Carmen, à la recherche du temps perdu…..

Suffering from an acute « Carmenitis » this weekend I have been in search of a fix :-)

All the way to Munich on a beautiful sunny day, the first true summer day and the first time this year I have been able to sit down in the sun and have a cold beer… the little pleasures in life! And there was some revisitation of Kaiserschmarn and other local “Leckerbissen”. It’s an absolutely enjoyable town, bursting with green from every corner after a long period of rain and I find myself falling under its almost Mediterranean charm again and again. Which is lucky I guess because it is also the place which gives me white hairs every single booking period and is the cause of endless frustration. But once I am there it’s all too easy to forget all that and just relax and enjoy! And by the time I leave I always look forward to the next visit, which is something I will try to keep in mind... for the next booking period ;-)))

And this time I had a Carmen to look forward to as well. Funnily enough I have listened to loads of them this year, especially from the Met and I missed seeing it live.
It’s not easy to write about it and I have been trying to gain some distance from last night to put things into perspective for myself as well and filter out any elements that really had nothing to do with the show itself, even if they influenced my experience of it.

After all it had nothing to do with the music or the show that the place is a baking oven in the summer where oxygen is at scarce supply. Sitting around here at 16-18 degrees in the house with all your senses wide awake is how I am used to do things, not fighting for air on every breath and having to consider if I can physically sit through the 2nd part without having to disturb my neighbours because I have to go in search of air before I pass out… Silly as it might seem, being able to breath properly does influence your enjoyment of music :-( And having an evening I have been literally dreaming about for months and months jeopardised like that is not what I had been expecting.

Anyhow, nothing I can or could do about that, so I have been chewing down my frustration to find my way back to the music and what I would like to hold on to from last night.

The biggest draw was the singing and it was definitely the highlight of the evening!

There was even a surprise change of cast as Kyle Ketelsen made an early debut at the BSO as Escamillo replacing the ill Ildebrando. I’d say he made quite a splash ;-) The role seems to suit him very well, not only acting wise but also vocally, as he had those smooth warm lows that many miss in Votre toast. And he definitely had the personality to go with it! Finally a self-assured Escamillo, who managed to credibly be a people’s person as well. He has charisma and he worked it very well. And the French diction was really good. He deservedly received applause after his aria and an even more enthusiastic reception at the curtain calls. Congratulations to Kyle for his BSO debut! :-) (Maybe when he comes back to the BSO in February for his planned run of Escamillo he will even bring his own toreador costume with him, from an Amsterdam production I think he participated in. I would have loved to see that instead of what he wore last night ;-))))

Micaela is a bit of an ungrateful role but not when the singing is as skilled as Genia Kühmeier’s. Her tone is well crafted and even if sometimes the high notes can be on the hard side, her duet with Jose in the 1 act was one of the most beautiful moments in the entire evening! In fact of all the Carmen’s I have seen in the last year this is by far my very favourite! The way her and Jonas voice melded in the softest of piani was a joy! I wasn’t that blown away by her aria in the 3rd act, but the extra watered down music there made it feel unusually long and trying, by not fault of Mrs Kuhmeier whatsoever. She too would have deserved a nicer look, something more young and girlish, what they made her wear looked a tad too motherly… But I am quite taken with the way she sings and very curious of how her voice will suit lieder (she has a recital at Wigmore coming up) It’s likely to sound warmer on the smaller scale of lieder so I am quite looking forward to that and hoping I will be able to go listen.

Elina Garanca has been hailed as the best Carmen. I think it is a matter of taste, and it's not necessarily mine, however, she sings absolutely beautifully! And that is sooo much more than what you get from most Carmen’s today. And it all starts with singing the part well :-) I don’t think one has to have the deepest darkest voice ever to sing the role, in fact my own absolute favourite in the role is a soprano :-) Elina is a very good Carmen, there is no doubt about that, but I did like her more in the Met broadcast and definitely at the ROH than in Munich. Carmen is almost as much about personality and character than it is about singing. And as said I have seen her pull it off quite successfully at the ROH recently. Some details I had doubts about back then, but it was a question of direction at the time. This at the BSO I think was the same case, or rather lack of direction. The dancing was inexistent and she was on her own much more successful at mockery than at seduction. However having said that, I feel they didn’t make the best out of her skills in this production, not even musically. Her amazing singing skills are elegant and smooth and in this particular role the music needs to shape the contrasts and moods more, not smooth it out even more. Even if we know Elina is a wonderful belcanto singer, I know she can be a good Carmen and she can sound like Carmen! It felt unfair that her Habanera didn’t get any applause and that her card aria could have gotten much more. Especially the Habanera! This is THE showstopper, it is created as such, Carmen’s entrance is a big moment and her aria should make everyone fall under her spell… For me the conductor has no excuse for not making that happen! She had the goods, he prevented her from selling them :-( I mean he lingered it down to the point where the audience didn’t even wake up on time to clap. And no, the fact that he continued with the music is no excuse, it just makes it worse. A said, I am convinced this is supposed to stop the show, Bizet must have wanted it! Besides the public reacts to sparks, they certainly did after the toreador song and the flower song. I understand that this was not the only evening the Habanera didn’t really ignite and this should have been fixed. It is so import in setting the scene for Carmen, who she is, how she is, her charm, the fascination she breaths into people. Because it doesn’t really happen here, she has to work that much harder at it and it shouldn’t be necessary. Simply because she really is better than that and deserved her starry moment, just like all the other protagonists. Luckily, she is one determined women and she really drives Jose mad convincingly in the 3rd act and holds her own as well in the last one and the public appreciate her :-)

I’m not even going to bother commenting too much about how such a beautiful women can be made to wear what are surely one of the most awful and unattractive dresses I have seen in Carmen. And why she has to wear that stupid wig… there are naturally blond women in Seville! And gypsies have all kinds of colours of hair. But if she decides she would like to be dark for Carmen I think she should get a nice wig made especially for her to show off her beauty and prevent people from putting some of these monstrous things on her head:-S As I was saying, she deserves better.
Photos from http://www.bayerische.staatsoper.de/

By the way, there was chemistry on stage between this Carmen and her Jose, maybe not of the intensely sensual kind, but there were good vibes. They were comfortable around each other and I kind off liked that she didn’t do some of the things that bothered me at the ROH and felt too exaggerated ; instead she gave Carmen a sometimes tender angle. During the seguedille and also in the scene with Jose in act two she touched his face in a tender gesture, almost caressing his cheeks. Now that felt 100% natural from her. And why shouldn’t she? She is in love with him, at least for some time. Carmen can after all be many things in many different ways. Maybe this more tender, fun loving type of Carmen works better for Elina. Set against a particular violent Jose, as was the case here it works well, as her mockery can easily be understood as a defence mechanism. After all it is not always clear who is the victim among the two, they actually both are to various degrees.
Anyways, I thought this natural tenderness suited her more than what I have seen in her Carmens before and I wouldn’t mind seeing more of that, maybe it is the way to finding HER Carmen, rather than what people would expect her to be.

I for one am learning to really appreciate her singing and I am sure I will see her as Carmen again, I’ll be looking forward to it :-)

So, Jose…. I have seen Jonas' Jose only once before and it’s no secret it is why I went to Munich in the first place- to hear it again. The downside is it feels like having a spoon of water when you have been thirsty for the whole day! Not nearly enough! To be fair I have seen the Scala Carmen on TV and listened to the one from the Met on the radio, so technically I heard him sing it more often than I have seen it. What I find so fascinating about it (besides the singing ;-) is that each Jose was almost completely different from the others. The one from the ROH DVD was somehow the most balanced, the Zurich one was on a totally insecure extreme , the one at the Scala moved again towards the centre, but definitely had a more dangerous edge to him, the one at the Met sounded like a rougher character and this last one I have seen was likely the most unstable and volatile of all. The ending is not as extreme as at the ROH, but none were, however the build up here was scarier. This Jose has a screw loose and it is obvious. When Carmen first mocks him in the 2nd act he already brutally throws her on the floor in rage (I would have headed for the mountains at high speed right then and there if I was her!). When Zuniga appears, he nearly kills him, there is no sign of the scared solider anywhere and jealousy obviously transforms this Jose in an instant into a very dangerous man. During the fights in the 3rd act he repeatedly tries to throttle Carmen and draws his knife against defending gypsies. He managed to do it safely for Elina but so realistically that I positively felt uncomfortable watching it. That really is how domestic violence looks like and it actually is quite credible to think that Jose would be such a despicable character.

Copyright BSO Photo

Lucky I have also the sweet duet with Micalea to think about, so as not be to completed scared by this Jose. Impeccable singing aside, it absolutely fascinating how well he projects his voice speaking. He was the only one who was equally audible and clear when speaking and singing, who sounded like he was really talking not struggling to remember some lines and rattling down like the rest. (really, I couldn’t hear most of what the rest had been mumbling in dialogues, much less understand the French).

One detail I liked very very much! And of course it would be one of the tender things rather than the pushing around-skillz ;-) You know when Jose and Carmen have their first fight in act 2 and she mocks him? It totally enrages him and he shuts her up and tells her to listen! He is totally out of control there and in fury, now how does he then mellow down in an instant to start the flower song so introspectively? Hard to believe he had a plan of what he would say when he was shouting at her. Now here he takes a handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe his forehead presumably and the rests of the flower fall out. And it is an instant, almost surprising in his rage, reminder of how enthralled he is with this women, how captive of her charms. And it is that instant realisation and introspection that triggers him into the flowersong. It was perfectly done and it now made total sense to me as well. (there is a similar gesture in the ROH DVD but there it feels more like he seeks out the flower to remind himself of what took him to prison in the first place, the promise of love from the women who now cruelly mocks him; here the gesture had a slightly different impact).

I also liked the fact that his first je t’adore I the 2nd act is said jokingly, as a reply to her question about being sorry to have been in prison for her beautiful eyes. It makes sense for it to be in this light tone, because actually until the flower song he doesn’t admit his love for her. And there are a million other details which make you look up and listen and show you how his moods swing and how he slides closer and closer to the precipice.

Vocally it’s divine! I mean there is no reason not to say he is indeed in absolute gorgeous vocal form and the best Jose around. And I couldn’t urge people enough who haven’t heard him sing it yet to do so. If there is a chance to have somebody sing this part with such engagement and such feeling you have to grab it with both hands and all ten fingers if you can! He can tell you how beautiful this opera can really be and what sheer depth of feeling lives within it. His Jose is special (as are many of the things he sings) and it is something you have to experience for yourself to understand.

At least I’ve not heard anyone before to make my cry when he sings:
"Ah! il est temps encore.../oui, il est temps encore.../ O ma Carmen, laisse-moi/ te sauver, toi que j'adore!/ ah! laisse-moi te sauver/ et me sauver avec toi.../ O ma Carmen, il est temps encore... "

Each time when i think i’ve figured out what my favourite bit of his part of the score is, he puts some twist on some other bit and I get all confused again!

While the singing was amazing the other bits weren’t at the same level… Yes the production is old, but that is not the problem. The problem is it probably was bad when it first came on stage. I mean there is huge hill on stage, covering all of it and leaving about 2,max 3 meters free at the stage front for the action to develop… that is unless we count the stumbling down the hill and climbing uphill as action as well. Which of course doesn’t make all that much sense for people who have to sing, so most of the time somebody is sitting on that hill. And since the hill is a fixture, and it is perched behind the table in the 2nd act, dancing is limited to very close space. By the way it was the first Carmen I saw where one could not hear almost any footsteps at Lilas Pastia when people are dancing! Of course it is because they are perched on the hill busy holding on and singing. Bottom hill space is covered by some ballet number, totally out of place here in this supposedly earthy and low down place. Of course there is a lot of more of less involuntary front stage singing going on… but there is no place to go but front stage! While I understand that in an old production you may have ladies' dresses look like made out of curtains, or that flowers are made of plastic to last for years for throwing or considerations of proportions will have a plaza de torros at the back look like a playhouse whenever somebody stands next to it, people waving little Spanish paper flags at the fiesta in the end, etc there are contemporary details which are less understandable or easy to ignore. Is the crisis that bad that we can’t have in a whole production 1 natural flower for Carmen to throw at Jose? I mean those things will survive the atomic bomb, judging by how Jose kept trampling on them and playing football in rage with the ones on the floor without doing any visible damage to any.. now that is high quality plastic! But I doubt that any of those would have kept him warm in prison...I am not asking for bunches, just 1, please!

Then there was the infamous tent! Bottom hill in act 2 we have the table and on the hill several shabby tents. Now I was sat at the right and unless I twisted my head backwards the tents were inevitably in my visual field. Which I don’t mind, fair enough.. if only! If only somebody hadn’t decided that it was a good idea to have somebody make movements in the tent while Jose was singing his flowersong!!!! There is nothing as distracting as stupid movement on one side of the stage during the most sensitive of arias, which goes on at the other end of the stage! There is no way in hell I will be able to forgive this stupid distraction that couldn’t wait for 2 more min! Who had that idea????? Because I for one could have certainly done without it, it was pretty obvious why the tents were there anyway.

And somebody else also thought it was a good idea to perch a flower right on top of Elina’s head, which invariably looked funny at the worst time, in the end scene! Jose pulls her veil off and the indestructible flower stays stuck on the top of her head, like those silly adornments some use for babies. Why can’t we put the flower somewhere where Carmen will look nice with it, not silly? And poor women, why make her wear that dress that my great great grand mother might have worn and faded in time (mind you they also put the toreros socks in the washer with the dress because the dress only had a memory of colour while the socks had a suspicious pale pink colour…).

Anyways, old clothes and even big hills I may not like but I can live with it.. moving tents need to go!!!!

There were also some strange traffic light effects in the lighting, bam, bright, bam, dark, sudden flashes to suggest mood changes, but it was way too rough and it really didn’t do much to fill the empty space above the hill which was huge…. It was only towards the end that it struck me that I was missing a moon , some stars, anything in that empty space to suggest the sky.

I don’t know how the old Tosca at the BSO was, but I was talking with a friend and really they could have done with a new Carmen production in Munich instead, there can’t be that much wrong with an old Tosca as is wrong in this Carmen…

In retrospective I liked this Carmen because of the singers very much, but I much preferred the production in Zurich, even with all its peculiarities.

Another detail I absolutely loved and want to mention was the children’s chorus in the first act! It is the children’s chorus of the BSO; they have beauuuuuutiful voices and they sang absolutely perfectly and in an impeccable French (while at the same time hanging from those high metal gates). I was totally impressed and they deserve a HUUUUUGGEE Bravo!!, every single one of those little wonderful stars and their chorus master as well! :-)

The conducting was some said French. It wasn’t the marchy Carmen that some produce throughout, but it did have quite a few weaknesses as far as I am concerned, some of which I have mentioned. Bizet is not Gounod, nor does it need to be slowed down and lyricised to that degree, it doesn’t fit the story nor the place. And some bits where taken way too loud. Just because a singer like Jonas is capable of piercing through considerable orchestration doesn’t mind one should run totally wild with the incisive strokes at the end of act3 and make it extra difficult to get your voice into the noise! The whole point there is for us to feel how out of control he is, but we still need to hear what he is saying to feel the threat. We absolutely need to hear that he tells her she is his and that they will see each other again. Otherwise, with that noise drowning all out, he could be telling her to go to hell for all we know…. Never mind the introduction to the last scene which was not stylish, just loud. I really missed more shades, colours, moods, tensions in the music.

But I feel with Carmen that I am in a search of the proverbial lost time… Silly me I haven’t seen the ROH Carmen live when it was premiered and the DVD with Pappano’s conducting is there to haunt me again and again, as is the lively production, full of movement and colour, which may be over the top, but at least it can’t be accused of not making the most of every single note, every single second of the opera. Never mind that the more Carmens I see, the more fascinated I become with Anna Caterina Antonacci and the more i regret every single time, not having had the chance to see her and Jonas live with Pappano’s Bizet bathing my ears….

But I do have a bit of that heaven every single time I hear Jonas sing Jose and for that I am happy to have been cooking my soul out last night in Munich :-)

Carmen

Georges Bizet
Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy

Nationaltheater Munich
Sunday, 6 June 2010

Conductor Karel Mark Chichon
Based on a production by Lina Wertmüller
Set and Costumes Enrico Job
Lighting Franco Marri
Chorus Andrés Máspero
Children Chorus Kinderchor der Bayerischen Staatsoper

Zuniga Christian Van Horn
Moralès Nikolay Borchev
Don José Jonas Kaufmann
Escamillo Kyle Ketelsen
Dancairo Christian Rieger
Remendado Kevin Conners
Frasquita Lana Kos
Mercédès Anaïk Morel
Carmen Elīna Garanča
Micaela Genia Kühmeier

The Bavarian State Orchestra
The Chorus and the children Chorus of the Bavarian State Opera

Update: NOW Free Don Giovanni video on ROH web

Just visited the site and the videos are working perfectly! Well done ROH and thanks. It sounds and looks good and punctual as ever :-))



As previously announced, the ROH will generously share the Don Giovanni production which opened this season will all operalovers :-) Check out the site for details on how you can join in the fun from from October, the 5th!

http://www.roh.org.uk/discover/dongiovannifree.aspx

Everyone enjoy! But bare in mind before getting angry about possible technical mishaps, it will be there for a while, so you might want to give it a day or two for the first rush to pass,. otherwise the server will predictably fall over or get slow. Be patient, i am sure it will be worth it :-)

I will be looking forward to it!!

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

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

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

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

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


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


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


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

Ctd'

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



pic from MundoClassico

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

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


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



pic from Metro

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

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




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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


So…

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

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

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

And today morning, what do others say about it:

ThisisLondon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

update 10 September :

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

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

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

The Guardian another likie

Metro - girl power indeed!

Scenta on fresh love for opera :-)

Music OMH on why this was as good as it gets

Mozartforum bubbly and DG!

Rumbau blog in spanish

Stephantasy German, very nice and balances review :-)

Adelanto de ..babas (Simon Keenlyside IS Don Giovanni)

Anoche tuve el placer de escuchar el Don Giovanni desde el Liceu ( un teatro que tengo enormes deseos de visitar en el futuro espero no muy lejano!) Y aunque miles ya hayan dado su opinion pues voy a anadir yo tambien mi salsa aunque en mi caso es solo tirar una flor a los pies de este Don Giovanni y pedirle que me cante a mi..."La ci darem la mano...la mi dirai di si!!" Que siii, que siiii!!!







Habia leido bastante sobre la funccion y no negare que de alguna manera estaba mas contenta de disfrutar de ella solo oyendo y no viendo ;-) La cantidad de reuidos que acompano la funccion fue increible y a veces bastante molesto! Perooo, la radio me permitio cerrar los ojos y imaginarme una imagen como la de arriba ;-) Es lo que me transmitio cantando Simon Keenlyside, un DG elegante, seductor, versatil, extremadamente musical! Como podeis leer en un post mas viejo en Don Carlo fui que le oi por primera vez y sabia que me gusta su manera de cantar, lo bien que lo puede hacer y el gusto que es escuchar a este baritono cantando Mozart, eso si que fue una sorpresa agradable!



Lo demas del reparto tambien me gusto: Kyle Ketelsen un Le"o"porello (segun el senor de la radio LOL) excelente y me alegre de nuevo del adelanto sorpresa que recibi a la funccion de ROH que vere dentro de poco; una Ángeles Blancas de Donna Anna con mas caracter que de costumbre, algunas inseguirdades pero mas a mi gusto (las sopranas mozartinas muy clasicas me acaban durmiendo siempre!), Véronique Gens (Elvira), Juanita Lascarro, como Zerlina, y David Menéndez, como Masetto, han estado bastante bien aunque haya oido mejores Zerlinas y Masettos, pero han destacado con sus voces lo bonito de la musica y eso no es poco :-). Christoph Strehl hizo lo que pudo con Don Ottavio, la voz hasta me agrado mas de lo que suelen hacer los tenores que suelen cantar este papel, desde luego poco agradecido ( estoy por pensar que Mozart odiaba los tenores porque hay q ver que papeles mas tontos les toca, pobres! Hasta el Don de Bieito me seduce mas que el Ottavio!!;-) El commendatore de Günther Groissböck me ha gustado, lastima que los ruidos de fondo le hayan quitado lo impresionante que deberia de ser su entrada en el final.

Pero con el permiso de todos yo me quedo con esto :




thanks for the video lionelpower



Y ire contando los dias hasta poder ir a ROH a escucharlo en directo y disfrutar de una de las obras mas divertidas, fascinantes, sensuales y entretenidas de toda la historia de la opera! Que por cierto tantas ganas le tuve que me compre entrada para ambos repartos porque el segundo lo conduce Pappano jajaja


Y no os vais a molestar conmigo si prefiero esto al chandal de Barca, o si??? :-p





PPS Para divertirse un rato aqui la guia del SUN sobre la historia del "Dirty DON":
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1487575.ece