I Capuleti e i Montecchi from Zurich

 The Companion, Giulietta, Romeo

Fabio Luisi Conductor
Christof Loy Staging

Joyce DiDonato Romeo
Olga Kulchynska Giulietta
Benjamin Bernheim Tebaldo
Roberto Lorenzi Lorenzo
Alexei Botnarciuc Capellio
Gieorgij Puchalski The companion

Everyone is streaming these days.  Today was Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi from the Zurich opera in 2015.  Joyce performed this role in 2012 in San Francisco, but it is rather astounding how much more intense she is here.  There's something about watching opera two feet from your eyes that makes it seem more personal, more real.  Her Romeo here is intensely emotional, far more than the other characters on the stage.

Background tells us that there are two R&J operas:  Gounod's and Bellini's.  Gounod's opera is French and derives from the Shakespeare play.  The Italian Bellini designs his play around Italian history.  I previously wrote:  "We studied the Guelphs and Ghibellines in my class in Florence. The Guelphs, represented here by Giuletta's family the Capuleti, support the Pope, and the Ghibellines, represented here by Romeo's faction the Montecchi, support the Holy Roman Empire. So you see it isn't just two families that don't like each other. It's a war that went on in Italy from 1140 to 1289."

Christof Loy has made of this history a minimalist regie production with the usual black suits for all the male characters.  The women all seem to wear white dresses which we confuse with wedding dresses.

There is one other regie feature--The companion.  He's an androgynous figure with long hair who dresses sometimes in a black suit and other times in a black dress.  He says nothing but seems to fill holes in the plot.  When Romeo pulls a gun and tries to get Tebaldo to shoot him, The companion disposes of the gun.  When Giulietta needs lifting, he is there to do the job.  [Why do directors assume that tenors can lift sopranos?]

You want this opera for the music.  It is glorious here, beautifully conducted and beautifully sung. 

I couldn't face Butterfly.

Norma in HD

 👍🏻 
Conductor...............Carlo Rizzi
Production..............David McVicar

Norma...................Sondra Radvanovsky
Pollione................Joseph Calleja
Adalgisa................Joyce DiDonato
Oroveso.................Matthew Rose
Clotilde................Michelle Bradley

Above is the staging for "Casta diva" from Bellini's Norma live in HD from the Metropolitan opera. The goddess to whom she prays is the moon, so the scene must appear to be moonlit.  This is the greatest complaint about this production, that the sets are too dark.  Our screen was quite large and generally easy to see, except for the very beginning, before the moon-rise, which was almost black.

My Normas have been Joan Sutherland, Montserrat Caballe, Cecilia Bartoli and Sondra Radvanovsky, whom I heard first in San Francisco.  For me this version was best of all for the acting. I loved Cecilia's Norma for this quality, but here it balances across the cast.

We know we are at war by the presence of bodies.  What is to be their position toward the Romans?  Norma recommends reaching a peace with them, but we know that her motives are suspicious.  She probably recommends peace because of her relationship to Pollione, the Roman proconsul.  In the first act religious ceremony Adalgisa assists Norma in the rite.

In Norma's house Adalgisa reveals that she is in love with Pollione and has promised to go with him to Rome.  Norma does not reveal to Adalgisa until later that she has two children by Pollione. The increase in the significance of Adalgisa and the increased strength of her tie to Norma changes the emotional dynamic of the opera. 

So when Norma calls her followers together again, she recommends war.   We see Norma's range of emotions, especially her rage against Pollione.  She knows someone must die, but is not sure who should be killed.  She finally arrives at herself as the person at fault.  Adalgisa appears at the end to watch her lover and her friend walk off together to their deaths.

Sondra was magnificent, a giant, intense performance still wonderfully sung.  Joyce was also magnificent in both singing and acting.  I even liked Calleja.  When watching the old timers long ago, one hardly knew there was a plot.  Here we get the best of both worlds--a traditional staging with a lot of emotional interaction and magnificent singing.
#ad

I Puritani

I have only a short comment after hearing parts of I Puritani on the radio from the Met.  Diana Damrau is exactly this kind of singer.  I doubt that she would want to limit her repertoire to bel canto, but she and Javier Camarena were glorious.  

Norma at Salzburg

Cecilia's Norma which originally played at the Salzburg Festival in 2013 is creating a sensation in its revival this season.  My review here.

Tommasini reported for the New York Times.

An Austrian newspaper called it Wunder-Norma.

It seems to be universally regarded as a triumph.  It's good to see everyone on board.

Composers

Gian Carlo Menotti

Someone posted a hot composers list, so I decided to do one myself.   I've tried not to duplicate any pictures.

Sergei Rachmaninoff

Leonard Bernstein

Johannes Brahms

Franz Liszt

Richard Strauss

Robert Schumann

Antonio Vivaldi

Frederic Chopin

Vicenzo Bellini

Richard Wagner

Kaija Saariaho

Computer generated Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Gustav Mahler

Game of Thrones Norma

Conductor Nicola Luisotti
Director Kevin Newbury
Set designer David Korins

Oroveso:  Christian Van Horn*
Pollione:  Russell Thomas*
Norma:  Sondra Radvanovsky
Adalgisa:   Jamie Barton
*Role debut

PLACE AND TIME: Gaul, during the Roman occupation in 50 BC.  Attributing it to the mythical time/place of Game of Thrones came from the program.  I think it fits.  This is a new production, I think.  In the grand tradition of the San Francisco Opera they never say "Production xyz."  They name a director, a set designer, a costume designer, etc., but not a producer.  We know, for instance, that Show Boat was done in a production by Francesca Zambello, but nothing in the credits tells us that.  The director is the person who moves the actors about the stage, not the production designer.

Enough complaining.

Adalgisa and Norma

Please note tattoos on the foreheads of Jamie and Sondra above.  I think originally there were more.  There is nothing of ancient Gaul or Rome in the sets or costumes of this new production.  We are in a mythical time or place.  The dialog is followed precisely.  If it says she ceremonially cuts mistletoe, she ceremonially cuts mistletoe. 

Throughout the opera we had been seeing bits and pieces of this statue, including miniatures of it.  Shrug.  I didn't mind it.

In the line to the ladies room it was said that Marco Berti, who played Pollione in the first 2 performances, was fired.  I have no personal knowledge one way or the other.  The last time he appeared in San Francisco I gave him advice, and I wanted to know if he had taken any of it.  The ticket taker and elevator operator both said that Russell Thomas was better.

Sondra Radvanovsky has the weight and significance as an artist to convince us that she is the exalted priestess of the Druids.  She is very fine in this role, conquering it in spite the monotonously slow tempos that dragged every phrase.  Is this the official Bellini tempo?  Apologies.  CB's Norma has not yet passed out of my consciousness.

Jamie Barton.  Welcome to San Francisco.  We loved you.  Please come back as often as possible. 

This very difficult opera very much impressed.

Norma Teaser

This is the teaser for Norma which opens the San Francisco Opera this evening. I'm very annoyed that Jamie Barton isn't on my performance.  It's the old traditional Norma.  Sigh.  I promise you will love Sondra Radvanovsky.

The biggest contrast lies in the "Guerra."  Salzburg and recording are absolutely hair raising.

Kick Boxing in KC

 

Photo by Cory Weaver.

Here we have Joyce DiDonato showing off her street fighting skills in I Capuleti e I Montecchi at the Kansas City Opera, with William Burden.  What other profession provides so many varied opportunities?

Sorry.  Cory Weaver photographs in San Francisco.  What do I know.

Norma Viene

I came for this, of course. I wanted to experience the Norma at Salzburg for myself. Now Cecilia Bartoli is talking about taking it on the road, so look for it in a theater near you.

I saw Norma once with Sutherland and Horne in San Francisco. They mostly just stood around and sang. It was very beautiful, mind you, but it could have been a concert. Cecilia's Norma--what else can you call it?--is sort of the opposite. Norma is the leader, the sacred object, the chaste priestess, the leader of men, the leader for peace in a crowd of people who want war.

This is a modern dress production. My theory of modern dress holds here. Dressing the actors like people we know makes them feel to us like people we know, makes their loves and hates feel like our own.

Then their leader whom even her father loves and follows, turns out to have been living a lie. Instead of chastity, she reveals first to Adalgisa and later to everyone else that she has been the lover of the proconsul and has had two children by him. Once she knows that Norma has been with Pollione, Adalgisa wants nothing more to do with him and fades from the story. She's there mainly for duets.

In this production all the cuts are restored. The opera doesn't seem that long to me so it's hard to see why cuts were necessary. Orchestrally the bel canto was a period of transition. New instruments were invented and moved gradually into general use. Cecilia has chosen to move unambiguously back to an antique instrument ensemble.

Once she has found out the ugly truth about Adalgisa and Pollione, Norma considers killing everyone by turns--

first her children,

then the entire Roman army,

then Pollione whom her partisans have captured trying to kidnap Adalgisa,

and then finally herself. 

She confesses. It is a role waiting to be discovered.

I felt that this production by Mosche Leiser and Patrice Caurier completely worked. Every concept was theatrically viable, involving, even jolting. "Guerra" shouted at us from the front of the stage was particularly thrilling.

Michele Pertusi as Norma's father Oroveso has sung with Cecilia since her early Cenerentola recording. He is always strong vocally and theatrically. Liliana Nikiteanu is another long time colleague of Cecilia's from the Zurich Opera. John Osborn appeared with her in Rossini's Otello. Only Rebeca Olvera is new. She is a member of the Zurich ensemble.  They are a strong cast.

But this is Cecilia Bartoli's production, and it rises and falls with her. This marvelous theatrical concept requires Cecilia Bartoli to bring to success. She is attempting nothing less than the complete recreation of Anna Magnani, the passionate Italian actress. The result is more like Broadway than opera, because the emphasis shifts to the action, and no one sings dramatic recitative better than Cecilia. The strength of characterization is powerful well beyond the normal confines of opera, but vocally it is less than a perfect fit for her.

The character of Norma disintegrates into drunkenness at one point. At the end Pollione calls her a "sublime woman." Yes.  I can say nothing more.

Wonderful Things in 2013 so far

I believe this is chronological rather than ranked.

Ainadamar.  I keep looking to see what Opera Parallèle is going to do in the coming season, but nothing has been announced.  Here is a film of the opening.




Parsifal - I can't believe I'm saying this.  Here is a clip of Kaufmann singing "Amfortas!  Die Wunde!"



Neon lightning in the last scene of Rigoletto in the Met simulcast.  I couldn't find a film.

Cecilia's Norma recording.  This clip is "Mira Norma."




Discovering that the American Bach Soloists play in Davis.  I love the way they play Bach.  Here is the Kyrie and Gloria from the Messa in H-moll.



Anja Harteros and Jonas Kaufmann in Il Trovatore from Munich.

Natalie and Matthew in Tales of Hoffmann. 

Finding the film of Die Walküre with James Morris on YouTube.

And the best was Ainadamar.  These include live, simulcast, filmed, recorded and streamed performances.

Things I Notice about Norma

In Sumi Jo Cecilia Bartoli has chosen a partner in the famous duets who shares her leggiero technique. The effect is pleasing. The duet singing is quite romantic and not at all the showing off that normally characterizes just about everything in this opera. Sumi Jo as Adalgisa also restores the traditional voicing of opera: the older woman, Norma, has the darker voice.

The entire opera seems to be about the opera. This is why I want to see it for myself in Salzburg. The plot of Norma is very intense and emotional, but this intensity is always blunted by the almost absolute focus on vocal technique that it usually receives. With the heavy orchestra and focus on divas Norma is just too hard.

I like the thin blunt sound of the orchestra. The emotions come through with so much clarity.  If I were to pick something for this sound to resemble, I would have to say Rossini.

The Bartoli colors are present in abundance. Even after all these years she never ceases to surprise and amaze. This is her Norma, the one she wanted, a joy from start to finish. Critics of her "Casta diva" complain that she doesn't find the long phrase. The problem with her long phrase is that it covers the entire song. Listen again.

It is simply a complete reimagining of the opera.
#ad

Norma Fascination

I confess I have been following Cecilia Bartoli's foray into Bellini's Norma like a deer caught in the headlights.  Even the very idea of it is fascinating.

I read everything in the English and German press, the vast majority positive, about both the new recording and the performances in Salzburg.

We know that Cecilia is self-identified with the greatest of all divas--Maria Malibran, a woman whose legend was amplified out of all human proportion by her early death.

She also carries another less positive obsession with another transcendent diva--Maria Callas.  In Cecilia's native Italy time seems to have stopped with Callas.  The style of performance most represented by Callas is the only one the average opera-devoted Italian cares to hear.  Cecilia's countrymen are to this day completely fascinated with Callas and care not at all for her.  When Cecilia sings at La Scala, they boo.

Both of Cecilia's obsession divas scored triumphs in the role of Norma.  Callas was particularly known for her portrayal, recording it 5 times.  I am personally astounded that La Bartoli would take this on, but should I be?  It begins to seem inevitable.

Cecilia Bartoli is an awesome individual.  (If there were any way to invest in her, I would.  Could she please incorporate herself.)  You only imagined that she doesn't have the right voice for Norma.  She bends reality to her will.  This performance must be considered an historic event.  I can't stop watching.  And listening.

Appendix:

New York Times

Salzburg Times

Limelight

The Jerusalem Post

Euronews The new/old Norma

From Decca

It is a lot of fun to be a fan of Cecilia.

Cecilia is very busy

Announced on Facebook, here is the cover.  I love it. 

The news for Cecilia Bartoli is coming a bit too fast to keep up with it.

Of course, there is Norma at the Salzburger Festspiele on May 17 and 19.  There is still no news that it will be streamed, but there is news from the Cecilia Bartoli Forum that a CD of Norma will be released simultaneous with the premiere at Salzburg.  You can pre-order this on Amazon.de, but I see nothing on the US site.

You can pre-order a DVD of Cecilia Bartoli in Le Comte Ory from Amazon, but there is no proposed release date.

Cecilia will perform "Wir hab nun Trauerigkeit" from the Brahms' Requiem on May 20 also at the Salzburger Festspiele.  The baritone is René Pape.

From January 14, 2014, to Feb 25 she is announced for the title role in Handel's Alcina at the Zurich Opera.

Then there's Rossini's Otello in Paris starting on April 7, 2014. 

In between all these things are concerts.  There is still no announcement of anyone streaming.
#ad

Pretty

Currently appearing at the Metropolitan Opera in Le Comte Ory is this South African soprano, Pretty Yende.  The New York Times says she is from Mpumalanga, while The Huffington Post says she "grew up in Cape Town."  Above she is singing the Song to the Moon from Rusalka.  And below is Come per me, sereno from La Sonnambula.



You can surely guess what I like about her.  She works at La Scala and is completely on top of her Italian style.  So far she is famous for falling flat on her face at the beginning of the first performance of Ory.  Remember, there is no bad publicity.

Capulets and Montagues

Or Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi at the San Francisco Opera.

The opera.

We studied the Guelphs and Ghibellines in my class in Florence. The Guelphs, represented here by Giuletta's family the Capuleti, support the Pope, and the Ghibellines, represented here by Romeo's faction the Montecchi, support the Holy Roman Empire. So you see it isn't just two families that don't like each other. It's a war that went on in Italy from 1140 to 1289. Then the Guelphs won, split into two parties and went on fighting with each other. Dante was on the wrong side of this part of the war. In the 15th century they were still at it.

You don't need to remember any of this, but to Shakespeare in the late English Renaissance it just looked like a silly family quarrel. We're not doing Shakespeare. Romeo killed Juliet's brother in a battle in the war, but her father still does not want her to marry Romeo. By 1830, the date of the opera, this was Italian history.  When the opera begins, Romeo and Juliet have already met and established their relationship.  I am reminded of Rossini's Otello which similarly omits all the happy parts.

The production.

We start off with saddles hanging in the air, see top.  I think this is supposed to tell you we are doing war with horses and not just a street fight.  The men all wear top hats which places the setting in the nineteenth century. You can see in the top picture and this next one that the way the sets are painted is very attractive.  In the picture immediately below, for the second scene with the gorgeous love duet, we had a sink attached to the wall which Nicole Cabell climbed on.

I had to search for quite a while to find a picture that shows Juliet's costume in the second scene, below worn by Netrebko in Munich.  You can see above that the floor in this scene is quite shiny, allowing us in the balcony to see up Juliet's dress, which hovered around her reflection like a halo.  The director always sits in the orchestra.  Just thought I would mention....

Below is the wedding scene with lots of supers dressed in outfits by Christian Lacroix.  The men are chorus, the women supers who don't sing.  Thus the flowers stuck in their mouths.  We are mystified.

In the picture below you can see this same flight of stairs from the other side.  People walk from above down into the slot below.  Nicole played this scene walking in her bare feet across the top of this narrow ledge.  She looked nervous.  You can also see the director's island in the middle of the orchestra.

Juliet is the only female character in the opera, and she is written as insane throughout.  In the bel canto it is difficult to find a normal woman in any of the operas.

I insist the production is to explain the opera.  Maybe you could get used to this, and it would start to seem normal, but for me this one just draws your attention away from the action.  Why is that there?  Why are saddles hanging in the air?  Why are we in Juliet's bathroom?  What is that moon sticking up out of the floor?

The singing.

All is forgiven.  One reviewer actually dinged Eric Owens.  Go figure.  He sings everything under the sun, but is most magnificent in Wagner.

The singing was magnificent, especially Joyce DiDonato as Romeo and Nicole Cabell as Giuletta.  Their voices are gorgeous together and separately.  It's hard to believe that this was Nicole Cabell's San Francisco Opera debut.  Joyce is getting her masculine swagger down.

The conducting was by Riccardo Frizza who only occasionally allowed the orchestra to play too loud.

It made me very happy.  More bel canto, please.

It's only fair to show our stars.
#ad

Whet Your Appetite for Bellini

It's a truly fabulous cast--I'm seeing it next Wednesday. Can't wait.

Radvanovsky sings Anna Bolena

This recording of Sondra Radvanovsky singing Anna Bolena is from the current production at the Washington National Opera.  I think.  What else could it be?  I'm glad to see she is branching out.

To help you get in the mood

I Capuleti e i Montecchi

Romeo: Vesselina Kasarova
Giulietta:  Anna Netrebko
Tebaldo: Dimitri Pittas
Capellio: Ante Jerkunica
Lorenzo: Paul Gay

Conductor: Yves Abel
Production: Vincent Boussard

I Capuleti e i Montecchi by Bellini was streamed from the Bayerischen Staatsoper in Munich Saturday.  This is the production we will see in San Francisco next season.

No one plays men like Vesselina Kasarova, and damn she sounds good.  Joyce DiDonato who will be our Romeo is going to have her work cut out for her.  I am shouting in my computer room.  Somehow one does not wish to give up shouting.

This opera is about the Guelphs and Ghibellines, the great Italian political factions of the middle ages. We studied them in the classes I took in Florence. It's all about money. The Guelphs represent the merchants, and the Ghibellines represent the landed gentry. Dante got into the wrong group and was exiled from Florence. Do we care which is which?

The great one is throwing up in her bathroom.  You are required to know that that is Anna Netrebko.  She's climbed up into the sink and is trying to escape.  Throw away your expectations and learn to love her.  She is the best.

The music is so merry and gorgeous that it doesn't seem quite suitable.  Apparently this Juliet is a lunatic.  It is Italian opera, after all.  The stream is not perfect and occasionally pauses, sometimes long pauses.  The translation is in German which I can read.  Sorry if you can't.

This is a stream of consciousness review.  My feeling is that Kasarova and Netrebko are well matched, both for voice and for craziness.  I have to go somewhere soon and I don't want to.  GD.  This is fabulous.  Y'all can have your Wagner.  I'll take a little Bellini any time.  Or at least I'll take fabulous Bellini over mediocre to bad Wagner.

Very little of the Shakespeare plot survives.