Verbier

I just caught on medici.tv Joyce DiDonato with Esa-Pekka Salonen at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland.  They performed the Berlioz Les Nuit d'ete.   There was a sense of personal originality in Joyce's interpretation that I liked very much.  Vous le vous allez au pay des amours?

Bluebeard's Castle in HD

Nadja Michael and Mikhail Petrenko

I have finally seen the Bartok Bluebeard's Castle that was paired with Iolanta simulcast from the Metropolitan Opera on Valentine's Day.  I didn't feel they made a good pairing and felt I might enjoy Bluebeard by itself.  This seems to have been wise.  This is my fourth time with this opera since I started blogging (see here, here and here).

Opera Overload

Help.  I just can't do it all. Things that went on this weekend:

1. Carmen streamed from Orange with Jonas Kaufmann.  I might still be able to watch this in delay on medici.tv.


2. Arabella with Anja Harteros streamed from Munich.  The streams from Munich are a one time shot, so I watched it.  It was the best choice in my opinion.  Harteros brought her fully into modern life IMHO.


3. Alcina with Philippe Jaroussky was supposed to stream on the Opera Platform but came up :(.  They apologized but is that enough?  I might be able to find an alternate source for this.


4. PBS ran the Iolanta/Bluebeard in the middle of the night.  I DVRd it and watched Iolanta again.  I need to see Bluebeard's Castle for the first time and must set aside a time for it.

Occasionally I should get up and go outside.

Jon Vickers (October 29, 1926 – July 10, 2015)

In 2006 I wrote this about Jon Vickers:

"One is supposed to adore Nilsson, the incomparable Wagnerian soprano, the incomparable Isolde, and she is all that, but it is Jan Vickers that most impresses here. This is a Tristan to die for. He has the knife edge of the Heldentenor to its Nth degree, but he also has soul, a tragic beauty of phrasing that is simply not to be missed."

Here are the best bits:

Arabella

👍🏻
Conductor:  Philippe Jordan
Production:  Andreas Dresen

Graf Waldner:  Kurt Rydl
Adelaide:  Doris Soffel
Arabella:  Anja Harteros
Zdenka:  Hanna-Elisabeth Müller
Mandryka:  Thomas J. Mayer
Matteo:  Joseph Kaiser

I'm not sure Strauss' Arabella, streamed live today from the Bayerische Staatsoper, is a great opera.  I'm not sure it matters.  The plot is a bit dicey.  Broke family has two daughters.  To prevent the expense of marrying two daughters, the younger daughter pretends to be a boy.  Complications ensue.

I am truly astounded by the contrast between the Arabella of Renée Fleming, reviewed here, and the Arabella of Anja Harteros.  With Renée it's all in the details, and it can be awkward when the other singers don't follow her lead.

With Harteros it's all in the big picture.  She is in the midst of her colleagues and is always stylistically with them.  It is the sheer scope of her musical vision that separates her from the crowd.  The emotions are large, extending out into the universe.  In general this was Strauss as Wagner.  Big tone.  Excessively big in my opinion.  They brag about how many microphones they have, so balance the orchestra a bit smaller, please.

Thomas J. Mayer was pleasingly rough without becoming violent.  His voice is showing some wear.  The one I would worry about is Zdenka.  Matteo could go postal.

Europeans are accustomed to architectural stage settings by now.  Giant staircases are a common theme.  For me the ending with the giant staircase completely worked.  Arabella and Mandryka in this vision are a bomb waiting to explode.  I'm not sure Mandryka deserves her, but she will bring him an exciting life.  She walks slowly down the long staircase holding her drink and then throws it in his face.  I enjoy Harteros for the power of her phrasing and the power of her acting.

The best opera makes you care about the characters.  Their lives become your life.  There are many paths leading to this conclusion.  For me this was one.

Sempre Libera

No offense, Natalie.  Viva Lisette.

La Traviata HD Rerun

Conductor....................Fabio Luisi
Production...................Willy Decker
 
Violetta.....................Natalie Dessay (soprano)
Alfredo......................Matthew Polenzani
Germont....................Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Flora........................Patricia Risley

Parts (or all) of this HD film of Verdi's La Traviata from the Metropolitan Opera are different from the live broadcast in 2012 where Natalie cracked one of her notes.   This version contained no disasters, but did show a certain amount of fatigue in her voice.  It is possible that Violetta is too heavy for Natalie.  It is also possible that she is simply showing the effects of aging.  (I read in the earlier post that Natalie had a cold during the run.)  Natalie is an extraordinary operatic performer who brings considerable acting talents to this role.  It was a pleasure.  I was glad I came back.  For the best Dessay see next weeks Daughter of the Regiment.

I learned from on line comments that I was correct in thinking that there was more music in Act II than I was used to hearing.  The role of Germont was filled out with pieces that are usually cut, no doubt to give us more of Dmitri Hvorostovsky who is wonderful here.  His Germont is a bit of a bully.

I'm not sure why, but I love this production.  The focus is on the inner life of Violetta and not the outer life of the characters.  I am attracted to its simplicity.

Cecilia's Baby Pictures

I'll bet you haven't seen this one.

News

Last night over 30,000 people went to the ballpark to see the simulcast of Le Nozze di Figaro from the San Francisco Opera.  You can see all the comments with #FigaroSF.

Why Do We Go to the Opera?

👍🏻
Conductor: Donald Runnicles
Production: David McVicar

Troy:
Cassandra: Anna Caterina Antonacci
Aeneas: Bryan Hymel *
Coroebus: Brian Mulligan

Carthage:
Dido: Susan Graham
Aeneas: Bryan Hymel
Anna: Sasha Cooke
Narbal: Christian Van Horn

For this, oh yes, for this.

Hector Berlioz' Les Troyens was a work of love.  Virgil's Aenead was one of his favorite things from childhood.  You can tell this because he composes everything.  He can't bear to leave anything out.  He didn't seem to care how hard it was to get such a long opera produced.