The Big Bang

OMG, is it already October?? When did we get here and how?

Then again I think I may know how… in… erm… 4 song recitals at Wigmore (plus one on the radio ;-) , 3 Trittico and 5 Faust at the ROH, 1 Rosenblatt recital and 1 Abbado at the RFH.. and the Met HD have not even started yet!

As you can see I am in danger of becoming London’s musical venues main sponsor. Just kidding ;-)))) Yes, I have done all of that and still managed to have cereal and yogurt for breakfast every day. You have to love London! In spite of credit crunch, rising bills and so on you can still have a rich and fulfilling cultural life.

Some may say a crazy and excessive one but hey, try resisting these temptations. And lucky for the above institutions, especially the Wigmore Hall and the ROH, I am not the only one on a musical binge :-)

If the rest of the season will match the big bang start we are in for a joyride.

At the Wigmore we have had in about 2 weeks, Chris Maltman, Christian Gerhaher ( 3 times) and Gerald Finley. With repertoires and styles as diverse as one could wish for and all have left me with some amazing memories and some cherishable moments of total bliss. The Wigmore has done amazing work these last seasons, and this one will be no exception. I am especially glad that their Wigmore live label won a Gramophone Award for label of the year, well done, Congratulation! They are one of my favourite places in the world :-)

What about the ROH?! Believe me I wasn’t planning on moving into the House just yet :-p But the Trittico has been something else. I have to say I was bored by Puccini before Tony Pappano, but he has made me listen anew and I have learned to appreciate and love this music again and discover bits I didn’t know, like this Trittico. Anyone who has seen and heard the Pappano&Jones version at the ROH must wonder why on earth these were ever separated as they are a perfect trio. They bring exciting and modern music and certainly an amazing evening at the theatre. Where and when else do you get to transition from horror and fear to compassion and redemption and finally to comedy, all in the space of 4h. I never believd in advance that so much emotion can be packed in a single evening or that one, as a spectator, could go through all these stages so naturally. And amazingly it wasn’t a one off experience, but it repeated itself every time I saw it, with the same intensity. I hope to come back to this and give credit in more detail to all the amazing singers who have brought the charters alive in such vivid colours, but also give recognition to the one-and-only amazing orchestra! To make a world of such musical complexity and contrast sound so light and natural is really special and I feel I have to say thank you to every single musician in that pit!

Mind you I didn’t feel that when the Faust run started, I have to tell the truth and say I was yawning profusely all throughout the Faust rehearsal, and I wasn’t tired! I think I had heard the Trittico the night before and it seemed like I had gone fromTechnicolor to no colour. It didn’t bode well and I really thought that my love of French music simply didn’t extend to Mr Gounod and this work in particular. After all, he is neither Massenet, nor Bizet or Belioz. But I am all about second, third and more chances. And I’m not willing to give up on a work just like that, especially if I feel I haven’t really heard it enough times. Try it for yourself, give things more than one listen before you make up your mind ( except for Rosenkavalier, you are allowed to make an exception there;-))) So it may not have been love at first sight this time, but relax I didn’t see 5 of them out of stubbornness. By number 3 I was hooked :-) Two words: Rene Pape. I find for me the recipe with French music tends to be the same: gorgeous smooth voices, perfect clear diction, flowing line- works wonder and the music is transformed! But if we add charisma to the mix … ah then l’amour ensues with this music! For me Gounod really needs all of these things to work it’s magic, but when it does, it is addictive.

But it wasn’t just Rene, it was the whole production and all the other singers too. For me McVicar has nailed this one, I can see this production gazillion times and still be shocked, touched, amused and entertained by it. I like how attractive and addictive it makes evil, how pervasive it is throughout the scenes, how people, and not only the main characters, fall in its trap time again and how, just when you are having too much fun, it becomes dark and menacing. I have to say today I woke up with Mephisto’s Hahahaha.. hihihihi in my head and the swagger of the dancers in rhythms of valse at Cabaret L’Infer ;-) But last night was great on sooo many levels, Grigolo convinced me for the first time, by being genuine and engaged on all levels, not being over the top and mainly by singing really well. So did Malin Bystrom , who’s ending aria was uplifting to say the least ( and this is one of my favourite images from the production, with Mephisto and Faust trying to hold her back on earth while she aspires for forgiveness from above, a simple but very compelling image which makes you feel the strength of this women).

But I have to say this was Mephisto’s game throughout the run. Charisma, humour, style and elegance, darkness and menace all reunited in those devilish brows and in that uniquely beautiful voice (and he is a big oxygen saver in that closed space as he never ever seems to breath ;-)) . I do hope the ROH will bring Rene Pape back to London soon.

I may come back to the Faust too, as 5 of them is too much to squeeze in this post and there was more great singing throughout :-) Like for example from that amazing chorus!

I narrowly escaped my 6th Faust by exercising restraint and going instead to St John’s for a Rosenblatt recital with Marius Brenciu, an evening of style, elegance and all things nice, he really is accomplished and I especially loved the encores ( songs by Enescu and Strauss). I love it when singers challenge their audience to think outside the box for recitals and take them down less expected routes, without forgetting all time favourites either ;-)

By the way, the next Rosenblatt recital is already tomorrow and if you fancy hearing Lucio Gallo again ( a perfect Gianni Scchicchi in the ROH’s Trittico just a few days ago) go to At John’s tomorrow, Wednesday, 12th October, 7,30 PM. Full details here .

As you can see a rare full Tosti evening :-)

And here is, borrowed from the Rosenblatt recitals site, the usual interview with the singer:


11 Oct 2011
Rosenblatt Recitals in conversation with... Lucio Gallo



Prior to his Rosenblatt Recital tomorrow at St John's, Smith Square, the Italian baritone kindly answered some of our questions telling us about his love for films and for London and also revealed an amusing story from his 27-year-long career:
For your Rosenblatt Recital you are singing songs exclusively by Tosti – what is it about that composer that is special to you? Why did you choose such a programme?
I have always liked the music of Tosti but in the past I always made a point of singing music by several composers in my recitals, apart from lieder cycles of course. Then after my Rosenblatt recital in 2009, I had a long talk with Ian Rosenblatt about doing another recital and when he expressed his passion for Tosti, I suggested doing an entire concert of his music.
In a past interview you stated that opera was the most beautiful and complete art form. After opera, what is your favourite art form?
I really love cinema and I always had a fondness for 50’s movies with their theatrical style. A lot of them have enriched my acting on stage.
You have sung with many of the world’s most renowned opera singers – is there an anecdote or a story with a particular artist that you would like to share with us?
I sang with great artists, directors and for world-renowned conductors, obviously in a 27-year career there have been a few amusing episodes. One in particular goes back many years ago when we brought the Le Nozze di Figaro to a tour in Tokyo with the Vienna State Opera. On a day off from rehearsals, we went around the city with Ruggero Raimondi and other artists of the cast. Suddenly caught in the rain, we started singing (and dancing to) the famous Singing in the Rain, cheerfully led by Raimondi. Some photographers who had followed the group immortalized the scene in a rather beautiful picture which ended up in several international newspapers!
Tell us your secret to singing?
The voice is the instrument closest to the human being. Singing is within each one of us and it is often a way to express different emotions ... joy, anger, pain. It takes us closer to the birds and the way they express themselves through song; it gives us a great sense of freedom.
What is the role you have most enjoyed singing to date?
Iago from Otello by Giuseppe Verdi; I think it's one of the most interesting roles written for a baritone.
Many performers have a pre-performance ritual to help them feel less nervous – do you have any tricks to help keep you calm?
As mentioned before I am a big movie fan, so on the afternoon before a performance I watch a good movie to relax.
When you are not listening to opera and jazz, what kind of music do you listen to?
Classical, Pop….
If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
Always somewhere that makes me feel good. Apart from Italy it would be London; I think it's the most beautiful city in the world.
Do you play any musical instruments?
Before performing operas and song recitals, I played guitar and bass guitar in a band for many years. Unfortunately, the theatre commitments have become much more frequent and I have not had much time to continue to dabble with these instruments.

There are still a few tickets left to Lucio Gallo's Rosenblatt Recital on Wednesday 12 October. To book your tickets, please visit https://secure.sjss.org.uk/

Sorry to miss this…. Sounds like a lovely evening in a venue with acoustics that I really like… If any of you go, do come back and let me know how it was!

Oh and finally, Abbado :-))) If you haven’t been at the Southbank tonight you have missed an amazing evening. I have never heard any orchestra sound like the Lucerne one… and with Abbado at the lead, their sound is pure magic and the Bruckner tonight is not something you hear like that often in your life… The longest, most emotional standing ovation I have ever been part of at the RFH, ended sweetly , as is custom with the musicians of this orchestra with hugs on stage :-) Music from the heart :-)

Upcoming season....

I'm back :-)

Hm just a thought.... thank God i get a dosis of Puccini to start off with, because i then have 10 Mozart lined up ( no, it is not a mistake, it is 10 = 5(ie 4+1)+3+2) .

What do you think, am i in danger of overdosing???

Maybe i should get another sip of Puccini, can't have Mozart on an empty stomach....

By the way, i love the ROH, did you know?

ROH 2011/12 season now out!

Aeneas defeats Turnus, by Luca Giordano, 1634-1705.

Please see for details of the season the ROH announcement.

So let's see how we faired... It's a bit of a mixed bag to me , with good news and not so good news both for new productions and revivals.

As you can see the Troyens will be exciting :-) We still need to find out who else will be singing besides Jonas Kaufmann, Anna Caterina Antonacci as Cassandre and Dutch soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek as Didon, but it is good news all the way with Tony Pappano and David McVicar on the team as well. This will premiere on June 25th 2012.

More good news come with Il Trittico, to kick off the next season with the premiere on September 12th 2011. It will be continued by Richard Jones and conducted by Tony Pappano and will feature Anja Harteros and Eva-Maria Westbroek. Great news to have Anja Harteros finally back at the ROH!! And she will be back some more ;-)

Much less exciting is the presence of baritone Lucio Gallo and tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko. Both good singers certainly, but for me somehow missing the wow factor. My issue is however not so much related to the Trittico, but to the production which closes the season, a revival of Verdi’s Otello the season, from July 12th 2012. Antonio Pappano conducts the production by Elijah Moshinsky with Aleksandrs Antonenko, Anja Harteros and Lucio Gallo in the principal roles. Pappano is great news and for me together with Anja's Desdemona two very powerful reasons to go and see this! Also, because this for me is the Domingo-production and will have a nice flavour to see it live! But, and for me the buts are big.... this is not a soprano opera, or not only.. Unless all 3 leads are equally powerful it can never be all it can be..... However, to be honest no idea who could do Jago justice today..... But there must be more Otellos out there, who can not only sing the role decently, but truly inhabit it. This will still be a must see for me at least, but i have a feeling i will wish many times i was hearing something different. Honestly, i almost wish somebody would have tried to convince Domingo to do it one last time, i am pretty sure he would still be up to it in a way that would still be memorable. But, it is what it is.

Another piece of good news is the new (well, visiting from Salzburg) Rusalka, premiere February 27th 2012. Camilla Nylund, Bryan Hymel and bass-baritone Alan Held great reasons to go, but for me the main one is the debut at the ROH of conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Moving on, we get a new opera, Miss Fortune by Judith Weir, co-commissioned by The Royal Opera and the Bregenz Festival, where it premiere in July 2011. The cast will be lead by soprano Emma Bell and South African baritone Jacques Imbrailo, with former ENO Music Director Paul Daniel conducting. Crossing fingers for this to be a good one. The premiere at the ROH will be on March 12th, 2012.

The last new production in the main house will be ... Falstaff. Why this and not Forza, Ballo, Ernani, Luisa Miller, etc i don't know. But the production will be by Robert Carsen, which should hopefully make it interesting and Daniele Gatti is conducting, which i am very much looking forward to! The cast is: Italian baritone Ambrogio Maestri, with Puerto Rican soprano Ana María Martínez as Alice Ford, Slovak baritone Dalibor Jenis as Ford, Canadian contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux as Mistress Quickly, and American soprano Amanda Forsythe and Spanish-born tenor Joel Prieto as the young lovers, Nannetta and Fenton. All nice and good, however can you think of a really good Falstaff to have in this new production???? Probably the same name will come to your mind as it does to mine, and so i will ask the question that i think more people than me will think about: Why no Bryn? Terfel of course....

Why isn't he doing Falstaff and more importantly.. . why on earth is he not doing Hans Sachs?????????? Yes, we are getting a revival of Meistersinger by Graham Vick (why not take the production from Cardiff last year, it was great!?!!), conducted by Antonio Pappano (the good news about this production!) and with baritone Wolfgang Koch in his Royal Opera debut as Hans Sachs, New Zealand tenor Simon O’Neill as Walther, Australian baritone Peter Coleman-Wright as Sixtus Beckmesser, and British artists soprano Emma Bell as Eva, tenor Toby Spence as David and bass John Tomlinson as Veit Pogner. Well... Simon O'Neill will probably be a very nice Walther, but i have many questions about the rest. Koch is again an ok singer, whom i've seen as Telramund and Pizzaro and i didn't find him special in either...Sachs????? hm.... And i still remember the warmth and sheer musicality of Brindley Sherratt as Pogner in Cardiff and at the Proms. With all due respect to Mr Tomlinson, if his recent Inquisitor is anything to go by, it's time to let younger singers do some roles and i think this is one of those. Why Sherratt did somethintg as small as the King in Aida and not Pogner honestly beats me. And i never ever counted on the Meistersinger at the ROH without Bryn! I loved the opera and i fell in love with it largely due to him living the role, why the ROH couldn't convince him to come and sing it here i'd like to know. His absence in both Falstaff and Sachs is definitely my biggest dissapointment of the season. Anyway, Meistersinger starts December 19th, 2011.

These gaps are almost annoyingly completed by exceptional casting of revivals none of us really wanted to see again so soon. Gotta give it to them, i don't think anyone of us ever missed Rigoletto or Traviata..and there will be indeed 3 of the latter!!! But i can just about see myself trodding not once, but several times to catch each of the casts! Quoting " La traviata by Richard Eyre returns with a series of exciting casts. The first cast (30 September) offers Russian soprano Marina Poplavskaya, American tenor James Valenti and Italian baritone Leo Nucci in the central roles. The second (25 November) features American soprano Ailyn Pérez, Polish tenor Piotr Beczala and British baritone Simon Keenlyside in the lead roles. In the third (2 January) the soprano role of Violetta is shared between Albanian Ermonela Jaho and Russian Anna Netrebko; the tenor role of Alfredo between American Stephen Costello and Italian Vittorio Grigolo; Italian baritone Paolo Gavanelli sings Giorgio Germont."

As to Rigoletto (30 March), conducted by John Eliot Gardiner, with Ekaterina Siurina, Vittorio Grigolo and Royal Opera debutant Greek baritone Dimitri Platanias. No, i didn't want to see any of these, but with these casts i'm bound to be drawn to hear them. Siurina is my favourite Gilda in the last years at the ROH, Platanias i am curious about and maybe Grigolo will be a good duca. If only they can convince David McVicar to come and pimp up his production before somebody else makes a big mess of it, again!

And there is more in the revivals to make your mouth water! Faust (18 September), with Angela Gheorghiu (sharing the role of Marguerite with Malin Byström), Vittorio Grigolo, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and René Pape. Great to see Angela back and above all Pape is finally back!!!! I hope it will not be just a short visit, but that he will be back for much more in the future! It was long overdue.

And there is also this faboulous revival of La bohème (April 28), conducted by Semyon Bychkov, and with Anja Harteros sharing the role of Mimì with Barbara Frittoli opposite Joseph Calleja and Roberto Alagna respectively :-) Niceee one, too bad Angela doesn't want to sing with Roberto again, it would have been lovely to see them in Boheme, but i will be cueing up to see both casts :-) Also great that Andris Nelsons will be back conducting Salome (31 May), with Angela Denoke, Egils Silins, Stig Andersen and Rosalind Plowright.

There is even some belcanto with La sonnambula (2November), starring Eglise Gutiérrez and Royal Opera debutant Spanish tenor Celso Albelo, (which i love, but not with this soprano i'm sorry) and the Fille du régiment (19 April), with Patrizia Ciofi and Colin Lee in the leading roles. Still no Lucia, why on earth this is such a no-no in this House i have no idea.... No Elisir, although i was hoping for a revival, Rolando Villazon still ows us a run of this from a couple of yeas back ;-)

Thank God no Carmen or Tosca ;-)

Last but not least as they say the Mozart trio: Don, Nozze and Cosi. Now if only they had decided to skip Cosi the current season! I'm afraid it will be too soon for another revival of that, trio or no trio.... The casts are all worth hearing though and i can take a lot more Mozart from these ;-) Here's the detail: Don Giovanni (21 January), Così fan tutte (27 January) and Le nozze di Figaro (11 February). Don Giovanni conducted by Constantinos Carydis (one to look out for!), with 2 Don's - Gerald Finley and Erwin Schrott! Colin Davis will conduct Così fan tutte and the cast includes soprano Malin Byström, tenor Charles Castronovo, soprano Rosemary Joshua, baritone Thomas Allen, and debutant Nikolay Borchev. Le nozze di Figaro by is conducted by Antonio Pappano (another one to look our for ;-))))), with Simon Keenlyside (yepeee!!!), Aleksandra Kurzak (also yepee!) , Kate Royal and Ildebrando D’Arcangelo.

Upsy, almost missed this! Der fliegende Holländer(Jeffrey Tate; Anja Kampe, Falk Struckmann, Endrik Wottrich, Stephen Milling). A production i really liked, which i am glad is being revived and the singing should be quite good as well :-)


And next year in June i belive we have a special Placido celebration, where apprently i will get part of my wish as he is said to be doing Act 2 of Rigoletto, then also from Simon Boccanegra and act 3 of Otello, hurray :-) I might get to hear Placido as a tenor once in my life live after all! :-))))

And if i got it right the season will continue through the summer right into the next with probably the Ring. Details on all of that to follow on the ROH site.

Generally satisfying season, with many great things to look forward to, even if some casts probably didn't end up as they were planned or are not really what i would have expected at the ROH. But, definitely looking forward to the season, there is something in everything to draw me into the House and in all but one case i think it is also more than just the music itself :-)

Aeneas leaving Dido - Pompeo Batoni 1747

ROH + BBC= more goodies!

There have been a number of successful broadcasts from the ROH this season on the BBC, both radio and TV, among which Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, the usual opera broadcasts and as we all remember the positively mouthwatering series of Opera Italia! All this, and i would also guess the considerable success Tony has had as a communicator of opera on TV (see the recent nomination from the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards for Creative Communication for the series) have lead to a new partnership with the BBC, which was announced today.

Quoting from the BBC press release on this:

"Alice's Adventures In Wonderland will be broadcast on BBC Two on Saturday 23 April at 2.30pm immediately preceded by a documentary exploring the making of the ballet at 2pm" "The Royal Opera House and the BBC will come together to co-produce new commissions for 2012 created especially for television prior to live performance on the stage ..."

More Tony! yay!!!! "The new deal includes a series on classical masterworks presented by Antonio Pappano, beginning with Pappano's Essential Tosca for BBC Two and also the development of a new five-part series about singing to be written and presented by Antonio Pappano"

And guess what????!!!! We will get THAT TOSCA on TV!! :-))) "Other presentations include The Royal Opera's production of Tosca Tosca with Angela Gheorghiu as the heroine, Jonas Kaufmann as her lover Cavaradossi and Bryn Terfel as the Chief of Police Scarpia, accompanied by Pappano's Essential Tosca, a documentary presented by Antonio Pappano in which he examines the dramatic importance of each location in the opera and illustrates what Puccini does musically to create a great theatrical experience."

By the way, the Tosca will also be on BBC Radio3 , as well as "Mexican tenor Rolando Villazon starring in Massenet's Werther, Nina Stemme as the heroine Leonora in Beethoven's Fidelio, and Simon Keenlyside singing the title role of Verdi's Macbeth for the first time in the UK. Radio 3 will also broadcast two operas live: Puccini's Madam Butterfly and a new production of Massenet's Cendrillon (Cinderella) with Joyce DiDonato in the title role. "

More details in the press release link above. Great news, isn't it? :-)

ROH future seasons rumours

From the press, the Internet, friends and family, the crystal ball made in Swarovski and other unreliable sources....


Check back from time to time for changes and updates!

Season 2012-2013

September, October THE RING (Wagner) with Antonio Pappano

November-December L'ELISIR D'AMORE (Donizetti) with Roberto Alagna

December ROBERT LE DIABLE (Meyerbeer) with Daniel Oren cond, Laurent Pelly dir., Diana Damrau, Bryan Hymel

January-February EUGENE ONEGIN (Tchaikovsky) with Krassimira Stoyanova

May LA DONNA DEL LAGO (Rossini), Colin Lee, Joyce DiDonato


MANON (Massenet) with Natalie Dessay

I VESPRI SICILIANI (Verdi) with Stephan Herheim dir., Erwin Schrott, Poplavskaya, Volle

NABUcCO (Verdi) with Pappano, Nucci, Monastyrska

DIALOGUES DES CARMELITES (Poulenc) with Rattle, Kozena, Emma Bell.

GLORIANA ( Britten) with Richard Jones dir, Paul Daniels cond.

DON CARLO (Verdi) with Kwiecien, Harteros, Pape

Season 2013-2014

December-January CARMEN (Bizet) with Roberto Alagna

PARSIFAL (Wagner) with Simon Oneill , Gerald Finley

MANON LESCAUT (Puccini) with Tony Pappano, Jonas Kaufmann, Anja Harteros

May- June TOSCA (Puccini) with Roberto Alagna

Zauberflote (Mozart) Siurina?

Anna Bolena (Donizetti)

Season 2014-2015

ANDREA CHENIER (Giordano) with Antonio Pappano cond, David McVicar dir, Jonas Kaufmann, E. M. Westbroek

FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN (Strauss) with Semyon Bychkov cond.

GUILLAUME TELL (Rossini) with Antonio Pappano cond., John Osborn

MARIA STUARDA (Donizetti) Joyce diDonato, C Castronovo

KROL ROGER (Szymanowski) K Holten, Pappano, Kwiecien

Season 2014-2015

NORMA (Bellini) Netrebko
I DUE FOSCARI (Verdi), Plácido Domingo (coproduction with Los Angeles, Valencia and Theater an der Wien).

Feel free to comment, oppose, hope, confirm and add !!!

PS This post will have a permanent link on the right hand side menu for future reference :-)

Around London, things you may want to see..

There are a couple of things in London to check out, which seem to be less know of :-)

If you wonder what the ROH orchestra is doing when they are not playing in the House, well:

As you can see, they are playing with Tony Pappano at the Cardogan Hall:

Sunday 27 February, 2011, 7pm

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

Zurich International Concert Series 2010-11

Antonio Pappano Conductor/Piano

Thomas Hampson Baritone

Klaus Florian Vogt Tenor

Programme:Mahler: Piano Quartet Movement in A minor

Wagner: Siegfried Idyll

Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde (chamber version, arranged Schoenberg completed Rainer Riehn)

Tickets are still available at the above link :-)

And -

On Thursday 10th February 2011 Italian baritone Massimo Cavalletti will make his Rosenblatt Recitals debut in London and will perform songs and arias by composers including Rossini, Mozart, Tosti, Denza, Toselli, Bizet, Donizetti, Bellini, Cipriano and Verdi ( full recital program in the link).

Thursday 10 February, 7:30pm
St John’s, Smith Square, London SW1P 3HA
Tickets £20 £15 £10 (concessions £10)
Box office: 020 7222 1061
Online booking: www.sjss.org.uk

You can read more about his repertoire in the recital link as well. The Lucca-born baritone received praising reviews for his different roles in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra and Puccini’s La Bohème: Massimo Cavalletti has a “perfect diction and captivating presence on stage” (Musical Criticism), “full of life and fun” (Opera Britannia), “his singing is robust and lively” (New York Times).

If you are a student you can get the following discount - Rosenblatt Recitals offer £15 tickets for £5 when students come to St John’s box office and show their student card, quoting ‘Student Rosenblatt’.

Furthermore if you sign up to the Rosenblatt Recitals mailing list you will receive 50% off your first ticket purchase.

A small amuse bouche:( as i miss listening to Lucia...)

Thanks unmaxfan for the videos!

And another

Aida ROH

(Photo pinched via Mrs MC :-) as i will readily admit! If the author recognises it please let me know and i will happily acknowledge the copyright! I tried in vain to find one in the papers but everybody focused on the blood and gore and i wanted to start this with what I liked MOST and this is it :-)


I found it interesting how well the contrast was perceptible between the first and second part. In the first two acts you get overwhelmed by the “paganism” of the society, the sheer brutality and violence of war and the power ingrained within its hierarchy. Even in the scene between Amneris and Aida this is evident and rightly so, because it is a display of power.

I liked it at a second viewing even more and I guess I will settle in with it the more I see of it. It gains when seen from above and at a distance. From close up the turning back wall is ugly, there is no confusion about it. Real, piece of scrap-ugly. From above things change in an interesting way. The floor becomes an interesting and much better visible combination of sandstone like edges and steel blue stone in the centre area. I also realised from above why/how the temples gets created by lifting the back edge of the sandstone floor and the tomb in the end by lifting the front edge. Yes, visually it’s not that striking and works from close up front stage only appreciatively. From above the support structure of the floor pieces is less visible and the whole geometry works better. Somebody should really box up the skeleton beneath the floor pieces and it would become more like a building block and less like pieces of wood ripped out of the construction. I understand from interviews and comments that budget as tighter than initially planned and some cuts had to be made, but it should have been obvious that in parts the sets are just too rudimentary and don’t really meld all that well with the costumes sometimes. However, while I have issues with the grey wall and the lifting floor, which while cleverly engineered, could have been better executed visually there are bits that I do like, for example the shades in Amneris’ chamber and the interesting table with a large basin with inlays in the same, the backdrop to the Nile scene suggesting some kind of dark water, the stone floor, which I wouldn’t have minded seeing continued in the walls, the light pitches in the prayer scene, etc.

The lighting is fabulous, gloomy dark in the fist part and intimate in the second. And the costumes are beautiful. Although it is true that you can’t really distinguish visually between Aida’s people and Radames’, the former are there for such a short period of time that the lack of contrast doesn’t bother me all that much. One thing I always appreciated about McVicar and his costume designer colleagues is that they obviously care about the singers, in that they want them looking the best they can and feeling as comfortable as possible. Cast members have said publicly how comfortable they feel in the costumes and there is no doubt that the look beautiful. Ok, so Amneris might not be a good example for comfortable ;-))) But buy does she look fantastic and regal! The make up and hairpiece are amazing and I’d love to be her for one day and wear all of that! And one night I’m going to break in and steal that Aida costume! I’m in love with it! Yes, I know they are OTT, but this is theatre! And since at least in Radames society it is implied women have real power, it fits that they should be overly adorned, while the men are dressed in natural and neutral colours of grey and shades of brown. I like Radames’ costumes very much and I think they work very well for Mr Alvarez who looks like the warrior he is supposed to be. And in the love duets with Aida, their contrasting looks work well visually, suggesting a nice touch of romantic fantasy.

I also found the red cloth Radames carries to be a clever idea. It is a token of wars fought, drenched in dried blood and passed on to the next army leader as a sign of good luck in battle. In the triumphal scene Radames returns with it displaying it, drenched anew in enemy blood. Brutal yes, but interesting :-)

Copyright Bill Cooper/ROH from the Express

On the brutal cue, the ballet&sacrifice scenes, that some found so shocking, I’d say they are only mildly so and again on repeat viewing what lasts is the brutality rather than the more than usual amount of flesh on display. And so it should as the clear intention is to display a society preparing for war in a almost frenzied way. I too had the impression the dance scenes were somehow “unfinished”, raw. It seems unlikely that they should have been rushed and really work in progress. My impression is that the impact is intentional, bringing it into reality and away from a staged effect. For example in the triumphal scene the movement is very well coordinated with the music but the dancers look more like men coming back from battle and displaying their skills than dancers performing a choreography. Yes, there is a lot of flesh on display but the feeling of so much muscle covered in blood is indeed rather scary.

Where I think this whole concept of keeping it rather real and not “prettying it up” has not worked so well is in the scene in Amneris chambers. It’s pretty in your face sensual all right … but it made me giggle because it looked rather more like clumsy amateurs giving Kamasutra a try and not really succeeding much. I think a tiny bit more of artsy ballet skillz would have gone a long way in making this more convincing and um…. flexible ;-)

But all in all, this is a long way of being boo-worthy! It might not be the grandest and greatest Aida and it is worth tweaking a bit more on the future maybe, but it is a valid concept. And if you look away from some of the imperfect details the big picture that emerges works around some clear ideas. I never felt the brutality and cruelty that riddles the score so poignantly before, it becomes much more evident under McVicars dark light.

On to the actual show and more importantly, the music.. (I’ve send the second and third performance)

On both nights the whole show took a while to get going and it continued building up to the 3rd act. Probably also because the pouring rain outside triggered more coughing than usual. I could have strangled them that is how persistent some were in the piani passages…
Once it had ignited it was really good. I want to say straight away how sorry I am to not have had the chorus bow on either of the nights, They deserve applause and praise! Wonderful diction and the piano beginning to the prayer scene is amazing!!! I do have a bit of the quibble in the judgement scene though… It is one of my favourites and I like the priests to sound a bit more powerful, the sound here was slightly obscured by the grey ugly wall. It also is the single scene in the whole show where I also would have liked the music to be a bit more incisive. I missed a bit more of the ring of doom in the music and a heavier, slightly longer silence in between questions to weigh the atmosphere down even more. It is the only moment when I wished for a slightly slower pace, but again this is just personal taste. All in all I enjoyed, nay, savoured Luisotti’s conducting!!! I really love Verdi, but because it is so tuneful, few get the music right and take it seriously. It spite of somebody telling me Verdi must have enjoyed his cheese writing this I definitely think it should not sound cheesy :-)

(Besides, just because you remember Verdi after hearing it once does not take away any of it’s genius, quite the contrary; too many look down all too often on this particular talent he had of creating “operatic hits”. If it’s so light and easy, why didn’t others do it as well as he did time and time again? Maybe because nobody else could do it quite as spectacularly and naturally :-) Which is not to say the stuff you can’t sing in the show is not as nice, of course it is, there are many shades of beauty, many ways to take out breath away with music. But make you feel like this music belongs to you from the first time you hear it is also a thing of extraordinary beauty! Verdi’s gift to us :-)

So Aida should be grand and crushing and exciting and uplifting and touching and tender and intimate, and so good that you stop to listen, not sing along in your mind :-) For me Luisotti got it absolutely right! It was wonderful glorious Verdi. And he drove those ensemble moments with decision and passion reminding me once more that nobody really could create ensembles like Verdi.

Photo from the Daily mail

Marianne Corentti is a fierce Amneris and she has vast experience with the role which of course is evident on stage and the public connects to her immediately. It’s also quite amazing that she pulls of the amazingly complicate costume as if she wore this every day :-) She looks and sounds impressive and the power in her voice is a good match for Amneris’ constant power display. On the 2nd night the energy was really flying between her and Alvarez’ Radames in the confrontation scene in the last act. And her torment in the judgment scene, when she realises where her own inability to deal with feelings in any other way than flinging her power about has lead to, is very real and touching.

And I really really liked Marcelo Alvarez’Radames. Ive heard him before, but never live :-) I did think the role could be taking him to the limits and sometimes it probably does, but he stays always on the safe side and the singing is never other than elegant. His voice is beautiful and he gives it his all on stage. I was really impressed how believable a character he made Radames and although maybe some of the dramatic passages in the role take more effort, the lyrical passages are made for him! I don’t care what people may have said, he suits the role very well and it suits him! There were also for him some wonderful details like when he kneels in front of Aida when she rejects him or his hurt when he realises she has tricked him. He sings with utmost passion and commitment and his voice carries the nobility and dignified rage as well as the romantic tones well, he convinces both as the soldier and the lover. The Nile scene was riveting and the scene between Radames and Amneris which follows was the best of the whole show in the first night I went! It left everyone literally breathless and even the coughers were stunned! At the end of it I felt like jumping up and shouting Bravi Bravi! That is how much I loved it! I still get goosebumps thinking about it.
His diction was always impeccable and it was thanks to him that the lyricism and the beauty of the final scene came across in the first performance.

By the next one he owned the role even more, as did everyone, which kind of proves that if you can it is always better to go to the show further in the run as things will have smoothed out:-) The Nile duet between Aida and Radames was really beautiful and on the Il ciel dei nostri amori come scordar potrem… I felt really breathless! Micaela Carosi as Aida also brought a warmer tone to her singing that in the first night and the O patria mia, non ti vedrò mai più! was really heartfelt and full of emotion. Compared to the first night the Nile scene was definitely the winner on the night, both duets Aida Amonasro and Aida Radames being really well done. Equally beautiful and more touching the final duel in the tomb; I this production I definitely prefer the intimate scenes in the second part, I think musically as well as visually.

Photograph: Neil Libbert for the Observer

I personally liked Marco Vratogna’s Amonasro. His ultradramatic voice works very well for the authoritarian figure and literally pierced through the orchestra in some of his incisive lines. He may feel a tad young to be Aida’s father, but he dominates with such authority that nobody would doubt is position as the warrior king. He is probably the best actor in the entire cast and he has real stage presence, the pressure he exercises over Aida is palpable.

Robert Lloyd still has the warmth and depth of voice for a King :-) It still and always is a pleasure to hear and see him again. Having heard his Philip in the Don Carlo from Paris I was slightly underwowed by Giacomo Prestia. He gives a solid performance, but I guess I expected him to have somewhat more authority and punch in his voice.

I enjoyed it the second time more than the first and am happily looking forward to seeing and above all hearing it again one more time before the run end. If you can get a ticket go and listen and watch and make up you own mind about it :-)

Aida
May 01, 04 2010 ROH
Giuseppe Verdi
Director David McVicar
Set designs Jean-Marc Puissant
Costume designs Moritz Junge
Lighting design Jennifer Tipton
Choreography Fin Walker
Martial Arts David Greeves

Performers
Conductor Nicola Luisotti
Aida Micaela Carosi
Radames Marcelo Álvarez
Amneris Marianne Cornetti
Amonasro Marco Vratogna
Ramfis Giacomo Prestia
King of Egypt Robert Lloyd
Priestess Elisabeth Meister§
Messenger Ji-Min Park

PPS To my “cheesy friend” ;-) Thanks for giving me the opportunity to get this particular beef off my chest, I have been wanting to declare my undying love for Verdi for quite some time now ;-))))) If Verdi liked his gorgonzola and mozzarella, yumm! So do I :-))))) Laaaa donna e moooobile, qual piiiumaaaa al ventooooo.... Actually, no! Cause that is still partially on my top 3 black list... Beeeella figliaa dell'aaaaaamore, schiiiiiavo son dei vezzi tuuuuooooooi......

Cosi fan tutte ROH

Photo credits: Richard H Smith at musicalcriticism.com

Così fan tutte
Friday, February 12, 2010
Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Librettist : Lorenzo da Ponte
Director Jonathan Miller

Performers
Conductor Julia Jones
Ferrando Charles Castronovo
Guglielmo Troy Cook
Don Alfonso William Shimell
Fiordiligi Sally Matthews
Dorabella Nino Surguladze
Despina Helene Schneiderman


I am indeed hopeless in providing some opinion about shows before the run is actually over, still as everyone who saw it realised, it was just what the doctor ordered against any “wintery” depression, wet-weather and all kinds of other types of frustration ;-)

I used to run away from this particular Mozart piece like the pest as it was invariably boringly staged and delivered in a way that did not allow for any true character distinction between the couples or the individuals as such. It felt to a certain point like a nondescript sequence of arias, duos, trios, more duos, more arias, all neatly and very predictably following each other. All peppered with unbelievable costuming and too much moralistic self-importance.

Ok, we still have OTT costuming ;-) but unlike it being the purpose of the transformation here it clearly is just the pretext for outrageous behaviour. Which seems to me what Mozart and of course, Mr da Ponte ;-) would have really intended, after all like many others of his works this one is profoundly human, deeply ironic and more contemporary in its subject than most operas. I don’t think his intension is ever to moralise and preach, on the contrary, he seems to relish in reminding us that beyond rules and in spite of conventions, humans are imperfect, flawed and that some of the fun, but also some suffering and learning in life comes from these very weaknesses. So his Fiordiligi and Dorabella, Guglielmo and Ferrando embark on a journey of discovery about themselves and their relationships.

Of course you may ask, do they really not recognise their lovers under the disguise? Maybe yes, maybe not, but I think the temptation here lies in the new, the unknown, the different. They are the same men, but behaving very differently, which actually makes the women chose in the “strangers” the exact opposite of their “real” lovers. And although a first glance it is the women who give into temptation and the work is called “cosi fan tutte”, at a second look at the libretto it becomes obvious the men are no saints either. After all they willingly and delightfully engage in the game and Guglielmo’s vivid complaint about women’s character also unveils his own :” Io vo' bene al sesso vostro, /Lo sapete, ognun lo sa: /Ogni giorno ve lo mostro, /Vi dò segno d'amistà;” yes, friendship… riiiiiiiight…..

Jonathan Mller’s production is a witty delight! It is incredibly natural and easy to relate to and he deserves extra credit for having Ferrando play “air-guitar” on Mozart and the 4 of them dance to the old tunes ;-) It is funny, but not at all out of place. There wasn’t a moment in the whole production where I wished something was made differently, or where I got distracted by anything in the staging or choreography. The character definition is very well managed and with a cast that is young, fun and handsome it glues you to the story. He seized the opportunity to show Mozart&daPonte’s talent for good theatre and gave it a modern twist by highlighting, rather than hiding the irony behind the music. The ambiguity is continued to the last bars where we are left wondering who will stay with whom and if at all. And I have rarely seen a production better married to the music; an excellent example of how modern opera productions can be done!

But the harmony works and the piece entertains without falling on the bitter side because of the music and the singing. It is the altogether harmonious and very good cast that keeps the light touch on the evening and makes the audience smile and laugh time and time again. Conducting, playing and singing are of such a quality that everything seems as natural as speech. You never stop to think about a breath badly placed, about a note that might go amiss, about a dangerous line, the flow of the music never ever gets interrupted. And continuity and pace are essential to good Mozart! Recitatives and arias meld naturally into each other , with particularly brilliant diction from Castronovo’s Ferrando and Helene Schneiderman’s Despina, which is one of the best I have ever heard live.

Photo credits: Richard H Smith at musicalcriticism.com

Shimell’s Alfonso is imposing, but never evil and his voice carries that extra weight showing who is in charge through music. Sally Matthews’ flexible and powerful voice carries the torment and antics naturally and gives us a “Come scoglio” to remember :-) Troy Cook and Nino Surguladze make a very credible second pairing, both finding in voice and acting a light playfulness that stays convincingly on the cheeky side. And it is Charles Castronovo’s mellifluous tenor who brings the necessary sweet romantic touch and reminder that “love does hurt” sometimes ;-))) Especially on the second night I saw he delivered an “aura amorosa” full of warmth and feeling and easily displayed the contrast in the cavatina between “Tradito, schernito” and the defeated “Quest'alma l'adora, /Io sento per essa /Le voci d'amor” (which deservedly earned him another round of applause). And there is something decidedly charming about his darker shaded voice pulling off Mozartian lines with agility and character.

I’ve seen it twice and really wish I could have seen it again! Good news for the ones who have missed it this time, they will get another chance in 2012 when we might get another revival.

I’ve searched a while to try and bring you “Un aura amorosa” with CC, but no such luck …. In lieu here is more about love and laughter from Castronovo and Siurina ;-)

Una Parola, o Adina (Castronovo & Siurina)

thanks for the video tenorgoodfella

And one more…..

Prendi l'anel ti dono (Castronovo & Siurina)

thanks for the video tenorgoodfella

An the last one, which has nothing to do with the above, but is from a more recent concert and shows that Mr Castronovo has some amazingly good Spanish pronunciation, a que si?

No puede ser (Castronovo)

thanks for the video tenorgoodfella

PS Oh, and thanks to everyone for bringing Cosi fan tutte back in my favours ;-))))

PPS My only regret is not finding out how they go about painting the guys with those tattoos???? Semi-permanent? Do they do it every evening anew… they are beautiful if such were the case, I really wished I could have seen them from closer up ;-)

I'll sleep when i'm dead!

Merci beaucoup Esti pour cette extraordinaire video!!!

Reading the title you will either have a tune bouncing around your ears….or you’ll be clueless and then I guess you’ll just have to read this boring post till the end to find out what that is all about :-)

Last week ended last night and the title should be reversed, if I don’t get some proper sleep soon I might as well be dead!

I couldn’t resist temptation and I have started this post predictably with yet more Werther! No I don’t feel guilty about it and if you feel you’ve overdosed, then look away... I dare you! (But you should know that the above video is the “Pourquoi me reveiller” from the 29th, filmed from the side of the stage itself by Esti and it was so far the best performance of the run according to people present live :-)… )

Ok, so the reason why there wasn’t much going on around here this week is not because I have drowned my sorrow in absinth, whisky or tea (not even chocolate!) but… my venom of choice was .. music :-) Loads and loads of it. Seeing as I was unexpectedly bound to London this week, much more than initially planned as gaps were filled by the generosity of a friend who shifted onto me a number of Barenboim tickets. So proceedings went something like this:

Monday … my body craving sleep, my heart still in Paris, my mind hard at work, basically preparing for Tuesday;
Tuesday – battling with internet connection for smudges of sound of Werther broadcast (we shall not speak about the work bit from here on as the week only ended on a zero balance due to induction of high positive doses of music)
Wednesday – visit to new place – King’s Place in fact, Weimar Voices, Helmut Deutsch and Christian Immler- as I will explain in a bit more detail a most fulfilling, entertaining and puzzling evening of song, brilliant! Outside the Werther by far the best bit of the week!
Thursday – Wigmore, Joyce DiDonato, David Zobel and canzone d’amore – I’m finding myself more and more often drawn to the Wigmore for the gems they have on offer
Friday – Royal Festival Hall, Barenboim and Berlin Staatskapelle first take and the most amazing almost full moon over the Thames at Southbank!
Saturday – ROH, yay.. let the new year finally begin! I swear I had a trickle of emotion going for the first time this year through those revolving doors…. That was until I stopped in shock at the display window of the ROH shop! Ah by the way, the piece was Rake’s Progress.
Sunday- take two on Barenboim, Berlin Staatskapelle, Beethoven and Schoenberg. And an amazing full moon over the bridge which is becoming kind of a theme, it was full moon when I was there last and I keep having these moments on that bridge where I just have to stop, breath in the wind, wonder at the clear night and feel lucky because it isn’t raining and because I am in London!! Strange déjà vu, but of the very pleasant kind; I’ve promised myself that I will go back during the summer and just sit on the Southbank terrace with music and a book and enjoy the place properly rather than steeling a moment of the night.

Was it all worth it? Definitely and I would do it again. Because it is not often that I get to be in London to enjoy a lot of what is on offer. So, even if I have to catch up on sleep during weeks to come, there is a lot I learned this week and thus a lot to be thankful for:-)

Less and less surprisingly to myself I really like 20th century music. I know I can’t throw everything in a pot, but I like the structure in destructuring, the wittiness and irony that runs through much of it, the surprise element that keeps you on your toes and challenges you to listen carefully and unlock the riddles. A bit like solving math problems back in school, as crazy as this may sound. I’m not sure it is the kind of music I would listen to again and again and again in my own time, because it doesn’t really provide the escapist element one sometimes craves when delving into music, but live it can provide a much more inspiring evening than quite a few better known tunes. I think what I am trying to say is that I need and enjoy both, I need my Massenet, Verdi, Wagner, etc but I also need Stravinsky, Korngold, Messiaen, Schonberg, etc. I find they kind of make each others qualities and uniqueness stand out more and you return to the others with a refreshed ear and mind :-) Because I listen to all, each time I come back to one of them I fall in love all over again.

Let’s start by the end, the Barenboim concerts:

Royal Festival Hall
Daniel Barenboim with Berlin Staatskapelle
Friday 29 January 2010
Ludwig Van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.1
Arnold Schoenberg: Pelléas et Mélisande
Sunday 31 January 2010
Arnold Schoenberg: Verklärte Nacht
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.5 (Emperor)

Hands down for me on both nights Schoenberg wins over Beethoven, at least in this interpretation. It’s where I think the true colours of the Staatskapelle shined though as well as Barenboim’s talents as a conductor. The two Schoenberg pieces could not more different, one powerful and overwhelming (Pelléas et Mélisande) and the other almost delicate. And still in both excellent and very effective play with dynamics was obvious. In fact the ebbs and explosions in Pelléas et Mélisande reminded very much of recent vocal performances I had heard…. It’s a pity on the second night they decided to install cameras in several places in the Hall and I had the unfortunate “pleasure” of sitting high up in the hall and having one fanning at my back, quite loudly. Probably this concert will figure on a future documentary, but I think they should have checked the noise level before installing them there. There were moments where the fans were literally louder than the orchestra sound!

The Beethoven concertos very enjoyable and quite original in interpretation, but I wouldn't really say they were memorable. It simply does work better in terms of harmony when conductor and pianist are not the same, especially because a conductor not busy playing the piano might have accommodated the inspiration of the pianist even better :-) I am really glad I went because the Schoenberg is a rare treat, especially treated with such care and attention. But I am left wondering about the general reaction of the public: how much reflected the impact of what was heard on the night and how much did the “fame” element come into play? Do people applaud the Beethoven concerto no5 because it is a well know, exquisite piece of music or because they like this particular version they have just heard? In some respect the reaction of the audience on Friday when Schoenberg ended the concert on a high seemed to be more tuned into the performance than the once on Sunday. It’s also true that the Beethoven played with a downsized orchestra would have been maybe more enjoyable from closer to the stage, whereas the Schoenberg , even the delicate pieces flowed freely and expanded into the hall :-)

In any case you will be able to enjoy them yourself and make up your own minds as BBC3 will air the concerts this week. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qxx51

Saturday, in between the Barenboim concerts I went to the ROH –
The Rake's Progress
Saturday, 30 January 2010
Composer Igor Stravinsky
Director Robert Lepage
Revival Director Sybille Wilson

Set Designer Carl Fillion
Costume designs Francois Barbeau
Lighting Designer Etienne Boucher
Video Boris Firquet
Choreography Michael Keegan Dolan
Performers
Conductor Ingo Metzmacher
Trulove Jeremy White
Anne Trulove Rosemary Joshua
Tom Rakewell Toby Spence
Nick Shadow Kyle Ketelsen
Mother Goose Frances McCafferty
Baba the Turk Patricia Bardon
Sellem Graham Clark

This is a wonderfully constructed opera, with perfectly timed tension and I am grateful as a first time listener to have had the Insight lend a hand in additional understanding :-) Best thing by far on the night the witty and lively sound that came from the pit by the hands of Ingo Metzmacher! The score is so interesting and catching that I think I could easily listen to it without the singing, or at least on this night it felt a bit like it. I wish I had heard the cast to years ago to have some kind of comparison… I was almost tempted to say that judging by the other night English is a particularly difficult language to sing opera in… BUT, I would be wrong, as I have heard opera in English before and never had this impression. And also during the Insight evening I heard the same arias delivered with panache, total security and spot on articulation! Whereas on the night I was forced to glance to the surtitles many more times that I would have wished. This sounds to me like a highly entertaining but also highly difficult piece vocally and this case some lack of power in the voices was not helped by the production. Fun to look at sometimes, whoever the gags were not the brightest I thought and placing the singers mostly in the second back half of a deep stage did not help a bit, but rather made singing and especially hearing in the hall a challenge at times. (If I compare to the Tristan and Isolde, with more powerful voices by far and they were always brought towards the front and never left with a gaping empty space behind them for long…)

I understand about the desire of director to create visually flashy productions and make a statement, but I don’t like the feeling I am getting with Lepage that no matter how ingenious and gimmicky the production, it doesn’t really mould well over the music. And it favours big picture over character definition in my opinion too much, It did in this case by caricaturising a bit too much and in the Damnation from the Met I saw in the cinema there was no character definition to speak about (loads of visual effects with singers being tied to a two dimensional balcony/grid). I’m not saying the public did not enjoy it, but how many times can you see this production and enjoy it as much and what will distinguish one viewing from another? I like to remember revivals of productions also by the impact individual singers and their personalities left on the whole and I am not sure this is happening here. Anyway, matter of taste I guess.

Having said that the cast themselves got better during the evening and in the second half singing really started to come together with a unusual high point in the moralising quartet at the end (déjà vu Mozart anyone? ;-))))

Basically I really really liked the music and Anne’s I go to him! Is among my very favourite bits! I’d loooove to listen t this again, preferably not in this production, but it will do as well if no choice.

My return “home” to the ROH came with the obligatory detour by the shop and I did manage to come out empty-handed … but stopped dead at the sight of this in the display window!!! Now, I don’t care or mind which opera singers CD they display and definitely encourage the happy expectation of Rolando’s come back to the stage, hopefully to the ROH one as well.. BUT… what is the other thing doing there????? (and even with Rolando they could have displayed the latest CD…. Not that they are in the habit of doing that always… during the Don Carlo several of the singers had just had CD issued, but none where displayed there until much much later…. )

The issue I have is with singers being advertised there who have never sung on the ROH stage a whole role( or anywhere else as a matter of fact)…and with the combination having an air of publicity for a certain TV show which has nothing to do with this institution. I am disappointed to be honest… I may understand the monetary reasons, but one of the reasons why I myself support with my own money the ROH is because I admire and respect the high standards of the institution and it’s elegancy and style in public dealings with its own image. Having this in the display window is in my opinion not congruent with my expectations.

If that artist is worthy being advertised there I would expect to see the artist as part of future ROH schedules, and I have a suspicion this will not be the case anytime soon. And until this artist has an operatic career at the standards usually displayed by this institution I do not expect to see them advertised again within the building. As a friend of the ROH I do not support the decision to have this kind of publicity within it’s shop, money matters aside. Because at the ROH standards do matter, I still hope so.

So far for today, to be continued with more on the wonderful recitals (I’ve left the best for last :-))

Until then I will not keep the…”suspense” any longer about the title.. here they go:



Well, yes of course it is BON JOVI! And yes, i own almost all their CDs, it's not an isolated incident at all :-)

Reminder: Don Carlo ROH, Saturday BBC Radio 3

Update: the microphones were stuck to the border of the stage, above the orchestra, that is why you can at times hear the orchestra, especially horns, flutes etc and percussion louder and you can also hear Simon's decided steps ;-))) And Jonas singing from Popy's lap as if he was singing into you ear...

Gorgeous isn't it? Ahhhhhhhh..... reliving it exactly as i remembered it ... http://operaismagic.blogspot.com/2009/10/don-carlo-roh-from-heart.html

Can't wait for the La pace dei sepolcri!!!! ;-)
PS BBC stream seems to be good and holding up to the international "attack" ;-)



Photo: Catherine Ashmore Marina Poplavskaya (Elizabeth de Valois) and Jonas Kaufmann (Don Carlos)

On BBC Radio3 at 18:00 UK time ; 19:00 CET (Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, Austria, etc), 13:00 US East coast (New York), for other locations and times, this is a useful site.

On the BBC Radio 3 page, there are also some longer interviews with Semyon Bychkov and Jonas Kaufmann, to listen click HERE (there is also some more information as well as pictures).

For those who couldn't listen to the JK interview on line, here it is:

To listen tomorrow evening to the broadcast on the internet click HERE or HERE.

To listen with surtitles click HERE.

Don Carlo ROH ...from the heart

photo Catherine Ashmore at musicweb-international.com

Ohh Carlo…..

How do you put so much music into words without exaggerating, without leaving important things out and without boring everyone to death… I suspect I’ll become one of those old grannies who will forever pester her grandchildren and everyone else she meets with the story of the Don Carlo she once saw… and nothing will be quite like that Carlo she saw in her days :-)

Of course every performance is unique in its own way and maybe many are worth seeing and some even remembering for a long long time… But we probably all have some recordings at home which leave us wondering what it must have felt like to be there, what did the public think when they listened to it live? Did they think 20, 30 years later or more people would think it special, reference it and constantly compare others to it? I’d love to be able to go back and sit through one of these and compare the feeling to the one I’ve had during this Don Carlo run. And apparently I wasn’t the only one thinking that this was not just your good performance of the week, or the season. I’ve heard many people around me say that it is the best they have seen, or rave about how extraordinary x or y was. The overall smiling faces at the exit also confirmed the kind of festive feeling the evening had surrounding it. It’s not that usual to see smiling faces after almost 4h and a half hours of opera, especially when the most loved characters end in brutal death :-) And still this tale of love, betrayal, freedom and politics left many elated. It also seems the word spread during the run that this is a must see thing, as many famous faces were sighted in the hall ;-) Even singer colleagues travelled to enjoy it.

Having said all this …. I am reluctant to be so definitive about things that I see, because it always is a personal view and my criteria may well be different than other people’s; besides this is not about giving out titles and prizes. So I will rather stick to this:

They have been of the performances I have most enjoyed over all the years I have been seeing opera and will definitely be of the ones I will never, ever be able to forget. Musically this cast and this orchestra and this conductor have revealed so many new facets of this piece, I am grateful for being able to see all performances! It has been a very very happy time, more so than I even expected and the feeling of joy was increased by the feeling that every evening I shared the “buzz” with people surrounding me in the audience. What more can I ask from going to the opera than being given these short, but unforgettable moments of happiness :-)

In a piece where I heave learned to love every single note it is hard to single out those which are “extra special”… I’ll try to mention a few, but wouldn’t be surprised if I ended up retelling the whole opera ;-)

So, I loved…


Jonas doing the softest little trills on “Benedici un casto amor” in the first act and the audience on the last performance remembering that is was his only aria and giving into the impulse of applauding him…

Popy and Jonas really bringing out the fresh chemistry in the first duet; it felt like the perfect carefree young couple freshly in love….

Jonas posing as if in the portrait he has just given Elisabetta and making the audience giggle very single time and then bursting into the “Caaaaarlo son ioooo... e t'aaaaaamo!”…. ohhhhhh….

Pumeza Matshikiza well sung and lively Tebaldo, she definitely was a sparkling stage presence :-)

Robert Lloyd for being part of this production and lending the ghost of Carlos V that world-weary and at the same time peaceful quality

Simon and Jonas for delivering my favourite “Dio, che nell'alma infondere” ever !!!! especially the retake in piano is the most touching and musically stylish I could have imagined. I am grateful to both for putting all their singing and acting skills into creating the friendship bond between Rodrigo and Carlo on stage. It was natural and warm and very touching. Of course there was general choreography, but in all the times I have seen it there was never a gesture that seemed purposely placed or born out of anything else than live interaction. It actually was different every single time and made it exciting to go and see what they come up with or end up doing on the night. Which doesn’t mean I didn’t find the fist on chest thumping just a tiny bit funny… I know it fits the plot and it ties the friendship and Flanders and it is an encouraging gesture, but grown men doing this kind of exaggerated gesture today do look a bit odd :-)

Simon “handling” the court ladies and their curiosity in a most elegant and clever fashion. After the first performance I was waiting for the “D'un gran torneo si parla già, E del torneo il Re sarà.” like for a piece of candy... Verdi must have really loved Posa’s character, because there is not a note he sings that isn’t delightful! And Simon’s slightly annoyed smiles while responding to Eboli were priceless :-)

Popy delivering with dignity and total regal air “Un favore chiedete alla Regina.”

The whole duet between Carlo and Elisabetta in the garden.. from the “Io vengo a domandar grazia alla mia Regina” to the “Ah! maledetto io soooooooon!” Here like in the duet Rodrigo/Carlo each performance brought something new and the interaction became increasingly natural. I love every note, every word of it… Jonas burnished and finite tone in “Mi volsi a un gelido marmo d'avel” and the desperate dip into the fountain , Popy’s equally emotional “Perchè, perchè accusar il cor d'indifferenza?”, Jonas singing the most unbelievable “Perduto ben, mio sol tesor, Ah, tu, splendor di mia vita” (especially that last viiiiiiiiit-aa somehow touched you straight in the heart), Popy singing ever so softly over Carlo’s head in her lap “Ahimè! Il dolor l'uccide... /Tra queste braccia io lo vedrò Morir d'affanno, morir d'amore... /Colui che il ciel mi destinò! ” and Carlo coming back to his senses in a lost piano and then in an emotional outburst on “Elisabetta! tu... bell'adorata” while trapping her within this arms and Popy bravely resisting :-) and pulling herself proudly up in the “Compi l'opra, a svenar corri il padre/Ed allor del suo sangue macchiato /All'altar puoi menare la madre.”. You have to admire a woman and singer who can deliver those lines with such willpower and despair at the same time.

Sparks flying in the confrontation between Rodrigo an Philip … it was never any other way than heart-stopping and riveting. I almost stopped breathing every single time and the gradually darkening lights to intense red perfectly accompanied the tension… which was for me absolutely explosive when Simon delivered the “Orrenda, orrenda pace!(deathly silcen) /La pace dei sepolcri (buuuummmm!!!!!)O Re, non abbia mai di voi l'istoria a dir:Ei fu Neron! (in chilling voice)” aaahhhhhh, amazingggg!!! Simon’s exaltation in the delivery of the aria ending in “Date la libertà!” and Furlanetto’s amazingly shaded, varied depiction of the king with his deeply ingrained convictions of reigning through fear and death, his admiration of the idealist, his well meant warnings, his doubts regarding the Queen, every gesture perfect, nothing too much, nothing too little… “La morte in questa man ha un avvenir fecondo.” The whole weight of the world is lying in his voice and words when the king says “O strano sognator! Tu muterai pensier,Se il cor dell'uom conoscerai,Qual Filippo il conosce!” Up to that last gesture which is looved and waited for where he extends his hand to be kissed and then almost seems to want to caress Rodrigo’s hair and in the end decides to do neither... The whole play of voices and words, of piani and forte or covered darkness and open sounds… so much to see, hear and feel in something over 10 minutes.

Back to the “lovely” things in life … Jonas saying “A mezzanotte al giardin dellaRegina sotto gli allor della fonte vicina… È mezzanotte” with so much lightness and youth fullness that you can’t help being touched but Carlo’s forever hopeful soul :-) Simon almost dashing out of Carlo’s arms after Eboli with drawn dagger …scary that one. I liked the fact that it was physically challenging, there wasn’t any mock fury, the struggle, pulling and pushing was all real.

Verdi’s genius in creating the terzetto started by Eboli with “Trema per te, falso figliuolo” it takes a really good orchestra, an excellent conductor and 3 great singers to pull that one off with such punch!

Then the next bit of Carlo&Rodrigo interaction with the “A te! All'intimo del Re...!...Sospetti tu di me? ...No; del mio cor sei la speranza. /Questo cor che sì t'amo /A te chiudere non so. /In te riposi ogni fidanza; /Si, questi fogli importanti ti do. Io m'abbandono a te ......Tu puoi fidar in me.” Incredible! The contempt in Jonas “Intimo del re” and Simons shades of anger, disappointment, disbelief and hurt in “sospetti tu di me?... di me? ” On one night he actually shoved Jonas hard ;-) and that heart felt hug at the end… ahhhh and yes, the fist on chest thing again :-)

The bells going round the house before the autodafe , the Flemish deputies choir and the looks exchanged between Elisabetta, Philip and Carlo in this scene

Furlanetto’s “Ella giammai m'amò...!” , the very very very best today, no doubt about it. The setting for the scene is perfect, every single word and turn of voice fits every word. It never felt like singing of certain known phrases, but like what it really should be ... an intimate confession. You are held captive by every word and although long and intricate it always felt over in a second. Grazie maestro for the understated, elegant and exquisite demonstration of what a wealth of experience, talent and a wonderful voice can do in this role. Regal in every aspect :-)

Rarely in an opera are political conflicts so ironically and effectively presented like in Don Carlo, and the “chat”between the Inquisitor and the king is an excellent example thereof. I’m going to stop myself from citing the entire libretto from it, although I honestly think I would enjoy it even if the muppets sang it! Luckily, not the case here :-) I do have my favourite words, shreds of music even here : the Inquisitor saying “Le idee del novator in te son penetrate!” and of course famous almost last words ;-))) “Perché evocar allor l'ombra di Samuel? /Dato ho finor due Regi / al regno tuo possente...! /L'opra di tanti di tu vuoi strugger, demente! /Perchè mi trovo io qui? /Che vuol il Re da me?/” “Santa Claus” Tomlinson was really scary here and I felt an incredible chill when he said in his deep, hot-as-the-flames-of-hell voice the last two lines, finite and like a unmoveable death sentence. You can hear in these deceptive words all the crucial decisions he has made and that this will have consequences, and not of the happy kind. Bravi!
I love the next scene between the king and Elisabetta just as much, and a little bit more for Popy than for Furlanetto ( not that he wasn’t great, it needs two for this martial drama to unfold). But Popy was here every single time better and better and a true French princess and Spanish queen. There is incredible strength of character and power of expression in this young, slender, elegantly pale singer and you can’t help but feel proud of her in this scene. Her “Io l'oso! Sì! /Ben lo sapete. Un di promessa /al figlio vostro fu la mia man; /Or v'appartengo, a Dio sommessa, /Ma immacolata qual giglio io son. /Ed ora si sospetta /L'onor di Elisabetta...! Si dubita di me... /Chi m'oltraggia è il Re!” I like it so much that she isn’t just the unjustly accused, but the whole weight of her acknowledgment of her destiny, duty but also status comes through. Overall I really liked Popy’s gutsy Elisabetta, no meek, oppressed women, but a real queen, even though a deeply unhappy one. And Furlanetto’s king is frighteningly out of control in his “Ardita troppo, voi favellate! /Me debole credete e sfidarmi sembrate: /La debolezza in me può diventar furor. /Tremate allor, per voi, per me.” Another one of those many moments which make your pulse race…


Posa’s death scene…really hard to describe, because this too was born again every single time… I’m dangerously close to thinking that I’ll never see another Posa dying more beautifully and realistically in the arms of another Carlo… I had a big knot in my throat already when Posa sings “Felice ancor io son se abbracciar ti poss'io!”… And I like that this particular Carlo doesn’t take that long to understand what Rodrigo is talking about, you feel his stupor and dread already at “Convien qui dirci addio!”. I’ve rarely heard a voice as sweet at that of this Rodrigo telling Carlo not to cry: “Ci congiunga Iddio nel ciel, /Ei che premia i suoi fedel'. /Sul tuo ciglio il pianto io miro; /
Lagrimar così, perché? /No, fa cor, l'estremo spiro /Lieto è a chi morrà per te.” And that last word held on a seemingly endless tone while touching their foreheads... It almost felt like the connection between the two singers gave their joint force to the phrases. After the gun shot the last performance gave the perfect ending to Rodrigo’s life as well. The choreography of this scene has always been brilliant, but given the circumstances must be really hard to execute because both singers are facing the audience and supporting a dying Rodrigo or holding his hand while not really facing each other is not easily achievable without it looking awkward. Thursday they both fell with perfect coordination and without even exchanging a look on their knees, where Rodrigo tells Carlos Elisabetta is expecting him in the monastery and gradually falls in his arms while dying. Carlo supports him partially so that singing doesn’t become an act of torture while resting his head crying on Rodrigo’s shoulder. At the right time according to the text he extends his arm to grab the one extended by Rodrigo and when he finally dies “Ah! ... di me... non... ti... scordar...! “ Carlo gently slides Rodrigo to the floor, while holding his head so that he doesn’t end up bumping his head on the stage floor, making sure he doesn’t role into a position that he would either not look lifeless or which would be impossible to hold until the soldiers lift his body up. It really takes these two to pull something like this off, unspoken coordination and attention and consideration for the colleague and all this while singing and listening to the text as if having a conversation in a lunch break. I really can’t thank Simon and Jonas enough for the faultless singing in this scene as well as for all the efforts made to create it anew every time and make it absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking to watch.

Almost the end, you’ll be happy to know :-)

Popy huuuge aria in act 5 is something for which she deserves many many Bravos. I am not a big fan of long soprano arias, not even with Verdi, but she worked and worked and worked on this one until she too managed to fill the hall with only absolute silence and her voice. Although a certain tenor would certainly love for the old forgotten Verdi aria here to be reborn.. I wouldn’t want to miss this one… ideally I would have them both ;-)))

The final duet Elisabetta/ Carlo is almost as beautiful as the one in the garden scene, and even sadder if possible… and if you are not yet under the spell of those magically spun piani, this will get you there for sure! I really felt my heart soar on the “Si, con la voce tua quella gente m'appella./E se morrò per lei, la mia morte fia bella!” and just dissolve at “Non vedi, Elisabetta! /io ti stringo al mio seno, /Nè mia virtù vacilla, /nè ad essa io mancherò! (desperate!)/Or che tutto finì /e la man lo ritiro dalla tua man, /Tu piangi? (of course she does, who wouldn’t????)”.
Of course there is the killing and the excellently choreographed swords fight, however for me it could end ethereally and oh so sadly on their intertwined voices singing: “Ma lassù ci vedremo in un mondo migliore, /Dell'avvenire eterno /suonan per noi già l'ore; /E là noi troverem nel grembo del Signor /Il sospirato ben che fugge in terra ognor!/In tal di, che per noi non avrà più domani, /Tutti i nomi scordiam /degli affetti profani.”... Brava Popy for holing her own in the piani and those who haven’t heard Jonas sing them, you have to try and catch him do it!!... you have no idea what you are missing :-)


Fine.