End of the calendar.

Hilary Summers, the type of voice which moves me deeply, and in this song particularly.
'If' all that is sung and said could become true one day...

Rituals and season's greetings.

Provence and its 'crèches': a kind of institution, whether you are a believer or not.
A famous open air one in the rocks of 'Les taillades' not far from here.
The very decorative 'Carbonel' creeb in Marseilles.
The Paris creeb in Notre-dame: The symbolic of the palm,peace , for me.
Before taking the santons out of their box I need to gather the plants to built the natural setting, thyme, rosemary and laurel branches will be around it, and I hope to find nice green moss to settle all the small clay figurines.That needs a stroll through the nearest hill, may be I will find also some little branches of 'fragon' with red berries? It is becoming rarer, perhaps because of the longest periods of
drought each summer.


Season's greetings, the most important really for all of us!
All we need is Love! The Beatles of course!

song for a dream and a laugh!

EDITA FOR EVER!

(Many thanks to my dear friend Arnold for the photos from the memorable Dec the 17th Edita Gruberova's concert at the TCE in Paris).
That is also the end of my road.
Perhaps spring will bring new energies.
Who knows?
Special thanks to my three faithful readers, who always signed their comments.
Special thanks to all the singers and musicians who gave me so much happiness whenever I managed to go and see them in operahouses.
Happy new peaceful year for all of us.
So long!

At first light. George Benjamin

Because light is getting dimmer and dimmer, came to my mind memories of a hot long summer day where I sat in a field at the foot of the Sainte Victoire waiting for the sunrays to die and the concert to begin.
While waiting for the philarmonikers to arrive with their brilliant ever young looking conductor Simon Rattle.There were projections concerning the diverse activities of this famous orchestra. They had a guest composer that year 2006, George Benjamin, who experimented his music in a German prison and in an infant school. That is how I was introduced to his music and I became fascinated by his themes.
Today,which is getting nearer to the twilight of a day, I need to feel the warmth I felt that day I sat five hours in this field in that prestigious landscape, listening in the night to Mahler the 5th.
Then, back home I went into G.Benjamin's world, and rediscovered 'At first light', based on an impression of sunshine from Turner's painting I had seen at the Tate,an atmosphere of hazy yellow light glowing inside.

re-scheduled!

That is grand!
The Handel recital is back in Paris!

Wiki spotlights on ombra mai fu, with Caruso's rendition.
Whether Rolando is in style or not this is great newss!
Pleyel May the 6th! A date to remember!

Song for waiting.

Cielo e Mar
Ponchielli
La gioconda
Rolando Villazon

Die Leiden des jungen Werthers.

NICE JAN.19th2006

BASTILLE MARCH 3rd2009

"The sorrows of young Werther "when published in 1787 (written by Goethe in 1784) had a devastating effect on the readers . These letters written by this young poet to his friend Whilhem composed the first romantic novel.
I had the feeling that this 'mal de vivre' could be outdated, when I set off to Nice opera house on that 19th of Jan 2006.
Massenet 's Werther was a success in 1894 and still is, with a fair display of fine arias for tenor and mezzo which is a nice choice. Charlotte has musical jewels to sing and some duets with Werther are heartbreaking provided you believe Werther can be dying while singing for nearly the length of an act.
I had never seen Rolando Villazon , except for a few glances on television, but had listened to his French arias album which I loved straight away. The juvenile tops glowing with sunshine , the extraordinary breath , the passion, the musicality of it all had conquered me definitely!
I have been familiar with Massenet's Werther since childhood. (with the music and arias if not with the meaning of them by obligation!)
In my students'days I chose my Charlotte (I already had a crush on mezzo) and that was Rita Gorr I saw perform in my teens. The tenor did not interest me much ! I found Albert Lance suitable for the role and listened to my record while working.
So I rediscovered the whole thing that night in Nice, three years ago.
Rolando's voice matched Marie -Ange Todorovich beautiful strong velvety one. They both had an aura through music and elegant attitudes. The setting was also in harmony with the plot, soft shades of lights and colours with bluish and greyish depressing tones. As for the acting,the stage being rather small, it was easy to establish eye-contact and follow all the moods and passions of the characters through their singing, and when I think of it I have the illusion he was just singing for me!
He was so convincing !
I still think it was an amazing night at the opera and certainly my best Werther.
Three years later why did I want to see Rolando in the same role?
To have the magic back?
I should have known it was not possible.
Last night I tried watching the opera on television and I had a strange feeling of
tension which I felt at Bastille that night because Rolando was overacting to compensate his voice problem (Which could be heard ) and also because Bastille is such a huge stage, a 'killer' for operas like Werther (Garnier seems more suitable).
Charlotte had nothing elegant in her, costumes were ridiculous, the setting pretentious and adding no meaning to the story.
At the ouverture the close-ups on the pitt and the musicians were fine .
After all Kent Nagano and the orchestra did a good job that night in March 09.
I stopped watching when Rolando banged at his image in the mirror, very distressing and neurotic to me, not what I really want to see according to the music I love.
Massenet's music has a real seduction. But when acting and singing go off the track it is painful.
That was what I felt, pain, extreme pain, and it is what goes with sorrows and suicide after all.
After the show that night Rolando welcomed us , the first Villazonista party and it was possible to feel how exhausted he was, having given much too much. I would have liked to have the courage to tell him he should try not to get involved so much as his voice was suffering the tension. In fact he was trully suffering .
Perhaps that is another reason why I had to stop watching.
Here he is, worn out, I noticed his palms were still red with 'blood'. Just a poor photo as I have the knack to take, I am short-sighted and that does not bother me.That is how I saw him, between people, always caring and listening. An amazing person really.

Santa Lucia's eye.

I keep to traditions and rituals, as I seriously lack religious belief.
Rituals and traditions are strong on the sea-front where I grew up.
I came aware of the saint day by reading my favourite blogs, first Willym then Teresa.
They both mentionned Santa Lucia today.
For Marseilles folks it is a small shell that is lucky to have in the purse, or a bag,
because simply it keeps light for us. The symbolic aspect is marvellous . I took that photo one day because this stool might disappear,and I often give this shell as a small token of frienship , so it means something to me.
Having met Mrs Villazon twice and having seen her lately in Marseilles, I deeply wish her a happy Santa -Lucia day and send her the story of this tiny shell which keeps lux for us !
Not without this song and Luciano!

song for a dream.

Somehow it is reassuring to listen to Martha and Gidon play together. A mature couple for a change.
I was watching them on ZDF earlier today and felt deeply moved. They ended the recital with this famous Fritz Kreisler's piece. It is a real conversation through their instruments. So sweet and touching.
Nice to be able to listen to them whenever I feel like it. Amazing youtube where people share their favourite tunes!
The news today is another British musical classification on the Times, it seems such a habit in Britain to classify and label, now it is the best classical musical events of the decade. I quite agree with the choice of Lorraine Hunt's Dido. I loved her voice so much. Rolando's Hoffmann 2002 is an important discovery for operafans in Britain and this is no surprise. The fans would like a dvd, is it the real proof of his gifts as a beginner or the radio broadcast would be better as a musical witness?
What is the meaning of such a game, as it is not every music lover's choice and could be different in another part of the world?
My choice tonight refers to what I want to think about, Krisler's Liebeslied so intimate and passionate, a breath of youth! That is why I found Martha and Gidon super nice together!
There will be Werther from Bastille on TV2 tomorrow night .(Villazon, Graham, Tézier) I attended one performance and was not so pleased with some of Rolando's singing, so tense and imprecise partly because his voice was suffering, we know why now. So I am already reluctant to watch it, I suffered with him so much! He was also a very neurotic Werther. It would have been better to broadcast the 2006 Nice Werther where Rolando's singing was so good, and Charlotte was also much better as a character and voice (Marie-Ange Todorovich). He was much more like the romantic hero,the setting was also more artistic in a way, with no extravaganza !
I liked it better than the Bastille one. So for me it can be counted as my best classical event of the decade!
Back to my favourite tune of tonight and I will try to forget Werther and his tormented soul, and the Bastille one, not perfect... perfection?
Can a performance be perfect?
This Liebeslied sounds perfect to me tonight...

just a thought.

I am back from a kind of nightmarish expedition, with wonderful intervals and very ugly depressing ones.
And soon it will be Christmas with more and more tramps in the streets, nights and days.
My favourite art spot was closed.
I could not find the feeling of rejoicing in Paris air.
Even when it is closed and deserted by artlovers there is always a street musician, here she was getting the sounds which calm anguish and anxiety.


Platée at Opera Garnier was a sunny interval, a very enjoyable one, but nothing more than a good old joke with witty dancers...and singers!

Vibrations and interiority of the music.

Tues Nov 11th Manon Lescaut Dress rehearsal.`
Intermezzo. Puccini. Cond. L. Accocella.
Marseilles Opera House.

That tuesday afternoon when the ("click") cello started its long modulation which inevitably makes my shoulders shake and even if the neighbours were heavily coughing (which I know now because of my poor recording, at 1.18), all I keep in mind is the vibration of the entire packed house on the verge of tears, because every one knows what is emplied in this intermezzo, the fate of Manon and the sufferings of Lescaut who will never be loved by this futile woman. So what comes from the pitt at that precise moment is unique. What I get from the music before the singing starts is physical pain, because the vibrations of the cords melt in the general emotional upheaval of the audience.
I can see the three horn players and the cellist, I know where they sit and what they look like but now it is the curves and vibrations of their sounds which feel the air I can breathe and this is interacting with what I think of the story and what I have also in mind. Deeply inside we all interiorate this musical language and get ready for the voices. Five minutes of deep emotions which last long in mind after the performance.
Then the clapping to release the tensions the entire house went through.
The power of live music within a drama, live music and your active part in it at the opera .
Not when you are confronted to pictures and synthetic music. This power has gone for ever because you are lost in the materiality of images.
Although opera stars have taken part in film operas for quite a while now, there is now an acceleration of this fashion with less and less performances in ordinary opera houses in Europe , 'crisis' being the scapegoat of all kind of shortages in cultutal fields. I really feel privileged to have been able to go to the opera early in my life, just because my parents happened to be singers and tried to make a living out of it. They never became famous. But they gave me a real love for music and singers, and the singing voice, in the opera house, nowhere else!

Nearly a year ago...

Thank you Annenert for sharing this 'curtain call' with the community of opera lovers.
Another nice picture of precious singers and musicians at Santa cecilia's after a stunning performance of Verdi's Requiem.
Luckily there is the cd and this is great!

song for a dream.

Verlaine: The words...

Marie-nicole Lemieux Contralto: The voice...

Renaldo Hahn: the music...

Major thought .

Be aware.
France:

1er décembre 2009:
journée mondiale de lutte contre le sida
consacrée au thème "Accès universel et droits de la personne"


http://www.lecrips.net/journee-mondiale-sida/