Mady Mesplé. Delibes flower duet. Lakmé (1970).

It is not time for blooming flowers in my tiny garden.
Though I want to celebrate this end of year with my own flash of yellow from my yard. Three yellow roses, and a clump of mahonia are miming the missing sun, the one which is needed to keep illness away and give joy and light even when times are rather dull and hard for many of us .
Funny that I do live not far from the most expensive scientific project on the planet which is to replace the sun powerful fusion, the ITER project?
I feel like asking these learned people to give all the money away for PEACE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD, and HEALTH RESEARCH all over the planet.
A tribute to my Mum, who could sing this part so heavenly.
Mady Mesplé is a wonderful soprano coloratura. I am glad to end my year of passionate
listening with her. I do hope she is well and still enjoys singing while accompanying herself on the piano.

Song for a dream, celebration of the Winter solstice and the end of the year.

Vesselina Kasarova (live) is Marie, Berlioz, L'Enfance du Christ, Salle Pleyel
Tuesday 09/28 2010 8:00pm

• Ensemble Orchestral de Paris
• Accentus
• Maîtrise de Paris*
• Laurence Equilbey : conducting
• Vesselina Kasarova : mezzo-soprano
• Paul Groves : tenor
• Laurent Naouri : bass baryton
• Matthew Brook : baritone
• Patrick Marco : chef de choeur*

(Saint-Sauveur Cathedral Aix-en -Provence. Part of the 'Buisson Ardent' Nicolas Froment )

Rolando's werther in Lyon.

Rolando Villazon will be directing Werther.
A real thrill to see what he will do, knowing he always was a good actor in this role even when his voice did not follow him as it used to.It will be my only trip in January and it is much awaited.

I will not manage a fair account of that magic Alcina. All I keep in mind is the heraldic beauty of Anja Harteros as the sorceress and the extraodinary Ruggiero of Vesselina Kasarova. The two of them were fantastic. This is a poor illustration: Ruggiero


Vesselina is just having fun and with jaring sounds from the depths of her voice she still soars with amazing tops, she is a wonder! And she is physically built for this role. Both singers made the show. I loved the whole cast and orchestra. Handel is really winning as a baroque composer! No wonder Antony Burgess in his witty 'Mozart and the Wolf Gang'
made a funny portrait of him through Beethoven 's imaginative vision:
""I have visited that giant two or three times , though he does not wish to be visited.
He converses his blindness even in this afterworld and consumes phantom meals. He will not discuss music. He says he wrote it only to make money. He is not happy in heaven. He wants the candlewax stink of theatres and quarrels with castrati. Nor will he admit his own greatness."
and Bliss (typical British second rate composer) says to Beethoven:
"He wrote great tunes. Perhaps that is all that music is really about. Great tunes..."

Best wishes to you all, special thoughts to Will and Smorgy.
I have to cross a bad spell of inner weather!
But I hope to be ready for Werther on the 24th of January!

Song for a dream: Mon coeur se recommande à vous.

I have not finished making up my mind about Alcina I enjoyed so much in Paris on nov the 29th.
Both Anja Harteros and Vesselina Kasarova were marvellous for different reasons and vocal abilities. As for Marc Minkowsky and 'les musiciens du Louvre', they sounded so good in this Handel performance. In my recent live baroque experience , I think they are my favourite ones.
I'll be travelling to Paris tomorrow, and will not manage to finish writing about Vesselina and Anja. It will be banal if I try to write hastily, and they deserve more than that!
I would like to recall both my youth tonight and this dear voice, Hughes Cuenod.
Hughes Cuenod has recorded that Renaissance melody. Nice to recall it sung by this sweet voice. We used to sing it at my choir 'A Coeur Joie' so many years ago now. And this sweet voice is so dear.
(From INA mémoire vive. Hugues Cuenod, tenor.)

Eternity.Hughes Cuenod . RIP.

Perhaps because I am a 'senior' citizen I feel each loss in the operatic world a bit stronger each time. And it seems that the ones I have liked since my teens tend to leave us, which is non surprising, but ever so sad to go through, because their voices are linked to episodes of my life and my growing tastes in my world of passion for voices.
I can say I got hooked on the melody because of Hughes Cuénod soft and precise voice, always so clear and thrilling. Being over 100 years old it seemed he would have been eternal.
Indeed all singers hopefully because of the musical industry and our passionate memory will be eternal. I had illustrated my love for his voice already in a past post.
I will do it again in respect for his marvellous long life spent in music and singing for us.
http://www.abeillemusique.com/CD/Classique/IMV016/3329184681629/INA-Memoire-vive/Hugues-Cuenod/De-Machaut-a-Duparc/cleart-2640.html