From Oberammergau with Love.

Cheers from Munich!

And half a pint of lager...please!

Vesselina Kasarova :last Romeo? NO.

This signature session after the last performance of I Capuleti e i Montecchi in Munich was more formal than the chat I had the chance to share after L'enfance du Christ at Pleyel some years ago.
I really wanted to have a nice photo of hers dedicated and not one of my poor ones either from Carmen, or Alcina, or this Romeo.
She was stunning and so different from what she gave on the streamed performance.
Probably because the balance of voices was really fine with Eri Nakamura and also the much younger appearance of her Giulietta gave to their couple a sweeter and truer look. I had also the impression Vesselina Kasarova was more vocally at ease in the ensembles.
There was a strange atmosphere in the House, some seats were empty. Where I was sitting, the fairly posh upholstered seats ('vieux rose' covered) were ever so squeaky and the audience around very noisy at times... a lady from Munich told me it was rather unusual for the place. As in Salzburg, I noticed how smart the crowd was, a bit too much sometimes.
The voices on this last performance seemed all so fine and the instruments solos, the cello one particularly utterly moving. Bellini, when I have the chance to be part of a live rendition is my favourite opera composer. Is it possible to listen to Vesselina Kasarova's Deh tu bell anima' without shedding tears?
The last vision of the two of them walking into eternity will be on my mind any time I recall this opera. I enjoyed this production a lot.
Will I manage to join another live performance with Vesselina Kasarova somewhere in Europe?
It was also a marvellous night for friendship: meeting real fans dedicated to Vesselina's Art like Thàdieu was very intimidating after the fifth round !


Today saturday, back from Munich and getting ready for another much longer journey, I took time to google and find out where Vesselina Kasarova will sing... Romeo, so are you ready to fly to Oslo next fall?

Just a thought: More about Edita Gruberova.

Orfeo
I am so pleased to find a review of this live collection from Vienna Opera House in Classica
Starting point: 197O when young Edita began professional singing in this House, until 2010.
It is a fine collection worth getting.
What is amazing is to be able to go and see this artist still performing and offering her best art of singing. This season I was very lucky to enjoy her Norma in Nice.
Her fansite gives all the venues in Europe. I would really enjoy a recital, as far as Liege?
Here is the soundtrack offered on the classical sample cd like every month.
Her voice now has kept the same clear tops and amazing flexible abilities. In this offer there is a live extract of her 1970 Lucia in Vienna. This is quite impossible to ignore!
And isn't it a bit too early for a Christmas present of my own?

Linda is longing for Carlo who left some pansies...
Oh, you are the radiance of my soul,
Delightful life and love;
On earth and in heaven,
We will be united.
Come, my dear
And find calm in my yearning heart
That sighs for your love,

Far from the Madding Crowd .

Before I fly to Munich for the much awaited I Capuleti e i Montecchi, here on my own sort of 'territory' I can write my sour feelings about the Star-system which is pervading the Big Business of Entertainment. I do not need to point out a precise artist, but what is happening for the last two productions in Munich Opera House is the illustration of the real limit to this kind of game. As a member of the audience I am part of this Big Business and will be refunded 50%of my ticket price because the only star on this production (according to the management of this House evidently) is dropping the show.
This is disgusting for the team of singers on the cast, they are only worth 50%of the price of my ticket, for the last two runs. This is an obvious selective step openly taken, which I could not imagine in this Art field, not as open as this last move.
Next to come in the operatic world is what is done in the football world, the directors will buy the stars and sell them and the singer will negociate the change of House according to the best bets from Opera houses... but isn't it the case already? Milan-'House-Club' has just won the exchange...
But there will always remain the real ones, untouched by the Game,and these will win it in the long run...

Many thanks to ariesbox

Just a thought : Blame 'le lavabo'!

Two hours ago, the news reached me officially

Dear Ms. H,
aus gesundheitlichen Gründen muss Anna Netrebko die Rolle der Giulietta in den Vorstellungen von I Capuleti e i Montecchi am 23. und 26. Mai 2012 absagen. Eri Nakamura, die Sängerin der Premierenserie, wird den Part für sie übernehmen.

Bereits gekaufte Karten können nicht zurückgegeben werden, die Bayerische Staatsoper erklärt sich jedoch aus Kulanzgründen bereit, 50% des Kartenpreises zurückzuerstatten. Die Originaleintrittskarten können nach Besuch der Vorstellung inklusive Formular innerhalb von fünf Tagen (Eingangsdatum) beim Kartenverkauf eingereicht werden oder direkt nach der Vorstellung inklusive Formular beim Einlasspersonal abgeben werden.
PDF-Formulare zum Download

I will get some money back (50%) and see another sweet Giulietta, a lighter version all along the line,(including wages I suppose) and that is the reason why she could cope with the washbasin last season and is willing to climb on it again twice to save the show really.
Brave Eri Nakamura!
Now I can recall the pathetic moments just before dearest Anna-Giulietta had to perform that hasardous climb:

She was utterly scared, did not want to face the monster, not even look at it! (I can't blame her....mind you, her pale green wedding shoe underneath was quite a sight on my screen)

Then she delivered a loud scream which should have alerted not only Romeo but the one in charge of this 'lavabo', the productor Vincent Boussard.
But she had to do it,( fancy that having to perform in the lavabo...and get paid for it, notice that it did not have any taps sticking out, one could have been helpful to pull her up... evidently this man did not want to make it easier for her).
So she then decided to face the enemy:


And she plucked up her courage:
here she is in it eventually!, no, no, she is just squatting in it....
I can understand she had enough of being scared. Having been filmed and acclaimed for three rounds of this, she did not want to chance two other
dreading climbs...
So I will not see Anna Netrebko after all.
With huge stars of the Opera World, this cancellation teaches me a lesson: always try to book the opening night. They are sure to turn up, even on a washbasin...
Meanwhile, our fighting Vesselina will languish for the sweet Giulietta she did not perform with last year...Luckily Eyes, my unique faithful reader, in a comment told me who Vesselina sang with when she herself recovered from bronchitis,it was not E.Nakamura, but Ekaterina Siurina.(And by the way it is time for a Lullaby, I could do with one tonight... the day was dreadful... somehow!)
And "The show must go on..."
Though, I keep seeing this vision at the back of my mind because of the 'lavabo' and the 'tutu' ....
It would have been delicious instead of that dreadful thing...after all.

A romantic rendition for Bellini's Romeo and Juliet seen on my laptop screen

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For once the transmission was fine and did not interrupt.
It was a most enjoyable evening shared by the world of opera. I was thrilled as I have a strong admiration for Vesselina Kasarova and a starting equal passion for the new Anna Netrebko. (I mean 'new' the way she sounds now to my ears, better than before).
Some photos of photos, showing the pure beauty of each role and singer and their differences.
What I liked most is the aesthetic beauty of this production with pure acting lines for all the cast: elegance in gestures, costumes, setting and above all music and singing.
The illusion of death is even more overwhelming than death itself. As for the two main characters: a storming chemistry .
Having seen Anna Netrebko in Giulietta at Bastille some years ago, here she is transformed, vocally and dramatically, so much involved.
A dvd should come out of this splendid production, almost a visual and audio poem about love,illusion, solitude, death.
AudioLink to the last part.


Musikalische Leitung / Conductor Yves Abel
Inszenierung / Production Vincent Boussard
Bühne / Set Vincent Lemaire
Kostüme / Costumes Christian Lacroix
Licht / Lighting Guido Levi
Chor / Chorus Sören Eckhoff

Romeo Vesselina Kasarova
Giulietta Anna Netrebko
Tebaldo Dimitri Pittas
Capellio Ante Jerkunica
Lorenzo Paul Gay

Bayerisches Staatsorchester
Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper

Just a thought: 19/05 at 7pm, from Bayerische Staatsoper to the Village......

Precious links for a must ... here, in the village, inside the house, sitting perhaps not too uncomfortably in front of my laptop, and hoping for
no tempest,
no queer incident,
no power cut,
no stupid animal munching cables somewhere,
interrupting the live streaming of:
Vesselina Kasarova and Anna Netrebko's Romeo and Juliet.
from the Bayerische Staatsoper!

From Shangaï with love!

More bears... from China this time!

Just a thought: "Daisy" 1967....on the West Pier

Just because I went to Willym's flower show round the corner... It all started, the 'sing along' on the pier where it was such fun to join in and sing
this popular song "Daisy"! I think it was at the theater on the West Pier, now it is all over.
These were "Our" best lines ' It won't be a stylish mariage...
we can't afford a carriage' ... typical us !
I did not think I could find such a fine example of it owing to asajol

My memory is full of songs.

Just a thought: Capuleti e i Montecchi- Bayerische Staatsoper.

Our blogfriend Thadieuwas the first to report and post on the opening night of Capuleti e i Montecchi from Munich Bayerische Staatsoper.
There are great links on her post as well as cute remarks on the artists on their opening night.
Of course it will come to my mind to compare the two singers. I will not fall into that trap!
They are complementary and I will enjoy them both because they both have fantastic skills as singers and dramatic performers.
Until I see them live( on the 26th, Apollo and Orpheus, assist me!), from now on I will stick to this nice French saying:
"Entre les deux mon coeur balance".
(rough translation: between the two, My heart and soul hesitate)
Here are smashing contrastive photos, one is dustying cobwebs and has just dropped her duster, loving to live dangerously even when doing housework, and the other one has a passion for bikers' leather coats, plus a very romantic character, being madly in love with the swirl of whipped cream performing extravaganza on the sink...
I love the two...madly! it helps putting up with daily life a lot!

Just a thought: Anna Netrebko and her tremendous aura...

Blessed by the Muses and Apollo, she really was that night at Salle Gaveau.
Her aura was irradiating the whole audience, we were under the spell!



Meanwhile, my roof is being repaired and I am
doing every thing I can to escape... the noise.

Just a thought: Youkali from Mediapart

L'allégorie Youkali... par Mediapart

Just a thought: Vesselina Kasarova on air at 6.30 pm!

Follow the link.
From SWR2 live streaming.
6th May

Concert will begin at 18:30 hours GMT
Kasarova and Spencer perform Schumann, Brahms, Tchaikovsky & Rachmaninov in Schwetzingen
Live stream
Live stream will be available right here at the beginning of the concert

Concert from the Schwetzingen Festival 2012 SWR. Vesselina Kasarova, mezzo-soprano, and Charles Spencer, piano, perform:

SCHUMANN: 'Der arme Peter' op. 53 No. 3.

BRAHMS: 'Junge Lieder' op. 63 No. 5/ 'Lerchengesang' op. 70 No. 2/ 'Von ewiger Liebe' op. 43 No. 1.

SCHUMANN: From Hebrew songs op. 24 No. 15: 'Stille Liebe' op. 35 Nr. 8, 'Stille Tränen' op. 35 No. 10.

BRAHMS: 'Nicht mehr zu dir zu gehen' op. 32 No. 2/ 'Wenn du nur zuweilen lächelst' op. 57 No. 2/ 'Unbewegte laue Luft' op. 57 No. 8.

TCHAIKOVSKY: It was in the early spring, Op. 38 No.2/ None but the Lonely Heart, Op. 6 No. 6/ Why, Op. 6 No. 5/ Cradle song, Op. 16 No. 1/ Does the Day Reign, Op. 47 No. 6.
LINK:

It is for me the best part of this recital, fascinating to hear the different renditions according to the quality of voice and the choice of emphasies chosen by Vesselina compared to Anna. They are both outstanding in "Why?..." They have chosen the same melodies, two very 'opera' like style where both singers gave overwhelming renditions. Of course Anna Netrebko heard and seen on stage has a better score...! Their duets as Romeo and Juliet are promising.
LINK

RACHMANINOV: Sing not to me, beautiful maiden, Op. 4 No. 4/ The Dream, Op. 8 No. 5/ Lilacs Op. 21 No. 5/ I have grown fond of sorrow, Op. 8 No. 4/ How Fair this Spot Op. 21 No. 7.
I feel like speading the news because this great Mezzo is not having a lot of publicity around here!

I only managed to see her twice in Paris, and had to travel to Zurich to enjoy her Carmen.
As today is big voting day here, this concert will take my mind away the issue...And spending this evening with Vesselina Kasarova is just like paradise...

Photo from article here.

Anna Netrebko: Anna Netrebko, Salle Gaveau, Paris 3. May 2012

Anna Netrebko: Anna Netrebko, Salle Gaveau, Paris 3. May 2012

Like Scheherazade... Anna Netrebko charmed the packed Salle Gaveau (3-05-2012)

She was wearing a long green dress with intense seductive power during the Rimsky Korsakov first part where her rich voice with lots of silvery shades and clear tops had a real oriental addictive flavour...
The cycle of lieds about the Nightingale and the Rose took me as far as possible from Salle Gaveau, where the Damask rose flowers and the rooves are blue.
Anna Netrebko was somptuous, voice and looks, offering the same generosity I noticed in Berlin, for the Benefit concert, moving on the stage, expressing feelings and changes of mood, not only in her singing but also acting these very poetic love stories.
This time she was accompanied by Elena Bashkirova, very passionate too.
The first part followed the live recital given at the 2009 Salzbourg Festival (album DG 'In the Still of Night) with eleven lieds.
After the intermission, the oriental touch gave way to utter passion and despair with P.I. Tchaïkovsky's Romantic melodies.
There are no metaphors here for expressing melancholy, and words like 'spleen' gloomy days' 'frenzy' of love, are part of the feelings expressed. Excitement of love and questioning of the soul are at the roots of the melodies where both voice and piano are flying high with strength and passion.
Sometimes there is more intimate dialogue with the piano, muttered words, where the voice shows the abilities of its vast range and modulation. Sometimes there are cries of despair, similar accents to what Tatiana expresses when she writes her letter to Eugene Onegin. Now Anna Netrebko is in full blossom of her art of singing and I was under the charm of this voice and artist. The shining pearls of the brown long dress for this rather sad second part made her look like a Greek adorned muse of the Melancholic yearning for Love. 'Otcego', Why? could be my favourite melody but it is hard to decide!
What she did when singing 'Den' licarit' was mesmerising and makes me realise again that listening to my cd at home is not even the quarter of the route I share with the artist when she is there for me...and a full house!

Each syllable, each inflexion is acted by her swaying body, the motion of her arms, her smiles.. at one point she patted nervously the back of her neck and I thought it could hurt because she gave so much intensity in each rendition of this part too ...The Tchaïkovsky melodies are devastating and for sure she must have been exhausted...
Yet, she gave three encores, with a standing ovation which lasted nearly during the three encores...
Morgen (Strauss), the last one, after Cecilia(Strauss) and Dvorak 's Song My Mother Taught me'. Here's the link...
( extract From my friend Arnaud)
She introduced Morgen "every body knows,quiet and happy".
A woman 's voice could be heard after the silence of the end, just before the first clap:
'Spaciba'
Well deserved!
I joined my friends and we all queued in the fangroup.
When she appeared, she was radiant, with the same happy catching smile for us, and the spontaneity she has, saying that Manon she sang at the Met was the last one because it is too difficult for her voice which has become heavier after her son's birth, and someone said Thaïs could be a nice challenge for her:'''Oh no no, I don't like this opera'... she is a fantastic person! She sees Faust, Gounod, in her scope, on the French opera side. She will sing Manon Lescaut (Puccini) She knows better anyway!
Part II, same also as the album 'In the still of night' except for the Lullaby, she did not sing it.
It belongs to Tiago now... if it is so, I totally agree.
What a memorable evening!