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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Music on Air France

Ravel Le tombeau de Couperin
Dutilleux L'arbre des songes *
Delage Four Hindu Poems
Dutilleux Métaboles
Ravel Daphnis and Chloe – Suite No 2

Sir Simon Rattle conductor
Leonidas Kavakos violin *
Julia Bullock soprano
London Symphony Orchestra

While browsing through the airplane entertainment, I found this wonderful concert from last January with exciting music of a certain period.  Every piece displayed colorful orchestration. 

I also found a film of Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov from their Asian tour last March.  They performed first Verdi, from Trovatore, and verismo, ending the official concert with "Vicino a te" from Andrea Chenier.  This last was quite thrilling and suggested that they might try this opera together.  I may change my choice to this one.

Anna's move towards late romantic repertoire makes possible this pairing with her husband.  This concert makes a good case for his place beside her.  He tears up a bit here at the end of  "Vicino a te".

Item: Placido Domingo

While discussing Nabucco, Placido Domingo was asked how many roles, including conductor, he had appeared in at the Met. Looking through the archives, I count 62.  Notice 7 debuts in 1971.  He finished his long illustrious career at the Met on April 13, 2019, with Germont in La Traviata.

year	opera	role
9-Aug-66	I Pagliacci	Canio
9-Aug-66	Cavalleria Rusticana	Turiddu
28-Sep-68	Adriana Lecouvreur	Maurizio
20-Nov-68	Tosca	Cavaradossi
6-Mar-69	Il Trovatore	Manrico
13-Feb-70	Turandot	Calàf
27-May-70	Lucia di Lammermoor	Edgardo
3-Oct-70	Un Ballo in Maschera	Riccardo
29-Oct-70	Andrea Chénier	Andrea Chénier
5-Dec-70	La Traviata	Alfredo
13-Jan-71	Aida	Radamès
19-Jan-71	Ernani	Ernani
6-Feb-71	Carmen	Don José
20-Sep-71	Don Carlo	Don Carlo
4-Oct-71	Faust	Faust
4-Nov-71	Luisa Miller	Rodolfo
24-Nov-71	La Forza del Destino	Don Alvaro
16-May-72	La Bohème	Rodolfo
29-Nov-73	Les Contes d'Hoffmann	Hoffmann
23-Sep-74	I Vespri Siciliani	Arrigo
28-Sep-74	Roméo et Juliette	Roméo
31-Oct-77	Rigoletto	Duke of Mantua
7-Oct-78	Werther	Werther
24-Sep-79	Otello	Otello
17-Mar-80	Manon Lescaut	Des Grieux
21-Sep-81	Norma	Pollione
25-Sep-82	La Gioconda	Enzo
26-Sep-83	Les Troyens	Aeneas
9-Mar-84	Francesca da Rimini	Paolo
24-Sep-84	Lohengrin	Lohengrin
10-Oct-89	Il Tabarro	Luigi
14-Feb-90	Samson et Dalila	Samson
14-Mar-91	Parsifal	Parsifal
10-Oct-91	La Fanciulla del West	Dick Johnson
21-Oct-93	Stiffelio	Stiffelio
1-Oct-94	Idomeneo	Idomeneo
19-Jan-95	Simon Boccanegra	Gabriele Adorno
28-Mar-95	Madama Butterfly	Conductor
15-Apr-96	Die Walküre	Siegmund
23-Oct-96	La Traviata	Conductor
26-Apr-97	Fedora	Count Loris Ipanov
13-Jan-01	The Merry Widow	Count Danilovitch
11-Apr-01	Un Ballo in Maschera	Conductor
30-Apr-02	Sly	Christopher Sly.
3-Mar-04	The Queen of Spades	Gherman
19-Oct-04	Carmen	Conductor
11-Feb-06	Rigoletto	Conductor
11-Mar-06	Cyrano de Bergerac	Cyrano de Bergerac
25-Nov-06	La Bohème	Conductor
17-May-08	The First Emperor	Emperor Qin
30-Jan-10	Stiffelio	Conductor
2-Mar-11	Iphigénie en Tauride	Oreste
7-Mar-11	Roméo et Juliette	Conductor
6-Apr-13	La Traviata	Germont
20-Mar-14	The Enchanted Island	Neptune
8-Apr-15	Ernani	Don Carlo
20-Apr-15	Aida	Conductor
21-Nov-15	Tosca	Conductor
9-Apr-16	Simon Boccanegra	Simon Boccanegra
12-Dec-16	Nabucco	Nabucco
26-Apr-17	Don Giovanni	Conductor
29-Mar-18	Luisa Miller	Miller
23-Nov-18	Gianni Schicchi	Gianni

Camerata Capistrano

Camerata Capistrano, led by Dr. Lorna Peters, is a Baroque ensemble from California State University Sacramento.  They were joined in this concert by the Davis Senior High School Baroque Orchestra led by Angelo Moreno.  A Baroque orchestra in a high school is a surprise.

The violins, violas and high winds performed standing.  Dr. Peters seemed unclear that the purpose of this fad was to offer the players the opportunity to sway around while playing.  In Apollo's Fire the conductor also stands at the harpsichord and sways around.  Angelo Moreno, who performed with his ensemble rather than standing in front of it, seemed clearer on the idea.  His group swayed quite a lot.

Trouser Roles Ranked

Laura ‏@petrarchian
@JoyceDiDonato Trouser roles ranked by aptitude in bed.


Reply to @petrarchian @JoyceDiDonato 


1. 
   
   Joyce DiDonato ‏@JoyceDiDonato 44m44 minutes ago
   .@petrarchian Octavian, clearly ... Romeo ... and Cherubino, he just doesn't know it, yet.
   3 replies 1 retweet 15 likes
    


Laura ‏@petrarchian 41m41 minutes ago
@JoyceDiDonato Very good answer, would be curious about Komponist, though.
1 reply 0 retweets 4 likes
 




Joyce DiDonato ‏@JoyceDiDonato 37m37 minutes ago
.@petrarchian Too into his music ... but MAYBE after that encounter with Zerbinetta ...
0 replies 0 retweets 3 likes
 
1. 
   
   2. 
      
      @JoyceDiDonato @petrarchian Not to mention Isolier ;-)
      • Likes 2
      • 
       Shiven Limbachia ‏@ShivenLimbachia 44m44 minutes ago
   Joyce DiDonato ‏@JoyceDiDonato 40m40 minutes ago
   .@ShivenLimbachia @petrarchian Oh - no question.
   0 replies 0 retweets 4 likes
   4. Brenna ‏@bee_yes 44m44 minutes ago
      @JoyceDiDonato @petrarchian With Siebel at the v bottom of the list
      1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
   Joyce DiDonato ‏@JoyceDiDonato 40m40 minutes ago
   @bee_yes @petrarchian Poor Siebel ....
    

L'Amour de Loin

Tamara Mumford, Eric Owens

👍🏻
Conductor:  Susanna Mälkki [Debut]
Production:  Robert Lepage

Jaufré Rudel:  Eric Owens
Clémence:  Susanna Phillips
Pilgrim:  Tamara Mumford

Eric Owens declared L'Amour de Loin by Kaija Saariaho to be a masterpiece.  I concur.

Eric Owens, Susanna Phillips

I enjoyed all the interviews but it was especially interesting to hear from Susanna Phillips that she was present at the premiere in Salzburg in 2000.

I love this opera.  It is the performance from this season that I have most looked forward to, and I was not disappointed.  Bravi tutti.  The chorus sat in rows under the led lights, standing to become visible to the audience. 

Kaija Saariaho

I found the production completely charming.  Susannah Phillips said that the sea of ever-changing lights was invisible to the performers, and they were all anxious to see the film.  Their show repeats on Wednesday, so perhaps a special showing?  There were birds flying that looked more like doves than gulls.  When Rudel is crossing, he dreams of Clémence leaping out of the sea and diving, rather like a dolphin.  This was the most curious part of the production.  It was all like a dream.  A dream of love.

This isn't my first time with this opera.  To read my first thoughts see here.

Hvorostovsky withdraws from Opera

From Dmitri:

To all my friends, fans and colleagues:
It is with great sadness that I must withdraw from opera performances for the foreseeable future.
I have been experiencing balance issues associated with my illness, making it extremely difficult for me to perform in staged productions.

I will continue to give concerts and recitals as well as make recordings. Singing is my life, and I want to continue bringing joy to people worldwide. With this pause in my operatic career and more rest in between each engagement, I hope to have more time to focus on my health and treatment. Thank you for all your love, messages and well wishes. Your support is felt and means the world to me.

With love,
DMITRI HVOROSTOVSKY

Another Elektra with Janis Martin

ELEKTRA
Oper Köln 24-November-1985
Conductor - Gerd Albrecht

Janis Martin
Kathryn Montgomery-Meissner
Helga Dernesch
Hermann Winkler
Harald Stamm

Janis is convincingly a soprano here--perhaps the first time I have thought so.  

Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk

Conductor: Kirill Petrenko
Production: Harry Kupfer

Boris Timofeyevich Izmailov, a Merchant: Anatoli Kotscherga
Zinoviy Borisovich Izmailov, his son: Sergey Skorokhodov
Katerina Lvovna Izmailova, wife of Zinoviy Borisovich: Anja Kampe 
Sergei, a workman employed at the Izmailovs: Misha Didyk
Aksinya, a workwoman employed at the Izmailovs: Heike Grötzinger
Sonyetka, a convict: Anna Lapkovskaja

Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by Dmitri Shostakovich streamed today from the Bayerische Staatsoper.  I have seen this opera twice before, both times at the San Francisco Opera.  This is different somehow.  Kampe is marvelous, but the most applause goes to Petrenko.

Cavalleria Rusticana in Paris

👍🏻

Cavalleria Rusticana 

Conductor for both: Carlo Rizzi
Director for both: Mario Martone

Santuzza: Elīna Garanča
Turiddu: Yonghoon Lee
Lucia: Elena Zaremba
Alfio: Vitaliy Bilyy
Lola: Antoinette Dennefeld

Sancta Susanna 

Susanna: Anna Caterina Antonacci
Klementia: Renée Morloc
Alte Nonne: Sylvie Brunet-Grupposo

On November 28 we attended Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana paired with Sancta Susanna by Paul Hindemith at the Paris Opera.  This double bill was performed without intermission.  Curious, we said to ourselves.  Why would they do that?  And who ever heard of Sancta Susanna?  Well, it turns out that this opera premiered in 1922 in Frankfurt and was a terrific scandal.  I think the modern day European is much harder to scandalize.

The production for Cavalleria Rusticana reminded me of the Cavalleria Rusticana production at the Met. Just furniture and no set.  Normally the Easter mass is celebrated inside a church which appears in the set and Santuzza stands outside.  Here there is no set, so the mass is celebrated on the stage in our view.  My experience of the mass shows the crowd much more active than here.  People stand and sit, occasionally speak, and move to the front to receive the wafer, but here they only mime, of course.  The characters are in front.  I think it was staged this way to emphasize the importance of religious imagery in the story.  The large crucifix becomes a character.

Though I have written extensively about Elīna Garanča, this is my first live experience of her.  In this house her voice was large, full and very suitable for a wonderful Santuzza.  I withdraw all previous reservations about her transition to spinto mezzo.  The singing was spectacular, but the production very much muted the physical parts of her characterization.  Yonghoon Lee is improving.  He looks good and sounds dramatic.

After a brief pause, the curtain rose on the physical parts of the set.  Sancta Susanna was presented as a small chamber surrounded by a giant blank wall.  We had visited the death chamber of Vincent van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise the day before and thought Susanna's chamber very much resembled it.  Susanna is a nun dressed in white.  Other nuns appear dressed in black and white.

I was explaining to my son that this is expressionism, an art style that consists of realistic details without context.  Then I thought, "oh."  Thus the giant blank wall.  

We are told that Susanna is dying.  The window in her chamber is open, and she intensely enjoys the scents.  Sister Klementia begins a cautionary tale about a woman seen naked in the woods some 30 or 40 years ago.  A space below the chamber opens up, and we see a nude woman and a crucifix much like the one in the previous opera.  Susanna suddenly rips off her habit, revealing her I must say rather gorgeous breasts and declares herself to still be beautiful.  She runs out and throws herself onto the reclining crucifix.  There is much lamenting and confusion.  This is sort of a wtf opera.

Clearly only the beautiful Anna Caterina Antonacci could be expected to pull this off.  Her acting is superb here but the role is a bit contralto for her voice.  As you know, I do not read explanations of what this is supposed to mean before going, but it does seem to me the pairing of these two operas is intended as a religious commentary.  Santuzza tells us that she has been excommunicated but without explanation.

Symbols can be more powerful than reality, and clearly that is the intention here.  It was only partially successful.  It was oddly pleasing to hear Hindemith who is of course nothing like Mascagni but not in any way shocking to modern ears.