Monday, 28 March 2022
Our "yesterdays " en chansons "Con Te Partiro" ... from Barcelona sung by the Russian tenor Sergei Skorokhodov
This is a precious souvenir from Barcelona, almost like a fairy tale. In these days of ferocious anti Russian feelings which I try to avoid listening to, I keep my mind away in my many happy remembrances of Russian music I really adore: mainly Tchaikovsky's operas I have had the pleasure to discover in my active life time.
"Iolanta " motivated my trip to the Liceu in January 2013 for a concert version with a prestigious Russian cast from the Mariinsky Theatre
the symphony orchestra under Valery Gergiev's direction, Anna Netrebko being the young blind princess Iolanta, and the young tenor Sergei Skorokhodov being Count Vaudemont.That was a "dream" team, vocal and visual, during the famous duet at the end of this one act last Tchaikovsky's opera.
but the fairy tale did not finish that night at the curtain endless calls..
I finished the evening across the Ramblas at the Café de l'Opéra opposite the Licéu for a drink as often to sort of cool down the intense emotions of the opera... and then came Sergei Skorokhodov for a drink! We clapped and cheered his entrance and he soon joined us...English was our common language which led us to familiar talks so to speak... soon we knew it was his birthday and he was getting married( or just married, I cannot recall)then he was going to sing at Glyndbourne Festival for the first time, and was concerned about lodgings, which made me chat about Lewes where he could find fine lodgings as there is easy train links and shuttles to Glyndbourne during the Festival. Then he showed us this video on his smartphone, introducing his beloved prima ballerina and I was so moved because that was a gift for his beloved...I do not know the Happy end about this Fairy tale but I was moved to tears when I found this video ...Sergei has such a sweet voice and fresh charming smile in my memory that night at the Liceu. and at the Café.. Anna Netrebko was dazzling too at his side on stage... and this "Con Te partiro " sounds like a legend!
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Ciao Yvette! My apologies for having not visited for so long. I'm so glad to see you are still posting and enjoying wonderful performances on the continent!
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard of Sergei Skorokhodov before (having sort of gone back to my orchestral music background rather than opera the last few years). What lovely voice and pleasant disposition he has! Thanks so much for the introduction! Is that ballerina in the video his real life beloved?
We are finally cooling down from the first heatwave of summer. So at least the weather is being nice. I am looking forward to the weekend.... hopefully with a couple of good bike rides in the plan (San Diego is changing at quite a pace, which makes it fun to re-explore all the neighborhoods every so often). Sending you and yours all the best of wishes from the US west coast!
What a wonderful post after that drastic Covid period we all went through ! Yes this Russian tenor was just maried to this wonderful ballerina! and it is such a joyful souvenir that after opera moment shared in Barcelona ! I am glad you discovered his voice ! he was so open minded and good fun I did visit your site for Vesselina and your news, it is good you are also well and keeping cycling ! here we are aging of course ! I am very lazy about writing because I almost stopped going to live performances... I am just starting to go out but life has changed a lot here...less common transport offered by train but still we can manage ! My best wishes for the Summer and many thanks for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteAh, I have been very lazy about updating the blogs, too! Our concert and live performance scenes are just about back to normal now, though the opera is rather hard to get to by bike or public transport from where I live now. We do have an outdoor concert spot nearby at Moonlight Amphitheater in Vista, but they do mostly Broadway musicals and they are really loudly amplified (my ears take a while to recover every time I go).
DeleteVesselina has become pretty active with her own Facebook page! :) I think she also does Instagram as well, so I haven't been updating her schedule page on my blog as often as I should. She is doing a lot of masterclasses... passing her arts onto the next generations!
Here in San Diego there is a push for more train and bus service lately, which I welcome very much. It's one upside from the current price of gasoline (along with a lot of people shifting from driving to riding electric bikes to get around). I was very jealous when I read that Germany had made commuting by trains and buses very cheap. Here the public transports aren't as connected but the price keeps going up.
Best wishes to you for the summer, as well! May the weather be kind, and hope there are more lovely concerts and outings in your future!