If like me you are a belcanto fan, you might want to catch up with this BBC Radio 3/ Opera on 3 broadcast from the ROH while you still can, link to the programme is here.
Lisa ..... Elena Xanthoudakis (Soprano), Amina ..... Eglise Gutierrez (Soprano), Teresa ..... Elizabeth Sikora (Mezzo-soprano), Elvino ..... CelsoAlbelo (Tenor), Count Rodolfo ..... Michele Pertusi (Baritone), Royal Opera House Orchestra and Chorus, Daniel Oren (conductor)
It's a strong cast, who can certainly deliver the goods the music promises, i just wish, having seen it in person, that the actual production would have worked with the singers and the music. I've rarely seen such a bland one and the cast and music certainly deserved a better one. It's frustrating to me that belcanto doesn't really get the attention it deserves at this house, better productions, more involved directors, etc. Quibbles aside, do listen to the broadcast while it is still available, because you will get the best of what this Sonnambula was, the voices and the music :-)
I've heard most of the cast before, except for the tenor :-) And let's face it, i'm always listening out for young, beautiful tenor voices. I love this kind of music and there are not many voices out there which can do it truly justice. These are tough plots to bring alive while you concentrate on singing... beautifully :-) I think you have to love this music dearly and it has to show in your singing.
I'd heard of CelsoAlbelo before his Elvino at the ROH and it was a pleasant discovery to hear him live. He's very young and has had a brilliant career so far and looks to be on the right path to continue to do well. For me he had what i was looking for, the voice and the heart to carry this music. For those who want to know more of the roles, places, etc there is plenty on CelsoAlbelo'sofficial web.
But i was lucky to get a little peek behind the curtain and get a bit of insight into Celso beyond stage and roles ;-) And here are a few of his "secrets" he shared and i can in turn share with you :-)
1.- Tell me about some pieces and recordings of classical music which are of special interest to you.
I am very interested in opera in general and especially in Romantic bel canto. Obviously the admiration I have for some singers such as Alfredo Kraus and Carlo Bergonzi means that I treasure some of their records devotedly.
2.- Music which makes you cry- (whatever genre or style)
In fact I don´t cry at music, although I do feel moved by singers who give it their all on stage, like Leo Nucci, for example. I believe that the performer is there by virtue of the audience and I like to feel this when I go to the opera.
3.- Pieces which you believe are under-valued and pieces or composers that you think are over-valued.
Although this question is almost one to ask a musicologist, my opinion is limited to my tastes. I think that bel canto in general is underestimated (Donizetti, Bellini, Rossini), I have even heard people saying that singing this repertoire is easier than Mozart… It´s the same with Verismo, which I like but I know that it is almost looked down on by certain groups. I don´t agree with this, because each repertoire has its difficulties. ¿Over-valued composer? None.
4.- A performance you went to that you will never forget
My first Traviata, in Madrid: it was the first time I went to the opera and in fact it really moved me. Another unforgettable performance was a Tosca that I saw in Valencia, conducted by ZubinMehta and with the tenor Jorge deLeón as Cavaradossi: he was simply immense, stratospheric, tear-jerking!
5.- Something (or some things ) you are really proud of
I suppose that you are referring to my singing... I think I control my phrasing and legato, always in the Italian style. I make an effort to always be expressive and moving.
6.- “My biggest “secret” pleasure is…”
It´s no secret, but I love good food, good wine, good bread and I have a special weakness for desserts...
7. -“When I want to get away from everything I…”
I go to my island to dive. It is a magnificent experience, which brings you into contact with nature and with yourself.
8.- The funniest thing they have asked you to do in a production
I haven´t been asked to do many amusing things, but singing with my back to the audience is something I don´t like and I have had to do it on occasion. It´s good if you can argue with the director and reach an agreement.
9. Places or theatres you dream about singing in and why
Covent Garden, La Scala and the Met are goals which any opera singer has, and that includes me, but in my case I always love to return home, to Tenerife and LasPalmas, or the Real de Madrid –the city where I live, to sing in the Liceu in Barcelona and in my ‘other home’, which is A Coruña, in Galicia. I had never dreamed about singing in Japan, but when I did it in the end it was like a dream because I have some wonderful memories…
10. Tell us something about tenors that you think people should know, but they don´t
We are normal people. People always say that tenors are especially demanding, obsessive, neurotic and compulsive. Some of them are (ha ha ha), but no more than in other professions. It is true that being a singer means having to be in good health, but, believe me, we live and suffer like all other mortals.
........... ( see, told you, tenors are really nice people ;-))))
Wishing him all the best for the future, i'm sure we'll hear him and of him again :-)
I hope he had a good time in London and that he will be back!
Placido Domingo leaves the stage with his wife after the curtain call of Placido Domingo Celebration at the Royal Opera House after a special performance to celebrate his 40th anniversary with the Royal Opera in London October 27, 2011. REUTERS/Olivia Harris
Last night the ROH was a place of love :-) We celebrated Placido's 40 years relationship with the House in the presence of the man himself. And yest again he sang for us and gave himself to stage and audience. I've read the papers today and i have to agree: nobody dies like Placido!
It was a night filled with flowers and memories. I cannot speak for his performances at the ROH other than last year's Simon, which was also my first time hearing Placido live, but his voice has been with me for nearly 40 years. As far back as i can think of i hear his voice. I feel really luckily to have been able to experience last night live and to have seen and heard Placido live.
The night itself got more exciting as we went along and although i was sorry to kind of go cold straight into Otello, which deserves all the concentration and emotion we can give it, i felt in the end the sequence was perfect, the end was what anyone could dream of. I will always cherish that absolutely gorgeous image of Placido Domingo pretending to be dead beautifully in the arms of Marina Poplavskaya's Amelia/Maria. Opera at it's best! Just as he has been giving us for so many years.
There are plenty more details about the individual 3 acts in the press if you would like to know more :-) I just feel i have to say one thing, Pappano brought Verdi to shimmering beauty, that was one of the most beautiful renditions of Rigoletto's last act i have ever heard :-)
I'll end this with the thoughts of the man of the day, because he has a way of putting the essence of things into words like few do. Placido from the heart, speaking to all opera-nutters out there ( via Louise Jury's arts blog in the Evening standard):
Placido Domingo sings London's praises
There is no better advocate for opera than Placido Domingo - and not just because he was one of the Three Tenors who made Puccini such a hit at Italia ’90. Of course, there is the voice which is still special even if he is some years past collecting a bus pass. But everyone who meets him adores him, too. Staff relish telling you how he knows the doorkeepers, remembers everyone’s names, looks at family photos and has his make-up done with everyone else and not alone in his own dressing room.
And he has a knack of making something sound like a compliment when it is questionable whether it really is – but with no sense of being snide. "I think the public in London is amazing," he told me amidst the adoring crush on stage after he had brought the Royal Opera House to its feet last night at a special gala marking the 40th anniversary of his Covent Garden debut. "In some theatres maybe you have anything between half an hour or 40 minutes of curtain calls but in London I think they kind of respect the artists and say, ‘The artists has been doing a lot, they have to go home.’ Ten minutes in London is equivalent to half an hour or 40 minutes elsewhere." He certainly got that last night, sharing the stage with no fewer than four younger singers who were making their Covent Garden debut. "It’s really the future when you see these people," he said, making clear he had no doubts about the future of his artform – unless we become robots or machines.
"I believe opera is forever, as long as there is sensibility in people. We are all a little bit out of our minds because of opera. Normally the artists [are] but there are a lot of people and they are a little bit out of their mind and many of them completely out of their mind because they love opera." Domingo looked around the Royal Opera House stage and reminisced with John Tooley who was the general administrator when he sang there for the first time 40 years ago, long before the improvements made by the Nineties re-development.
"This stage was little but this house has always been enormous - the warmth of the public the company like a family. I always miss being at Covent Garden. It’s unbeatable," he told me. He genuinely seems to love it – and for everyone there last night, the feeling was definitely mutual.
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 :-)
And what a season this is! Check out upcoming recitals this season with names such as Lucio Gallo, Fabio Armiliato, Giuseppe Filianoti and more, not least the cherry on the cake, ie JDF at RAH!
For tomorrow, 28th September 2011, at St John's , come to hear Marius Brenciu with Ingrid Surgenor on the piano sing songs and arias by composers including Gluck, Giordani, Bellini, Mozart, Donizetti, Verdi, Cilea, Respighi, Tosti, Tchaikovsky. ( Full programme in link)
Marius won First Prizes in both the “Lied” and “Singer of the World” Competitions at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition in 2001. He made his debut at the Met in 2008 with an overwhelming success in La Rondine and also performed in renowned productions such as La Traviata, La Bohème, Macbeth, Simon Boccanegra and L’Elisir d’amore among others. Future engagements include concert performances of Lensky in Eugene Onegin with the Symphony Orchestra of the Bayerische Rundfunk.
And here is an little video from said Rondine at the Met where Marius Brenciu sang Prunier:
Thanks GrandTierBox for the videos!
And here is a little interview with Marius, where he talks among other things about his dream roles :-)( and it links back to more info on the Facebook site of the Rosenblatt recitals)
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....
I'm not dead! Well not yet anyway ;-) Almost tried death by work, but for the coming days i've got another "poison" of choice... MUSIC!!! And scrumptious loads of it!!
Tosca, Tosca, Tosca :-))))))) and then maybe Butterfly and Cendrillon and Tell and more Tosca!!! I'm absolutely giddy with excitement and reading this:
I almost wish i had been there to feel the atmosphere :-) I hope as many as possible got tickets!
I'm looking forward to Puccini with Pappano, because nobody does Tosca like him! To hearing everyone again ( the best Mario EVER! and Ange and Bryn live again) , to proming, to Rossini and Santa Cecilia (how cool is it that Pappano has both his orchestras in town?!) , to lunch on the run between venues, to boiling alive at the RAH, to freezing inside the ROH, to waking up and going to bed with music ringing in my head :-)
I admit, i am forever fascinated with Pappano's music and his talent for communication :-)
It's a marvellous season end at the ROH, Werther, Macbeth, Tosca, all of which he's made me listen to in new and always touching ways and i am very much looking forward to hearing him again with Santa Cecilia at the Proms with Rossini's Tell.
I don't like crossovers, i'm not really into musicals, but i dare you to say this has not touched every fibre of your heart! And he's got the most smooth and beautiful natural voice :-)
Precious little pearls from an evening of song i was lucky enough to hear live :-)
Especially for a dear friend, looking forward to enjoying one of these evenings together in a few months time :-)
Standchen
Auf der Brucke
Der Knabe und das Immlein
An die Geliebte
And this was the last encore of the evening, gently sending us home :-)))
Hotel
Enjoy everyone!
Thanks very much theflossie100 for sharing!!
And not at all meaning to spoil the "spleen"... but if you haven't seen and heard it yet, RUN, RUN RUN!!! While it's still on, it's a gorgeous night at the opera!! I've seen it 3 times and could do with 3 more!
Just because :-) And to wish Roberto Joyeux anniversaire!!! and In bocca al lupo with his upcoming debut in le Cid (there is never enough Massenet for me! :-))))
And, since i am very much in Verdi mood, due to the Macbeth at the ROH, here is one of those amazingly beautiful arias Verdi wrote for tenors like no other :-)
"La mia letizia infondere" I Lombardi
And there are a couple of belcanto operas that i love in their French version almost more than in their Italian, there seems to be an added lyricism, and added fluidity that comes through the language and of course through the singers voice...
Lucia...
Lacrymosa Don Carlos
Thanks myyellowlabfan, MUEZZAB, singercanela for the videos!
Well, it is almost here, only 1 day left! For all of us out here and not at the Met, we can listen to the Walkure on line over the internet on this Met link.
It starts at 6,30pm NY time, that is 11,30pm London time and 12,30am elsewhere in Europe. And a little present from a dear friend in New York, to make us feel a little bit closer :-))) Thanks sooo much!!!
The cast is, in case you need a reminder ;-)
Conductor: James Levine Brünnhilde: Deborah Voigt Sieglinde: Eva Maria Westbroek Fricka: Stephanie Blythe Siegmund: Jonas Kaufmann Wotan: Bryn Terfel Hunding: Hans-Peter König
For the impatient ones, here are a few small videos from the general rehearsal, courtesy of the Met :-) No need to explain who is who i guess ;-)))
Enjoy!
Hm, for whatever reason the embedded links don't seem to work, so here is the direct link to the Met Videos of the Walkure:
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 Otellothe 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 :-)
And you gotta give it to them, a total singer's fest. The Ring is back, there are Carlos, Traviatas, Bohemes, a new Hoffmann, Cenerentolas, Rosenkavaliers, a new Turandot as well as many many more.
And they have secured: Angela Gheorghiu, Edita Gruberova, Diana Damrau (doing all ladies in the Hoffmann!!!!), Anja Harteros, Rene Fleming, Sophie Koch, Martina Serafin, Anna Netrebko, Joyce DiDonato, Roman Vargas, Jonas Kaufmann, Joseph Calleja, Simon Keenlyside, Pavol Breslik, John Rylea, Bryn Terfel, Alan Held ( the new Hollender), Lawrence Brownlee, Klaus Florian Vogt, Rolando Villazon (Hoffmann!!!), Mariusz Kwiecien (Posa!), Rene Pape (Filippo!), Lance Ryan, etc etc
However much i hate their "schriftliches Bestellungssystem" which this year again has treated me to a refusal you have to give it to them, a season to be very happy about if you live in Munich and dream about if you don't :-) Congratulations are in order i believe!
13 Apr 2011 » 7:30PM » St John's, Smith Square ELIZABETH LLEWELLYN Soprano, Simon LepperPianist Songs and arias by composers including Handel, Mozart, Walton, Strauss, Puccini, Verdi and Gounod. Fo the full program information see the related Rosenblatt recital site. She has sung at the WNO and Opera North and her roles have included Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Governess in The Turn of the Screw, Fiorilla in Il Turco in Italia and Contessa in Le Nozze di Figaro. Most recent engagements included covering Donna Elvira for Glyndebourne Festival Opera’s production of Don Giovanni and her spectacular debut as Mimì for ENO’s revival production of La Bohème. To find out more check out this interview:
And this wonderful one with Edward Seckerson in the Independent .
And also this more recent interview done in preparation for tomorrow's recital: What one thing that has happened in your life has made the biggest impact on who you are today as a singer and made you realise you wanted a career in music?
There are two answers to that question. The thing which had the biggest impact on my life as a singer was having to stop singing. When I started singing again in October 2007, it made me realise what a privilege it is to be able to make a career creating other worlds with just your voice, body and imagination. I do feel quite keenly that this is my privilege and not my right, and so not to be squandered. What made me realise that I wanted to become a singer was a recording given to me of Jessye Norman singing spirituals, "Es gibt ein Reich" from Ariadne auf Naxos by Strauss, and "Dove sono" from Le Nozze di Figaro (which is included in my recital). I was utterly transfixed by the power and expressiveness of her voice. I had only just started having singing lessons myself, and longed to develop even a fraction of her ability to 'transport' an audience.
You stopped singing for 10 years due to illness and when you returned to singing, you triumphed as Mimì in ENO’s production of La Bohème. Could you please tell us what this was like for you?
It was surreal and very exciting. Most nights I would giggle at my reflection in the mirror before going on stage, as I could not quite believe that I had such a golden opportunity to sing such a beautiful role. Every night I was encouraged by the warm reception from the audience at my curtain-call, but most of all it was very humbling to think that they had really enjoyed and appreciated what I brought to the production.
What advice would you give to a young aspiring singer?
Spend as much time and take as much care developping yourself as a person as you do honing your skills as an artist - travel, work a normal 9-5 job for a little while, be a keen observer of people, and be realistic with yourself... I have found that technical/vocal ability is only half the job. Our audiences want to be moved and changed by what we do, not simply impressed.
What is the most satisfying thing in your life as an opera singer? On the other hand what have you sacrificed for your art?
I love the fact that am an eternal student. There is always more to read/translate/learn/listen to, always a myriad of ways to deliver a line in an opera or a song, and you can never predict how a responsive audience (or colleague) will react. Even after thirteen performances of La Bohème, I came off stage thinking, "Next time, I'll play that scene differently" or, "I'd like to try to improve that section or build upon what I started there"... I am very fortunate that my work is so stimulating. The downside of my life as a singer has been that, especially since things have moved on so quickly for me and I have had to work hard to make the most of these opportunities, sadly I have spent less time with family and dear friends over the past three years.
What one song would work as the soundtrack to your life?
"Wayfaring Stranger" as recorded by Eva Cassidy. I am a committed Christian and this song reminds me that, even though I have the very best job in the world, my real home is with Jesus Christ.
Do you cook? If so, what dish is your speciality?
I'm ashamed to admit that most of the time food is about taking on fuel! So when I do cook, it is a wonderful form of relaxation even if the result leaves much to be desired. My latest passion is making soups, and I have an interesting repertoire of them now, as they are a great way to get my "5-a-day". If I have lots of time, I can make an amazing bolognese, which takes at least three hours to cook.
If you weren’t an opera singer what would you be?
I had aspirations of becoming a journalist when I was in my mid-teens. If music had not broken at that point in my life, I am fairly certain I would have pursued that career.
If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
Tricky one, as I love living in London very much (which is why I have included the Walton songs in my programme). But there is a part of my genetic make-up which craves feeling the sun on my skin for at least half of the year. Whenever I can, I enjoy going to Italy on holiday as Italians seem to have the balance right between work and life, and style and substance... So I guess my answer would be somewhere in middle/south of Italy near a large town, and within striking distance of the beach.
Looking beyond your Rosenblatt Recital, could you please give us an outline of your forthcoming projects?
There are still a number of things to be confirmed, but a wonderful composer - Jean-Philippe Calvin - is writing a song-cycle for me which I hope to start working on soon. I will be singing the role of La Contessa in Opera Holland Park's production of Le Nozze di Figaro in the first two weeks of July this year, and then singing Governess (The Turn of the Screw) for an exciting new opera company in London. Early 2012 will see my first performance of Strauss' Vier Letze Lieder in Canterbury Cathedral, followed by a return to Holland Park in the summer to sing Fiordiligi (Cosi fan tutte). All of the details will appear on my website www.elizabethllewellyn.com, and you can follow my "blog" on my News page.
Gustav Mahler (1892) from Hofphotograph Leonhard Berlin-Bieber (1841–1931) --------------------------------------
UPDATE (21 April) unfortunately, the listed cinemas will no longer have the live broadcast :-(((( The only alternative available for most of us in the UK is the Digital concert hall live relay. Check the links from the Berliner Philharmoniker below for details, it is not free, but the cost is minimal. http://www.digitalconcerthall.com/ http://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/en/berliner-philharmoniker/
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It's exactly 100 years from the day of his death on May 18th this year. And on this occasion, Claudio Abbado and the Berliner Philharmoniker are dedicating him a special concert. They present Mahler’s last symphony which remained unfinished at his death in 1911 and Das Lied von der Erde, considered by him as “probably the most personal composition I ever created”.
For the LvdE the soloists will be Anne Sofie von Otter and Jonas Kaufmann. And i think this is the first time maestro Abbado will conduct LvdE (but do correct me if i am wrong).
For other cinemas around the UK, you can contact the distributor Myscreenevent or just do a google search, there are several locations in the Uk where one can already book, including the two cinema's in London mentioned.
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 Communicationfor the series) have lead to a new partnership with the BBC, which was announced today.
"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? :-)
It's amazing what quantity (and quality!) of concerts and recitals are held at Wigmore every season. But if we talk only about recitals, looks like everybody who has a name (or wants to have one) as a recitalist is singing there, if not every year..almost. Just in September list is impressive : the 10th Thomas Quasthoff, Christian Gerhaher the 20th (Müllerin), 22th (Winterreise) and 24th (Schwanengesang), the 21th Lawrence Zazzo, the 26th and 28th Ian Bostridge and the 29th Gerald Finley.
But this is just one month...there is much, much more : Christianne Stotijn, Mark Padmore, 5th November Simon Keenlyside, Elisabeth Watts, Anna Caterina Antonacci 6 December, Bernarda Fink, Anne Schwanewilms, Thomas Allen, Veronique Gens, Angelica Kirschlager, John Mark Ainsley, Christopher Maltman, Natalie Dessay, Magdalena Kozena, Miah Persson, Susan Graham, Juliane Banse,Christoph Pregardien, Joyce di Donato, 10th June Jonas Kaufmann, etc... The complete info is not yet available on the website, but it will follow soon :)
Now it's official. Jonas Kaufmann will give a new recital at Wigmore Hall on June 10th 2012 !with his faithful partner, Helmut Deutsch.
Copyright: LA Opera/Robert Millard
The programm is still not announced but whatever he sings it will be,for sure, the hottest ticket of the Wigmore season, especially after the announcement yesterday of his nomination for the Royal Philarmonic Society Music Awards "for his performance of Schubert’s Song Cycle Die Schöne Mullerin at Wigmore Hall".
photo "borrowed" from the Accademia Nazionale website :-)
..... Smith ;-)))) Or better know as the lovely Tony Pappano ;-) On an otherwise grey and dull Sunday , with nothing to look forward to than suitcase packing for yet more work travel at inhumanly early hours of the morning I luckily stumbled upon this wonderful interview with Tony Pappano in the Guardian which made me feel the warm Italian sun and think of a rich and fragrant glass of wine with a background of glorious and heart lifting music (maybe not Va pensiero, but definitely some Verdi ;-))
It’s filled with wonderful sweet and sad childhood memories, with Pappano’s search of roots and identity between America, the UK and Italy, with a sense of healthy competitiveness between his two orchestras and various stories of music and life. You get some unexpected insights into the everyday life on an Italian orchestra, between the funny and the passionate. And you can also find out interesting things about future plans for both the Santa Cecilia and the ROH. Among the latter a promise very dear to me of more Italian repertoire at the ROH, among which an Otello (which ,if information from other interviews is correct, may be with Anja Harteros and possibly Marcelo Alvarez), more Rossini and hopefully even a new production of Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci.
But going back to the main focus of the interview, Pappano’s work with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, here is the link to their website:
If like me you rush to have a glimpse of that Guillaume Tell poster, alas it is not on line ;-) But there is plently of interesting stuff, including a possibility to listen to the concerts on line via PappanoinWeb!
You can also find the UK tour dates of the ANSC and buy tickets on line:
Thursday 17 March at 19.45 Tournée - Basingstoke, The Anvil Antonio Pappano direttore Boris Berezovsky pianoforte Verdi ..... Aida: Sinfonia Liszt ..... Concerto per pianoforte n. 1 Mahler ..... Sinfonia n. 1 "Il Titano"
Friday 18 March at 19.30 Tournée - Manchester, Bridgewater Hall Antonio Pappano direttore Boris Berezovsky pianoforte Verdi ..... Aida: Sinfonia Liszt ..... Concerto per pianoforte n. 1 Respighi ..... Pini e Fontane di Roma"
Saturday 19 March at 19.30 Tournée - Birmingham, Symphony Hall Antonio Pappano direttore Boris Berezovsky pianoforte Verdi ..... Aida: Sinfonia Liszt ..... Concerto per pianoforte n. 1 Mahler ..... Sinfonia n. 1 "Il Titano"
Go see! :-)
Wish i could too, but since i can’t i’ll give at least the PappanoinWeb live streaming a try :-))
Grazie Tony for brightening up my Sunday and In bocca al lupo! to the ANSC for their UK tour!
Check out this recital today at St John's, Smith Square:
BOGDAN MIHAI Tenor Iain Burnside Pianist
Songs and arias by composers including Vinci, Caccini, Carissimi, Mozart, Rossini and Donizetti. For further details on the programme look here at the dedicated Rosenblatt recital site for today's event.
Tenor Bogdan Mihai studied in Bucharest and has appeared with great success as Leicester in Maria Stuarda and Roberto in Roberto Devereux, both by Donizetti. He also triumphed as Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at both the Stuttgart Staatsoper and Dresden Semperoper and received extraordinary reviews in the international press singing the role of the Italian tenor in the premiere of Der Rosenkavalier. Future commitments include the roles of Count Almaviva in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro Municipal Santiago de Chile, and as Ernesto in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale and Don Ramiro in Rossini’s La Cenerentola at the Glyndebourne Opera Festival.
For those lucky ones who can be there you are in for a treat! Check this out:
And here one more and wishing that Bogdan will be back soon to London so that i can hear him live as well!
And here is some more insight into Bogdan:
Rosenblatt Recitals in conversation with Bogdan Mihai:
When did you realise you wanted a career in music?
I began my career in music at 6 when I started to study violin, that was very helpful to my current career as an opera singer. It was my first singing teacher, Cristina Magureanu, who encouraged me to pursue a career in opera. She taught me about the voice, made me listen to music, see opera performances and never settle for less. I believe that the basis of a solid vocal technique is entirely up to the training provided by your first singing coach. The quality of the learning you get at this stage is decisive.
You began your musical career studying as a baritone at the University of Music in Bucharest , but whilst studying in Italy with soprano Mirella Freni, you decided to sing as a tenor. Could you tell us more about this important event in your career? What did you learn from Mirella Freni?
It’s true, I started as a baritone. My high school teacher and then maestro Nicolae Constantinescu from the Academy of Music , did not want to risk anything by pushing me to pursue a different tessitura and repertoire that might have damaged my voice at that time. They protected me and I am grateful for that. Changing the tessitura was quite unexpected and it was a very difficult decision to make. I had been singing as baritone for 8 years by then. After graduating from the Academy of Music in Bucharest I auditioned for a masterclass with Mirella Freni in Italy . Presenting myself as baritone, I got the most surprising reply: – “Per me non sei baritono, sei tenore...se vuoi entrare nellá mia accademia, devi cambiare la tessitura vocale…” (“You look like a tenor to me, not a baritone… if you wish to attend my academy you must change your tessitura…”). I learnt a lot from soprano Mirella Freni. One of the most important things was repositioning the voice to the tenor range, acquiring the luminosity in a voice that had been trained as a different tessitura (baritone). I am truly grateful to Mirella Freni for working with me, for her patience and, most of all, for believing in me: she used to say: “Vedrai che con il tempo canterai tutto, dei avere pazienzia...” (“You’ll see, as time goes by, you will be able to sing everything, you need to be patient…”).
What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?
Any time I’m looking for a bit of advice, I look to Joseph Rudyard Kipling’s poem “If”.
Could you tell us, according to you, what is the biggest myth about singing?
I have heard a lot of myths in all the theatres I have sung in, mostly related to things that bring bad luck to artists: do not wear lavender coloured clothes when you enter a theatre, do not cross the stage wearing your everyday clothes and there are many more… I never pay attention to such things, I don’t really believe in them. It’s the body and mind’s strength that keeps us going and supports us in doing what we want to do.
What has been your most challenging role to date? It was Count Almaviva from “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” by Rossini, there is no doubt about it. I sang the role in almost 50 performances and there was always something new to add to it, to discover and improve. I like to believe that we never stop studying, no matter how experienced we are.
What three items would you take to a desert island? Well, it’s difficult to choose but I’ll try: my iPod with lots of music (all kinds of music, not only opera), family photos and a lot of Romanian traditional food cooked by my mother.
If you weren’t an opera singer what would you be? A film actor, definitely.
You performed in many different countries in the last years. Do you have a favourite city in the world and/or a favourite building? Stuttgart Staatsoper is very dear to me. I made my international debut here and it’s where I first met and worked with the great English conductor David Parry for “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” by Rossini. Later on I made my debut in “Der Rosenkavalier” by Strauss. This theatre represents great memories and important moments of my career. I am honoured that they invite me to sing there every year.
Do you visit London often? How long will you stay in London next month and what will you do there? I do not visit London very often, I was here for the first time last summer to sing in the British premiere of “Armida” by Rossini conducted by maestro David Parry. It was a two-month stay. I am now coming back to London to sing a recital at St. John’s Smith Square , a wonderful occasion to meet the British public again. I wish I came back more often so let’s wait and see what the future has to offer… My future engagements include “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” at Riga Opera House, Mozart’s Requiem in Bucharest, then a revival of “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” with maestro Parry conducting in Stuttgart. I will be singing at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro this summer (“Petite Messe Solennelle” and “Adelaide di Borgona”), ”Le Comte Ory” by Rossini at Grand Theatre du Geneve, “Aureliano in Palmira” by Rossini at Martina Franca Festival and it goes on… All my future engagements are listed on my official website: www.bogdanmihai.com
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...)
I can't explain how much i love this opera and miss hearing it live!!! I just stumbled upon this in youtube and i literally melted. And these two are gorgeous in one of the scenes i love most in this opera....
And it sounds just es gorgeous in French as in Italian.
Jonas Kaufmann Photo by Michael Pöhn Staatsoper Wien (**)
Massenet: Werther Wiener Staatsoper, 28 January 2011 Frédéric Chaslin/Dirigent Jonas Kaufmann/Werther Adrian Eröd/Albert Sophie Koch/Charlotte Ileana Tonca/Sophie Janusz Monarcha/Le Bailli Benedikt Kobel/Schmidt Clemens Unterreiner/Johann
Tell you what, dropping off the tube on a chilly London night, dragging your suitcase through the bus station among a bunch of drunks, running to catch the bus home (almost seeing the fluffy bed you are going to drop into any minute now!) only to have the little machine tell you that your Oyster card has : not enough money on it! puts a totally new perspective on minor nuisances such as a Carmen-ish tambourine rattling away in Werther act 1.
But let’s leave reality behind and talk about Werther...
I now know that what definitely was love at first sight (or listen live) last year in Paris is for life. (Remember Paris ? Feel free to go back to it, even I felt I had to pay another visit to my own thoughts ;-) I love this opera and I know I always will, no matter what conductors do to it and through all possible productions. I have the most wonderful memories of the Paris Werther and I am even more grateful to realise that what that cast, that orchestra and Michel Plasson have created there will last me much more than just a beautiful memory. They have shown me how complex, intricate, delicate and perfect from the first to the last note it can be and I was both surprised and happy to hear and feel that the pattern they have engraved guides me through the score again and again, no matter where I hear it.
It’s not like I went to Wien in search of the same Werther. I knew that would be unrealistic and really who wants to relive the exact same operatic evening again and again and again , identically in every detail? I guess nobody, at least not live in an opera house. But I did wonder if the emotions in the Paris Werther were a one off event. Incredibly, they are not :-) I didn’t hear the Paris Werther inside the one from Wien, neither did I log off my ears and played what I really wanted to hear in my head ;-) What happened was that I did hear, recognise and most of all feel it in odd lines here and there and most of all in the singing, not the Werther from a year ago, but Massenet’s Werther, if that makes sense.
I’ve had that luck once before, with the Lohengrin, when the first experience live of the opera was so extraordinary that it really helps you discover the secrets (which is why what Tony Pappano said in the video I have posted before stroke a cord). Something as powerful as that connects you to a piece forever, hopefully not in the sense that you will always want to go back to that one experience, but in the sense that you will identify it whenever you hear it again and strive for a repeat encounter with some or a lot of that beauty :-)
As I was saying, to me Massenet’s Werther is incredibly beautiful!
Even when it comes in such an uneven and often chaotic mix as the one in Wien. I’ve tried all possible seating in the house and the acoustics stay weird and this time I had a better view of the pit which partly explained why this must be. I think it has about as much seating as the ROH but is built much tighter, it’s a much more closed space and probably higher. The pit comes far deeper into the circle, giving from almost all seats unobstructed view into it. I know it can be sunk and elevated as most pits these days, but it basically is built totally in front of the stage and has a full wooden wall at the back, which is also the line where the stage starts. I’ve seen a similar set up in Zurich and a similar sound impact is created there, but on a much smaller scale and obviously lesser impact. I think basically from the line at the end of the pit and the hall you probably have a full circle, which makes the sound on stage basically come from behind this circle. And this is how it sounds like. With a considerably elevated pit like we had in Werther you have the sound of the orchestra flowing straight up, not exactly in a wall of sound, as the pit is very wide and deep, but a kind of fuzzy forest of sound and through the trees you hear the singers. The two sounds never intertwine or at least much more rehearsal and work on coordination is needed than time allowed for these 4 performances. I thought sitting higher up would help get closer to where the two sounds meet, but it doesn’t. Whatever you do, the singers will always be outside this sound circle, even perfectly audible, but kind of acoustically far away.
It’s surely a tricky thing to master in any opera, and in French opera all the more so.
From my limited experience, French opera and Massenet all the more so is most beautiful when it becomes a kind of flow, where individual instruments can hardly be distinguished from each other, in an indissoluble harmony which beds the singers voices, embracing them. I always imagine them when I hear something like that like a swimmer floating in the water, not really above the wave, not diving in, but merged into the surface. And that is not really what we got. It was more like stormy weather, clashing uncontrollably around the singers, sometimes in unison, sometimes threatening, sometimes leaving exposed. There were some real moments of beauty, the less the orchestration the better the harmony but the speed changes were sometimes unsettling.
It’s also my personal preference for a more intimate version of the interpretation that made me duck a few time from the crashing sound. With the drama in Werther I always felt that the music carried enormous emotion, tension, passion but in undercurrent, not exposed. It’s like a bubbling volcano, threatening nearby. The tension is sometimes unbearable, takes your breath away but in a quiet kind of way, which makes the outbreak in act 3 that much more frightening, because it destroys everything and it is final. For me this suits the story much better and makes it more credible, it’s about longing and despairing with it, but not daring.
In this case, both the production and the musical interpretation were much more out there. The plot transposed to the 50’s with a large linden tree dominating the stage. I liked the way the tree want through the seasons and it’s bareness in the end was definitely atmospheric. I didn’t care much about the rest, it neither disturbed nor did it add a lot I felt. I am generally not sure if stripping the drama of its intimacy and shyness improves it. For me it doesn’t really. For Werther and Charlotte it doesn’t really seem to be love at first sight, there is already an obvious connection, Sophie is much more than a teenager feeling shy pangs of first love and not really knowing what to with it, she is more of the annoying clingy type and Albert’s love rather than strong and deep and steady seems or of the violent, cold hearted type. Tonca and Erod both sing well and Erod has admirable French pronunciation, but it somehow stays on the surface and there was one thing I did miss from Paris, the way Tezier knew how to enrich every line with feeling and meaning. It’s the same story, but nothing is hidden, nothing is implied, it is all out there in the open. It feels mundane, sometimes bordering on stale, or it would threaten to become so, were it not for the lead singers :-)
Sophie Koch Photo by Patrick Nin at imgartists
I am thankful in this case for little rehearsal time, which allowed Sophie Koch and Jonas Kaufmann to be less fused into this concept and for some of the romanticism of the story to be retained. There is a delicacy and sensibility intrinsic to Sophie, which make her my favourite in this role. Because she always seems to tremble somehow, to care, to feel and worry. She never becomes the disappointed housewife, reality never numbs this Charlotte, which is why in the 3rd act she sings with all that feeling that already in Paris brought tears to my eyes. Her Charlotte is caring, human, involved, which is how I like her :-)
Jonas also managed to make his Werther a bit wilder, more unstable, more dangerous almost if you will, while at the same time retaining his pensativeness and melancholy. His Werther is less resigned , less remorseful, more unhinged but equally driven or attracted to death both in release as in desire for peace. His “Lorsque l'enfant” had all the melancholy and mysticism that so touched me the first time I heard it. The only instance in the whole evening where the production really annoyed me, was when it ruined the poetry of that wonderful “Je ne sais si je veille ou si je rêve encore!” by having him grab a bottle of beer and take a refreshing sip on “Cette source limpide et la fraîcheur de l'ombre”. Ok, it may be funny, but it had me thinking: what on earth????? Luckily most people will not connect the text to the gesture because that irony was cheap and uncalled for and why ruin Werther’s dream? I love that aria! The way the music mirrors the words and images is soo beautiful…
The personalities they created for the characters matched extremely well and musically it’s where Massenet found that harmony one could wish for. Theirs was the element that managed to ground the music in a French sound, that essentially provided the line and flow of the opera and it was most beautiful, harmonic and filled with emotion! I could only regret that only sometimes did some solos from the orchestra find their way to this harmony while mostly giving a much bigger, rasher sound, which meshed Wagnerian with Verismo in a way that ,instead of slowly building the tension, threatened to overwhelm it. In the softest piani passages which both Jonas and Sophie almost caressed with their voices you also shuddered sometimes with suddenly intruding instrument solos gone overboard. Painstakingly spun nets of tension and emotion coming from the stage were often under threat….
I just wish the conductor and the orchestra would have worked equally as hard at showing the audience how incredibly beautiful and rich the soft and tender parts are, more so in the hands of artist like Sophie and Jonas. In opera such moments are rare and few can cherish and shine in them like these two and it is such a pity to not give people a chance to get to know and admire this as much as they do big and bold. Just because the latter is more obvious and more recognisable does not mean it is the only beauty worth admiring :-)
Which is maybe the right moment to explain about the two production photos you see.
You may have noticed, or not, that I am making an exception and not bringing you photos from published reviews or the page of the Staatsoper itself. Consider this is a special treat ;-) These are two only 2 production photos that i actually own.
(The only other printed production material i own is a poster of a ROH production, the Don Giovanni, bought to cheer up the empty walls between moving boxes into my London apartment as this was the first opera I saw when new in town :-))
You may wonder, why if I don’t even particularly like this production? I could say, well, I bought them before seeing it ;-))) Which is true, but I did know more or less how the production looked like when I did. I actually never meant to buy them either. I like to browse around opera shops and Arcadia (the one at the Wien Staatsoper) is full of treasures of old times, with gazillions of CDs and signed pictures of almost any singer you have heard of, it’s more like a mini-museum than a shop. So in i went with a friend of mine and we had a breeze around and gave some “serious” consideration to the business the opera houses are making with photos, calendars and such ;-) I still believe the ROH could make more money out of this, if they sold the right pictures and posters. As the lady at the counter informed us, such pictures and posters sell very well. Yep, the margin on something that must cost pennies to make and sells at 10 times that is considerable ;-) In any case we looked at their current year calendar (check out here if curious) but I think it is overpriced, I don’t like all of the 12 images, I can’t have a calendar and keep it on January the whole year and even less if all the other pictures are better taken than that one! So after commenting about the calendar (ok, a particular picture in the calendar which we both agreed was a particularly good one! But can’t have that month up for a whole year either!)we moved on to the Werther pictures and there were loads of them!
So I went: no, no, no,no, no… can I see that one please? So the lady wants to go inside to get some and I go: No, no, I don’t want to buy them I just want to look at them please. She: looks at me (“this is the craziest one yet!”), sighs deeply and proceeds to take out the pins of the postcard size photo I was pointing to. I study that one and go : “can I see the other one too please?” She : pointing to the board: “which one?” Me: “the other bloody one please”. So there I stand twisting and turning them. I already know I am in trouble when looking at them I hear Jonas voice singing… The one where he lies on the bed goes : “Là-bas au fond du cimetière,/il est deux grands tilleuls!” and the other “Père! Père! Père, que je ne connais pas, /en qui pourtant j'ai foi, parle à mon coeur, appelle-moi!Appelle-moi!” (i know it’s still the 4th act i am looking act, give me some credit! But it is that what I am hearing that the picture suggests to me).
Ok, damn Massenet! I am gonna give in and buy one, but which? It’s about choosing what I like to hear most… and I can’t. It’s like deciding what Jonas does best… what do I prefer in his singing? The soft, sensitive, touching piani? The power and strength, the force of rage and desperation? My turn to sigh and grunt in frustration, purse out, here you go, I am taking both! I was still mumbling about what on earth I was going to do with them, now that I had bought them?
And I’d rather not be thinking about the saleswomen doubling over with laughter as soon as the door closed behind us…
Jonas Kaufmann Photo by Michael Pöhn Staatsoper Wien
Back to the performance a few hours later. There had been clapping at the end of act 1 and 2 and the singing was gorgeous, so it was obviously going well. And I was looking forward to the Letter aria from Sophie, to those dark threatening accords when Werther appears “Oui! c'est moi! je reviens” and well, to all the rest of it. While the audience as it turned out had been waiting all night for their chance of giving some enthusiasm they were feeling back.
Does any moment in this opera strike you as rewindable and repeatable in an instant? Probably not, me neither :-) The drama builds in such a tight way and spirals out musically into such tension… But that would be forgetting that one aria in this opera is known much more than the rest and is recognisable for everyone in the audience. And in certain circumstances it becomes about the aria more than the opera itself or the drama. And if perfectly delivered it will bring the audience to such a state of euphoria that it creates the opportunity for a naturally very enthusiastic public to stop the show with Bravo shouts and clapping and well, requests of encore. And stop it they did, for about 3 full minutes.
I’ve witnessed encores before, I’ve even asked for them before :-) But I have to say it was for Verdi or Rossini or Donizetti pyrotechnics. I don’t think somebody can spontaneously pour their heart out…twice in a Flower song… or look death in the eye and back at life for the last time... twice… in E lucevan, nor did I believe Werther could recite Ossian twice in the same night. I did believe the audience would ask for it :-) There is something the audience in Wien share with the one at the Met, their incredible enthusiasm and the fervent way they express it and I believe there is no greater compliment that an audience can pay an artist than telling them their rendition of an aria was so beautiful they must hear it again!
In Paris I would have hit anyone who would have dared to interrupt the music until the end with either clapping, shouting or even ... breathing ;-) Only quiet sobbing was allowed :-)
But this wasn’t Paris and after 3 min of cheers, a pause, more clapping and generalised laughing when the orchestra got signals wrong and tried to continue, there really wasn’t any drama being interrupted. The audience needed to express how much they admire Jonas and the only way to actually get the show rolling again was, well, to give generously what was asked for so fervently :-) That is what I thought afterwards, but when I heard the music and heard him start to sing “Pourquoi me réveiller, ô souffle du printemps” I think I literally stopped breathing. I thought he sang it even more emotionally the second time around, which is what I said when I asked for the autograph much later(*) but honestly I don’t know if it was just the emotion from the singing or my own emotion and my mind flashing : OMG Jonas is doing an encore! It’s his first encore….
Took me way more to process that than it took Sophie and Jonas to get things going and I snapped back when an absolutely too real looking pistol was handed over.
The interlude to act 4 could have been more sensitive and I did miss the shot itself… it was weird not hear it, especially since Werther had a more than real injury… I don’t know if the shot is actually written in the score, but the music suggests a peaceful, although very sad passing, and end, but somehow a release and I felt the shot rightly jolting us back to a very real reminder that this is not a natural passing, but a self-inflicted death of someone who is so terribly desperate. I guess I am more shocked by the sound than the visuals, although gallons of blood work very well too. Except for me it was another one of those instances where the production went from strong emotional suggestion to all too literal display. As I mentioned before it was the intensity in the artistic expression and the suggestion in the music that made me want to hold on to a physical memory of the piece than the actual bloody image of the dying Werther.
In this production Albert darkly lingers about in the death scene, but it neither intruded nor distracted, as one could focus on nothing else but the last moments Charlotte and Werther spent together.
And the curtain fell and more applause came from a satisfied and touched audience. And it is when I will always feel like shouting Bis! I can’t pick out a single thing I want to have repeated on the night, I couldn’t make myself stop at any point in time , I feel driven to the end and I always feel that it has gone by way to quickly. And I am always left wanting more and encore… from the beginning to the end, all over again…
(*)Well I had bought those things and I still had them! So it occurred to me to make some good use of at least one, rather than standing there fidgeting and trying to say something like: uhhh, it was nice! Believe me, your brain would be frozen as well had you stood outside in -7C for more than half an hour trying to process the evening :-) (**) As you can imagine now I am glad I am the owner of these photos ;-) Please notice the way the signature embellishes the photo! It’s placed exactly right to not destroy any of the expression and now instead of looking at the blood your eyes are drawn to the signature :-) Thanks ever so much Jonas! This might just go up my wall ;-))))
Update - Ok, here you go! You know you want it and i can't stand the envious glares anymore ;-))))
© Royal Opera House 2011 / Bill Cooper
Celso Albelo © Joan Tomas para Fidelio Artist via www.celsoalbelo.com
The cast is, in case you need a reminder ;-)
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). 
