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 :-)

Ping pong between the divine and earthly and how to end up envying a certain tenor…

Thanks to camilla0690 for the video :-)
Messa da Requiem Verdi. Teatro alla Scala 18 novembre 2009J.Kaufmann, Dir. D.Barenboim Giuseppe Verdi
Messa da Requiem
Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala
Conductor..............Daniel Barenboim
November 20th 2009

Barbara Frittoli, Soprano
Sonia Ganassi, Mezzo-Soprano
Jonas Kaufmann, Tenor
René Pape, Bass


This post has been almost ready for a few days, but I couldn’t resist to dip my finger into the Carmen the other day, so now I am catching up :-)…..

………

So there was this requiem I left you all thinking about :-) And yes, been there done that.. just not as I was planning to or hoping to…

Trip from Alto Adige on two trains, buses and taxis went fairly well, if we ignore Friday double dose of passengers, most of them blasting tunes from their ipods, generously sharing the charts from their …um… headphones. I could have maybe dozed off through that… if it hadn’t been for the constant ringing mobiles! And of course because the ipods were on max volume so were their phones.. otherwise how can one be expected to hear them?? So bum bum bum went the iphones, rrriiiiiiing riiiiing the phones… pronto pronto, blabla bum bum… more riiiing riiing… well, you get the picture. So much for disconnecting from the work week and winding down for some serious music. But then again nobody said there ever was anything divine about travelling ;-)

Taxied from station, washed, fed, dolled up I was ready to celebrate stepping on “sacred” Scala grounds :-) I even got tempted into being unusually stylish and wearing heals…. I should have known that greeting a requiem with an ear to ear smile and unusually high spirits is not the right way to go about it! Proudly showing off my ground floor loge ticket to the ushers I get pointed down a corridor and I walk and walk and finally see the last door and open it… Luckily the heels prevented me from falling on my tush… I turned on said heels and marched back to the ushers with a very convinced: there must be a mistake! But he looked at my ticket and said no no, that is it! I needed more than just a breath of air to make myself march back to that… cave!! I am a bad photographer, but i needed the pics to convince myself that this was not twilight zone I had stepped in. Yes what you see is what I saw sitting down… in the loge BEHIND the orchestra, shaking hands and handing the percussionist his sticks. Second row of course… hanging on to the edge of my chair. Um… stool I should say as it had NO backrest. Imagine a kind of a poncy boudoir chair in red satin, just high enough that when you sit on it you can’t quite reach the RED BRICK floor (no, no carpet), so you are precariously resting your weight on the tip of your healed shoes. Alternatively you can lean you back…side on the edge of the chair and fully step on your feet… but beware the chair may slip away.. Neither alternatives being very appealing, half way through I decided it was safest to stand.

The only clear sound was the percussion, because that reached above the heads of the two people sitting in front of me. The rest passed before the opening of the cave, not really entering it. Which meant that some of the music was difficultly audible… while almost inside the orchestra. As you can admire for yourselves looking into the Scala is quite breathtaking… looking at the backs of the singers is less so… and have them sing a coupe of meters in front of the orchestra towards the hall, therefore away from you is …well, weird to put it mildly.

If you think my initial reaction was over the top... think 140 euro ticket…. I never for a millisecond thought about the price until that door opened, all I thought was wow, La Scala, this is kind of celebration, even if late, etc , pat on the shoulder to myself and all that. I’m afraid my respectful and composed mood and my attempt to feel the divine air went up in the flames of hell in a instant… I beat Superman himself in the speed i jumped from the bottomless pit where my heart sank to the pure red rage that exploded into my brain. I’m sure I discovered a new cause for self combustion… It is only basic education that clenched my teeth and kept my mouth shut.

I’ve probably watched too much Discovery channel in my life because figure this…. Instead of walking out of there, curiosity got the better of me and I decided to sit thought it, or stand when sitting became too complicated, and literally just see what this would turn out to be. Needless to say emotional connection was not going to happen, but I found it interesting enough to watch every movement made by the percussionist and his neighbours and watch Barenboim conduct the requiem for the hour and a half it lasted. Fascinated to have every note, every shade anticipated in front of your eyes and be able to make a uninterrupted connection between the conductors intention and the music that is then created by every instrument. And to see how few gestures are actually necessary to determine rhythm, intensity, etc. You’d be surprised how much of a team player Barenboim really is. Yes, a leader, but a caring kind of one, who definitely gives the message that this is a team game. Before coming on stage he gave every singer a big hug :-) (The things you see when practically on stage… ;-))) All the way through he smiled encouragingly to them and all the members of the orchestra and chorus individually. In a short break he even worried if they were comfortable and got the tenor to shove his podium aside a bit for the same tenor to have more space. He’s got a kind of fatherly vibe off him, which I guess is very effective in achieving his vision of the piece conducted. I’ve read people say that his restrained conducting might be confusing. Absolutely not, if you’d see him from the other side, face to face, it is clear as if he would spell it out all the way. Of course... he actually sings along! I heard him loud and clear all throughout, louder than in some cases the singers themselves…

It was in a way refreshing to see how the people go about their business playing their instruments, continuously toning them to make sure every sound comes out just the right way, how every pair of eyes is glued to the conductor, how many different kinds of sticks one can use in percussion, etc :-) But seeing too much of the kitchen behind the music somehow takes the magic out of it and you see that it really is work. Fine-tuned, high level and wonderfully skilled kind of work, but work nonetheless. It really is a fine orchestra, no sound was amiss, nothing too much or too little, the percussionist is beyond excellent!! The chorus deserved all the applause and more, absolutely first class really! And it definitely became a pleasure to sit so close and watch how it is done with the certainty that it is the right way to do it. Total concentration from everyone, it was clear this was serious business after all. Barenboim clearly was the one having even more fun than everyone else. His face said just how much he likes the music, which made the sound even more predictable ;-) His face said soft even before the sound came, his brows said forte before the chorus erupted in sound.

Unfortunately, because i sat somehow outside the sound wave I was unable to appreciate all the dynamics, it sounded much quieter than it must have been in the hall itself. Whereas the quiet parts themselves were too close to me to be really quiet.
As to the singers themselves, concentrated 100% and sung so close to perfection it was amazing. Barbara Frittoli clearly put all her heart in her singing and it is a pity that her voice suffers from a slight wobble, because the right intention was there all the time. Sonia Ganassi has a pleasant even voice, and she flowed through her registers smoothly and securely and again the gravity of the text came through in every word. I personally might prefer a deeper shade of voice, to create a greater contrast to the soprano, but the execution cannot be faulted in any way. I had never heard Pape before and the opportunity to hear him definitely added to my excitement about the requiem. Not the best first experience to sit behind him, still I was surprised by how relatively light the voice is and at the same time impressed by how melodic and elegant it flows. Endless breath and harmony make his voice so wonderfully pleasant to listen to. In the ensembles it shone even more almost than in the solos. On the few occasions his voice intertwined with Jonas’ I couldn't help but smile at how beautiful they sounded. The youtube video will give you an idea of how Jonas sang his Ingemisco, although it is from the 18th, not the 20th which is the one I saw. He did it even better on the 20th :-) I know I could go on and on and on about his piani, but it is not just the piani in itself, but the use of his amazing dynamic range at just the right time. This Ingemisco was different from the one I heard a year ago in Zurich (conducted by Gatti) and the plea in the Ingemisco was both more humble and more ardent. I know it is Latin and most of us in the audience will not understand every single word, however I had the feeling from all of them that they sang much more than the notes, that everyone truly engaged with the text, in the intention behind it.

It felt polished and highly classy and elegant, a requiem thought through and amazingly executed in all details and with infinite refinement. It is definitely true that such complex interpretation, such shaded approach can only be done with an orchestra, a chorus, a conductor and singers who are all exceptionally good, and these all were.

It truly hit me in the Ingemisco and only got more evident with every note.. I didn’t regret being there , no, but I felt robbed. Like a child that you sit in front of the shop-window of a candy store, but who will not get any candy. I heard them all sing, but especially Pape, and extra-specially Jonas and my mind went… God, listen to this, just listen to how they sing, how so much more than good, listen to what they are able to do with their voices and how much they are putting of themselves in each word… And then being out of reach and only hearing some kind of leftovers of sound… it hurts, plain and simple.

Or it could have been just my feet that were killing me (I would have gladly walked back barefoot to the hotel, had it not been too cold. So much for suffering for beauty, definitely not for me!)… or the thirst drying my throat! I wore a nice new blouse, short sleeved, but covered up with a jacket thinking that it is winter after all! Well not inside the Scala, more like hot as hell, ready to sit in your bikinis! So I leaned on the brick wall, parched throat and all, shooting green arrows of envy at a certain tenor’s back who sat on a nice, comfy plastic chair (with backrest!!), and who was calmly sipping from a glass of water every now and then….

Short sidetrack --> I’m sorry to say I am to this day still plagued by the green monster as I also realised later looking at the Carmen dates that the certain tenor would also get the chance to see the Domingo special gala where he will be singing, yes the Walkure act, with oh yes!! Nina Stemme herself! An the wonderful, amazing Stemme will also sing Isolde’s Tod I think (Barenboim also conducting). Since the certain tenor obviously has the night off on the day I can bet he will be there enjoy the treat…. So you see, more reasons for “green” thoughts…. (well, maybe because he was poorly for the anteprima I’ll control the green monster and wish him good health, in bocca al lupo for Monday and loads of fun on the Domingo gala on the 9th instead ;-)))

Back on track and back to the requiem -->

Of course I am reasonable and realise that a seat somewhere at the back of the hall on the 4,5 level will naturally have better acoustics…. However, I also think it is absolutely unacceptable in a concert such as this, that for seats like I had, there is no notice of the fact that orchestra arrangement will place you behind the action. Or that with such impaired visibility and especially acoustics no reduction of the full price is made… Of course they get away with it because they can, demand for tickets at La Scala will almost always exceed the available tickets, especially in such events. But that does not make it right or fair or respectful to their customers. Were such a thing to happen at the ROH (unthinkable, but if…) I would demand a full refund and an apology for false advertising.

With the Scala all I can say is beware of how you spend your money, visibility is only decent in first rows of loges or downstairs, loge’s second and third rows have only chairs with no backrests and for 1st row it is always full price you pay. There is little split in terms of price categories as it is, and also expect to pay 20-24 euro just handling fee on top of the price of your ticket, even when buying on the internet from the site of the house itself. It is what it is….. On the upside it is a good orchestra and acoustics are also generally good.

I guess I am only one of many more who see their admiration of the theatre’s past and the enjoyment of current shows somewhat thwarted by the definite feeling of being ripped off and not being respectfully treated. Of course it would matter much less if I didn’t think of la Scala as being LA SCALA, if you know what I mean…. It is silly I haven’t been able to throw away the ticket, although I never keep any, but I still get that buzz looking at that logo, that I would be able to recognise in my sleep… But I don’t think the institution these days should bank too much on my operatic nostalgia and sentimentalism. I don’t actually travel for past history ( not that I wouldn’t give an arm and a leg to travel to the past to hear Corelli and Callas and Bastianini sing live on stage :-)) but for current enjoyment and on the long run I’d rather not have the little that I can do of all that is out there further impaired by pesky “non-musical” matters. Then I will take my business, insignificant as it is, somewhere where the joy is multiplicated rather than diminished. But I could write a whole book about the constant conflict between the attraction to what happens on stage and how the institutions sell it and the shocking things we are willing to put up with as customers….

So, yes, a beautiful requiem, with some singing that was close to divine, but unfortunately heard at an earthly distance which kind of took away the spine tingle and the goosebumps I had been looking forward to.
…….

Well, at least my home-improvement project is progressing. After 12 hours travels back from Italy I deeply inhaled the welcoming wafts of oily paint. My builders had been hard at work as interior designers and they favoured open spaces in the sitting room , as in just a sofa to sit on and cosy in the bedroom with 2 tables, 3 stands of drawers plus two nightstands and two wardrobes neatly squeezed in. But you know us women! It is all about redecorating, redecorating, redecorating. So I proceeded to dump my suitcase in the bathtub (free space generously left available) and to take all drawers out of various pieces and drag them around to the sitting room, where I also decided I’d rather eat then in the bedroom so maybe table was preferable to carpet. At some point close to midnight I made a comfy pile of the curtains pulled down in a dusty cloud and put my feet up on the sofa… only to realise I couldn't get myself kinked out of the L shape my back now favoured…. Ups! That meant that I could not play puzzle as planned with my wardrobe, who’s inner walls had been conveniently stacked together and piled on top of the drawers, ready for my spare time puzzle fun… It is almost as if they had a crystal ball that told them how much fun I had hammering together another similar piece of furniture from Ikea more than a year ago in Edinburgh. And no, that wasn’t new either, the wardrobe just decided one day that it preferred horizontal to vertical. Which is when I bought my well beloved Bosch electric screwdriver (God bless them!) …sadly after I had blisters to all fingers from some 10 screws and more nails..

About 10 days later I am back to vertical myself ! The stretching and balancing on toes on the edge of the chair while doing push-aways from the wall to rehang the cleaned curtains did the trick! And I saved the money for the physiotherapist and can now splash it on Xmas presents, isn’t that grand? And looking forward to attack the wardrobe with the Bosch next! :-) After which more aerobics to hang a new lampshade are scheduled… and I think I should take up plumbing after that as the flush in the loo has developed a bad temper …

PS You should try and listen to opera while doing housework, definitely increases productivity, I tell ya! More on my current playlist soon ;-)

PPS Also a special thanks and a big hug are in order for a good friend who put a .. gourmet touch on Milan ;-))))