To a much too beautiful start...

What a wonderful beginning to my musical year!!!

After what I have seen and heard in the last weeks of the old year I would say it is exactly what the “soul” doctor ordered!

At my parents home we are lucky to get all things artsy/musical like 3sat, arte, mezzo, etc so I was all to happy to indulge in the “Operafest” 3sat and ZDF had prepared around the 10 most popular operas, according to viewers’ choice. A brilliant idea and I wouldn’t question the choice of productions that was broadcasted because if we all start saying what our favourite production of a certain opera is and try to decide on one it will all end up in blood and tears ;-) However, when you indulge in such a density of them over a short period of time you realise a lot of things about your own tastes and preferences in music and opera productions.

And you are allowed to frown and laugh at the fact that I scheduled my family and friends visits at holiday time around the opera-broadcast schedule. I basically ended up dragging people along to see these :-) or making sure I was back home to watch. Thank God most of them were pretty late at night due to time difference so everyone is still talking to me ;-) Although my parents did complain about the overdose of opera in German with no subtitles…

So there was: Lohengrin, Rosenkavalier, Don Giovanni, Tosca, Aida, Fidelio, Boheme and Zauberflote. Unfortunately I wasn’t home any more for the Carmen and Traviata. But I had seen both recently and we watched the Carmen from the Scala together. Of course I did vote as well and before you ask, yes I votes for the winner too, Traviata :-) My favourites change these days frequently, but because I was home and we were going down memory lane opera wise anyway, I just couldn’t deny all those 40 or more Traviatas seen :-) You can google all the details yourself, I’ll just resume which they were: Lohengrin Munich June 2009 (Jones, JK, Harteros, etc), Rosenkavalier (BadenBaden2009, Fleming, etc), Don Giovanni (Salzburg, Kusej 2006, Hampson, Schafer, etc), Tosca (Bregenz, Himmelmann2009, Michael, Saks, etc), Aida(Bregenz, Vick2009), Fidelio (Valencia, Valencia 2006 (Mehta,´Alli; Meier, Seiffert, Salminen), Boheme (2009 movie, Villazon Netrebko), Zauberflote (Zurich 2007, Kusej, Strehl, Mosuc, etc).

Tell you what, by the end of it I was sure I need I break from Regietheater for at least half a year! I don’t mind it, in fact I like to see modern twists on long known operas every now and then but I realised that I could not live in a world where that is all I would see of opera. Of the above Fidelio and Rosenkavalier were sort of traditional and Boheme was the movie. However the latter 2 operas are far from being any of my favourites, in fact they are the two I like least of the above list (and yes I mean Rosenkavalier and Boheme). Fidelio was an interesting set and well worked costumes, but other than that it was rather the reverse extreme, stand still singing all along. And I don’t like feeling like in a costume museum with back-round music being played. As for the others, however good the singing was, I ended up being slightly frustrated by the constant distraction from the music, the guessing game as to what was supposed to happen next and all the elements that had little to do with the story or what the text was saying at that particular moment in time. I knew all the operas and could in the end filter out the disturbing elements and try to find my way back to the music. But as the days went by I tried to think of somebody who had never seen opera before, didn’t know the pieces, but say had the curiosity to sit through all of these productions. I honestly wonder what they would have understood? It seemed like a video mix of a news channel with current images of crime and normal life tossed together with a back ground of classical music. The stories just blurred into each other, distinctions lost. Kusej’s Giovanni and Zauberflote stood out a bit , but they were in many ways similar as visual treatment, for two operas which are not. Also all of these productions seemed to favour harsh light, bizarre dressing taste (or lack thereof) and many also considerable stage mechanics. Of course I am exaggerating, as the experiment in itself is exaggerated. But compiled like this I felt struck by how much of the identity of the pieces was lost and how similar the visual interpretation became.

And it is particularly sad because some of them were absolutely brilliantly sung, like the Lohengrin and the Don Giovanni! Well, the Tosca and the Aida where double disappointments, not much to salvage besides Saks’ Scarpia. I love Aida, but the blue giant feet, the splashing about in the water and the Aida as a cleaning lady on top of the mediocre singing was too much to take. Never mind about Mario singing dolci mani with Tosca nowhere in sight (well she was somewhere on top of the eye, fluffing about with the pink frock..) The eye movements were interesting, but out of context I felt and I any case if I want to see really cool engineering tricks I go to the cinema and watch the Matrix… or James Bond ;-) Now those are tricks! And there is a place and time for everything, directors just have to get it right. And there are plenty opera directors out there who get it right and who find ways of interpreting and telling the same old story anew, without clashing with the music or disconnecting the visuals from the actual plot. Why many believe that “modern” directing in opera means inserting a completely new story into the old I don’t know. Some clearly believe that the old one can be chucked away easily, but they are wrong, it just cannot disappear, it is right there in the music and the text. Piling sets on top of it and alien gestures does not delete it, just hides it under the rubble, still visible, making it just an unsatisfying and confusing experience. But there are those like Carsen, McVicar, etc who love the music and the story and use their imagination in telli the story in a fresh way, basically bringing it alive in front of me, while maintaining its magic, the illusion of the show. It doesn’t need to become reality to feel real.

In any case, not all was bad, even these had their moments, like the beginning of Act 3 in Lohengrin which has much more intimacy than many traditional productions, who bring too much of the “hero from another world” into the relationship between Elsa and Lohengrin (if only building that house would not take 2 acts of .. well.. rubble!) (And I haven’t forgotten I still owe you all the story of “my” Lohengrin..) And the bikini-clad ladies in the Giovanni had something appropriately chilling to them, giving the performance a darker tone.

As to the singing and the music, well, there is the only reason why I watched all in the end, in spite of the productions. I could never get enough of hearing Anja’s Elsa and Jonas’ Lohengrin, I rediscovered Christine Schafer as Donna Anna and found as always, that she is one of the most touching singers I’ve ever seen, it was good to see Ildebrando as Leporello (something he is really good at, and to forget this stiff Escamillo), the Rosenkavalier had a great cast ( which I could listen to for hours (just not singing that particular opera…nice arias but to me it just doesn’t glue together and there are far too many ladies singing too much of the opera), Waltraud Meier is a wonderful Leonore, but Peter Seiffert is I’m afraid past his Florestans (and it is true what they say about Valencia opera – absolutely amazing orchestra and chorus!!). Boheme is a movie, so it all sounded good and looked good, I watched it, did the crying, but am still left with the same feeling as before: I never have the actual impulse to go and see it, I don’t long after it. I will trod along for a good reason, but somehow the end of it never leaves me wanting to book the next performance again. Which doesn’t stop me from really liking Musetta and having a favourite out of it: “vecchia zimarra”. I just don’t like it, that’s it. (or maybe I’m just waiting for Mr Tony Pappano to conduct it and do the “unlocking” for me.. after all it worked wonders with Tosca! )

On top of this we watched the Carmen from the Scala and listened on New Year’s Eve to the Met broadcast of the Carmen premiere… I know it’s hideous to compare, but at such short distance from each other impossible not to do :-) Obviously can’t compare the productions, but I can say some things about the on from Scala: I can’t understand all the uproar and the fuss. It wasn’t mindblowing in any way. not bad, not good, not too out there, not too anything if you ask me. I don’t think this is a production to stand out in any way. The was gratuitous flesh in a production that was supposed to be about feminine values, there were loads of priests and crosses which didn’t add, but luckily didn’t disturb much. Costumes were ok, but I have seen better pants and more flattering frocks for the ladies. The lighting was really good, but overall it felt as though the detailed work had gone into filling the space around the main singers, into putting movement, action around the set constantly. I liked Micaela transforming into Jose’s mother, but that is about it. I don’t know how it came across live, but to me the focus was everywhere else, but on the main characters. Such details on chorus and dancers, etc (how much this added is debatable) and such lack of it for Jose, Carmen, even Escamillo. That was a topical Escamillo if I’ve ever seen one (I’ll not go into details about the bull picture and all the rest, as this, for anyone who knows a bit about Spain had nothing much to do with what corridas are all about and all to do with preconceptions and stereotypes). The interaction between the characters lacked something and there were details which spoiled the atmosphere a couple of times (at least on close up via TV): Carmen wears lycra pantyhose all the time!! (Carmen, the gypsy.. lycra pantyhose.. who thought that was a good idea!) , Jose looks in the last act as if he just came from the tailors, nice suit jacket, pressed, crease-free shirt, make up all in place. And the big scare, the rape scene is … well, not scary enough and rather funny at times (one hand leaning on Carmen, one hand fumblig pants… at least they stopped there because imagine Jose singing the end of Carmen with his pants around his ankles… no giggles!). I’m not saying it couldn’t have been… possibly yes. Does it add anything to the end? No, the killing is quite enough violence. Or if you do go with the idea, it must be convincing, this wasn’t.

The singing was of course a different thing, as the French have said it these days as Jose, Jonas Kaufmann reigns supreme, and I would have loooved to hear him live in this role! Anita R has indeed a wonderful voice and she will be a very interesting singer to follow, but she has yet to go a while before becoming Carmen other than vocally :-) Barenboim made interesting choices for the music, but I have to say retrospectively I liked Pappano more and also Yannick Nézet-Séguin in the Carmen from the Met, maybe a more expressive, passionate Carmen is more my thing.

Talking about the one from the Met, I was curious to hear it as I saw the same Jose and Carmen (Algana and Garanca) sing it in ROH and wasn’t all that blow away. Live the production I hadn’t seen before was not as good as on DVD, it’s nice all right,and for me personally works better than the Scala one. Still I would definitely be a buyer of a more modern Carmen (eg the one in Zurich which had it’s moments and it’s interesting images). But at that point I wasn’t convinced Garanga is the thing. But hearing her now from the Met I liked her more and I think I will end up linking her as Carmen, that is if she puts the reigns on the overacting in ROH. I think she still slaps the men-eater a bit to thickly on. Vocally however she sounds like Carmen, at least from the Met she did and she can really sing! As far as Ecsamillo go…. My favourite is definitely… Kyle Ketelsen. Ildebrando is scared of the horse and can’t really scare Jose. Mariusz Kwiecien is not quite there vocally and I think Schrott didn’t have his best day at the Scala premiere when the video was made. But at least he looks and acts very convincingly like his character. I would like to hear him live with this as well. But I have seen Kyle Ketelsen sing it and he hits the right spot of vocal comfort with the score and convincing, underplayed self-assuredness. Algna I am sure is a wonderful Jose… on the day he doesn’t confuse it with Turridu. He can sing the role well, and it is audible, but at some point the acting, or rather overacting takes over and music goes out the window… and that happened at least when I heard from both the ROH and the Met, before the end of the last act, and I can’t say I like it.

So, once again, I end up hugging the ROH Carmen DVD close to my heart and brood over not having seen it live. It still is the one I think about whenever I think of listening to Carmen.

But, all of these more or less satisfying productions, and especially the 3sat Regietheaterfest left me longing for a bit of illusion, a bit of romanticism and to just find back to the simple, pure pleasure of music. Which is exactly what I got with Werther! And I am lucky enough to continue this mood with 3 lieder recitals, the first one being right his very evening:

Click on the joint picture for more details of the Simon Keenlyside recital at the Wigmore tonight. It will be repeated on Monday, for anyone wanting to go. I was hoping for Dichterliebe… but no such luck :-) Still I like the program and am greatly looking forward to hearing Simon again! Back in London after a highly praised Macbeth in Wien and a Posa in Munich, where he sang it even better than in London a few months ago! Which I thing is unfair of him!!! ;-))) But it is probably the consequence of careful voice development at the hands of Verdi :-) I’m happy for Mr Keenlyside and will continue to cross my fingers for his debut later in the year in his well loved Rigoletto :-)

The will me more lieder next week from Christian Immler and Helmut Deutsch (thanks Intermezzo for the tip!) and again click on HD’s picture for details. These will be more modern works that I have not heard before, so greatly looking forward to the encounter!

And then the week will end with Joyce DiDonato’s canzone d’amore :-) At the Wigmore again, details in the picture:

Oh, yes and there was this Werther in Paris during the weekend… the question being of course, to be or not to be across the channel … with the Eurostar.

Maybe all this will just be too much beauty to take in!