Back to the Gods for a stupendous Semiramide at Marseille Opera House! (Oct18th).

And back to childhood too with my decision to book all the season  15-16 perched at the Gods, best spot in the entire house !
 On Sunday afternoon the 18th,  I had a date with my family  and childhood memories  at Marseille Opera House, dating from 1946 sitting  up there with Mum.
I  was moved to tears and so happy to make it again!
My only worry was getting up there ( no lift), but my old knee ( only one is troublesome ) seemed to feel young again last Sunday...

It was a matinée of true Bel Canto which no doubt will  be added to the fame of our House!

Here's the cast for this concert version of the last Rossini's Opera Seria written in Italy by Rossini ten years after the creation of  Tancredi at the same Fenice.
Semiramide Jessica PRATT
Arsace Varduhi ABRAHAMYAN
Azema Jennifer MICHEL
Assur Mirco PALAZZI
Idreno David ALEGRET
Le fantôme de Nino / Oroe Patrick BOLLEIRE
Mitrane Samy CAMPS

Semiramide, inspired by Voltaire tragedy Semiramis is not an easy story to sum up and  stage.
From my point of view,  it is  better given as a concert,  as it is rather uneasy to summon a meeting  with the ghost of the stabbed King in the Babylonian Kings' tomb,  and it is always better to imagine the Queen's beauty than to costume a singer into a Babylonian Queen.
There was no nonsence and messing about with setting, costumes and acting! What a relief!
Right from the very opening bars, it was settled that the music from the pit would be the best we could get from Maestro Carella's conducting our orchestra
 The four horns went through their opening aria with perfect rhythm and were followed by a brilliant piccolo, witty flutes, oboe and clarinets, sustained by amazing violins, all in splendid top form for this ouverture which so often is a concert piece.
Maestro Carella knows his Rossini inside out and has a great knowledge of  the parts  and  good care of all the singers, especially the title role who has two very difficult arias with high coloraturas.
Semiramide-Jessica Pratt was performing this role for the first time and had a strong link with the conductor during the four hours of singing. She was amazing: a dream like soprano voice with all the inflections for this type of music, easy light tops for ornementations and heroïc strength for her morceaux de bravoure. Her duets with Assur-Mirco Palazzi were splendid, as well as the ones with the contraltoVarduhi Abrahamyan; she has a stunning rich low voice with no heavy edges and enormous flexibility. She has sung the role several times and was the most at ease, almost acting her part. The elegance of Mirco Palazzi is adding charms to this vilain role! I was glad to see him again ( noticed him several yaers ago at La Fenice, he was Talbot alongside brilliant Sonia Ganassi) .
http://singerforallseasons.blogspot.fr/2009/07/bel-canto-and-my-favourite-mezzo.html
It is possible to like the last act best because it is more moving. The action turns out  tragic  and the characters have solo arias which take into account the tragic move of the action with the confrontation of Assur and Arsace in the King's tomb, which is taking place in darkness. That is fatal for Semiramide who gets stabbed there. The arias at this tragic ending are tear-jerking, I find the way Rossini makes the three characters react at the same time to the situation always fascinating and would like these instants never to end!
Pesaro (a place I must visit one of these days) has acclaimed the young Anglo-Australian singer, Jessica Partt  as a true Rossinian soprano! The cast in Marseille was beautiful, what soft voice too from the tenore di grazia David Alegret, sometimes a bit overwhelmed by the high pitches but often very convincing too! The bass Patrik Bolleire had the authority of the high priest. The choice of voices was fantastic in the ensembles and duets. It is a pity there was no radio broadcast of this great musical event on our Provence major operatic stage.
It is possible to have an idea of these renditions on youtube owing to F@daof marseille.

The singers ' last bows.

Interlude: where are my favourite singers just now?

Vesselina Kasarova who is rare in France (and also in  other parts of  Europe, exception for Cologne),

 will be here at 6pm, and it is the broadcasting of her recent concert in Bonn, so it is really thrilling!
http://www.worldconcerthall.com/en/schedule/kasarova_and_krasnovska_play_monteverdi_haydn_herold_and_massenet_in_bonn/23474/#nogo
I will be so happy to see her on stage for Rigoletto at Bastille !
She could be offered to give a recital in Paris, why not? her agent should remember she has faithful fans waiting to see her again.
Here is her new record and I am waiting for her dedicace...
Now, at least some news about Anja Harteros after her Ariadne 's cacellations everywhere!
She is still in great shape because tonight she is replacing Anne Schwanewilms in Arabella at Dresden Semperoper so, life goes on...may be there will be some broadcast on the German classical radios?
https://www.semperoper.de/en/whats-on/schedule/stid/arabella/60430.html#a_23551
Photo from the Sunday Times/

Now I am getting ready for Vesselina's concert, strating soon... Dresde, which had been a wonderful experience for Frau Hateros- Marschallin is now one of my best opera outing...but too far, too expensive really... May be with a little bit of luck Frau Harteros will come to Paris where she is still scheduled once so far.. Let's hope for the best...(got my ticket but do not feel safe !)

Flashback on R. Strauss : Ariadne auf Naxos at le théâtre des Champs Elysées 12X 15

But Ariadne-Anja Harteros cancelled five weeks ago, all her appearances  in Paris alongside Jonas Kaufmann as Bacchus (which made the talk of the town!) but also at the BSO where she was meant to sing this role for the first time.
I missed her a lot.
 From the TCE site:

Ariadne auf Naxos

Richard Strauss

Amber Wagner and Jonas Kaufmann reunite onstage for a concert revival of the superb Munich Opera performance

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Opera in a prologue and one act (1916 version)
Libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal
Kirill Petrenko  direction
Amber Wagner  Ariane / Prima Donna
Jonas Kaufmann  Bacchus / The Tenor
Brenda Rae  Zerbinetta
Alice Coote  The composer
Markus Eiche  The music master
Christian Rieger  A lackey
Matthew Grills  Brighella
Kevin Conners  The dancing master
Elliot Madore  Harlequin
Johannes Klama The major-domo
Dean Power  Scaramuccio
Tareq Nazmi  Truffaldino
Petr Nekoranec  An officer
John Carpenter  A wigmaker
Eri Nakamura  A naïade
Okka von der Damerau A dryade
Anna Virovlansky  Echo
Bayerisches Staatsorchester

Anja Harteros unfortunately resigned from all performances of this production in Munich as well as from the concert version in Paris, and will be replaced by Amber Wagner who recently sang this part in Chicago to major acclaim.

From the very opening bars of the work, the breath-taking powers of invention of the composer are strikingly apparent, and this is sustained to the very end. The origins of this success can undoubtedly be found in Hoffmansthal’s libretto, which makes deft use of the artifice of a performance within a performance. Strauss and his librettist pit the spoken and sung word against each other on the pretext of organising a performance of a short opera (also called Ariadne auf Naxos) and a divertimento in the Commedia dell’arte tradition. The two companies involved vie with each other in aesthetic debates and amorous quips, which continuously spice up the preparations for the performance. However, this also provides an opportunity to take vocal virtuosity to its peak (as for example in the famous aria by Zerbinetta – eleven minutes of sheer operatic inventiveness) and the whole work is enhanced by the sumptuous orchestration of Strauss, who was at the peak of his powers of composition. A guaranteed treat for the senses.

---

Of course and luckily there was a very young soprano to replace her:
(Photo from Minnesota Opera House)

Amber Wagner, from USA who has just sung the role on stage at Minnesota opera house, was thrilled to fly to Paris for the rehearsals of this concert version with the BSO orchestra and new conductor Kyrill Petrenko and only for the night in Paris, with  Jonas Kaufmann as Bacchus.
Of couse with Anja Harteros the dream team would have been reunited for a sheer evening of fine singing.
http://www.mnopera.org/biography/amber-wagner/
I cannot say it was not a thrilling evening, but it was not what I expected from Ariadne !
Amber Wagner sounds like a true mezzosoprano with a rich, luxuriouss  low range and rather ugly tops when singing such a role. The subtle high range is not her best part and she missed all the poetry of her lamentations,  that is why I missed Anja Harteros, because I was expecting floating high legato espacially in some parts like the first aria after the low range melody where Amber Wagner was very good she seemed to be very short on the tops on the high jumps on 'Light' in Ach! Wo war ich" and in the long aria at the second act she was much too loud and rather heroïc, almost Wagnerian without a joke!
I had the impression she tired out Jonas Kaufmann who had an uneasy time right at the very end, although he was amazing when he crossed the stage at his arrival hailing her with beautiful 'Circé! Circé!".  What was great also is the way they all acted this concert version, moving and looking at each other.  Of course Jonas Kaufmann was a true actor in his killing aria but apart from lots of decibels from Amber Wagner, he did not get much acting support from her.
The best engaged singing came from Alice Coote- composer during the Prologue and the delicious Zerbinetta sung and acted by Brenda Rae. She was moving because she did not sing words only, she was really touched by her role, very feminine and full of humour too. After her aria she was ovationed by the entire packed house (le Tout Paris apparently was there that night!)
I was happy but not overthrilled, I heard much better singing from Markus Eiche, the music master but of course Zerbinetta has all the seduction and brilliance in this role! I have in mind both Natalie Dessay and Edita Gruberova I listened to so much in this role on my Cds at home. Brenda Rae was sweet and lighter in her coloratura. Dramatically,  she might not be so brilliant.
The male quatuor and the female trio were excellent,   and with the orchestra direct from BSO it was a real treat.
Jonas Kaufmann was also so smart and convincing ! It was the first time I saw him acting on a French stage, apart from seeing and listening to him twice in Munich. (La Forza del Destino, Manon Lescaut, then the Nice recital but that does not count it is not opera!)
At the very end I felt sorry for him but thought  it was insignificant, just a drop in his voice, perhaps having to adjust to  this loud soprano who was not quite in osmosis as much as Anja Harteros would have been with his singing.
That is why I missed her so much...

When I arrived at my seat, a front box, I looked at the stage and caught an  unexpected vision of Jonas Kaufmann in jeans and blue tee-shirt glancing at the house... why?  As he came for a rehearsal the day before he did see the house. So why was he glancing at the house just before the concert?
I have imagined several answers and yet ....I am still wondering...
My first live Ariane à Naxos was thrillng because its music and theme is a 'great voyage', and I am glad I did it at last with such orchestra and conductor.
Bows after the prologue:

Final bows:

Flash back on Mozart, Don Giovanni, Bastille(23-IX-15)

Opening of my season at pera Bastille with Mozart, a favourite of mine: Don Giovanni.
Here's the cast:
https://www.operadeparis.fr/saison-15-16/opera/don-giovanni
What made me travel to Paris with the cheapest  train ticket fare  available on the OUIGO I booked on the 30th of August ( otherwise the fares go up!) is :
Elvira sung for the first time by Karine Deshayes !
But not only, because I wanted to see the Haneke's production which was played  for the last time this season.
This modernised version has a very violent outlook which is more worrying than the transposition in an office hall with the lift jingle and an army of cleaners (the chorus plus Zerlina and Masetto) who wear Mikey Mouse's masks during the opera!
The violence is part of the opera of course, but in this production it is embodied in the acting of the couple Leporello-Don Giovanni. They both play with shining blades and have sexual assaults on women, the Don against the wall next to the lift with  Zerlina, and also on a woman who appears in her nude when a very violent Don Giovanni assaults her in the Mask scene. Leporello does like his master in the same scene. I know Haneke is a film -maker, but is it really necessary to go to such extent on an opera stage? It seems very crude and out of purpose, because the horror is in the music and the sung words, anyway.
Elvira has also a new look: she is not only humiliated here but becomes a murderer.
 She stabs Don Giovanni at the end, does not kill him but contributes to his death, overthrown by the cleaners through a window...  Elvira also finds  consolation in drinking and contributes to Don Giovanni's death to overcome her humiliation. It is perfectly played by Karine Deshayes with simplicity and straightforwardness. Her mezzo range and flexible tops suit her in this role. She is very touching.
Otherwise, I enjoyed the music and the singing tremendously . It was a fine Mozart evening at the orchestra and the conductor Patrick Lange had a nice tempo and reading of the scores. The ensembles were wonderful!
I particularly enjoyed Matthiew Polenzani's Ottavio. It was a sheer moment of musical beauty. His soft voice and quiet looks added truth to his character.
I enjoyed the musicality and vocal art of the cast and orchestra a lot that night.
Mozart was well served and it was a great night for the music in the pit and the singing on stage.
 The  unnecessary horror of the  staging of last scene made me close my eyes to rejoice only in the music!
Viva Elvira-Karine Deshayes! hope to see her more soon!

A sunny bunch of flowers for Anja!

Recollection from Arabella -Anja Harteros's bows.
Imagine these sunny flowers thrown by a clever ( the flowers reached the stage) and dedicated admirer!

BSO ARABELLA JULY 14th 2015

Mariella Devia, the Queen again!

As it is,  Summer's gone and with Autumn we are now in rather rainy episodes.
We did a short escapade to Madrid which was very summary last week, and I caught my beloved Mariella Devia in Roberto Devereux at Teatro Real on Monday 28th sept.

She was as always very musical and stunning with precise singing and phrasing but did less coloraturas than the smashing Marseille renditions where she went over the top in exquisite vocal trills at the very end. Here she was staged in a heavy red dress with an outrageously high leathery black belt, and it looked like a carceral garnment which kept her Queen's power in a physical prison.  The setting  was rather neutral, which permitted the singers to sing without being bothered, unless Mariella felt disturbed at the last scene by this articulated spider she sat on as her  moving throne ? The symbolic was good but this long legged silvery spider had a gadget effect, the Spiderwoman.....
She did not chance the high variations like Edita Gruberova did at the Bayerische Staatsoper in July ( really sounded rather screaming at times, but the effects were overwhelming ) and did not touch me as much as she did at the concert renditions in Marseille. It was such beautiful singing which is always a treat from her ! I was glad to be there and promised myself to try to see her again in Gênes this time with Sonia Ganassi who was singing with Edita Gruberova at the BSO.
Gregory Kunde was in top form and also very safe in his singing of this role. His voice was ever so clear and loud, too much  to my taste. He had a thrilling evening and seemed to get more applause and cheering than Mariella Devia did. He also did not chance the high C but had a rather long and catching variation which I had never heard before and it suited his voice. That is what is amazing in these Donizetti's works, this possibility of adding a personal touch with the coloraturas variations. I would have liked to be more musical myself to be able to note what they both did that monday night!
It might be possible to find this Sept 28th  rendition on the net. (https://vimeo.com/140766182)
 Here are the highlights and it brings me tears when I listen to Mariella again in this terrible aria at the end. ( there is not the last cry after 'uscita'). As I was sitting nearly at the top of the house I discovered two screens with the filmed production actually on stage. I was surprised but glanced at the faces of the singers I could see so close... very moving indeed.

It was a great night to be remembered with this wonderful cast. The Spanish mezzo,  Silvia Tro Santafé, was also very involved and moving  in Sara and the baritone, Marco Caria, made a fine job too in Lord Nottingham. Donizetti knows how to blend voices and the ensembles were so musical (rather rare in this opera but wonderful arias). I enjoyed Bruno Campanella's vision at the orchestra and what he does to accompany voices in such terrific arias. He has a real touch with singers.

Production Team & Cast

• Musical director: Bruno Campanella (Sep. 22, 25, 28 · Oct. 1, 4, 8)
  
•   Andriy Yurkevych (Sep. 24, 27, 30 · Oct. 3, 7)
  
• Stage director: Alessandro Talevi
  
• Set and costume designer: Madeleine Boyd
  
• Lighting designer: Matthew Haskins
  
• Choreographer: Maxine Braham
  
• Chorus Master: Andrés Máspero
  

· - ·

• Elisabetta: Mariella Devia (Sep. 22, 25, 28 · Oct. 1, 4, 8)
  Maria Pia Piscitelli (Sep. 24, 27, 30 · Oct. 3, 7)
  
• Earl of Nottingham: Marco Caria (Sep. 22, 25, 28 · Oct. 1, 8)
  Ángel Ódena (Sep. 24, 27, 30 · Oct. 4, 7)
  Alessandro Luongo (Oct. 3)
  
• Sara, Duchess of Nottingham: Silvia Tro Santafé (Sep. 22, 25, 28 · Oct. 1, 4, 8)
  Veronica Simeoni (Sep. 24, 27, 30 · Oct. 3, 7)
  
• Roberto Devereux, Earl of Essex: Gregory Kunde (Sep. 22, 25, 28 · Oct. 1, 4, 8)
  Ismael Jordi (Sep. 24, 27, 30 · Oct. 3, 7)
  
• Lord Guglielmo Cecil: Juan Antonio Sanabria
  
• Sir Gualtiero Raleigh: Andrea Mastroni 
•