Having found no better way to celebrate his 31st birthday, Parsi flew for an express-trip to La Ciutat Comtal. A lot of things have changed in Barcelona during the last years but one thing is still a standard. El Gran Teatre del Liceu is most probably the best theatre in Europe (OK, together with the ROH). I had the same impression back then (no dates and years to be mentioned, birthdays are killing me), and after my two-night Liceu-excursion I still have it.
Night 1, and my first encounter with René Pape, a most expected one-especially ever since he stated in an interview that he won't be singing for very long. Mendelssohn's Elijah (Elias actually, as it was performed in the German edition) is not my favourite oratorio. As a matter of fact oratorios are not my thing. Hence I really couldn't tell if the sense of boredom I had during the performance was a result of travelling, of the lack of rest or/and of working like a slave during the whole week. But then I suppose that the people around me that were sleeping sound (and I saw quite a few) must have had the same killer-week.
The huge coro of the Liceu that had flooded the stage created a massive sound that could not leave you untouched, however the impressive sound would be drowned by their poor co-ordination. All soloists, Camilla Tilling, Katarina Karnéus, Werner Güra and René Pape, did some very high-level singing but nothing to rave about. Oh, and René Pape does possess an indescribable star-quality as he would lock everyone´s gaze everytime he stood in front of his music stand, but he looked and sounded totally bored.
The audience was exemplary, no coughing, no cell-phones, no talking, no humming. Most probably because everybody had fallen asleep.
The torrential rain that had started about an hour before the performance was still flooding Las Ramblas and it was time to grab a cab and head to la Barceloneta for some serious shell-food eating, cava and birthday wishes.
Night 1, and my first encounter with René Pape, a most expected one-especially ever since he stated in an interview that he won't be singing for very long. Mendelssohn's Elijah (Elias actually, as it was performed in the German edition) is not my favourite oratorio. As a matter of fact oratorios are not my thing. Hence I really couldn't tell if the sense of boredom I had during the performance was a result of travelling, of the lack of rest or/and of working like a slave during the whole week. But then I suppose that the people around me that were sleeping sound (and I saw quite a few) must have had the same killer-week.
The huge coro of the Liceu that had flooded the stage created a massive sound that could not leave you untouched, however the impressive sound would be drowned by their poor co-ordination. All soloists, Camilla Tilling, Katarina Karnéus, Werner Güra and René Pape, did some very high-level singing but nothing to rave about. Oh, and René Pape does possess an indescribable star-quality as he would lock everyone´s gaze everytime he stood in front of his music stand, but he looked and sounded totally bored.
The audience was exemplary, no coughing, no cell-phones, no talking, no humming. Most probably because everybody had fallen asleep.
The torrential rain that had started about an hour before the performance was still flooding Las Ramblas and it was time to grab a cab and head to la Barceloneta for some serious shell-food eating, cava and birthday wishes.
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2 comments:
Μα απορώ εσύ ένας extreme operophile τι δουλειά είχες σε ένα τέτοιο ορατόριο.
Ομολογουμένως τα έργα αυτά του Mendelssohn είναι αρκετά δύσκολα να τα παρακολουθήσεις παρότι εξαιρετικά. Ο λόγος, κατ' εμέ, είναι ότι ο Mendelssohn τόσο στον Ηλία όσο και στον Παύλο (τα 2 ορατόρια του) κοιτούσε πίσω στον Bach, στις καντάτες και τα ορατόρια του μέσα από τον εκρομαντισμό της εποχής. Οπότε δεν είχαν τίποτα σχεδόν από τα πιο αποδεκτά του Haydn (Εποχές, Δημιουργία) ή τα οπερετικά και πιο εγκόσμια ορατόρια του Handel.
Ως έργα όμως, απαιτούν τους καλύτερους συντελεστές (φωνές και ορχήστρα-μάεστρο), στην καλύτερη τους φόρμα και το κυριότερο πλήρη αφοσίωση. Δύσκολο να επιτευχθεί και οφείλω να ομολογήσω οτί απο τις ερμηνείες που άκουσα, η καλύτερη ήταν Ανατολικόγερμανικής προέλευσης (την εποχή της υπερκουλτούρας) και δεν θυμάμαι συντελέστές. Ούτε του Terfel δεν "έπιασε" παρότι ο ίδιος Terfel φωνάρα και την Fleming σε μερικές καλές στιγμές (όχι όλες)
Νομίζω οτι ειναι σχετικά σαφές από το κείμενάκι οτι ο κύριος λόγος που βρέθηκα εκεί ήταν για να ακούσω τον Pape. Το έργο το ήξερα ελάχιστα έχοντας ακούσει και κατέχοντας μόνο την ηχογράφηση με Τέρφελ και Φλέμινγκ κ είχα τους ενδοιασμούς μου ειδικά όταν διάβασα σε ισπανικά μπλογκς οτι η πρώτη παράσταση ήταν υπερβαρετή (η δεύτερη ήταν καλύτερη φαντάσου). Δεν το μετάνιωσα ούτε στιγμή, αλλά πήγα με 3 ώρες ύπνο κ το μυαλό μου ήταν περισσότερο στο τί γινόταν έξω από το θέατρο παρά μέσα σ' αυτό. (μου συμβαίνει κ αυτό, αλλά μόνο στη Βαρκελώνη :).
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