Opera News Awards

 Janet Baker  --  Cecilia Bartoli  --  Lawrence Brownlee

These are this year's recipients of the Opera News Awards, all three artists that I love.  I'll find some music.  There will be a streamed virtual gala on April 18, 2021.

Lawrence Brownlee and Eric Owens

Lawrence Brownlee and Eric Owens came to visit at Mondavi to perform arias, spirituals, pop songs and whatever else they wanted.  They brought Myra Huang to accompany them on the piano.  She skillfully navigated the range of musical styles on this concert.  The whole concert was performed with the lid all the way up which sometimes worked and sometimes didn't.

The program was divided into two parts:  the operatic repertoire they are famous for and spirituals, pop songs, and gospel songs.  We'll begin with the classical.  The house lights remained up for this part.

Larry and Eric are at opposite ends of the male operatic voices.  Eric is a bass-baritone while Larry soars high above almost everyone in the coloratura tenor category.  Eric does Wagner and Gershwin while Larry does Mozart, Rossini and Donizetti.  There isn't a lot of overlap in their repertoire.

To represent his usual stuff Larry brought us:

• Il mio tesoro from Mozart's Don Giovanni
• Una furtiva lagrima from Donizetti's Elixir of love
• Ah mes amis from Donizetti's Daughter of the Regiment

This pretty much covers it.  The Donizetti arias are the main ones that receive encores these days, and he gave encore worthy performances.

"Una furtiva lagrima" came after they sang a duet from the same opera where the baritone conman sells the tenor a bottle of wine as a supposed love potion, "Voglio dire."  This is more fun when it's acted.

Eric sang

• Se vuol ballare from Mozart's Marriage of Figaro
• Infelice! E tuo crevedi from Verdi's Ernani
• Le veau d'or from Gounod's Faust

They finished with "Au fond du temple saint" from Bizet's Pearl Fishers, one of the greatest male duets in the repertoire.  I enjoyed all of this, but Larry in his high tessitura more successfully soared over the piano.

The lights went down for part 2.  The rest of the program started with spirituals such as Marian Anderson used to sing.  I thought of her when they performed a duet of "He's got the whole world in his hands."  This was her trademark song.  Eric excelled in "Deep River."

I didn't know all of the pop songs, but Eric Owens singing "Some enchanted evening" was wonderful.  The selection was puzzling.

They finished with two gospel songs.

• I don't feel no ways tired
• Every time I feel the spirit

It seemed like a concert as co-biography.  There was an encore but my memory has failed me.

It was a pleasure.

Semiramide from Munich

👍🏻
Conductor: Michele Mariotti
Production:  David Alden

Semiramide, Queen of Babylon, widow of King Nino: Joyce DiDonato
Assur, a prince, descendant of Baal: Alex Esposito
Arsace, Commander of the Assyrian army: Daniela Barcellona
Idreno, an Indian king: Lawrence Brownlee
Oroe, high priest of the Magi:  Simone Alberghini 
Azema, a princess, descendant of Baal: Elsa Benoit 
Mitrane, Captain of the Guard:  Galeano Salas
Nino's Ghost:  Igor Tsarkov

The role of Semiramide in Rossini's opera Semiramide is usually sung by the same people who sing Lucia, people like Montserrat Caballé, Joan Sutherland, June Anderson, etc.  It was, however, composed for Isabella Colbran who is generally considered a mezzo-soprano.  (Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra, Otello, ossia Il Moro di Venezia, Armida, Mosè in Egitto, Ricciardo e Zoraide, Ermione, La donna del lago, Maometto II,  Zelmira, and Semiramide are the operas written for Colbran.)  After her success in La donna del lago, Joyce DiDonato clearly wanted to try her hand at another Colbran role.

I experienced a lot of technical difficulties with this stream from the Bayerische Staatsoper and finally ended up listening on my iPhone, not an ideal medium for watching an opera. 

The cast for this opera was simply spectacular.  DiDonato and Barcellona sing beautifully together.  It is one of the great bel canto operas with an endless stream of gorgeous music.  It may well be considered Rossini's masterpiece.

As with most of the streams from the Bayerische Staatsoper, this performance will probably disappear forever.  This makes me sad.

Richard Tucker Gala

Instead of making us wait until the end of the year, the Richard Tucker Gala live streamed from Carnegie Hall on medici.tv today.  What a fabulous concert.  The singers were:

Jamie Barton
Javier Camarena
Joyce DiDonato
Joshua Guerrero
Renée Fleming
Anna Netrebko
Kristine Opolais
Nadine Sierra
and this years winner Tamara Wilson
Asher Fisch conducted the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Yusif Eyvazov was expected but broke his foot.

And here is the program:
Wagner: “Entrance of the Guests” from Tannhäuser
New York Choral Society

Wagner: “Dich, teure Halle” from Tannhäuser
Tamara Wilson, soprano
This was an excellent introduction to Tamara.

Renée Fleming, soprano
Massenet: “Adieu, notre petite table” from Manon
followed by
Leoncavallo: “Mattinata”

Rossini: “La danza”
Javier Camarena, tenor

Donizetti: “Regnava nel silenzo” from Lucia di Lammermoor
Nadine Sierra, soprano

Dvorak: “Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém” (“Song to the Moon”) from Rusalka
Kristine Opolais, soprano
Unfortunately for Kristine there were two other sopranos on the program known for this aria.

Verdi: “Tu al cui sguardo onnipossente” from I due Foscari
Tamara Wilson, soprano
New York Choral Society.  Tamara was excellent in this, too.

Saint-Saëns: Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix” from Samson et Dalila
Jamie Barton, mezzo-soprano.  For me this was one of the highlights of the evening, sung in a wonderfully smooth legato.

Rossini: “Ah vieni, nel tuo sangue” from Otello
Lawrenece Brownlee, tenor
Javier Camarena, tenor
Two Rossini tenors in competition.  I think it was a tie.

Giordano: “La mamma morta” from Andrea Chénier
followed by
Cilea:  "Io son l'umile ancella" from Adriana Lecouvreur 
Anna Netrebko, soprano
Netrebko was in form and remembered to thank first the cellist and then the violinist for their solos.  She received a bouquet and then left.

Heggie: “Si, son io” from Great Scott
Joyce DiDonato, mezzo-soprano
This was particularly and surprisingly beautiful.

Bellini: Finale of Act I from Norma
Tamara Wilson, soprano
Jamie Barton, mezzo-soprano
Joshua Guerrero, tenor
New York Choral Society

Donizetti: “Seul sur la terre” from Dom Sébastien
Lawrence Brownlee, tenor

Puccini: “Un bel dì vedremo” from Madama Butterfly
Kristien Opolais, soprano

Handel: “Son nata a lagrimar” from Giulio Cesare
Jamie Barton, mezzo-soprano
Joyce DiDonato, mezzo-soprano

Bellini: “Vieni fra questa braccia” from I puritani
Nadine Sierra, soprano
Javier Camarena, tenor
I liked Nadine and Javier in this.

Bernstein: “Make Our Garden Grow” from Candide
Tamara Wilson, soprano
Joshua Guerrero, tenor
New York Choral Society

The concert lasted 2-1/2 hours.  I skipped another concert for this and found that it was worth it.  This is a slightly lighter mix of arias than is usual for a Richard Tucker Gala.  There was no intermission.

You can watch this now on medici.tv.

Don Pasquale

Dr. Malatesta, Norina, Don Pasquale, Ernesto

Conductor: Giuseppe Finzi
Director: Laurent Pelly

Don Pasquale: Maurizio Muraro
Norina: Heidi Stober
Ernesto: Lawrence Brownlee*
Dr. Malatesta:  Lucas Meachem

I knew there was something that looked familiar about this production of Donizetti's Don Pasquale.  It is shared with the Santa Fe Opera.  In Santa Fe there are no overhead flies and things often slide out from the sides.  Well that's what this does.  The colors are drab in the extreme and only brighten up later through the introduction of colored chairs and flowers.  I thought it was functional but drab.  Drab in a comedy doesn't make much sense to me.  Laurent Pelly retained his credit but did not come out to bow.  I suspect this is not actually his production.

The highlight of this performance was the company debut of Lawrence Brownlee as Ernesto.  He had the most slapstick comedy and performed it expertly.  Besides being a fabulous singer.  We loved him.  He was well matched to Heidi Stober, by now a company favorite.  Larry, please come back.

It was in fact a fabulous cast.  Everyone met and exceeded expectations.  This is my list of where I have seen these people.

• Maurizio Muraro SFO live (Don Pasquale, Barber of Seville) London (Manon Lescaut, I due Foscari) Met (Cosi fan tutte)

• Heidi Stober SFO live (Don Pasquale, Show Boat, Xerxes, Falstaff, Un Ballo in Maschera, Sweeney Todd) at Santa Fe live (Platée, Arabella, La Boheme) Berlin live (vocal recital)

• Lawrence Brownlee* SFO live (Don Pasquale)  Met (La Cenerentola, Armida, Barber of Seville)

• Lucas Meachem  SFO live (Die Tote Stadt, Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Pasquale, I Pagliacci, Barber of Seville) Santa Fe live (Don Giovanni)

For me the fabulous singing actors saved this.  But then don't they always?  The intermission was extended by about 20 minutes without explanation.

Footnote:  the program cover showed a picture of Gina Lollobrigida.

Richard Tucker Gala 2016

I'm a little slow on this one, but I want to write about this year's wonderful Richard Tucker.  Here is a link.  It should be up for a year.  We start off with the current award holder Jamie Barton who sings "Acerba Volluta" from Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur.  This is a barn burner and she does an excellent job.  She is very talented.

Each singer has to talk after they exit.  Then Piotr Beczala sings Puccini's "Nessun Dorma."  There is chorus with this.  If you want to know how it's going, just look at the faces of the singers in the chorus.  His voice is showing some stress.

Renée Fleming is shown briefly singing with Luciano Pavarotti.  Then she comes out and sings "Io son l'umile ancella" from Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur.  The Renée, she always sounds so good.  She recommends that you know your own voice.  Can't argue with that.  I complain constantly about people selecting repertoire outside their physical gifts, but Renée knows what is best for her.  She was gorgeous here.

Then Nadine Sierra comes out and performs a duet with Andrea Bocelli, the special guest of the evening.  They sing the "Sulla tomba, Verrano a te sull'aure" duet from Lucia di Lammermoor.  They actually look well together.  He is beginning to both look and sound old.  Sorry.  There was a lot of complaining on line about him.  Nadine genuinely seems to like him and they do well together.

Cilea is having a big night.  Stephen Costello then sings "E la storia solita del pastore" from Cilea's L'Arlesiana.  This is very beautiful.  Stephen's voice is developing nicely.

"In quelle trine morbide" from Manon Lescaut is sung by Angela Gheorghiu.  It's always nice to see Angela.

The repertoire is all of a piece here, like something from the 30's.  "Ebben, nel andro lontano" from Catalani's La Wally comes next, also sung by Angela.  Perhaps she is the other guest star.  This is just her stuff and she is in form.

And now for something completely different.  Isabel Leonard sings"Nacqui all' affano...Non piu mesta" from Rossini's La Cenerentola.  Instead of sweetness, we have some spectacular vocal gymnastics with wonderful, original fiorature.  I think this concert is designed to warm up as it goes along.  Her ornaments are very original.  I've seen her in Griselda so I know what she can do.  This is excellent.

Jamie, "You got all my friends.  Thank you for that."  Tucker person, "We tried to get your enemies,  but you don't have any."

Back to the concert.  Jamie and Christine Goerke appear for a duet from Ponchielli's La Gioconda, "E un anatemal."  We are back to singing big which is what the Tucker is all about.  Goerke is the queen of big singing, and Gioconda isn't done nearly enough.  Their voices are well matched.  You won't hear it better than this.

They come off the stage and do this incredible chest bump, as it they were the Bryan brothers (tennis).

Lawrence Brownlee talks about lifelong learning.  Gee I love him.  That's why I can't really ever be a critic because I love them all too much.  He sings "Terra amica" from Rossini's Zelmira.  I don't understand the public's desire to trash people in places like YouTube comments.  I'm only good for love.  This one also has chorus.  Larry tears into it.  Rossini tenors are one of the wonders of the world.

Nadine Sierra sings another duet, this time with Stephen Costello, this time "Va, je t'ai pardonee" from Gounod's Romeo et Juliette.  She's singing 3 different roles at the Paris Opera next season.  She knows her Gounod from her Donizetti.

The great Christine Goerke sings Eboli's aria "O don fatale" from Verdi's Don Carlo.  I don't know what she's doing singing something I used to sing.  Perhaps a Verdi dramatic mezzo is coming.  She completely aces this and has a much easier time with it than the average mezzo.  The drama and the notes all come easily.

Boccelli returns to sing "M'appari tutt' amor" from Flowtow's Martha.  This song plays in my head in German, but in concerts it always appears in Italian.  Perhaps that's why he is here.  He sees the Richard Tucker foundation as a promoter of Italian music.  I see it like that, too.  We're almost finished and there has been only Italian and French singing.

Renée Fleming and Piotr Beczala sing the love duet from Gounod's Faust, "Il so fait tard."  Renée is outstanding in this, too.  The audience is amazing and cheers for everything.

The concert closes with Jamie Barton, she is really showcased here, singing "Adieu fiere cite" from Berlioz' Les Troyens.  Is this something we should thank Susan Graham for?  Perhaps.  I am so glad to see the growth of interest in Berlioz' vocal music.  Jamie is a singer to love.  IMHO.

All Italian and French, nothing before Rossini, nothing after Puccini.  This is all classic Richard Tucker.  A wonderful concert with several former winners and guests.  It will be available on the PBS website for 3 years.

Selfie of the Week

Close in second place is this....

You have to guess.  I like these, too, but I won't make you guess.

Lawrence Brownlee and Anja Harteros.  I still need to see her live.

The one and only Brigitte Fassbaender with Brownlee.  He gets around a lot.  This has to be for Rosenkavalier and maybe the above one is, too.

To heck with guessing.  The top one is René Pape in his makeup for Gurnemanz followed by Luca Pisaroni as Henry VIII in Anna Bolena.  Doesn't Rene look like a street bum?

Il Barbiere di Siviglia in HD

Conductor: Michele Mariotti
Production: Bartlett Sher

Rosina: Isabel Leonard
Count Almaviva: Lawrence Brownlee
Figaro: Christopher Maltman
Dr. Bartolo: Maurizio Muraro
Don Basilio: Paata Burchuladze

While watching the simulcast from the Metropolitan Opera today, I noticed for the first time that in the storm scene where Figaro and Almaviva attempt to abduct Rosina that Rossini uses the same orchestral figure to depict lightning that Verdi uses in Rigoletto.  In Il Barbiere di Siviglia it's just a brief fragment of flute arpeggio that turns into a louder, more stereotypical orchestral storm as the scene progresses.  Verdi expands it into a long scene, but it's the same figure.  I expected to see flashing neon, but alas I did not.  If the storm scene in Rigoletto does not remind you of neon flashing, you do not attend enough Met simulcasts.

My seatmate pointed out that the staging is now less busy.  Perhaps there are fewer stagehands.  I have often pointed out that reducing the number of stagehands would save a lot of money.  I noticed that in one scene the girls surrounding Figaro's movable business pushed it off the stage.  In another there is a donkey, Sir Gabriel, who was interviewed during the intermission.  Debbie Voigt seemed quite fond of him.

The trimming down did not seem to negatively impact the clarity of the production.  Remember, the purpose of the production is to explain the plot.

It also seemed to me that previously John del Carlo and his silent shadow carried the burden of the comedy while here it was more evenly distributed around the cast.  Maurizio Muraro is a fine singer, but he is no comic.  Christopher Maltman was an appealingly lively Figaro.  There needs to be a reason the opera is called The Barber of Seville.  Figaro must seem to plot every move.  I have seen this idea more effectively carried out elsewhere.

I need the lovely singers Isabel Leonard and Lawrence Brownlee to pay more attention to each other.  This is not a criticism of the amazing Mr. Brownlee, but the Met's inclusion of the great tenor aria at the end completely overbalances the opera away from Figaro and Rosina.  Isabel Leonard is charming and effective.

I enjoyed it.  I've been enjoying a lot of things lately.

Blogging

I have been trying to get into Twitter and tried my hand today while watching the stream of #ConcertDeParis honoring Bastille Day.  A number of foreigners sang in French:  Olga Peretyatko (Soprano) "Salut a la France",  Elīna Garanča (Mezzo) "Ah que j'aime les militaires",  and Lawrence Brownlee (Ténor) "Ah, mes amis".  The Twitter feed threw around a lot of criticisms of French diction.  With Google Translate at the ready I followed along.

So I thought I would ask all these native French speakers which foreigner they preferred in their language.  Jonas Kaufmann.  Unqualified agreement.  He was preferred over Sophie Koch who is French.

The French also complained about the use of Operetten Lieder as encores on Jonas's recitals.  Soon he will be doing whole concerts of these items.  I'm sort of looking forward.

It was a lovely concert which ended with La Marseillaise. 

The Year of the Tenor

With the Metropolitan Opera season now closed Broadway World has called this the Year of the Tenor.  Here is their list.  How can you argue?

Jonas Kaufmann. What is there to say? He's #1 these days, whether in Wagner, Massenet or Verdi. He also excited in his recital debut at Carnegie with German lieder. But his schedule looks a little sparse next year at the Met, other than a few Don Joses. Do whatever he wants, please.  [I'm definitely not arguing with this.]

Juan Diego Florez. The Met's first "King of the High Cs" since Pavarotti, Florez is an utterly winning and boyish performer, whether in LA FILLE DU REGIMENT, LE COMTE ORY or DON PASQUALE. His high notes were wonderful in LA CENERENTOLA, though one wonders what lots of RIGOLETTOs will wreak on them, as he moves away from bel canto.

Piotr Beczala. He thrilled as the Duke in the Met's "Ratpack" RIGOLETTO, Lenski in EUGENE ONEGIN and RUSALKA's fickle Prince. A cautious artist, he's moving into heavier roles, with UN BALLO IN MASCHERA next season, as well as IOLANTA with Netrebko.

Lawrence Brownlee. Brownlee was an audience favorite in I PURITANI and the opera's high F held no fear for him. Yet he seems a little placid when more ardor would do better. Still, the notes were there and that means a great deal.

Javier Camarena. Tenor Camarena had a great spring at the Met, as Elvino in Bellini's LA SONNAMBULA then stepping in for Florez in the first three performances of Rossini's LA CENERENTOLA. It took the Met way too long to bring him back after his notable debut in IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA--let's see what they come up with as a follow up (and sooner rather than later, SVP).

Dr. B:  These are the guys, all fabulous artists.  There can never be too much tenor.  As almost an afterthought they add Matthew Polenzani, Roberto Alagna, Vittorio Grigolo, Michael Fabiano, Stephen Costello, Yonghoon Lee.  They put in David Daniels, but we know he is a countertenor and doesn't count.  We might add Bryan Hymel.

New Three Tenors

 

Camarena.......................................Brownlee ........................Florez

The New York Times headline by Zachary Woolfe today reads "Three Stars Who Navigate on the High C's."  These new three tenors are Javier Camarena, Lawrence Brownlee and Juan Diego Florez.  They are all on the bel canto end of the tenor spectrum and all fantastic singers.

My favorite quote from the article is when Marilyn Horne says "I'm delighted because we need good singing.  There's all this talk that the Met is not selling enough tickets, but apparently when the review of 'Cenerentola' came out, about Camarena, the next performance was packed.  What is that saying?  We want voices.  That's why people want to go to the opera."

I couldn't agree more.  Opera companies--pitch your singers and then pitch them again.  Tell us how wonderful they are, and then tell us again.  I don't care how much money you spent on new productions, it's the singers we want.

All three of these guys are very familiar to me with Camarena the newest addition.  But he isn't all that new since I have seen him in Cecilia's Rossini Otello and Natalie's Paris Sonnambula.


More, please.

Ory with Cecilia

This was taken just before the start of the performance of Le Comte Ory at Theater an der Wien.

Blogging

I notice now that I am posting a list of most popular blog posts, certain perennial favorites have fallen off the list.  Most notably now missing are "14" and "Maria Ewing."  "Camille Claudel is still going strong."  A few have risen and then disappeared, a more expected behavior.  A surprise is the increased popularity of a film of Sondra Radvanovsky singing an aria from Anna Bolena.

Cecilia Bartoli will miss her Ory opening in Vienna.  I hope she gets well soon.  She will be replaced by the rising Pretty Yende, recently in Ory at the Met.

Some time this spring Ailyn Pérez will release her first album titled Poème d’un jour.  This will include music in both French and Spanish.

Big weekend:  Ainadamar, Rigoletto and Philharmonia Baroque.

Larry Brownlee and Pretty Yende triumphing in Vienna.  I was interested to read in a review that during Rossini's lifetime Le Comte Ory was very popular.

Next Year at Santa Fe 2013

War Horses:

La Traviata
This is a revival of the Natalie Dessay Laurent Pelly production reviewed here.   This time around it will star Brenda Rae and Michael Fabiano.

 
Marriage of Figaro will star Susanna Phillips as La Contessa.

Schon wieder Rossini--La Donna del Lago will star Joyce DiDonato and Lawrence Brownlee.  She has triumphed in Paris, Milan and Geneva in this role, and Santa Fe has aced out the other American companies for this performance.  Does it help that she lives in Santa Fe?  Sorry.  More insider gossip.  I will have to see this if I can.  [Schon wieder means already again.  For some reason I could not explain you say "schon wieder" quite a lot and almost never "already again."]

The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein by Offenbach is an operetta which will be sung in French with English spoken dialog.  The Duchess will be sung by Susan Graham.

This leaves the new opera Oscar by Theodore Morrison, a composer with whom I am unacquainted.  It will star David Daniels and is about Oscar Wilde.  One of our Road Scholar colleagues has attended a run-through of the first act and enjoyed it.

Opera Now

Jonas Kaufmann is on both the front AND the back covers of Opera Now for August-September.  I know I am a bit slow to notice this.

The cover article describes how he becomes involved in his productions early.  None of this showing up at the last minute unrehearsed for Jonas.  I want to say that this was my impression of the wonderful Werther in Paris.  My sense of the entire performance was that everyone, especially the conductor Michel Plasson, was working together toward the same goal.  This level of artistic coordination is not possible without planning.

The magazine also includes a list of hot productions over the next year.  Maybe I'll include some of them in my performance calendar.

Here's an interesting quote about Lawrence Brownlee:  "The young tenor Lawrence Brownlee is now prime property, just as virtuosic as Juan Diego Florez and with more shades of color in the voice."  You know, I think I agree.

Best Opera for 2010

There were some pretty wonderful things this year.  First I will focus on live performances.

xxWerther at the Paris Opera was like an out of body experience.  Everything worked together to create an atmosphere of mysterious romance and doom.  Special award for the best playing by an opera orchestra.

xxNext has to be the wonderful San Francisco Die Walküre with the best ever Brünnhilde in Nina Stemme.  The atmosphere and emotion were over the top.

After 2 big La Traviatas in 2009, imagine my surprise when I so completely enjoyed Karen Slack's Violetta at the Sacramento Opera.  It was over the top intense, and why else do we go to the opera?

Good but not spectacular were Cyrano de Bergerac in San Francisco, x La Sonnambula in Paris, and The Makropulos Case in San Francisco.

The other best opera experiences of 2010 were all live from the Metropolitan in HD.  Top of this heap must come the wonderful, moving and quite spectacular Boris Godunov with René Pape.  It was simply a great experience.

xxThe HD series has brought us some wonderful things this year.  I loved Elina Garanča's Carmen for her singing, her clear-eyed intensity and her rapport with Roberto Alagna.

xxI am continuing to enjoy the Renée Fleming film festival.  We started the year with her performance in Der Rosenkavalier.  The most memorable thing from the HD broadcast was the shot of Renée and Susan Graham sitting on the bed talking while waiting for the opera to begin.

xxAnd I adored her in Rossini's Armida.  The whole thing was enormous fun with lots of excellent coloratura singing from Lawrence Brownlee and friends.

xxDid I forget something?  Don Pasquale.  Magnifico. 

I'm over 10, I see, but it was a very good year.

Disappointments also happened.  For me Patricia Racette's Faust from San Francisco completely fell flat.  If I were her, I would not repeat this opera.  And I hated the Met's Rheingold.  I would prefer not to be reminded of the almost icky Simon Boccanegra in HD.  If it weren't for Placido Domingo, it would have been a total loss.

Vision

My copy of Rossini's Stabat Mater came today.

It feels like someone's vision, a vision so deep that you can only try to follow it into the depths.  For such a complete vision it must be Maestro Antonio Pappano. 

He has brought them all into his vision.  Ildebrando D'Arcangelo is the most musically expressive of my experience of him.  I may have to revise my ideas.

The Orchestra e Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia are with him for every note, every phrase.  The Russian and two American soloists become Italian for a moment.  Anna Netrebko is particularly spectacular, but I want to mention the wonderful work of Joyce DiDonato and Lawrence Brownlee.

This is Rossini after his retirement from opera, 1841,  Spiritually Rossini lies somewhere between Mozart and Verdi, and the feeling in this recording brings us the intense beauty of this great Italian. 

Thank you all.
 #ad

Ranking the Simulcasts 2009-10

For this year's Metropolitan Opera simulcasts I'm giving first place to the stunning Carmen with Elina Garanča and Roberto Alagna for intense emotion throughout. It was the best Carmen of my lifetime.

Second place goes to Der Rosenkavalier with Renée Fleming and Susan Graham. I did see it twice.

I had never heard of Rossini's Armida before this but absolutely loved it. Kudos to Renée Fleming, Lawrence Brownlee and all the other tenors.

Turandot is next. I'm still a big Maria Guleghina fan.

I liked Hamlet starring Simon Keenlyside but missed seeing Natalie Dessay do yet another mad scene. Special mention goes to Jennifer Larmore.

Les Contes d’Hoffmann was reasonably fun but needed Rolando Villazon.

It's always nice to see Domingo, even as a baritone Simon Boccanegra, but that's about all I liked about it. Dmitri in San Francisco was far better.

Aida didn't rise above OK for me. I was surprised at Verona by how much I enjoyed a lighter soprano in this.

Tosca was dark and unmoving.

The stuff I liked I liked a lot, but 4 failures does seem like too many.

Cats meets Queen of the Night

👍🏻
Armida..................Renée Fleming
Rinaldo.................Lawrence Brownlee
Goffredo...............John Osborn
Gernando..............Barry Banks*
Ubaldo..................Kobie van Rensburg
Carlo.....................Barry Banks
Eustazio................Yeghishe Manucharyan
Astarotte...............Keith Miller
Idraote..................Peter Volpe
Love.....................Teele Ude
Revenge................Isaac Scranton

Conductor..............Riccardo Frizza
Production.............Mary Zimmerman

We are referring, of course, to Rossini's Armida presented in HD from the Metropolitan Opera today. I saw this while still reeling from the hideous noises being made by otherwise perfectly good singers in Ades' The Tempest. We have in Rossini someone actually capable of composing for the extreme ends of people's ranges.

Factoid: Renée Fleming has sung Armida before -- in 1993 in Pesaro, Italy.

My only disappointment was that the mime role of Amor did not receive a solo bow. There was a lot to like.

The sets with their giant insects were enchanting. The diminutive Amor made her entrance a la Cirque du Soliel by a curtain hanging from above. She set the atmosphere of enchantment right from the beginning.

Armida requires 6 Rossini tenors. Deborah Voigt had them lined up -- actually only 5 because Barry Banks played two parts -- and asked if anyone in the world could be doing Rossini today. This left an opportunity to plug Joyce DiDonato doing La Donna del Lago in Geneva.

One of my favorite things about this production was the successful integration of soloists, chorus and ballet into a seamless ensemble. Best example was the character Astarotte in the second act singing while standing on the backs of members of the ballet who steadied him and carried him around the stage. It was these demons of the ballet who slunk around like characters from Cats.

The singing was a joy. I actually cried during the tenor trio in Act III. [Odd whooping sounds were heard in the movie theater.] Lawrence Brownlee both looked and sounded heroic. Bravo.

And Renée Fleming was outstanding. I've already seen her walk on water -- Rusalka at SFO -- so nothing really surprises me.

I forgot to mention the exquisite love duets. It was darkness and light, love and revenge, enchantment and desire. Who could ask for more?

See more discussion of this performance here.
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Telepathy

I am psychic, though not in any significant way.

Vivica Genaux and Joyce DiDonato appeared in my head together. So I ordered both of their new CDs from Amazon: Pyrotechnics and Colbran the Muse respectively.

Then I posted pictures of them. And now I find that they are giving a recital together on February 22 at the University of Chicago in honor of Philip Gossett's retirement. Both sing his Italian specialty composers, so that is what you should expect on the program.

Best wishes to Dr. Gossett on his retirement.


Vivica Genaux, Philip Gossett, Lawrence Brownlee.