Joyce di Donato, Joseph Calleja and Thomas Hampson tomorrow at the ROH with Antonio Pappano

WOW!!!!!


DMITRI HVOROSTOVSKY AND ANTONIO PAPPANO IN CONCERTWednesday 24 June at 7.30pm


I am very sorry to be sending you yet another email regarding our concert this Wednesday, 24 June. It seems only yesterday that I wrote to tell you about Rolando Villazón's unavoidable withdrawal due to a serious throat condition and of the wonderful Dmitri Hvorostovsky stepping into the breach. Unfortunately Dmitri Hvorostovsky is now also under doctors' orders to completely rest his voice and it is with great regret that he has had to cancel all his current engagements. We are, of course, very disappointed not to be hearing Dmitri and hope he will soon be fully recovered.

We have therefore turned to some of the wonderful singers that we have with us here at the moment and I am very pleased to be able to tell you that the dazzling American mezzo Joyce DiDonato (Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia), and the young and charismatic Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja and the celebrated American baritone Thomas Hampson, both appearing in La traviata - have agreed to join Antonio Pappano for what we anticipate to be a very exciting evening. Also participating will be the Concert Master of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, violinist Vasko Vassilev.


PS
I sure hope my two favourite baritones, Simon Keenlyside and Dmitri Hvorostovsky make a quick recovery!

Jonas Kaufmann & Dmitri Hvorostovsky in Moscow, part II

If these two don 't make you start you week on a high, nothing will ;-)))



Hvorostovsky & Kaufmann - Alvaro & Don Carlo's duet




Jonas Kaufmann - Flower Song from Carmen




Hvorostovsky & Kaufmann - Pearl Fishers duet




Dmitri Hvorostovsky - Iago's "Credo"




And last, the cheeky but very well sung bit at the end:

Hvorostovsky & Kaufmann - O Sole Mio



BRAVISSIMI!!!

Jonas Kaufmann & Dmitri Hvorostovsky Moscow, 16 December 2008

Very special treat thanks ( very very very much!!) to the videos provided by frufruJ:

In his series of concerts with friends/ singers Dmitri organised this concert past December in Moscow. I have to say at the time i almost went to see this concert, i planned for it and all, but in the end the travel plans were impossible and it just seemed a far too crazy impulse ;-)))... Seeing these videos i regret my decision!! It would have been wonderful! But at least we have these videos and i have to say i absolutely love the way their voices intertwine. And they have some amazing chemistry going on and must have had at least as much fun as the audience.

I hope in the future we will get to see them on stage together more often :-)

So here they are ( the videos are available in high quality, so can be watched in full screen:

Hvorostovsky, Kaufmann, Shvec - Scene from Don Carlo 1/3 (Act2, Convento di San Giusto)



Hvorostovsky, Kaufmann, Shvec - Scene from Don Carlo 2/3




Hvorostovsky, Kaufmann, Shvec - Scene from Don Carlo 3/3



Hvorostovsky & Kaufmann - Rodrigo's Death scene 1/2



Hvorostovsky & Kaufmann - Rodrigo's Death scene 2/2



Dmitri Hvorostovsky - Urna Fatale (Verdi: La Forza del Destino)

So, there was this Tosca.. erm Mario,..erm... Jonas Kaufmann....

Thanks keyakixx for the video

Did i say i had enough of Tosca???? I must have been hallucinating... How can anyone ever get enough of this????

And for anyone missing the Vittoria... here it is!

:-)))

Thanks leonorafl for the video

The Italian Season kicks off at the ROH tonight!

So tonight the party starts!

There will be Traviata with Fleming, Calleja, Hampson and Pappano, there will be Barbiere with Keenlyside, DiDonato, Florez, Corbelli, Furlanetto and Pappano ( be still my heart!!) , Ballo with Vargas, Marambio, Jenis, Manistina and Benini and Tosca with Voigt, Giordani, Terfel and Lacombe.

Director of opera Elaine Padmore gives more details to OMH here. Read also for some comments on the new season, which will kick with another dose of italianita ;-)))

For insights from Tony Pappano about conducting Traviata, Barbiere and Lulu ( of which you can still catch a last performance this weekend) check out this MusicalCriticism interview.

The Thomas Hampson Inteview on OMH here.

For those into Divas and Traviatas here is another interview from MusicalCriticism with Renee Fleming.

Tickets for all this stuff have been in great demand, but check out the ROH page, some last minute tickets here and there are to be had these days, or else you can try your luck with the day tickets.

For those who have been unlucky with Traviata and Barbiere there is another chance with the ROH BP Summer big screen:

Traviata, on the 30th of June, details here.

Barbiere, on the 15th of July, details here.

As for me, i have a confession to make... ehem... iboughtaticketfortheTraviata... STOP! Don't start throwing the rotten tomatoes just yet! I know it looked just a day ago as if i had sworn off Traviata for a while... sadly i have the the willpower of a blackcurrant, i'm destined for Ribena...erm Traviata ;-) I haven't even paid attention to it when the schedule came on sale, and then a week ago i realised it was Tony Pappano conducting! That was my undoing. So yesterday i snatched up a low visibility, high vertigo ticket for the Traviata on Monday, the 22nd.

Don't expect any comparisons to come out of me as a consequence though :-) I have no expectations beyond Signor Pappano making me believe Verdi wrote divine music indeed. :-) There will be no cast comparisons, so no need to try and find me in the House and push me to my death ( besides you wouldn't want any 210 pounds paying patrons to die in the process, would you? ;-))

After which i will indeed do the Ballo twice ( i've never seen it live before and i look forward to hearing Vargas again!) and oh yes, i definitely plan to overdose on the Barbiere ( performances, insight, the lot). I've just heard Simon Keenlyside in Verdi, so it will be more than interesting to hear how fast he can switch to Rossini. I'm quite confident he can :-) How Pappano will switch back and forth from Verdi to Rossini is for me another open question.

Then there is the Tosca.... i know, more Tosca.... well, so far i've stayed away from it, for obvious reasons. With my recent track record if i'd had any voice at all i could very well apply to be an understudy for any role ;-))))) (but you're safe, remember.. i'm still slightly.. indisposed ;-) ) But i have to admit upfront that the name Bryn Terfel is flashing before my eyes every day. There is a slight chance that i will give in in the end... i'll have to wait and see.

So, ladies and gents, brush up on your Italian, let your decoltees and your shoes sparkle and let the 3 signori above entertain you! Heat up your summer with some passione, amore, morte, gelosia, intrigo, risata e dolore :-))

Munich weekend: Russn, Dirndl, Kaiserschmarn, Traviata, Jonas Kaufmann, Simon Keenlyside and more

I knew you'd like this picture ;-)



If you're thinking - what's this gotta do with the Traviata???... well, probably nothing :-) But it turns out i had a bit of a Dirndl&Lederhosen weekend ;-) My weekend away turned out to be filled with loads of stuff, music only being one of them.



Upon arrival there on Friday i made my obligatory way to Marienplatz in search of food and drink and found out the town was celebrating its 851 birthday this very weekend! The preparations were already gearing up and the whole weekend the town was filled with blaring Volksmusic and people proudly wearing their bestest Lederhosen and Dirndl :-) Of course i once again missed out on a great photo-opportunity because i hadn't brought my camera with me.



You're probably giggling at the mental image of it all right now ;-) ... hmmm, well how about this little secret: It was a lot of fun for me and not for any touristy reasons you might think, but because it brought me "back to the past" in a flash to my own years of Dirndl wearing, Polka dancing and Volkslieder singing years. Shocked? :-))) It might be beyond your wildest imagination, but i am indeed the proud owner of my very own little Drindl in which i enjoyed hopping around to Volkslieder next so some cute Lederhosen wearing boy :-) There were some totally yummy grown up versions around this weekend in Munich and some really beautiful dresses as well! I really wish i didn't live miles away and could get a new Dirndl made.... no chance i could still fit into the one i was wearing when i was 12! :-)



I know such frocks are always the joy of tourists, but worn by the locals in the right place and at the right times they are beautiful to look at and a pleasure to be worn :-) Just like kilts in Scotland ( for which i definitely have a soft spot!), trajes de fallera in Valencia, Dirndls in Bayern are the thing to have!


Anyways, in the absence of appropriate attire i joined in the other obligatory activities :-) I went through the selfimposed torture of having a couple of Russn (Weissbier with lemonade), Wurst with Sauerkrauft in this place which i warmly recommend (Hofbrauhaus):

and, of course Kaiserschmarn (eggs, milk, vanilla, butter in gallons, raisins, sugar and heavenly apple-pure with fragrant cinnamon)! If you are experiencing a slow death by pictures i'll not be made responsible! ;-))))

It's all even yummier than you can imagine!

In case you are wondering why not straight beer... well, because as usually, flying from Gatwick means you don't get to sleep in your own bed at night if you fly at 6am! And while i couldn't stay away from local festivities, i didn't want to waste a perfectly good opera ticket by dozing all the way through the evening's Traviata :-)

I did miscalculate though... the icecold beer did wreck my throat .. again! And i sat through the Traviata in the boiling temperature with a parched throat and trying to swallow as little as possible to avoid coughing more than Violetta. I didn't have a marvellous evening. - for various reasons, but the important thing is: my parents absolutely did!!

Probably haven't told you i dragged them all the way to Munich to hear Jonas Kaufmann in an attempt to show them what the fuss is all about and to avoid being disinherited because of visiting them less often than i travel to hear Herr JK sing. So i begged for the tickets some year ago, was lucky enough to get them, organised the trip, booked the hotel, etc and hoped he would do the rest ;-) The fact they would get Angela Gheorghiu as Violetta was supposed to be the cherry on the cake. Well, different cherry again and again, as we found out on the evening when arriving at the opera.

I stressed about the change, i stressed about who they would like and who they wouldn't, i guess i mentally even prepared an extensive defense speech, in fact i probably stressed so much i forgot to relax and just enjoy... I needn't have worried! My parents couldn't care less that Mrs Gheorghiu wasn't there, as long as Jk was, they were happy. I fact, to my utter amazement and... em, embarrassment.... they mutated into fans from his first notes. The kind of fans who shout Bravo Jonas!, who i had to stop from carrying 3 magazines to be autographed, who i had to reassure that no, he wouldn't leave before saying hi to everyone at the stagedoor, who had to have a photo taken with him and yes, sighhhhhh... the kind who i literally had to peel off him to leave...

Now you are laughing, but i assure you, you wouldn't have, had you been me, trying to play it cool though this all! ;-) I'm glad they had a blast though and i'm sure they wouldn't mind repeating the experience ;-) Next time i'll be firmer... only 1 autograph per person!!

On to the Traviata.... the above Provenza and Non udrai rimproveri i have borrowed off someone, thought you migth want to hear Simon Keenlyside's first Germont ;-)

As for my impressions of the night... they are mixed bag. First of all i broke my own two main rules: have a rest before a performance and don't have expectations. I was too tired, not feeling well, suffering from lack of air and excess of heat in the hall to really be able to concentrate on the performance. Besides telling myself not to expect anything in a Traviata is like telling a fish not to swim! So the fact that i didn't fly off high with emotions on the night is probably more my own doing than anything that happened or did not happen on stage.

The conducting was just as bland as i had heard it from the first night, not maybe the worst in itself, but making Verdi sound monotonous is not a good thing. It's not supposed to sound like a bunch of repeating rhythms with accents of percussion. And the passages from too slow to too fast were brisk. It just lacked overall in intensity, which didn't help my own problem. It is a fact that good singing alone cannot make a performance become exceptional. Everything has to fit and glue together. You can still enjoy the parts and appreciate individual quality, but it is unlikely to take you to that special place :-) Traviata for me used to be an easy trip to that "place"...normally...

I think on this night, knowing it all too well and expecting certain peek moments by default did not work for me. The production in itself didn't help either. It wasn't bad or ugly, on the contrary, just unexpectedly realistic. Germont does not warm up to Violetta's pain until the end, in their first encounter he's brought the daughter along for greater impact, impatiently looks at his watch and makes signs behind Violetta's back that he will be with his daughter as soon as he is done. He can't even bring himself to shake Violettas hand or make some gesture of warmth when she asks for a fatherly embrace. Ok, the man is on a mission, but hearing Simon Keenlyside's warm voice and seeing the gestures of rejection is somewhat startling :-) He makes a very believable character, too much so ;-) Alfredo i'm afraid did not have a better fate in the eyes of this producer. In the Brindisi he is more concentrated on swishing a cup of champagne across his shoulders and behind his back, impressing the guests with his bending skills and daring them to try the same trick, than actually paying attention to the girl! Ok, i was amazed at the gymnastics but thought... what the ???? He should be all over her, shouldn't he? He's not the shy lover in Un di felice either, more assured than expected and things feel quickly resolved to both parties satisfaction. Come second act he is blissfully unaware of anything going on, contently balancing on a swing in the garden comtemplating the satisfying state of his life. When she is lost in tears trying to say her good byes he laughs, not taking her seriously at all and ultimately assured that she just loves him to bits and that is how she gets, an emotional girl, not anything else. In the third act there is no throwing of money around, he packs the money in a controlled cold fury in her hand.

Realistic? Surely..... Violetta after all is misunderstood and alone almost to the end. You could boil the story down to the hard facts, but i don't think Verdi meant it that way and Dumas certainly didn't. Or maybe i am just incurably romantic and would like to believe that in spite of misunderstandings, social constraints, innocence and misguided pride the binding emotion in this story is love. There certainly is in Verdi's music and some of that chemistry and tender emotion got lost for me in the evening's performance. I think the concept in itself sought to eliminate the extra sweetness in the plot. The rather rudimentary conducting never managed to touch upon that layer in the music. Sadly, it is probably exactly this extra sweetness that i tend to fall for in the Traviata. I've not grown tired of it in 30 yeards and i missed it the other night.

But let's not blow things out of proportion, this is not a post about my favourite Traviatas or a box of Kleenex that never got used on the night. It wasn't a bad night and i don't expect to be knocked over by a tide of emotions every time i step into an opera house. Sometimes you just appreciate good singing, since it is not given that you will always get it.

Myrto Papatanasiu, who was a last minute replacement for the ailing Anja Harteros, who herself replaced the ill Angela Ghoerghiu did a good job. She sang a vocally secure and technically quite accomplished Violeta with good diction and elegant stage presence. Her performance was rightly applauded and she gets mayor brownie points for pulling it off so well musically. The problem for me was that she was altogether too secure and selfcontained to make a truly believable fragile Violetta. Her voice has an extremely secure but glassy edge in the high notes and i just missed a bit of vulnerability in her performance.

Jonas Kaufmann played his character, such as it was designed in the production, very believably and his voice was secure and thrilling all the way. There were some beautiful and elegant piano notes at the end of Dei miei bollenti spiriti and the Parigi o cara will always be a reminder for me of the first time i heard not only his voice, but his special brand of singing. In the more energetic passages, such as the O mio rimorso, one could hear glimpses of what could one day be an exciting Manrico, should he ever decide to sing Trovatore. Overall i think that i prefer his more vulnerable take on the Alfredo, like for example in the Paris Marthaler Traviata. I missed some of the depth of feeling that i have heard so many times in his Mario this year or the lost and confused overwhelming passion of his Jose, shades of which could maybe be part of Alfredo. Obviously this particular production build Alfredo along tougher, less romantic lines.

Simon Keenlyside's Germont was a very pleasant response to the question of his development into further Verdi roles. Just listen to the above bits! The singing stays incredibly elegant all throughout and the flexible drive behind Non udrai is something not usually found in typical Verdi baritones. I enjoyed hearing hat second bit so much!!!! The voice expands without any pressure to fill all notes and he can crank it up more than one would expect ;-) What makes listening to him a real pleasure is that in Verdi, as in everything he sings, he brings to the lines a care for details, a creativity in shades that few strive to achieve these days. Proof to anyone who cares to listen carefully that Verdi is so much more than belting out strings of hum-ta-ta.

The singers definitely showed a better understanding of Verdi than the conductor tonight. All three were generously and repeatedly applauded, after some 10 min of applause at the end i stopped counting. And the main arias within were also punctuated with applause, which gave a slight feeling of concert rather opera, but with well known pieces this frequently happens :)

On a last note... nice to see Jonas Kaufmann finally singing on the Munich stage and wonderful to see the bond between him and his home town audience already growing strongly. I'd say from what i have seen, happy circumstances for both parties :-)

ROH Friends Booking Period 1 Season 09/10

Thought this was appropriate, whadya think?

So, feeling a bit bruised? ;-) are your pockets significantly lighter? Then i guess you are one of those who managed to get their hands on the ball today :-)

The + sides:

i didn't have a particularly good connection today myself, but still the site felt significantly more stable and quicker than the last times round. No lost pages, no delays and once inside it was all wusssh wussshhhh, as if the turbo has been put on the engine, basically click and you where there as in any normal day of purchase. So some improvements noted, thanks!

I have found out from many people that they have been very successfull today in purchasing tickets, mostly from abroad. What they are not saying i feel obliged to point out: this is one of the few European houses where things go smoothly, you can choose your seat and have a fair chance of getting what you wanted, in absolutely equal circumstances with the locals. And they have a very caring and friendly system for people with disabilities who get 50% discount and access to any seats in the house they wish to take, not only especially designated ones. Also, because the season is split in 4 and you don't have to commit to a full year's worth of tickets it becomes financially a bit more sustainable. I don't know the Met, but my experience with the French, German, Austrian Houses has been far from similar: written requests a year in advance, no choice of seats, then a combination of seat and price you can't control and so far has not worked out to my best. Basically, to secure a seat i have ended up paying significantly more than i ever pay in the ROH and for significantly worse seats.

Don't even start me on the cases where the sales are outsourced.... any chances of changing or returning tickets are nullified. I particularly... "adore" the systems where you ask for them and then the tickets come out of the black box through a cryptic system nobody feels ready to disclose. Don't get me wrong i accept the fact that in most houses, local subscribers get priority... but i have much less sympathy for the tendency to rip off external visitors just because they have less control over the system.

Under the circumstances i strongly support the equal opportunities sales system at the ROH, doesn't matter where you live, if you pay your subscription you have access to the same services, same for general sales. And why should it be different? It doesn't matter who the customers are, as long as they can and want to pay the price of a ticket they should be treated with the same courtesy. You don't want to know what chances you have of getting a decent ticket or having a nice evening out if you have a disability and try to go to the opera in places like Paris or Munich... I have friends who have tried and i can say i am sincerely and deeply appal ed at what they have been faced with!

So, on behalf of all the visitors who benefit from the openness i am unable to benefit from when i visit other places i say thanks to the ROH ;-)

The - sides:

8 am...!!!!! Unless you are retired, not yet in school or take a day off for the booking this is not a time of day you will be normally sitting next to your computer or telephone. You will be in a car, walking, on a bus, on the t... ( cross that ,you won't be on the tube... you will be sitting in the frigging bus!) , etc.

Linking into the above, i love all my visiting European friends to bits, but really the time difference worked in their favour this time , by 9am one is usually sitting at a desk :-)

I liked the 10am slots muuuch better! Can we have them back next time, please?

Any other feedback from others who have booked today is welcome :-)

Notes:

The run on the Carlo appeared to be as fast and furious as the one on the Barber, and i didn't expect that... so was the run on the Tristan i think :-) Everyone i know is flying in for this Carlo and quite a few are for the Tristan :-) The Carmen is also a + extra for some :-) The Linda is unjustly neglected it appears.... if there is any way i can make it happen, i will really want to be there and listen to it.

A special thanks goes from the bottom of my heart to "k.o.u." :-)

Anja Harteros is Violetta in the Munchen Traviata

Image from the Bayrische Staatsoper page

The Bayrische Staatsoper announces that Anja Harteros is the new Violetta in the Traviata on the 12th and 15th of June, alongside Jonas Kaufmann as Alfredo and Simon Keenlyside as Germont.

Great!!! Since her Amelia at the ROH in Boccanegra i have been looking forward to hear her again! My trip has suddently become more exciting :-)

Between Cardiff and Munchen (Aida, Traviata and Singer of the World competition)

I should so be working!!!! And I swear I have been trying since this morning, but there is just too much music in my head getting in the way…. so you will get this “mixed salad” post so I can exorcise the music out of my system :-)

Considering none of the things going through my mind I have heard live it is quite something that they influence me so much, but I guess this is a good thing. I have however heard all of these performances on either radio or TV and whether or not you care to read my thoughts, apparently they want out.

At “home” we are in the middle of the Cardiff Singer of the world competition, which I have never been able to enjoy live, but this has just become my “must do” two years from now. It may not be the most technically accomplished and refined singing you will have ever heard, but that is NOT the point of it! The point is, it is living, breathing and yess, singing proof that opera and song are still very much alive and kicking! And that young people DO love this music, DO want to sing it and that there are exciting voices out there to thrill us for years to come. I can’t explain how much it means to me to see young people singing this music and also young audience discovering it. It is very often that as a relatively young person you feel isolated in the world of classical music, especial I today’s theatres. And almost every time I step into one I ask myself with sadness why the music doesn’t capture the hearts of children and young people? I am inclined to think that it is mostly because they don’t know it rather that they don’t like it. But it is sad to be 30ish and feel like the youngest in the bunch when you to the opera and other classical music events.

Anyways, this competition gives me a boost of confidence that these may be just appearances. The other positive effect is to see young artist absolutely passionate with what they do, with singing and performing. In a house performance it is so often about perfection, the perfectly pitched note, the right gesture, etc that you can forget this is not an ordinary line of work, it is about art and people deeply involved with what they do. This becomes so much more evident in a competition like Cardiff. Of course there is drive and ambition in every competitor, but the passion, the total enthusiasm and raw talent is also there. And at this level it becomes quickly evident who is driven just by ambition and who really wants to do this for all their life, because they simply cannot imagine doing anything else. And in the hall in Cardiff it must be even more exiting, as you probably feel both the nerves and excitement of the competitors in a more direct way. As fully developed artist later they all learn to dissimulate, to hide their emotions and nerves and also maybe no longer dive head first in a performance, but right now they give it their all and you get them on a more open, personal level. I wouldn’t want this on an opera stage ( I really don’t want to see the excruciating effort they make to deliver that amazing performance that blows me away, I think we are really only supposed to see the magic on stage, even though it might sound cruel) but, in such a competition, as an exception, I think that is part of its special appeal and it is also something that shows the potential within them. Full and cold control might not actually convey that this is what they are meant to be doing at this stage in their development.

I have watched excerpts of two nights on line and unfortunately will miss most of the rest, but I plan to catch up as soon as I can on the BBC videos. And we should listen and watch as these are names that we will see soon on opera house posters. I will at this stage no necessarily name all names, let’s see it all and then I might get back and mention some names, especially if they don’t go all the way, but I felt they did leave a mark on me. For the 2 nights that I have seen I have been wowed by sopranos! They must be good if I preferred them above all others :-) . I also got a feeling that the category weakest overall in the opera world at the moment is not the tenor, but the baritone! Yes, we have some amazing ones singing songs and there are a couple of well established names in opera as well. But by far not enough!! An they seem to be still in very scarce supply among young singers as well, which is worrying… Operas don’t stand on tenors and sopranos alone, to get that all rounded, blow your mind effect you need equally good mezzos, baritones and basses. And the latter two are in really scarce supply at the moment, baritones especially… at least the feeling I get these days…

There is of course the usual debate about if singers already performing on big stages should participate or not, etc but at the end of the day I believe the judges are aware of the different opportunities each competitor has had and they don’t judge by them but by the talent and potential of each singer, and as it has been proven time and time again, you never know where the underdog may appear from :-)

For the ones who want to know more about contestants, the competition, see some details here is the BBC site:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/cardiffsinger/sites/2009/pages/competitors.shtml


I have some complaints as well ;-) I wish we got some more coverage of the song contest as well, as many of the competitors appear in both and it is really a pity that song is often treated as the poor step sister or opera, because there is much to be gained for both audiences and the young artists emotionally, technically and artistically from the genre. Secondly, it think it is unfair that the BBC videos cannot be watched from abroad. I don’t mean the full program, but one aria each on a competitor’s page either? Why not? I thought this was about opportunities, exposure, etc… so why not let the whole world see one or two arias for each? Why not let the public outside the UK take a liking to an artist before they become part of the engine/ industry? And don’t give me the copyright and such chat, surely a competition like this and the singers themselves deserve a bit of sharing.

And from the young and talented I move ( erm… swiftly? ;-))) to the equally talented but well established ( where I am sure many of the young ones dream to be one day ;-))

Munich… Verdi, Aida, Traviata, Daniele Gatti, Jonas Kaufmann, Angela Gheorghiu, Simon Keenlyside, Salvatore Licitra, Ecaterina Gubanova, Kristin Lewis, Giacomo Prestia, Christian van Horn….Keri- Lynn Wilson

Enough names there to give any opera lover an increased heart-beat! ;-)

Aida – premiere, it is pretty known right now that Gatti was boed! Unbelievable to me! Yes, the march in Aida could have been a tad more imposing, with a bit more gravitas, but otherwise what I heard on Bayern4 was utterly beautiful and it felt like true Verdi, the duet Aida Amneris in the 3rd scene was incredibly elegant and powerful.

Talking Amneris- Ecaterina Gubanova, don’t know how the voices sounded in the house, but over the radio it was catchy and secure in all registers with a nice, full lower register, my kind of mezzo! Brava! I wasn’t nearly as taken with Kristin Lewis Aida. That was some horrendous Italian, so incredibly closed… uuuff! And it felt much less secure both in the upper and lower registers. She was good, but I didn’t feel as deserving of the massive acclaim she got. For me Amneris definitely outshone her.

Salvatore Licitra did the best he can and that is not little. The role is a struggle for any tenor and he has been singing a number of these difficult parts these last years ( I remember a Forza in Wien). His voice has a nice sound but by the end there wasn’t much energy left for some nice piani, still good job… especially as I am trying to think who else out there is singing Radames these days. Not many and none so much better that one could say bah! to Licitra’s performance the other day. I am looking forward to Marcelo Alvarez’ Radames next year in ROH :-) Though even for him the role will be a pretty big hat to fill. The basses… the King was better than Ramphis. Definitely! Better voice, warmer, securer in all areas, just more enjoyable to listen to. CVH ( Christian van Horn) definitely had the edge over Giacomo Prestia imo. Ok the last is more experienced and had from the public reaction sung there quite a number of times before, but I heard what I heard. I am sure that a couple of years down the road CVH will make a wonderful Ramphis and other even more exciting roles. One to listen out for! ( and he deserves a special brownie point for not breaking his neck in those ridiculous space-boots he had to wear!)

Nothing to say about the production, haven’t seen it and the few photos available are neither shocking, nor traditional, neither too out there nor anything else in particular.

On to the next day’s Traviata…. More Verdi!

Can I start by saying one thing? Can somebody please switch Mrs Wilson for Gatti just for the Friday performance?? Pleasseeeee????

One can dream….. Ain’t gonna happen, so I guess I will have to deal with it. That Traviata wasn’t Verdi! Not to me, not compared to any other I have seen or heard. That was… ummm, how to put it… a weird Radezky march type thing with a constant start, rush, run, stop hiiiii hiiii hiiiiii ( insert panting noises from the running), rush, run, stop hiiiiii hiiii….etc I mean – please forgive my bluntness – it was as if the woman had Jack the Ripper himself running behind her!!!! And I can honestly say I am having a hard time being so harsh, I don’t like saying it, but it needs to be said I think. Verdi is not a loud, marching band sound in full rush with some bland, indescript tam tam tam tam foot tapping inserted here and there. It is continuous, flowing, emotional, beautiful arches of music. It didn’t help that this style of conducting also allowed constant interruptions after each aria for applause ( ok, very well deserved applause… but come oooon…)

Lucky for the all the payers of the overpriced seats ( not in general, but if you are a victim of the early booking system you’ll know what I mean… and yes I whinge because for the prices I am paying I have never ever had such bad seats at the ROH!) the singing was in a completely different league. Don’t think they got much rehearsal time, but when Angela Gheorghiu, Jonas Kaufmann and Simon Keenlyside show up for the Traviata, all in excellent form, you can expect not only every note to sit, harmonies to happen, but you end up being touched. The singing was very very good and thank God they knew the score (unlike the Mrs with the baton…) and the three seemed to marvellously end up on the same wave length to deliver some beautiful lines and intertwine their voices to great effect. More after the weekend when I hope to hear it live will all 3 in same form ( crossing fingers AND toes ;-))

Special mention ( cause I know there are more than a few dyyyyying to now this as I was!) Simon Keenlyside made his debut as Germont.. sooooo, was he good?? LOL…. Won’t say… I’ll just keep it to myself and enjoy this glowing feeling ;-)))) …. Ok, I won’t be that bad, he was … ohhhhhh, woooooowwwww, OMG!!!!! You get it, don’t you? Hope he sings it at the ROH soon…those lines, those piani, that elegance, that feeling…. And I haven’t seen it! I’ve read all kinds of comments, but him everyone agrees that it was the best Germont they have ever heard In Munich. I agree that he is one of the very bets I have ever heard (recordings included).

More of this next week…

And NOW I can work! Don’t worry you don’t need to read all this, I just needed to write it :-)

La flor de la canela desde el gran corazon de Juan Diego Florez

Thanks for the video supayperu

On the 02 of June 2009 Juandi gave a beautiful concert in Madrid, and he will repeat on the 7th in replacement of the Duca de has decided to postpone for the moment.

You can read a review in El mundo, and also watch a small video. And it is all over the blogs ( just look at the blog list on the right here )

Around 6:40 in the above video is what you should watch out and listen for. He came out after the concert and greeted the people who had gathered to watch the concert in the public viewing and dedicated to his fellow Peruvians this song which i absolutely adore:

La flor de la canela...

Y recuerda que ..jasmines en el pelo....

Gracias Juandi por emocionarme y traerme con tu voz y tu corazon abierto un precioso momento de felicidad! Espero un dia poder escucharte esta cancion en vivo :-)

Enjoy!

PS Goooood, i will so indulge in every milisecond of this coming Almaviva... and not only once ;-)

Win Tickets Liederabend Jonas Kaufmann Munich

Photo from http://www.jonas-kaufmann.info/

Update- Important! Please beware of the fact that unfortunately only residents in Germany can participate (it is written in the general terms and conditions )

The Liedermatinee with Jonas Kaufmann on the 26.07.2009 in Munich (11am) is sold out!

BUT, according to Jonas official page, BMW is sponsoring 8x2=16 tickets for said Liedermatinee. That is 8 pairs of 2, not 16 singles.

All you have to do is fill out the form in the link on the bottom of the main page and participate in the draw! (form opens in a separate window if you click on --> Registrieren Sie sich hier)

While you're there you can have a dig around the site ;-)))

Good luck !!!

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Ticketverlosung
Jonas Kaufmann, der Botschafter für den neuen BMW 5er Gran Turismo, singt im Rahmen der Münchner Opernfestspiele "Die schöne Müllerin" von Franz Schubert. Gewinnen Sie exklusiv 8x2 Karten für die bereits ausverkaufte Liedermatinée von Jonas Kaufmann am 26.07.2009 um 11:00 Uhr in der Heimatstadt von BMW