Welcome! The latest passion in my life is opera - I will be sharing a lot of my amazing journey of discovery of the opera world right here, I make no claims of any great knowledge of opera-no high-tech appraisals here, plenty to be found elsewhere- I simply share what I enjoy-this is really just my online scrapbook of my mainly opera memories (some art and music too) and if you happen to drop by I'd love to share them with you.
WARNING - spoilers here for those who have yet to see this in cinemas! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
Well, perhaps it may seem a little late to be talking about an opera I went to see back in July of this year but maybe not, firstly I hadn't started blogging at the time and secondly this opera ain't over yet! LOL! It's on in cinemas all over the world in January 2012http://cinema.roh.org.uk/now-booking/nearest/*/23343 and I can't wait to see this up on the BIG SCREEN (yes we can all go to the ball) .... especially the wonderful wonderful love duet scene between Joyce DiDonato and Alice Coote, they sound incredible singing together ..... OK, perhaps I shouldn't but hey, it was so gorgeous I believe I almost stopped breathing through most of this ... we go to the rooftops of Paris ....
Sorry, I'm getting way ahead of myself but I so loved that scene, couldn't resist. My main reason for getting myself all the way up to London, to The Royal Opera House no less, was that my very favourite lady in the opera world - Joyce DiDonato was cast in the title role - there was no way in the world I was going to miss this! I had first thought of going to Trafalgar Square to see it live on the BP Big Screens, but then decided I just had to be in the house to hear my fave lady singer!
The staging for Laurent Pelly's production of Massenet's Cendrillon was simple and I understand not to everyone's taste but I rather liked it, some very nice touches, such as in the pics below - the chairs, the scenery inscribed - in french of course, with extracts from the story, the coach, and the palace gates. Adored lots of the frocks too. It all contributed to an all-round truly magical experience
OK, just a little bit more from the fabulous Joyce DiDonato - hope you will all be joining me for the magical cinema screening some time in January! It will be amazing!
Just to say I'm doubly ecstatic as Joyce is in The Met's Enchanted Island which is being broadcast Live in HD from The Met on 21st January 2012. Just how good does it get!
On Puccini's birthday I thought it only fitting as a tribute to take a look at another of his operas - Madama Butterfly. Only one aria here but probably one of the best know throughout the opera world and beyond, sung here by Renata Scotto, such a beautiful and moving rendition, my grateful thanks go to Margherita Pisanu for drawing my attention to this video which has in my all too brief affair with opera so far passed me by - it's exquisite
Un bel dì - One beautiful day
Act II of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly
CONTEXT: This famous soprano aria opens Act II, after Butterfly, the young Japanese Geisha girl, has married her American admirer Pinkerton in Act I. It establishes that Butterfly has now been abandoned by Pinkerton, but still clings to the hope that he will come back to her. The oppressive atmosphere of the house, which penniless Butterfly now rarely leaves, is conjured by Puccini’s unique sound world: two flutes open the act, playing in unison. Butterfly entreats her maid to have faith, and reassures her that Pinkerton will return to save them.
She sings of keeping watch for his boat, secure in the knowledge that ‘one beautiful day’ (un bel dì), he will return. She’ll see a puff of smoke on the far horizon, she says, and his ship will appear. This is indeed what is about to happen, but Butterfly’s longed-for beautiful day will prove to be her last, as the tragically soaring melodies of this aria hint......
......another big hint, time to get the tissues out when watching this opera if you haven't already
Un bel dì,
vedremo levarsi un fil di fumo
Sull’estremo confin del mare.
E poi la nave appare.
Poi la nave bianca entra nel porto,
romba il suo saluto.
Vedi? È venuto!
Io non gli scendo incontro, io no.
Mi metto là sul ciglio del colle
e aspetto e aspetto gran tempo
e non mi pesa la lunga attesa.
E uscito dalla folla cittadina
un uomo, un picciol punto
s’avvia per la collina.
Chi sarà? Chi sarà?
E come sarà giunto?,
che dirà? Che dirà?
Chiamerà Butterfly dalla lontana
Io senza dar risposta me ne starò nascosta.
Un po’ per celia,
un po’ per non morire
al primo incontro,
ed egli al quanto in pena
Chiamerà, chiamerà:
‘Piccina mogliettina
Olezzo di verbena’
I nomi che mi dava al suo venire.
Tutto questo avverrà, te lo prometto.
tienti la tua paura io con sicura fede l’aspetto.
English translation
One beautiful day,
we’ll see a plume of smoke
on the far edge of the sea.
And then a boat will appear.
Then a white ship will come into the port,
and sound its horn.
Do you see it? He is coming!
I won’t go down to meet him, not I.
I’ll wait here on the hill and wait
and wait a long time
and I won’t mind the wait at all.
And out of the crowd
a man will set off on his own,
a little speck climbing the hill.
Who will it be? Who will it be?
And how will he appear?
What will he say? What will he say?
He’ll call out ‘Butterfly’ from far away.
But I won’t answer, I’ll hide.
Just to tease him a little,
just to save myself from
dying at our first meeting,
and he, a little troubled,
will call out, will call out
‘my dear little wife,
sweet verbena blossom.’
The names he called me when we first met.
All this will happen, I promise you.
Don’t worry; I am very sure that he will come.
OK, let's just hear this again from my favourite Butterfly, Ying Huang in the film version of Madam Butterfly
Well, I could not leave it at just that could I, just one aria, I have to include here the famous Humming Chorus, OK I know there's no words, lol, but when would a little detail like that stop me
and there's no way I can leave this opera alone without including the love duet, having published this yesterday I awoke this morning and the first thing that came into my head was that I just had to include this too so I'm back to put this right with a video of the gorgeous Ying Huang as Butterfly in the 1995 film version
Metropolitan Opera - Live in HD Screening - 10th December 2011 Gounod's Faust
(first published 10th December 2011 - I have re-published it as must-see video clips have now appeared on youtube of this production)
Cast
Faust Jonas Kaufmann
Marguerite Marina Poplavskaya
Mephistopholes Rene Pape
Valentin Russel Braun
Siebel Michele Losier
Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Jonas Kaufmann as Faust
Another day, another Faust, lol. Well having so recently seen the Royal Opera House production (September, twice!) Gounod's Faust is starting to become familiar to me, well as familiar as any opera can be for someone so new to the world of opera. Even though Jonas Kaufmann was cast in the title role, and knowing now what an absolutely brilliant performer he is, having seen some write-ups about this Met production, a collaboration with English National Opera, and having learnt of it's strange setting of a stark nuclear laboratory with Faust cast as a nuclear physicist I must confess that I did not have any expectaction that it could possibly match the Royal Opera House production with a setting there more like one would expect and of course with Mr Sex On Legs - Dmitri Hvorostovsky - playing the role of Valentin and sadly missing from this production, so I awaited the start of the screening expecting disappointment; how could any romantic or moving scenario play out successfully in such a setting.
I need not have worried, even though I sat for the first few minutes just trying to get my head around the setting, then Jonas Kaufmann started singing, and all was well in this strange new world of Faust as I was swept away on a tide of his incredible voice combined with his sensitive character portrayal, again I am totally mesmerised by him, his vocal and acting abilities.
Faust sings of his lost youth and calls upon Satan for aid
We find the ageing Faust in the laboratory with Marguerite (Marina Poplavskaya) seated behind at a machine. He is unaware of her presence at this time and one feels that it is not so much an actual physical presence but that she is conjured up to serve as a reminder of part of his lost youth. As he sings of that lost youth and loves, wishing for death he calls upon Satan for aid as he puts poison to his lips. It is not long before a much surprised Faust is joined by Mephistopheles (Rene Pape) who offers him anything he wishes, riches, power, what is it Faust wants? Lost youth is gained by the power of Mephistopholes as Faust emerges from a cloud of smoke rigged out in a beautifully cut white suit, just as Mephistopholes is dressed - lol, I could not help noticing that Jonas's transformation was not quite complete, oh dear, black shoes with a white suit, hahaha! Not quite enough time for the shoes, eh Jonas? Mephistopholes has cast an image of the young, beautiful and innocent Marguerite in Faust's mind, they both depart in search of this conquest for Faust to indulge his new found passion.
This video clip shows the start of the performance
The scene is set still in the laboratory but now we find the chorus on stage, townspeople, soldiers also Siebel and Valentin (Marguerite's brother) as the soldies, including Valentin, prepare to leave for war. Mephistopheles introduces himself to the townspeople.
Rene Pape - Le veau d'or
Faust and Mephistopholes look on searching for Marguerite to appear (nudge, he's got white shoes on now, lol). At first she tries to resist his advances even though she finds herself attracted to him.
The video clip below will simply take your breath away -
Jonas Kaufmann - Salut, demeure chaste et pure -
Hey, but who could resist a guy like that for too long, and a box of jewels into the bargain! Marina Poplavskaya was incredible. I have only seen her in Don Giovanni before as Donna Anna and have to say I did not like her much in that, and I must confess that one of my major misgivings about this production was her casting- Ha! What do I know! Her Marguerite was a sensation (thank you Angela G, understand you backed out on this production) her two back to back arias, There Was a King of Thule and The Jewel Song, she made them look so effortless but sang them so beautifully, I was absolutely transfixed by her performance. WOW!
Marina Poplavskaya - Ballade du Roi de Thule...Air de bijoux (Met 2011)
The love scene - breathtaking
The "Jonas Effect"
Can't help but wonder a little - was some of this the "Jonas effect", I mean who could sing opposite a guy who gives his all as Jonas does and not want want to rise to meet him - well wadda you think at that?
Marguerite (Marina Poplavskaya) sings The Jewel Song
Beautiful love scene, incredibly moving, an absolute joy. Aaaaahhhhhh....
And as for poor Siebel (Michele Losier), didn't stand a chance did he (she).
As is the way in a wicked world, when Satan has a hand, and Faust has had seduced Marguerite and then abandoned her, she is left alone and pregnant with his child.
The soldiers with Valentin return. On finding Marguerite's desperate situation Valentin determines to avenge her and seeks out Faust, in the ensuing fight Faust, with the aid of Mephistopholes' powers, kills Valentin who curses Marguerite as he dies.
The video clip below is of Walpurgis Night scene
With the loss of her brother, the birth of her child, abandonment by her lover, Marguerite has lost her mind and in this sad and sorry state she kills the baby, and act which sees her imprisoned. Faust starts to show some remorse at the situation (about time too!!!) of his former lover and with the help of Mephistopholes tries to free her from prison, but just as it appears she will go along with him she regains her senses and in death is redeemed as we see her ascend the stairway to heaven. For Faust as he is transformed back to his ageing self there is no redemption as he finally takes the poison and dies.
Marguerite ascends the stairway to heaven
Yes, incredibly moving, stunningly beautiful, the singing took my breath away, hardly noticed the set to be honest after the inital moments, would definitely see it all through again if I had the chance. Even with Dmitri missing the three star performers made this outstanding and at times even better than the ROH production. Jonas, you've done it again! I adore you! (well not quite as much as Dmitri but you're getting close, lol)
Confession - OK, I just adore this sweet n cheesy, funny romantic film, just finished watching it (again) so felt compelled to write something - not a lot I promise .... no I'm not giving away the plot for anyone who hasn't seen it yet buuuuuuut it's of the happy ending variety - it's been around forever hasn't it so if you haven't seen it I guess you don't like these sorta films. OK, I'm done ..... just watch the trailer (and yes, I do think the guy in it is exceedingly cute-I liiiiike cute)
and yes I will be adding as much as possible to my blog in order that this confession disappears quickly, hahahaha!
Angela Gheoghiu (Tosca) Jonas Kaufmann (Cavaradossi)
If you haven't already caught this amazing production of Tosca starring Angela Gheorghiu, Bryn Terfel and Jonas Kaufmann, and if not why not, lol, it's been on at The Royal Opera House (July this year) and screened in cinemas (November this year) around the country - and the world - and now here on British TV - yes the BBC - it's your chance to see this spectacular, best-ever production of this opera, you lucky, lucky people!
Angela Gheorghiu as Tosca
Jonas Kaufmann as Cavaradossi
Bryn Terfel as Scarpia
It's on BBC2 and the BBC HD channel - on Xmas Eve in the afternoon at 2.35pm, and is preceeded by a documentary by conductor Antonio Pappano at 1.35pm - Pappano's Essential Tosca - and goes behind the scenes of the production that follows it examining the music and the drama of Tosca - sounds fascinating - having seen his series on Italian Opera I can't wait! And having seen this production of Tosca at the cinema am just bowled over at the opportunity of seeing it again, all three stars put on incredible, breathtaking performances, it was just out of this world. Don't miss it!!!
I have only been watching opera for a relatively short time - just over a year now - but in that time, believe me, I have watched a lot of operas, and this production is without doubt one of the very best I have ever seen, has to at least be in the top three, if not the very best , it's vying with the Met Live in HD production I saw early this year of Il Trovatore starring Dmitri Hvorostovsky at Count di Luna, which was simply breathtaking for his portrayal of the Count - as was this for Jonas Kaufman's portrayal of Cavaradossi and Bryn Terfel as Scarpia - jaw-dropping performances!
ENJOY!!
For those of you not in UK and who have not caught this production yet I do sincerely hope that at some time in the very near future you get a chance to see this.
FELT I HAD TO RE-POST THIS ALONG WITH HEARTY CONGRATULATIONS TO SIR ANTONIO PAPPANO ON RECEIVING A KNIGHTHOOD IN THE 2012 NEW YEARS HONOURS LIST - I AM ECSTATIC FOR HIM
I just have to record this wonderful article about Antonio Pappano, Music Director Royal Opera House, featured in The Guardian last Friday - yes all of it, I just love this guy's passion for opera having watched his Opera Italia series on the BBC in the early days of my new-found fascination with the world of opera not so very long ago and having now been lucky enough to see him conduct at The Royal Opera House. It's quite a long article but simply fascinating!!!!!
Love that he has produced a documentary to be screened, The Essential Tosca, immediately before the incredible production of Tosca being shown in the UK on BBC2 24th December in the afternoon - I shall be getting myself comfy on the sofa to watch both!!!!!
A little snippet of Antonio Pappano's Essential Tosca documentary, it looks simply delightful, I cannot wait to immerse myself in this and share his passion, I must add that words just cannot begin to describe how amazing this particular production of Tosca is, watching it in cinema I was totally transported. Sheer bliss, aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Here's the article:
Antonio Pappano Music Director Royal Opera House
This year's BBC Christmas treats for opera lovers will be prepared
and hand-delivered by Antonio Pappano. On New Year's Day he will conduct
a live radio broadcast from the Royal Opera House of Wagner's Meistersinger. But before then, on Christmas Eve, he presents an hour long television introduction to Tosca,
which will be followed by the recent Covent Garden production under his
baton starring Angela Gheorghiu, Bryn Terfel and Jonas Kaufmann.
Pappano, whose Opera Italia series aired last year, has rapidly become
the television face of the art form and his introduction to Tosca sees him enthusiastically exploring the Roman sites utilised by Puccini as well as behind the scenes rehearsal footage.
"So
there is plenty of Angela, Bryn and Jonas," Pappano explains. "And
having those three together was quite something. They ensure the
production is absolutely full of beans. But there does seem a need for a
front man for opera and classical music at the moment, so I present the
programme and do most of the yapping. To have the chance to get people
excited about something you are excited about is a huge opportunity. We
keep talking about opera as if everybody knows all about it. But not
everybody does, so I think it is part of my job to tell them. Tosca
might be a highly compelling story that almost anyone will instantly
enjoy, but if you have just a little more historical background, a
little more knowledge of what Puccini was trying to achieve, then you
really do get so much more out of it."
Pappano, who comes from a
southern Italian family and has been music director of the city's
prestigious orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia since 2005, is
an ideal choice to talk about a Rome-based opera. But he has an equally
strong claim to be a local hero back at his Covent Garden base, where he
will celebrate 10 years as music director early next year. He was
brought up in 1960s London and even hazily remembers being taken to a
Covent Garden Il Trovatore as a child. "It did make an
impression in that the very dark staging of the gypsy fire scene has
stayed with me. But it was a long time ago. A lot has happened in
between."
The circuitous route he embarked upon before returning
to Covent Garden to succeed Bernard Haitink as music director took in
emigration to America, an education as a jobbing piano-player, and
highly regarded behind the scenes work at some of the most prestigious
opera houses in the world. But when he did return to London he was
almost immediately reminded of his roots. Entering a backstage lift just
after being appointed music director he vaguely recognised a stage
hand. "We sort of looked at each other and then worked it out. We'd been
to primary school together. He was now working in the flies. It was
quite a reminder that essentially I was returning home."
Pappano
says he can scarcely believe that he has now been in charge for 10
years. "I have to say it's been a wonderful journey, because there
have been so many twists and turns. But we have managed to survive and
even thrive and now we have an even stronger bond with the audience;
we're a very tight-knit family within the house. The hope as a musician
is always that you continue to develop and get better over time. That
can only happen in an atmosphere of trust such as we have here."
Looking
back over a decade of productions he, reluctantly, identifies some key
works. He claims great affection for his first London opera, Ariadne auf Naxos, as well as citing a "not universally liked" Lulu, "that nevertheless was very important for us in terms of building teamwork", a "conventional" Marriage of Figaro that was "sort of perfect in its direction and bite", Richard Jones's controversial staging of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, a Wozzeck, Tristan and, this year, Mark-Anthony Turnage's Anna Nicole,
which put drug abuse, boob jobs and octogenarian sex on the Covent
Garden stage in recounting the rise and fall of the late playboy model.
"There was an element of overcoming doubts and fears with Anna Nicole,
but when we began work, it clearly meant everything to everybody. You
should have seen the place during that period – everyone was on point
and working very, very hard from the same page. But the thing about that
list of productions, and many others I could have mentioned, is that
they are all very different in style. And that has been a large part of
the appeal for me – and, I hope, the audience."
Next week Pappano leads the company in a revival of their much-acclaimed Graham Vick-directed Meistersinger.
"For a musician, there is no other piece that gives so much back. It is
steeped in the history of German music and you have these two very
different styles in a work that will always be somehow contemporary
because it contains this conflict between new ideas and old traditions."
In a way Meistersinger acts as an appetiser for next season's
complete Ring cycle, directed by Keith Warner, which Pappano will
conduct for the second time. "It is wonderful to have the chance to
bring it back. To develop it further and really work on it. Seeing it
all together reveals the amazing logic and cohesion of the whole thing.
And it is great to do a house piece in which everyone is involved. It is
one of the most satisfying experiences and I'm delighted that we have
several large-scale works coming up over the next few years." Pappano's
current contract keeps him in London until 2014, but he has already
scheduled work beyond then and talks enthusiastically about an upcoming
Verdi's Sicilian Vespers, a new Parsifal and Berlioz's vast Trojans,
which will form part of the the house's 2012 Olympic year celebrations.
"People say it's a bit cheesy when I talk about working like a big
family on some of these things. But it is true. And I know better than
most what it's like to make music in a family."
Pappano was born
in December 1959 in Essex. He and his younger brother were raised in
Pimlico by his first-generation Italian immigrant parents, who had
arrived in the UK in 1958. His parents worked at many jobs, most often
in the restaurant world, but all were essentially in support of his
father's ambition to be a singing teacher. "So our house was full of
music," Pappano recalls. "Vocal exercises from tenors especially. And
life was extremely busy. A little like my life is now, but then it was
for survival and making ends meet. My parents are still my greatest
inspiration. They left Italy with 10 quid in their pocket and they
bettered their lives. The ingenuity and grit they displayed was
astonishing. Their partnership was very tumultuous, the amount of stress
in their lives was huge, but it was also very strong. And the
indefatigable work ethic I am blessed with comes straight from them."
It
was clear from the beginning that Pappano was a talented musician –
"But I wasn't Mozart. I also liked football and things like that" – and
he soon began to play for his father's voice students. "But it wasn't
until we went to America that I made a big leap." The family moved to
Connecticut when Pappano was 13. He continued to work with his father
and got a new teacher himself, Norma Verrilli, whose own father had come
from Pappano's parents' village in Italy. "She exposed this kid to all
this new stuff; Bach, a lot of Mozart, Chopin, Brahms, and also a lot of
early music, Monteverdi and so on. She also loved the great American
songbook, so my head was whirling with all this music, and meanwhile I
was getting jobs playing for a church choir, for my father's lessons,
accompanying recitals, occasionally doing my own concerts as well as a
bit of cocktail piano in a bar. In America I had a renaissance
existence. There was a lot of running around, but it did give me great
practical experience and a tremendously eclectic taste."
Despite
his obvious facility, Pappano did not attend music school. "My father
and I were very locked into this family teaching business. So whether it
was guilt, or whether it was fear, leaving home wasn't right for me at
that time." But he did take private lessons and studied composition. He
acquired a taste for the theatre when an opera company was formed in
Connecticut and he started to work for them as a rehearsal pianist and
then choral master. And it was as a rehearsal pianist that he developed
his professional career, first at the New York City Opera and then
working at the Liceu in Barcelona, in Frankfurt and with the Chicago
Lyric Opera. Then, after an audition with Daniel Barenboim, at age 26
Pappano moved to Bayreuth.
"Barenboim was a very intimidating
presence. His fame, the sheer force of his intellect and musicianship.
It was like being hit by a truck. Can you imagine playing piano for him?
But it was a hugely important point of my development as I got an
opportunity to observe him at work. When you are eventually offered six
weeks of rehearsal you'd better know what to do with them. That's where I
learnt how to develop a sense of inner timing to bring people and a
production to a peak for the performances. And it was fascinating to be
involved in something like putting on a Ring. You learn about scale and
structure, and the whole psychological aspect of theatre. You also see
the obstacles of dealing with such a huge masterpiece. For any
re-creative artist, it is the greatest thrill to actually hold and shape
and come to terms with masterpieces. But it's not all peachy. They can
be full of conflict and challenge and people underestimate the struggles
involved. It is possible to get things seriously wrong."
In the mid 80s Pappano moved on to Oslo to work with the Den Norske Opera, which was where he con ducted his first opera, La Bohème,
in 1987. He says he had no strong desire to conduct as a career: "God
forbid. I didn't think I would have the authority. But I did always have
very strong ideas about how the music should go. Other people saw that
and I was given opportunities here and there to conduct." While he had
taken some lessons, when he first stood in front of an orchestra he did
"all the traditional things a young conductor does: I talked too much
and my arms didn't exactly do what I thought they were doing. But I had
always been very vocal and interfering, and having that time in
rehearsal and then performance, working with singers and players and
having my say about the staging, I sort of realised this was where I
belonged."
Pappano was appointed music director of the company in
1990, aged 30. The first benefit of his elevation was that it gave him a
much wider choice of work. "So I didn't do only the Italian repertoire,
which is always the danger when you have a name like mine. But while
there was more freedom, there were also new responsibilities, for the
development and continued growth of the orchestra. You have to work on
intonation, you have to work on cohesion. It is now your
orchestra. And the public has to see you as the face of the
organisation. Audiences pay serious money, and we need to give something
very special in return. We need to give of our hearts and souls and all
our energy, enthusiasm and conviction. We have to convince them that it
is worth the money."
He says it is a philosophy that has guided
him ever since. In 1992 he was headhunted by La Monnaie, the Brussels
opera house, where he began to build an international reputation. When
he arrived at Covent Garden, by then married to Pamela Bullock, a
repetiteur, he was one of the brightest stars on the world scene. "I did
hit the ground running in that London knew I was coming two years
previously. But you still have to pay your dues as the music director,
you have to jump through a lot of hoops with the orchestra for them to
feel that they know you, and you know them. It took several years to
build confidence, but then something else kicks in, this sense of
inevitability which is a wonderful thing and such a privilege to get
when you have been long enough with one orchestra."
Observing
Pappano last year on the Royal Opera House's tour of Japan – doling out
champagne to crew members at an aftershow reception, cajoling people to
pose for his personal holiday snaps – it is obvious that Tony, as he is
universally known, is genuinely loved and admired by his colleagues. "I
do have my moments," he confesses, "and I am aware that for some people
it is possible to work well through conflict and struggle. But
combativeness is not my style. And in a long process such as putting on
an opera, that can sometimes take a couple of months from first
rehearsal to closing night, I just don't want to live with additional
stress for all that time."
He says Covent Garden falls somewhere
between the ultra-traditional Met in New York and the determinedly
avant-garde atmosphere of some European houses. "The London public love
to hear beautiful voices and musical singing. And they are accustomed to
seeing stars, but the stars don't just come here and do their turns.
They have to be hooked in to what the whole evening is about. They work
hard when they come here and sometimes you can see them at their very
best because everything is lined up for a great production, not just a
great performance. The only thing that matters is being true to live
theatre. I want things to be absolutely convincing from first to last.
It is not just an orchestra playing and singers singing. The whole thing
must come together and the orchestra has certainly picked up on that.
What do the notes mean? What are they supporting? What are they
provoking?"
In Brussels Pappano oversaw a small symphonic
programme alongside the operas and since he arrived in London has
periodically taken opportunities to bring the Royal Opera orchestra out
from the pit. "It's always a fantastic bonus to get a company orchestra
on the stage every now and then." He says his work with the Santa
Cecilia orchestra has provided him with the same benefits – as well as a
clutch of recent awards for their recordings of Mahler, Rossini, Verdi
and Puccini. "When I took the job I didn't quite realise what it would
mean to me personally. Solely concentrating on the music, not working
with voices, is something that I desperately needed to go forward in my
own development. And my ear has changed and my insight has changed. So
London and Rome are feeding into each other fantastically. And with my
background the blending of the two cultures seems to suit me, and sort
of define me, as well."
But whether in Rome or London, Pappano now
finds himself confronted by political and financial anxieties around
arts funding. "Let's not kid ourselves. The situation is precarious. In
Italy there is a quite a push behind Rome at the moment, Roma Capitale,
and as our orchestra is something Italy and its capital can be proud of
there is some sense of us being on a firm footing. But everywhere there
are difficulties." He says having worked to find additional private
money to make up for state cuts, those potential private sponsors now
find themselves under pressure. "So what you think is promised might not
necessarily come your way. Things are quite a jumble at the moment and
so we all have to work that bit harder to keep the programming intact.
And we are being tested to the limit. That said, I have been very lucky.
It has been a difficult period for recording, but I've never made so
many records and DVDs. And now the TV thing has kicked in as a wonderful
surprise. And it does show a certain vitality in the classical
music world.
"We need to take advantage of that and become more
tenacious in asserting the importance of this kind of music. Not to the
exclusion of other music, but to tell people what a wonderful heritage
they, and it, has. Things are going to be a lot tougher financially over
coming years, but in an organisation that is well run, and Covent
Garden is very well run, even when times are tough, we will find ways of
doing what needs to be done."
• This article was amended on 19
December 2011, correcting the home of Den Norske Opera from Copenhagen
to Oslo and the name of the director of the Royal Opera's forthcoming
Ring cycle from Richard Jones to Keith Warner.
The two hottest guys in opera today. I adore them both! Have to say Dmitri Hvorostovsky might just edge out Jonas Kaufmann in a looks alone competition and also it's very hard (for me) to prefer a tenor over the silky depths of bartitone tones so I suppose it all comes down at the end of the day to the roles I have seen them both perform in.
OK, just as a taster, here are the both of them performing on stage together in concert
yes, I'm dribbling already, lol.
I have seen Dmitri in just three main roles that I recall, Count di Luna (Il Trovatore) and Eugene Onegin (Eugene Onegin) and Valentin (Faust) whilst Jonas, three roles also Siegmund (Die Walkure), Cavaradossi (Tosca) and Faust (Faust) Dmitri and Jonas both pulling off absolutely blinding performances in each of these roles - just stunning!!! So which is it to be, Dmitri or Jonas. As I say Dmitri has it in bucket loads in the looks department doesn't he and that voice is to die for ...... so why oh why do I feel an overwhelming pull on the heartstrings towards Jonas. It is simply down to the romantic roles a tenor inevitably wins over a baritone every time, and those fabulously moving interpretations Jonas has put into those romantic scenes have left me helplessly in love with him. I still adore them both, top guns in the opera world. I include below some snippets of these noteworthy performances....
here's Dmitri singing Onegin's aria from Eugene Onegin alongside the lovely soprano Renee Fleming, the first role I saw him perform on TV in the Met Opera production
diviiiiiiine!!!
and now Jonas Kaufmann in the first role I saw him perform in, The Met's Die Walkure, I saw this in the cinema live in HD
alongside Eva-Marie Westbroek as Sieglinde, the chemistry between these two was just incredible!!!! They just sizzled!!! Totally blew me away!!!
Dmitri again, this time as Count di Luna in Il Trovatore, saw this Met Opera production Live in HD at the cinema, Dmitri stole the show and bowled me over, totally!!!
stunning duet with soprano Sondra Radvanovsky.
Jonas again, and this time performing the role of Cavaradossi, this is his performance in Munich, unfortunately I can't find a clip of the Royal Opera House cinema screening I saw him in but his performance in that was truly magical, so much so that that was the performance that made me fall in love with him
stunning interpretation.
Now Dmitri in rehearsal as Valentin in Faust, afraid it's the only clip I can find of him in this role, picture quality isn't great but that stunning stunning voice rings out as Valentin, having been in a fight with Faust, departs this world cursing his sister Marguerite
WOW! Just a shame that in the role of Valentin he is not on the stage for longer in this opera, but I got to see this Royal Opera House production twice, once at the Opera House and again for the live screening in cinema, Dmitri again stole the show!
My latest view of Jonas was the Live in HD screening from The Metropolitan Opera of Faust, here he is with Marina Poplavskaya, a short clip of part of the love duet ..... how can she resist him, lol
OK, just a tiny bit more of Jonas as Faust as that was such a short clip, here he is with the fabulous Rene Pape (Mephistopholes)
After all those delicious performances from both Jonas and Dmitri how can anyone not just adore the both of them, how lucky we are to have these two fabulous singers, both with great voices and charisma oozing from every pore, around in the world of opera! Brava the both of them!!! I need a very cold shower now they are both so HOT!!!
...... a tenor, a baritone and a mezzo-soprano make up the trio of my three very favourite opera singers. I am grouping them together here in a quick blog to just highlight my favourites for now but I will be back to do individual posts for each to describe what it is exactly has made them such favourites for me and detailing the productions/roles I have seen them in. OK, there are probably no real surprises here as each of them, to my way of thinking, it the ultimate and currently hottest number in their singing category
Dmitri Hvorostovsky here is where I start to swoon, almost uncontrollably, and that's before he starts singing - when he sings it is a truly mesmerising experience, he has the most incredible voice and once he assumes an opera role it is his, no one can match him, he is right there in the character - I have dubbed him the sexiest man on the planet!!!
Siberian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Joyce DiDonato - mezzo-soprano, the Yankeediva is simply the lovliest lady in the world of opera, an awesome voice and a true perfectionist in her art, just as the other two of my favourites are and she is divine whether taking on a trouser (male) role or dressed up to the nines as in Cendrillon (Cinderella) and off to the ball
Yankeediva, mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato
Jonas Kaufmann - German tenor, must confess he did not hit me in the eye straight away as did Dmitri but having seen him now in three starring roles I cannot help myself but to be in love with him, the way he so sensitively plays his love scenes would knock any girls socks off - I now refer to the "Jonas Effect" whereby I believe that his leading ladies sing outside of themselves in an effort to match his performance and impress that gorgeous guy singing at them so beautifully
German tenor, Jonas Kaufmann
Now, what opera production could they possibly star in together I wonder ...... suggestions welcome.
(as ever still some background etc to fill in, impulsive as usual I have to
publish ..... NOW! ..... I will return, lol, but just to say I am hugely
enjoying this process of looking in detail at these great and
beautiful arias)
All the video clips used here are from the magical production of Rigoletto a Mantova, starring Placido Domingo, Julia Novikova and Vittorio Griggolo filmed and initially screened live on TV on location in Mantua over two evenings in September 2010 - I was lucky enough to catch it being re-screened early in 2010 - am still hoping a dvd will be produced as I loved it so much
Rigoletto (Placido Domingo) and daughter Gilda (Julia Novikova)
Pari siamo - We are the same
Caro nome
La donna e mobile
Placido domingo sings Pari siamo
Pari siamo
sung by Rigoletto
Pari siamo!...
io la lingua,
egli ha il pugnale;
L'uomo son io che ride,
ei quel che spegne!...
Quel vecchio maledivami!...
O uomini!... o natura!...
Vil scellerato mi faceste voi...!
Oh rabbia!... esser difforme!...
esser buffone!...
Non dover, non poter
altro che ridere!...
Il retaggio d'ogni uom
m'è tolto... il pianto!...
Questo padrone mio,
Giovin, giocondo, sì possente, bello,
Sonnecchiando mi dice:
Fa ch'io rida, buffone...
Forzarmi deggio, e farlo!...
Oh, dannazione!...
Odio a voi,
cortigiani schernitori!...
Quanta in mordervi ho gioia!..
Se iniquo son,
per cagion vostra è solo...
Ma in altr'uom qui mi cangio!...
Quel vecchio malediami!...
tal pensiero perché
conturba ognor la mente mia!.,.
Mi coglierà sventura?...
Ah no, è follia.
English translation
We are the same!
I have my wit,
he has his dagger!
I am a man who jokes
all day, he kills!
That old man cursed me!
Oh men! O nature!
It was you who made me the vile devil I am!
Oh rage! To be deformed!
To be a jester!
To be compelled to
do nothing but laugh!
To be denied everyman's right
to cry!
My master,
young, playful, so powerful, handsome.
He just bids me
to make him laugh.
And I must comply.
Oh damnation!
I hate you,
you sneering courtiers!
How I enjoy sniping at you!
If I am wicked,
it is your fault.
But now I’m turning into a new man.
That old man cursed me…
why does the thought of it
still play on my mind?
Will some disaster befall me?
Oh no, that is madness.
Julia Novikova sings Caro nome ..... beautifully
Caro nome - Dearest name
Sung by Gilda, Rigoletto's daughter
Caro nome che il mio cor
festi primo palpitar.
Le delizie dell'amor
mi dei sempre rammentar!
Col pensiero il mio desir
a te sempre volerà,
E pur l' ultimo sospir,
caro nome, tuo sarà.
(repeated)
English translation
Dearest name who made my heart
dance for the first time.
Please always remind me
of the joys of love.
The thought will make
my love fly to you.
Even my last breath will
be yours, dear name.
(reapeated)
Vittorio Griggolo sings La donna e mobile
La donna e mobile - Women are so flighty
sung by the Duke
La donna è mobile
qual piuma al vento,
muta d'accento e di pensiero.
Sempre un amabile leggiadro viso,
in pianto o in riso, è menzognero.
È sempre misero chi a lei s'affida,
chi le confida mal cauto il core!
Pur mai non sentesi
felice appieno
chi su quel seno non liba amore!
English translation
Women are so flighty,
flitting about like feathers in the wind,
They change their minds and their accents.
Whether they are crying or laughing,
their sweet and loving little faces always lie.
Any man who trusts a woman is always miserable,
he who trusts in them - beware your foolish heart.
Yet, no-one can be
really happy
who has not felt love in a woman’s arms!
(still some background etc to fill in, impulsive as usual I have to publish ..... NOW! ..... I will return, lol, but just to say I am hugely enjoying this process of looking in detail at these great and beautiful arias)
Arias from Puccini's Tosca
Recondita Armonia - Hidden Harmony
Vissi d'arte - I Lived For My Art
E Lucevan le stelle - When The Stars Were Shining Brightly
Recondita Armonia
sung by Cavaradossi
Dammi i colori...
Recondita armonia di bellezze diverse!
È bruna Floria, l'ardente amante mia.
E te, beltade ignota, cinta di chiome bionde,
Tu azzurro hai l'occhio,
Tosca ha l'occhio nero!
L'arte nel suo mistero,
le diverse bellezze insiem confonde...
Ma nel ritrar costei,
Il mio solo pensiero,
Il mio sol pensier sei tu,
Tosca, sei tu!
English translation
Hidden harmony
Pass me the colors...
Hidden harmony of contrasting beauties!
Floria, my ardent lover, is dark haired.
And you, unknown beauty, crowned with blond hair,
You have blue eyes,
Tosca has black eyes!
Art, in its mysterious way,
blends the contrasting beauties together...
But while I'm painting her,
My only thought,
My only thought is of you,
Tosca, it is of you!
Jonas Kaufmann singing Recondita Armonia - there is only one Cavaradossi for me, and Jonas is the one
Vissi d'arte
sung by Floria Tosca
Vissi d’arte, vissi d’amore,
non feci mai male ad anima viva!
Con man furtiva
quante miserie conobbi aiutai.
Sempre con fè sincera
la mia preghiera
ai santi tabernacoli salì.
Sempre con fè sincera
diedi fiori agl’altar.
Nell’ora del dolore
perchè, perchè, Signore,
perchè me ne rimuneri così?
Diedi gioielli della Madonna al manto,
e diedi il canto agli astri, al ciel,
che ne ridean più belli.
Nell’ora del dolor
perchè, perchè, Signor,
ah, perchè me ne rimuneri così?
English translation
I Lived For My Art
I lived for my art, I lived for love,
I never did harm to a living soul!
With a secret hand
I relieved as many misfortunes as I knew of.
Always with true faith
my prayer
rose to the holy shrines.
Always with true faith
I gave flowers to the altar.
In the hour of grief
why, why, o Lord,
why do you reward me thus?
I gave jewels for the Madonna’s mantle,
and I gave my song to the stars, to heaven,
which smiled with more beauty.
In the hour of grief
why, why, o Lord,
ah, why do you reward me thus?
Angela Gheorghiu singing Vissi d'arte
E Lucevan le stelle - When The Stars Were Shining Brightly
sung by Cavaradossi
E lucevan le stelle ...
e olezzava la terra
stridea l'uscio dell'orto ...
e un passo sfiorava la rena ...
Entrava ella fragrante,
mi cadea tra le braccia.
O! dolci baci, o languide carezze,
mentr'io fremente le belle forme disciogliea dai veli!
Svanì per sempre il sogno mio d'amore.
L'ora è fuggita, e muoio disperato!
E muoio disperato!
E non ho amato mai tanto la vita,
tanto la vita!
English translation
When The Stars Were Brightly Shining
When the stars were brightly shining ...
And faint perfumes the air pervaded,
Creaked the gate of the garden ...
And footstep its precincts invaded ...
'Twas hers, the fragant creature.
In her soft arms she clasped me..
With sweetest kisses, tenderest caresses,
A thing of beauty, of matchless symmetry in form and feature!
My dream of love is now disspelled forever.
I lived uncaring and now I die despairing!
Alas I die despairing!
And never was life so dear to me, no never,
So dear, no never!
did I say something earlier about there being only one Cavaradossi, GO PLACIDO!!!
what do I know anyway, except that that was gorgeous!
and here is the incredible Jonas Kaufmann singing this aria
(please note this page is still undergoing construction - but, impatient as usual I have published it)
In an effort to get to grips with the famous arias in the operas I have watched I shall be dissecting the opera in order to gain a better understanding of these arias and hopefully finding translations and videos of the arias themselves. This will take some time as over the last year and a bit I have seen and enjoyed so many operas. I start with ....
La Boheme
(the above picture is ENO's La Boheme with Alfie Boe as Rodolfo, the very first La Boheme production I saw on TV .... in English)
Arias
1. Che gelida manina
2. Si, mi chiamano Mimi
3. Quando m'en vo
1. Che gelida manina
A sense of cold pervades Puccini's La bohème.
Most of the opera takes place in the depths of winter, and its
characters are poor young artists (or their mistresses) in 1830s Paris,
struggling with lack of warmth as well as lack of money. In Act I a
poet, Rodolfo, sits working in his garret on Christmas Eve but is
interrupted by an attractive young woman, his new neighbour, asking a
favour.
As they talk, she mislays her door-key. Conveniently, the
lights go out; so they search for it in darkness until, accidentally
or otherwise, their fingers touch. And in this most tender of seduction
arias (that requires a tender top C) Rodolfo observes how desperately
cold her hand is – che gelida manina – and how it needs his own
to bring it back to life. Playing for time (the aria proceeds with
gentle stealth), he tells her he's a poet whose fantasies have been
hijacked by the beauty of her eyes. And then he asks her, somewhat late
in the proceedings, who she is.
Rodolfo:
Che gelida manina!
Se la lasci riscaldar.
Cercar che giova?
Al buio non si trova.
Ma per fortuna è una notte di luna,
e qui la luna l'abbiamo vicina.
Aspetti, signorina
le dirò con due parole chi son,
che faccio e come vivo.
Vuole?
Chi son? Sono un poeta.
Che cosa faccio? Scrivo.
E come vivo? Vivo.
In povertà mia lieta
scialo da gran signore
rime ed inni d'amore.
Per sogni, per chimere
e per castelli in aria l'anima
ho milionaria.
Talor dal mio forziere
ruban tutti i gioielli due ladri:
gli occhi belli.
V'entrar con voi pur ora
ed i miei sogni usati e
i bei sogni miei tosto son dileguati.
Ma il furto non m'accora,
poiché vi ha preso stanza
la dolce speranza!
Or che mi conoscete,
parlate voi.
Chi siete? Via piaccia dir?
English translation
Your little hand is so cold!
Warm it a little.
What’s the point in still looking?
It’s too dark to find it.*
But luckily there is a moon tonight
and here, the moon is our neighbour.**
Wait a moment, signorina,
I will tell you who I am,
what I do and how I live.
Would you like that?
Who am I? I’m a poet.
What do I do? I’m a writer.
And how do I live? I live!
In my happy poverty
I fritter away all my great wealth
of poems and love songs.
In dreams, in hopes
and castles in the air,
I am a millionaire.
But now my great fortune
has been robbed by two thieves:
your beautiful eyes.
When they came in with you,
all my old dreams
and hopes melted away.
But losing them does not hurt,
because in their place
is sweet hope!
Now you know me,
it's your turn to speak.
Who are you? Will you tell me?
* looking for key Mimi has lost
** the attic flat is so high up
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa sings Mi chiamano Mimi
2. Si, mi chiamano Mimì
Still in the dark in Rodolfo's garret,
this is the young woman's reply. Her name is Lucia but, as she explains,
they call me Mimì - mi chiamano Mimì - and she claims to lead a quiet
life as a simple seamstress, loving all things gentle and poetic. That
seamstresses in 19th-century Paris tended to supplement their meagre
income in other ways is, at this moment, beside the point: she presents
as a paradigm of fragile innocence, and the brief resume of her life
offered in this aria magically evokes the awkward self-awareness of a
girl who finds herself an object of desire.
The way the music
opens out when she describes the distant prospect of spring sunshine
bringing winter to an end, suggests her quiet demeanour actually
conceals a passionate, romantic soul. And sure enough, the aria leads
into a love duet that closes Act I with the words, jointly exclaimed, Amor! Amor!
Mimi:
Sì. Mi chiamano Mimì,
ma il mio nome è Lucia.
La storia mia è breve.
A tela o a seta ricamo
in casa e fuori...
Son tranquilla e lieta ed
è mio svago far gigli e rose.
Mi piaccion quelle cose
che han sì dolce malìa,
che parlano d'amor, di primavere,
di sogni e di chimere,
quelle cose che han nome poesia...
Lei m'intende?
Mi chiamano Mimì il perchè non so...
sola mi fò il pranzo da me stessa
non vado sempre a messa
ma prego assai il Signor,
vivo sola soletta là
in una bianca cameretta,
guardo su li tetti e in cielo.
Ma quando vien lo sgelo
il primo sole è mio,
il primo bacio dell'aprile è mio...
il primo sole è mio.
Germoglia in un vaso una rosa,
foglia a foglia la spio,
cosi gentil il profumo di fiore,
ma i fior che io faccio ahimè,
i fior che io faccio ahimè,
non hanno odore...
altro di me non le saprei narrare
sono la sua vicina che la viene
fuori d'ora a importunare.
English translation
Yes. I am called Mimì,
but my name is Lucia.
My story is brief.
I embroider silk and satin,
at home or outside on the street…
I'm quiet and happy, and
my hobby is making lilies and roses.
I love things that
have a gentle magic,
that speak of love, of springtime,
of dreams and hopes.
all those things that have the name of poetry ...
Do you understand?
I'm called Mimì, I don’t know why…
I eat my supper alone
I don’t always go to mass,
but I still pray to the Lord,
I live quietly alone here
in a little white room,
overlooking the rooftops and the skies.
But when the thaw comes,
the first sun is mine,
the first kiss of April is mine…
the first sun is mine.
A rose grows in a pot,
I watch it leaf by leaf,
the scent of a rose is so gentle,
but the flowers that I make, ah me!
the flowers that I make,
don’t have any fragrance.
I don’t know what to say,
I am just your neighbour who has come
here bothering you.
Mirella Freni sings Quando m'en vo
3. Quando m'en vo'
from Act II of the Italian opera La Boheme
Setting : The Cafe Momus
Synopsis : Having spotted her occasional boyfriend, Marcello, Musetta
sings of how everyone always notices her beauty when she goes out.
Musetta:
Italian Lyrics - "Quando me'n vo"
Quando me'n vò soletta per la via,
La gente sosta e mira
E la bellezza mia tutta ricerca in me,
ricerca in me
Da capo a pie' ...
Ed assaporo allor la bramosia
sottil che da gl'occhi traspira
e dai palesi vezzi intender sa
Alle occulte beltà.
Cosi l’effluvio del desio tutta m'aggira,
felice mi fa, felice me fa!
E tu che sai, che memori e ti struggi
Da me tanto rifuggi?
So ben:
le angoscie tue non le vuoi dir,
non le vuoi dir so ben
Ma ti senti morir!
English Lyrics - "When I walk" or "Musetta's Waltz"
When I walk alone in the street
People stop and stare at me
And everyone looks at my beauty,
Looks at me,
From head to foot...
And then I relish the sly yearning
which escapes from their eyes
and which is able to perceive
my most hidden beauties.
Thus the scent of desire is all around me,
and it makes me happy, makes me happy!
And you who know, who remember and yearn
you shrink from me?
I know it very well:
you do not want to express your anguish,
I know so well that you do not want to express it
but you feel as if you are dying!
4. Donde lieta usci - From Here She Happily Left
Act 3 - Mimi sings her farewell to Rodolfo
5. Vecchia zimarra - Old Coat
Final act, Musetta has found Mimi on the street, very sick, she is dying, Musetta and the Bohemians all try to do their bit to find money for medicine and a doctor to help Mimi, Colligne decides he must part with his coat and sings this aria lamenting the loss of his favourite old coat - there are English subtitles with this video below, hoping it will remain on youtube as this recent run at ROH was my very first live Boheme and one I shall never forget!!
My blog entry for La Boheme Royal Opera House http://annez-reflectionz.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/la-boheme-royal-opera-house.html
