Just a thought!

Some free glimpses on Art and art, while strolling along on Friday afternoon before going to salle Garnier:
The Virgin Mother (Damien Hirst) was being settled ,facing the sea, extraordinary statue, quite frightening really, with dead and alive aspects, and this baby being half seen as well.
Then the' Musicians' on a wall facing a lift ( Fernand Leger 1944).

And all the animals, vegetal or mineral or real...



Then a mean remark about life in Monaco:
Continental breakfast at a 'modest' hotel in Monaco on sat.March 27th: 12€, full breakfast:25€. Conclusion: We walked to a small café on the port and had coffee and croissant for 3€ 60 and a nice view of Monaco rock which was free.
Saturday in Nice was quite a relief.

Amazing Bryn! Salle Garnier March 26 2010. Monte Carlo.

Falstaff was rather unknown to me under its opera appearance. I am more familiar with the Shakespearian character, and I did not even take time to listen to a record of Verdi's Falstaff because I had more serious things to think about before setting off to Monaco. I got hold of a rather cheap ticket and was thrilled at the prospect of actually managing to see and hear Bryn Terfel.

All I can say is that the whole performance was fun and utterly moving! Laughter and tears! Which is what both poet and musician aimed at.
Verdi's last opera does sound different, with more trumpets than ever, and true arias where Sir John unveils his soul, being immensely witty and sad.
I have to say that Bryn is colossal in this role, partly because of his generous physical size and mainly because of his huge dark voice, which can be so clear and light at times.

I could see his face and rolling eyes, and did not waste one second of the show, being very near the stage. Salle Garnier in Monte carlo is a pocket jewel sort of house, and all voices sounded beautifully, the orchestra was sometimes so hilarious, echoing the huge laughs of Sir John. The cast is seen through a poultry yard and this is fun. Sir John is the old rooster, the girls, the hens and so on ! The animal-like transposition of the characters of the play gave more fun to the cast with funny gestures with tails and feathers, making us giggle, always stopping on the verge of vulgarity. Of course Bryn was the center of this setting, and made a terrific show when Alice and Mrs Quickly buried him in a huge linen basket. He was moving to tears at the end, when standing at the foreground to deliver his sour conclusion on his life of action and seduction.
A sad outlook on getting old, which can be shared by all, even not being a Falstaff type! Verdi's music is here very sad indeed when it is meant to be funny. The costumes were terrific and magic, above all the last scene with the young dancers in black and white phosphorescent costumes holding halloween pumpkins, and Falstaff with his reindeer horns was pitiful and really hilarious. The vocal and musical aspects of the play were tremendous, all the singers were really involved in this very powerful musical riddle under maestro Ganluigi Gelmetti. Both baritones, Bryn Terfel in the old cock being fooled by Alice Ford and the young arrogant cock, Ford-Fabio Capitunacci were excellent in their parts. J.L Grinda added to the setting another clever hint to literature and the mythical side of the central character Falstaff, with the huge books being the sides or central background to the stage: I enjoyed the one with the enumeration of all types of English names for beer, when Falstaff was having his comforting drinks. And I am sure Bryn being British enjoyed that aspect of the setting!
At the curtain fall, Bryn pushed his young page forward so that we could give him some applause and he offered him an egg... Easter egg??

Bryn Terfel: Falstaff, Fabio Capitanucci:Ford, Florian Laconi:Fenton, Valérie Condoluci:Nanneta, Mariana Pentcheva: Mrs Quickly,Alice Ford:Aga Mikolaj. Annunziata Vestri:Mrs Meg page Jean-Louis Grinda (mise en scène),designer:Jorge Jara . Choeurs de l'Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Orchestre philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Gianluigi Gelmetti (direction). Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Salle Garnier (Monaco).

Looking backwards :Berlin Staatsoper oct 12 .2008

This Achim Freyer's production with Daniel Barenboïm's own perception of this famous Tchaikovsky's opera, Eugene Onegin, has often come to my mind since I was in the audience at the Staatsoper on the 12th of 0ct 2008.
Still I have no musical record of this opera I attended for the 5th time and yet I had the feeling it was for the first time.
Now I can recall the slow tempi, this dreadful waltz with the swinging chairs and the clownish appearance of the characters, above all Lenski, on stage when dead, and haunting all the characters and the audience. I was under the charms of Anna Samuil's singing and the kind of dancing of the whole cast with A. Freyer's dancers.
I will see it again on the 5th of June, I had the feeling I did not quite grasp all the meanings I felt briefly , I want to hear this masterpiece again, nearly with the same cast. Not only for Rolando Villazon, because here it is not like his 'Nemorino' return. I wrote a page in French under an increduble pseudo in the Villazonistas blog, which was beginning at that time. I dreamt I saw Guernica in the background of the ball scene... Who knows? So I want to check about my vision!
At the curtain call Daniel had the whole orchestra on stage, and that was fun!
Here are some of my photos two years ago already... Perhaps the dearest and most puzzling production I have witnessed so far...
Eugen Onegin. Berlin State Opera,oct the 12th 2008. Director and sets: Achim Freyer. Cast: Roman Trekel (Eugene Onegin), Anna Samuil (Tatiana), Rolando Villazón (Lenski), Maria Gortsevskaya (Olga), René Pape (Gremin). Conductor: Daniel Barenboim.
June is easily reached now... I hope for the best!

Song for L. when landing...around midday....another day

BLACKBIRD
Our favourite, but all the Beatles are..Still, Blackbird is very special with the real bird song at the back, and you sing it so well.
Waiting for you to hum it along soon.
A good tune to land again.
Song for L.

Zurich next season: Mozart for Rolando!

Gosh! this is good news from Zurich

http://opernhaus.ch/de/
A new role and with beautiful musicians!
Montag, 4. Juli 2011
Schweizerische Erstaufführung In italienischer Sprache mit deutscher und englischer Übertitelung
Il re pastore
Serenata in zwei Akten von Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Libretto von Pietro Metastasio Uraufführung: 23. April 1775, Erzbischöflicher Palast, Salzburg
Musikalische Leitung Inszenierung Bühne und Kostüme Lichtgestaltung
Alessandro: Rolando Villazon
Aminta:Martina Jankovà
Elisa: Malin Hartelius
Agenore: Benjamin Bernheim.
William Christie
Luigi Perego.
I am really pleased.
And now for something completely different!
Alessandro: the Late Jerey Hadley, very fine here.
I hope this will come true for Rolando Villazon, it will be a relief and a new prospect. I was expecting him in Mozart!
Zurich season is a wonder, Comte Ory with Cecilia-Adèle...And more real treats (another A. Freyer's prod, always fascinating for my tastes).

Happy return!

The photo is borrowed from the Austrian Press!
A pity this plastic bunch of flowers!

Cherry blossoms from Vaugines yesterday for a highly commented comeback.This is the paper I enjoyed reading.
I'll be seeing Rolando Villazon and feel for myself what his new voice sounds like on the 18th.
Meanwhile, let us hope for the best!

Not quite Spring around the Luberon...Song 7

As we passed Ansouis and got into Vaugines, it was almost certain that the cherry orchards were not ready for the "big bang"! There was a stormy kind of light, not even thinking of sunshine, and rare orchards, very protected from open winds showed some blossoms. It still looked quite wintry.
And due to heavy rain, the brooklets are running huge quantities of water at the foot of the Luberon, where water is sometimes a worry in the Summer. This area is called 'Pays d'Aigues', land of running waters.
It was not time to sit under a cherry tree for peace and contemplation yet. That will come soon. In a couple of weeks may be.
Old and weary almond trees were shading white petals in the wind.
That recalled Rachmaninov 's melody about the faded flower, with a voice which deeply moves me, Ekaterina Sementchuk from the same Russian songs CD I keep referring to.
(Harmonia Mundi). Will I be able to hear this artist again one day?
The days to come will be busy ones.
Will I come back in time for the cherry blossoms?
The flower has faded.(Rachmaninov/ D. Rathaus)

Under the Cherry blossoms ( Sakura.) Peaceful dream.

Under the Cherry blossoms (I borrowed the picture on the Japan Guide book page). For some time I can dream I am celebrating the return of Spring, getting almost drunk on the sweet fragrance of the white and pinkish blossoms and having my eyes full of this white cloud surrounding me, then feeling dizzy and happy in this white constellation.
Perhaps this is peace, time out of reality, to be taken by the great moment of the life of the tree, its life explosion once a year , and to be there to share it and get lost in it. Rolando should try to find a Cherry tree now after his trying experience and get lost in thousands of its white flowers, another type of elexir, a quieter Elisir d'amore.
It is such a relief to know he sang beautifully throughout a complete opera after all his hardship with his voice.
His Vienna audience gave him a huge ovation. I read almost all I could find in the blogosphere, and got tired of all the comments, and decided to dream of the most peaceful spring sight I know. Under cherry blossoms.
Tomorrow I shall set off to Ansouis to see the cherry orchards; cherry trees do not blossom as early as in Japan around here.
I wish Rolando a peaceful rest under the Cherry blossoms.
He deserves it.

Major thought for Rolando's comeback tonight.

Tonight in Vienna he will be back with Nemorino. All eyes and ears are directed this way...It will be a huge comeback, he deserves it for what he gives to opera fans and now to his new audience. It will be fine !

Song for a dream: Rita Gorr and Camille Saint-Saëns.

This photo is on the cover of a LP vinyl I have always had with me. It has the best arias of French operas Rita has sung and now I have converted to Cds all the contents of this record.
She was a real Dalila, with the richness of her voice and its wide range . 'Samson et Dalila' opened the 1956-1957 season in Marseilles. She was Dalila on the 3rd of November 1956, I was there in the gods listening to my fisrt Samson et Dalila. José Luccioni and Adrien Legros were sharing this prestigious cast and I still wonder about such evenings in this opera house where I grew up, because these voices were fantastic and naturally I got used to listening to amazing singers in those days of my youth. I stopped going to the opera in 1959. I was then a boarder in Aix- en- Provence for some years. I was offered a radio-set and became a day and night addict to classical music while studying. In 1963, after some academic success I got another present, my firstelectrophone and this fabulous record, because we simply adored Rita's voice, Mum and I, she knew I would listen to her very often in my life.

Rita Gorr's Dalila 'Printemps qui commence'

Yes, Spring is here, shy and chilly, but back after a long winter. Too long and cold.
Quite hard everywhere really.
Still, like in this aria let's hope Spring brings better days eveywhere...
Recently built theaters in Aix -en-Provence:
The danse-hall, called 'the black castle'


Next to it, on top of the hill: Le Grand Theâtre de Provence' It is not appealing from the outside and the decoration is cold and neutral inside. It is a flexible house apparently needed by the Festival for the Wagner's operas.

So long....

Aimer à perdre la raison.
Jean Ferrat.

Il viaggio a Reims Marseilles Opera House March 14th.

I made my way as usual crossing what looks like Alexandria (that is what a young Corean student told me when I took her on one of my opera expedition in Marseilles). I cannot tell, I have never been to Alexendria, but yesterday it perhaps looked more like the Rubbish of Caïro: the rubbish collectors have been on strike for two weeks and it is rather surrealistic to see scattered plastic bags blown by the wind and flowering on bare branches everywhere. Le Vieux Port looked calm and quiet, with the sound of indian flutes being played, a complete change of atmosphere from the top of La Rue d'Aix. The Opera house is just round the corner, and it is always a real pleasure to watch the bands of street musicians on the sea front before going to the 'temple'of music with a capital M
It is also a sign of better weather when they settle on the port again.
The exhilarating fun of voices contest and joyful music made this Viaggo worthwhile.Usually, my neighbours hardly exchange a word, a smile, perhaps only a very discreet sigh, but because of Rossini 's champagne effect we ended up chatting altogether, sharing our fun to watch the small black poodle on a red leash being dragged by the extremely conceited French countess! Then Belragio, trying to seduce Corinna, appeared in 1900th stylish swimming trunks! The chorus was also practising indoors sports,( cycling), while some of the girls were supporting the Lord's love despair, stripping him gently and ravinshingly( he was quite handsome actually). The cast was young and talented and the conductor,Luciano Acocella, who knows the orchestra and this House well,

made it sound really like a musical feast! Rossini loves voices, the sextet was heavenly, the music is all in this light and witty libretto, rather empty, when read only.
The unique mezzo of the cast, the marquess of Melibea had a vibrant and strong voice with beautiful round tops, easy belcanto effects and charming ways of expressing feelings; her duets with Libenskof were very fine, as both have promising voices: I will remember them, Kleopatra Papatheologou and Alexey Kudrya. I noticed how elegant the arias for both mezzo and tenor are in this opera, this is not a frequent musical match and here with the beauty of their voices it was a true success.
The recitatives accompanied by the pianoforte gave a Mozart colouring, which I could also feel in the love courting tunes of the characters. It is great fun to hear Don Profondo describe the sophisticated crowd at the Hotel du lys d'or, and that is even funnier when they all sing in turn their national tunes for the final reception, with the noticeable trumpet which 'laughs' at the back: maybe it expresses on the quiet what Rossini thought of this mascarade,afterall, Charles X was a puppet and this opera is a laugh!
Corinna was gorgeous, vocally and physically,Hye Myung Kang who was Mireille last June, made a fantastic poetess with amazing looks and vocal agility! Another very promising talent! Her white dress, fur and feathers with shining pearls suited her so well!

I waited at the artists entrance to see them as I often do, just trying to see if I could recognise them! It was fun to see how young and easy going they all looked. Hye was the last one to leave, she was so nice talking and smiling to an admirer. Kleopatra was wearing a funny sort of checked cap and Alexey was obviously leaving for another long journey, with his case and bags!


The conductor seemed very friendly with the young singers , this cast has been touring France with Il Viaggio and this was the last stop!
I had a friendly chat with three young actors who sometimes do extras on stage, and they loved this production! So did I!

And the little black poodle with the red leash came out in the arms of a young woman who belongs to the chorus ...I think! At the curtain calls it was in the conductor's arms too!
What happened at the end was real fun: Gelsomino pulled out his cap and underneath he was wearing the O.M white woolen hat!
the cast:
D IRECTION MUSICALE
Luciano Acocella
MISE EN SCÈNE
Nicola Berloffa
ASSISTANT
Fabio Cherstich
D ÉCORS ET COSTUMES
Guia Buzzi
LUMI È RES
Gabriele Clementi
Orchestre et Chœur de l’Opéra de Marseille
Je 11 - Ve 12 Sa 13 à 20h Di 14 à 14h30
Corinna
Gabrielle Philiponet (11, 13) / Hye Myung Kang (12,14)
Comtesse de Foleville
Elena Gorshunova (11,13) / Elisabeth Bailey (12,14)
Madame Cortese
Yun Jung Choi (11,13) / Oxana Shilova (12,14)
Marquise de Melibea
Jose Maria Lo Monaco (11, 13) / Kleopatra Papatheologou (12,14)
Maddalena
Ekaterina Metlova
Delia
Celine Kot
Modestina
Rany Boechat
Chevalier Belfiore
Dominique Moralez (11,13) / James Eliott (12,14)
Comte Libenskof Alexey Kudrya (12, 14)
Lord Sidney
Shadi Torbey (11,13) / Istvan Kovacs (12, 14)
Don Profondo
Marco Di Sapia (11, 13) / Gerardo Garciacano (12, 14)
Baron Trombonok
Marc Labonette (11, 13) / Vladimir Stojanovic (12, 14)
Don Alvaro
Dong Jang (11, 13) / Armando Noguera (12, 14)
Don Prudenzio
Chul Jun Kim (11, 13) / Patrick Bolleire (12, 14)
on Luigino
Jean-Christophe Born
Antonio
Yann Toussaint
Zefirino
Baltazar Zuniga
Gelsomino
Romain Pascal

Song for a dream : Rita Gorr and Berlioz.

It was in 1960 at the RTF,a live recital with 'l'orchestre lyrique de la RTF, Conductor Pierre-marie Le Conte.
It was in March. The 50th anniversary of this live recording will be on the 23rd. Rita Gorr is now eighty-four . I do hope to hear from her.
La mort de Didon.Les Troyens.
I have only heard this marvellous opera once at Bastille opera house and will be really thrilled to see it again. Berlioz is a musician I love.
Rita Gorr was the perfect Didon, with her heroïc style of singing, and also the other side of her cello voice, the soft cords for emotions and sorrows.
I will try to celebrate her voice as well as I can.
She has been my treasured singer, I have not found, so far, another rich and vibrant voice like hers, she is a French speaker being from Belgium, and that gives her a real natural diction which serves her singing.
Song 7 Rita Gorr La mort de Didon; Les Troyens . Berlioz.

Looking forward - III- Rolando...

Latest news in the British press, Times online, where I found somehow what I was expecting, some kind of real thoughts of the artist himself about his new album "Tenor"
-----And so to Popstar to Operastar. Was it just a bitter pill to swallow, a crafty way of relaunching the newly recovered Rolando? Unlikely, though Villazón’s record label did capitalise on the interest in him by releasing an album of favourite classics, entitled, unimaginatively, Tenor. “I’ve done things I don’t like to do for promotion reasons, and I don’t want to do that any more. But this would actually work against me preparing my comeback — if anything the opera world would go: ‘Oh my God, why is he doing that?’ And if I’m doing it, it’s because they called and asked----
This is great to know he will stop this kind of easy promotion and is fair play towards his audience to say so. He is writing a novel, this is fantastic news and I have often thought he will do it.
So, this morning I feel much better about my own crazyness, my teenage crazyness about this singer who is not my type of voice after all.
Well, now I must get ready for his real come back on stage: Munich 22nd, then his London recital, at last Paris, where I will actually see him after all these months of waiting.
Proust who is the finest analyst of passions wrote in details how Swann realised after long sufferings that Odette was not his type.
I often think that the type of passion I feel for voices is somehow like that, and that I was becoming objective...This article shows some deep insights which reassure me. Tenor is not a valuable album for the artist himself. well, that's it!'easy promotion'!
Bing, as always has got a lot to sing about that, in music, as always!
Someday sweetheart you may be sorry for what you have done to my poor heart....
Mimosa ( Martigues on thursday morning.It was freezing )

just a thought.

Cranes.

War.
Atomic weapons.
Hiroshima.
Nagasaki.

Cranes.

Atomic plants
all over the world.
wars…
Explosions.
Cancers.
Death.
Crual energy.


cranes.
A story of a thousand cranes.



( Frazer Simpson, his beautiful blog,dedicated to cranes,is another wonder in this amazing virtual place..http://www.fssbirding.org.uk/sweden2008trip.htm).

Dreaming.

An amazing seagull managed to find the way to this place.
Sophie Karthauser sings Mozart.
She sounds like an angel.
I will listen to her for peace,
Peace badly needed.
(This ibis is having a quiet stroll at low tide. Why did it settle in Brittany?
Maybe it escaped from an aviary? If it is the case, freedom is wonderful! July 08 Bay of Arradon)
.

Ladmark-II-Simon Keenlyside:a memorable recital, leading to a recital to come!

The climax of the evening: Der Wanderer an den Mond - Schubert.
Five encore (live)
Der einsamer:Schubert
-Wir wandelten:Brahms
-Die sterne:Schubert
-Nachtviolen:Schubert
-Der wanderer an den mond:Schubert

The concert (without the last Lieder, which is a shame!) is on FRMUS
http://sites.radiofrance.fr/francemusique/prog/diff/liste_concert.php?m=2

The scores and lyrics(Goethe) from FREESCORES can be found.



I am consistenly thinking about a recital to come where what is called French melody which has been created and illustrated first by Jules Massenet during all his life (1842-1912- inspired by Schubert's Lieders he heard when he was young and then also by Schumann's Dichertliebe when he was in Piemont) will be the chore of the musical evening. Duparc inherited all the romanticism and skills Massenet developped in his 260 songs...He only wrote seventeen melodies, due to severe illness.
Endless treasure of melodies!
They are inspired by the German Lieder which conquered the French musical Salons in the 1830s. In the early 1830s, a young tenor, Adolphe Nourrit and Liszt introduced Schubert's Lieders 'Die schöne Müllerin', Der Winterreise'. Berlioz had written (184I) a cycle of songs 'Les Nuits D'été'on Th. Gautier's poems, which have links with the German Lieder. Romanticism was invading the artistic scope. Massenet, who was prolific and gifted, inherited all that plus the Romance, the traditional French song, which gave with his talent, the musical and poetical form of the 'melodie'.
Because of the various treatment of the voice in the poetic musical style(lyrical, recitative or parlando, melodramatic, and déclamation rhythmée) Massenet has set a model for the musicians to come in the world of 'la mélodie', like Duparc Fauré and Debussy.
There are eight cycles of melodies which span from his youth to his old age: Poème d'Avril, Poème d'Amour, Poème Pastoral, Poème du Souvenir, Poème d'Hiver, Poème d'un Soir, and Quelques Chansons Mauves, and a collection, Expressions Lyriques.
Poème d'Avril is the first French cycle of melodies inspired by the German lieder. It is composed of eight songs. The poetry has its roots in Romanticism, Parnassianism, and symbolism of the period.
The second cycle entitled 'poème d'Amour' is composed of six songs.
The third melody of this cycle:'Ouvre tes yeux bleux' has been sung by Rolando several times in his recitals: he started singing it in his famous 'New-York'Recital in 2004 .
This melody was part of his 08 come back recital at the Liceù.
He could fairly well choose to sing the cycle of the six melodies.
Or the last one? (a cycle of ten melodies)
There is a video for youtube
which I did, on 'Ouvre tes yeux bleus'.
Which ones will Rolando Villazon and Hélène Grimaud choose for this musical evening of April the 18th at the TCE ?
Both pianist and singer are extremely talented. Massenet, like Schumann, gives an equal voice to the piano which is another moment of grace: when the voice stops singing, the piano breathes.
That is on my mind.
Breathing....Strolling in the Marais, perhaps on the 5th of jan?
Ex Positions de Torta Windahl.I Stopped quite a while to see it breathe.