has anything to do with the relatively lower ticket prices, or if this was just extremely bad luck, or what.


I don't see a correlation between ticket price and audience behavior. Sometimes it's even the other way around, the cheap tickets have students and real opera lovers in attendance while the expensive ones have people who want to show off their new tuxedo and have no clue about opera. The bottom line is that I've seen good and bad behavior in all sections of an opera house.


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## Guest (Jun 4, 2011)

I've been going to the outdoor Wiener Staatsoper Live am Platz in Vienna once a week. I am living in Vienna for one year and am from Australia. Last night I saw "Salome" (Richard Strauss) which was unbelievable!! Next week Tchaikovsky's "EUGENE ONEGIN".


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## emiellucifuge (May 26, 2009)

I posted this as a blog a while back, dont know if you saw it - but it fits here too.


So, last night I saw Der Rosenkavalier performed here by the DNO for the first time.

Cast
Simon Rattle - conductor
Director - Brigitte Fasbaender
Concept - Willy Decker
Marschallin - Johanni van Oostrum
Baron Ochs - Kurt Rydl
Octavian - Karin Strobos
Faninal - Michael Kraus
Sophie - Sally Matthews


Staging.
The staging by Willy Decker was brilliant. Consisting of castle walls surrounding a room, which were set into the ground at an angle. With each progressive act as the story become more absurd the angle decreased and the walls eventually were about 45 degrees from the ground.
The room was decorated with a few spaced out pieces of simple furniture, which were used very well.
Costumes were very imaginative with colours representing each faction (faninals servants vs Och's entourage etc...)
The acting was brilliant, very much bringing out the comic side of the opera. Both Octavian and the Marschallin were stand-ins, but Octavian stole the show. She acted so naturally in the role that one felt a great attachment to this young character.

Music
Simon Rattle leading the Rotterdam Philharmonic could not have been better. Rattle made every transition seamless and very much brought out the spirit of the opera.
The singing of Baron Ochs was very good, Octavian and the Marschallin were absolutely great though occasionally Octavian was drowned out a little bit. Sophie was probably the vocal highlight, she has a very beautiful voice and controlled the vibrato perfectly.

Overall, this production was heart warming and engaging. The characters, particularly Octavian, seemed life-like and one felt a great deal of emotion for them.
Karin Strobos was particularly fantastic and acted the boyish part perfectly. Watch out for this singer in the future.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

emiellucifuge said:


> I posted this as a blog a while back, dont know if you saw it - but it fits here too.
> 
> So, last night I saw Der Rosenkavalier performed here by the DNO for the first time.
> 
> ...


:clap: that's great emiel!

The reviews I've read of DNO are really making me want to go. I know someone who went to see Platée & she said it was brilliant.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

sospiro said:


> I know someone who went to see Platée & she said it was brilliant.


 To make of Platée - a very annoying opera in my opinion - something brilliant is quite an accomplishment.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> To make of Platée - a very annoying opera in my opinion - something brilliant is quite an accomplishment.


:lol:

I don't know it so can't give an opinion.

Read Alice's report here.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

sospiro said:


> :lol:
> 
> I don't know it so can't give an opinion.
> 
> Read Alice's report here.


Oh. My. God!
I find this staging quite ridiculous.
It must only make an annoying opera with a nasty plot be even worse.


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## emiellucifuge (May 26, 2009)

Im very very happy to have this company so close and have been thrilled by every production Ive seen. Of course there are many people such as Almaviva (see above post), who disagree with the modern 'eurotrash' stagings.
Well.... Imo art must progress and I have coined a new term for those annoying traditional productions from the Met -Ameritrash! The DNO provides a refreshing alternative.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

emiellucifuge said:


> Im very very happy to have this company so close and have been thrilled by every production Ive seen. Of course there are many people such as Almaviva (see above post), who disagree with the modern 'eurotrash' stagings.
> Well.... Imo art must progress and I have coined a new term for those annoying traditional productions from the Met -Ameritrash! The DNO provides a refreshing alternative.


You are generalizing my opinion. If you read my reviews you'll find favorable reviews that I've authored for many modern stagings - not only that, but enthusiastic reviews of contemporary operas as well. I certainly don't have an old-fashioned taste, I think I'm rather eclectic. It's a case-by-case thing. My point with a modern staging is that it needs to make sense. To just set an opera in a restroom with toilet stalls for the sake of being "different" or "alternative" doesn't cut it. I wasn't particularly impressed with this staging of Platée - from what I saw in that review (might change my mind if I watched the entire thing), which doesn't mean I don't like any staging of what you're calling Eurotrash. You may be mixing me up with other posters who are strongly for traditional stagings - like our friend Gualtier. I'm not like that. As for Ameritrash, the Met has numerous modern and tasteful stagings, as well as some very bad ones. All things in life have ups and downs. I don't even think that the Met these days can be said to have a preference for traditional stagings. Just look at the current Ring cycle.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Almaviva said:


> You are generalizing my opinion. If you read my reviews you'll find favorable reviews that I've authored for many modern stagings - not only that, but enthusiastic reviews of contemporary operas as well. I certainly don't have an old-fashioned taste, I think I'm rather eclectic. It's a case-by-case thing. My point with a modern staging is that it needs to make sense. To just set an opera in a restroom with toilet stalls for the sake of being "different" or "alternative" doesn't cut it. I wasn't particularly impressed with this staging of Platée - from what I saw in that review (might change my mind if I watched the entire thing), which doesn't mean I don't like any staging of what you're calling Eurotrash. You may be mixing me up with other posters who are strongly for traditional stagings - like our friend Gualtier. I'm not like that. As for Ameritrash, the Met has numerous modern and tasteful stagings, as well as some very bad ones. All things in life have ups and downs. I don't even think that the Met these days can be said to have a preference for traditional stagings. Just look at the current Ring cycle.


I think the Met audience is far more resistant to Regie than European audiences. Just look at the reaction to Bondy's Tosca, which was fundamentally traditional compared with the one on El Guapo's recent DVD which was taken right out of its Roman setting and put into a theatre. As for the current Met Ring, sure, it has a machine, but apart from that there is no "Konzept", no changing it to an Industrial Revolution Ring or a Feminist Ring.

In fact the only "WTF" production I can recall at the Met is the JDF Sonnambula (and the imported Salzburg 2005 Traviata, but that's pretty old and familiar by now).


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

I think it's just yin yang. After centuries of incomparable masters making these masterpieces, talent-deprived European directors are now forced to unmake them. Unfortunately this Lady Gagaization of Opera will continue until the stage directors achieve their ultimate goal of a Diaghilevian _Rite_ riot, mere booing is not enough to qualify as an authentic succès de scandale.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

> no changing it to an Industrial Revolution Ring or a Feminist Ring


Thank God!
Like I said, it needs to make sense. A Feminist Ring doesn't make sense.
You've seen that I've supported many modern stagings. But I don't support just anything by a "smart" staging director who thinks he can do better than the composer/librettist.



> I think the Met audience is far more resistant to Regie than European audiences


Could it be because the Met audience is just... I don't know... more informed and with better taste?


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## emiellucifuge (May 26, 2009)

I know you do Alma, my post was partially tongue in cheek.
Should have added smilies....


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

Unfortunately, I don't have a budget big enough that would enable me a lot of live operas. The Toronto opera has prices too high for me right now. For around $250 for a ticket (and I need 2 or 3 tickets), it's too much for me right now. I don't miss any opera staged in Mississauga (best tickets are $75). So my last opera was Rossini's Il Barbiere, 2011, April 15. I definitely loved the production, except for Emilio Fina playing Almaviva. This was opera Kitchener, so no big names. The stage was classic, but rather minimalistic in its decorations. This was a great success, after last year's fiasco with Madama Butterfly.

*Figaro* Douglas Tranquada- beautiful voice, nice acting
*Count Almaviva* Emilio Fina-dusky, no power, rather bad singing, bad acting (looked too shy at least in the beginning)
*Rosina* Jennifer Elisabetta Fina -mezzo, excellent Rossina!
*Doctor Bartolo* William Lewans - good enough
*Don Basilio* Kyle Macdonald - good, could have been a little better
*Berta* Karen Bojti - excellent
*Fiorello* Andrew Tam - amazing baritone, wonderful, powerful voice, great acting, too small role for such a talent.
*Officer* George Ossipov


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

Almaviva said:


> Thank God!
> Like I said, it needs to make sense. A Feminist Ring doesn't make sense.
> You've seen that I've supported many modern stagings. But I don't support just anything by a "smart" staging director who thinks he can do better than the composer/librettist.
> 
> Could it be because the Met audience is just... I don't know... more informed and with better taste?


Alma- If the Met audience had the best taste they wouldn't clap before the end of Die Walkure.

My evidence is below sir!:devil: At Covent Garden those audience members would be taken out and shot.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

jflatter said:


> Alma- If the Met audience had the best taste they wouldn't clap before the end of Die Walkure.
> 
> My evidence is below sir!:devil: At Covent Garden those audience members would be taken out and shot.


They *were* taken out and shot, therefore they won't be there for the next installment.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Not long got back to my hotel after seeing Tosca. Will review when I've seen Sunday's performance.

After the show there was a sponsors' party & we autograph hunters were warned we might have to wait a couple of hours. A few stalwarts waited. Well it was a lovely warm evening & I made some new friends while I was waiting.

Some French guy was in the audience & was hanging around afterwards as well. He was happy to pose for pics & seemed very friendly with the soprano. 

He's a real sweetie.



 Didn't get a pic of the German guy, but got his autograph & will try for photos on Sunday.


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## BalloinMaschera (Apr 4, 2011)

Two Boys @ ENO
2.5 stars out of 5

It wanted for real operatic lines... some terrific choral composition
None of the singing knocked my socks off
It was more brooding than it had to be, and some of the characterizations were quite flat. I think that was because the most of the time the singers sang to you how they were feeling (in rather unvaried vocalizations), rather than the music telling you.

The production was for the most part engaging, largely due to effective projections, which gave the stage some life.

Not a horrible evening, but I won't be purchasing any recording of it, should one appear.


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## FragendeFrau (May 30, 2011)

I was going to post about this anyway, and this thread seems like the right place to do it! I'm visiting Washington DC and went to see the award-winning production of _Oklahoma!_ at the Arena Stage. Since I have been watching and listening to operas lately, that was constantly in my mind as I watched...

The Fichandler is an 800-seat theater-in-the-round and is brand new. The set was extremely clever and made use of all four aisles. The wonderful set for Jud's smokehouse cabin, rose up from the floor as needed. Plus one for the musical--I would like to see such clever staging for more operas! (The set designer has won countless awards, I see from the program. Sorry he is not doing operas!)

The direction was outstanding; that is, the acting by all the players was excellent. I found myself wondering why opera directors don't take as much care (LePage I'm looking at you) in the direction they give their singers! I know all my favorites are capable of just as good acting as these singer/dancers. Again, plus one for the musical.

All the singers were miked which was a real disappointment. The theater is not large, and the bass/baritone (Jud) clearly did not need amplification--his singing was painfully loud out of the speakers. I can't believe that the other cast members (Curly especially who was also good--he won a Helen Hayes award for this) were incapable of projecting in this relatively small space. There was a small live band (yay! musicians!) in a little "house" built above some of the seating to one side. Plus one for the opera.

The soprano who played Laurey had an obvious change in the sound of her voice between chesty belting and when she sang the highest notes. I found this distracting and not something I've noticed with more subtle(?) operatic sopranos. She was nominated for a Helen Hayes award, so maybe it's just me. None of the men had this issue. Plus one for the opera?

Finally, I had forgotten: this was a classic American musical in that the singers all danced. I was astonished to watch them do so. The choreographer won a Helen Hayes award as well, and it was terrific to watch the singers do several quite complicated dances, with leaps and lifts. Now I am puzzled, because I had been thinking the below video was the most awesome thing ever--watch the tenor sing complicated opera while being dragged along with his arms over his head and pushing with his feet! Unbelievable--starts at 11:38, I think I've set the youtube to start there:






But after I saw the musical I wondered, hmmm maybe the Florestan thing is not so hard after all? I don't know enough about singing (hey I can barely sing and walk at the same time) + movement to know. Help me out!


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

About the singers leaping up and down while they sing in Oklahoma, well I guess it's easier if they are miked and don't need to sing with operatic technique.
I really don't like musicals any longer. My love for opera has completely destroyed the - already small - appreciation I used to have for musicals.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Don't know if anybody else has mentioned this, but last week I was able to see a new French film now playing here called _Mozart's Sister._ It centres on the Mozart family's visiting of the French royal court in the pre-Revolution era & in particular Anna-Maria (or "Nannerl") Mozart, the composer's sister. In the film, he is about 10, she 16. The film score is by a current French woman composer, attempting to give an idea of what Nannerl's music may have sounded like (none of it has survived, apparently). A good film for classical buffs, but I warn you, at 2 hours it's pretty long (maybe a bit of editing would have served it better?). But all round, my & my colleague's reaction to it was positive. More info below -

http://www.dendy.com.au/moviedetail.asp?Mov_ID=M3547


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

FragendeFrau said:


> Finally, I had forgotten: this was a classic American musical in that the singers all danced. I was astonished to watch them do so. The choreographer won a Helen Hayes award as well, and it was terrific to watch the singers do several quite complicated dances, with leaps and lifts.


Say what you want about musicals, but they do require tremendously gifted performers, with a premium on the "triple threat" skill set (act, sing, dance). These performers may not always reach the level of those who specialize in only one area, but the combination of abilities is impressive. I'm glad to see opera singers also starting to become a little more versatile.


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

*Recently seen live/and "live":*
- *Simon Boccanegra* ("live" from MET with Domingo)(which I also saw live last year at Covent Garden)
- *Rigoletto* in Oslo (three times, that's how good it was!)
- *Peter Grimes* in Oslo (not my favourite, I must admit...)

*In the last year (in no particular order):*
- *Parsifal* at ENO (with Iain Paterson and John Tomlinson)
- *Tosca* in Oslo (w/Maria Guleghina)
- *Marriage of Figaro* in Oslo (bloody well done! I really enjoyed it!)
- *Faust* at ENO (I wasn't crazy about it, but Iain Paterson was hilarious as the Devil!)
- *Simon Boccanegra* at Covent Garden (w/Domingo - just a stunning experience!) 
- *Tannhauser* at Covent Garden (again: Pilgrims Chorus, Pilgrims Chorus, Pilgrims Chorus!)
- *Pearlfishers* (in concert) at Covent Garden (it's all about that one aria, though, isn't it? Pappano conducting)
- *Aida* at Covent Garden (I turned down a chance to see it a 2nd time...)
- *Rape of Lucretia* in Oslo (really not my thing...)
- *Lohengrin* (in concert) in Birmingham (long and grim, but amazing conductor)

Err, yeah, I think that's it. Didn't realise it was that much - 

Also, they have an amazing season coming up in Oslo from September, which I can hardly wait for!! Magic Flute, Macbeth, Barber of Seville, La Boheme and Aida. Should be good


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Operafocus said:


> Also, they have an amazing season coming up in Oslo from September, which I can hardly wait for!! Magic Flute, Macbeth, Barber of Seville, La Boheme and Aida. Should be good


I hope I can go see the Macbeth. That would make my life. Also, the Herheim Boheme sounds amazing.


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

Aksel said:


> I hope I can go see the Macbeth. That would make my life. Also, the Herheim Boheme sounds amazing.


I managed to get in to all


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

Aksel said:


> The Herheim Boheme sounds amazing.


Will there be a bear?


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

*Tosca with the dream team*

Tosca 14th & 17th July 2011

Angelotti: Lukas Jakobski
Sacristan: Jeremy White
Cavaradossi: Jonas Kaufmann
Tosca: Angela Gheorghiu
Scarpia: Bryn Terfel
Spoletta: Hubert Francis
Sciarrone: Zhengzhong Zhou
Shepherd Boy: William Payne
Gaoler: John Morrisey
Royal Opera House Orchestra - Conductor: Antonio Pappano

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is a composite review of the two performances, and very much my own opinion.

Lukas Jakobski (Angelotti) got things off to a cracking start both times with his excellent portrayal of the exhausted and terrified escaped prisoner and I loved Jeremy White's Sacristan.

So much has been said already about the 'dream team' but I'm still not a total convert to Kaufmann. He's gorgeous & he was technically outstanding but his voice didn't move me. He has thousands of adoring fans so I know I'm missing something so I'll persevere with him. After all the hype and also all the negative stuff, I wasn't expecting much from Angela but I was bowled over by her, I thought she was absolutely fabulous. I didn't think Bryn started too well - Te Deum was shouted but he got much better. Second performance was consistently good. His acting was brilliant and more than compensated for any vocal short-comings.

Someone I chatted to after the first performance thought Pappano got ahead of the singers at times. I didn't think so but I do know he was rather subdued (for him) on the second night. Could have been because he was concentrating on keeping his noises under control or maybe he was just tired. And I could tell by his body language he was miffed when there was applause (second night) after Recondita Armonia.

After the performance, along with loads of other fans, I legged it to the Stage Door only to be told (politely) there was a sponsors' party which would last for several hours & no singers would come out to sign. We thanked the staff & stayed put. This went on until midnight when they announced the Stage Door would be closing. We thanked the staff & legged it back around to the front door. Limousines & matching chauffeurs meant the party was still going on so us stalwarts loitered some more.

Our patience was rewarded when Angela & Roberto appeared at about 00:45. Roberto was an absolute sweetie, posing for photos & chatting & Angela was as gracious as any singer I've ever met. They were amazed people had waited for them & seemed to enjoy the fuss we made, but there were so few of us by then, they weren't overwhelmed. Jonas nearly escaped but we caught him just as he was about to cross the road to his car. He shrugged as if to say 'it's a fair cop' and he was friendly & funny. Standing between two parked cars, he chatted up two old French ladies in what seemed like excellent French & they were reduced to giggling school girls. He was obviously in a hurry though so I only got his autograph & not a photo.

There were two guys with us who were studying voice/music at the same college where Bryn studied so were bowled over to see him & Bryn seemed really interested in them which was nice. One guy had met Bryn before (the one with Angela) but was so star struck at the time, he was reduced to a puddle - he managed to string a sentence together this time!!

I was disappointed I didn't see Lukas but I was chuffed to bits with Intermezzo's comment

_"Perhaps when Bryn finally hangs up his jackboots, it'll be Lukas Jakobski's turn as Scarpia. A big guy with a big voice, he made a notable Angelotti, not remotely outclassed by the starry company he kept."_

I'd noticed that Rupert Christiansen, the Daily Telegraph opera critic, was in the audience so I was really looking forward to reading his review.



*Rupert Christiansen*

  

* blurry curtain call (14th July 2011)*



*Angela + adoring fan*



*Bryn + adoring (and dead on her feet) fan*

More later


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

sospiro said:


> Someone I chatted to after the first performance thought Pappano got ahead of the singers at times.


A review I read said that Draculette's "vissi d'arte" was so idiosyncratic that it was hard for Pappano to keep in time with her - and she clearly hadn't rehearsed it enough.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

amfortas said:


> Will there be a bear?


Sure hope so! Although I would much prefer a giraffe.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Operafocus said:


> *Recently seen live/and "live":*
> - *Simon Boccanegra* ("live" from MET with Domingo)(which I also saw live last year at Covent Garden)
> - *Rigoletto* in Oslo (three times, that's how good it was!)
> - *Peter Grimes* in Oslo (not my favourite, I must admit...)
> ...


Wow, good for you!!! It reminds me of the time when I used to live in New York City and was able to do just as much... sadly, I moved out of the city and now my small metropolitan area has only 3 or 4 productions per year. About _Les Pêcheurs de Perles_ - I think it's a lot more than that one aria (_Je crois entendre encore_). There is of course the duet as well (_Au fond du temple saint_), but regardless of the two big hits, I like the entire opera and find it very beautiful. I even risk to say that I find it more beautiful than _Carmen_, although I recognize that most people will profoundly disagree with me on this.


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

Almaviva said:


> Wow, good for you!!! It reminds me of the time when I used to live in New York City and was able to do just as much... sadly, I moved out of the city and now my small metropolitan area has only 3 or 4 productions per year. About _Les Pêcheurs de Perles_ - I think it's a lot more than that one aria (_Je crois entendre encore_). There is of course the duet as well (_Au fond du temple saint_), but regardless of the two big hits, I like the entire opera and find it very beautiful. I even risk to say that I find it more beautiful than _Carmen_, although I recognize that most people will profoundly disagree with me on this.


I've been lucky because I live with someone who used to frequently work at ENO and Covent Garden, so I used to get invited to dress rehearsals quite a lot. I've seen and heard a lot standing up or sitting up with the chandelier, but that's not really the most important thing. It always reminds me of Mario Lanza in "The Great Caruso" (about the people in the galleries): "Tonight I will sing for them - whether the diamond horse shoe like it or not." 

As far as the Pearl Fishers, I think I'd have to see the opera itself, not just a concert version.  But for me, so far, the opera is really about the duet made *very* famous by Merrill and Bjorling.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

*Tosca weekend Part II*



*ROH from near my hotel*

Early on Sunday morning I walked round to the ROH Box Office to see if anyone was queuing for tickets. There must have been over 200 people there & the group at the front of the queue had been there since 4.00 pm the previous day. I asked a guy if he did this regularly & he said not for 30 years. I thought I was dedicated for waiting two hours for autographs but these people are in a different league.

As I was staying in London I'd booked to see the Jette Parker Young Artists Summer Performance. The theme was Venice.

*Rossini - Signor Bruschino (sc. 4-6)

Rossini - Bianca e Falliero, Act I, sc. 9-10

Rossini - Otello, Act I, sc. 12 to end

(Interval)

Donizetti - Lucrezia Borgia, Act I, sc.4-6

Britten - Death in Venice, Act II, start to fig. 256

Offenbach - Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Act II, scene and septet*

I really enjoyed it & loved seeing my favourite Young Artists, Elizabeth Meister, Madeleine Pierard, Steven Ebel and Lukas of course, getting stuck into some substantial stuff.



* Young Artists Kai Rüütel, Dawid Kimberg, Madeleine Pierard, Steven Ebel*

After Sunday's Tosca, it was the same old story at the Stage Door. Once again the staff said there was a sponsors' party and no artists would be coming out for several hours. I already had autographs but I still hadn't seen Lukas so decided to wait. None of the big stars came out but eventually Lukas did and he was with Madeleine Pierard and I managed to have a little chat with both of them.



* Madeleine Pierard, Lukas Jakobski & very happy fan*


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

Annie,

I am glad all the effort getting tickets was worth it.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

Our local opera company is wrapping up its 2011 season, and I thought I'd include a few notes about it - realizing that a detailed "review" of each of the four operas performed would be of very limited interest, since this is a small, regional company.

_*Rigoletto*_ - I was looking forward to hearing the internationally up-and-coming Arturo Chacon-Cruz sing the Duca di Mantova. Instead, he was replaced by Rodrick Dixon. There was no explanation for the change given in the local media; in fact, as recently as April, Chacon-Cruz was still mentioning his plans to sing here in interviews with other media. Dixon had a pleasant voice, though with a curious rapid vibrato, and the reviewer for the local daily thought his voice somewhat underpowered for the role.
The other "name" in the cast was Sarah Coburn (Gilda), who has performed with the Wiener Staatsoper (Aminta in La Sonnambula) and Los Angeles Opera (Gilda), among other companies. And, in fact, she was probably the standout among the three principals.
I'd never heard of Stephen Powell (Rigoletto) before the performance here, and a quick glance at his biographical information in the program indicates that he sings primarily with regional companies around the U.S. Nonetheless, I was favorably impressed by his rich voice and dramatic involvement with his character. What a pity that he had to spend most of the evening costumed to resemble a hotel bellhop with a jester's cap stuck on his head.
In this particular staging, the setting was updated to 1930s Italy - il Duce instead of il Duca, if you will. As non-traditional stagings go, this was certainly nothing shocking . . . but nothing particularly illuminating, either. Kind of made me wonder what the point was. On the other hand, it did give mezzo Stacey Rishoi a marvelous opportunity to play a Hollywood-worthy "vamp" as Maddalena.

*The Flowering Tree *- This was the first time I'd heard one of John Adams' operas, and those in the know indicated that this work has a more lyrical quality to it than his other compositions. There are only three singing roles in the cast: the heroine, Kamudha; the prince she marries; and a narrator who tells Kamudha's story throughout the performance. Other roles, such as those of Kamudha's sister and mother, and the prince's sister, are silently acted by members of the chorus or corps de ballet. And while the three principals sing in English, the chorus sings in Spanish. The music is certainly appealing - the beginning of Act II reminded me so much of parts of Das Rheingold that I almost expected Wotan and Company to appear - but the whole work relies a great deal on the chorus, dancers, and the special stage effects that they are so much a part of. Which is not to give a back hand to the three singers. We had the likes of Met bass-baritone Eric Owens as the Narrator and soprano Jessica Rivera as Kamudha - in fact, I think Adams may have actually written the role for her. (He himself was actually present at the performance I attended, and took his bows along with the singers and conductor.) Russell Thomas sang the prince's music with a very attractive lyric tenor.
I think the bottom line here is that this opera needs to be seen as much as heard. An audio recording wouldn't do it justice.

*Eugene Onegin *- Fabulous cast, headed by Met regular Nathan Gunn singing his first Onegin and Tatiana Monogarova as Tatiana, with Polish mezzo Edyta Kulczak as Olga, American tenor William Burden as Lenski, and Russian-Israeli bass Denis Sedov as Prince Gremin. This was a performance good enough to be heard at the likes of Chicago, San Francisco, and possibly even the Met. Sometimes, a benefit of being one of the smaller (but better) regional companies is that well-known singers may "try out" roles here before performing them at the large houses - as was indeed the case with Gunn, singing his first Onegin. My favorite was Monogarova, with a luscious lyric spinto timbre and the dramatic skills to make me think this opera really should have been titled Tatiana.

*Die Zauberflöte *- The "name" singers in this production were Nicole Cabell (Pamina) and Shawn Mathey (Tamino), and they didn't disappoint. Both have attractive voices, though again, I preferred her to him. Like some other noted interpreters of this role (Janowitz, Jurinac), she has a creamy, full lyric sound, and her rendition of "Ach, ich fühl's" was exquisite. The other standout performance came from Audrey Luna as the Queen of the Night, who delivered her coloratura pyrotechnics with assurance and pinpoint accuracy.
Unfortunately, a good deal of Mozart's beautiful music was compromised by Bernard Labadie's breakneck tempos. Sarastro's two arias were among the casualties, particularly since Oren Gradus didn't always have the majestic, rich tone so crucial for this character. Steven Cole (Monostatos), who is well known, and Brent Polegato (Papegeno), who isn't, were both fine in their roles.
I was also wondering how the audience would react to the blatantly sexist and racist content in parts of the libretto. Well, they didn't react, since whoever was responsible for the supertitles didn't provide an accurate translation from the German, but indulged in some creative paraphrasing that scooted around the offensive phrases. Also worth noting is that the singers delivered the spoken dialogue in English, but sang in German. Not quite to my taste, but it probably did help to "sell" the opera to many others in the audience.

Speaking of audiences, I was happy to see that attendees weren't all a bunch of middle-aged or older white folks. There were a good number of 20- and 30-somethings present, and quite a few more African-Americans than I remembered from my last season here, in 1991. Some parents or grandparents had also brought children. Also worth noting - as the artistic director did prior to the start of the performance - was the presence of a few state legislators.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Counting down to tonight when I hear Wagner live for the first time in my life - a concert version of Rheingold. Anna Pierard (kiwisop's sister) sings Freia and Jose Aparicio , who gave classes on performance at a Suzuki workshop I attended recently, is Froh.

You never get names here, but on the other hand someone you know is always bound to be in the orchestra or to sing!


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

mamascarlatti said:


> Counting down to tonight when I hear Wagner live for the first time in my life - a concert version of Rheingold. Anna Pierard (kiwisop's sister) sings Freia and Jose Aparicio , who gave classes on performance at a Suzuki workshop I attended recently, is Froh.
> 
> You never get names here, but on the other hand someone you know is always bound to be in the orchestra or to sing!


Enjoy the performance, Nat! I tried to find an appropriate quote from the opera to send you on your way, but unfortunately it's all greed and lust and doom and curses.

Oh well. _Weia waga! _


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

amfortas said:


> Enjoy the performance, Nat! I tried to find an appropriate quote from the opera to send you on your way, but unfortunately it's all greed and lust and doom and curses.
> 
> Oh well. _Weia waga! _


There's always:

_O hehre bald
zur bangenden Frau!_


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

Aksel said:


> There's always:
> 
> _O hehre bald
> zur bangenden Frau!_


Well . . . yeah . . .

I was also thinking of:

_Die schlanken Arme
schlinge um mich,
dass ich den Nacken
dir neckend betaste,
mit schmeichelnder Brunst
an die schwellende Brust mich dir schmiege._

. . . but maybe not on a first date.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

amfortas said:


> Well . . . yeah . . .
> 
> I was also thinking of:
> 
> ...


Think that's more of an Alma quote!


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

amfortas said:


> Well . . . yeah . . .
> 
> I was also thinking of:
> 
> ...


_Wie in den Glieder
brünstige Glut
mir brennt und glüth!
Wut und Minne
wild und mächtich
wühlt mir den Mut auf!
Wie ihr auch lagt und lügt,
lüstern lechz ich nach euch,
und eine muss mir erliegen!_


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

MAuer said:


> _*Rigoletto*_ - I was looking forward to hearing the internationally up-and-coming Arturo Chacon-Cruz sing the Duca di Mantova. Instead, he was replaced by Rodrick Dixon. There was no explanation for the change given in the local media; in fact, as recently as April, Chacon-Cruz was still mentioning his plans to sing here in interviews with other media. Dixon had a pleasant voice, though with a curious rapid vibrato, and the reviewer for the local daily thought his voice somewhat underpowered for the role.


Not to rub salt in your wounds for missing Chacon-Cruz, but Oh-My-God what a thrilling voice that man has! I saw him in "Rigoletto" in April and it was spectacular! His top notes are *just*...! He was the first voice that impressed the hell out of me in this production of "Rigoletto". Then came Quinn Kelsey in the title role (who is also just friggin phenomenal!)(so much so that I went back to see Quinn twice). In June, when Arturo went home to welcome his son to the world, he was replaced by someone who, to be nice, didn't really measure up. Arturo is the perfect Duke, as well as the perfect Rodolfo.







Also, read an interview with him here. After seeing him live, I asked him for an interview and he didn't hesitate to accept. Very nice, humble fella


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

As I indicated on another thread, last night I took my eighteen-year-old son (an opera newbie) to see the Met's HD rebroadcast of Don Carlo. I thought the Nicholas Hytner production, of which I had heard mixed reviews, was in many ways excellent. My son found the story engaging but didn't care much for the repetition of text in some places (I told him he'd *really* have a hard time with a Handel opera consisting of nothing but _da capo_ arias!)

But we both agreed on our big "What the hell?" moment--the final seconds of the opera. Admittedly, Verdi wrote himself into a corner, then left us with Carlo's strange, ambiguous apotheosis at the end, as he escapes the king's soldiers by being drawn into the sanctuary of a small cloister. That conclusion always seems unsatisfactory, a copout to avoid the prince's inevitable doom. Carlos has to die--whether he is killed by his father's guards (as in Hytner) or takes his own life (as in the Willy Decker production).

But even if we can agree on a more clear-cut end for Carlo himself, there remains the problem of his grandfather, the emperor Carlo V. Earlier in the opera, Carlo had heard the voice of a monk and associated it with his grandfather--but Carlo is a bit unhinged, so we don't have to take his notions that seriously. In this final moment, though, others hear the voice as well, and Philip recognizes it as his father's.

In the Met broadcast, the monk comes on stage in his robes to sing the line, so that his physical presence--though not his identity or purpose--is apparent. Is he just a monk who reminds people of the emperor, or is he really Carlo V? And if the latter, has he returned as a ghost, or as a living man who has been hiding out in the chapel of St. Just all these years? In either case, where does that leave things as the curtain falls?

Today I watched a YouTube clip of the same production in its earlier Royal Opera House run. There the monk emerges wearing a very conspicuous crown on his head, so he's clearly intended to be the emperor (presumably alive and in the flesh). But the ending still seems just as arbitrary and unsettled.

For me, either approach misses what this moment should be about. The point is not the existence of Carlo V, whether as human or ghost. The point is the struggle between Philip and the younger Carlo, the oedipal conflict that leads a father to plan, and ultimately cause, the death of his son.

Therefore I would opt for keeping the voice disembodied, so that our focus is on Philip's reaction to it. Just as he seals his own utter failure as a father, the voice of his own dead father calls out to condemn him.

Such an ending is still necessarily a bit metaphysical and ambiguous. But at least it keeps more of the attention on the characters we've been following the whole night, rather than on some mysterious figure who only asserts himself at the end.

Anyone else have thoughts on the ending of this opera or seen how different productions have handled it?


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

I think it's a ghost, it's always been supposed to be a ghost, regardless of the stage director's interpretation.
Is it Verdi's fault? Oh well, many operas have a Deus-ex-machina event. This one has a bit of one. I don't really dislike it.
But I agree with you that a disembodied voice is best, for the very reasons you have expressed.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> Counting down to tonight when I hear Wagner live for the first time in my life - a concert version of Rheingold. Anna Pierard (kiwisop's sister) sings Freia and Jose Aparicio , who gave classes on performance at a Suzuki workshop I attended recently, is Froh.
> 
> You never get names here, but on the other hand someone you know is always bound to be in the orchestra or to sing!


:clap:

Hope it's good


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

sospiro said:


> :clap:
> 
> Hope it's good


It was! Especially Erda, Alberich and Mime. They even had those Wagner tubas, and because I was in the cheap-*** seats I was pretty much next to them.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> It was! Especially Erda, Alberich and Mime. They even had those Wagner tubas, and because I was in the cheap-*** seats I was pretty much next to them.


_Nice_.

How was Freya?


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> It was! Especially Erda, Alberich and Mime. They even had those Wagner tubas, and because I was in the cheap-*** seats I was pretty much next to them.


So pleased you enjoyed it. How was Anna?


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

Operafocus said:


> Not to rub salt in your wounds for missing Chacon-Cruz, but Oh-My-God what a thrilling voice that man has! I saw him in "Rigoletto" in April and it was spectacular! His top notes are *just*...! He was the first voice that impressed the hell out of me in this production of "Rigoletto". Then came Quinn Kelsey in the title role (who is also just friggin phenomenal!)(so much so that I went back to see Quinn twice). In June, when Arturo went home to welcome his son to the world, he was replaced by someone who, to be nice, didn't really measure up. Arturo is the perfect Duke, as well as the perfect Rodolfo.
> 
> 
> Also, read an interview with him here. After seeing him live, I asked him for an interview and he didn't hesitate to accept. Very nice, humble fella


Wow! I liked Rodrick Dixon's voice, but Chacon-Cruz really is in another league. Heaven only knows what happened to cause his cancellation here.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Aksel said:


> How was Freya?





sospiro said:


> So pleased you enjoyed it. How was Anna?


Very loud. Drowned out the orchestra. And beautiful:devil:.


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

MAuer said:


> Wow! I liked Rodrick Dixon's voice, but Chacon-Cruz really is in another league. Heaven only knows what happened to cause his cancellation here.


It doesn't seem to be policy to inform the audience as to "why", just that a replacement has been flown in for whatever reason. 

To be honest, if they're not up to scratch, e.g. with a flu, then trust me... you're better off not hearing it. The guy who did the Duke in Oslo in June really wasn't well, did half the role in falcetto and received *one* round of applause in the very beginning (because audience probably figured he was just warming up) - then nothing after each of his arias. The silence was overwhelming at times, especially when he didn't even get applause after "La donna e mobile". For me, after having heard Arturo do the role a couple of months before, experiencing that was about as exciting as a wet fart.

I feel very lucky to have heard Quinn Kelsey's first "Rigoletto" (in the title role, that is) - together with Arturo Chacon-Cruz. They're both early 30s, and yet both have a technique and a voice that's so settled and thrilling that I have a feeling it will be one of those productions that will be remembered - especially when both of them shoot up to the uncertain heights I'm willing to bet my head they'll both reach.

*Romeo & Juliet*


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

MAuer said:


> Our local opera company is wrapping up its 2011 season, and I thought I'd include a few notes about it - realizing that a detailed "review" of each of the four operas performed would be of very limited interest, since this is a small, regional company.....


Well I was very interested - I love hearing about other people's live experiences no matter how small the venue.

I can understand your disappointment about not seeing Arturo Chacón-Cruz. I've had my eye on him for a while now & he's been getting some great reviews.

How fabulous to see Nathan Gunn's first *Eugene Onegin*, that's one singer I really hope to see one day and I'd like to see *The Flowering Tree*.

Strange that the spoken parts of *Die Zauberflöte* were in English but if it hooks a few novices then why not.


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

Right, on Saturday we went to see the "Cavalleria Rusticana" / "Pagliacci" combination inside a fortress on an island in the middle of the Oslo fjord. The scenario is spectacular, Turiddu started off walking around the top of the fortress, singing his entrance song and he (Marius Roth Christensen) was very, very enjoyable in it. He played an absolute a$$hole so well, I had to remind myself that he's actually a very pleasant fella (I interviewed him once). The woman who played Santuzza (her name escapes me) put a face on tragedy and was very moving. One of the baritones was weak, with a non-existent top and could hardly be heard - but overall the "Cav. Rust" was my favourite out of the two.

Probably the only reason for that was that the tenor playing Pagliacci himself... I don't know where to begin, because I've heard a lot of voices, and a lot of non very developed voices, but this fella has probably the worst voice I've ever heard on a stage. It's a joke. His vibrato is so wide it's like listening to an ambulance siren. His top is so open it's ridiculous. He doesn't have the projection or the volume. I've heard him before (Thor Inge Falch) where it's been like this, but not as bad as it was now. I was downright offended(!) that I was even put in the position where I heard this idiot murder "Vesti la Giubba". The fact that this man even gets work is BEYOND me. Are there really NO other available tenors? The guy works at the opera house, with a completely vile voice. (Sorry to be so blunt, but it was just unbelievably bad!) 

The rest of the cast for "Pagliacci" were, on the other hand, good. The "Prologue" baritone was wonderful and Silvio was nice and intense (although the intimacy scene was *way* over the top, and lasted and lasted and lasted - to the extent that people started getting embarrassed) and overall it was fun with an actual clown/entertainment troupe. Marius appeared again as Harlequin and was just totally delightful, the acting and singing was spot on and he had this adorable little laugh. He was probably my overall favourite throughout the evening, because he was consistent, you could hear him whichever way he turned (we sat around the stage in a horse shoe shape) and he acted very well on top of sounding very good (although some would argue he wasn't heavy enough for Turiddu, I think his acting made up for it, and he has a very good sound!)


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Operafocus said:


> The woman who played Santuzza (her name escapes me) put a face on tragedy and was very moving.


Ingrid Dominique.



> Probably the only reason for that was that the tenor playing Pagliacci himself... I don't know where to begin, because I've heard a lot of voices, and a lot of non very developed voices, but this fella has probably the worst voice I've ever heard on a stage. It's a joke. His vibrato is so wide it's like listening to an ambulance siren. His top is so open it's ridiculous. He doesn't have the projection or the volume. I've heard him before (Thor Inge Falch) where it's been like this, but not as bad as it was now. I was downright offended(!) that I was even put in the position where I heard this idiot murder "Vesti la Giubba". The fact that this man even gets work is BEYOND me. Are there really NO other available tenors? The guy works at the opera house, with a completely vile voice. (Sorry to be so blunt, but it was just unbelievably bad!)


+1. His Don José is a thing of wonder. And not in a good way.


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

Aksel said:


> +1. His Don José is a thing of wonder. And not in a good way.


I'm just baffled. Are there no other tenors? Seriously?


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Operafocus said:


> I'm just baffled. Are there no other tenors? Seriously?


Well, I think the whole gimmick of that performance (a semi-staged, abridged performance, mind you. In nynorsk and all) was that just about all of the principals came from Nordland. I don't know if there really are that many tenors that come from up here.


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

Aksel said:


> Well, I think the whole gimmick of that performance (a semi-staged, abridged performance, mind you. In nynorsk and all) was that just about all of the principals came from Nordland. I don't know if there really are that many tenors that come from up here.


But this was outside of Oslo, with regulars from the opera house (HIM included!!) - so what's the excuse there? At one point I was thinking, "Shut up or I'll jump up and strangle you..."


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Aksel said:


> +1. His Don José is a thing of wonder. And not in a good way.


That's very diplomatic of you!


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

Of course, now I'll HAVE to check YouTube to see if any videos of this guy have been posted so I can hear just how bad he is!


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

MAuer said:


> Of course, now I'll HAVE to check YouTube to see if any videos of this guy have been posted so I can hear just how bad he is!


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

sospiro said:


>


...and this wasn't bad compared to what he did on Saturday. I also notice that they conveniently left out the moneynote in this clip... Here's a full one. It's so open and he seems to get through it by pure physical strength, where as in Pagliacci he just totally lost it. (Can anyone tell I'm a bit pissed off by it? :lol: )





Another one, where by comparison he holds it together, but the vibrato is beginning to sound ridiculous here as well...





Neither of these two clips really shows off how f*cking bad Saturday was.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Operafocus said:


> (Can anyone tell I'm a bit pissed off by it? :lol: )


:lol:

Just a bit!!


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

sospiro said:


> :lol:
> 
> Just a bit!!


:lol: Actually, if I was to give him some advise it would be to quit. Or to start over, get lessons and come back in ten years. Or not


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## Il_Penseroso (Nov 20, 2010)

This Carmen :










and I didn't like it. I had no idea about staging , musical direction , etc ... just because of Maria Ewing, which I like her voice, I got to watch this but she disappoited me with both of her singing and acting as Carmen !

Maria Ewing, Carmen 
Luis Lima, Don José 
Gino Quilico, Escamillo

Royal Opera House Chorus and Orchestra
Zubin Mehta, Conductor (The orchestra was quite poor under his baton !) 
Bernard Haitink, Musical Director

Directed for the Stage by Nuria Espert

1991 Covent Garden
162 minutes
PCM Stereo
Subtitles: English


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

I'm off to see The Magic Flute tonight. I've heard some whispers that it's adapted to have "an Asian feel" and that they got lost in the costumes and forgot about the story - but we shall see. I don't judge anything till it's been seen. 







My only concern is really whether the Queen of Night is able to frighten the living daylight outta the audience. She was lovely in Rigoletto and can have a thrilling top, but we shall see. Personally, I prefer one that sounds like this:


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

No Queen is scarier than Damrau's Queen. 

Hope you have a great time & it's better than the last experience!


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

sospiro said:


> No Queen is scarier than Damrau's Queen.


Too true! I'm fairly picky when it comes to sopranos, mainly cause I can't stand how *too many* just screech their way through the top notes and never "land". (Speaking of which, saw a live performance with a bass, a baritone and a soprano the other day, and after the 2nd (of 4th) set - although I really enjoyed the bass and baritone - I just had to leave because her voice was just horrid. Unsupported, (sounded) untrained and completely unsophisticated. I quietly begged that she wouldn't do any more top notes, cause I just died a slow death inside every time.



sospiro said:


> Hope you have a great time & it's better than the last experience!


Shouldn't take much


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Just come back from Cav and Pag at New Zealand Opera. We started the evening off with a quick backstage tour organised by one of my daughter's friend's mothers, who is the wardrobe mistress - saw the dressing rooms, the stage machinery and sets, all the TV monitor and computers, the props table all nicely labelled and set out, and of course the costumes that were going to be worn that evening. Everything is made with 2.5 cm darts at least so that it can be let out or taken in as necessary for different singers. While we were backstage there were auditions - someone was singing "Dove sono" from Nozze di Figaro - lovely

The productions were a bit of a mixed bag - Cav, which is usually my favourite, was a bit amateur, singers' and orchestra's timing out at least three discernible times, orchestra rather flat, movement on stage laboured, looked about as Sicilian as pavlova, and someone had had the bright idea of translating carrettiere as "bookie" and having Alfio take out a contract on Turridu rather than killing him himself.

Pag. was a turn-up for the books with lovely Elizabeth Futral as Nedda, and I particularly enjoyed the play within a play which was staged on a raised platform framed by a Greek temple outlined in lights, and very striking black and white costumes. 

I guess it'll be another six months before the next offering - the season will be announced at the end of this run. Please let it be something interesting!!!


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> Just come back from Cav and Pag at New Zealand Opera. We started the evening off with a quick backstage tour organised by one of my daughter's friend's mothers, who is the wardrobe mistress - saw the dressing rooms, the stage machinery and sets, all the TV monitor and computers, the props table all nicely labelled and set out, and of course the costumes that were going to be worn that evening. Everything is made with 2.5 cm darts at least so that it can be let out or taken in as necessary for different singers. While we were backstage there were auditions - someone was singing "Dove sono" from Nozze di Figaro - lovely


That's really interesting about the costumes. Is it tradition that the same costumes are used in any subsequent revival? Or to save money? I've heard it happens elsewhere.



mamascarlatti said:


> The productions were a bit of a mixed bag - Cav, which is usually my favourite, was a bit amateur, singers' and orchestra's timing out at least three discernible times, orchestra rather flat, movement on stage laboured, looked about as Sicilian as pavlova, and someone had had the bright idea of translating carrettiere as "bookie" and having Alfio take out a contract on Turridu rather than killing him himself.
> 
> Pag. was a turn-up for the books with lovely Elizabeth Futral as Nedda, and I particularly enjoyed the play within a play which was staged on a raised platform framed by a Greek temple outlined in lights, and very striking black and white costumes.


Curate's eggish then. Good that some of it was OK.



mamascarlatti said:


> I guess it'll be another six months before the next offering - the season will be announced at the end of this run. Please let it be something interesting!!!


Every proper fan wants something different/interesting but the directors usually play safe. ABC = bums on seats.


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

*Il Trittico at the Royal Opera House London*

I had a bit of a marathon opera session this week with Il Trittico on Wednesday evening followed by the general rehearsal of Faust the following morning. 

Anyway, this was the first time the ROH had staged all three operas in Puccini's triptych since 1965. My view is that I can see why opera houses steer from staging these works as a threesome as there is no particular connection and of course Gianni Schicchi is the most popular because of a certain aria. However on the whole I found Sour Angelica the most powerful of the works which may surprise some as it is generally the least performed. Again Richard Jones triumphed for the ROH with two of the pieces new productions and once again showed his skill at brilliant stage movement and good concepts throughout the evening.

Il Tabarro kicked off proceedings. This is a very bleak piece and unusually for Richard Jones it was a very bleak set design commission, but was nevertheless beautiful. Eva-Maria Westbroek was the star bill in this piece as the cheating wife Georgietta and her voice appeared in good shape, as I understand that she has had an op recently. Her dramatisation of the role was also compelling. Her doomed lover Luigi was played by Aleksandrs Antonenko who is due to play Otello at ROH in the spring. On this evidence I fear that it maybe a role that could prove problematic. His tenor appeared forced and not that beautiful. The murderous husband Michele was played by Lucio Gallo (one of two roles over the evening). At this point Mr Gallo played the role well and although he is not one of the very best baritones his voice in this role was adequate. However throughout the drama kept momentum throughout.

Sour Angelica was gently updated from a convent to a childrens hospital in the 1950s. Taking on the title role as a replacement for Anja Harteros was Albanian soprano Ermonela Jaho. The first time I saw Ms Jaho was four years ago, as a replacement for a well known Russian soprano in La Traviata and that night she was very nervous and her voice seemed small. She has indeed made excellent progress since then and overall her triumph was the greatest of the evening. She got into the pain and anguish of her character very well whilst Anna Larsson proved a great foil as the nasty princess.

Finally Gianni Schicchi. The role of Lauretta had a fine replacement as Anna Devin took over from an indisposed Ekaterina Siurina. The audience did not need to worry as Ms Devin who is a member of the house's Young Artist programme sang O mio babbino caro with great beauty and in fact was possibly one of the finest renditions I have heard. Ms Devin is a possible star of the future. Lucio Gallo played the title role and appeared to enjoy this more than Il Tabarro. I also have to say that Mr Gallo played this role in a way that only an Italian could, having seen Terfel and Thomas Allen play the role before. He did in fact remind me of a couple of Italian friends of mine with his cheeky playful characterisation.

The other discovery for me was the role of Rinuccio who was played by Francesco Demuro a tenor who was not on my radar but I understand maybe booked to play Alfredo at the Met shortly. This appeared to be a very good tenor voice and I would like to hear him in a lengthier role. The production was a revival and again is set in the mid 20th century and was very funny.

Pappano was wonderful in the pit and the ROH orchestra was certainly held their wonderful form which they have had for the past year or so. I understand that a DVD of Il Trittico will be released shortly and I expect this to be the refernce guide for each of these works when they our 100 top DVDs gets reviewed.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

I've got Il Trittico on DVD & CD but have never really learned them.

Great review James & reading this has got me interested again.


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

I understand that there is a cinema relay shortly. If there is one in a town near you then I would advise that this particular production is worth watching.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

jflatter said:


> I understand that there is a cinema relay shortly. If there is one in a town near you then I would advise that this particular production is worth watching.




Thanks


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

sospiro said:


> That's really interesting about the costumes. Is it tradition that the same costumes are used in any subsequent revival? Or to save money? I've heard it happens elsewhere.


I believe the same costumes are used in revivals or in different venue. Our productions are shown in Wellington and Auckland, and they use different a different chorus in each venue, hence the "darting".


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

jflatter said:


> Pappano was wonderful in the pit and the ROH orchestra was certainly held their wonderful form which they have had for the past year or so. *I understand that a DVD of Il Trittico will be released shortly* and I expect this to be the reference guide for each of these works when they our 100 top DVDs gets reviewed.


That's great - I'm not wild about my existing version with Amarilli Nizza, maybe like Annie, this will pique my interest in this a little more.

Nice review btw.


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## ooopera (Jul 27, 2011)

I just came back from Berlin where I heard *Luigi Nono*'s opera *Prometeo *(actually described as a Tragedia dell'Ascolto - Tragedy for listening). It was part of Berliner festspiele: http://www.berlinerfestspiele.de/en...ramm/mfb11_programmlistedetailseite_20315.php

That work it's really fascinating and very very difficult to listen. From wiki: The score incorporates electronic manipulation of the sounds from the vocalists and instrumentalists. The opera presents the many different versions of the myth of Prometheus, without actually telling a literal version of the ancient story. Nono banned all photography of the production in an attempt to stop what he called "artistic consumerism".

Earlier this year I attended a lecture by Andre Richard. He works for Experimentalstudio des SWR and cares about the whole electronical set of Prometeo. He did it with Nono at premiere and he "staged" the work EVERY single time since then. This time in Berlin was his last.

Chamber Music Hall of the Philharmonie it's just perfect for staging, because instrumentalists and singers are divided in 7 (or maybe 8) groups all around the hall and also in different levels. so listeners get the sound from everywhere (including speakers).

Cast: Cyndia Sieden - sopran, Silke Evers - sopran, Susanne Otto - alt, Noa Frenkel - alt, Hubert Mayer - tenor, Caroline Chanoilleau and Mathias Jung - speakers. 
Ensemble Modern, Schola Heidelberg, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Experimentalstudio des SWR. Arturo Tamayo - conductor 1 and Mathilda Hofman - conductor 2.

briefly, it was unforgettable.

Btw: whole work is available on Youtube


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## Dins (Jun 21, 2011)

Salome
Gothenburg opera 22 September 2011

Salome: *Annalena Persson*
Jochannan: *Mats Persson*
Herodes: *Thomas Sunnegårdh*
Herodias: *Ulrika Tenstam*
Narraboth: *Nikola Matisic*
Herodias page: *Erika Sax*
Five Jews: *Ingemar Andersson, Erik Enqvist, Marcus Liljedahl, Jonas Olofsson*
Two Nazarenes: *Mats Almgren, Henrik Andersson*
Two soldiers: *Åke Zetterström, Thomas Sonefors*
A Cappadocian: *Joel Rosenlund*

Conductor:* Patrik Ringborg*
Director: *Peter Konwitschny*

Yesterday it was time for me to see the first opera of the season at the Gothenburg Opera, Salome. Those who are easily offended should probably not even read this review... I can say that you had to be 15 years old to see this opera. Its one of the few opera productions i have ever heard of that has an age restriction.

Stage and direction
The idea behind the set is that this is a party that has been going on for a really long time. All the singers where on stage all of the time, when not singing they where acting. More on that later. The stage is set in a grey nondescript bunker with a big table taking up most of the stage, similar to the one seen in the painting of the last supper. I am no fan of these modern adaptations of operas, and this is no different. I feel that the set should add to the experience of the opera. This set adds nothing to the experience.

There are no delicate way of describing peter Konwitchnys direction. It contains heroin usage, incest, sex, necrophilia, cannibalism and violence... In the beginning you can see Herodias and Herodes is carrying on beneath the table when the tablecloth is lifted, and from there it just gets worse. Herodes shoots heroin three or four times during the performance. After Herodes has shoot Nabbhoth (!) after using heroin, and been told that Nabboth killed himself, every male desecrates Narraboths corpse. And everyone drinks, all the time. There where much more than this going on, but i think you get the general idea.

In the end Salome sings to Joachan who sits in a char on the stage while the head is being hoisted up to the roof. Then Jochahannan and Salome escapes the party (!) and an actor placed as a member of the audience calls out the last line of the opera. "Kill that woman". I think Peter Konwitchy changed the stroy of the opera to much, even though the libretto was not changed.

I think the idea of this stage direction was to give the same shock as the original audience had at the operas premier. But for me less is more. There was so much going on that the whole thing got absurd, almost humorous, instead of chocking. But then i am not easily chocked. 

Singers
The singers where all good. Annalena Persson did an excellent job as Salome. Mats Persson was did a good job as Jochannan, especially since he sang part of the role with a bag over his head! Thomas Sunnegård and Ulrika Ternstam was also good in the role of Herodes and Herodias.

Of the lesser roles i think Åke Zetterström and Thomas Sonefors deservs a special mention. Åke has been a favourite of mine since he sang Beckmesser in the Meistersinger, and he never fails to deliver. Also Nikola Matisic was good as Narraboth. Some of the other singers lacked a bit in power and was sometimes overpowered by the orchestra.

Orchestra
The orchestra was a big symphony orchestra with 90+ members, and you could tell. It sounded magnificent. And this big orchestra was beautifully conducted by Patrik Ringborg. After the show the whole orchestra was on stage to receive the applauds it rightfully deserved.

Well my judgement, overall a bizarre evening with great music...

There is a short video of the performance here
No naughty bits in this video


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Operafocus said:


> I'm off to see The Magic Flute tonight. I've heard some whispers that it's adapted to have "an Asian feel" and that they got lost in the costumes and forgot about the story - but we shall see. I don't judge anything till it's been seen.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


How was it? I had thought of getting some people together from my school and going to Oslo to see it, but when we got around to ordering tickets, there weren't any left.


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

On DVD...The wonderful Renée Fleming (I saw her in January here in Montreal) singing Thaïs (Massenet). Awesome.










Martin


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## MAnna (Sep 19, 2011)

*Idomeneo - Opera San Jose - 23 Sep. 2011*
He's a king: Idomeneo, the king of Crete, is returning from the Trojan War. To gain a safe return to shore during a violent storm at sea, Idomeneo vows to sacrifice to Neptune the first person he sees on land. Unfortunately, it's his son, Idamante, so Idomeneo flees instead of greeting him. Idamante, meanwhile, is in love with Ilia, the captured daughter of the king of Troy. Neptune, cheated out of his sacrifice, sends a sea monster to ravage Crete. Idamante slays the monster and presents himself for sacrifice, but Ilia comes between them declaring her love for Idamante. Will the gods be appeased? A divine voice declares that Idamante and Ilia shall reign as the new king and queen of Crete. Mozart was just 25 years old when his mythological music drama premiered in Munich on January 29, 1781. Idomeneo is considered to be Mozart's first dramatic masterpiece, and was his personal favorite of all his operas.

Not a Mozart fan, but this one is actually a good opera and perhaps not typical of his more famous works. Additionally, the production was infused with $4M from the Packard Humanities foundation and the money was on display with a very traditional, neo-classical take in costumes and sets (including backgrounds designed from actual 1700 BC frescoes). David Packard himself drew up the sets.

Anyway, the company employs a set of young singers who are resident artists for 2 - 3 years and who perform in each of the four or so operas per season. _"These singers are groomed for international performing careers. Due to the resident nature of the company, modeled after the German regional opera company, these artists build substantial professional repertoire, are coached by resident and guest conductors and stage directors, and are prepared to meet the demands of a successful operatic career."_

Well, I must say that SJ Opera has a potential star soprano in the making - Jasmina Halimic. She sang Elettra and boy did she raise the roof in her last "Hell hath no fury..." type of aria! It was one of those bone-chilling moments where you could feel her energy pervade the building. Her voice is both powerful and beautiful (though still a little bit raw in a couple of patched in her second aria). I attended her performance in Anna Karenina last year and was quite impressed then but this role really revealed another dimension to her singing. She is slated to sing Nedda in Pagliacci in November and Violetta in February. I can hardly wait!


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

Aksel said:


> How was it? I had thought of getting some people together from my school and going to Oslo to see it, but when we got around to ordering tickets, there weren't any left.


It was quite funny, actually. On the Saturday in question, we were mooching about, being really lazy and looking forward to an evening of opera. At around 5pm, we decided to start getting ready and saunter down. I look the tickets out of its designated envelope, had a look at it and saw the word "matinee" on it - with a 3pm start. Which kinda put an end to that experience. *doh*


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Operafocus said:


> It was quite funny, actually. On the Saturday in question, we were mooching about, being really lazy and looking forward to an evening of opera. At around 5pm, we decided to start getting ready and saunter down. I look the tickets out of its designated envelope, had a look at it and saw the word "matinee" on it - with a 3pm start. Which kinda put an end to that experience. *doh*


 Oh no!!!!!


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Dins said:


> There are no delicate way of describing peter Konwitchnys direction. It contains heroin usage, incest, sex, necrophilia, cannibalism and violence... In the beginning you can see Herodias and Herodes is carrying on beneath the table when the tablecloth is lifted, and from there it just gets worse. Herodes shoots heroin three or four times during the performance. After Herodes has shoot Nabbhoth (!) after using heroin, and been told that Nabboth killed himself, every male desecrates Narraboths corpse. And everyone drinks, all the time. There where much more than this going on, but i think you get the general idea.
> 
> In the end Salome sings to Joachan who sits in a char on the stage while the head is being hoisted up to the roof. Then Jochahannan and Salome escapes the party (!) and an actor placed as a member of the audience calls out the last line of the opera. "Kill that woman". I think Peter Konwitchy changed the stroy of the opera to much, even though the libretto was not changed.
> 
> I think the idea of this stage direction was to give the same shock as the original audience had at the operas premier. But for me less is more. There was so much going on that the whole thing got absurd, almost humorous, instead of chocking. But then i am not easily chocked.


I hate this kind of thing. Some stage directors ought to be shot.


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## waldvogel (Jul 10, 2011)

*Iphigenie en Tauride - Canadian Opera Company, Toronto, September 28th*

We saw Iphigenie en Tauride last night in Toronto, and both Parsival and I were very impressed. It's a tremendous homage to the original Greek tragedy - so much so that I would describe Carsen's production as cathartic. On a blank, charcoal-grey stage in Act I the dancers painted the names Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, and Iphigenia on the walls. Meanwhile, the name of Orestes was projected onto the stage.

Carsen uses dancers to act out the role of the chorus, keeping the singers in the orchestra pit. It worked out really well, as the dancers had some moments where they were somehow bashing each other around gracefully. The Furies were choreographed amazingly well - poor Orestes couldn't escape being crowded by them. The monochromatic look - all of the possible shades from medium gray to black were used, with occasional orange-red lighting. It was bleak, yet wonderful.

The music was excellent - in my opinion, better than the music of Orfeo ed Eurydice. At its best it measured up to Mozart's Idomeneo. I had to look up when Mozart took his last trip to Paris - he wouldn't have seen _Iphigenie_ on that trip, but somehow I think he must have seen the score somewhere before Idomeneo premiered in Munich in January 1781.

There were no secco recitatives and no da capo arias at all in this opera - and there were features that I'd never believe could have occurred in such an early opera. Orestes had an aria where he sang a plain melody about how calm he was, over an orchestral accompaniment which was anything but calm - Gluck was showing us that Orestes was lying through his teeth. Gluck used trombones, clarinets, cymbals, triangle, and a wind machine - no wonder Berlioz thought that he was such a great orchestrator.

Susan Graham was simply wonderful. A perfect performance, except that I couldn't understand her French - and it didn't matter a bit. She's an excellent actress. Russell Braun, playing Orestes, was also at his best.

Next week - Rigoletto.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Operafocus said:


> It was quite funny, actually. On the Saturday in question, we were mooching about, being really lazy and looking forward to an evening of opera. At around 5pm, we decided to start getting ready and saunter down. I look the tickets out of its designated envelope, had a look at it and saw the word "matinee" on it - with a 3pm start. Which kinda put an end to that experience. *doh*


That's awful! I was looking forward to hearing how our favourite tenor was.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

_Elektra_, at the Teatro Real.

Correct, though not great singing, especially from Manuela Uhl (Chrysothemis) and Christine Goerke (Elektra). Good work of Symon Bykov in the pit, while the staging by Klaus Michael Grüber didn't impact the audience, for better or worse.

Standing ovation at the end, but only for a few minutes.


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## MAnna (Sep 19, 2011)

*HEART OF A SOLDIER - San Francisco Opera - 27 Sep 2011*

*MUSIC BY CHRISTOPHER THEOFANIDIS*• LIBRETTO BY DONNA Di NOVELLI*• BASED ON THE BOOK BY JAMES B. STEWART AND THE LIFE STORIES OF SUSAN RESCORLA, RICK RESCORLA AND DANIEL J. HILL*• COMMISSIONED BY SAN FRANCISCO OPERA*

*WORLD PREMIERE*

What makes a hero? The question was never an academic one for Rick Rescorla, a British-born adventurer who fought in Vietnam before settling in New York as head of security for a brokerage firm based in the World Trade Center. On September 11, 2001, his extraordinary courage and calmness in a crisis paid off: Rescorla led all of the 2,700 people under his care to safety-literally singing them down the stairs-before heading back into the burning building for one last check. He never emerged.
*
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the devastating terrorist attacks, San Francisco Opera presents the world premiere of Heart of a Soldier, which tells the dramatic story of Rescorla's extraordinary life. The Company's latest commission features a dynamic and soulful score by Christopher Theofanidis, "one of the world's most sought-after living composers" (Seattle Times). Baritone Thomas Hampson, renowned for his "clarion power and burnished tone" (Los Angeles Times), sings the role of Rick Rescorla in this story of enduring friendship and late-found love. Tenor William Burden is Daniel J. Hill, Rescorla's best friend and fellow soldier, and soprano Melody Moore portrays Susan, Rescorla's wife and soul mate.
*
American composer Christopher Theofanidis is best-known for Rainbow Body, one of the most performed orchestral works of the past decade. His dramatic oratorio The Refuge "drew standing ovations and bravos" (The New York Times) at its Houston Grand Opera premiere in 2007.

Like most opera companies I imagine, today's programming recycles the tried and true. At San Francisco Opera, newly arrived General Director David Gockley slyly declared that San Francisco has a great Italian heritage, and what better way to celebrate it than to give us a steady diet of Verdi and Puccini and Donizetti? Also, why not hire an Italian conductor specializing in this repertoire?

To shut people like me up, he has also commissioned the world premieres of Doctor Atomic, Appomattox and now Heart of a Soldier based on the book and the backdrop of 9/11. The story recounts the life of a soldier, his love for his war buddy and for the woman he met late in life, and both his war and 9/11 heroism in rescuing others. This opera, unfortunately, is too "talkie" for my liking and musically is little more more than sung dialogue. The score sounded more like a movie soundtrack of special effects rather than something inspired from the story or the events of 9/11. The show did leave an emotional impact when all was said and done, but at the belabored expense of melding disparate scenes into a cohesive whole. Having said this, the cast was quite impressive with what they had to work with, led by Thomas Hampson. All in all, it made for good musical theater but did not make the opera grade IMHO.

Prior to the start, the orchestra played The Star Spangled Banner to get us in the mood. The show's few performances have already ended (apparently the schedulers determined that the appeal of this story would have the shelf life of fresh haggis). Tough for me to criticize a show whose heart is in the right place, but even after 10 years, the subject of the events of 9/11 still appear radioactive for the performing arts world.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

I heard _The Refuge_, and found it mildly interesting. This new opera was on a difficult subject, anyway.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Saw Faust at Royal Opera House on 18th September and again on 1st October.

Faust: Vittorio Grigolo
Marguerite: Angela Gheorghiu
Méphistophélès: René Pape
Valentin: Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Wagner: Daniel Grice
Siébel: Michèle Losier

Conductor: Evelino Pidò
Production David McVicar (as per previously released DVD)

As far as the 18th September performance is concerned I can't add to this review. It was fantastic.

Waited at the Stage Door afterwards & Angela & Vittorio did us proud. Dima never showed but I wasn't surprised as he's said publicly that meeting fans is the worst part of his job. René Pape was rather rude to one of the fans. I prefer not to go into details but it was a sarcastic remark & un-called for.

On a personal note, the 18th September performance was a matinee and it meant I didn't have to use any Annual Leave & could get home the same day, which was great, if a tad knackering!!

1st October performance wasn't quite as good. VG struggles with his top notes anyway & he struggled all round & seemed distracted. DH was 'off', looked tired & didn't include the extra flourishes in _Avant de quitter ces lieux,_ which he'd done previously. Angela started off quiet but interestingly came to life as Marguerite's life unravelled. Pape was even better if that was possible. I'm so pleased I've seen him live as it may well be some time before I see him again.

A friend of mine went to the performance on 28th September & waited for autographs. He told me later that although Pape was nice to him, he was rude to others. Someone asked him when he would next be appearing at ROH and his response was 'hopefully never'. So read into that what you can.

For the first time I experienced some irritations during the performance. I sat on the end of the row & a guy the other side of the gangway, over the course of the opera proceeded in dropping, then scrabbling around on the floor & then retrieving first his coat, then his programme & then his bottle of water.

Then in Act 3, Scene 4, Faust sings the beautiful aria:

_Quel trouble inconnu me pénètre!
Je sens l'amour s'emparer de mon être.
Ô Marguerite! à tes pieds me voici!_

And just as Faust started ...

_Salut! demeure chaste et pure, où se devine_

… a pillock behind me started singing along. I swung round & glared at him with all the disdain & venom I could produce & thankfully he stopped. Can you believe it?

On a lighter note, before the performance started, a guy who I follow on Twitter (but who I don't know) Tweeted "10 minutes to curtain up for Faust" & included a photo so it was possible to locate where he was sitting. I was 90% sure I'd identified the right guy but still approached him with trepidation. It was him & he's really nice. We waited at the Stage Door together but there was a sponsors' party on & we were told the artists wouldn't be coming out to sign. I might have waited like I did after Tosca & so would my Twitter friend (he waited until 1.00 am after Fidelio in Munich for Kaufmann's autograph) but he was flying to New York the following morning so couldn't wait. He's seeing Don Giovanni, Anna Bolena & a couple more while he's there so I'm looking forward to his Tweets from the Big Apple.


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

Thanks for the review Annie. I went to the rehearsal and enjoyed it very much. I am surprised at the behaviour of Rene Pape as I was not aware that he had such a reputation. However I have always wondered why he rarely comes to the ROH as I think the last time was about eight years ago in Lohengrin and there aren't many singers as talented as him. So there must be some tension between him and the ROH.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

jflatter said:


> I went to the rehearsal and enjoyed it very much.


What's your next one James?

That's all for me this year at ROH but I am seeing La bohème by Glyndebourne on Tour in December.


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

sospiro said:


> What's your next one James?
> 
> That's all for me this year at ROH but I am seeing La bohème by Glyndebourne on Tour in December.


I have got a weekend double header at the end of the month. Der Flieginde Hollander on the evening of 29 October and the Domingo celebration the following afternoon. Then Die Meistersinger on 22 December.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

jflatter said:


> Thanks for the review Annie. I went to the rehearsal and enjoyed it very much. I am surprised at the behaviour of Rene Pape as I was not aware that he had such a reputation. However I have always wondered why he rarely comes to the ROH as I think the last time was about eight years ago in Lohengrin and there aren't many singers as talented as him. So there must be some tension between him and the ROH.


Evidently, Pape doesn't reserve his rudeness for the Royal Opera. I've heard similar stories from people who attended some of his Met performances. Of course, the man has a perfect right not to be bothered after performances -- but surely there are better ways of handling the situation. DH's choice of simply leaving by a different exit seems a kinder solution.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

MAuer said:


> Evidently, Pape doesn't reserve his rudeness for the Royal Opera. I've heard similar stories from people who attended some of his Met performances.


That's interesting, I thought it might have been England & ROH which annoyed him.



MAuer said:


> Of course, the man has a perfect right not to be bothered after performances -- but surely there are better ways of handling the situation. DH's choice of simply leaving by a different exit seems a kinder solution.


Actually all Dima has to do is stick a woolly hat on & nobody would recognise him anyway. :lol:


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

A video I took of Faust curtain call. Not very good & the camera work's rubbish but I quite like DH's reaction to the applause for AG. I wonder if it was deliberate or if he was just bored.


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## Der Fliegende Amerikaner (Feb 26, 2011)

I live in San Francisco. My company has just recently assigned me to a new client project so I've started the weekly trips back and forth between SFO and JFK. 

This past Wednesday, 5 October, I saw Nabucco at the Met. Maria Guleghina's voice was certainly powerful and impressive. The chorus received the longest ovation after "Va Pensiero". Otherwise, this production seems a bit tired and the signing overall throughout the evening didn't seem fresh. 

This evening, Saturday, 8 October, I will be dragging my wife to go see Lucrezia Borgia at the San Francisco Opera. I don't have high hopes for this performance since Renee Fleming received a terrible review in the local newspaper. An employee at the Met Opera Shop on Wednesday told me that Lucrezia Borgia will be her last Bel Canto role and she will be focusing on Strauss in the near future. Don't know if that's true so take if for what it's worth.....

I was lucky enough to purchase a last minute ticket to this Monday evening's, 10 October, performance of Anna Bolena at the Met. I kept checking the Met web site yesterday for last minute ticket returns and sure enough yesterday afternoon, a few seats in the Family Circle opened up. I think Anna Netrebko is a bit overhyped and I'm going more for to see the new production.

The next week, 15 October, it's back at the San Francisco Opera where for Don Giovanni. David Gockley clearly overestimated the SF Bay Area's demand for this Mozart masterpiece because only about half the seats are sold for opening night 

Finally, on 29 October, it's back to the Met. It's the Don Giovanni I really want to see as it's a new production. Mariusz Kwiecien and Ramon Vargas are both awesome.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

Der Fliegende Amerikaner said:


> I was lucky enough to purchase a last minute ticket to this Monday evening's, 10 October, performance of Anna Bolena at the Met. I kept checking the Met web site yesterday for last minute ticket returns and sure enough yesterday afternoon, a few seats in the Family Circle opened up. *I think Anna Netrebko is a bit overhyped and I'm going more for to see the new production*.


 Uh oh . . . Beware the wrath of Alma! :devil:


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## FragendeFrau (May 30, 2011)

I'm sorry I haven't checked on this thread recently and don't have time to go all the way back through--it all sounds wonderful! It's great to hear from experienced opera-goers!

Keep these reports coming! It sounds as though it IS possible to get tickets for the ROH? Sadly my elderly friend (and I say that, relative to my own advanced age!) has great difficulty now in securing them. I was hoping she'd be able to get us tickets for _Les_ _Troyens_ but probably I will just GO ($$$ why in the summer, the most expensive flight season?) and hope for returns. Or check the ROH website regularly once regular sales open up--if they ever do!


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## MAnna (Sep 19, 2011)

*Lucrezia Borga - San Francisco Opera - 29 September 2011*

COMPANY PREMIERE

Renée Fleming, "America's most-loved and most-lauded opera singer" (The Times, London), returns to San Francisco Opera in the title role of this melodically rich bel canto masterpiece. A femme fatale renowned for her ruthless pursuit of power reveals poignant vulnerability when she comes face to face with her long-lost son. The silken-voiced soprano sings this touchstone role "with raw intensity and earthy richness, utterly inhabiting the character" (The New York Times). She will be joined by "rising American tenor Michael Fabiano [who] shone as Gennaro, his warm lyric tone founded on long-breathed phrasing and a well-shaped line" (Opera News), and bass Vitalij Kowaljow, who sings with a "potent blend of vocal weight and emotional transparency" (San Francisco Chronicle); mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong, whose "big, bright and pleasing voice was wonderful as Orsini" (The New York Times); and led by internationally acclaimed conductor Riccardo Frizza.

Well, another bel canto melodrama has made its way to the War Memorial Opera House. This time, it was Donizetti's Lucrezia Borga. A rather uninspiring opera in its own right but it served as a vehicle for the return of star soprano Renee Fleming in one of her signature roles. San Francisco Opera has been vigorously trying to improve the star power of the company if not opera itself and has established separate fund raising arms to bring in the best of the best singers. Last year, they welcomed Placido Domingo in his pet role of Cyrano. We have also seen the likes of Diana Damrau and Anna Netrebko.

I had never heard Renee Fleming sing in person before last spring when I visited the Met to hear her in Capriccio. She sounded fine in that role but I certainly left wanting more - at least in terms of a bigger singing role.

Unfortunately, this performance left me a little flat too. I am no bel canto expert but her singing lacked the ornamentation I am used to hearing from other bel canto sopranos. Her dramatic performance was also lacking - at least from what I would expect from a Lucrezia Borga. Perhaps, the effort and concentration required to sing the notes came at the expense of the acting; the plodding pace of the conducting also didn't help. It felt as if she were "playing it safe" as opposed to attacking the role.

The find for me that evening was the performance of bass-baritone Vitalij Kowaljow who sang the role of Duke Alfonso. His vocal power, command and stage presence suggested that you don't mess with this Duke. He was scary good.

The set designs were intimidating with the brick buildings dwarfing the cast. Nonetheless, some in the crowd still gave the performance a standing ovation which I was not prepared to do. But when everyone else in front of me stands, I usually oblige - in this case to reward the bass and the long career of Renee Fleming.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Great review MAnna.

What did you think of Michael Fabiano?


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## Der Fliegende Amerikaner (Feb 26, 2011)

I just got home 15 minutes ago after walking home from the War Memorial Opera House. I was disappointed with the performance. The story was dull, the music uninspiring, and the performance of the main star was just flat. Renee Fleming could do much better than this. At the end of the final act, she threw off some fancy flights of coloratura but even that could not salvage this performance. Sigh...... Applause for RF was tepid and respectful. 

Well, I'm off to New York on Monday morning and I land at JFK with plenty of time to get to Lincoln Center for Anna Bolena at the Met.


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## Elgarian (Jul 30, 2008)

Not sure if this is the place to say it (the performance being still forthcoming rather than having been seen), but we're off to see _Don Giovanni_ on Wednesday evening (Liverpool Empire, Welsh National Opera).


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## MAnna (Sep 19, 2011)

sospiro said:


> Great review MAnna.
> 
> What did you think of Michael Fabiano?


Ah yes, Michael Fabiano as Genaro and Elizabeth DeShong as Orsini were both very well received. He seems to possess a good combination of warm lyricism and vocal strength. He also added energy to an otherwise lackluster production. His final duet with DeShong was the high point of their evening.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Elgarian said:


> Not sure if this is the place to say it (the performance being still forthcoming rather than having been seen), but we're off to see _Don Giovanni_ on Wednesday evening (Liverpool Empire, Welsh National Opera).


Ooh, nice, Alan, who's your DG?


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Elgarian said:


> Not sure if this is the place to say it (the performance being still forthcoming rather than having been seen), but we're off to see _Don Giovanni_ on Wednesday evening (Liverpool Empire, Welsh National Opera).


This has had some good reviews. I'll be interested to hear what you think of David Soar (Leporello).


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## Elgarian (Jul 30, 2008)

mamascarlatti said:


> Ooh, nice, Alan, who's your DG?


Chap called David Kempster, Natalie, I believe. Never heard of him. My impression from the reviews so far is that there's no 'star', but good all-round performances.


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## Elgarian (Jul 30, 2008)

sospiro said:


> This has had some good reviews.


Yes it looks fairly promising Annie. We've never seen DG live before, so we're particularly hoping for a good 'un.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Carmen at a small regional opera company - North Carolina Opera, Sunday matinée today. This shouldn't interest most people, but there are a couple of other members who live geographically close to this company, so, this review may interest them.

It was a rather decent production for a small company, although uneven.

Stage direction by Candace Evans and set designs by Melissa Ficociello were very good, tasteful, with good use of the space, simple yet beautiful and effective.

Young conductor Timothy Myers and the North Carolina Opera Orchestra did surprisingly well and were the high point of the afternoon. Brisk, energetic, resonant; I thought that the pit did very well.

Leann Sandel-Pantaleo was Carmen. While she did not have the best moment of the performance, she was still superior to all other artists given that she maintained a reasonably good level of quality throughout the entire opera. She never missed a note and there were no vocal defects whatsoever except for low potency. I was 12 rows from the stage, but I imagine that people in the back of the house must have had trouble hearing her. She can act, looks good, looks the part, and is sensual enough for the role. Her voice has a beautiful timbre. One just wishes for more volume and more spark. You can see her here:










Don José was William Joyner. He delivered the goods during first and second acts, and had the best moment of the entire production when he sang _La fleur que tu m'avais jetée, _which he interpreted with a beautiful lyric tenor voice, good musicality and passion. He drew the longest applause and the only "bravos" during the performance. However, he was completely unable to last until the end, his voice got fatigued, and full of errors in the high end of his register during the third act. After a pause, he came back a bit better for the short fourth act, but his failures during the third act were rather painful.

Micaëla was Andrea Edith Moore, and I definitely didn't like her. Strident. Unpleasant timbre.

Escamillo was David Williams, a young recent graduate from the Juilliard School, who really needs to train his throat muscles more. At this young age, he had a wide vibrato. Also, he couldn't control his tempo during _Votre toast, _and lagged behind the orchestra.

Donald Hartmann as Zuniga was correct, voice-wise. He can act, and his interpretation of the lecherous captain was actually one of the best I've seen, in terms of acting (not as much in terms of voice).

Two pleasant surprises: DeMar Neal as El Dancairo with good diction in French and a strong baritone voice that filled the house; and Rachel Copeland as Frasquita, who was rather spectacular. I don't understand why she wasn't given a better part since she was much better than the soprano they picked for Micaëla, and according to her bio she has engagements for Micaëla elsewhere. Her fach doesn't exactly match the Micaëla role but still, I bet she'd have done a better job than Andrea Moore. Wade Henderson as El Remendado was also very good. Jennifer Seiger as Mercedes was weak, and John Brandon as Morales was correct.

Sarah Shelton and Alicia Vila were flamenco dancers who delighted the public with a pre-opera performance, then participated of some scenes. The former is American but trained in Seville, and the latter was born in Barcelona. Both are beautiful women who added a lot to the color of the production.

The whole thing was uneven. First act decent, second rather spectacular, third extremely weak, and fourth decent again.

Still, an enjoyable afternoon of live opera, with a good performance from the pit, a sensual Carmen, beautiful staging, and some very good supporting roles. I was pleasantly surprised, and I look forward to supporting this young company more (it's only their second season).


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## FragendeFrau (May 30, 2011)

Thanks for the review! You are a good man to support local opera--I have been spoiled for Carmen. I think next up is Il Trovatore? Is that shared with opera in Charlotte (I got a postcard a while back from Il Trovatore in Charlotte).

I do plan to go to the Philip Glass opera they're doing next year.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

FragendeFrau said:


> Thanks for the review! You are a good man to support local opera--I have been spoiled for Carmen. I think next up is Il Trovatore? Is that shared with opera in Charlotte (I got a postcard a while back from Il Trovatore in Charlotte).
> 
> I do plan to go to the Philip Glass opera they're doing next year.


No, I don't think the Opera Carolina production in Charlotte is the same production that the North Carolina Opera will present in Raleigh. Totally different cast, and the Raleigh one will be semi-staged. I've never heard of any cooperation between the Raleigh company and the Charlotte one, probably they see each other as rivals (just my guess, I don't have any evidence of it).

Opera Carolina is a more impressive company, and their performances are more elaborate and professional than the North Carolina Opera has been able to do in their first two years. The former company in Raleigh that was at the origin of the merger that formed the new young company (but with lots of shuffling of leadership) in my opinion was actually better than this new one; I remember some really beautiful and accomplished productions of Turandot and Madama Butterfly by the old company. I don't think the new one is up to the same speed yet, but it is certainly promising.

The much more established company in Charlotte is more reliable (I was really impressed with their Otello last year), so if you want to see only one live Trovatore in North Carolina, my guess is that you should go to the Charlotte production, which is just one week from now, so rush. I can't make it, I have other plans for that weekend (they do have a performance on Thursday at 7:30 PM, but it is a bit much to drive back and forth on a Thursday, having to work the next day).

PS - No, next up for the Raleigh company is _Les Enfants Terribles _(Glass) in January, and Il Trovatore is in April. The Charlotte company has Il Trovatore now, Madama Butterfly in January, and Eugene Onegin in March. Piedmont Opera in Winston-Salem has Don Giovanni on October 28, 30, and Nov 1. This company is significantly weaker than Charlotte's and Raleigh's. They are also giving The Crucible.

Oh, as a matter of fact I found a calendar with all the operas in North Carolina - the ones that are left 'till the end of the season (just did, it will help me too - I'm curious about the Asheville company which I've never attended, and Asheville is a spectacular city with good restaurants, hotels, and art galleries). The Greensboro Opera Company has already presented _The Merry Wives of Windsor _this year, which is a pity because I missed it.

*October*

*October 20 - *_Il Trovatore_ Opera Carolina www.operacarolina.org
*October 23 - *_Il Trovatore_ Opera Carolina www.operacarolina.org
*October 28 - *_Don Giovanni_ Piedmont Opera www.piedmontopera.org
*October 30 - *_Don Giovanni_ Piedmont Opera www.piedmontopera.org

*November*

*November 1 - *_Don Giovanni_ Piedmont Opera www.piedmontopera.org
*
January 2012 *

*January 19 - *_Les Enfants Terribles_ North Carolina Opera http://ncopera.org
*January 20 - *_Les Enfants Terribles_ North Carolina Opera http://ncopera.org
*January 21 - *_Madama Butterfly_ Opera Carolina www.operacarolina.org
*January 22 - *_Les Enfants Terribles_ North Carolina Opera http://ncopera.org
*January 26 - *_Madama Butterfly_ Opera Carolina www.operacarolina.org
*January 28 - *_Madama Butterfly_ Opera Carolina www.operacarolina.org
*January 29 - *_Madama Butterfly_ Opera Carolina www.operacarolina.org 
*
February*

*February 12 - *Love Scenes Piedmont Opera www.piedmontopera.org
*February 14 - *Love Scenes Piedmont Opera www.piedmontopera.org
*February 17 - *_Cosi fan tutte_ Asheville Lyric Opera www.ashevillelyric.org
*February 18 - *_Cosi fan tutte_ Asheville Lyric Opera www.ashevillelyric.org
*February 20-22 - *Opera at the Carolina www.greensboroopera.org

*March*

*March 16 - *_The Crucible_ Piedmont Opera www.piedmontopera.org
*March 17 - *Eugene Onegin Opera Carolina www.operacarolina.org
*March 18 - *_The Crucible_ Piedmont Opera www.piedmontopera.org
*March 20 - *_The Crucible_ Piedmont Opera www.piedmontopera.org
*March 22 - *_Eugene Onegin_ Opera Carolina www.operacarolina.org
*March 25 - *_Eugene Onegin_ Opera Carolina www.operacarolina.org 
*
April*

*April 27 - *_Il Trovatore_ North Carolina Opera http://ncopera.org
*April 29 - *_Il Trovatore_ North Carolina Opera http://ncopera.org

As a matter of fact North Carolina is not doing so poorly in terms of opera.
10 full operas (counting Carmen and The Merry Wives of Windsor that aren't listed above), and two concerts/recitals, is not bad, including, because the season shows some less popular operas as well, which is unusual for regional companies.

I think that when we consider that a whole country like New Zealand has a couple of operas per year, our state is doing fairly well.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Almaviva said:


> I think that when we consider that a whole country like New Zealand has a couple of operas per year, our state is doing fairly well.


Yes, honestly, it's depressing, all we seem to be good for is running an oval ball over a line.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

New Zealand is also good for importing from Europe a very nice opera-loving lady, and for some wickedly good wines.:cheers:


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Don't forget the All Blacks, that are playing next weekend the Rugby Union World Cup Final.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

schigolch said:


> Don't forget the All Blacks, that are playing next weekend the Rugby Union World Cup Final.


 That's what she meant by running an oval ball over a line.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

Regrettably, this oval ball is being run over the line too few times those days... There are more points coming from penalties, than tries.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

schigolch said:


> Don't forget the All Blacks, that are playing next weekend the Rugby Union World Cup Final.


Don't worry, I'm in no danger of forgetting it, that's ALL that's being talked about in my neck of the woods at the moment.



schigolch said:


> Regrettably, this oval ball is being run over the line too few times those days... There are more points coming from penalties, than tries.


The ABs had a nice try against the Aussies last Sunday.

(See, even I've been sucked into watching the games)


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## MAnna (Sep 19, 2011)

TURANDOT - San Francisco Opera - 4 October 2011










SF Opera Music Director Nicola Luisotti was brought in a few years ago to replace Donald Runnicles as a specialist in conducting Italian opera. His insight turned out to be a mixed blessing on this evening. His unabashed enthusiasm for the piece vividly contrasted the richness in both the highs and lows of the action sequences but at the expense of overwhelming the singers and the chorus. Both Swedish soprano Irene Theorin as Turandot and Italian tenor Marco Berti, as exiled Prince Calaf were up to the task with their warm and muscular voices, but I felt the nuances of the singing were sacrificed - even to the point of straining and screechiness on the part of Turandot. Perhaps this was also due to the accumulation of stress over the performances; this was their last performance of the run. Their acting was practically non-existent though this may be partially blamed on the stage director who kept Turandot and the prince well separated from one another - thus preventing the development any physical chemistry between them.

Luisotti did let up enough to facilitate the emotional highlight of the performance, the death of Liu scene. Here all the purity and innocence of Liu was captured and very ably sung by the rising star, resident artist soprano Leah Crocetto. Her performance did receive the loudest applause at the end of the evening, but this may well also be due to the consideration that Turandot and Prince Calaf may be the most off-putting opera protagonists since Nerone and Poppea.

Though the employed set designs of David Hockney have been around and recycled for over 20 years and their avant-garde appeal and garish color schemes may wear thin on some, I found them appealing enough to add value to my first attendance of this opera. I felt rest-assured that the hard-earned dollars of the opera patrons were well on display.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

I'm just back from a concert that focused mostly on operatic music so I'll review it here instead of the Classical Music Discussion forum.

It was called _Love and rage: operatic fireworks from the 18th century._

It featured excellent French countertenor _Philippe Jaroussky_, and Cleveland-based _Apollo's Fire Baroque Orchestra_, which apparently has a reputation for being the best baroque orchestra in America playing on period instruments. Conductor, the charming _Jeannette Sorrell_, music director and founder of the Apollo's Fire orchestra.

The program contained exclusively music by Handel and Vivaldi, both instrumental and vocal. All vocal parts came from operas. The goal of the program was to highlight how Vivaldi's arias are as good as Handel's. In an essay authored by Jeannette Sorrell, she tells us how much Vivaldi is underrated as an opera composer and remembered mostly for The Four Seasons in spite of having written 49 operas, unlike Handel who is a recognized opera composer.

According to her, we're barely making a dent in terms of discovering and reviving Vivaldi's operas, due to the fact that most of them haven't even been published yet. Consequently, Vivaldi gets a reputation for being a composer of youthful, light music, forgetting that we're primarily acquainted with his concertos, _which he wrote for performance by orphan girls, _in his position as music-master for the orphaned girls of the famous Ospedale della Pietà. From the stage, Ms. Sorrell told us that what we see as the light Vivaldi was the equivalent of pop-music at the time: he was writing for teenagers! His operas and sacred music however, says Ms. Sorrell, could hardly be described as light or playful.

The arias included in the program are very well suited for a countertenor, since many of them were written for castrati such as Carestini and Farinelli.

We the public in attendance - in a small, intimate auditorium with 600 seats - were treated to great vocal fireworks by Mr. Jaroussky. His falsetto voice is simply divine, very well controlled and with a beautiful timbre, which made me dream of the time of the castrati.

I thought that the Apollo's Fire orchestra (I love their name) was simply magnificent. We've been talking about American culture in other threads (or lack thereof), and I'm proud of listening to such an outstanding domestic HIP orchestra. Olivier Brault, the violin concertmaster, is a virtuoso and made my jaw drop. The two cellos were incredibly good (René Schiffer, and Steuart Pincombe). Playing a beautiful theorbo and an acoustic guitar was excellent William Simms. Ms. Sorrell played beautifully the harpsichord, and conducted with gusto. She is very expressive, and is also an attractive woman.

I've attended many concerts and recitals in this venue, and I've never seen such a prolonged standing ovation, to the point that the artists gave us no less than 4 encores!! We were grinning and saying "this is great, we'll be here until midnight."

This was one of the most enjoyable soirées of operatic music for me in the last few years. I believe that more beauty was packed in today's performance than in many full operas I've attended in major opera houses.

I hope that fellow member FragendeFrau who lives in the same metropolitan area has attended as well. I'll be sad for her if she hasn't.

Here is the program:

Allegro from Concerto Grosso in D, after Concerto RV 511 - Vivaldi, arr. Sorrell
_Agitato da fiere tempeste_, from Oreste - Handel
Orfeo's recitative and aria _Ho perso il caro ben_, from Il Parnasso in Festa - Handel (sublime!)
Concerto in G minor for Two Cellos, RV 531 - Allegro, Largo, Allegro - Vivaldi
_Se potessere i sospir miei, _from Imeneo - Handel
_Con l'ali di costanza, _from Ariodante - Handel (so beautiful!)
Prelude in A major, for solo harpsichord - Handel
Chaconne from Terpsichore (Il pastor fido), HWV 8c - Handel
_Se mai senti spirati sul volto, _from Catone in Utica - Vivaldi
Concerto Grosso _La Folia_, after Sonata XII - Vivaldi, arr. Sorrell
_Vedro con mio diletto_, from Giustino - Vivaldi (spectacular)
_Frà le procelle_, from Tito Manlio - Vivaldi

I couldn't catch the name of three of the four arias sung as encores. One of the arias was made famous by Farinelli and it sounded familiar (and it was maybe the most beautiful one in the evening - I'll have to go through some YouTubes to find it). The last one I recognized, of course: _Ombra mai fu, _from Serse - Handel.

Here's the YouTube with Jaroussky interpreting _Ombra mai fu_:






Here is the Apollo's Fire orchestra performing the Concerto in G minor for two cellos_, _one of the pieces I heard today (but not with the same subgroup of musicians from the orchestra, and two who are missing are some of the best - Olivier Brault and Steauart Pincombe - so it's not a faithful rendition of what I saw live tonight, but anyway, here it goes):






Here is an interesting short documentary about Apollo's Fire:


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Truly and utterly jealous, Alma.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Aksel said:


> Truly and utterly *jealous*, Alma.


Totally green with it. I'm gonna start looking like Couchie soon.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

Almaviva said:


> The goal of the program was to highlight how Vivaldi's arias are as good as Handel's. In an essay authored by Jeannette Sorrell, she tells us how much Vivaldi is underrated as an opera composer and remembered mostly for The Four Seasons in spite of having written 49 operas, unlike Handel who is a recognized opera composer.


So Alma, did the program achieve its goal? Did you leave feeling that Vivaldi's arias are as good as Handel's?


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## StlukesguildOhio (Dec 25, 2006)

Alma... I'm quite jealous. Jaroussky is not performing with Apollo's Fire anywhere near their home base. As close as they get is outside of Detroit. Detroit for God's sake!!! That's an even bigger sh**hole than Cleveland, their hometown. Of course they will be performing dozens of other concerts here including concerts of Vivaldi and Rameau, Bach, Mozart's Magic Flute, Vivaldi and Handel, and an exhibition of Spanish and Italian baroque. Still... as a big Jaroussky fan I am considering making the 3 hour drive to Ann Arbor to see this show. It would be just in time for my birthday... a gift to myself.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

amfortas said:


> So Alma, did the program achieve its goal? Did you leave feeling that Vivaldi's arias are as good as Handel's?


It did. Vivaldi's arias were spectacular. I was really impressed. Not that Handel's arias were any worse, I think the program clearly demonstrated the greatness of both composers.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

StlukesguildOhio said:


> Alma... I'm quite jealous. Jaroussky is not performing with Apollo's Fire anywhere near their home base. As close as they get is outside of Detroit. Detroit for God's sake!!! That's an even bigger sh**hole than Cleveland, their hometown. Of course they will be performing dozens of other concerts here including concerts of Vivaldi and Rameau, Bach, Mozart's Magic Flute, Vivaldi and Handel, and an exhibition of Spanish and Italian baroque. Still... as a big Jaroussky fan I am considering making the 3 hour drive to Ann Arbor to see this show. It would be just in time for my birthday... a gift to myself.


Go for it, Stlukes, you won't be disappointed. Jaroussky was simply divine. And Ann Arbor is an adorable city, have you been to it? It's really worth it, I think. Downtown Ann Arbor is pretty, with great restaurants, window shopping, people watching, good cultural offerings - and this performance, like I said, was one of the most beautiful I've ever seen in my "career" as an operatic fan.


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

*Der fliegende Holländer*

This was the first revival of a production by Tim Albery at the Royal Opera House that uses the one act Dresden version of Wagner's so called first mature opera. Der Hollander was played by Latvian Egils Silins, Anja Kampe returned to play Senta, Stephen Milling was Daland, Endrik Wottrich played Erik and John Tessier played the Steersman. In the pit saw Jeffrey Tate return to the ROH after a long absence.

I have to admit that out all of the mature Wagner operas, this is the one that I engage with the least. There is some great music in this piece but it doesn't have the punch of the later operas or even Tannhauser or Lohengrin.

I also have to say that I find Tim Albery's production rather drab and generally unengaging as well. A real lack of lighting, plus although this is a modern production you get torn over the place as to where this is meant to be set. In the pit Jeffrey Tate gave a leisurely paced account but was able to get the best he could musically out of the opera.

Egil Silins has a large bass baritone voice but I wasn't sure if the voice had much sparkle or charisma. Also his acting capabilities did not seem of a great standard.

Anja Kampe was very good as Senta just as he she was when this was a new production. Her powerful soprano voice was dramatic and enthralling. In my opinion I don't think that there are many better people who can play this role.

Endrik Wottrich as an actor I thought was quite lame. His voice has a baritonal timbre but struggled with his top. The role of Erik is not a great one but I wanted to see more passion.

Stephen Milling as Daland was in fine voice and he is a pretty good actor. A role like this seemed an easy one for someone who regularly play the Ring bass roles around the world.

John Tessier was very good in the minor but important role of the Steersman and his voice is wonderful light tenor voice and he was great when getting all rowdy with his ship's crew.

So overall a very mixed night. I have never seen the three act version live and sometimes wonder whether that maybe better served as the one act version I understand to be an invention of Cosima's and I am unsure whether it works.


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

*Placido Domingo Celebration Royal Opera House*

To celebrate 40 years of performing at the Royal Opera House a celebration took place where Placido Domingo performed the final act of three Verdi operas. The operas were Otello, Rigoletto and Simon Boccanegra. Conductor was Antonio Pappano.

This was always going to be a slightly strange occasion but if you were familiar with the operas then it made into a pleasant, if not perfect, afternoons entertainment.

It began with Otello and I have to say I was least impressed with this segment. It did not help to have the Marina Poplavskya screach her way through the Willow Song and Ave Maria. One can only hope that Anja Harteros shows up as when there is a full production in the spring. Alas, Domingo is not the force he was vocally but he still acted a wonderful Otello. The voice is still ample enough, but the thrill in some of the tenor notes has gone. They used the famous Elijah Moshinsky production.

For me Rigoletto was the highlight of the afternoon. It helped that we had a very good Duke of Mantua in Francesco Meli who I would very much like to see again in another role. He sounded like he could be a possible future Otello but lets wait and see. Ailyn Perez was Gilda and was very good. Domingo decided not to wear the outfit that David McVicar provides in this production. I suspect the official excuse was time constraints but just wore the same sort of outfit he did in the TV broadcast from Mantua. Paata Buchaladze was a convincing Sparafucile. Overall there was music making of the highest standard and I felt that although Domingo was not in the same class of someone like the Hov in this role, his sheer craft got him through with ease.

Finally we had the final act of the revised version of Boccanegra. The Royal Opera House has got two productions of this opera on its roster. Firstly they have the Moshinsky production which they used last year when Domingo played Boccanegra and one by Ian Judge which they have originally used to to stage the original version back in 1997 when they had a short lived Verdi festival. For some reason it was decided to use the Ian Judge production. Domingo in my opinion a finer performance of the end of Boccanegra then when he came here last year, even though he is not helped by the production. Poplavskya returned as Amelia but this seemed more in her comfort zone. Meli returned as Adorno and although not in Calleja's class from last year he gave pleasure with his voice. Jonathan Summers was a very bitter Paulo and rightly so. Paata Buchaladze returned as Fiesco and did okay, just as he did when he stood in for Furlanetto last year. However he was not in Furlanetto's class.

Finally I would like to say one thing about the orchestra and the pit. The playing was absolutely top notch. Although I said Otello was the weakest in many ways it was still a wonderful appetiser for when Pappano gets to grips with the full score in the summer. Also the two other pieces were wonderful. We are very lucky to have Pappano, particularly in the core Italian works, as I don't think there is anyone in the world that is better at the moment.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Great reviews James. I've read conflicting reports for both so it's always interesting to read a review from someone who isn't a professional critic. And a fan's view is just as valid.

What have you got next?


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## jflatter (Mar 31, 2010)

sospiro said:


> Great reviews James. I've read conflicting reports for both so it's always interesting to read a review from someone who isn't a professional critic. And a fan's view is just as valid.
> 
> What have you got next?


Die Meistersinger just before Xmas. You?


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## FragendeFrau (May 30, 2011)

Alma, so sorry I missed this--I was out of town! Of course, you would have had to drag me kicking and screaming anyway as I am allergic to countertenors.

Still had I known what this was about, I would have definitely checked it out! So glad you were able to. I'll keep my eyes open for Apollo's Fire in the future.

However, (non-opera-related), the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, is coming here for two performances Nov 12 and 13 and I was thinking that would be good, yes? Two different all Beethoven programs.

PS: my "what have you seen recently" is in the Jonas Kaufmann at the Met thread.


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

Yes, FraFra, I saw your JK post and made a comment on it.
And yes, I have a ticket for Sir JEG and the ORR, but can't make it for the same reason - will be out of town (read my thread about it in the Orchestral Music forum), my wife will make use of my ticket.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

jflatter said:


> Die Meistersinger just before Xmas. You?


Glyndebourne On Tour's La bohème in December. It's had some good reviews for the quality of the singing & not so good reviews for the modern setting. I'll go with an open mind & my thermals. Standing at the Stage Door on a freezing winter night in Stoke isn't quite the same as waiting on a warm July evening in Covent Garden.

Next ROH adventure is _Le nozze di Figaro_ in February.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

_Pelléas et Mélisande_- Teatro Real- Oct/nov 2011.

Less than ten years after its last performance, the wonderful Debussy's opera returned to Madrid, to Teatro Real.

Mélisande was a very good *Camilla Tilling*, with the ideal timbre for the character, and crystalline overtones. Hers is a small voice, but well projected, and she is one of the best Mélisande we can hear in the 21st century.

Yann Beuron, *Pelléas*, also has a good voice, but his top notes are not yet properly resolved, and he strangles himself.

Golaud was French baritone *Laurent Naouri*, a veteran of the role, with a good commanding of the opera. Franz-Joseph Selig's _Arkel_ did sound like an old man... too old, perhaps, while Hilary Summers was a delicate *Geneviéve*... too delicate, perhaps.

Sylvain Cambreling is a good conductor, but in this case he offered a rather leaden show, this opera, that is already dreamy, evanescent, need some help from the pit, to avoid dullness. Robert Wilson staging.... well, it was another Robert Wilson staging. Once you enter his personal world, you can almost do the staging yourself, and it will be pretty much the same.

Another day in the office.


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## MAnna (Sep 19, 2011)

SAMSON ET DALILA - West Bay Opera - 23 October 2011










West Bay Opera located in, depending on whom you talk to, the capital of Silicon Valley opened its 2011 opera season with Samson et Dalila. An opera company with a soul, it started out as an outgrowth of an opera workshop in the 50's, and now is a well-recognized regional opera company.

Musical director and maestro José Luis Moscovich appears before each performance imploring us, in a myriad of witty ways, to hug our local opera company - preferably with donations. (e.g. a $1 donation from each of us covers the cost of the program, the ticket price is cheaper and more therapeutic than a session with a shrink, and he personally guarantees that the company workers are all underpaid.)

Though a regional company operating in a 400 seat auditorium, it does not shy away from big undertakings (Turandot, Flying Dutchman and Aida coming in May). This staging of Samson et Dalila came complete with three large pillars, a large grindstone, the steles, the bacchanale, dancers, Hebrew slaves and the ultimate crashing of the temple, deftly organized by the production team. Dollar for dollar and inch for inch, it was a top-notch production.

Peruvian lead, lyrical tenor Percy Martinez, made for a dimunitive and a bit throaty Samson but all in all did well for such a difficult role. Cybele Gouverneur made for a fetching Dalila and her big, beautiful low mezzo voice evoked the sultry, dark temptress' tone which easily filled the auditorium. (She is currently covering the role of Mercedes in San Francisco Opera's Carmen performances.) The conducting was somewhat tentative, with a mostly slow tempo but certainly came through in the important passages of the piece.

A big bravo to the company for pulling this off :tiphat:


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

_Le Grand Macabre_ - Gran Teatre del Liceu - Barcelona

Conductor: Michael Boder
Stage Director: La Fura dels Baus

Piet the Pot	- Chris Merritt
Amando - Inés Moraleda
Amanda - Ana Puche
Nekrotzar - Werner Van Mechelen
Astradamors - Frode Olsen
Mescalina - Ning Liang
Venus / Geopopo - Barbara Hannigan
Prince Go-Go - Brian Asawa

Premiere of this opera in Barcelona. In those days, many times most of the advertisement and the supposed excitement of an opera, is in the staging.

In this case, it's really so. First, La Fura dels Baus's is a powerful staging, indeed, and, second and most important, Ligeti had in mind more a conventional piece of theater than an opera (mainly in his first version. The second version, the one performed yesterday, is more balanced).

This giant doll, Claudia, 7x18 meters, is the physical and symbolic embodiment of the final tragedy/farce announced by Nekrotzar. And the last message, so aligned with the current situation in many countries of Europe:

_Fear not to die, good people all!
No one knows when his hour will fall!
And when it comes, then let it be...
Farewell, till then, in cheerfulness_

The singers / actors were ok, just to stand out Brian Asawa and the best one in the cast, Barbara Hanningan:






Interesting, but just interesting, evening.


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## MAnna (Sep 19, 2011)

*XERXES - San Francisco Opera - 4 Nov 2011*

George Frideric Handel
Anonymous revision of Silvio Stampiglia's libretto 'Il Xerse,' based on Nicolo Minato's 'Il Xerse'
COMPANY PREMIERE



















Handel's opera Xerxes finally made its San Francisco Opera debut this season.

The production was taken from Sir Nicholas Hytner's 1985 production for London's English National Opera and was set in 18th century London - around the time of the initial performance. The set is an English pleasure garden, Vauxhall Gardens, the center of fashionable london in 1738. This was the age of the grand tour, museums, and the city reaching out to wider world. The Vauxhall pleasure gardens evoked the elysian fields with tea booths, lounge chairs and a grand orchestra playing nearby.

The museum displayed exotic artifacts from warmer climes (especially the middle east) in display cases . There was a large egg on display of the Arabian phoenix resurrecting as an image of his joy when Xerxes gets Romilda's father's permission to marry. When the egg glows it is the energy of the phoenix contemplating resurrection. There was also a display of the bridge to Europe floating on pontoons like Xerxes' original bridge across the Hellespont joining Asia and Europe (with palm trees on one side and deciduous on the other). Many of the elements are based on Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the Persian empire constructed in 515 BC by Darius the Great and finished by his son Xerxes.

Conductor Patrick Summers led the charge with this light textured music punctuated by period instruments including the theorbo, arch lute and baroque guitar. He allowed the singers room in the ornamental passages for virtuoso display but also maintained a lively pulse to the music in which it was difficult not to get swept up by the rhythm and gracefulness of the music. He also played the harpsichord for some of the recitatives. During the overture, each performer entered the stage in a roll (role?) call with their character's name projected on the back curtain as well as their relations with each other thus allowing the audience to begin to understand the convoluted plot.

Baroque superstars Susan Graham and David Daniels led the way as Xerxes and Arsamenes respectively. Graham just continues to impress with her majestic and convincingly masculine singing as well as the right touch of comic acting to keep the audience engaged. Daniels added a strong, mellifluous voice to Arsamenes with the requisite embellishments to extract at times deep-felt emotions and at times the comic silliness of the libretto.

Here a rising tide lifted all boats as the supporting cast was stellar. Sopranos Lisette Oropesa as Romilda and Heidi Stober Atalanta competed with one another in a one upsmanship game of high notes, phrasing and crescendoes to gain the favor of Arsamenes and, seemingly, the audience. Contralto Sonia Prina, attacked her role as the spurned princess Amastris with a strong-winded and firm but clearly articulated coloratura. Bass-baritone Michael Sumuel's as Elviro made the most of his scenes with strong colorful singing and comic acting.

Certainly the highlight of the 2011 season for me.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I saw this in London at the ENO when it first came out, and have it on DVD. But I'd have loved to hear Daniels and Graham, lucky you MAnna. Was it sung in Italian?


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## MAnna (Sep 19, 2011)

mamascarlatti said:


> I saw this in London at the ENO when it first came out, and have it on DVD. But I'd have loved to hear Daniels and Graham, lucky you MAnna. Was it sung in Italian?


Yes, I do indeed feel fortunate and yes, it was sung in Italian. I have previously heard Susan Graham sing in Ariodante and Iphigenie en Tauride as well as a sing in a concert staging of Dido and Aeneas. I have heard Daniels sing in Rodelinda back in 2005. This was the first time I have heard the two of them sing together.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

YES! I finally have something to contribute with. I just came home from the Norwegian Opera's new production of Barbiere. It was wonderfully amazing. Will write something more about it tomorrow, but now I have to sleep.

There are pictures here, courtesy of the Norwegian Opera.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Aksel said:


> YES! I finally have something to contribute with. I just came home from the Norwegian Opera's new production of Barbiere. It was wonderfully amazing. Will write something more about it tomorrow, but now I have to sleep.
> 
> There are pictures here, courtesy of the Norwegian Opera.


Super-cute pictures Aksel, looking forward to your review.


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

I saw the Barber of Seville production at the Oslo house last night.

It was hilarious. My headline - if I was to write a review - would have been: "Figaro on air guitar". lol. Seriously, the latter half of "Largo al Factotum" was performed as a wannabe rock star, air guitar included. At some point he also had two flashlights, using one as a microphone and the other to light himself. Rosina was wonderful, Figaro was great (excellent comedy timing) and Don Basilio was a very satisfying bass. I couldn't get my head around the Count, but I don't think that was the tenor's fault, considering the number of tones he's forced to sing, it's bound to get a bit... _in-his-nose_.

But overall I had a good time. (Though I have to say I prefer "Marriage of Figaro" if I was to choose a Figaro-related opera :lol: )


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Operafocus said:


> I saw the Barber of Seville production at the Oslo house last night.


You DID!? A shame we didn't meet.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Operafocus said:


> I saw the Barber of Seville production at the Oslo house last night.
> 
> It was hilarious. My headline - if I was to write a review - would have been: "Figaro on air guitar". lol. Seriously, the latter half of "Largo al Factotum" was performed as a wannabe rock star, air guitar included. At some point he also had two flashlights, using one as a microphone and the other to light himself. Rosina was wonderful, Figaro was great (excellent comedy timing) and Don Basilio was a very satisfying bass. I couldn't get my head around the Count, but I don't think that was the tenor's fault, considering the number of tones he's forced to sing, it's bound to get a bit... _in-his-nose_.
> 
> But overall I had a good time. (Though I have to say I prefer "Marriage of Figaro" if I was to choose a Figaro-related opera :lol: )


Sounds brilliant!! So glad you had a good time (after a certain disappointment a few months ago!)


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

Aksel said:


> You DID!? A shame we didn't meet.


You did too!? YESTERDAY? We really need to put our schedules up online to avoid future disappointment!



sospiro said:


> Sounds brilliant!! So glad you had a good time (after a certain disappointment a few months ago!)


 Yeah, the experience this summer is something I hope I don't have to sit through again. But yeah, this was fun


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Operafocus said:


> I saw the Barber of Seville production at the Oslo house last night.
> 
> It was hilarious. My headline - if I was to write a review - would have been: "Figaro on air guitar". lol. Seriously, the latter half of "Largo al Factotum" was performed as a wannabe rock star, air guitar included. At some point he also had two flashlights, using one as a microphone and the other to light himself. Rosina was wonderful, Figaro was great (excellent comedy timing) and Don Basilio was a very satisfying bass. I couldn't get my head around the Count, but I don't think that was the tenor's fault, considering the number of tones he's forced to sing, it's bound to get a bit... _in-his-nose_.
> 
> But overall I had a good time. (Though I have to say I prefer "Marriage of Figaro" if I was to choose a Figaro-related opera :lol: )


Yes. Basically this. Also:

The Rosina was the very young Norwegian mezzo Ingeborg Gillebo, whose latest claim to fame was placing second in Queen Sonja's International Music Competition. She also sang Cherubino in a production of Figaro at the Norwegian Opera last year. She is very young, only 28, but she managed to navigate Rosina's tricky vocal pyrotechnics very competently. She was, however, and I found this to be a problem with almost all of the singers, often swallowed by the truly minuscule orchestra in the pit. But in general, her singing was very, very good indeed, with really brilliant high notes, and overall very good coloratura.
Here she is earlier this year in Queen Sonja's International Music Competition, singing "È amore un ladroncello".

Just a quick word about the orchestra. It was really tiny. About four 1st and 2nd violins, three violas, a couple of cellos, one bass and winds. I and a friend (who were supposed to meet two more friends there) arrived late (DAMN YOU, Norwegian Rail!), and we entered the hall in the first half of the overture. I found the playing in general to be unimaginative, boring, generally lacking in dynamics and at times very imprecise. Thoroughly undramatic, especially the 2nd act storm. The secco recitatives were handled deftly, at times very well, at the fortepiano.
I think it must be where I was sitting (in the very back), because it was impossible to hear the singers, notable exceptions including the very magnificent Ketil Hugaas as Dr. Bartolo, Petri Lindroos as Don Basilio, and Tuomas Katajala as Almaviva, especially during the first act.

Tuomas Katajala sang Almaviva, and at first I found his voice rather displeasing, with a _very_ nasal sound, but I grew used to it after a while, and it was rather pleasant at the end of the evening. His voice was very piercing, and it cut through the orchestra. Also, his e's, especially in "Ecco, ridente in cielo" were rather grating. He managed the coloratura very well, and I was rather impressed, especially by his "Ecco, ridente...", except the e's. Also, his overly nasal sound made the lesson scene a little strange, because he couldn't sing as nasally as he was supposed to.

As Figaro, there was Espen Langvik, who sang the role very well indeed, acting very well along the way. Especially his opening aria was amazing, but also later numbers, like the act 1 finale and 2nd act trio were very good indeed, especially because of his very apparent talent for comedy.

Petri Lidroos sang a wonderful Don Basilio, cardinal's cape, bible and all. I especially enjoyed his first act aria and his constant reappearances through every opening in the set in the lesson scene.

Ketil Hugaas, for me, was the high point of the evening. His incredible technique, especially the patter he _nailed_ in "Un dottor della mia sorte", was amazing. His acting was also really, really superb. Also, he's from a few kilometres (as in about 100, but still) from where come from, so he's great anyhow. But really, he's amazing.

A couple words about the staging:

The staging was very interesting indeed. It featured Rosina's diary as the central element on stage, and all the action took place "inside" it. As you probably understand, it was all very subjective, which allowed for some very caricatured and hilarious characterisations, such as an overly macho (but still somewhat of an *******) Almaviva, and a truly evil, greedy Dr. Bartolo. It was also seen as a sort of "sexual awakening", centering on the storm as the pivotal moment (again, orchestra. Why no drama?), the point in Rosinas life where she suddenly discovers that she actually is a sexual being.
The story was updated to sometime a couple of decades ago, with Almaviva brandishing a gun to get rid of those pesky street musicians (again, the subjectivity of it all), Almaviva being dressed as Rambo with a shirt on (the drunk soldier disguise), Rosina having purple stripes in her hair, and the police officer (truly, the most hilarious moment of the evening was the first act finale. It involved straight jackets, very large yellow rubber gloves, flashlights and some kind of plants) wearing a blue flashing light on top of his (bicycle) helmet.

It was truly a wonderful evening, with a surprisingly good cast, and thoroughly enjoyable staging. It was a fine night at the second stage of the Norwegian opera house.

I just hope that in a couple of years time, the opera puts on more Rossini with Ingeborg Gillebo. I'd love to see her in a new production of Cenerentola, for instance.

Pictures from the production are here.


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Operafocus said:


> You did too!? YESTERDAY? We really need to put our schedules up online to avoid future disappointment!


We should. I'm not going to the opera again until the Herheim La Bohéme, but we should talk.


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## pollux (Nov 11, 2011)

schigolch said:


> _Pelléas et Mélisande_- Teatro Real- Oct/nov 2011.


I was there too



schigolch said:


> _Le Grand Macabre_ - Gran Teatre del Liceu - Barcelona


I was there too, too


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## misterjones (Oct 9, 2007)

Handel's _Rodelinda_ with Renee Fleming at the Met in New York City. Sorry opera fans, but I thought this was a real snoozer. Co-star Andreas Scholl (a countertenor) looked like a cross between Danny Kaye and the undead. Perhaps it was just bad make-up. His voice didn't exactly help. Neither did the colossal side of beef who played the king's other love interest. Are we really supposed to buy any of this, or is it all (and I mean all) about the music? The sets were phenomenal, I must admit.


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## Operafocus (Jul 17, 2011)

Aksel said:


> We should. I'm not going to the opera again until the Herheim La Bohéme, but we should talk.


I'm going to that as well. What date?


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

Operafocus said:


> I'm going to that as well. What date?


I don't know. Either of the last two Sundays of January, I think. The school is organising the trip. Super duper exited, though.

After that, I'm going to the Finta Giardinera the opera college is putting on (a former neighbour is singing).


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## MrCello (Nov 25, 2011)

I just watched Strauss' _Salome_ for the first time...

I wasn't actually too impressed until the very end of the opera of course...

Overall it got a meh from me


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## Dins (Jun 21, 2011)

This isn't exactly what i have seen recently, more what i am going to see tonight.  Tonight its Tosca at the Gothenburg opera. The reviews has been mixed though. Although the usually excellent Anders Lorentzson is singing Scarpia, so I'm looking forward to the second act.

Review will follow...


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## MattExcell (Jun 15, 2011)

Got tickets now to see Nozze, La fille du régiment and La bohème at the Royal Opera for March through May. Anyone know what the balcony boxes are like?


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

misterjones said:


> Are we really supposed to buy any of this, or is it all (and I mean all) about the music?


Depends which person, or which production, or which person's reaction to which production, you're talking about. It's certainly not all about the music for me, and ideally I prefer an experience that works both musically and dramatically.

But sometimes you take what you can get.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

MrCello said:


> I just watched Strauss' _Salome_ for the first time...
> 
> I wasn't actually too impressed until the very end of the opera of course...
> 
> Overall it got a meh from me


Which opera house MrCello?


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Dins said:


> This isn't exactly what i have seen recently, more what i am going to see tonight.  Tonight its Tosca at the Gothenburg opera. The reviews has been mixed though. Although the usually excellent Anders Lorentzson is singing Scarpia, so I'm looking forward to the second act.
> 
> Review will follow...


:clap:

Looking forward to your review.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

MattExcell said:


> Got tickets now to see Nozze, La fille du régiment and La bohème at the Royal Opera for March through May.


Congratulations on getting these tickets. Buying at ROH is such a traumatic experience!!



MattExcell said:


> Anyone know what the balcony boxes are like?


Never viewed from a box. But if you check on Page 59 of the current About The House, you'll see that all seats in Balcony Boxes have a restricted view.

On one of the guided tours I took, our guide told us that when Charles & Camilla come (and always at the last minute) they don't use the Royal Box because of the rubbish view. They ask for front row centre seats in the Donald Gordon Grand Tier. Not sure what happens to the poor punters who are turfed out of their seats though. :lol:


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

sospiro said:


> On one of the guided tours I took, our guide told us that when Charles & Camilla come (and always at the last minute) they don't use the Royal Box because of the rubbish view. They ask for front row centre seats in the Donald Gordon Grand Tier. Not sure what happens to the poor punters who are turfed out of their seats though. :lol:


Maybe the punters get to use the Royal Box.


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## Dins (Jun 21, 2011)

Tosca Gothenburg opera 1 December 2011

Conductor -	Shao-Chia Lü
Direction - Lorenzo Mariani
Floria Tosca	- Ingela Brimberg
Mario Cavaradossi - Tomas Lind
Baron Scarpia - Anders Lorentzson
The Göteborg Opera Chorus
The Göteborg Opera Orchestra
Child chorus

What an fantastic night! I think that this production have done almost everything right. There where some minor flaws that i get to in a moment, but they where not big enough to be distracting.

This Tosca was set in a late 30:s fascist Italy. Since i think Tosca is a story that could have taken place any where in time this is no problem for me. The scenery was sparse without being uninteresting. In the first act there where only the platform, a big painting, an altar with candles and a vintage car. The only thing that was different was the timeperiod and the scenery. The music and libretto remained unchanged.

The minor roles as Angelotti, The Sacristan, Spoletti was good enough without being great.










Mario Cavaradossi was sung by Tomas Lind. His Recondita armonia was beautiful but he seemed to lack a little bit of power in E lucevan le stelle. But he is a good singer. I am not always found of his singing, but he was a good solid Cavaradossi.










Anders Lorentzson was a delightfully evil Baron Scarpia. As usually he did not disappoint. He did a wonderful job taunting, flattering and harassing poor Tosca in the second act.

And that brings me to Ingela Brimberg as Floria Tosca. What a voice, what a performance. She has a beautiful voice and excellent feel for the music. You could really feel the emotions when she sang. You can not compare with the greats that has sung Tosca after hearing one performance, but on this evening she was close to the great performances of Tosca. her Vissi d'arte was so beautiful it almost brought tears to my eyes.

After the show there where standing ovations. It was well deserved.

And here is the short "trailer" video of the opera.


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## MattExcell (Jun 15, 2011)

sospiro said:


> Congratulations on getting these tickets. Buying at ROH is such a traumatic experience!!


Yeah, I had a 'mare with it this time - usually it is much easier.


sospiro said:


> Never viewed from a box. But if you check on Page 59 of the current About The House, you'll see that all seats in Balcony Boxes have a restricted view.


Hmm, will have to see for myself - hopefully it won't be too much a problem now that I've got three sets of tickets for the same area! It's such a big saving on other areas, though.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

The most recent operas I have seen were Britten's Albert Herring and also a triple bill of baroque cantatas staged as operas. The next opera I'm going to see is Stravinsky's "The Rake's Progress" and I can't wait!!!


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## misterjones (Oct 9, 2007)

amfortas said:


> Depends which person, or which production, or which person's reaction to which production, you're talking about. It's certainly not all about the music for me, and ideally I prefer an experience that works both musically and dramatically.
> 
> But sometimes you take what you can get.


I realize my opera tastes likely are a bit unrefined at this point - I mostly enjoyed The Barber of Seville recently - much in the same way I was attracted to Mozart and Vivaldi and the like during the early stages of my classical music explorations. But for the life of me I cannot understand the inane plots. I mean, it's as though they all were competing to see who could set the dumbest plot to music. I've read and seen many plays written over the past few centuries and none strike me as similarly moronic, so it certainly isn't as though the human race was dramatically challenged at the time.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

misterjones said:


> I realize my opera tastes likely are a bit unrefined at this point - I mostly enjoyed The Barber of Seville recently - much in the same way I was attracted to Mozart and Vivaldi and the like during the early stages of my classical music explorations. But for the life of me I cannot understand the inane plots. I mean, it's as though they all were competing to see who could set the dumbest plot to music. I've read and seen many plays written over the past few centuries and none strike me as similarly moronic, so it certainly isn't as though the human race was dramatically challenged at the time.


Some operas with non-inane plots, off the top of my head:

Manon (Massenet)

Otello, Macbeth, Falstaff (Verdi) (unless you think Shakespeare is inane)

Tosca, Madama Butterfly (Puccini) - melodramatic, yes, but not inane

Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni (Mozart)

Eugene Onegin, Pique dame (Tchaikovsky) (unless you think Pushkin is inane)

War and Peace, the Gambler (Prokofiev)

The Rake's Progress (Stravinsky) - slightly bonkers but not inane.

Boris Godunov (Mussorgsky)

Salome, Elektra, Der Rosenkavalier (Strauss)

Peter Grimes, Billy Budd, Turn of the Screw (Britten) The best plots I know.

Dialogues des Carmélites (Poulenc)

And there are plenty more....


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

mamascarlatti said:


> Some operas with non-inane plots, off the top of my head . . .


I will go way out on a limb and argue that even Die Zauberflote, for instance, is not nearly as bad a libretto as people maintain. No, it would not work as a play, or even as a libretto for most composers. But it was perfect for Mozart's magical touch (and just try to imagine him writing such a wonderfully varied score *without* that libretto as a basis!).


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## pollux (Nov 11, 2011)

I think that the quality of librettos is a topic that deserves a thread of its own. Just started it. Please join to it if you're interested.


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## FragendeFrau (May 30, 2011)

*La Boheme, Met Opera*

Finally, I have a chance to post in this thread! Last weekend I saw three operas at the Met: La Boheme, Rodelinda, and Faust.

La Boheme: I saw this on Friday evening; my seat was in the first row of the Dress Circle, which is just above the parterre boxes (so second level up). Sound and sight were excellent. This is the ancient Zeffirelli production, which I understand is on the way out but is still very impressive for the un-jaded operagoer!










Conductor: Louis Langree
Marcello: Alexey Markov
Musetta: Susanna Phillips
Rodolfo: Dimitri Pittas
Colline: Matthew Rose
Schaunard: Patrick Carfizzi
Mimi: Hibla Gerzmava
Benoit/Alcindoro: Paul Plishka

A lush, impressive (if somewhat brown) production, completely traditional. The singers were well-directed with good movement and "stage bits". I loved seeing Matthew Rose, who is on my ROH Carmen dvd, although I might have hoped he had progressed to larger roles by now? He gets an aria towards the end and did a lovely job with it.

Gerzmava was fine as Mimi although clearly when you are up against the memory of every great soprano that's ever been...it's difficult to be outstanding!

I enjoyed Phillips/Musetta very much and she had to cope with a lot of physicality whilst singing (being lifted up, etc) which always astonishes me. She was lovely with a great personality and impressed me the most of all the cast.

I was not wild about Pittas. He sounded a bit strained to my ears, but then it may also be that I just don't appreciate his voice. He was wonderfully effective in the final scene and I have to say I teared up a bit at the end!

I don't mind seeing operas that I've seen before and this was very enjoyable! (but then I read books/watch movies over and over again) I'm not so jaded that I need a new interpretation/konzept for these warhorses that have proved their popularity over time.

In my world, a new production would be traditional but a bit brighter...and maybe not so cluttered.


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## FragendeFrau (May 30, 2011)

*Rodelinda, Met Opera*

I saw this at the matinee on Saturday. This time my seat was on the second row of the balcony. The sightlines and sound were still excellent. I only got my binoculars out occasionally.

This is a revival of a production with a very nice staging that involves the sets sliding across the stage from right to left--so, a person walks towards a door on the right side (as viewed from the audience) whilst the set is moving towards the left and the room behind the door is revealed. It is very clever and beautiful and really worked well.

This was my first exposure to Handel and when I saw how long it was, I realized I would have to leave during the second interval. (Our hotel was a half-hour walk from Lincoln Center, I was going to Faust that evening, and wanted to get back, shower and dress, have dinner with time to spare, didn't want to take any chances...)

It turned out to be a good decision as I could not stay awake.  I found the plot incomprehensible (several characters with similar names), it features not one but two countertenors (I am allergic to countertenors--I am saying this to be kind). I tried everything: concentrating on the music, on the sets, watching the singers, pinching myself. Yet every time a da capo came around I died a little inside. And yet I've sung Handel and loved it, even the da capos!

Conductor: Harry Bicket
Rodelinda: Renee Fleming
Grimoaldo: Joseph Kaiser
Garibaldo: Shenyang
Eduige: Stephanie Blythe
Bertarido: Andreas Scholl
Unulfo: Iestyn Davies

The orchestra was small and the conductor conducted from the harpsichord! Very interesting.

A star-studded cast, for sure! And yet...I know I'm going to hell for not liking it.  Everyone sounded terrific, although Iestyn Davies really outsang Andreas Scholl. If you like that sort of thing.  OK, probably I should not be commenting on this at all. Perhaps you saw it on HD!

Speaking of HD I was very interested to see how this was done. It was not intrusive for those of us in the "cheap" seats, but I think it might be for those in the parterre boxes on the sides: There are two largish cameras (one on each side) on really long booms that move up and down (and probably other directions too) in addition to zooming, etc. Then there is a track along the front of the stage (right over the musicians in the back of the pit) with a smaller camera that scoots along the track (you've probably noticed those shots from ground level looking up, during the HD broadcasts. I'm not crazy about them). There were four sets of three microphones each set up at the front of the stage as well.

(PS I realized there is probably at least one other camera, not visible from my seat in the balcony, for the wide shots of the entire stage)

There was a mishap, that apparently they managed to avoid showing in the HD: act one opens with Renee's character sleeping in a bare bed center stage. After the overture she gets up and it's revealed that she is chained to the bed. She's released in the first scene and as they move to the second scene, and the set shifts toward the left, the chain from the bed somehow managed to get caught in the track for the scene change. This caused the entire bed to fall over and bang up against the left side of the proscenium! Throughout the rest of the second scene you could see tugging and shifting as they tried (unsuccessfully) to get the bedframe and large mattress off the set. At the end of the scene, two supernumeraries came out (in period costume like the rest of the men) and got the chain out of the crack, got the mattress off, and lifted the bed out!

Gotta love live performances!


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## FragendeFrau (May 30, 2011)

*Faust, Met Opera*

Ah, the reason for my trip: Faust, 8pm, the Met Opera, Saturday, December 3rd. A date I'd been counting down to for months!

New production shared with English National Opera that imagines Faust as a nuclear scientist responsible for the atomic bomb; Mephistopheles offers him a 'do-over'. There is a single set with spiral staircases on both sides and several ramps across the back. Lab-type furniture is moved off and on stage to provide the different settings.

Something I haven't seen mentioned in reviews is the use of video. There are several projections that I found very powerful--indeed quite freaky. Possibly because of the size of them--they are enormous head shots of Faust and Marguerite that seem motionless and then move--in slow motion. Very difficult to describe but a most unsettling effect! Not sure how it will come across in the HD since we are used to seeing large faces on a movie screen--probably won't be nearly as effective.

Conductor: Yannick Nezet-Seguin
Faust: Jonas Kaufmann
Mephistopheles: Rene Pape
Marguerite: Marina Poplavskaya
Valentin: Russell Braun
Siebel: Michele Losier
Marthe: Wendy White

For this I splurged (gulp) and was seated in Row F of the orchestra (but on the side). It has completely spoiled me and I never want to sit outside the front rows of the orchestra again. Alas, I doubt I'll be able to get that kind of ticket for Walkuere--or any ticket the way it looks now!

I had listened to the prima of this streaming from the Met website last week and was worried to hear definite sounds of coughing coming from Jonas Kaufmann. He got through that performance to great acclaim, although he took the high C in Salut demeure not pianissimo as he usually does, but instead sounded like he was powering through it.

I liked the production. It was kind of a relief to my eyes to see a very uncluttered set and I have no problem with stylized settings, especially since all the singers were wearing very nice period clothing (mostly WWI era). I could have argued with the ridiculous Sherlock Holmes style heavy coat "Old Faust" wears at the beginning, but of course they have to hide his "Young Faust" costume underneath...I would have found something else, like academic robes (although that would not fit the scientist concept).

Well, it was well worth it to see Jonas Kaufmann live. After a few minutes watching Kaufmann and Pape, I couldn't help but compare it to the singing/acting in La Boheme--it was in a different league. I suppose it could be because I was sitting closer, but it was truly a completely different experience, but I can't really explain it. I didn't feel like I was watching "singers" in an "opera"--I just felt like I was completely absorbed in a genuinely moving play in which what came out of the characters' mouths happened to be incredible music, if that makes any sense.

I listened carefully for any signs of coughing and there weren't any but I was stunned (as was everyone else in the house, and for all I know, Jonas himself) when he cracked on the high C in Salut. Again, he powered up to it but . . . Anyway he carried on completely as if "I intended to make that awful sound" and had you been watching with the sound off, you would never have known. Not even a twitch. He sang the rest of the evening, including many piannissimos and high notes (although, unless memory fails me, no pianissimo high note) with no problems my untrained ear could hear.

There has been some talk about his possible/speculated/gossip unhappiness with the production, but I thought he was terrific. Do I wish it had been a more "romantic" production in which his particular acting talents could have been put to better use? Of course. But who knows, maybe that will happen in the future?

Rene Pape was fantastic. I'd never heard him before and he has just the kind of bass voice I love--no big wobbles or vibrato. He was able to play Mephistopheles as a charming schemer and had LOTS of stage business and was clearly the audience favorite. Helped by the role! I will have to check him out. He played for laughs and got plenty of them.

I really enjoyed Marina Poplavskaya. She sounded MUCH better than she had during the prima. I read she was taking antibiotics last week and didn't attend the afterparty, so perhaps there is sickness going around. A terrific actress and singer.

Oh I meant to say that they are using a slightly different version than the one on the DVD with Gheorghiu that many of you have seen, so don't be shocked when you go to the HD on Saturday--which I hope you will!

Act IV begins with Marguerite sitting at home (represented by a bed to the left and a sewing machine on the right, at which she is working). She sings an incredibly beautiful and sad aria in which she explains that Faust has gone and left her pregnant and she keeps hoping and dreaming he will return. Very powerful. I teared up at one point when she sings about happier times with him whilst standing behind the bed, and just reaches out her hands to the bed... Poplavskaya played this scene to perfection.

Then they have the scene at the Inn, duel, Valentin's curse and death, and Act IV ends with the "church" scene. This is one place where I thought the light-hearted characterization of Mephistopheles didn't work. He is terrifying Marguerite by this point but since we've laughed and enjoyed up till now. . . I would have made him more frightening and evil right from the beginning.

There is no ballet, but they do have the Walpurgisnacht music--no parade of "great tarts of the past". Thank goodness, I don't think they lost anything without it!

I won't divulge how they staged the final act except to say that I found it effective and moving, many didn't. I didn't like the final, final thing though. But then no one is paying me to direct operas!

More than worth the "I-don't-want-to-think-about-it" amount of money I spent!


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

I saw Russalka by Dvorak last Saturday...Quite nice...But I prefer Dargomizhsky's Russalka

Martin


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

:clap: :clap: Fantastic reviews FF!!

Ref _La bohème_. I don't think Dimitri Pittas was having an 'off night' but I don't know whether it's just you & I who don't like his voice or whether he's just not that good. He sings Macduff in this Macbeth










and unfortunately sang Macduff in 'my' Macbeth.

I'm glad you like Matthew Rose, he's a sweetie isn't he? I love the aria vecchia zimarra, senti  that Colline sings to his coat - it's so poignant.

Ref _Faust_. I'm so happy for you that you enjoyed it. I don't know whether you remember my review of _Faust_ from ROH, but it was Salut that the guy behind me decided to sing along to! Grigolo was OK but would love to see JK in the role. Pape sang Mephistopheles in the ROH version & he's amazing isn't he? I'm so glad I saw him. And I thought Michele Losier was an excellent Siebel.

Good tickets spoil you don't they? I saw Macbeth from the very front row & I felt part of the story.


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## FragendeFrau (May 30, 2011)

Annie, I was thinking I had seen Pittas in the Macbeth cinema broadcast from the ROH and now you confirm it! Thanks, as this role is not listed in his potted bio on the program, unless they made a mistake and listed a different Macduff for him. I don't remember being very impressed with him then either.

I was seated next to a Russian couple and had heard horror stories about how talkative and distracting the "Russians" are in the audience at the Met. This couple was not like that! Can't imagine what I'd do in your situation with the singalong, but fortunately you could have heard a pin drop, at least where I was, throughout the opera. In my American way, afterwards I asked a rich elderly (older than I am, anyway) lady--obviously a regular denizen of the $$$ seats--if she liked it and she said she absolutely loved it, fantastic cast!

Oh and I forgot to say that ours was the "occupy Wall Street" performance! At the end of the first interval after the house lights had gone down and we were waiting for the conductor to reappear, a man shouted out from far above "Occupy Wall Street!" about a dozen times! AMAZINGLY he was greeted with quite a bit of applause! after it died down one woman shouted "Go home" to him, and that was it. The conductor came out and the show went on! Just a little additional excitement.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

FragendeFrau said:


> Oh and I forgot to say that ours was the "occupy Wall Street" performance! At the end of the first interval after the house lights had gone down and we were waiting for the conductor to reappear, a man shouted out from far above "Occupy Wall Street!" about a dozen times! AMAZINGLY he was greeted with quite a bit of applause! after it died down one woman shouted "Go home" to him, and that was it. The conductor came out and the show went on! Just a little additional excitement.


:lol:

He he!! What with that & the recalcitrant bed! As you say the joys of live opera & of being there.


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## ooopera (Jul 27, 2011)

FragendeFrau ... I was thinking of you and waiting for your review! I'm really glad you liked it!


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## Aksel (Dec 3, 2010)

sospiro said:


> :clap: :clap: Fantastic reviews FF!!
> 
> Ref _La bohème_. I don't think Dimitri Pittas was having an 'off night' but I don't know whether it's just you & I who don't like his voice or whether he's just not that good. He sings Macduff in this Macbeth
> 
> ...


Not in any way are you the only ones who do not like Dmitri Pittas. His Macduff is rather horrible. Luckily, it's a small part.


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

Yesterday evening I had a nightmare...I went to hell and therefore I was forced to see La Traviata (inane) several times....

Martin


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

ooopera said:


> FragendeFrau ... I was thinking of you and waiting for your review! I'm really glad you liked it!


Who wrote this opera?

Martin, curious


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## FragendeFrau (May 30, 2011)

This is Gounod's Faust. I should have mentioned that I guess.


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## misterjones (Oct 9, 2007)

FragendeFrau said:


> I know I'm going to hell for not liking it.


I was there - Rodelinda at the Met - a week before you. If you're going to hell, then I must already be there.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

I love Rodelinda and Andreas Scholl. You lot don't deserve your luck. Hell will freeze over before that combo comes to NZ.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Andreas Scholl is my second favourite singer. First: Phillipe Jaroussky.


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## FragendeFrau (May 30, 2011)

mamascarlatti said:


> I love Rodelinda and Andreas Scholl. You lot don't deserve your luck. Hell will freeze over before that combo comes to NZ.


I'm sorry, I know just how you feel! Whenever I read a lukewarm review of something I wanted to see in London or Germany...


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## misterjones (Oct 9, 2007)

mamascarlatti said:


> I love Rodelinda and Andreas Scholl. You lot don't deserve your luck. Hell will freeze over before that combo comes to NZ.


Perhaps I am focusing too much on matters that are irrelevant for appreciation of the genre, but I find it strains credulity for a female love interest to be an unattractive cow (I am not referring to Fleming) and for male royalty (whether or not in exile) to sing like a woman. Scholl certainly has a superb voice, but I think he was grossly miscast in Rodelinda. I did not like his acting - I thought it was at times way too mannered - but I'm learning to ignore that aspect of an opera.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

It's really a question of getting used to the conventions of baroque opera as it is performed today, using countertenors or women in the male roles that were created for castrati (from a dramatic point of view I'd rather see a countertenor in the role rather than a woman, although not all countertenors are created equal - the bad ones can be very hooty). I'll agree Scholl is not the world's greatest actor - he comes from a chorister's background and that shows in the rare operas he performs in. But I personally love his voice and singing to bits.

Now if I see a baroque opera where the castrato roles are sung by baritones or tenors, when I'm used to hearing them sung by countertenors, it feels very weird and wrong. As this one:


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

mamascarlatti said:


> Now if I see a baroque opera where the castrato roles are sung by baritones or tenors, when I'm used to hearing them sung by countertenors, it feels very weird and wrong. As this one:


I, on the other hand, search for recordings of baroque operas with the former castrato roles sung by tenors (baritones in a pinch). I'll have to remember this one.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

MAuer said:


> I, on the other hand, search for recordings of baroque operas with the former castrato roles sung by tenors (baritones in a pinch). I'll have to remember this one.


It's quite good in many ways - the staging makes sense, with Claudius looking like a cross between Napoleon (imperial) and the Prince regent (randy). Quite funny too, there is a bit where Claudius is singing an interminable da capo aria to his own imperial glory. The assembled courtiers, generals and relatives start wilting visibly, fanning themselves, yawning and stretching, and when he gets to the repeat his wife faints onto a chair and Nero faces the audience and mouths "blah blah blah".:lol:


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## misterjones (Oct 9, 2007)

mamascarlatti said:


> It's really a question of getting used to the conventions of baroque opera as it is performed today, using countertenors or women in the male roles that were created for castrati (from a dramatic point of view I'd rather see a countertenor in the role rather than a woman . . .


Then I guess it could have been worse. I think it would be extra creepy to watch castrati perform, though I assume (and hope) they are few and far between these days. When I say "miscast", I'm applying standard theatrical notions and forgeting about the music, which I assume calls for someone with a high voice and could not be performed by (say) a tenor. It's easy to substitute a woman for a man dressed like a woman in a Shakespeare play, but I guess it's not as easy - or just not true to the composer's musical vision - in an opera to create a masculine role out of a musically feminine one. I suppose Handel would tell me to lump it and stay away from his operas if it bugs me so much.


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

misterjones said:


> Then I guess it could have been worse. I think it would be extra creepy to watch castrati perform, though I assume (and hope) they are few and far between these days. When I say "miscast", I'm applying standard theatrical notions and forgeting about the music, which I assume calls for someone with a high voice and could not be performed by (say) a tenor. It's easy to substitute a woman for a man dressed like a woman in a Shakespeare play, but I guess it's not as easy - or just not true to the composer's musical vision - in an opera to create a masculine role out of a musically feminine one. I suppose Handel would tell me to lump it and stay away from his operas if it bugs me so much.


There are no deliberately created castrati these days, thank goodness, too great a price to pay, thousands of boys brutally mutilated for a slim chance of fame and glory, many never making it.

You can hear a recording of the last castrato, Alberto Moreschi. I don't think he was quite up to the glorious standards of famous castrati such as Farinelli and Senesino, who underwent rigorous and lengthy musical training of an intensity unknown today.






Michael Maniaci is a male soprano who didn't fully go through puberty - his vocal chords didn't lengthen, so maybe he sounds closer than a countertenor to the originals, although he would not have undergone the physiological effects caused by castration (notably very large rib-cages, an advantage for a singer!).


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## misterjones (Oct 9, 2007)

I though this guy was the last castrato . . .


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## MrCello (Nov 25, 2011)

sospiro said:


> Which opera house MrCello?


Unfortunately I only saw it on DVD


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

MrCello said:


> Unfortunately I only saw it on DVD


This thread is normally for reviews of operas we've actually attended & sometimes one of us goes a bit mad & dedicates a whole thread to his/her opera experience.

I've just got home after seeing Glyndebourne On Tour's La bohème & when I come down from







I'll do a review.


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## Dins (Jun 21, 2011)

*Lady Macbeth of Mtzensk district*








Direction: Graham Vick
Conductor: Thomas Sanderling

Boris Ismajlov: Mats Almgren
Sinovij Ismajlov: Joachim Ottosson
Katerina Ismajlova: Gitta-Maria Sjöberg
Sergej_ Pär Lindskog
Priest/Male convict: Andreas Lundmark
Police Inspector: Marco Stella
Sonjetka: Erika Sax

The Göteborg Opera Chorus
The Göteborg Opera Orchestra

Yesterday I was at the Gothenburg opera and saw Lady Macbeth from Mtzensk district.










The director Graham Vick has moved the setting from rural to modern Russia. Katerina is a bored wife of a wealthy cold Russian businessman. She lives an i a modern home with all the comforts but is still bored.

The staging kind of works. There where a few scenes that i thought could have been done better. One was a prolonged use of a stroboscope in the third act, and the final scene did not match the libretto. In the libretto they are marching towards Siberia, but in this production there are 50 singers in three levels of different rooms.









And sometimes there where too much happening on stage. That made it somewhat difficult to concentrate on the main story.

Gitta-Maria Sjöberg did an excellent Katerina Ismajlova. She has a wonderful voice, and is able to act. 









Mats Almgren was equally good as Boris Ismajlov. 









Pär Lindskog was also very good as Sergej.









Of the minor roles i must mention Andreas Lundmark as Priest/Male convict and Marco Stella as the Police Inspector.

And of course the choir....

And the director and orchestra was very good. The orchestra had an extra twelve man brass section in the lower balcony. It would not have been a waste of time to go there only to listen to the music.

So overall a pleasant evening, but not the ultimate Lady Macbeth of Mtzensk. With a slightly different direction, it could have been that...


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

It's not an opera I know Dins, but your review is excellent, thank you. I really must explore this opera.


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## Il_Penseroso (Nov 20, 2010)

Tchaikovsky's Mazeppa, from the Mariinsky Theatre, 1996, conducted by Valery Gergiev


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Il_Penseroso said:


> Tchaikovsky's Mazeppa, from the Mariinsky Theatre, 1996, conducted by Valery Gergiev


Going to the Mariinsky is something I really really really want to do!!!

Who was in the cast? Did you get autographs/photographs?


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## Il_Penseroso (Nov 20, 2010)

sospiro said:


> Going to the Mariinsky is something I really really really want to do!!!


Going to an opera house, wherever, is I really really really want to do !!!

You're so lucky, you've been in so many opera houses ...



> Who was in the cast? Did you get autographs/photographs?


Though I don't like Gergiev, but honestly it's a great performance (I have 4 Mazeppa and this is the one I prefer)

Mazeppa - Nikolai Putilin
Mariya - Irina Loskutova
Kochubey - Sergei Alexashkin
Liubov - Larissa Diadkova
Andrei - Viktor Lutsiuk
Drunken Cossack - Nikolai Gassiev

Kirov Theatre Chorus and Orchestra
Valery Gergiev, Conductor

Stage Producer: Irina Molostova
Video Director: Brian Large

350 min.

Subtitles: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish

Philips NTSC

and this is the cover of audio release :


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Il_Penseroso said:


> You're so lucky, you've been in so many opera houses ...


Not really, only four. Munich, Berlin, ROH & Seattle



Il_Penseroso said:


> Philips NTSC


This thread is for operas you have seen live in the theatre rather than on DVD


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## Il_Penseroso (Nov 20, 2010)

sospiro said:


> This thread is for operas you have seen live in the theatre rather than on DVD


Hahhhh !!! My failure !!! So the post better to be deleted or moved to another thread !


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## mamascarlatti (Sep 23, 2009)

Il_Penseroso said:


> Hahhhh !!! My failure !!! So the post better to be deleted or moved to another thread !


Probably too late now with the replies. It would get confusing.

For future reference, please post DVD reviews/comments in the "Operas on DVD" subforum, under the relevant composer or category.


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## Il_Penseroso (Nov 20, 2010)

mamascarlatti said:


> Probably too late now with the replies. It would get confusing.
> 
> For future reference, please post DVD reviews/comments in the "Operas on DVD" subforum, under the relevant composer or category.


Ok, and again sorry for the failure.


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## eljr (Aug 8, 2015)

MAnna said:


> *HEART OF A SOLDIER - San Francisco Opera - 27 Sep 2011
> 
> MUSIC BY CHRISTOPHER THEOFANIDIS*• LIBRETTO BY DONNA Di NOVELLI*• BASED ON THE BOOK BY JAMES B. STEWART AND THE LIFE STORIES OF SUSAN RESCORLA, RICK RESCORLA AND DANIEL J. HILL*• COMMISSIONED BY SAN FRANCISCO OPERA
> 
> ...



Has this ever been released on DVD or CD? You Tube? Anywhere?


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