I'm sooo excited, i just can't hiiideee it! :-)))

I'm not dead! Well not yet anyway ;-) Almost tried death by work, but for the coming days i've got another "poison" of choice... MUSIC!!! And scrumptious loads of it!!

Tosca, Tosca, Tosca :-))))))) and then maybe Butterfly and Cendrillon and Tell and more Tosca!!! I'm absolutely giddy with excitement and reading this:

http://jessicamusic.blogspot.com/2011/07/theyre-queuing-overnight-at-covent.html

I almost wish i had been there to feel the atmosphere :-) I hope as many as possible got tickets!

I'm looking forward to Puccini with Pappano, because nobody does Tosca like him! To hearing everyone again ( the best Mario EVER! and Ange and Bryn live again) , to proming, to Rossini and Santa Cecilia (how cool is it that Pappano has both his orchestras in town?!) , to lunch on the run between venues, to boiling alive at the RAH, to freezing inside the ROH, to waking up and going to bed with music ringing in my head :-)

Let the fun begin!!!!!

Walkure @ The Met

Photo: Ken Howard @The Met

Well, it is almost here, only 1 day left! For all of us out here and not at the Met, we can listen to the Walkure on line over the internet on this Met link.

It starts at 6,30pm NY time, that is 11,30pm London time and 12,30am elsewhere in Europe.
And a little present from a dear friend in New York, to make us feel a little bit closer :-))) Thanks sooo much!!!


The cast is, in case you need a reminder ;-)

Conductor: James Levine
Brünnhilde: Deborah Voigt
Sieglinde: Eva Maria Westbroek
Fricka: Stephanie Blythe
Siegmund: Jonas Kaufmann
Wotan: Bryn Terfel
Hunding: Hans-Peter König

For the impatient ones, here are a few small videos from the general rehearsal, courtesy of the Met :-) No need to explain who is who i guess ;-)))

Enjoy!

Hm, for whatever reason the embedded links don't seem to work, so here is the direct link to the Met Videos of the Walkure:

http://metoperafamily.org/metopera/broadcast/template.aspx?id=16210&utm_source=FB&utm_medium=FB&utm_content=vids&utm_campaign=Walkure

In bocca al lupo to everyone for tomorrow night!!

ROH + BBC= more goodies!

There have been a number of successful broadcasts from the ROH this season on the BBC, both radio and TV, among which Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, the usual opera broadcasts and as we all remember the positively mouthwatering series of Opera Italia! All this, and i would also guess the considerable success Tony has had as a communicator of opera on TV (see the recent nomination from the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards for Creative Communication for the series) have lead to a new partnership with the BBC, which was announced today.

Quoting from the BBC press release on this:

"Alice's Adventures In Wonderland will be broadcast on BBC Two on Saturday 23 April at 2.30pm immediately preceded by a documentary exploring the making of the ballet at 2pm" "The Royal Opera House and the BBC will come together to co-produce new commissions for 2012 created especially for television prior to live performance on the stage ..."

More Tony! yay!!!! "The new deal includes a series on classical masterworks presented by Antonio Pappano, beginning with Pappano's Essential Tosca for BBC Two and also the development of a new five-part series about singing to be written and presented by Antonio Pappano"

And guess what????!!!! We will get THAT TOSCA on TV!! :-))) "Other presentations include The Royal Opera's production of Tosca Tosca with Angela Gheorghiu as the heroine, Jonas Kaufmann as her lover Cavaradossi and Bryn Terfel as the Chief of Police Scarpia, accompanied by Pappano's Essential Tosca, a documentary presented by Antonio Pappano in which he examines the dramatic importance of each location in the opera and illustrates what Puccini does musically to create a great theatrical experience."

By the way, the Tosca will also be on BBC Radio3 , as well as "Mexican tenor Rolando Villazon starring in Massenet's Werther, Nina Stemme as the heroine Leonora in Beethoven's Fidelio, and Simon Keenlyside singing the title role of Verdi's Macbeth for the first time in the UK. Radio 3 will also broadcast two operas live: Puccini's Madam Butterfly and a new production of Massenet's Cendrillon (Cinderella) with Joyce DiDonato in the title role. "

More details in the press release link above. Great news, isn't it? :-)

A bit of beauty....

"Ave Verum Corpus" by Karl Jenkins. Sung by Bryn Terfel and Simon Keenlyside


No words, nothing else, just enjoy!

24th April TOSCA from the Met on your radio

Update (thanks for the info little ghost!) :-) For all those who have missed it first time around here is another chance to hear the marvellous Tosca from the Met Broadcast):

Giacomo Puccini: "Tosca"Samstag, 08. Mai 2010,

19:30 WebRadio Ö1 (this would be 18,30 in UK)

http://oe1.orf.at/programm/tag/20100508

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

Isn't it just amazing what the adrenaline rush of the 2nd act transformed itself into in act3? It was definitely one of the most beautiful renditions i have ever heard. Not even the applause at the end of Lucevan was able to cut through the emotional web of it. I cannot be thankful enough to Luisi, this amazing orchestra, Jonas and Ms Racette for making time almost stand still. I lingered on every single note, on every word and this last half and hour (as well as the entire show) will stay with me for a loooooong loooooooong looooooooong time. I am grateful not only for the music and the singing, but above all for feeling so deeply touched.


Dolci mani..... and now i can... live happily ever after!

ohhhh!! If you hear a BIG bang it's because i have just exploded with pride!! That was an exquisite Vittoria! and Carnefice!!!!. Soooo made in Jonas! It sounded incredibly easy breezy (not because it is, but because he knows how do it best :-) It was clear and powerful and may i say elegant???? It stopped when the music wanted it to stop and he sounded like he could have gone on for more, but didn't :-) And that was one of the clearest, smartest sung Carnefice i ever heard from him. Every single word was audible and understandable and it still packed a punch! I'm just going to keep gloating for a while.... So very very very well done JK!!!


More: Is it wrong to want to throw yourself at this Scarpia fellow? I can just feel myself floating towards him.... this is magnetism!!!

And the public, don't touch another bloody espresso in the intermission!!!! Sit on your hands if you must, but pleasseeee don't clap before JK stops singing!! Just enjoy those precious notes till the end and let me enjoy them too... God!

And Racette sounds just gorgeouusss!!! Hach!

Update right now: OMG.... OMG!!!!!! what a feast!!! and the voices feel like they are trickling down my spine... pure opera-heaven!!

Tosca divinaaaa......


Photo: Cory Weaver/Metropolitan Opera via BBC Radio3 page

So tomorrow almost everyone get's a chance to listen:

1pm NY time, 6pm London time, 7pm CET time (and for others check out here).

According to the NY Times: "‘TOSCA’ Luc Bondy’s production of “Tosca,” the much-debated staging that opened the Metropolitan Opera’s season and elicited vociferous boos for the creative team, is back. But the new cast is terrific, which makes a huge difference. The soprano Patricia Racette is a deeply expressive and impassioned Tosca; the dashing tenor Jonas Kaufmann triumphs as Cavaradossi, singing by turns with burnished power and plaintive pianissimos; and the towering bass-baritone Bryn Terfel is a menacing and mesmerizing Scarpia. There is only one more chance to hear this cast, conducted with sweep and intensity by Fabio Luisi. "

You can listen:

In the US search for your station on the Met page here

Bayern Klassik here (you can listen by clicking right where it says Live horen or here )

France Musique here (click left on écouter le direct)

BBC Radio 3 here (click above right on the Listen live iplayer or on the right on this blog the BBC3 widget) --> with pictures and details as always :-)

RTV Radio Classica here (click above right where it says Radio classica en directo, Haz click para escuchar)

Enjoy and in bocca al lupo to everyone on the Met stage and in the pit :-)

........

It seems my overdose of Tosca has somehow triggered my subconsciousness. Although because of its originality I kept mentioning the Carsen Tosca I saw in Zurich, what has been almost haunting me these last 2 weeks is the ROH Tosca I saw a few years ago. Until about an hour or so ago I wouldn’t even have been able to tell you if it was 2007 or 2008….

Reading the papers and various reviews these days I kept getting strangely nostalgic because I have heard Jonas Kaufkmann’s first Tosca a the ROH and tomorrow I will hear it from the Met. There have been various in between, but reading about the Met Tosca somehow brought me closer to the first one than any of the others…

I still lived in Edinburgh back then and I booked a Tosca at whim because I hadn’t seen any in a while. The cast was known except for Mario, who was tba when I booked. The shows were barely half sold when the run began and nobody liked the production much. Pappano was to conduct.

And conduct he did! There is a before an after for me with Tosca thanks to Pappano. He made Puccini sound beautiful, emotional, romantic and passionate and most of all real. All was done and he took us as deep or as high as one can imagine without ever overdoing it. He kept the beat of our hearts always louder than the music and for the first time in my life i hang on every single note of this score.

Then there was this newborn-Mario, who made us giggle and melt, who suddenly made not only two arias but all duets stand out, who sung Vittoria from all fours and grabbed Scarpia by his collar to shout him Carnefice in the face! And who together with Pappano created the most amazing 3rd act I have ever heard. For the first time in my life there was no applause after Lucevan! ( Not once, not twice, in none of the three performances I went to..) Because an audience of 2200 followed Mario’s every last breath, because the spell could and would not be broken ( a lady next to me stopped her husband from clapping with a begging gesture). Because this Mario hugged the wooden stump where he would be shot as if it was Tosca’s form, his tortured hands tremblingly caressing it as if his lover’s curves. Because this Mario knew he was going to die, because he sang the sweetest “dolci mani” and brought many in the audience to tears with his “parlami ancora come dianzi parlavi … ”. I’ve never seen people cry at the end of Tosca before, even before Mario is shot.

How is it done? No idea, ask JK! It just seams it is not about the piani, the high notes , the long notes or whatever.. It is about what Mario feels and how he feels it, about his life and death, about his love of art and freedom, and above all his love for Floria.

But there is such a thing like a Tosca where you are too touched to applaud; I know because I remember how it felt to be there.

The whole run sold out after the first performance and I remember going straight to the box office the morning after the first one and buying my next ticket. And the next.. And had I not been sternly advised that 3 were enough! I would have gladly trotted back down from Edinburgh for one more :-)

And guess what I just found out? It’s how this blog started! I’ve never remembered what I first wrote about… Seems my subconscious did ;-) And it wanted me to remember those Toscas these days… because it is almost exactly two years ago :-)
You are welcome to go searching and read it if you like :-) But, it’s in Spanish ( kind of pompous sounding some of it, what was I thinking???). turns out I always was a lazy/sloppy writer… I my first post ever about an opera I call JK.. well, JK:-) ( I am thereby demanding copyright!) I said he was “polifacetico” ( I know!! Pompous of me..) and I go on saying about Vittoria and Carnefice that they are a perfect pairing of freedom and despair, release and vengeance :-) ( hmm, still agree with some of that:-) Not surprisingly I was already waxing on and on and on about some “Quale occhio al mondo” and “dolci mani” (the latter still is my favourite bit of the entire score..).

Anyway, that Tosca was special, still is special so I want to remember and I wish to celebrate! So tomorrow’s is definitely much more than just one more Tosca! :-)

And no matter if anyone tells me how many are enough or too many, I will say : I’ll be the judge of that, and at the moment I am looking forward to many many many more (and hoping that one day I’ll relive the “too beautiful to applaud” one ).

I just wish I was sitting there live tomorrow to be able to copy paste my first post ending :

...Viendo la sonrisa traviesa de crío que le sale a JK en los bravos, gritos y aplausos me entro la risa acordándome de las palabras de Floria:Oh, come la sai benel'arte di farti amare!

Well, nothing here to stop me from having a giggle during curtain calls tomorrow :-)

Turns out i probably do like Tosca as an opera after all ;-))

Jonas Kaufmann And Bryn Terfel Turn Met's Much-booed 'Tosca' Into A Feast Of Great Singing

update 20/04: Interview Magazine:

"Revenge of the Booed Opera
By Alex Gartenfeld 04/20/2010 03:20 PM

There is no redemption in the Napoleonic era in which Puccini's Tosca is set. None of the main characters, with the significant exception of the villainous tyrant Scarpia, could be said to have earned his or her murder by deceit or suicide. This is not the experience of the Greek hero and his insurmountable fatal flaw; the eponymous protagonist, a singer, indulges in a bit of hysterical jealousy when she realizes that her lover, the painter Cavaradossi, has painted the Madonna after the sister of an escaped rebel. Cavarodossi, for his part, plays the martyr, and the easy token victim to conservative repression of Scarpia's repressive regime.

But there was redemption Wednesday and Friday night in director Luc Bondy's production of Tosca, a piece that was booed when it premiered almost a year ago. The show was roundly compared it to the storied production by Italian director Franco Zeffirelli, with Maria Callas in the lead part. (Zeffrielli, for his part, called Bondy a "third-rate" director for turning Puccini's opera into a darker, more minimal affair).

On Wednesday, Bondy set out with a new cast: Patricia Racette, in the role opera buffs (and all they do is polish) remember as belonging to Maria Callas. Racette is irascible and inexplicable with jealousy, and then melodramatically appeased in the first act. She's tragic in the last, as her attempts to defend her lover's honor, her honor, and then his life, are in vain. Although the script calls for vast changes in temperament, Racette's style never feels episodic. She carries the lyrical arias in the second act, and her voice grows as the show goes on, pleading for Cavaradossi's release as he refuses to give up the location of the hidden rebel. Racette's a wise choice to supplement the public memory of Tosca because, like Callas, who could go dramatically flat, her's is an idiosyncratic voice. She's gravelly and her pacing is wild in the beginning, but unfolds and ultimately demonstrates control.

Jonas Kaufmann is rare for a German tenor–he’s smolderingly handsome. He's also remarkably fluid as the strong-willed bohemian who sticks to his guns but can't save himself–and maybe, just maybe will find vindication when Napoleon defeats Scarpia. His voice soaring over the orchestra in the first act was particularly remarkable. Bryn Terfel finds humor as the relentless Scarpia; he uses his strong baritone to overpower and seduce.

There are repeated complaints about the interpretation of staging, which are not, in fact, distracting. Cavaradossi's painting of the Madeleine with her breast exposed is onstage throughout; it's a sordid altarpiece in an opera with equally sordid motives. The booed production involved characters embracing this image; she's only cut, here, across the eyes by Tosa, her innocence already lost. Thankfully, the production lacked the rising and falling sets and mysterious nooks that the Met so often favors. The second act, set in Scarpia's chambers, the setting of the second act, was a wonderfully bizarre period room, which looked like an administrative post office designed by Frank Stella in the 1970s. It was as fully and obscurely realized, as an opera about unexplained wrath ought to be."

and there are more comments and reflections on Tosca here :-)
Update 16/04: NY Post review here.:

"A t'weaked 'Tosca' really sings
April 16, 2010 James Jorden
Oh, what a difference the details make -- and the right cast and conductor. This season's biggest bomb, Luc Bondy's production of "Tosca," has blossomed into one of the strongest stagings of this opera in decades.
Since the fall premiere, dozens of details have been tweaked in the critically lambasted staging of Puccini's thriller about a glamorous diva. Lights are brighter; the elegantly gowned Tosca no longer plops down on a filthy church floor -- and police chief Scarpia's Act 2 hooker four-way stops short of oral action.
An even happier improvement is the cast, especially Jonas Kaufmann as Tosca's lover, the artist Cavaradossi. His tenor is dark, even rough in places, but high notes are huge and meaty. In the love song "Recondita armonia," he faded the last note to a whisper, winning loud bravos.

Cory Weaver/Metropolitan Opera
Jonas Kaufmann's a welcome addition to the opera, in which Patricia Racette plays Tosca.
As the lustful Scarpia, Bryn Terfel commanded the stage with the suave brutality of a James Bond villain, openly mocking Tosca after her prayer "Vissi d'arte." The sinewy tone of his rich bass-baritone made the atmosphere even eerier.
Beside these two giants, Patricia Racette's Tosca seemed almost miniature. Her shimmering, true soprano easily projected over the heavy orchestration, but she underplayed the extravagance of her diva character.
Of all the night's marvels, the greatest was conductor Fabio Luisi, subbing on 10 days' notice when Met music director James Levine was sidelined by back surgery.
Shaving minutes off each act with quicksilver tempos and razor-precise transitions, he discovered haunting orchestral colors reminiscent of Debussy. He's alert to the singers, too, delicately following Kaufmann's dreamy opening of "E lucevan le stelle."
Luisi's reportedly on the short list of conductors to succeed Levine when the injury-plagued maestro chooses -- or is persuaded -- to step down. It's hard to imagine a more brilliant candidate."

Update: NY Times review here:

"Boos Become Bravos at the Met By ANTHONY TOMMASINI
Published: April 15, 2010 What a difference a cast can make.
Luc Bondy’s new production of Puccini’s “Tosca,” which opened the Metropolitan Opera’s season in September, returned on Wednesday night. Yes, that production, the one with the convoluted staging that elicited vociferous boos for the creative team when it was introduced; where the lecherous Scarpia straddles a statue of the Blessed Virgin and consorts with tawdry prostitutes; where, after stabbing Scarpia, Tosca muses on a couch in his rooms at the palazzo instead of enacting the ritual of expiation with the candles and the crucifix that Puccini devised.

Yet Wednesday’s “Tosca” was one of the most exciting performances of the Met season to date, thanks to three exceptional singers, all performing their roles for the first time at the Met. Patricia Racette, an inexplicably underrated soprano, brought a richly expressive voice and raw emotion to her wrenching portrayal of Tosca. Jonas Kaufmann, currently the hottest tenor in opera, was an impetuous and vocally smoldering Mario Cavaradossi, singing with vulnerable tenderness one moment and burnished power the next. And the bass-baritone Bryn Terfel commandeered the stage with his vocally chilling and shockingly lusty Scarpia.

The conductor Fabio Luisi, replacing James Levine, who has ongoing back problems, drew a taut, surging performance from the orchestra, chorus and cast — a wonder, since in the typical ways of repertory opera houses this “Tosca” was thrown together at the last minute. Wednesday night was the first time Mr. Luisi, the orchestra and all three of his principals were together. After Mr. Luisi agreed to cover for Mr. Levine, he flew into New York for one day last week to work with the cast in a rehearsal studio. Mr. Kaufmann, nursing a bad cold, was absent that day.

Despite the lack of rehearsal this “Tosca” was riveting. Mr. Kaufmann, Ms. Racette and Mr. Terfel are gifted, compelling and intuitive actors. Their interplay — the romantic banter between Tosca and Cavaradossi, the dangerous dance of wits between Scarpia and Tosca — was so nuanced you would have thought the singers had been rehearsing for weeks.

Karita Mattila, who sang Tosca when the production was introduced, was to have returned, but she withdrew because of illness. Tosca is a recent addition to Ms. Racette’s repertory.

She does not have a glamorous voice. Her sound can have a grainy texture, and her sustained tones can be tremulous. Still, this role suits her beautifully. She sang with uncommon richness, expressivity and honesty. In the soaring phrases of “Vissi d’arte” she captured both the dignity and despair of the character: a great diva, yet a devout woman and fiercely jealous lover.

Mr. Kaufmann received frenzied bravos from the audience. His russet-colored voice has body and charisma. You could sense amazement throughout the house at his thrilling top notes during Cavaradossi’s defiant cries of “Vittoria!” Yet his plaintive pianissimo phrases were equally impressive. That the youthful, curly-haired Mr. Kaufmann is also heartthrob-handsome did not hurt.

Mr. Bondy’s production still seems drab, confused and full of gratuitous strokes geared to rattle “Tosca” devotees. But with Mr. Bondy not on the scene this cast made some crucial alterations. During the “Te Deum” Mr. Terfel’s Scarpia exuded lust and power as he fantasized about conquering Tosca. But he stopped short of the bump-and-grind routine with the Madonna. Even the idea of surrounding Scarpia briefly with three prostitutes in his chambers made somewhat more sense with this Scarpia, since the towering, robust Mr. Terfel so easily conveys bawdy physicality.

There are still no candles and crucifix. But Ms. Racette was better than Ms. Mattila at executing Mr. Bondy’s idea that for a few minutes Tosca, with Scarpia’s body nearby, is too stunned to do anything other than ponder her choices.

The individual performances were so strong I hardly noticed the elements of the production that prompted so much earlier controversy. There are seven more performances of “Tosca” this season but only three more chances to catch this outstanding cast."

Earlier : more opinions from viewers here

or so say CBS News quoting Associated Press:

"MIKE SILVERMAN (AP) – NEW YORK — The boos heard 'round the world on opening night were mostly gone as "Tosca" reappeared at the Metropolitan Opera with a new cast that turned Puccini's melodrama into a feast of great singing.

Credit for that goes chiefly to German tenor Jonas Kaufmann as the idealistic painter Mario Cavaradossi, and Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel as the evil police chief, Baron Scarpia.Both were making their first appearances at the Met in more than two years on Wednesday night, and both have been sorely missed.

Kaufmann has blossomed from a fine lyric tenor into something more. With his dark-hued voice and formidable technique he now apparently can sing Wagner, Verdi, Puccini and French opera with equal flair.As Cavaradossi, he displayed the heroic top notes required to turn his defiant cry of "Vittoria!" in Act 2 and his Act 3 aria, "E lucevan le stelle" ("And the stars were shining") into show-stoppers. Equally impressive was the ravishing tenderness he brought to many soft phrases, such as "O dolci mani" ("O sweet hands"), when he sings in wonderment that his beloved Tosca has stabbed Scarpia to death.

That murder takes place at the end of Act 2, and until his demise, Terfel etched a portrayal of tremendous power. The sheer amplitude of his sound has always been thrilling, riding easily over the orchestra during moments like the Act 1 "Te deum," where most bass-baritones struggle to be heard.But Terfel has so much more to offer. He can turn the merest whisper into a bloodcurdling threat, or casually create chills as when he invites Tosca to enjoy a sip of Spanish wine to calm her nerves before he plans to rape her.

If the title character herself has been left for last, it's not any fault of American soprano Patricia Racette. She delivered a fine, forthright performance, more down-to-earth and less the prima donna than many Toscas. Aside from a rushed high note and some pitch problems at the end of her aria, "Vissi d'arte" ("I lived for art"), she sang the part extremely well.

Still, her overall impact paled a bit next to the high-powered performances of the men.

The production by French director Luc Bondy has been modified since it opened the season to the loudest booing in Met memory — a reception that created headlines worldwide. Scarpia no longer lasciviously embraces the statue of the Madonna at the end of Act 1. Tosca no longer fans herself while casually reclining on a sofa after murdering Scarpia.A technical glitch made it appear another effect had been dropped. At the very end, Tosca is supposed to leap to her death off the prison battlements where her lover has just been executed. Bondy has a body double jump from a parapet and hang by wires over the stage. But the lights went out too soon, and she jumped in darkness.

There were still a few boos at the final curtain, but cheers for the singers drowned them out. The cheers were also loud for conductor Fabio Luisi, who led a sweeping, tense account of a score that can sound merely melodramatic."

Copyright (AP Photos/Cory Weaver - Metropolitan Opera)© 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

PS i only wish i could have seen the confrontations between Mario and Scarpia in the 2nd act ;-))) Oh well, and heard them sing... sighhhh...

There will be a Met broadcast of the 24th April performances, details on the Met page here.

End of season – Italian style

This summer break seems incredibly short and long at the same time…. Work is keeping me away from London, so I haven’t been to a live performance in what seems like too long already.. Withdrawal never used to be so bad ;-) And looking at the calendar I lulled my conscience with the idea that it will be long enough for me to catch up with the last of the season before the new one starts… I’m no longer sure that will be possible, but sometimes one needs to concentrate on producing the budget that will then be madly spent over the next 10-11 months ;-)

I realised that since the last “real” post I have seen some 10 shows, which makes tying all those loose ends a bit of a headache… I could so take the easy route and just talk about what so perfectly ended my musical year on a high note, but I have decided to exercise discipline for once because I have taken that route way too many times this year. Looking back on the blog over the last 12 months I realised that I have missed out quite a number of things I have seen and heard and that a reader might get a very skewed view of what music is to me. I’ll come back to this in the next post and I don’t want to anticipate too much, but I want to capture for myself as well all that has left an imprint on me, not just some of the steps. After all, trying to hold on to all the millions of seconds of joy and flashes of feelings and insights that I come across in every performance was the reason I started this blog in the first place and I feel I am not really living up to my own expectations.

Enough said about that …on to the ROH Italian season :-)

Rossini, Verdi, Puccini. Il Barbiere, Traviata, Tosca is mostly likely my list of most seen, longest known works. All 3 i am at the sing-along-stage ;-))) I don’t even need to tell you that I overdosed on the Tosca in the last year and got close to doing it in Traviata as well, which is why in the booking i skipped both. Instead I went for a double dose of Ballo, which is one of the few Verdis which I previously knew only from recordings and videos. And of course I fought to get a double package of Barbiere. This is my favourite from childhood and I can honestly say I have a full body soft spot for it!

The two also had at the time of the booking the most attractive casting for me: I could hear Ramon Vargas finally in a full length role and initially the velvet voiced Carlos Alvarez as Renato and then the one in a lifetime all star cast in Barbiere!

But things are never quite as you plan them. First the ROH lost Carlos Alvarez ( who I hope has fully recovered by now) and shortly before the actual kick off of all these performances mayhem hit the ROH casts: firstly Simon Keenlyside had to go off and rest his voice then Deborah Voigt was unwell for Tosca and the flu threatened a number of the ones still standing…. While others unfortunately were soon to be sitting rather than standing.

It surely was exciting in more ways than one! I don’t think the casting team in ROH would want to repeat the experience, but I’d say that given all the last minute crisis music came out as glorious as ever and we got to see some good and some really amazing shows.

photos by Bill Cooper at playbillarts.com

Il Barbiere…

I think had everyone’s expectations riding on it and it was one of those very happy cases of expectations being exceeded. Juandi is Juandi and he is the prince of the Barber ;-) Elegant, funny, charming, riding the coloratura up and down as if it would a fun slide over waves, utterly infectious! Somebody who can put a cheeky smile on your face while doing this is sheer recipe for happiness. He was the desperate count all the way, intelligently riding the edge between endearingly funny and OTT with a firm foot planted on the right side. I don’t know anyone else who can transform excellence into normality with such ease :-)

So how do you make an impression as Rosina when your big entrance happens already well into the show? Easy-peasy! You just call yourself Joyce! DiDonato that is ;-))) And you dish out the coloratura with just as much panache as Juandi and look cute as a button on stage! I’ve seen the Met Barber on video and was looking forward to this, but she is soooo much much better live! I have never heard such colours and such shades and richness of feeling in a Rossini lady ever! I apologise to mine and my friend’s neighbours in the amphitheatre ..we probable left them deaf in a matter of seconds after herUna voce… It was just spontaneous, irrepressible shouting and clapping! I couldn’t and wouldn’t have wanted to stop myself if my life depended on it. I still feel my throat closing in with emotion when I remember that moment! That is how sheer bliss feels like, you just burst with joy from every cell! And as far as I could tell from the overwhelming roar in my ears some 2000 people there felt pretty much the same.

The others were just as good! Corbelli should be knighted for his singing praise of the Italian language, there just aren’t any many singers where the joy of music and text compliment each other so well. Spagnoli was so much more than a replacement, his Figaro was natural and intelligent and all round secure and his interaction with his colleagues placed him firmly at the centre of the action, probably much more so than most people would have expected.

Pietro Spagnoli and Juan Diego Flórez photos by Bill Cooper at playbillarts.com

And I will never ever look at Maestro Furlanetto in the same way again!!! There is no way I can reconcile in my mind the image of the utterly mad Don Basilio with that of the regal and powerful kind Filip! So extremely different and yet so amazing … the only thing they have in common is that giant of a voice, warm and dangerous and enveloping at the same time. But I would have never thought he could let himself be so crazy … he didn’t just give it a try he went aaaaaall the way! And produced the creepiest and funniest Basilio I have ever seen :-) I have a completely new level of respect for the artist Ferrucio Furlanetto and am now looking forward even more to his Filip and his Fiesco, surely unmissable!

My only doubt before seeing the show was if Pappano and Rossini were two flavours that went well together? Well, it was like chocolate and orange, strawberries and cream..juuuuuuuuust delicious!!!! Turns out delicate, witty and playful Rossini is exactly the thing for Pappano, he was incredibly at home in the music and so obviously enjoyed it… just as much as the singers did singing it, the orchestra playing it and us listening to it :-)

Jennifer Rhys-Davies, Juan Diego Flórez and Joyce DiDonato photos by Bill Cooper at playbillarts.com

Of course there was the unfortunate broken leg and I’m afraid we will be also be left without the DVD recording of this performance…. Sadly so… and if that really were the case all I can say is that as far as I can see there is no real reason why it shouldn’t be a DVD! In fact, it would probable make for a best seller :-) It was definitely the kind of performance you would tell you grandchildren about….

Angela Marambio as Amelia and Ramón Vargas as Riccardo Photo from http://www.operatoday.com/

Un ballo…

The first time round was the very next afternoon after the Barbiere first night. In many ways a bad idea… that kind of buzz cannot be repeated easily, it was a lazy Sunday afternoon and poor Ramon Vargas was off sick; Roberto Aronica had a bad allergic reaction and the orchestra had a bit of a tired day, maybe the aftermath of the Barbiere. All in all more one of those “better miss it” performances.

Luckily, the second time things improved significantly in spite of an even earlier matinee. Main plus point: Senor Vargas was back on, sounding very well, in spite of lingering cold and he was also looking sharp and surprisingly younger than at the start of the season in Don Giovanni. He delivered exactly what he promised in an earlier interview in musicalcriticism I wish we heard more of him at the ROH, because he is one of those who know what they sing and why they choose a role and who sing at the kind of level where you can appreciate all the details the composer built into the music. If I were to think of an adjective to associate to his voice and style of singing it would probably be elegance :-) He definitely energised the stage in an otherwise pretty dull production. The ball and it’s audience reflecting mirror is definitely the best of it, with some beautiful period costumes otherwise gracing the stage and little else.

Dalibor Jenis portrayed Renato convincingly both physically and vocally, in the first evening I saw him he definitely provided one of the better moments of the performance. His “Eri tu” got well deserved applause each time, it was well delivered and managed to touch the listener. Angela Marambio has a strong and nicely coloured voice, but I fear that the part might be a little heavy for the voice at times as high notes turned harsh too often. The early hours of the second performance also didn’t favour most of the singers.

The other significant upside of the second round was the orchestra and Maurizo Benini himself. No sleepiness in sight and they delivered Verdi with elegance and precision. I’ve heard Benini recently again conducting L’Elisir in Glyndebourne and I liked and appreciated the same things about him: it might not be the most exhilarating and creative sound, but it is smooth and balanced, with all the right shades in all the right places. It may sound funny, but for my ears he simply made Verdi sound like Verdi and Donizetti like Donizetti , which is highly enjoyable and more than can be said about many conductors and orchestra’s. I would always trust him with a true Italianate sound.

Bryn Terfel and Angela Gheorghiu photo from www.classicalsource.com

Tosca …

Drama, drama, drama…. No more comments ;-))) Now, Tosca i have seen enough times this year and this will be no means be for me a memorable one, nor among my favourites this year. It was curiosity that got the better of me on the opening night. I really wanted to hear Bryn Terfel again and singing Scarpia and was curious about Mrs Gheorghiu’s Tosca, since I had missed it a couple of years back.

The backpain induced by my amphitheatre chair might have been partly at fault. But I didn’t come out floating.. Then again in the Barbiere I never noticed the same backpain…. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good performance, well sung, well conducted, but it took a while to really get rolling and didn’t reach some chords within at the expected level of intensity. Angela sounded good and I get why Tosca can be more on the feminine side, but it was a bit of an undecided portrayal, missing oomph in parts and displaying them in others. Until the last act, when Scarpia was no more, there was definitely more stage chemistry between her Tosca and Bryn’s Scarpia then between her and Marcello Giordani, her Mario that night. I loved Bryn’s Hollander and I like him as an artist a lot, but that night something was not quite there, perhaps he was too charming???

Angela Gheorghiu as Tosca and Marcello Giordani as Cavaradossi photo C Ashmore at http://www.musicweb-international.com/

The whole thing did click where I expected it least, in the last act, and although I thought the “E lucevan” would not really get me because of my preference for intimate delivery here, that was not the case. Giordani managed to show what he hadn’t that much the rest of the night, ie that he can sing in softer tones, that he can be creative and that being an experienced artist can mean more than just correct delivery. Again, a case of well deserved applause for an aria that was something more than the usual thing.

Jacques Lacombe brought the passion in his Puccini conducting but at time I felt he run away with it and it all was too loud in many places, sometimes almost covering the artists, which should not have been the case.

The Tosca had it’s moments and I’m glad I went, but I wouldn’t have gone again.

Renée Fleming (Violetta) and Joseph Calleja (Alfredo) photo C Ashmore at http://www.musicweb-international.com/

Traviata…

This also never made my to do list for the season, in spite of being one of my favourites. I decided to see the one in Munich instead, but as some of you might remember, the Verdi in the pit there left me longing for the “real stuff”…

Then there had always been the temptation of Hampson doing Germont. It’s no secret that he is an artist I have favoured for some years now, I know his voice is not to everyone’s likening but in both lieder and on stage I find him compelling and interesting. And who better to give me the “real Verdi” than Pappano ;-)))

Weak heart as I am, I ended up seeing this Traviata not once, but twice! Standing! And this is one choice I don’t regret.

I’m sorry to say the Diva of the night, Mrs Fleming has never been my cup of tea and sadly my opinion after two Traviatas has not changed significantly. Too much distortion in the sound for my taste, not enough emotional connection. It might be just my personal reaction, but it is what it is. Around the same time I saw and heard Ermonela Jaho sing Violetta from Lyon … now that was a Traviata where I cried buckets! Always a good sign with such a well known opera I think :-)))))

Calleja on the other hand I heard live for the first time in a full length opera and I was more than pleasantly surprised! Quite a development from when I have heard him in a TV documentary a number of years ago. More please! I will be looking forward to catching the Met broadcast of his Hoffmann… which is sure to be a challenge in his repertory.

He was energetic and daring enough to outshine the Diva in the middle of her big first act aria with his high note ;-))) He made for an Alfredo who’s energy on stage seemed sometimes barely contained. It did seam at times however that he was almost too thrilled to be singing on this stage to concentrate more on portraying Alfredo’s struggle with his feelings for Violetta. The pleasure in hearing him sing however outweighed the sometimes lack of chemistry with Renee’s Violetta.

No disconnect whatsoever in Hampson’s Germont! It is what I so admire about him, the ability to portray the character, to tell his story and get the public to engage with it to the point where you don’t notice the notes he is singing, but rather the emotions he transmits. Which doesn’t mean at all that you stop hearing the refinement of his singing! I am really glad we got an extra dose of Hampson in the concert with Pappano and although he is very busy with his projects in the US I hope he will be back at the ROH sometimes soon :-)

And I have to say a very big Thank you! to Tony Pappano for reconnecting me emotionally to the Traviata score… now that was Verdi! What a relief, I had thought I was slowly growing tired of it, but not a chance… now, with the right kind of sound in my ears, I’m actually looking forward to some Traviatas during the next season ;-))

And that was us, arrivederci from the ROH until September, when we kick off with some more Donizetti and Verdi :-)