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.