last stay in Paris.

I cannot write properly about my recent stay in Paris.
I had an unexpected huge emotion as I was able, due to the generosity of a good friend of mine, to attend the dress rehearsal of Mathis der Maler on the 13th. I have never felt so moved. I had thought that Waltraud Meier - Marie in last year Bastille performance of Wozzeck, would never be challenged in my heart.
Strangely enough, another German singer, a baritone I had never seen on stage and only knew as a lieder singer, managed to beat my record of emotional standards where I had thought Waltraud could not be beaten.

Rossini's Otello at the TCE on the 11th was vocally splendid but not challenging to my inner thoughts! I loved Anna Caterina Antonacci's Desdemona, starting with some shyness, and then she gave a stunning aria in the willow song. Evelino Pido was brilliant and Rossini sounded at his best that night. This demanding opera needs three tenors, and they were all three at their best. This concert version was musically and vocally a success.


At the TCE on the 12th, Rolando Villazón's Mexican recital was charming at times but not that interesting. What I enjoyed most actually was cheering him and seeing him at the stage door after the show! He is such an incredibly nice and welcoming person. I do think he has tremendous good will and love to share. Generosity indeed, and I hope his voice will be fully recovered soon. He deserves it.



So here I am still trying to read and listen more and more to this opera by Hindemith. Matthias Goerne as Mathis the painter gave a flabbergasting rendition during three hours, torn between his art, his religious belief and political commitment and his love. His departing from this world, which is the end of the opera, is still on my mind simply because I have never seen such an overwhelming opera ending in soft and yet intense tones, on three alternating notes, hushed by Mathis and hardly echoed by the orchestra. I have never seen either, such a performance from a singer; he was this painter in the same casual clothes and human looks throughout these three amazing hours; his voice, I cannot describe, it is beyond words, totally overwhelming. The setting is a work of art in itself, like this altarpiece which is at the heart of the opera. It is captivating and so much more productive compared to the routine.
Hindemith's music was forbidden in 1933 , degenerated...
This 'near' creation on the French stage is a big step forward, and I was immensely touched by this production. This musical event is being followed on the classical radio France Musique, from today to Friday, 2PM 'Hindemith en peintre'
From my very good spot in the stalls, one of the most expensive seats in the house, I could see the conductor's face: J.CH Eschenbach who really made this unknown music understandable for me. On Dec the 11th it will be broadcast at 7pm on France Musique.

I read on Willym's blog that it is Santa Cecilia today, all the best to this dear singer whom I saw in Montpellier not long ago. Happy day Ceci! You have been chosen by the fairy of music or its saint!