The third performance of Turandot took place tonight
(and i went back to the crime scene)
As i had already watched opening night, i didn't pay much attention to the stage direction and focused mainly on the voices.
Janice Baird encountered some problems during In Questa Reggia but she was sensational in the Riddle Scene and the final duet. She also seemed a lot more relaxed, and her acting was dynamic & imperial.
Franco Farina managed to erase most of the bad impression he had caused to me on opening night. If then i wrote about ugly sounds, terrible high notes, and missing consonants, tonight i heard a world-class Calaf with beautiful pianissimi, a ringing upper register (and some coronas that lasted an eternity). Still, i didn't particularly like his "Nessun Dorma" but it was a lot better than on the premier and all consonants were there!
Elena Kelessidi gave her all! and delivered an amazing Liú. Her "Tu, che di gel sei cinta" brought tears to many eyes and her pianissimi and crescendi were breathtaking.
I think that the cast would do miracles if it had the support of the maestro and strongly believe that Karytinos' direction is disrespectful towards Puccini's masterpiece. Once again the tempi sucked (and this is the most academic word i can use) and there were times i couldn't recognize Puccini's music. One of the most beautiful-to-die-for parts of the opera, the Act1 finale, sounded terrible, the orchestra played as if it's members were blindfolded and there was no maestro to take this noise and transform it into one of the most glorious ensembles in opera history.
All fotos © Akriviadis
Soundclips!
(if inaudible with Firefox try Explorer)
In Questa Reggia
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Straniero, ascolta!
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Tre enigmi m' hai proposto
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Principessa di Morte
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Che é mai di me
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Padre Augusto, conosco il nome dello Straniero!
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Enjoy!
6 comments:
Ο Λουκάς δεν σώζεται με τίποτα έτσι?
por lo menos no desgastaste una noche en la opera jajjajaa me alegro que cantase mucho mejor!
Baird's In questa reggia sounds suberb, where did she have troubles?
Listen to the way she reaches the high notes. Especially at the beginning of the aria and at the very end.
Yes!!!! Secure and spectacular! Like a modern Birgit Nilsson.
Mmmmm...yeaaah....ok. whatever.
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