Sacramento Philharmonic 1812 Overture

Christopher Rountree was our conductor for last night's Sacramento Philharmonic performance at the Memorial Auditorium.  The pieces were:

Selections from Aaron Copland's Rodeo.  We heard Buckaroo Holiday, Corral Nocturne, Saturday Night Waltz and Hoe Down.  It's surprising that one seldom hears much from Copland.  The pieces on the program all seemed to form a whole.

George Gershwin's Second Rhapsody.  The first Rhapsody (in Blue) is so famous that it is a surprise to hear this completely unfamiliar one.  The style is similar but the themes are new.  This is basically a piano concerto with the fine pianist Orion Weiss. 

Zhou Tian's Transcend.  Movements:  Pulse, Promise and Done.  his piece was commissioned by the Reno Philharmonic, Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera plus other orchestras, and had its world premiere April 27, 2019 in Reno, NV.  It commemorates the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869.  Interesting program note:  the rhythm of Done is based on the rhythm of DONE in Morse Code.  I found it enjoyable and showing a strong sense of how to compose for a classical orchestra.  It fit well on a program with Copland and Gershwin.

Hint for the conductor.  There's a trick to holding up your baton between movements that discourages the audience from clapping.  Perhaps the custom of remaining silent between movements is dying out.

Peter Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture.  This piece shows a Russian perspective and commemorates their successful defense of the invasion of Napoleon.  It's not an overture to anything, but follows the trend established by Berlioz to call a stand alone piece for orchestra an overture.  It is famous because it is scored for cannon which fires repeatedly toward the end.  We were spared an actual cannon.  The drum resembled a cannon heard at a distance.

The pieces were well chosen to go with one another.  There was an excellent crowd.

Season Opener for Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera

The 2018-19 concert season of the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera featured guest conductor Andrew Grams with guest violinist Angelo Xiang Yu playing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto.  They were fun together with their surprisingly matching over the top enthusiasm.  This was met with great audience excitement.  Yu played an encore of a solo version of the Meditation from Thais by Massenet.

The concert finished with Schumann's Symphony No. 4.  Maestro Grams brings much excitement to his performances.

The Queen of Spades from Salzburg

👍🏻
Conductor: Mariss Jansons
Director: Hans Neuenfels

Brandon Jovanovich, Hermann
Vladislav Sulimsky, Count Tomski / Plutus
Igor Golovatenko, Prince Jelezki
Evgenia Muraveva, Liza
Oksana Volkova, Polina / Daphnis
Hanna Schwarz, Countess
Stanislav Trofimov, Surin
Gleb Peryazev, Narumov
Margarita Nekrasova, Gouverness
Julia Suleymanova, Chloe

We called it Pique Dame.  This version of Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades on Medici.tv from Salzburg was conducted by Mariss Jansons, the same man who brought us the version from the Netherlands here.

The period is set in the libretto because it says Catherine the Great makes an entrance in the party scene.  Here she is a giant skeleton, so make up your own mind.  For me this production is standard minimalism.  It works like no minimalism I have seen before.  The giant skeleton is the only thing that could be called an inexplicable nonsense, a feature of many modern productions, but it gets over quickly and goes back to the standard plot.  There's no minor character dressed up like Tchaikovsky to distract you from the opera.  There's just the opera.  What a concept.

We watch with no translation and don't mind at all.  Instead of the usual Hermann who stands around like a stick of wood, we have the brilliant physicality of Brandon Jovanovich in this role.  His costume makes him stand out from the crowd and his passion dominates the action.  I realized that I have been waiting for him.

It was lovely to see Hanna Schwarz as the old Countess.  Hermann points a gun at her, and she dies of fright before she can tell him the three cards.  Later she returns as a ghost and tells him the cards:  three, seven, ace.  He plays them and loses on the third card.  Just now I realized for the first time that the ghost of the Countess lies.  The third card was the Queen of Spades.  Well.  I guess I'm slow.

This played without any intermissions and for me without any warning.  Musically it was very beautiful.  Thank you.  I can recommend this version with added translation.  Without translation listen for "dri karti," three cards in Russian.


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Eugene Onegin Rerun

👍🏻
Conductor...............Valery Gergiev
Production..............Robert Carsen

Eugene Onegin..Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Tatiana...............Renée Fleming
Lensky................Ramón Vargas
Olga....................Elena Zaremba
Prince Gremin....Sergei Aleksashkin

Yesterday I attended the rerun of  Eugene Onegin from the Metropolitan Opera.  This opera has been broadcast live into theaters from the Met on three different occasions with three different men in the title role:  Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Mariusz Kwiecien and Peter Mattei.  Because he recently died, the version with Dmitri Hvorostovsky was chosen for re broadcast.  Apparently some theaters decided to show whatever version they had on hand instead of the advertised version.  I'm glad that didn't happen to me because I was there for Dima.  When he steps out onto the stage, he is so beautiful you might want to consider falling in love, too.  This may be his greatest recorded performance.

The production by Robert Carsen is also very easy to love.  Locales are merely suggested rather than depicted.

And another thing to consider is that it is conducted by the great Russian conductor Valery Gergiev.  It was a joy.   If they played something else in your town, complain to Fathom Events.

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Iolanta / Perséphone

Conductor:  Teodor Currentzis
Production:  Peter Sellars

These two operas -- Tchaikovsky's Iolanta (1892) and Stravinsky's Perséphone (1934) -- were presented together at Teatro Real in 2012.  Both were staged by Peter Sellars.  I am considering this as the end of my Peter Sellars project.

Iolanta

René, King of Provence, bass, Dmitry Ulianov
Robert, Duke of Burgundy, baritone, Alexej Markov
Count Vaudémont, a Burgundian knight, tenor, Pavel Cernoch
Ibn-Hakia, a Moorish physician, baritone, Willard White
Alméric, armor-bearer to King René, tenor, Vasily Efimov
Bertrand, doorkeeper of the castle, bass, Pavel Kudinov
Iolanta, blind daughter of King René, soprano, Ekaterina Scherbachenko
Marta, Bertrand's wife, Iolanta's nursemaid, contralto, Ekaterina Semenchuk
Brigitta, Iolanta's friend, soprano, Irina Churilova
Laura, Iolanta's friend, mezzo-soprano, Letitia Singleton

Iolanta is a fairy tale sung in Russian.  It was not brought to its full effect in its semi-realistic setting at the Met in 2015.  The magic was missing.  We are presented here with abstractions.  Door frames are topped with mysterious dark objects that sometimes suggest birds.  Instead of a film, we have still pictures.  Iolanta carries a cane, as the blind often do.  Her own chamber music group accompanies her.  I think we may presume they are singing the original text rather than the Soviet approved one.

28 minutes in we have movement just in time for the wonder of Willard White.  I find this abstraction very beautiful, but when they sing of roses, no roses appear.  I like the soprano very much, but the tenor could be better.  This is Sellars' area of expertise.  He isn't here to provide you with pretty scenery.  He's here to provide you with a spiritual experience.

Perséphone

Eumolphe, tenor, Paul Groves
Perséphone Speaker, Dominique Blanc
Perséphone dancer, Sam Sathya
Demetra, dancer, Chumvan Sodhachivy
Pluton, dancer, Khon Chansythyka
Mercure, Démophoon, dancer, Nam Narim

Perséphone is a Greek myth about the underworld, here sung in French.  We are in the same set as the previous work, and visually the two are similar.  There is a tenor, a speaker, a chorus and dancers from Cambodia but no choreographer.  The director seems to have collaborated with the dancers.  The music is serene for Stravinsky.

A line caught my eye:  "never chase after what your eyes gaze on too lovingly."  The story of my life.

The pairing of these two works is genius.  The entire thing is a meditation on beauty.  Life is beautiful.  Love it more.  Do not go into the darkness never to return.  Open your heart to beauty.  Thank you, Peter.

Since I am counting this as the end, I repeat the score card here.  It omits works where Sellars is the librettist.

Score card:

Great things:  Mozart La Clemenza di Tito, Handel Theodora, Bach Matthew Passion, Iolanta / Perséphone
Hits:  Saariaho L'Amour de Loin, Mozart Don Giovanni, Nixon (1st)
So so: Mozart Figaro, Giulio Cesare
Misses:Vivaldi Griselda, Adams The Death of Klinghoffer, Nixon (2nd)
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Ten Operas

This is a list, and you know I love lists.  These 10 operas are all operas which I had never heard before I began blogging and have never seen a second time.  All stand out in my mind as outstanding memories.  None of them came to me by way of the Met and none are even close to the top 100.  I have listed them in order of their premier dates.  They cover the entire history of opera, and all of them deserve to be revived IMHO.

Francesco Cavalli's La Calisto (1651) in Italiian.  The musical style is late Monteverdi.  I acquired this from a pirated source in a production that involved René Jacobs.  I understand there is a legitimate DVD of this production that with some effort might be acquired.  This opera production seems to try to show us a true Venetian opera production with gods who descend through stage machinery and transform from baritones to sopranos.  I loved it for its sense of  fun.  Venice is the land of carnival so entertainment is the order of the day.  To present this opera you would need a baritone with a fabulous falsetto.

Jean-Philippe Rameau's Comédies lyriques Platée (1745) in French.  The musical style is French Baroque.  I saw this live at the Santa Fe Opera and thought it was great fun.  Since we are in France, the title character cross dresses from a male tenor to a female, instead the usual Italian arrangement at that time which involved mainly sopranos.  Maybe comedy is a theme for me.  I think perhaps operatic comedy was more significant in times gone by.  This plot is also about gods and magic beings. The title character is written for a French type of tenor called a haute-contre.  To present this opera you might need one.  He isn't falsetto.

Gioachino Antonio Rossini's Maometto Secondo (1820) in Italian. The musical style is early bel canto.  This was also seen live at the Santa Fe Opera with marvelous performances by Luca Pisaroni, Leah Crocetto and the rest of the cast.  It's a serious opera of great significance and an important political plot.  It's one of the operas composed for Isabella Colbran.  This needs to return, but to present it you might need someone who can be Isabella Colbran.

Heinrich Marschner's Der Vampyr (The Vampire) (1828) in German.  The musical style is German romantic.  I saw this live at the Komische Oper Berlin.  Is it a comedy, a tragedy, a soap opera, a horror movie?  What?  So Germans aren't as serious as we thought.  Who knew vampires were popular in the 1820s?  Our heroine is also a modern girl who dares all and triumphs in the end.  There's no cross-dressing.  There are no vocal oddities here or particularly difficult roles.  Present this in your local company.

Hector Berlioz's Benvenuto Cellini (1838) in French.  The musical style is French romantic.  This is from a DVD from Salzburg that just happened to be in the opera shop in San Francisco when I was there.  The story takes place in Rome during carnival, creating many opportunities for frivolity. The title character is an actual historical figure, an artist from Florence who wrote a famous autobiography.  His bust is on the Ponte Vecchio in Florence. The Pope is a character. Cellini gets into lots of trouble but always finds his way out.  I see no severe difficulties with presenting this opera and don't think it has to be comedy.  Of this set of operas this is the only one that appears in the Met On Demand.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's The Maid of Orleans(1881) in Russian.  The musical style is Russian post-romantic.  Perhaps the reason this opera is not popular is because it is in Russian.  The Verdi Joan of Arc is more popular, but I think this one is a better opera.  For one thing this plot is a lot less ridiculous than Verdi's.  I saw it live at the San Francisco Opera and loved it.  Joan is a mezzo.  Is that the problem?  The difficulty with presenting this opera would be finding a singer to be Joan.  Dolora Zajick might not be available.



Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Die Tote Stadt (1920) in German.   In this list I think it is the closest to standard repertoire and would be classified as post-romantic or what I have called post-Wagnerian.  I saw it live at the San Francisco Opera.  I sat next to someone at the Cosi HD who thought this was the opera she hated most.  The more repulsive parts of the story suit the world view of the early twentieth century.  Maybe you shouldn't revive this for your local company.

Gian Carlo Menotti's The Last Savage (1963) in English.  Menotti's musical style is closest to American musical, but here he approaches bel canto. Modernism makes an appearance.  I saw this live at the Santa Fe Opera.  The plot most resembles a Tarzan movie.  I don't know if you would want this without the production.  The voice parts are not unusual, but you need a baritone who can pass for Tarzan.  Try it.

Philip Glass's Orphée (1993) in French after the Cocteau film of the same name.  In fact the dialog comes from the movie.  The musical style is modified minimalism.  I saw this live at Glimmerglass where they advised that you first see the movie.  I did not.  It seems the most like a real opera of Glass's operas.  It is an angel of death plot, except the angel falls in love with a mortal and tries to cheat fate. I see no barrier to producing this opera.

Oswaldo Golijov's Ainadamar (2005) in Spanish.  The musical style is South American modernism.  I saw this live in San Francisco presented by Opera Parallèle.  It jumps the time frame a couple of times, a problem that was easily solved in this production by displaying the year in the super-titles.  It is a biography of the playwright Federico García Lorca.   The music is exciting and fun and incorporates dance genres.  You will need dancers.
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Beethoven and Mozart in Sacramento

Dmitri Sitkovetsky came to Sacramento to conduct and play solo violin for the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera.  I found this to be a particularly well constructed concert program and assigned this success to Dmitri.  Thank you for coming.

Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Suite No. 4 "Mozartiana", Op. 61 (1887)  

These movements are all based on music by Mozart. (Notes from Wikipedia)

1. Gigue. Allegro (G major) After the Little Gigue for piano, K. 574. 
2. Menuet. Moderato (D major) After the Minuet for piano, K. 355. 
3. Preghiera. Andante ma non tanto (B♭ major) After Franz Liszt's piano transcription of the Ave verum corpus, K. 618. (In 1862 Liszt wrote a piano transcription combining Gregorio Allegri's Miserere and Mozart's Ave verum corpus, published as "À la Chapelle Sixtine" (S.461). Tchaikovsky orchestrated only the part of this work that had been based on Mozart.) 
4. Thème et variations. Allegro giusto (G major) After the piano Variations on a Theme by Gluck, K. 455. (The theme was the aria "Unser dummer Pöbel meint", from Gluck's opera La Rencontre imprévue, or Les Pèlerins de la Mecque). 

I admit I'm not a huge Tchaikovsky fan.  Sitkovetsky conducted.

Wolfgang Mozart, Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major (1775)

This is a lovely violin concerto, Mozart's last, from the time when part of his income source was playing violin solos.  He was 19.  Sources point out that his violin concertos don't show off all the possibilities of the violin as Beethoven and Brahms do.  Ok.  Mozart would have played these pieces himself, while Beethoven and Brahms would have relied on professional violin soloists active at their time.  Mozart's concerto is characterized by beautiful melodies and typical Mozart style.  For me it was very beautifully played.  Sitkovetsky was conductor and soloist.  The orchestra played well without constant attention from the maestro.

Arvo Pärt, Fratres (Brothers) (1977)  

The title refers to religious brothers.  This was the first time I have heard Arvo Pärt played live on a concert.  He is a living composer from Estonia.  This piece was undoubtedly chosen because it is also a violin concerto of sorts.  It begins with a series of jarring violin arpeggios and goes on to repetitive chords and arpeggios.  You will note that this piece dates one year after Einstein on the Beach by Philip Glass.  Both Pärt and Glass are pioneers of the minimalist school.  We went to the lecture before where this was mentioned.  Sitkovetsky was the violin soloist and occasionally had opportunity to conduct.

Ludwig Beethoven Symphony No. 8 (1814)

Sitkovetsky returned to conducting for this.  This is a somewhat small symphony which could have come from an earlier period.  Again it was well played.

I enjoyed the way this concert was constructed with works from many styles which all related back to the influence of Mozart.  I especially liked hearing the Mozart concerto, a favorite.  Now that I understand that Arvo Pärt is a minimalist, I hope he will appear again for me.  Otherwise I only know about him from recordings.

Russian Festival at Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera

Last night at the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera we were treated to three major pieces from Russian repertoire conducted by Case Scaglione.

Mussorgsky – Night on Bald Mountain in the arrangement by Rimsky-Korsakov began the concert.  This is supposed to be a witches Sabbath or in short a tone poem.  The Community Center Theater has changed the concert acoustical padding at the back of the stage.  When you combine this with brasses which all point directly out at the audience, you get very loud brasses, particularly in this piece.  Otherwise it's a lot of fun.

I'm going to pause for a second to say that Berlioz traveled to Russia and gave concerts.  He may be said to be the father of the Russian school.  If you listen, you can hear how this might be true.  The orchestral flamboyance in almost all Russian repertoire is the main indication of his influence.

Tchaikovsky– Piano Concerto No. 1 with Andrew von Oeyen, piano, seen above.  He is a lovely, energetic young man with just the right enthusiasm for this piece.  The first movement is so long that the audience thought it might be the end.  The piano, orchestral balance was excellent.

Rachmaninoff – Symphonic Dances.  This is supposed to be Rachmaninoff's last composition.  I have probably never heard it before.  Dances are normally named after a dance, but here they used the usual tempo markings as names.  The first one is called "non allegro" which made me laugh.  One doesn't generally ask what something isn't.  It seemed beautiful but completely unstructured.

This is a difficult program which I found well played.  It was sold out.  The second half is next week.

Eugene Onegin from the Metropolitan Opera

The Prince and Princess Gremin

👍🏻
Conductor...............Robin Ticciati
Production..............Deborah Warner

Eugene Onegin...... Peter Mattei
Tatiana.................Anna Netrebko
Lensky..................Alexey Dolgov
Olga....................Elena Maximova
Prince Gremin......Stefan Kocán
Larina..................Elena Zaremba
Filippyevna, nanny....Larissa Diadkova
Triquet.................Tony Stevenson

Today was the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD presentation of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin starring Mattei and Netrebko.  This was the third HD presentation of this opera and the second of this production.  I had no sense that I was seeing a repeat.

This time the production seemed perfect.  The first two acts are clearly in a country villa with villagers and land owners.  Larina, Lensky, Olga, Tatiana and Onegin represent the latter.

Every role was cast to perfection.  Tony Stevenson did a star turn singing the couplets at Tatiana's birthday party.  Larissa Diadkova is very attentive as Tatiana's nanny.  Olga and her mother were wonderfully sung by the two Elenas.  Alexey Dolgov as Lensky was perfection as the too immature man who simply assumes Olga is his forever and does not know what to do when Onegin flirts with her.  We will have to read the novel if we want to know what happens to Olga.  Stefan Kocán seems a little young for Gremin but sang beautifully.

But it is the amazing acting of Anna Netrebko and Peter Mattei that brings this opera thrillingly to life.  Anna has gone deeper into the character this time with astounding results.  Peter portrays arrogance and ennui better than any of his predecessors, and then caps his performance with an intense finish.

Here he appears at a party in St. Petersburg in the third act.

It is an opera about love.  I often think that I am happier in my old age because I no longer feel inclined to fall in love.  It is far better to watch others suffer at the opera.  This performance was a level of theatrical and musical achievement that comes only rarely.  Bravi.

Renée Fleming was our hostess.  In two weeks we will see her in Der Rosenkavalier.  We hope that isn't the last time we see her.

________________________________________

Comment from Stefan Kocán on Facebook:

"Dear my facebook friends ,
I just like to say one thing about Gremin.
He is NOT old!
At the end of opera is Onegin 26, [this is in the dialog.] Tatyana let's say 20-22 (?) and Gremin is around/after 30.
Gremin in his aria only refers to an old man and to a young boy in the bloom of youth...
That means the staging of the MET didn't felt short! ...but totally in accordance with Pushkin and Tchaikovsky potrayed Gremin as an adult ( not anymore boy) man with an war experience."

Michael Fabiano at Mondavi

I went out in the pouring rain to see Michael Fabiano at Mondavi in Davis. His accompanist was Laurent Philippe.  He said they'd been working together 12 years.  We were seated at small tables on the stage.  This is an enjoyable intimate arrangement.

I have seen Michael live at the San Francisco Opera in Lucrezia Borgia, Luisa Miller, and Don Carlo.  In 2014 I predicted he would win the Richard Tucker Prize, and he did.  That was fun.  Next season in SF he will sing in Manon opposite Nadine Sierra, and at the Met next season he will simulcast in La Boheme.

I got the impression that Michael very much loves his chosen repertoire for this recital.

Four songs by Puccini (Italian)

Four songs by Duparc (French)
    Duparc is not performed nearly enough.  These were virtually theatrical performances.

An aria: "Ne pouvant reprimer les elans" from Hérodiade by Massenet. (French)

Five songs by Toscanini (Italian)
    Who knew Toscanini composed?

"Kuda, Kuda, kuda" Lensky's aria from Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky (Russian)
     This is very timely since it is currently playing at the Met.

Three songs by Barber, including "I hear an army" for a rousing finish.  (English)

He is a serious artist and does not hesitate to use his operatic voice in song repertoire when suitable.  It was very much worth the trip.  There were two encores:

Duparc's "La vie anterieure" (French)
'Lamento di Federico' from Cilea's L'arlesiana (Italian)

 

Queen of Spades

Music director: Mariss Jansons
Director: Stefan Herheim

Misha Didyk - Herman (tenor)
Alexey Markov - Count Tomsky, Plutus (baritone)
Vladimir Stoyanov - Prince Yeletsky (baritone)
Andrei Popov - Chekalinsky (tenor)
Andrii Goniukov - Surin (bass)
Mikhail Makarov - Chaplitsky (tenor)
Anatoli Sivko - Narumov (bass)
Larissa Diadkova - The Countess (mezzo)
Svetlana Aksenova - Liza (soprano)
Anna Goryachova - Polina, Daphnis (contralto)
Olga Savova - The governess (mezzo)

Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades is soon coming to an end on Opera Platform.  For me this opera is called Pique Dame, but I guess nobody else calls it that.  Because Catherine the Great, Empress of all Russia (1762-1796), makes an entrance during Act II, we can safely assume that this opera takes place during her reign.  When we played this opera, the party scene was eliminated.  At the San Francisco Opera it was always a surprise:  will Catherine appear or not?

This production from the Netherlands moves the time to 1890, the time of the opera's premier.  The entire opera takes place in a single set of the Countess's drawing room with her portrait hanging on the wall.  Most of the men, including the chorus, but not including Herman, are made up to look like Tchaikovsky himself.  One of these men is constantly on the stage, occasionally playing a piano.  Yeletsky, I think, is supposed to be Tchaikovsky.  All, including the children in Act I, wear the same outfit.  Instead of Catherine, it is Herman disguised as her who enters in Act II.  Polina is done as a trouser role.

They aren't bothering to make it look like a card game.  Instead of the ace, he draws the queen of spades and loses.  Except the cards look like pages of sheet music.  The Countess who died in Act II returns to shoot him.  Liza returns as an angel with black wings to take Hermann to where?

I love this opera due to having sung in it, but I seem to search in vain for a production that will make it make sense.  Hermann sacrifices all for his card obsession.  This seems like something that might actually happen.  But here it seems it is intended that the opera is about Tchaikovsky.  I can't make this connection.  Prince Yeletsky who is Tchaikovsky begins as Liza's fiance.  So it is a tragedy for him as well.

Misha Didyk is someone to watch out for.  His sound makes Hermann come alive.
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Iolanta in HD

CONDUCTOR:  Valery Gergiev
PRODUCTION:  Mariusz Treliński
DRAMATURG: Piotr Gruszczyński

IOLANTA: Anna Netrebko (soprano)
COUNT VAUDÉMONT, friend of the Duke:  Piotr Beczala (tenor)
DUKE ROBERT, Iolanta's Fiance: Aleksei Markov (baritone)
KING RENÉ, Iolanta's father: Ilya Bannik (bass)
IBN-HAKIA, Moorish Doctor: Elchin Azizov (baritone)

Tchaikovsky's Iolanta is based on a Danish play which is in turn based on the real life of Yolande, Duchess of Lorraine. For the simulcast from the Metropolitan Opera the story is moved in time to the twentieth century.

People around me expressed confusion about the production, but I didn't experience this.  There is a naturalistic looking set with a single room representing Iolanta's imprisonment that is turned to various positions throughout the opera, surrounded by a few trees and a stack of wood.  Between the stage and the audience is a scrim on which various things are projected, probably the source of the confusion.  The projections begin with a deer running through the woods.  It was immediately clear to me that this was to create the idea that we are in the middle of the woods, far from human civilization.  The projections changed to ominous looking branches when the desired atmosphere was dark and mysterious.  Why is this confusing?

Because the women who surround Iolanta are dressed in uniforms, we assume that she is being kept in some kind of institution.  She talks to Marta, the head nurse, and tells her she is sad.  She then asks Marta why Marta is sad, and though Marta does not tell her, Iolanta concludes that this is due to the tears flowing from her own eyes.  She tells us that eyes must be for tears.  This is the plot, you see.  She does not know what they are truly for because she is blind and has not been told.

A doctor arrives to treat her, and he insists that Iolanta must be told everything.  Father refuses.  Young men arrive with skiing equipment, one of whom is her fiance.  This is the most farfetched piece of the story.  No, not the skiing part--the fiance part.  He has never met Iolanta and talks about how much he is in love with someone else.  He rejects Iolanta without ever having seen her.  He leaves.

Piotr Beczala is left behind to meet and fall in love with Iolanta.  She can't tell the difference between the white and the red roses, giving away the fact that she is blind.  He tells her this and explains about light and seeing.  This is the most beautiful part of the opera.  Light was the first act of creation, he explains.  There is a poetical beauty that is rare in opera.

All live happily ever after.  Iolanta is cured, the fiance and father agree that Iolanta will not marry him, God is thanked, and joy abounds.  A large chorus appears and Iolanta asks what this is.  People, father explains.  Netrebko then comes backstage to tell us it's Valentine's Day, and we should go home and enjoy ourselves.  These are not appropriate Valentine's Day operas.  We knew that.

This was very beautifully done, very emotionally done, with beautiful playing from the orchestra which is exactly perfect for this music.  (You know I don't always think this.)  Gergiev knows his repertoire.  The singers were all gorgeous with wonderful solos for all 5 of the listed characters.  Anna Netrebko sings Russian music like she was born for this. For me she successfully suggested blindness.

I couldn't help thinking about Queen of Spades, an opera that is very familiar to me, and how I have never heard the perfect one.  Anna.  Please.

P.S.  The New York Times has informed me that this opera has been very popular in Russia, that to make it acceptable in the Soviet Union the libretto was altered to omit all references to the deity.  The communists praised nature and not God.  That Netrebko and others of the Russian artists insisted on singing the version they had learned, that is the religiously cleansed version.  The motivation was undoubtedly the lack of desire to learn a different Russian text.  The surtitles translated the original libretto and not the one the singers were actually singing.  Curious.

Others have pointed out that this version of Bluebeard is actually interesting.  I left early on, but perhaps I will go on Wednesday.

Always on the Lookout

I'm always on the lookout for the great performance, here of Tchaikovsky's "Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt" with the original Goethe poem.

The Christa Ludwig version has gone now, so I replaced it with this one of Schwarzkopf. Ludwig is back.

Eugene Onegin in HD

Onegin and Tatiana in the city

I have long been an admirer of Chekhov, the Russian writer of plays and short stories, so when Peter Gelb compared his new Metropolitan Opera production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin to a play by Chekhov, I was prepared to enjoy it.

Conductor:  Valery Gergiev
Production:  Deborah Warner

Tatiana: Anna Netrebko
Olga: Oksana Volkova
Madame Larina, their mother:  Elena Zaremba
Tatiana's Nurse:  Larissa Diadkova
Lenski: Piotr Beczala
Onegin: Mariusz Kwiecien
Gremin: Alexei Tanovitski

I liked enormously the sets for the house in the country.  It created an atmosphere of reality and strengthened the sense of the relationships between the characters.  There was too much contrast in the last act with the bare stage and huge columns.  There was no sense of artistic unity for the opera as a whole.

Lensky and Olga in the country

The beginning and ending had a new symmetry.  As Onegin rejects and coldly dismisses Tatiana, he looks at her face and kisses her before walking away.  Netrebko's Tatiana rises to equal Onegin's coldness and arrogance in the final act.  She tells him she loves him but will not sacrifice her life for him.  She stares him down coldly and then kisses him before she walks away in the snow.  There was a kind of perfection to this.  Perhaps Mariusz is the right singer for this conception after all.

Netrebko sang extremely well, giving the letter scene a special intensity.  Alright.  I'll say it.  She looked terrible in the girl's dress.  But the mature Tatiana's outfits made her look beautiful.  Few singing actresses could bring so much strength to a character. 

I couldn't help wondering how this would all play in the house.  Chekhov is not for the huge theater.  Could the softness of the singing be heard in the house?  Could such an intimate and interior conception be seen, heard and indeed felt in the huge expanse of the Met?  Chekhov's sense of humor seemed to be missing.

Beczala was the best Lensky ever.  My favorite was the Nurse, a wonderful actress.  The sense of it all being truly Russian was very powerful.  I would like very much to see this kind of treatment of Pique Dame which somehow just misses for me.

P.S.  Netrebko seemed to be in the mood to argue with Debbie in her interview.  I wonder what that was about?

PPS.   The plot of Onegin is from Pushkin (1799-1837). I know that. What was being discussed was the PRODUCTION which was moved to the time of Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) which it just so happens overlaps with the time of Chekhov (1860-1904). My remarks referred to the production and not to the opera.   Gelb is the one who brought up Chekhov.  I liked this and went with it.  The production comes from British theater people who are undoubtedly far more familiar with Chekhov than with either Pushkin or Tchaikovsky.

A truly Chekhovian ending would require much more ambiguity.  Instead of perfect symmetry we would need to be left wondering if perhaps they might get together on occasion, just as we are left wondering in the story "The Lady with the Little Dog."  If she is not required to sacrifice her life and her husband, would Tatiana occasionally meet with Onegin in secret?
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Piotr Beczala Sings Onegin

This is Piotr Beczala singing Lensky's aria from Eugene Onegin.

Eugene Onegin at the Wiener Staatsoper

There's going to need to be a film of this.



This clip of the final scene from Eugene Onegin from the Wiener Staatsoper is to give you something to compare with the Met.

Netrebko and Barenboim

There are things that only Anna can do. This is from the Berlin Philharmonic, and the songs are by Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky. The subtitles are in French.  I don't think I know which pieces these are.

Programme

Anna Netrebko, Soprano

Daniel Barenboim, Piano

Philharmonie, Berlin

Monday 29. March 2010

1. PART

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakow • Worüber in der Stille der Nacht op. 40 Nr. 3 | O chem v tishi nochey op. 40 Nr. 3 | What it is, in the still of night op. 40 Nr. 3

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakow • Verzeih! Erinnere dich nicht an die kummervollen Tage op. 27 Nr. 4 | Prosti! Ne pomni dney naden’ya op. 27 Nr. 4 | Forgive me! Remember not the downcast days op. 27 Nr. 4

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakow • Es ist nicht der Wind, der von der Höhe weht op. 43 Nr. 2 | Ne veter, veya s vïsotï op. 43 Nr. 2 | It was not the wind, blowing from the heights op. 43 Nr. 2

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakow • Klingender ist das Lied der Lerche op. 43 Nr. 1 | Zvonche zhavoronka pen’ye op. 43 Nr. 1 | The lark sings louder op. 43 Nr. 1

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakow • Auf Grusiniens Hügeln op. 3 Nr. 4 | Na kholmakh Gruzii op. 3 Nr. 4 | On the hills of Georgia op. 3 Nr. 4

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakow • Im Reich der Rose und des Weins op. 8 Nr. 5 | V tsarstvo rozï i vina op. 8 Nr. 5 | In the kingdom of roses and wine op. 8 Nr. 5

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakow • Suleikas Lied op. 26 Nr. 4 | Pesnya Zyuleyki op. 26 Nr. 4 | Zuleika’s song op. 26 Nr. 4

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakow • Die Nachtigall wurde Sklavin der Rose op. 2 Nr. 2 | Plenivshis’ rozoy, solovey (Vostochnïy romans) op. 2 Nr. 2 | Enslaved by the rose, the nightingale op. 2 Nr. 2

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakow • Der Wolken Luftgebirg löst sich im Winde sacht op. 42 Nr. 3 | Redeyet oblakov letuchaya gryada op. 42 Nr. 3 | The clouds begin to scatter op. 42 Nr. 3

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakow • Die Nymphe op. 56 Nr. 1 | Nimfa op. 56 Nr. 1 | The nymph op. 56 Nr. 1

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakow • Ein Sommernachtstraum op. 56 Nr. 2 | Son v letnyuyu noch’ op. 56 Nr. 2 | Summer night’s dream op. 56 Nr. 2

2. PART

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky • Sag mir, wovon im dunklen Grün op. 57 Nr. 1 | Skazhi, o chom v teni vetvey op. 57 Nr. 1 | Say, when under shady boughs op. 57 Nr. 1

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky • So schnell vergessen (1870) | Zabït tak skoro (1870) | So soon forgotten (1870)

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky • Trunkene Nächte op. 60 Nr. 6 | Nochy bezumnïye op. 60 Nr. 6 | Reckless nights op. 60 Nr. 6

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky • Warum? op. 6 Nr. 5 | Otchevo? op. 6 Nr. 5 | Why? op. 6 Nr. 5

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky • Serenade, O Kind, ich singe dir op. 63 Nr. 6 | Serenada op. 63 Nr. 6 | Serenade op. 63 Nr. 6

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky • Wiegenlied op. 16 Nr. 1 | Kolïbel’naya pesnya op. 16 Nr. 1 | Lullaby op. 16 Nr. 1

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky • War ich nicht ein Gräslein im Felde op. 47 Nr. 7 | Ya li v pole da ne travushka bïla op. 47 Nr. 7 | Was I not a little blade of grass? op. 47 Nr. 7

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky • In trüben Tagen op. 73 Nr. 5 | Sred mrachnïkh dnei op. 73 Nr. 5 | Mid sombre days op. 73 Nr. 5

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky • Herrschet der Tag op. 47 Nr. 6 | Den li tsarit? op. 47 Nr. 6 | Does the day reign op. 47 Nr. 6

ENCORES

Antonín Dvořák • Zigeunermelodien op. 55 Nr. 4 (Als die alte Mutter mich noch lehrte singen) | Ciganske melodie op. 55 Nr. 4 (Kdyz mne stará matka zpívat, zpívat ucívala) | Gypsy Songs op. 55 Nr. 4 (When my old mother taught me to sing)

Richard Strauss • Cäcilie op. 27 Nr. 2

Pique

I am finally getting around to watching the DVD of Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades with Valery Gergiev conducting, or as it is appropriately called on the cover: Pique Dame. I say appropriate because you can hear them saying it in Russian.

I always have something irrelevant to say. The third scene is a ball. We cut it entirely in Ulm, but must surely have moved the wonderful aria by the Prince. We can't surely have cut that. Never mind. In San Francisco there was always a surprise at the end of this scene. The chorus makes an elaborate announcement that Catherine the Great is coming. Her retinue makes its appearance. So does she enter or not? That is the surprise. Perhaps they could not afford the outfit or could find no one to wear it because sometimes they would announce and announce and the curtain would go down with no Catherine. I am excited watching this scene: will she enter or not? She does. She looks like a super and not like the Empress of Russia.

Maria Guleghina is a well sung Lisa, but she frowns all the way through. It would be difficult to imagine a better sung Lisa. Olga Borodina as Pauline is still thin in this.

Pique Dame for my taste contains some of Tchaikovsky's most beautiful music. The best scene musically and dramatically is the scene of the old Countess's death. Some wonderful actresses have performed this scene, and it was sad in Sacramento that they omitted it. It would have required a lot of added rehearsal, but they should have attempted it.

Herman is an asshole. For me he is the reason the opera ultimately fails and people prefer Onegin. The Met player has a version with Placido Domingo which I should try to see. Herman is on the stage almost constantly, and I'm not really sure we can bear an opera where the villain is also the hero. We prefer Onegin because he does not take her down with him. Gegam Grigorian is acceptable, plays the part with a lot of intensity, but does not redeem Herman. Perhaps no one can.

Gergiev makes the music sing.

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A Russian Affair

The Sacramento Opera has fallen on hard times and has taken to inventing programs of a fanciful sort. The evening titled A Russian Affair consisted of first a one hour shortened version of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, followed by intermission, followed by a one hour shortened version of Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades. Does this sound at all plausible?

Mayor Kevin Johnson showed up to make things appear more serious and expressed his appreciation for the arts.

So did the idea work? The orchestra and conductor appeared at the back of the stage with TV monitors facing the singers to keep them coordinated with conductor Timm Rolek. Bits of set, like doors, tables, chairs and a long sofa, littered the stage.

There was a narrator, identified as Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin and played by Andrei Codrescu, who filled in the gaps in the story. He filled them in a bit differently from how I remember them, but never mind.

• There was a soprano, Emily Pulley, who sang Tatyana and Liza.
• There was a mezzo, Dana Beth Miller, who sang Tatyana's sister Olga and played the Countess.
• There was a tenor, Richard Crawley, who sang Lensky and Herman.
• There was a baritone, Malcolm MacKenzie, who sang Onegin and Tomsky.
• All the other parts were cut.

This saves the expense of sets, chorus and minor players while giving you the one CD highlights version of things.

Emily Pulley is a talented singing actress who was seen here two years ago in The Turn of the Screw. She carried the piece theatrically. Malcolm MacKenzie has a wonderful voice but is quite wooden as an actor.

Do I want to go into detail about each one of them? A highlights version actually ended up making more sense. Onegin is a jerk and as a grown-up married woman Tatyana sees that. Herman is not just a jerk but a lunatic as well, who ends up killing everyone including himself. I missed the Countess's wonderful scene which was inadequately substituted with narration.

I would like to hear more of Dana Beth Miller.

[See Kinderkuchen History 1870-90]

In the Still of Night

In the Still of Night, in case you have been on the moon, is an album of Russian songs by Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky with Anna Netrebko and Daniel Barenboim. It is from a live performance at last year's Salzburg Festival.

Anna's Russian work cannot be excelled. It is a voice from heaven. If you listen carefully you can hear Pushkin and Dostoevsky whispering in your ear. Perhaps you will long to read The Brothers Karamazov.
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