How to live off music and romance (Wien&Manon all in 12h)

Foto: Axel Zeininger/STOP ( Wiener Zeitung) Sorry for the tiny photo, couldn't find any other.

I wouldn’t normally bore you with my travel details, but yesterday was just crazy and not in a good way!

This Manon in Wien was my only one and .. I almost missed it!! I got up before 6am, got to Heathrow where my flight had been moved to another terminal. Because of these changes chaos descended upon my terminal... screaming kids, nervous parents, half drunks off to holidays in the sunshine, etc. I got trapped in the security cue for about and hour, ran the miles long marathon to the gate only to have it literally shut in my face and be denied boarding! Got dragged off still running to customer services, where I arrived still before the actual departure time of my flight… what a joke!!! Chaos there as well, as I was obviously not the only mishap of the security debacle and I looked desperately upon the poker face of the BA attendant searching for the next available connection….half of me wanted to knock dead the one who dragged me there from my flight and the other was praying for divine intervention and the good will of the BA attendant in customer services. He says… well, we have only one more BA flight to Wien today (my heart stopped, my feet gave way….) and it leaves London 2,40pm and gets into Wien (tic toc tic toc tic toc… the man couldn’t find the stupid time!!!!) 6,10pm….. glups! Then he goes on saying…. I have another one from Austrian leaving at 4pm and getting into Wien around 7,30pm… Nooooooooooo!!!!! I have a performance at the Staatsoper that starts at 7,30pm, really need to be there!! He goes: are you singing??? ( me thinks, lucky you I don’t!) No, but it is of extreme importance that I be there. I was actually picturing myself there, getting to Wien and not being able to see the performance (heart attack, fainting and the lot). Don’t know what he imagined in the end, but I managed to convince him that although the show could go on without me, I would be miserable without the show :-)

Of course this was all done in an extremely polite and calm manner both from me and the BA staff :-) After all, I had to put up a nice face to convince them to put me on that flight, acting the way I felt like would have only gotten me sent home packing :-) By the way, this was the only flight I lost, ever, in all these years of travelling!

So there I was, stranded in T3 at Heathrow looking forward to a couple of hours of doing not much else but imagine all the ways the flight could go wrong and be late and me not make it in time to the performance. I’ll spare you the details of how I decided to change from jeans to my elegant opera clothes at the airport and get on the plane like that. No wonder people where looking at me like something was definitely off, black silk flowing, jewels, make up and all and a huge computer backpack on top of my elegant jacket and a suitcase in hand…. Did I tell you that I was going straight to work from Wien? That is 7am flight back to London and straight to the train to work.

So I just pretended to be a very eccentric lady and smiled haughtily to all the people ogling me. The flight attendants wanted to seat me in business but I said no thanks, cattle class for me, I just enjoy to dress up :-) At least they thought it was funny and helped me with my luggage :-) Unfortunately this didn’t stop other people from missing the flight and oh joy! We had to unload their luggage which made us 30 min late departing…. At least nothing else went wrong after that. We landed at 6.20pm and I’ll spare you the details of how I sprinted through the airport with the backpack on my back and the suitcase in hand. I saw the city train was due to leave in just two minutes and decided to skip the elevator and jump down the stairs… except I dropped the suitcase by mistake and it went plonc plonc plonc down the stairs. I just stopped and bent over laughing watching it slide down the stairs without me! I honestly said out loud: works fine for me! and followed the suitcase down, picked it up and made it to the train with 20 seconds to spare. In town I jumped into a taxi, then realised I had no cash, had to stop by a cash machine and finally I was at the Staatsoper at 7,10pm! I got the stinky eye from all the elegant grannies I passed by inside the house when I rushed to pick up my ticket (yes, I had to do that as well!) with my suitcase and backpack. The man at the wardrobe almost dropped his eyes on the desk where I heaved the suitcase and the backpack (hope he didn’t pull a muscle when he tried lifting them off, thinking they were feather-light…. No such luck I’m afraid, a week’s work stuff in there). More stinky eye from a couple of ladies and gents who watched this, but at this point I just couldn’t care less. This is no traditional opera attire, I know… so sue me! :-)

And – unbelievable! – 15 min before performance start I was actually sitting in my very own seat in the Staatsoper, row 13 (wonder if it had anything to do with the lucky number, hm….. )

I’m afraid I will make up all the rest about the performance… I fell asleep after the first few bars… and woke up to the sound of someone booming down on me “Fuyeeeeeeezzz, ahh fuyeeeezzzzz” thinking: Nooo, pleeeeease no more running!!!!!

Just kidding ;-)))

Of course I didn’t fall asleep, I mean how could I with all the noise the orchestra was making? The percussionists definitely had a schnitzel too many yesterday! And so did the brass section and the conductor who drove the proceedings with …. Enthusiasm?!?!?! The first act was too loud altogether and you had to listen your way through the noise to hear the voices. Sitting towards the back of the auditorium acoustics shouldn’t have been a problem, but the sound from the pit didn’t mix well at all. The conductor (Miguel Gomez-Martinez) luckily tamed down his approach from the 2nd scene onwards and we got a bit more balance in the sound. But I did feel plagued by the brass and percussion all night, the triangle sounded as if it is was tingling in my ear! I am not one prone to comparisons, but I couldn’t help but remember the elegant sound of the Chicago orchestra under Villaume…and the baroque feel of the slower parts, perfectly suggesting time period, flourished exterior used to hide steamy background. I couldn’t find any of that last night. I guess with the kind of schedule and rapid change of performances, singers and conductors they are forced to keep, they don’t get much chance to refine the sound and work on the details. Overall the night was ok, I just missed the details, the nuances.

Thankfully, what lacked in the music was supplied plentifully by the singers, and especially Jonas. His voice just carries the music within it. And yesterday he just wowed the audience with the piani, the shadings, the dynamics. All the technique I so like to rave about was there, supporting the emotion which shaped the singing. The applause after his “reve” was the first real, felt one of the night. You could hear the unspoken “ooooohhhhh” going through the audience. We all know he is a good actor, but the detail in every gesture yesterday was amazing. Every facial expression was natural and convincing, there was neither too much nor too little of anything.

Nora Amsellem started off a bit wobbly, but she warmed up gradually and by the second part I liked her. Her voice is not perfect but she sang with feeling. To be fair to her the production also doesn’t make it easy for her, she has to jump from the bedroom scene in Paris straight into the next one and this is too much singing packed in one (even with the conductor sometimes trying to take it down a notch for her volum-wise). This is probably not a Manon production that suits her best, she is probably too warm, too sensitive for it. The portrayal in this staging is a bit out there, obviously fitting Anna (who I saw in it last year) better than it does Nora. As a consequence, some gestures seemed a bit forced and unnatural, but in other parts she was more credible and altogether I think I like the more sensitive version of Manon better. Compared to last time when I saw this production the second scene in Paris was more tender and loving, the relationship between the two more credible. Both Jonas and Nora managed to create a real connection on stage and I liked the fact that it was more subtle and natural than expected.

I think half way through the second scene the public was really hooked. Less creaking, coughing and overall more concentrated silence. And it was this feeling of intimacy that continued to the end, even through the more crowded scenes.

The St Sulpice scene was even more emotional than I imagined it to be, and this is more due to Jonas than to Nora, he seemed to drive the happening, even if it is more through his reaction to her. She did say and sound all the right ways, but it was really him who drove and expressed the emotion. The “Fuyez” wasn’t the best I have heard him sing, it was actually the only place in the whole evening when the sound wasn’t always beautiful. But it carried loads and loads of feeling and it really touched the public, who literally exploded. After that it was as if a spark had ignited and I haven’t seen des Grieux torment and surrender so intensely portrayed. Again I like McVicar’s concept of it much better, especially the ending (here they just run off and he even remembers to take the money his father offered… where is the passion, where is the love?). I don’t think they had a very good idea with the ending of the scene in this production. The emotions spiral so high and he gets so irresistibly drawn to her until final surrender that this ending just seems a bit anticlimactic. But the singing and acting definitely did take us where it was supposed to. Awww, tormented love and passion on French music with Jonas singing his heart out… what a pleasure to listen to, what a delight to watch! (Ok, I admit it, I am an incorrigible romantic that way….)

The “Manon, sphinx étonnant,”, one of my very favourite motives in the opera was all that I expected and more! It is very touching in that it tells you that he is now conscious of sliding towards the abyss, but as long as he has her in his arms he can’t help himself. This is where he really let the voice soar and the fire burn high. With Nora also in better control of her wobble we were now headed straight for the finale. I like the bareness of the stage here with the images of nature and strong winds setting the stage and creating a feeling of void, isolation but also anxiety around them. It was strange because they should have both been tired by now, but it actually sounded as if they had now properly warmed up (just a general feeling I had about the second part of the performance altogether).

The rest was so so, Markus Eiche was on and off and I didn’t much care for Dan Paul Dumitrescu father ( the French was just terrible). In general the French wasn’t the greatest and Jonas sounded the most French of all with Nora sadly being in parts not really understandable (i know she is a native speaker, but sometimes the language one feels more natural in, because of that very reason, does not get articulated enough for the audience to understand the text well). I just feel sometimes that this music looses a bit of lustre if the French isn’t up to par. And it wasn’t, you couldn’t really understand what the chorus was singing and the other characters were also a bit shaky at times. Overall it just lacked the glue that comes only with longer rehearsal times, sometimes even the principals weren’t totally in sink with each other. This meant that at times in ensemble scenes the public got a bit bored; it just works so much better if you can understand the original text when sung. There isn’t a boring word in this opera as far as I am concerned! On the other hand, the public had the translation, but the magic of the night was just very one-sided. This was clearly reflected in the applause, the public knew very well what they liked best about the evening :-) (in case you still have doubts, yes, it was Jonas)

It hasn’t made me stop wishing I had been in Chicago last year, but it is the next best thing :-) When it ended all I wished for was to be able to stay on to see the next one as well…

But, alas, I went to bed at um… better not think about that…. and got kicked out of bed by the alarm clock at 5am and off i went again to the airport.

Believe it or not, I couldn't be happier about being there last night, every single one of my short 12 hours in Wien was worth it :-)

PS

A thank you to BA who still serve sandwiches on their flights, otherwise my stomach might have been even loader than that triangle! And to friends who are good with train schedules and helped set the deadline i had to run towards ;-) And to Jonas and Nora who proved that at least for 12h one can live happily just off music and romance :-)

For those who want more, here are some reviews from the Austrian press:

Manon , Wien 26/04/2009
Dirigent Miguel Gomez-Martinez
Manon Lescaut Norah Amsellem
Chevalier Des Grieux Jonas Kaufmann
Graf Des Grieux, sein Vater Dan Paul Dumitrescu
Lescaut, Manons Vetter Markus Eiche



http://derstandard.at/?url=/?id=1240550007129



http://www.wienerzeitung.at/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=3895&Alias=wzo&cob=410954

And for completion, one of the sort "I dislike anyone famous and i am a fan of the locals, whether they deserve it or not" ..he thought the sound from the orchestra was "Farbig und frisch" colourful and fresh...ehem... he must have been sitting on his ears at times...

http://diepresse.com/home/kultur/klassik/474402/index.do?from=gl.home_kultur

Tosca Zurich, it's not just about the music!

Note: all photos from direct links to the Zurich Opernhaus page http://www.opernhaus.ch/d/

Since I have seen two performances I will start with the impressions regarding the first one and then complete with the ones from the second, since it might be interesting to see how perceptions might change, or not, if you get a chance to inspect it closer :-)

Part I....

I’ll start with the musical bits, since it is probably what most of you would like to know about first.

It is a good performance and one can really sit back and enjoy the singing.

Jonas was good last night, maybe not as secure in the beginning, but definitely by the end of the night. He started off Recondita with a tiny bit of dust in the voice and the breathing in the long lines of the duet was a bit more laboured than usual. Not that it would be generally noticeable :-) very likely only audible if you heard him singing the role several times and have something to compare with. The spring air outside was full of pollen and spring things that trigger all kinds of allergic reactions and he felt it as well. I would also tip on the very dry wind and most of all on the hot-house inside!! That theatre is an oven! Extremely hot and very very dry. I don’t think I was ever as thirsty at the end of the night like yesterday, I felt like Manon in the desert! I could hardly speak, I can’t imagine how it must be for the singers. I wish they would think more about the singers and not only about the ladies flaunting their strapless dresses and bejewelled décolletés and turn the heating down quite a bit … (I’m quite willing to freeze a bit if it gives the singers more breathing space, after all I am used to the “fresh” air at the ROH, no chance of snoring or dozing audience there ;-) )

Anyways, by the end of the first act he seemed to have cleared his lungs and voice and from then on it flowed more flexible and agile. The Vittoria is quite something as he starts it off in the farthest corner of the stage and it reached me at the very back of the hall with incredible force. What I love about the way he does it, is that he keeps enough force left to drive the “carnefice” with a vengeance! It makes a perfect double whammy! One that few if any are capable of. The Vittoria is impressive because he stands next to the painting he made and Scarpia stole and then tore to shreds and smashes it down to stand on top of it to deliver the lines! Voice and stance deliver a perfect victorious image. And I always like the “carnefice” better than the Vittoria, and finally in Jonas I find somebody who gives them all the anger, the punch they require. His “Scarpia, carnefice! carnefice, carnefice,” gives an incredible sense of justice after all the torture. And he’s about the only one I ever heard with such good diction and control of his voice that you understand every single word there.

The third act was wonderful, I think he is mastering it better every time. Unfortunately I had a lady next to me who thought the wonderful prelude to “E lucevan” was a good moment to pop noisy candies! And in “dolci mani” her neighbour violently blew her nose! I did wish sudden death upon them… Of all the moments to be disruptive this was the worst! I am so glad I am going again and will prey for better neighbours next time. Because the third act is really beautifully staged, the stage is empty with just Mario and Tosca on it, first Mario alone and the lights really help you focus on them. The start is actually quite strange and intimidating. The stage is bare, and it looks as if you were on stage as well looking into the black emptiness of the hall with the audience in the background. And he stands at the back of the scenery, as if on the front of the stage staring into the blackness, then is lying down all alone on the floor as if dreaming an remembering both torture and his love for Tosca. Before the aria, as if in trance he energetically draws Tosca eye and half face on the wall, as if it is the last thing he wants to take with him out of life. I think it is a very touching idea and it is dual in a way, as due to the stage on the stage it makes you instantly think of how alone an artist really is there. How must he feel, left all to himself on stage, not really being able to see the audience in front. Very frightening. The Zurich stage is not a big one but it was very impressive how they managed to suggest the feeling of void and having to do a balancing act on the edge. Jonas also managed to convey a very touching feeling of fragility and frailness. Perfectly in tune with the softness and sensitive singing. I really believe he is better than last year in ROH. Maybe it is because he has more time to spend with the music and the character and really work out his own harmonies. In ROH it was already amazing what he managed to do, but what I hear now is more complete, it is more like a unique concept, than just some brilliant ideas. Now you have more power and force when required, but also more control of dynamics and variety thereof everywhere. It is not only the third act that you hear this, but from the very beginning. The Recondita and the duet with Tosca in the first Act are already more shaded. It never seizes to amaze me how lyrical and caressing his voice can be, or rather his singing can make the voice become. And since the Toscas in ROH, this has become more refined, more developed.

A pity Pappano is not in the pit, because Jonas was often carrying all the musicality and emotion in the score by himself. In ROH, as in the Butterfly as a matter of fact, I always had the feeling the music is like the wave the singers are surfing ( for lack of a better comparison…) The emotion came from music and voice together. While last night I often had the feeling I needed to hear Jonas singing to recognise the beauty of the musical line. The orchestra and conductor are by no means bad, but the music does not shine or move like something that is alive. I didn’t really get drawn in by the music, because it felt too much like background and it was often too indistinct. In ROH you were drowning in the music, it was so emotional. Yesterday they somehow left enough distance to observe bum notes, think about the hows and whys sounds happen.

Hampson I liked much better than I thought I would. When I read the reviews from he premiere I forgot how good an actor he is as well and I had the feeling that this is not really his role. But he does manage to own it fully. He has that sickening slickness and feels natural in the role. He is not a good guy trying to be bad, he is obsessed, greedy for everything, money, power, Tosca. And he manages not to overact it, there is fairly little movement or agitation, it is rather his contention that transmits the danger. And luckily he restrained from pushing too hard and the voice was warmer, rounder and the singing altogether more a pleasure to listen to than expected. Yes, there are the odd harsh edges here and there, but I think it is more the voice itself not being what it was 10 years ago. The lines are still beautiful and you could recognise there, just like with Jonas the liedersanger :-) However the voice is, he still has mostly very good control of it. He really owned the second act and I thought the applause he got in the end was well deserved.

Emily I liked as well, especially since her portrayal of Tosca was much less uni-dimensional the production had let me fear. She was adequately diva-ish but she also portrayed the woman in love quite credibly. I guess everyone interprets what they see their own way, for me she was much more a woman of passions who has to live up to her diva image, than a diva who is so self-absorbed that everything and everywhere is a stage ( as comments of the production previously suggested). She has a thrilling top and her voice has nice colours…. Unfortunately yesterday I felt like her lower register hadn’t really showed up for the night :-( There are so many lines for Tosca that sit there or end there for greater emphasis and those were just a bit hollow… It is not the end of the world, and maybe she too was suffering from the dryness and high temperature. Also, she is the one who has to be in constant movement around the stage, flowing around the men who benefit from more limited activity. And that really needs to be said, she has very gracious movements, just on the right side of theatrical for the portrayal of the role. And this makes dramatic singing while doing it all the more difficult. It would be very unfair to her not to recognise her performance just because one wishes that all that colour in her voice would extend to her lower register as well. I liked her and I felt emotionally drawn to her Tosca, while I didn’t expect to be from what I had read about the production.

There are many interesting images in the performance: Scarpia appearing from behind big columns like Mephistopheles, Mario singing in from of the painting, with the light spot on the madonna, The Vittoria on top of the shredded painting, Tosca pinned to the wall by Scarpia and a bright lightspot, which takes the horror-like image to extreme, Tosca singing Visi d’arte at the border of the stage with the rest darkened and only the golden sides of the stage lit (really draws out the image of a diva singing an aria on stage for the captivated public, beautiful!), Mario alone at the beginning of act 3 and Tosca’s eye looking upon the stage from his drawing , Tosca throwing herself from a lightspot on stage into the darkness in front of the imaginary stage. It is all very striking visually. Still I am not sure what I think of the production itself, it’s not totally different or unexpected. The image in the first act with the empty chairs arranged for the audience to attend the performance is interesting and on the empty stage effective, but once Mario, Tosca and later the chorus and Scarpia start moving in between them it becomes slightly ridiculous. Because the movements and interaction of the persons get severely hindered by the constant bumping into the chairs. Mario and Tosca especially have to keep ducking the chairs, sit on one, stand up to follow the other, sit again on another chair, poor Tosca keeps swishing her skirts in between chairs, which constantly interrupts the lovely interaction and leaves the lovers pinned to the wall in a rather less romantic fashion sometimes ;-) And then the audience/chorus turns towards us and with their back to their own stage which they are supposed to be watching for the Te deum. Understandably, they have to watch the conductor, but it totally spoils the effect of watching an audience who is in turn watching another stage. Under the circumstances, bare is better and I definitely like act 2 and 3 more.

I haven’t made up my mind fully about the production and I am not sure if I didn’t feel as emotionally connected to the performance last night because of the staging - which creates a certain distance because you are observing a stage on a stage -, or because I wish the music would have been more engaging or because I had noisy neighbours and was sitting in a back corner of the hall or just because of me :-) Most likely it is because of my own self. I am really looking forward to seeing it again and with all surprises now revealed I might get a better chance at letting myself get totally sucked into the music :-)

End of part I…

So how did it work out the second time around?

I liked Carignani better than last time but I am still slightly out off by the very brassy sound of the orchestra, which I am still unable to tell if due to the huge open pit for such a small house or simply to much brass-contribution… Still this time round I didn’t miss Pappano quite as much :-)

The performance was recorded for the local TV or maybe for a DVD and I am really looking forward because musically it was excellent! In spite of Hampson having had to pull out a couple of days before due to throat ache he was back in form and there were no significant audible signs of the illness other than a bit of strain in the second act on the more powerful phrases. Both he and Emily gave it their absolute all in terms of engagement this night and if this translated into small instances of vocal fatigue, the performance overall was all worth it. And them I could see very well and enjoy accordingly.

Unfortunately I had the bad idea to go for a second row seat in a loge on the 1st Rang. Advice to all Zurich visitors: do NOT go for these, stay as far away from the 2nd rows in loges as you can. Don’t be deceived by the lower price, the visibility is strongly impaired by the decorating baroque columns and you are squeezed among 3 high stools. The only positive point is that after some 20 min your legs will have gone to sleep and your back as well and you won’t feel any pain anymore…. Double bad luck for me, the action is strongly left-sided, at least what Mario is concerned so I had two choices: either breathing down the rich necks of the sitters in the front seats of the loge and risk toppling over rather un-elegantly from my high stool or lean back and close my eyes ( since I couldn’t see half the stage anyway) and just enjoy the singing. The latter proved after some initial struggle with balance and neck-twisting the better option. But I had to peek at least at the beginning just to be 100% sure it wasn’t some recording I was hearing and Jonas was just amazingly moving his lips to it… I mean I like his voice ( Duh! ) but I know it is not perfect or completely smooth. This night however he was not only in good form, he was in excellent form and his usually amazing control over his instrument was toned to perfection. Sometimes I look forward to the flow of the voice just for the excitement of the unknown where it will lead him. Tonight it was somehow totally different. The voce just flowed with such easiness and was conducted with such intent and grace I actually stretched around the column to see if he was breathing and then had to lean back with a satisfied and amazed smile. It is quite something to enjoy a performance totally relaxed, having a feeling of absolute certainty that whatever you would hear next would be the exact line the singers intends it to be. Of course I know there is no such thing in singing, that it is unpredictable. However I believe there are nights when the singer is in total sink with his voice and it does respond to his will and desire perfectly. Must be quite a powerful feeling that one, like Harry Potter wielding his magic wand ;-) I was obviously delighted to receive such a treat but also to watch and hear how it is done.

You would be wrong to think however that such musical quality would come at the expense of feeling and expression. Quite the contrary, it is probably why and how the voice was so powerful the other night. And not only his, but everyone’s.

I don’t know if Carsen’s production is an excellent one, the visuals I mentioned before were just as effective the second time around, so they are brilliant indeed. I am still annoyed by some elements in the first act as for me they don’t add much to the interpretation, but they can be ignored with no impact.

It is however not a Tosca to floor you or shock you, but I now believe it is not meant to do that. The music and the plot itself do that effectively enough, there is no need to overkill it. Nor is there actually much room to change Tosca fundamentally. Why would you even want it? Why change a story that in itself has perfect tension build up and strong drive. So if you can’t change Tosca, what can you do? Well, you can give it what few directors decide or care to: “Personenfuhrung”. The story is powerful, but it doesn’t mean that the characters are just there to deliver the lines. Yes Tosca has politics in it, but is really that what drives the plot? I think not, politics just provide the instruments, the backdrop and means for the human conflicts to explode. If you think about it, it is not about politics at all, but profound human emotions like love, greed, jealousy, desire, compassion. Scarpia has power in his hands but at the beginning of the story he can’t have the one thing he desires most: Floria Tosca. She on the other hand has a talented artist at her side, but in spite being the admired Diva is still an unsecure woman who doubts her lover and is plagued by jealousy. Mario is the enchanted lover, but he is also a liberal in his times and a profoundly good person, who cannot deny helping his friend, even is political engagement was never his priority. He actually tells us in Recondita armonia that his life is full with art and his love for Floria. The conflict unfolds when Scarpia recognises the opportunity to use Tosca’s jealousy and Mario’s attachment to Angelotti to finally achieve his goal, have Tosca to himself! He very effectively describes at the beginning of act 2 that he will use whatever means he can to indulge in what life has to offer.

So if we think about it, the story is not driven by external political events, but by the passions and flaws of the characters themselves. I think this is where Carsen was brilliant in his Tosca. He seemed to have sensed this and decided to put the personal conflicts in the foreground. Of course you can only do that if you have singers who are good and can spend equally as much time on creating their character as on perfecting their singing. Zurich got very lucky in this respect with Jonas Kaufmann as Mario, Thomas Hampson as Scarpia and Emily Magee as Tosca. They each managed to bring more colours and shades to their character.

I am glad I was right about Hampson... he made a natural evil and obsessed character, machiavellic indeed :-) His alternative displays of elegance, apparent friendliness and outbursts of anger, desire and almost sheer madness were chilling. Magee was perfect opponent and pray, with divaish dignity and charm but also with deeply moving femininity and anguish. The outer diva never completely overpowered the woman inside. The scenes in the 2nd act were even more compelling and captivating than the first time around. The scene where she dignified and with almost contempt takes off her dress to lie down on the shreds of Mario’s painting that Scarpia destroyed while he takes off his tie and jacket with a sickening slowness really gave me the chills.

And the whole 2nd act contrasted perfectly with the first and last, which were of unusual romantic character, due this time to the contribution of Jonas Kaufmann’s Mario. His Mario was less ironic and self-assured and just simply deeply in love with Tosca. So much so that he almost forgets about Angelotti stashed away in the hiding place in the church in the first act. In the last act his sadness and the sense of being alone is conveyed very touchingly by the way he rolls in his restless sleep while caressing the ground as if it were his Tosca. He feverishly tries to capture her image by drawing her eyes. The following duet with Tosca is the most romantic I have witnessed so far, reaching for the joy of reunion to the dream of a happy life to the endless sadness of realisation on his part that there is actually not going to be a happy end to their story. I don’t think his last “Parlami ancora come dianzi parlavi,
è così dolce il suon della tua voce!” was ever sung more emotionally than last night…


I don’t know how people see this Tosca if it was their first, but for me it was a fresh take with unexpected emotional engagement. And to touch me at this point with this opera beyond musical enjoyment is not an easy task :-) Over the last 12 months I have definitely overdosed on Puccini, and this one in particular, on top of the already existing overdose of years. It is not a Tosca of cheap thrills and in your face, it is more one where with beautiful singing and convincing portrayal of complex human emotions get you gradually enveloped and gently taken in. So I have a general feeling of warm satisfaction about it and if it does come out, I might even be persuaded to buy the DVD (if for nothing else than to prove that Puccini can be sung softly, tenderly and authentically romantic, with no cheese in sight!).

For a small video about the production see on the Zurich Opernhauspage under Opernhaus TV (http://opernhaustv.eviscomedia.com/media.1005.html)



So now it is time to lay Puccini to rest for a while and give my thirsty ears and eyes some well deserved treat of French and German music :-)

À bientôt, mes amis!

Trovatore at ROH with Roberto, Dmitri and Sondra

Photo Catherine Ashmore


Update:
I sometimes like to add things or change things based on discussion with friends :-) Not that my opinions have changes significantly, although sometimes they may, but i realise sometimes i haven't said all I mean or exactly as i intended. And i realised that although Sondra got my enthusiastic Bravos the other night, this might have not really come through in my account of the evening. She most definitely is the most exciting soprano voice i have heard for quite some time! Her voice does make the music swipe you away and i am very much looking forward to her upcoming Verdi CD! I just think she can be even better if she adds more feeling to the fascinating tone of her voice :-)
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Too much to do, too little time, but this should really not go unmentioned. The run is sold out so something attracts people to Trovatore. I'm guessing it is good old Verdi, well known tunes, intense conflicts, crazy plots, but who can resist it? I know there are those out there who say Verdi, bah! I'm not one of them :-) I knew opera through Verdi, in fact i grew up with it. It may make me smile, but the buzz his music gives me is unbelievable and has never faded from day one!

So for Verdi i went to see this. Of course it is almost unavoidable to have those big recordings in your head, but i am pretty good at putting those away when sitting there live.... If only this production wouldn't have tried to kill the tension.... I'm not the unconditional supporter of modern productions, i probably tend to err more on the traditional side, i just love period costumes! But pleaseee.... where was the director? Where was the choreograph? At times it felt like the singers were left to create their own movements, think about what to do while on stage. Trovatore is not one where you want to burden the singers with those decisions on top of everything else, the score keeps them busy enough!

Never mind the huge sets, it felt way to much like standing about aimlessly. Don't get me wrong, this is not an opera to do yoga while singing, but maybe singing to each other rather than away from each other might have helped at times. You can pull something like this off when the singing is so out of this world that you don't care what is on stage. But we didn't have Corelli, Bastianini, Tebaldi or whoever on stage, nor do i want to resurrect the dead in any way. I don't think today Verdi, or any other operas/composers can live on singing alone. On the other hand, today we have singers more willing to engage with the stories, with greater flexibility in terms of what they are requested to do on stage. So give them something to do!

Anyways, rant over... but it is the reason why the first act didn't really deliver for me. It started off well, but was dragged of energy in the convent scene.... useless backdrop and aimless standing around singing if ever i have lived through one... Thankfully somehow the 2nd part came alive, due mostly to more engagement from the singers. And to an excellent chorus scene spiced with some amazing fighting, while at the same time beautifully carrying the musical line. Bravo to them!! Easily one of the most entertaining scenes of the night, well prepared, well rehearsed, natural. ( This is another reason while i live period stagings in ROH, where else can one still enjoy beautiful armory and elegant fighting? keep it coming!)

But in the end it is all about the singing, isn't it? The one i was least sure of proved to be a pleasant surprise and definitely rounded up the evening musically for me. Alagna and Manrico? I had more than some doubts... he proved me wrong. Ok, he isn't perfect but i haven't heard an ideal Marico as such these days. He does an excellent job of applying his sunny, lyrical voice to this. Surprisingly, it did not sound overstretched and the evening definitely gained in musical quality from his flowing lines and warm tone.


I never knew he could heft such volume! Ok, maybe some more piano would be nice, but next to Sondra Rodvanovsky someones piani may become inaudible ;-)



Photo Catherine Ashmore

I think overall Roberto and his voice are in better shape than a few years ago, probably his health as well. I am glad he feels and looks better, he comes across more energetic and his singing is very good indeed. Especially considering how much he has sung and what he has been singing. He was also the only one who came buzzing on stage from the first note, who moved around, elastically and purposefully, even if it seemed more like his take on Marico than anyones direction. Also good he kept the energy going till the end, bravo to him for singing the whole Pira. Not that i care much for the Pira, or the fact that it was a B :-) Well done to him and to my ears, i'd rather take a sound lower note than a cracker higher one, thank you very much!

I always liked Alagna, but i haven't heard him for many years! I liked what i heard the other night and also what i saw. Add to this the lively, enjoyable conversation the other night and i am content to have rediscovered "my"Roberto, the same crazy, enthusiastic, passionate and engaged singer i heard so many years ago. He's not perfect, but i do believe he is a generous artist, and that for me counts more. I look forward to hearing more of him in next seasons and i hope he stays in as good a form as he is these days.


copyright Tavel Antonov

As the ladies next to me where saying, who can decide between these two? Indeed :-) It's not half as much fun if Luna is not as good or equally as exciting a character as Manrico. Give it to Hvorostovsky to restore the balance :-) Ok, he might not be Marlon Brando on stage ( acting-wise i mean ;-))) but his natural elegance and charismatic stage presence fit Luna like a glove and make it work. Some gorgeous display of jaw-dropping breath control and warmth of tone puts the cherry on the cake. His "Balen" was beautiful and very well received by the public.

And his long duet in the last act with Leonora had enough character to make me happy, as it is definitely my favourite part of Trovatore. Due probably to the fact that they have been singing this for a while together Sondra and Dmitri really made the sparks fly :-)


Photo Catherine Ashmore

And ok, they made you wonder why oh why does she swallow the poison, stupid gal! I tell you, the two sitting next to me were contemplating a totally different decision if faced with the circumstances ;-))

But as it is about the singing, i have to say they managed the scene beautifully and Hvorostovsky not only was able to match Sondra's power, but impose a considerable and credible amount of threat in his singing.

The ladies of the night... Sondra is a class of her own, what a beautiful and satisfying Verdi voice :-) I also appreciated that she can not only belt it out, but creates some great crescendi and descrescendi, a few tender piani here and there, promising to do wonderful things with her voice in the future. Beautiful sound is not all and both her and Hvorostovsky could do with a bit more text interpretation, but as far as their sounds come, there aren't any better ones these days for these roles :-) However, while he made Luna credible, i wasn't entirely sure of her connection to Alagna's Manrico... (Direction, direction... )

Azucena is for me one of the most amazing mezzo roles/scores! I love her and Amneris, i envy what Verdi wrote for them :-) (they are the only ones who ever make me wish i could sing a note, even under the shower... but alas... ;-))))Can't say that Malrgozata did it for me.. she can deliver solid singing all right, but her top register makes my ears hurt, that is how harsh it sounds. Just when you want the music to soar it makes you flinch... Probably not everyone's impression, but i personally don't like harsh female voices. Thus, the "il rogo" which plays such an important part in this score, had a totally different effect on me than expected. Nothing wrong though with the rest of her voice and she had brilliant full and round low notes (here is me hoping she can iron out some things for the future... )

Monika-Evelin Liiv's Ines was a nice surprise, pity we couldn't hear more of her! Mikhail Petrenko was probably the one on stage who did the most acting, with good effect, pity his voice wasn't as good as the acting...

I think Rizzi managed to keep the ensembles together, which is a thing i think he generally does well thinking back also to his Matile. The pace was alert, but the slower bits were a tad bland, maybe trying to accommodate the breath of the singers just a tiny bit too much? ( although i am all for not overpowering them... )

It was all in all an enjoyable night with some brilliant moments, but somehow i have to agree with other people in saying that the bits were sometimes better than the whole. The whole lacked just that bit of umph to became truly excellent. Maybe also due to the continuously interrupting production and the lack of direction. This is supposed to feel like a car crash just happening and it was more like a skating and skittering along the road at times.

Still, even this is not totally hopeless, there is a wonderful effect with Manrico singing the miserere from the top of the auditorium, lushiously flowing down sound! And the final scene of Luna stabbing Manrico, and then holding him splayed in his arms when he finds out it was his brother...Picture perfect image right there! And the grabbing and pulling and dragging between Leonora and Luna in the last duet is also not for the faint hearted ;-)))

I would have liked to see it again, but it is very much sold out... but i so love the music i might give the one in Barcelona a try this autumn, they have loads and loads of it there later in the year ;-))))

SEHNSUCHT!

UPDATE - small video mit bits and bobs from the recording of the CD :-)


La caméra cachée de Jonas Kaufmann

Click on link above!


La caméra cachée de Jonas Kaufmann - video by Esti, who is making a documentary about JK, she was also filming after the Paris concert...






http://www.jonas-kaufmann.com/


OMG!!! check this out.... ya know the boring, old, ever unchanging Decca site for JK???? Go click!!!

Cute movie and that Lohengrin booming down on ya.... wooowww.... caaaaaan't wait!!!!!

Tosca in Zurich..again and again...

Photo pinched from Klassikakzente.de ;-)...i guess it is a small preview of the upcoming Sehnsucht CD, which will appear on dear Wagner's birthday ( go google! :-p)

Anyways, i am just reserving the space for my thoughts about the Tosca, i've seen it once and tomorrow i will repeat so didn't want to say things i might not mean in the end :-)

More soon....