Enchanteur et Enchanteresse! (Jonas Kaufmann and Natalie Dessay in Lyric's Manon)

Foto curtesy of the Daily Herald Chicago (in turn Courtesy Robert Kusel/Lyric Opera of Chicago)


It is Sunday, 11 am and I couldn’t wait to get out of bed! Don’t make funny faces! I only went to bed at 5am..ahhhhhh, now you get it :-) Few of you will understand how unique this is for me ;-)

I am still buzzing from last night and a still largely speechless! I don’t know if this will be the case with any of the viewers who were sitting yesterday night in the beautiful Lyric Opera but I still hear that captivating singing as if it was a recording for ever replaying inside of me...and I hope it will keep on doing that for the whole day.

Before I get too carried away let me say a biiiig thank you to WFMT and their sponsors for the live broadcast! It is the only chance some of us will get to listen to this particular production and I am immensely grateful for the opportunity, especially since the sound quality of the broadcast was amazing! Never once did it crackle, nor did the server die, nor was there any singing into each others microphones, nor did the orchestra cover the singers or vice versa. None of the typical flaws of such live vents were audible and we could sit back, relax and let the music flow…

Having seen the DVD of the BCN production of Manon, I was anxious about the audio alone being able to convey the complexity of this particular concept of the opera. Having a general idea about what would be going on on stage certainly helped put things in context and also helped fade some of the stage noises into the background, so that they never disturbed the enjoyment of the music.

So was the audio enough? Did it tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth about Manon? I think it did! At least for me, least of sitting there in the first row, with the nose glued to the stage, it couldn’t have felt more real. I was drawn into it, transported over the ocean and not only into the theatre, but on stage among the characters, where I felt their story unfolding around me, within me. I giggled and danced with Manon, tenderly caressed “notre petite table”, swayed and felt the pull of life in love and life in comfort, got swept of my feet by le chevalier, smiled tenderly at his letters, suffered his torment in St Sulpice, immersed in his ardent passion and cried with both at the sadness of “l’histoire de Manon Lescaut”.

Undoubtedly, the magic of last night is due mainly to Nathalie and Jonas, who gave it all and when you thought your heart would burst with emotion, gave it some more! They engaged me with every breath, with every note and every step. You could hear the laughs in their voices, feel the tenderness and the caresses and your skin.

I loved the way Natalie portrayed the girlish joy of life and how she suffered under her own fickleness and constant desire for more. This Manon had depth, she didn’t mindlessly flow from one situation to another, but felt the pressure of her own desires, but is nevertheless a victim of these, she isn’t able to win the battle with herself, she is just too young and is just too eager to experience life at full. And this brightness and joy with which she lives her life to the fullest is what attracts De Grieux and becomes his undoing. His attention is captured by her girlish looks, but soon this “enchanteresse” takes hold of his heart. She brings the sparkle into his life and the fire soon consumes the young chevalier. The both live too intensely, love too passionately for all that emotion and energy to be contained in a normal human existence and even less in one incarcerated in the constraints of their times. The fire consumes them until nothing is left but ashes… But until then they immerse us with them in this whirlwind of emotions.

I used to think that there couldn’t be a more romantic hero in opera than Romeo… boring and unimaginative old me! Le Chevalier was an enchanteur like few would ever get the chance to be. Manon rightly says about his words “Elles charment le coeur en charmant les oreilles!”. There is lightness and oh so very French flourish in his first words and his every note has the power of tender and gentle seduction. And the notes only grow in intensity from here. Each je t’aime and je t’adore has a different colour, sometimes with rapture, sometimes with tenderness, sometimes with passion, sometimes with jealousy and most sweetly with abandonment. As if he opens his chest to take his heart out and hand it to her, especially at the end of St Sulpice. It is than that we feel he realises he cannot be free of her and will follow her wherever she leads, until destruction. But I like that Jonas portrayed his De Griuex with steel within, not as a weakling, who is helpless against where life takes him. Even when he throws away all remaining dignity and gambles against his own better judgement, there is still honour in his tone. This man is still le chevalier, it is as if it is not love that drowns him, but he throws himself at it with his whole being. I like this feeling that his decision is a conscious one in the end and it makes us not only feel sorrow for his suffering, but also admire his dedication. He makes you believe that he is the man Manon finally sees in the end, although sadly too late.

The final scene was particularly touching because their singing conveyed that at last, they are one, at last they fully understand and accept each other, but it is too late for this lifetime.

And all this was conveyed in a musical feast to remember for years! I savoured every word and every note, delighted in every colour and shading of both their voices. Such outstanding singing is truly rare. Natalie gave it all and she put such feeling across, that any natural strain in such a long performance only became an instrument to connect to the inner life of the character.

Jonas was simply amazing! I just couldn’t believe what I was hearing, that depth and power in the voice, where it was coming from and never seemed to reach any limits. I never realised just how difficult this score is and he took me into a very special kind of vocal paradise. The lines were endless and his voice just kept flying higher and higher. There was no breathing to be heard anywhere, the voice dropped instantly from the cliffs of acuti to soft and tender waters of piani. You could hear him from within choruses, embracing with his tone the whole ensemble. And all of this done with the utmost French elegance and refinement. No French lover has ever professed love so convincingly. It was so overpowering, it almost gave me vertigo!

Emmanuel Villaume encased the whole piece in a wonderfully guided musical construction. It sounded period true, completely harmonic, extremely romantic and with a touch of violence at the same time. For me he conveyed the flourish of the time which never managed to disguise the violence of the feelings and drives underneath. I was slightly amused to hear him be just as taken by the St Sulpice scene as everyone else ( it was then when his breathing got really audible in the broadcast) ;-) He skilfully and tastefully constructed the perfect Manon for this production with this orchestra, you could feel him adding the touches to the atmosphere like a painter with a sure hand mixing the colours in the landscape.

I also liked Christopher Feigum as Lescaut. His singing and French were of the special quality this night brought with it and he also colour his characters with shades that made the character believable and touching. Not so much for Guillot and the Count, who had a French - as a friend of mine very plastically put it - from the Bronx. I was also under wowed by both voices, although Raymond Aceto managed to convey some of the sternness and haughtiness of his character.

I am sure David McVicar was proud last night of his stars! Knowing what wonderful actors both Natalie and Jonas are, I can’t imagine them being anything else than captivating last night. It was a nice touch to hear that Jonas brought Davin on stage as I am sure they shared numerous enviable moment of artistic creativity during the last weeks :-)

For me, all there is left to be said is BRAVOOOOOOOOO, BRAVIIIIII, BRAVISSIMIIIII!!!!!!

Jonas and Natalie, you are my personal Enchanteur et Enchanteresse! There is nothing that could ever touch the memory of you two sining:

“N'est-ce pas ma main que cette main presse,
N'est-ce pas ma voix!
n'est-elle pour toi plus une caresse tout comme autrefois! »



Lyric Opera Chicago

Manon: Natalie Dessay
Des Grieux: Jonas Kaufmann
Lescaut: Christopher Feigum
Count des Grieux: Raymond Aceto
Guillot: David Cangelosi
Brétigny: Jake Gardner
Conductor: Emmanuel Villaume
Director: David McVicar

The fotos except for the first, curtesy of Keith Hale/Sun-Times from the Wednesday general rehearsal in the South Town Star

Operanuts found them first ;-))
PS Check out the WFMT website, they will do more live broadcasts, including the first night of the Les pêcheurs de perles on the 6th of October.
And here come the reviews:

Daily Herlad Chicago 28/09/08

Chicago Tribune 28/09/08

Opera Chanteuse Blog

Chicago Sun Times 29/09/08

another Chicago Tribune article 29/09/08

Time Out Chicago 29/09/08 they loved it too ;-)

New City stage 29/09/08

Seenandheard 29/09/08

South Town Star 03/10/08

I am especially glad that some more people got to enjoy the performance as much as I did and for this one which i will now link to i am particularily glad! Ximo, como me hubiera gustado poder charlar sobre esta funccion en particular en vivo! Gracias por el post, como siempre!

http://ximo.wordpress.com/2008/09/29/el-saint-sulpice-de-chicago-dessay-kaufmann/

Dear readers use this translator to read http://traductor.gencat.cat/

I encourage you to do so, you will discover just how well this Manon was received in Spain as well, where Jonas has more admirers than he probably knows :-)

De Grieux gets a haircut ;-) ( well Jonas Kaufmann does..)

Upate 21pm GMT... 3pm Chicago ...are you getting ready? 3 more hours to go!!! I'm sooo exciteddd and i just can't hide it ;-))

Join in about 2h 45 min here WFMT (thanks again for the broadcast!) --> click open not save and open with Winamp, you'll get the best sound. For alternatives and personal preferences click here: Listen live to WFMT http://www.wfmt.com/main.taf?p=4







Check this out!!! in advance of tomorrow night :-)



Thanks to the Wall Street Journal we get a small preview of tomorrow's Manon in Chicago!

http://online.wsj.com/video/a-new-breed-of-opera-directors/E8497D1E-D340-4617-9957-0ECEF395CE32.html

and Marion found the related article with some nice pictures as well here

Gramophone Awards 2008

Well, now we know:

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/gramophoneawards2008.php

Some expected and some more unexpected :-)

Thank you ROH!!!!! Don Giovanni, Free on the Web!!!!

Just read this in the New York Times!

"The Royal Opera House in London will present a full-length opera online for the first time beginning Oct. 5, when audiences will be able to log on to the company’s Web site and watch a performance of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.” As part of the introduction of the site, www.roh.org.uk, the company will make it possible to view other complete operas and ballets online. The production of “Don Giovanni,” filmed on Sept. 8, will be available free of charge in its entirety and will feature subtitles, listening notes and a podcast with the director Francesca Zambello. The site also features archival material, a photo library and first-night cast lists dating to 1946."

Wooowwww!!!! I am blown away! And sooooo happy!!!

By the way, in case you were wondering how special the last performance of the 1st cast felt Joyce DiDonato has shared her thoughts with us, as well as some great pics! And we also get a sneak preview of Furore :-)

A Manon to die for! (Nathalie Dessay, Jonas Kaufmann at the Lyric Opera Chicago)

Click on the image to listen to or download the podcast.

Thank you Lyric Opera Chicago for this preview!!!

I can honestly say there is nothing that can compensate me for not being able to see this Manon live.

The podcast is brilliant! And if the chemistry that transpires in the podcast between cast, conductor and public is even only a shadow of the final product, well this will be a Manon to remember for those lucky enough to see it.

For the equally eager but less lucky of us the Lyric is once again generous and we will be getting this:

The premiere Live on 98.7WFMT: 27. September 2008, 5.45 pm, Manon --> the time is Chicago time

For your time check this out: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/meeting.html

Here is a little teaser, for which i will pinch the words of conductor Emmanuel Villaume and call it "From organ to orgy" ;-)))

Thanks DessayBestSinger for the video

Addition... I just remembered that some time ago i promised to bring the link for a very entertaining discussion I had about the Montpellier concert of Dessay and Kaufmann (from which the above exerpt is extracted). Well, here it is , from the wonderful blog of Ximo :-)

The discussion happened in a mixture of Catalan and Spanish, so use the following if you are not familiar with either:

http://traductor.gencat.cat/index_en.jsp good online translator from the Generalitat de Catalunya

You can also use the following: http://www.translendium.com/

And you can also use them for spanish, or for example this one: http://www.freetranslation.com/

And the old one : http://babelfish.yahoo.com/
http://translate.google.com/translate_t#
http://www.windowslivetranslator.com/Default.aspx

5-a-day post (Jonas & Caecilie, DiDonato, artists & fans)

I'm travelling and it is always hard to go from an overflow of live music which I love to death, to nothing or to something as sterile as music played on ones work laptop. So I compensate by digging through the internet or replaying memories in my ear.

Today somebody found this on Itunes: You know Jonas Kaufmann CD Romantic Arias? Well click in the pic and have a 2nd look at the track list! Yes, it is Caecilie!! And a version thereof of his, that i have not heard before. It is a full blown version with full orchestra backing.

Extremely interesting and very different from the Lieder CD. It is very powerful but in a very unique way. After i heard it a couple of times i found that this one and Martha probably best represent Jonas energy in live singing. I like the rest as well, but these come the closest to the empowering emotions of hearing the voice live. And you can feel so much joy in the singing.
The orchestra sound is somewhat unexpected and reminds me of the American Song book, it has that type of almost dancing flow. The voice is warm and integrates well, although the singing remains in full Lied mode. Interesting combination, but a successful one i think. The range and colour of the voice are amazing and it reaches amazing depth in both the upper and the lower register. Watch out for the warm deep embrace of it in the beginning up to the flying highs towards the end. Wow!!!

Treat yourself to this Caecilie and let his voice take you on a soaring trip of sheer musical joy.


And talking about joys.... this is one Joyce i would have liked so much to hear today!! A lucky few are probably just now enjoying a nice chat with the charming DiDonato at the ROH.


I hope somebody will be kind enough to share the experience with the ones of us who couldn't be there. I wish i knew what music pieces Joyce chose for the conversation...


On artists and fans I am going to add some thoughts later today, in connection with ROH Don Giovanni :-) I did go again and i will not bore you with more drooling over the experience, but there are other thoughts i want to share which were triggered by this event.

Ctd'

Anyone here who has an artist’s autograph raise a hand. Anyone who has a picture of themselves with an artist raise the other hand. Thought so! I’m gonna put mine down so that I can make this confession :-)

Until not so long ago I used to think that people who gathered at stage doors where a little bit crazy and that the artists on the receiving end were either poor suffering lambs or egocentric divas. Glups, mea culpa! Of course neither is true, but you have to live the phenomenon to understand what it is all about, and it is neither crazy nor does it have anything to do with the size of one’s ego.

Most of the times as an operagoer you are content with having watched and heard a good performance and having shown your appreciation by a reasonable amount of clapping. Then it is off to the tube and your own bed, chapter closed.

And then one day, a night comes along when everything changes. You don’t just like it, you live it! The music, the singing, the acting is something you have never experienced before. You can’t take your eyes off the stage, your heart is racing, your ears are tingling, your palms are sweating. The curtain falls and somebody or something suddenly possesses you! You jump up and start shouting Bravooo (the neighbours ears be damned!)), you clap like mad and 10 minutes later your palms are red, your voice is hoarse, but you feel you could just float away and jump up to the moon from so much adrenaline. You grab your stuff and, in a blink of an eye, dash out of the door and with steps as accelerated as your heart beat, suddenly find yourself amidst a crowd of people in front of a door that reads: Stage door.
There is excited chatter, there is a lot of ooohhing and ahhhhhing and wowwwing, there are grinning faces and sparkling eyes. And suddenly the artists step through the glass doors, slightly more tired than a few hours ago, but with smiles on their faces as well. There is a bit of a stampede, but at the end of it you emerge through the doors, retracing the artists steps, floating above ground, clutching the program which now boasts the illegible signatures of the heroes of the night :-)

So what happens in those precious few moments in between? And why the sudden change of heart, why join in the stampede?

Fans probably can't really provide validation to artists, either confirm or inform quality. But i hope seeing somebody's radiant face and hearing their voice still trembling from the emotions felt during the performance, does prove that the artist has touched their heart.

To me at least, that’s what the crowds at stage door are all about. Sometimes clapping just isn’t enough, you feel you owe the artists a bit more than that, or you just need to share the happiness they have brought about with them personally. Yes, they may read critics and they will know if they have done well. But this particular form of art is about interaction, it is about putting yourself out there on stage, with only your body and your voice, about taking huge risks in front of 2000 people and more. Something can always go wrong, or it can be the best night of your life. And the critics will rarely say anything about the emotions, the vibrations transmitted and shared. But fans can do that and that is why I believe that artists are not really bothered by the greeting crowds. If they are in a hurry or simply can’t attend, for whatever reason, there is always a way of avoiding it ;-).

So maybe more of us should bring up the courage to go and say how fabulous we found it, and which bit specifically made us explode with excitement. And who wouldn’t like to be told that today their hard work has made at least one person really happy? And aren’t autographs just our way of trying to capture the moment and the memories? To show them off for years to come and say, remember that night we heard X in Y??? The best version of Y I have ever heard or seen!

I fear sometimes the sharing of this joy is lost in the wordless pushing about of papers and signing and especially in the endless flashing of cameras. This not the moment to share life stories with the artists, but it definitely is the right moment to remember what our mommies have told us about “may I?“, ”please” and “thank you”. No amount of excitement should excuse the lack of manners!

But why not say why you want the autograph, what it means to you, how you liked the performance, rather than just pushing a piece of paper into somebody’s face, for whom you definitely have more admiration and respect than that silent gesture implies? You have received during 3 hours or more of performance the truest and most open form of communication an artist is able to give, why not communicate something back? Aren’t we there to give some caring and admiration back? So why make it into a gesture which only implies taking?

And you might find that the experience is greatly improved by it: you might get a personalised smile, you might see joy in the eyes of the artist, you might even get the occasional booming laugh or if you are really really lucky, even that earth-shattering hug! ;-)

With that in mind, I myself will make a promise not to step on anyone’s feet, breath down anyone’s neck, stick my elbows into anyone’s ribs, permanently blind anyone with my flash! ...and I am hoping at least some people will reciprocate :-)

It is fair to advise though, that I have no control over the drooling, swooning or my vocabulary being reduced to fabulous, fantastic, exciting and other synonyms ;-)))


Thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts about the subject with me prior to this entry being written, to those who joined me at the door and gave me courage to go there ;-) And also thanks to my very patient friend, who I am afraid will never join the crowd, but who always lets himself be dragged there to be the “stuff” holder (pens, camera, handbag, coat, umbrella, programs, etc he juggles everything while taking the most amazing pictures!).

And a very special thanks to Joyce DiDonato, Simon Keenlyside, Kyle Ketelsen, Ramon Vargas, Miah Persson and Sir Charles Mackerras who patiently, kindly, friendly and with loads of humour attended us all on Friday night! You are not only great artists, you are special people as well!

Deh vieni all'opera (Wednesday Don Giovanni at ROH)

Last nights I went to see the Don Giovanni at the ROH. No, don’t say again ;-) Wait with the again until Friday, then I will allow it :-)

I was lucky to get a last minute seat while I was only checking if it was sold out. Good seat to hear the orchestra but … forget you ever had feet, back or a good sitting position. I am still sitting in a strange twisted semi yoga position I acquired during last night’s performance. But they say one has to suffer a bit for art. I would willingly let myself be twisted like that again, if it was to see this performance again.

And I gained a new respect for the artists! All I am doing this week is follow them around the opera and sit there listening to them act, sing, live the performance. And I felt completely drained last night, Joyce DiDonato mentioned taking vitamins in her blog. Well, I already need them, and the week isn’t over yet. I don’t know how they do it! And they seem to have so much fun doing it! I just realised that all my ideas about what they do, need to be thrown out of the window. I can’t even begin to imagine the effort that goes into such a performance, or any performance for that matter. Joyce gave a wonderful recount of her work ethic during the preparations for this performance and it gives you an idea about just how tough the singers work to produce such magic on stage!

The combination between the cinema the other day and the live last night was perfect. Musically of course last night was much better, nothing beats the live sound! And you rarely hear Mozart played so crisp and lively and you even more rarely have a cast that can keep up the speedy pace.

I’d like to mention Kyle Ketelsen here :-)



pic from MundoClassico

There has been much praise in the press for his interpretation of the role and he is a brilliant actor. He and Leporello are one! Your could follow the story just by watching his face or his gestures. The audience also never has enough and he is the main trigger for the endless giggles. And it never is overacted or exaggerated, it always keeps just on the right side of the believable. But what I enjoyed very very very much yesterday was his singing! You know how this role is so well known for… Madamina, il catalogo e questo… ? Yes it was as good as it gets, but there was so much more!

The catalogo didn’t feel like it was the central focus of his singing, it was perfectly integrated and also well balanced. He told the facts without overdoing it, which happens many times. It is what it is and it is all written there and he is the man who has seen it all happen. In like his relationship with the Don as well, he is his employee but I like it that he doesn’t overdo the fear and the humble servant routine. The range of colours he puts in every “padron mio”! is fascinating! There is just that good amount of spite in it to spice things up a bit and I never got the feeling that the Don could do without him. I mean he could leave him and look for another master, but there is just that much amount of fascination with the adventure and the risk and the absurdity of the Don’s endless shenanigans to keep him put :-)


The advantage of all the experience Kyle brings to Leporello is that he can diversify the character while at the same time keeping the singing brilliant and effortless. It is so good it becomes normality and you become so engrossed in the character you end up taking the singing for granted. And we really shouldn’t, because it is of amazing quality and beauty of sound. It is smooth and rounded and the diction is superb. He is actually the one on stage which you can understand best! He is one of those few singers where the voice is in perfect harmony with the music, both compliment each other and none outdoes the other and it takes a very good singer to have the confidence to do that. I liked him being a musical constant in the show, steady there, reminding you always of the quality of the score Mozart has given him. Thank you Kyle for reminding everyone that Leporello is not just the one who scribbles down the catalogo :-) And I hope to hear you sing the Don part sometimes, or anything else you might decide to take on :-)



pic from Metro

I have said before just how much I enjoyed Joyce DiDonato’s singing! It was better live than the other day on screen :-) I think it is really hard for any recording to capture all the colour of a voice as it lives when it is live. There is just something special about the way a voice ripples through a theatre and not all can do it; hers does, it has a richness to it that makes it flow, vibrate with the audience and pull you in. The Ah, chi mi dice mai was just as strong a statement as I felt it on Monday, but had a touch more sweetness to the vindication, we not only smiled with Elvira, we also felt for her from the very first moment. And the In quali eccessi…ahhhhhhh, every time I hear it I love it more. It is my favourite one from Elvira! It is so complex and so touching! And to anyone who couldn’t hear her tonight, Joyce absolutely mesmerised the 2200 strong audience!! They wouldn’t stop giggling and laughing for a minute during the performance, except for this aria (and for Deh vieni alla finestra)!!! Hardly a breath was heard, and the applause at the end said it all!!!

In know Anna and Elvira are very different characters, but musically in many performances I have heard before, I didn’t really feel or hear the difference, sometimes these beautiful story telling arias just seem a struggle for breath or for the next coloratura and one is happy when it is completed. I like the sound of it, but at lengths have trouble connecting with it or distinguishing the characters when it is just an exercise of excellence in sound. With Joyce I can admire the ripples, the frills and thrills of the music while at the same time feeling the story!! Maybe I am just musically inept when it comes to this kind of thing, but I have always always loved Don Giovanni, so maybe I am not incapable of connecting to the coloraturas. At least I hope I am not and in all the love of this score, I have to say it is the first time I am truly falling in love with the particular arias mentioned. I hope Joyce loved the role as well, because I can’t bear to think that Friday is the last time for a long time that I will hear her sing In quali eccessi!




I also know which is the bit of the DVD that will also definitely be scratched from too much playing… it is that unbelievable Deh vieni alla finestra!! And to think Simon Keenlyside is hanging from the wall while singing it! I like the vivacity of the score and his many fiery inputs into it, but it is in this particular aria that I get to enjoy best about Simon’s artful singing, those long phrases that leave you breathless with their warmth and sheer beauty. It is where his voice is at its best and both nights, and I am guessing every night he ever sang it, the arias feels much too short, you wish he would sing much much more of that… Whenever I hear him singing it I can’t help but think:

“Tu ch'hai la bocca dolce più del miele,Tu che il zucchero porti in mezzo al core” Indeed!! That kind of singing can only come from a voice as sweet as honey and a heart as sweet as sugar :-)

I know it has been mentioned before, but I also enjoy his recitatives, fabulous diction and his indulgent “Leporeeelloooo” and impatient“finiscila! ” are so much fun! And has anyone noticed how, when he takes Leporello’s clothes and talks to Mazzeto as if he were his servant, as the score requires, his voice goes incredibly deep? It is a register in his voice you don’t get to hear very often in this score (that’s why we have Leporello, to bring the darker, lower undertones musically speaking :-)), but it is sooo beautifulll. The first time I heard it on Monday I went ohhhhhhh, can we have more of that please???

So for all these reasons and many more I am going again on Friday for yet another shot of Mozart and the Don, his servant and his beaus :

Sadly it will be the last but I have had the time of my life this week!

But I will always cherish the memories of my one week spent with “Don Giovanni”!!!

Don Giovanni
Wednesday, 10 September 2008
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Director Francesca Zambello
Designs Maria Björnson
Conductor Charles Mackerras
Don Giovanni Simon Keenlyside
Donna Anna Marina Poplavskaya
Don Ottavio Ramón Vargas
Donna Elvira Joyce DiDonato
Leporello Kyle Ketelsen
Masetto Robert Gleadow
Zerlina Miah Persson
Commendatore Eric Halfvarson

More reviews:
TheClassicalSource
TheTTCritic on Wednesday's performance
Telegraph
Guardian
Unione Sarda
Intermezzo
Between castles blog
Boulezian blog
Camden New Journal
Runnicles blog
GLT blog
Dognoah blog
La Verbena blog
TheSocialist Worker
TaminoKlassikforum
TheSpectator

The Jonas Kaufmann ROH Carmen DVD is out!!!!

Amendment 15 September :

Musical Criticism quote, hope they don't mind:Kaufmann's large fanclub shouldn't wait to get hold of the DVD! ;-))))


And I have it!!!!! Might have even been the first buyer ;-)



I went in for a quick browse before the show last night..that is into the ROH shop and just as i was entering i was telling myself:"You are only here for a poster for the empty walls in your flat. DON'T go buying anything else, don't touch anything, don't look at anything for longer than 3 second!" I am not very much in tune with this inner voice, as I have never walked out of that place emptyhanded!

And this proved to be no different, i've simply got no willpower!

Not in front of this anyway ;-)))



I entered the shop and good sucked up into Carmenland!!!

There was of course, the poster on the wall:



There were two different stands, one on either side of the till, one with ROH Recordings and the other with New Releases and as Carmen hits both marks, it was on both:


A huge flat screen behind the till was playing the Carmen DVD..last act... and yes, i actually sat there and watched mesmerised all the final duet...

And the loudspeakers were playing....yes indeed, the Carmen audio...the 2nd act, which was a bit disconcerning with other pictures running on the screen. Since i was hoovering about, (totally swooning!, but probably to the outside world i was just looking bored) the nice lady says, it is the DVD which you hear playing now.... oh, reallyyyy???? I would have never guessed!!!! ;-))))


Then I snapped back into action and took out my mobile phone and immortalised this memorable moment! i did ask for permission though and then suddenly lost all respect of the sales staff...i went from potential customer to "the mad women who is taking 2o pictures of a stand with DVDs". They were polite enough not to say it, but their faces were telling the tale!

After all, what is a little embarassment compared to the joy of owning this copy!


Well this gorgeous copys is all MINE!! And i don't plan on sharing it with anyone, so go get your own!
--> The ROH SHOP

PS And I did buy that poster, which will soon decorate my wall, take a guess of what it might be ;-)) and no, it ain't Carmen :-)

Catch yourself a Don!!! (or ode to Simon Keenlyside, Kyle Ketelsen and Joyce DiDonato)

I need to write this before anything too mundane brings me back to earth with a bang!!

It was out of thisss worlddddd!!!! I expected it to be good, but it was even better! I was lucky to sit in a cinema and not in the actual house, and for once I am grateful (well, especially since I will be in the house later this week, I know, I am a veeeery lucky girl and believe me, it is not my intention to rub it in anyone’s face). You don’t get this closeness to the show in any house, not even from the first row and not even with binoculars. In this case, every single second of it was worth it!

I think I didn’t blink and didn’t swallow during the whole first part… i did some in the 2… (I allowed my senses to take a break during Anna& Ottavio duets, can’t be helped :-)) But overall it was a thrilling as I have ever seen a performance be.

I am sorry if I keep repeating myself these days, please bear with me and let me be in my happy cloud for just a little while longer. I’ve seen it all before and I knew what was up and still, it was a new a freshly made.composed/sung. I rediscovered every single character like I have never seen them before and I liked every single one of them.

Even Donna Anna and Ottavio redeemed themselves… they were not boring, just people who see love differently and live it out quietly and peacefully and with a loooot more patience then the rest of the mortals, which makes them funny. But they are nice and you can see them grow old together. Good job Marina Poplavskaya and Ramon Vargas! Just wish Marina would stop saying she has got some kind of achies… happens every time I have heard her, just hush, few will notice anyway and it just draws attention to flaws which might be due to bugs or could also be some technical weeknesses, which always make her tired vocally towards the end of arias/performances (same thing happened in Carlo earlier this year). Praise to Ramon for a lusciously blue Ottavio, the velvet gave him additional colour and life and he did the role justice and he was the manliest and most interesting Ottavio I have heard, he put as much spunk in the character as it could take, and it can’t take much as you all know, but well done!!!

Eric Halvarson’s commendatore was proper scary and imposing and he took the Don to hell with him with a vengeance, great last scene contribution!

Masetto – Robert Gleadow and Zerlina Miah Persson were very pleasant, funny, sweet, playful and very good singers indeed. I appreciated their acting, they made their characters value as much as all the others and really defined them…more so than Marina and Ramon did with theirs in terms of acting. Again they were a believable couple and they definitely made us laugh and feel love the playful way.

I just realised that this was a story of couples, all of them had a match, someone to hand on to, quarrel with and ultimately sympathise with them and care for them, and that includes the Don and Leporello. The only one alone is Elvira, maybe she is destined to be alone in the story because she is the strong one, the one who can survive it and is woman and human enough to go on and overcome all her misfortunes, none of the others truly are. The women in this opera, except for moments Zerlina have never before really stood out for me, maybe because they somehow are all victims. Well Elvira definitely stood out tonight!!! Joyce DiDonato was fantastic!!!!! Her singing was as great as it comes, but her greatest contribution was to make Elvira not only stand out but be in terms of weight in the story equal to the Don and Leporello and that is no small victory! Her character was so well defined, she was powerful and captured you every step of the way, from her first appearance to the last contribution to the final sextet. And she always stood out and never got drowned out or even covered by the rest. I wouldn’t have believed Elvira was such a woman, could feel so strong, could suffer so, could have such depth of feeling and humanity in her. Joyce made her strong and soft, humanly flawed but engagingly so. You feel for her, she is funny at times but deep down you know she will survive this Don and you just wish until the very end that he would open his eyes and really see her! Joyce has been saying the rehearsals were short but from the result I can only applaud her for her work and her dedication. It was not only worth it, it was a total success!! This is not an Elvira anyone will ever forget!

And now to the two men of the night, Leporello- Kyle Ketelsen and The Don- Simon Keenlyside. They are a perfect couple and they have this amazing chemistry!!!! You want to spank the Don whenever he treats Leporello badly, but there is something there whenever Leporello threatens to leave that tells you he would be so lost without him. He is only defiant, he is only so conceited because his back is always covered and his fully relies on that! The Don is great because Leporello is soo great himself. They were perfect in every imaginable way! Perfect actors, perfect singers, perfect showmen, perfect comedians, perfectly flawed and they had perfect interaction! I feel so lucky to have been able to see them up close, to watch the story and the relationship of the two unfold in every word, every gaze, every gesture and every tone. You could sit there for hours and just watch and hear they play… they must have the most incredible fun doing their roles, they obviously enjoy it so much! And boy are they athletic!!! How can they every sing while doing what they do?? And they made it seem effortless!

But I have to dedicate this to The Don- Simon is unique! There can’t be anyone like this out there and there isn’t a Don like his! I wish I could say a million thanks to him for his engagement as an artist, for his total dedication, for his incredible hard work, without which this Don would not be as special as it is. He was hanging from above, holding on to some cross with a hand a half a foot, lying on the floor sideways, backwards, forwards, he was carrying the ladies in his arms, he was running and dancing and all the time he was singing and acting with every cell in his body. Such elegance and grace in gestures, such glimmer in his eyes, such sweetness on his tongue, such self irony in his smiles, such carelessness and recklessness in each gesture, each new play. You couldn’t find a Don for which there are no limits, for which there is always another try, another play to be played, another women to be wood, another drink to be savoured J He is someone you cannot take your eyes off and who crawls through your ears straight into your heart!

It was musically a great performance. No first night jitters, no mishaps, no nerves. They made each aria count and each phrase beautiful, and every word had meaning. The biggest BRAVO to all, to the wonderful Charles Mackerras conducting, to the orchestra, to everyone who contributed to this production. A Bravo as well to Francesca Zambello for this lavish and decadent production. She managed to make it elegant and slick, but decadent in meaning and intent and I love her sense of colour and style. And she gave the ending a definite kick and an oohh so ironic and sensual touch, thank you indeed!!! Anyone watching this first time keep your eyes wide open so you don’t miss any of the moments in the show, but especially not the end, your will be pleasantly surprise, it definitely made me laugh, very very wicked indeed!! I was wondering where that picture came from, if it was just on the posters to lure audiences, but no, it is definitely in there and at the right moment! Beautifully done, great sense of humour! Let me know if you want to know more details or if you have all seen it before and I’ll spill all the beans….. but really it is so much fun to get the full impact when you don’t know it is there and you definitely don’t expect it! I never saw it coming ;-)
One more thing, there is a big injustice in this artistic world!!! Why do men never get flowers!!! Hellooooooo!!! The piece is called Don Giovanni!!! So why were there no flowers for the Don and Leporello? And all the other men in the show as a matter of fact, and the conductor! Very unfair!!!! I completely disagree with this practice, it is unjust and at least this evening the boys deserved not only bouquets but whole fields of flowers!! Somebody do something about it!!!

As to the broadcast itself…there definitely were first night jitters and stutters there!! What was up with the technicians??? Don’t they know the secret of perfection is rehearse, rehearse, rehearse? The hiccups and bad signal signs and image freezes were funny up to a point, but they gave us some panic moments and unnecessary thrills. Luckily, we were spared major accidents and no arias was truly affected, but I did expect a technical performance a bit better than this. Hopefully next time! Also a bad idea to make Pappano read from the prompter… the man is an amazing story teller, let him speak freely for God’s sake…this was at times a bit embarrassing. And we also got more of the background talks than necessary. It just annoys me because I wished for the ROH to be perfect in every way tonight.

They were brilliant at what they do best, and that is putting on a show that is unbeatable, world class!! But there is homework to be done on the broadcast part.

It would have also been nice to have some interviews with the cast during the interval, not only the conductor. I bet the people out there were dying to know more about the performers and there was nothing there on offer.

For me personally in the cinema the sound was too low. I don’t know if it was that particular theatre or the broadcast in general. I have seen the Carmen recently and was blown away by the quality of the sound and picture. Picture quality was great (the hiccups were the problem, not the pixels themselves :-)) but I would have wished the sound to be louder, so that it could feel more like the live thing and it didn’t in that respect. You could feel how good the music was, because it was flawless and you never got distracted by anything going amiss, but Pappano and Mackerras gave some wonderful insight into musical refinements in the interval, for which the cinema sound juts wasn’t loud and sensitive enough… but then again maybe it was just this particular theatre.

I also hope at least half the public was new to the opera tonight, like it was intended because then I have no doubts that they will have fallen in love with it and its magic, in a till death do us part kind of way! And there can never be enough fans of the opera in this world ;-)))

The only regrets that I have for tonight with not being in the House are for not being able to scream myself hoarse with Bravo, Bravi, Bravissimi!!!! I had all this amazing energy inside me that they transmitted from the stage and can only give so much back in writing, it just doesn’t do it! They deserve so much more!!! And somebody pleaaaasee tell Simon he needs to stay there in the centre of the stage at curtain calls not 3 seconds, but at least 10 or more! For God sakes!!! You work so hard Simon and give soooo much, please let us give some love back!! You deserve it and we need to do the giving :-))))

To everyone out there who hasn’t seen it, do what you must, cue, rob a bank, beg your friends or parents for sponsorship, but go catch yourself this DON!


So…

Here’s me, still floating, still deliriously happy, hoping I’ll still be wearing this goofy smile from now tomorrow morning when I wake up :-)

PS Pics curtesy of http://www.simonkeenlyside.info/

PPS And yes, we did get to see what you see in the pictures, and it is as good as ever YUM! ;-))))

And today morning, what do others say about it:

ThisisLondon

Bloomberg LOL, now i know why i didn't get any tickets ;-) But i am truely glad so many people did, that have never been in the House before :-)))

The Sun .. I'm hoping they'll say more or at least some of the people who were there last nigth will comment

The BBC --> there is a little video there :-)

TheTeenageTheatreCritic --> someone who I always enjoy reading and who has a very good point there! I have always felt not out of place but slightly frustrated for always being in minority in the audience and not really seeing new faces and especially new generations, does make you fear for the future when you are normally 20 years younger than 80% of the audience. I hope somebody reads his suggestions and gives the general idea some thought.

Times onLine well, everyone expects something different...it is all about expectations ;-)

TV3 Catalan telvision --> short video from the cinema, whatch it till the end, you'll see why! I absolutely loovedd that scene! That is the Don, this tells you how the character is build and what will come :-)

El Mundo Spanish -this gentlemen saw it at the same cinema I did... pitty i din't know to say hi, that would have made the interval much more interesting :-)

The Guardian blog --- again expectations, expectations.... i hope the first time viewers had a more open mind to things, at least there weren't comparing in their minds with other stuff they had seen before...

The Stage I am glad somebody else loved the la ci darem la mano

update 10 September :

the Sun again Do read the review by Jon Gaunt!!! now that is what I am talking about!!!!

Musical Criticism i do thin g there were more first timers that is implied but so with them on the musical parts :-)

Independent this one liked it as well, and i will stop myself from commenting on the envy of men about the best ones of their bunch!

The Guardian another likie

Metro - girl power indeed!

Scenta on fresh love for opera :-)

Music OMH on why this was as good as it gets

Mozartforum bubbly and DG!

Rumbau blog in spanish

Stephantasy German, very nice and balances review :-)

The joy of DiDonato

So, i said Joyce DiDonato :-)




What do I say next???


Probably saying a big, big thank you would be appropriate :-)
I was looking forward to this evening because it would be the return to live music, but also because I am on a discovery journey of my own, with female voices (which I am known for not being a big fan of) and with song evenings in general. I have had too little experience of it and have come quite late in life to dare them. To dare myself to experience and maybe enjoy them; singing in its purest form, with none of the frills and thrills of orchestra, stage, make up and costumes.

I am finding the experience so far fascinating! I think that whoever puts themselves out there and bares their souls and vocal cords like that, deserves respect! It is not for the faint hearted, but it makes the good ones truly great!

The Wigmore recital on Saturday was a wonderful experience. I had heard Joyce DiDonato in recordings before, but never life and from the first till the last note I was basking in the gorgeousness of her tone. The hall has amazing acoustics and although I was sitting at the very back of the balcony she reached me easily.

She didn’t only reach my ears, but touched mu heart and awed my mind. What an amazing lady, what talent and what an amazing work she does. Her English, Italian, French, Spanish and German were all flawless and she is an amazing exception in the great sea of female singers: you can listen to her and actually understand every single word she says! Not only the sounds are beautiful, but she tells a story that you can understand, I appreciated it tremendously!

But most of all she is real. She is angelic, and tender and sweet, but she is also earthy, full of live and such a woman! She does us proud, girls!

I also have to say a special thanks to her for engaging with us, the public. That is a special gift and so rare in singers, especially in such recitals. I am grateful to her for talking to us, looking at us, addressing us with her singing, she made us part of the experience, her partners in a very pleasant way. All too often we fell amazed but strangely left out, and the singer stays in her/his unreachable realm and seems to be singing more to herself/himself, while the bunch of us sitting there only provide the opportunity for display. Saturday I felt very much part of the show, in a friendly and sweet way. Thanks Joyce for sharing yourself with us in such a generous way.

This was the program:
Antonio Vivaldi:
Col piacer della mia fede (Arsilda, regina di Ponto)
Vedro con mio diletto (Il Guistino)
Da quel ferro che ha svenato (Il Farnace)
Ernest Chausson
Hebe
Serenade
Le colibrí
Les papillons
Joaquin Turina
Poema en forma de canciones (Dedicatoria- solo piano, Nunca olvida…, Cantares, Los dos miedos, Las locas por amor)

Aaron Copland
Songs from 12 poems by Emily Dickinson (Nature, the gentlest mother, There came a wind like a bugle, Why do they shut me out of Heaven?, The world feels dusty, Dear March, come in!, Sleep is supposed to be, Going to Heaven, The Chariot)
George Gershwin
The man I love ( Lady be Good)
By Strauss

Encore:
Strauss – The composer’s aria Ariadne auf Naxos
Handel – Ombra mai fu
The wizard of Oz – Somewhere, over the rainbow

It is so hard to pick favourites, but I want to prove to you that I did listen ;-):

Vivaldi was vivacious and lusciously Italian and lively, the Chaussaun was melancholic and the papillons were my favourite! I had never heard Turina before, but this was probably one of my favourite of the whole night:

“Prefiero, como todas las mujeres
Que me amen poco tiempo y con locura!”
Copland touched me with being shut out of Heaven and going to Heaven, such sorrow and such emotion! And the evening ended on a note of joy and fun with Gershwin and Strauss.

And Joyce, the song you dedicated to your husband…awwww, I bet, every time he hears you sing it, he falls in love with you all over again!

The encores were as diverse as you see and all beautiful! But the dedication to her father, Somewhere, over the rainbow, was he one which brought tears to my eyes. I don’t like any musicals at all (well maybe Mamma mia, but that is ABBA), but I have never heard this one sung so well and so touchingly. This song, you made me love it and for me there will never be a better version than yours tonight!

So what else to say…. I am hooked!!!

In fact, I am so hooked I went and bought myself a ticket for the Barbican, the 13th of December, Furore, 1 row! (yesss!!!!) And wait, it is Handel, isn’t it…oh, boy… (well, if anyone can convert me to Handel, she’s the one! )

The concert was recorded by the BBC and will be broadcast on Radio3 on the 22nd of October. Don’t miss it!!!

And now I need to dash off to the cinema…for Joyce’s debut as Donna Elvira (she will be fabulousss, I know it!), for the first live broadcast in cinemas of a ROH performance (and I am keeping all my fingers crossed that it will be a great success!) and for watching Simon Keenlyside’s Don try to seduce and be rejected by all women ;-) (we must forgive them, Mozart and Da Ponte made them do it!)
More on that tomorrow….




PS Thanks for the pictures to EMI Classics

Back in business

I was going to jump straight back into music but i thought maybe some of you might want to know if in the meantime i had been abducted by aliens or something....

Sadly, no such thing happend...now, that would have been something to write about!!!

I just moved from the Auld Reekie to the Big Smoke... Or for those of you not from round here from here :

to here:

I won't bore you with horror details of the move, just take my advice: if you are thinking of moving, unless it is a matter of life and death...forget it!!!!

As to Edinburgh.... I will always love it and although there is not a drop of Scottish blood in my veins, there will always be a wee corner of my heart which has become Scottish and will stay that way forever :-)

I don't know if i will ever love London.... it will never have the spicy homey smell of malt... it will always be dusty and crowded ...or maybe i am just too provicial... i guess, in the end i will learn to live with it. And whenever i will find myself disliking something about it, i will just keep reminding myself that at least i adore one part of it, which is the ROH :-)

Inbetween the boxes and the stress there was music, because there was the Festival! It began with Hvorostovsky, but luckily it didn't end there: there was the London Symphony Orchestra, Gergiev and the fascinating Prokofiev, Leonidas Kavakos and Tatjana Vassiljeva, there was the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ilan Volkov, Ades and Messiaen, there was Christine Schafer. I promise to come back to them and tell you all about it. I am sorry, it will be old news by then, but at least it will be good news.

It was a long, long and pretty cold summer, in which i terribly missed the warm voice of Jonas Kaufmann. The radiobroadcast of the Montpellier concert with Nathalie Dessay provided some relief and i wrote and wrote and wrote about it (unfortunately in every prossible language but English and not in my own blog :-( I wish i was a less distracted person! I might try and at least leave here a post with links to some of my digressions on the subject). The preview on his upcoming Romeo next year was amazing to say the least! Even I was surprised by the utter sweetness, tenderness and dreamlike quality of his love duet with Juliet!!! And the bits from Manon with Nathalie almost drove me to buying a Lottery ticket in the hope of being able to make that trip to Chicago... Alas, i am poorer then ever (a move does that to one's budget!) but thanks to generous American sponsors we all will be able to indulge in the premiere of the event via radio ( check out Marion's page for details). I will stop myself from going on about the subject, but don't worry, you will not be dissapointed! as i am sure rivers will flow from my pen after the broadcast :-)

But i did say i was back in business and i am still talking in past tense...

Yesterday night the moving blues gave way to joy thanks to my personal kick off of the London music season. In this post i will just say one name: Joyce DiDonato!

PS Thanks so very very much to everyone who showed, told, wrote me their support and sorry if i was a pain from time to time...it is all over now :-) And thanks to all of you, i didn't jump of a bridge, down a hill or even down the waaay to narrow stairs of my house ;-)))