parsifal's

Das Experiment: La Bohème at the GNO

2010-04-29T01:05:00.002+02:00

Mata Katsuli as Mimi

Convincing 12 colleagues to follow me on a Night at the Opera was easier than I thought. A message with 18 recipients led to 12 positive RSVP. A couple of them would even join us with their boyfriends/girlfriends.

The choice of the opera was not random: I always considered Puccini's masterpiece a great introduction to the world of opera, I had watched Graham Vick's modern mise-en-scène a couple of years ago and loved it and I was thinking that even if it wouldn't impress them, they would certainly identify more with this one than with a typical Boheme with top hats and crinolines. In order to avoid disappointments I had already warned them that they should not expect a typical staging .

On the other hand, I wanted them to watch a fresh and young cast with great voices thus from the beginning I organized our little excursion around Sebastian Guéze who would sing Rodolfo and Mata Katsuli who would be our Mimí. Unfortunately, Guéze's participation was cancelled due to financial reasons (the Greek National Opera goes through the worst period of its history as the debt has reached 14 million euros) and after my original frustration, I dealt with the fact that Greek tenor Yannis Christopoulos would be our Rodolfo.

Yannis Christopoulos and Mata Katsuli

I must admit that my colleagues surprised me positively: they were extremely well behaved, no chatting, no texting, no coughing - instead they looked very absorbed to what they were watching.

Vick's direction is simple, fresh, modern, dynamic, insired by his night walks in Athens - ideal for an athenian newcomer to the Opera. Ideal seemed to be the cast as well: Mata Katsuli was a sensational Mimí, Yannis Christopoulos was a well-sung Rodolfo (even if his constant use of forte and the lack of mezza voce was tiring), Kyros Patsalides was an excellent Marcello, Lukia Spanaki impressed as Musetta, Tasos Apostolou could make rocks move with his "Vecchia Zimarra" and Haris Andrianos was an ideal, hyper-energetic, hilarious Schaunard.

Curtain Calls:

After the performance I avoided to ask my friends for their impressions, I knew I would have time to do it once the experience had settled in them. However I was deeply moved when a colleague hugged me and said "I'm in shock, I have been having goosebumps for over 2 hours, I didn't expect that I would love it so much...".

Kyros Patsalides as Marcello

Lukia Spanaki as Musetta

Haris Adrianos as Schaunard

~.~

2 days later, I randomly picked 4 of my colleagues that attended the event and asked them to write within just a sentence what they liked most and what they liked least.

The Verdict:

1) Female, in her 30's

Most: The tall bearded guy (*bass Tasos Apostolou*)
Least: His Birkenstocks

(The tall guy and his Birkenstocks)

2) Male, 30

Most: the magic on stage and the music
Least: Parts of the subtitles were at times hard to follow

3) Female, 28

Most: I loved the whole experience
Least: I found Rodolfo's attitude a bit weird during Act IV as it was discontinous to what had happened previously on stage (*in Vick's direction, Rodolfo stays away from Mimi during Act IV, no hugging, no kissing, no consolation, Rodolfo falls on his knees only to embrace Mimi's dead body*)

4) Female, 30

Most: the voices and the music
Least: the sets and my impression that the physical appearance of some singers did not match their character (*ha! she hasn't seen Caballé singing Salome*)

Obviously the looks DO matter (if there was a doubt). Hopefully there will be a sequel to this experiment and my friends will return to the Opera - with or without my involvement. Definitely it was a wonderful evening. Undoubtely the Greek National Opera deserves a future.

José Cura in Athens: Le lacrime che noi versiam son false?

2010-04-25T15:46:00.000+02:00

Athens Megaron, 17 April 2010

José Cura's Recital was the blockbuster-surprise of 2010. Tickets had sold-out a week in advance and the demand was still very high till the very last minute.

This wasn't Cura's first time in Athens: His Radamés in May 2001 had fascinated the Greek audience and his 2002 recital was a blust too. On top of that, Cura had been invited to sing in July 2004 on the frontier island of Inousses as part of the festivities for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.

The argentinian tenor was back to Athens for a recital that took place at the Athens Megaron on April 17, a recital that spread more light to Cura-the artist than Cura-the singer.

One doesn't have to be following Cura's career to understand what is obvious: Cura constantly resorts to manierisms that render his singing uneven. His accuti can make you nervous only by watching the tenor execute them - the way he rides the passaggio and passes the voice to the head, pushing, pushing and pushing, creating so much pressure in his skull that a high note above A, maintained for a bit more than a few nanoseconds could lead to an explosion.

Certainly he knows his flaws and can by-pass them artfully or use them in order to serve the drama. But after a 90-minutes recital, and after having sung this way, Cura comes on stage and sings a Nessun Dorma that leaves you breathless -round, sustained high notes included- and thinking "But if he CAN do it like this, why doesn't he?".

Just like during the 2003 recital at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Cura played hide-and-seek with the audience, making his entrance from between the audience while singing Tonio's "Si puó? from I Pagliacci - á la Del Monaco. His "Vesti la giubba" that followed gave me the goosebumps, same for Otello's "Dio, mi potevi scagliar" and "Niun mi tema".

During Part II, Puccini was the composer of honour and his music seemed to be fitting Cura like a glove: Mario, Dick Johnson, Pinkerton, sung with passion (especially Dick) and in the most dramatic fashion though without ever overcoming his upper register problems.

Cura's companion in this journey was the young, Greek mezzo-soprano Katerina Roussou. Roussou, still a student of vocal arts in Ljubljana, displays an interesting instrument, a natural voice that better served Carmen's Seguidille than the unfortunate Angelina that I found to be too risky a choice for the warm-up. Cherubino's "Non so piú..." during the encores, verified that the vocal material exists but it's still immature and there's a long way to go.

What stroke me the most was Cura-the entertainer: he monkeyed around the orchestra, sang from all possible spots in the Hall, flirted with the -usually capricious and grumpy- (female) concertmaster, he joked with the audience, the organisers, even the President of the Hellenic Republic that was present (may we remind that the Greek President is an honorary citizen of Milan and a frequent visitor of the palco reale of La Scala), and displayed excellent communication skills.

The audience liked him but didn't surrender. During the first part, the applause was lukewarm, nobody seemed to be excited during intermission, and only during the second part did the audience show some excitement (not half the excitement the audience showed during the Garanca or the Flórez concerts just to mention some recent ones).

Kudos to the National Symphony Orchestra of ERT that played unexpectedly well -for a change- especially Puccini's La Tregenda from Le Villi, and seemed to enjoy the collaboration with maestro Mario de Rose.

Backstage, a long queue waited for an autograph and a photo with José Cura who didn´t let down his fans.

Breaking: Garanca cancels ALL the Vienna Carmen

2010-04-23T19:27:00.001+02:00

And while at the Athens Megaron,
I receive these lousy, lousy, LOUSY news!

The cancellitis goes on...

Ps. Sorry, I don't know how this will look, first time I'm posting from my BB

Grossmächtige Mutter!

2010-04-22T22:13:00.005+02:00

We hear that Diana Damrau is pregnant

and that her baby will be coming to this world
within Autumn 2010

~(and you read it here first!)~

Many, MANY, m-a-n-y Wishes
for the Ab-Fab Diana and her baby!

Lost Paradises: Jordi Savall in his first ever appearance in Athens

2010-04-20T22:38:00.003+02:00

Athens, 11 April 2010

Jordi Savall and Montserrat Figueras gave a stunning concert in Athens just a few days ago. Parsi asked D.T., a young student of old music and a die-hard Savall fan to share a few thoughts.

"When I was a high school student, while discussing my likes and dislikes in music and the sounds of instruments in general, our young music teacher (K.K), took out a piece of paper and wrote down a few unknown to me words: viola da gamba and theorbe. ''Search for them, and watch the film ''Tous les matins du monde''. '

'This is MY music, this is me'', I said after listening to the amazing soundtrack by Jordi Savall. Marais, Saint Colombe, Lully became my favourites and I felt so blessed for discovering early music.

Jordi Savall became an inspiration and thereafter I took the decision to study renaissance lute (something very difficult and rare in Greece, as many musicians (and not only those) ignore and depreciate this kind of music as something ''easy'').

Then came the second love: the traditional, folk, ethnic medieval and renaissance music, not the music of the royal courts that we are used to. And again Jordi Savall: Spanish music, Hebrew, Arabic etc. (check the ''Jerusalem'' and ''Istanbul'' CDs ).

This music fusion was synthesized in ''Paraisos Perdidos''(Lost Paradises), music of the nations living in Andalucía during Christopher Colombus' voyages.

The Athens Megaron on the 11th of April was full of excited people, eager to see/hear the Spanish viol player and conductor , his wife soprano Montserrat Figueras, the ensembles Hespèrion XXI, La Capella Reial de Catalunya and the two great narrators.

Montserrat Figueras performed songs full of sensitivity, so ''simple'' but so beautiful... sounds so familiar to the Greek people because of the common eastern base in music.

It was such a huge event for early music in Greece, and so important for the musicians to attend something different than opera and piano concerts over and over again.

After the concert the artists welcomed all their fans with a big smile, ready to listen carefully to all comments contrary to other ''divas'' that just ignore their public."

Not much to be added. This was indeed a night to remember: Savall, Figueras et alia created a musical universe in which we lost ourselves for nearly 2 hours, in a virtual trip to the Lost Paradises and the Sefarad, to the lands of our ancestors, from Izmir to Gibraltar, from the time of the expulsión de los judíos no convertidos (the expulsion of the sephardis) circa 1492 till today.

The alive music of distant eras, remembered by the memory of our history, can be transformed to the soul of a revitalized critic and humanistic vision of our origins and maybe even help to liberate ourselves from a certain cultural amnesia, particularly serious in what concerns our music. Only this way, regaining and revitalizing our old musical heritage, like we do when we approach history and our past from another perspective, will we be able to imagine and build in a better way the memory of the future.

Jordi Savall, Summer of 2006

Let the cancellitis begin!

2010-04-19T23:00:00.007+02:00

Mariss Jansons has withdrawn from all the performances of the Vienna Carmen due to an illness that will keep him away from the podium for 2 or 3 months.

Jansons, aged 67, suffered a heart attack back in 1996 while conducting La Bohème. The May the 3rd Carmen would mean his debut at the Wiener Staatsoper.

Let´s hope this is the first and last cancellation of this much awaited production.

Update!

Mariss Jansons has been replaced by his compatriot Andris Nelsons

L'amour est un oiseau (très) cher

2010-04-12T22:22:00.008+02:00

Guess which is the hottest ticket
of the Season.

With prices going up to 1.300 euros per ticket on eBay,
the run of Carmen at the Wiener Staatsoper in May '10
is definitely hawt hawt hawt.

will broadcast the performance of the 15th of May
in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and guess what...
Parsi will be there and you won't.

Happy Birthday Montse!

2010-04-12T01:30:00.003+02:00

Born April the 12th 1933,
Montserrat Concepción Bibiana Caballé i Folch,
or else our Montse, will celebrate today her 77th Birthday!

Happy Birthday Montsita!

Pink Floyd + The Teatro alla Scala Ballet in Athens

2010-04-10T03:21:00.009+02:00

It all started at the end of the 60's when Roland Petit was urged by his daughter to listen to a Pink Floyd LP. Petit loved the music and flew to London in order to dine with the band and propose them the creation of a Ballet. The group was so thrilled that they even suggested to play live. The Floyd performed a handful of concerts accompanying the Roland Petit Ballet (Marseille, 22-26 November 1972, 13-14 January and 3-4 February 1973 and 15– 28 January 1973).

Roland Petit on how it started

The 1972 debut in Marseille famously united academic dance with live music by Pink Floyd. This true rock ballet could only have been imagined by Roland Petit’s open mind, which translated the energy of the music in a kaleidoscopic flooding of light and laser effects. Over time the four initial movements have developed and in its more elaborate structure the ballet has been performed the world over.

The Ballet consists of 18 sections using 12 pieces from the albums "The Wall," "The Dark Side of the Moon," "Meddle," "Relics", "Obscured by Clouds," and "Is Anybody Out There?"

Last seen at La Scala in June/July 2009, the Pink Floyd Ballet, featured no others than étoiles Svetlana Zakharova and Massimo Murru. The athenian reprise will take place at the Athens Megaron for just 4 performances between 12 and 15 April 2010.
Very few tickets left (if any).

Opera in Greece: who cares, really.

2010-04-06T20:49:00.010+02:00

In an article that carries the title “Given the crisis we will have to see if we maintain the Opera or not” Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia, presents a portrait of Greek Minister of Culture and Tourism, Pavlos Geroulanos.

Geroulanos, an economist who studied at the MIT and Harvard, spoke to journalist Justo Barranco about piracy, the Marbles and opera and made it quite clear that he's got absolutely no idea of what he's talking about...

¿Sufren cortes con la crisis?

Grandes, pero tenemos objetivos muy claros y canalizamos el dinero desde las áreas más ineficientes. Ahora tenemos un problema con la ópera y en los próximos días hemos de decidir si la mantenemos o no. Buscamos el modo de salvarla, queremos mantenerla abierta, pero se ha salido tanto del presupuesto que hay problema para hallar fondos e implica un enorme sacrificio. En cambio, el nuevo museo de la Acrópolis ha abierto una nueva manera de ver los museos en Grecia. Antes eran estáticos y éste es parte del estilo de vida de Atenas. Paseos, turismo, compras. Su éxito permite pensar con libertad en el patrimonio como algo no sólo a proteger sino a desarrollar.

Have you suffered abridgement of expenses given the crisis?

Many, but we have very clear objectives and we channel the money from the more inefficient areas. Right now we are dealing with a problem with the Opera and within the next days we will have to decide if we maintain it open or not. We are looking for a way to save it, we want to keep it open, but it has strayed from its budget to such extent that there is difficulty to find the funds and it involves an enormous sacrifice. On the other hand [????!!!!] the new Acropolis Museum has opened a new way of perceiving the museums in Greece. In the past they were static and this is part of the life-style of Athens. Walks, tourism, shopping. The Museum's success permits us to think of the heritage not as something to protect but as something to develop.

Full interview can be found on the Sunday the 4th of April edition of La Vanguardia.

Angels, ever bright and fair: Theodora at the Athens Megaron

2010-04-01T22:01:00.007+02:00

By DerWanderer

On March 13, at the Trianti Hall of the Athens Megaron, we had the opportunity of enjoying a single performance of Handel’s well known but quite rarely presented oratorio “Theodora” (HWV 68), in a semi/fully (!) staged production, directed by Paris Mexis and conducted by Greece’s new wunderkind George Petrou and his fine and acclaimed equipe of singers.

Mo. Petrou was not conducting “his” Orchestra of Patras, but Megaron’s own “Camerata”, in one of its first attempts to play period instruments (and it seems that this good ensemble will continue to invest in this direction).

The event had created high expectations, especially after the Petrou-Antonacci-Kunde triumphant performances of Gluck’s Alceste in October 2009 and the new and truly impressive recording of Giulio Cesare that MDG has recently released to international acclaim.

For the occasion, Petrou has asked 3 of the singers of this recording to tackle the 3 principal parts of Theodora:
Italian soprano Emanuela Galli, Swedish mezzo Kristina Hammarström (listen to Hammarström in "Quel torrente che cade" from the Cesare recording) and Greek mezzo Irini Karaianni took up the parts of christian martyr Theodora, her lover, the brave Didymus, and Theodora’s companion Irene respectively. The cast also included tenor Jason Darnell as the passive Septimius and baritone Yannis Yanissis as the cruel roman governor Valens. The Mixed Municipal Chorus of Athens, under the direction of Stavros Beris, took up the choral parts.

To be honest, the oratorio, although much appreciated by expert Haendelians, is not one of my favourites, although its english libretto’s plot (the story of an antiochian christian aristocratic girl who, because of her faith, is condemned to serve as a prostitute in the army barracks of the cruel governor and who is joined in martyrdom by her, equally christian, lover, the soldier Didymus) is quite interesting and not as religious as one might expect. The characters, although as stereotyped as baroque conventions command, are remarkably etched, the many arias and the few duets and choruses have variety and pathos of operatic nature and the music is consistently inspiring, if not consistently overwhelming.

We have been told that the production, as the whole country indeed, had suffered very severe budget limitations. This is the reason that keeps me from deriding completely the mise en scène, uninspired, poorly made and quite ridiculous in conception and effects. I am certainly NOT asking for “traditional” approaches, but to be honest, I can’t help laughing when I see the christian bigot Theodora in a silky negligée and a breathtaking black collant, in her cell, waiting to be raped by the whole guard, while her friends are dressed as balkanic housemaids and the roman soldiers in full dinner jacket, using, instead of swords, their ...podiums as weapons. Passons. Suffice to say that the visual aspect, including the puerile projections on a screen, was NOT as intrusive as to prevent us from fully enjoying the musical treasures of the night. And there were many.

The leading female trio was, to put it mildly, EXCELLENT AND ADMIRABLE, throughout. I will not highlight this or that, her or her: all three have voices, techniques, trills and dramatic instincts to please even the most demanding listener and they were, truly, members of an obviously well trained and inspiring ensemble. It was obvious that Petrou and his team are HARD workers and the triumphs and prizes they collect worldwide are not stolen. The men were not really on the same level, although Darnell’s Septimius was touching and quite accurate and Yanissis, lacking a truly convincing voice in this repertoire, had the cruelty and the fugue that his part was asking from him.

Petrou’s conducting, as always, was sharp, to the point, inspiring and coherent, especially in the more serene and ecstatic parts. The dramatic impetus of his execution left nothing unvarnished or sketchy. Unfortunately, same can’t be said of the Orchestra's skills: Was it the “novelty” of the period instrument use? Was it the lack of rehearsals? Especially in the first part, before the first intermission, they often sounded untuned, with unpleasant sounds coming from the winds, lacking in precision and concentration. Very luckily, the progress made during the performance was audible and they ended the performance much better than they had started it. I can’t praise them enough for the courageous risk (the period instrument tournant) they are ready to take and I am pretty sure that, under Petrou’s expert command, they can improve greatly. We are eagerly anticipating their next collaboration, for the Athens Festival where they are to stun us with the very rare Haydn’s “L' Isola Disabitata”, on June the 15th (soloists to be announced later).

All in all, a very enjoyable night, with 3 exquisite singers in full bloom and handelian glory and a genial maestro in full command. Had the orchestra been better and had the stage direction been less puerile (but let’s not forget that there wasn’t much money available) this single (WHY single? The house was full and the audience more than happy!) performance could have been truly unforgettable.

The Budapest Festival Orchestra and Iván Fischer work miracles in Athens

2010-03-29T23:18:00.001+02:00

This will arguably be one of the Highlights of the Athens 2010 concert season.
The Budapest Festival Orchestra,
the Chorus of the Greek Radio/Television
and 4 gifted singers
all under the inspired baton of Iván Fischer
offered a very satisfying reading of Beethoven's 6th and an electrifying 9th.

Myrtó Papatanasiu

The concert that sold-out within the first few hours of sale (many invitations were given to sponsors though) had created high expectations and quite a queue of people begging for a ticket outside the Athens Megaron prior to the concert.

And while music-lovers were left outside waiting for tickets, more than 100 seats were left empty by the sponsors who had obviously better things to do.

Kelley O'Connor and Kristinn Sigmundsson

Beethoven's 9th meant the return to Athens of Greek soprano Myrtó Papatanasiu after a long period of absence from homeland and the debut of mezzo-soprano Kelley O' Connor (who has recorded the 9th for DG under Franz Welser-Möst), tenor Jorma Silvasti (who we love since his fantastic Laca in Janáček's Jenufa a few years ago in Vienna - a role he has also sung at the ROH and the Met) and bass Kristinn Sigmundsson.

Jorma Silvasti

And even if all 4 soloists were truly remarkable, it was Fischer, the menace, who should receive the highest of praises for this memorable experience – a brilliant reading of this colossal work, not in terms of cheap pyrotechnics and show-off but having in mind a pop approach of the masterpiece, as pop as Beethoven, as pop as his 9th: with the virtues of a rock-star, Fischer whipped up the audience’s enthusiasm who compensated the maestro and his fab orchestra with a thunderous applause.

Myrtó Papatanasiu and her fan club - backstage:

~.~

Myrtó Papatanasiu wearing Alberta Ferretti
and posing for parsifal's
~.~

Eternal Edita

2010-03-27T21:04:00.002+02:00

Gruberova's 40th stage jubilee, Vienna January 2010

Guess who

2010-03-27T11:59:00.004+02:00

It's like the Pantheon of Opera in a sole pic.
They're 15. Can you get 'em all?

Bieito's Parsifal in Stuttgart: the pix!

2010-03-26T21:30:00.006+02:00

I, as the fool Parsifal in a drug induced state, became a suckling infant. (.)(.)

All pics (C) Martin Sigmund for the Staatsoper Stuttgart

And some more...

The castle of Monsalvat will never be the same again: Bieito's Parsifal in Stuttgart

2010-03-25T23:51:00.007+02:00

Till today, this was the only photo that had been given to the media, shot during rehearsals for the new staging of PARSIFAL, directed by catalan bad boy of opera Calixto Bieito. Rumours have been spreading during the last few weeks about how Bieito would handle Wagner's Bühnenweihfestspiel:

For Bieito, Wagner’s libretto shows obsessed characters, which are exposed to manipulation through guilt and harm– there is no possibility of salvation in afterlife. Love and trust in this life alone can convey security and confidence. In that way one gains responsibility and respect for one’s environment and one’s own life. Parsifal becomes aware of his responsibility during the stages of his “aventure”. “In the end”, Bieito says, “the light will come from within ourselves”.

Inspired by the novel “The Road” by American author Cormac McCarthy, Bieito’s Parsifal is confronted with the remains of civilisation. The protagonists in the novel, father and son, wander through post-apocalyptic, deserted and desolate America. Accordingly, Bieito sees Parsifal set in an apocalyptic scenery. Stage designer Susanne Gschwender creates a destroyed landscape covered by ash, where a ruined motorway bridge is the only evidence of a bygone civilisation. Mercè Paloma provides the characters with an existential basic outfit: Protection from heat, cold and pollution.

A few more hints were already given by tenor Andrew Richards, singing Parsifal, at his own blog:

There is a brutality to the regie that I find somehow exciting in Act One. Milling is masterful in keeping his musical lines flowing all the while beating someone to death. Not an easy thing to accomplish, brutality juxtaposed with musical serenity.
~.~

Dear Mom, Your son managed to make it thru the staging rehearsal of the "Love" Duet scene of Parsifal Act 2 without public nudity. Shirt's off, but pants stay on. Thought you'd like to know....

Much love, Andy
p.s. Of course, we're only half way thru the scene....
~.~

Nothing whatsoever shocking or controversial happened today. Except the part where I, as the fool Parsifal in a drug induced state, became a suckling infant. (.)(.)

~.~

I keep getting people emailing me about the Blumenmädchen scene. Hmmmmm.....how do I put this? Let your imagination go wild...it won't disappoint the Bieito fans.
~.~

I hope to champion that moment as well with the time I'm putting in on the treadmill (very hard to get my butt to the gym though when I'm feeling near dead at the end of a rehearsal).
~.~

Apparently, Andrew Richards got his butt to the gym several times after rehearsal:

***NSFW***

-exclusively at parsifal's-
(click to enlarge)

And if you think this's just it, here's what maestro Manfred Honeck said of Andrew Richard's Parsifal:

"With his dramatic voice he will be the Parsifal of the next ten years internationally"

Parsifal at the Staatsoper Stuttgart opens on March the 28th. All performances are sold-out.

Interpreting the title role, Andrew Richards makes his debut in Stuttgart. American baritone Gregg Baker sings Amfortas. Stephen Milling and Johann Tilli sing Gurnemanz. Christiane Iven sings Kundry, Claudio Otelli is Klingsor and Matthias Hölle is Titurel.

My Kingdom for a high E

2010-03-25T13:16:00.004+02:00

Listen to Marlis Petersen 8 days after the premiere,
singing Ophélie´s Mad Scene
(A vos jeux, mes amis)
24th March 2010
(in crystal-clear sound)

and downloadable here

All photos (C) Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera

100: Una voce per tre generazioni

2010-03-25T10:46:00.005+02:00

Legendary soprano Magda Olivero (born in Saluzzo, March 25, 1910) turns 100 years old today and will be celebrating her birthday at Solda, province of Bolzano.

Hopefully Italy will not only remember the birthday of Mina - another legendary pop singer, a national star of Italy- who today turns 70!

Listen to Magda Olivero singing some of the most sigificant roles of her career:

Liú in 1938

Violetta in 1939

Isolde (or rather Isotta) in 1958

Maddalena de Coigny in 1958

Wally in 1958

Adriana Lecouvreur in 1959 (listen to the ovation!)

Adriana (Giusto Cielo!) in 1959 - OMG!

Magda, 99 years and 360 days old:

And Happy 70th Birthday to Mina,
here with Adriano Celentano in one of my favourite ones ;)

New Callas footage?! OMG!

2010-03-24T08:54:00.009+02:00

Snapshots from the rare footage

Abso-friggin-lutely fantastic!

Who owns that? Somebody show him the $$$!!
Callas singing Casta Diva and Mi chiamano Mimí!

(Film was on ebay and seems that nobody bid? Reallyyy??)

Check the video here

Athens Festival 2010 - the program

2010-03-22T22:02:00.021+02:00

In a press-conference that took place earlier today in Athens, the Director of the Athens Festival, George Loukos, announced the program of the 2010 Athens Festival.

And while a couple of years ago, the variety and quantity of the scheduled productions and the opera/classical music performances for 2010 would only cause nagging and grouching, this time, and as Greece is goin' through one of the toughest financial situations of the last years, and with the Greek National Opera cancelling half its production for the 2009/10 Season due to a debt of 13 million €, plus the turbulance at the Megaron of Thessaloniki (the Artistic Director withdrew due to lack of public funding), performing-arts lovers in Greece sighed with relief with today's announcements.

Here's a selection of what I consider unmissable:

Classical music / opera

~Dudi!~

Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra will bring some El Sistema awesomeness to Athens on June the 23rd.

~.~

Haydn/Petrou - L'isola disabitata
Haydn's opera in a concert version under maestro George Petrou, June the 15th

William Christie - Trisha Brown, The Rameau Project

As we read on Trisha Brown Company's website, the Rameau Project will take place at the Athens Megaron on June 25 & 27 & 28 and will feature Brown's "L' Amour au theátre" and Rameau's Pygmalion (about to premiere in Amsterdam, a few days before the Athens performances)

"These performances will feature Trisha Brown's newest work, set to Jean-Philippe Rameau's "Pygmalion," along with "L'Amour au theatre TBDC dancers will be accompanied by Les Art Florissants, conducted by the renowned William Christie."

~.~

The Mahler Chamber Orchestra
with Fazil Say
under maestro Constantinos Carydis on July the 14th
(who we will be listening also in the ROH Carmen in June)

~.~

The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra...

...under Danielle Gatti on June the 30th
(playing Wagner's Siegfried Idyll and Mahler's 5th as they will be doing a few days earlier at the Concertgebouw)

A production of Bellini's NORMA in a mise-en-scène of Yannis Kokkos and with Dimitra Theodossiou is still uncertain.
~.~

Theatre

The most promising and expected productions seem to be:

Krzysztof Warlikowski's directing "Un Tramway", an adaptation of Tennessee William's A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE currently playing at the Parisian Odéon starring Isabelle Hupert and on which we read:

Warlikowski’s brutal first 20 minutes seem designed to burn all of Hollywood’s mid-century realism off of the mental retina. He opens by placing the deranged Southern belle Blanche (Isabelle Huppert) on a stool in her underwear, groaning and convulsing like a junkie, while spitting her lines into a microphone and twisting her whole body into ghastly spasms.

She delivers the famous “they told me to take a streetcar named Desire” monologue as if she’s on the verge of vomiting, paralyzed in a hideous limbo, enclosed within a huge glass-and-steel box, stylized out of reality and, at the same time, made revoltingly physical. It’s awful for the first few minutes, then strangely enthralling. It wipes the palette clean of any Streetcar you might have imagined (and you wouldn’t be the only one: originally called Un Tramway nommé désir, the play’s title has been changed to Un Tramway after the Tennessee Williams Estate refused to allow Warlikowski to use the full title for his version).

The staging packs a punch. The adapted text has far less impact. Warlikowski awkwardly incorporates a vein of Greek tragedy, an eclectic set of fragments from Flaubert to Coluche and songs from Pulp to Renaissance courtly chant. Sung by Renate Jett as chorus/onlooker, these break up the already fragmented action and add to the general feeling of sterility and abstraction. The last interminable song tried the audience’s patience to the limits. “Have pity!” called one spectator

I Can't Wait!

~.~

The Schaubühne + Thomas Ostermeier

The Schaubühne visits Greece once again with a double bill: Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkmann and Othello, in a world premiere for the Ancient Theatre of the Epidaurus.
24-27 June (JG Borkmann) / 6-7 August (Othello)

~.~

Peter Stein / Dostoyevsky's The Demons

The 12-hour Stein marathon that won the 2009 UBU Award will hit Athens just a few days before hitting New York:

A 12-hour show with 30 actors staging, a pièce taken from a 950-page book worldly renowned as a masterpiece of literature: these are some of the numbers with which Peter Stein’s last masterwork introduces itself: THE DEMONS from Fedor Dostoevskij novel, performed as a workshop last may in the beautiful venue of San Pancrazio, a small ancient village in Umbria, in the Italian countryside, has already became part of the history of theatre. There’s no doubt: the great German director, known all over the world for having won on the stage of the Schaubüne in Berlin, and then in Italy where he lives since he got married to the Italian actress Maddalena Crippa, a lot of enormous challenges, is now achieving a new unexpected goal.

Dance

Tanztheater Wuppertal

The Tanztheater Wuppertal of the late Pina Bausch in a Tribute to Bausch for 6 (!) performances and a double bill: Agua and Nefes

Full Schedule at the GreekFestival website that's gonna be up soon.

Antonacci + Petrou in Moscow

2010-03-22T20:47:00.007+02:00

It was back in October when maestro Petrou and Anna Caterina Antonacci met for 2 smashing performances of Gluck's Alceste (we wouldn't miss the chance of watching both) and apparently it was a singer+maestro ♥ at first sight.

After the excellent performance of Theodora in Athens on the 13th of March - and while his new recording of Giulio Cesare never ceases to amaze the critics, Petrou headed to Moscow where on March 20th appeared in a concert at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall featuring various singers, among them la Antonacci.

Videos!

D'amour l'ardente flamme

We love Charlotte!

Charlotte #2

And Fiordiligi!

Lillas Pastia in Moscow?

via krelena2009

And Sesto

via 25venta

(C) Photos ITAR-TASS / Valery Sharifulin / Vladimir Vyatkin, STF

Le Nozze di Chicago - Ossia l’ ombretto azzurro dovrebbe essere assolutamente interdetto!

2010-03-21T13:54:00.006+02:00

By SaraW

“Cabell’s Countess Makes Lyric Opera’s Stellar ‘Figaro’ Complete,” wrote a triumphant Lawrence Johnson in his review of this season’s Nozze di Figaro for the Chicago Classical Review! You can imagine my excitement and expectations: Cabell was going to be a real treat as a last-minute replacement of an indisposed Anne Schwanewilms who sounded really bad on the short video clips on the Lyric Opera’s website on account of a bronchitis. Was this going to be then the perfect Nozze after Covent Garden’s almost perfect Barbiere I attended this past July, DiDonato’s broken leg and Keenlyside’s cancellation due to illness notwithstanding?

The answer is unfortunately no. To be sure, this was a very entertaining and highly satisfying, world-class performance featuring such great operatic stars like Kyle Ketelsen (Figaro), Danielle De Niese (Susanna), Nicole Cabell (Countess Almaviva), Mariusz Kwiecien (Count Almaviva), Joyce DiDonato (Cherubino), and Andrea Silvestrelli (Don Bartolo), and a youthful cast, all in excellent form. Yes, unlike the usual practice of opera houses to cast aged mezzos and sopranos in vocal decline as Marcellina, everyone in the cast was young, in early to mid career which was great. And then there was the orchestra (deeeeeeeeep sigh!).

Was this the orchestra of the Lyric Opera of Chicago that I have seen numerous times in the past? And was this really its director, Sir Andrew Davis? Surely something was seriously wrong, and I cannot quite put my finger as to either what or why on earth! This was not the first time the Lyric Opera produced Figaro. Neither was this the premiere, but the fifth or sixth performance (the March 18^th matinée), so surely those people would have learned their parts, would have rehearsed, would have their sh*t together, right?

Well, wrong! As I entered the main auditorium, I was greeted by the ominous sounds of the long-suffering clarinetist who was rehearsing the difficult passages of the overture all by himself! This should have warned me! Both orchestra and director gave an unacceptable performance in the first two acts, displaying often amateurish lack of coordination, especially with the singers whose stage collaboration was exemplary. The latter sometimes appeared alarmed at the orchestra’s problems, not to mention that their voices were initially covered before the orchestra settled on its sound and volume. Davis also adopted relatively slow tempi, perhaps to challenge the singers, or was it because his orchestra had issues? The situation was markedly improved in the last two acts with the same problems resurfacing from time to time.

Next, there was the production! HUUUUUUUUUUUUGE sigh! Enter the American mentality and desire for lavish and heavy sets indicative of a “provincial,” second-rate taste, or rather lack thereof! This was also the Sir Peter Hall 1973 Glyndenbourne production, known to opera buffs through the 1973 performance, available on DVD, starring such opera legend like Kiri Te Kanawa, Ileana Cotrubas, and Frederica von Stade. Which was a VERY dated, seventies production, with sets in bad rococo imitation. Fortunately this time around they did not opt for the seventies hairdo for the women (who shall forget Te Kanawa and Cotrubas’ hairdos?). However, the makeup artist had apparently been instructed to use the same type of ugly and intrusive eye shadow of the seventies!! De Niese therefore sported a horrible blue eye-shadow that was visible from far. I chuckled as I remembered the bestselling make-up self-help book by popular, self-appointed cosmetics cop, Paula Begoun, entitled Blue Eyeshadow Should Absolutely Be Illegal! It looks as though the Lyric Opera, in decline because of the financial crisis, situated in a city that is not what it used to be in the US and in the world, feels that they should acquire all previously successful, expensive, and now dated, and outdated, European hand-me-downs. Thus they recently bought the Covent Garden Zeffirelli Tosca, produced for none other than Maria Callas, and Peter Hall’s Glyndenbourne Figaro.

And then there was the man himself, i.e. Peter Hall, who came for the production, and appears to have forced the principals, many of whom I have seen live before, so I know for a fact they are excellent actors, to adopt the “park and bark” approach. The only people who moved away from this for their own different reasons were Marius Kwiecen and Danielle De Niese. The former had clearly thought out his role and interpreted Count Almaviva as a benign version of Don Giovanni. He also adopted embellishments that had been composed by Mozart for Figaro’s revival. On the other hand, De Niese is too narcissistic and self-centered to understand that this is an ensemble production where Figaro is arguably the main character and not Susanna. Other than that, the rendition of the score by the rest of the cast was conservative, without embellishment, along the lines of productions of the 1960s and 1970s. This was by no means a modern performance, and that is a pity, especially when there are so many great ones out there like David McVicar’s for Covent Garden, still a traditional one, set in the early 19^th century, but extremely original and alive.

Fortunately the cast was superb, a smoothly blended ensemble, and all of them in great voice. I would single out Kwiecien’s Count Almaviva and Joyce DiDonato’s Cherubino who rivaled Frederica von Stade’s, no small feat. Kwiecen and Finley are arguably the best Counts out there right now with Rodney Gilfry a possible third. Ketelsen was a convincing, great Figaro (my own favorite is Schrott), and he did have good chemistry with De Niese. Cabell has a great voice and the Countess is a perfect role for her. However, she still needs to grow into it, and it was obvious that she has only recently begun singing it. As for De Niese, well, she has a pleasing lyric soprano voice, not too large, but with good projection, and somewhat identifiable. She certainly sounds better in a live performance than on recorded CDs, judging from her Handel and Mozart albums tht leave a lot to be desired. But then again, Susanna is a relatively easy and straightforward role. On the negative side, it was obvious that she had copied many of Cotrubas’ mannerisms which is a pity. She should also be less self-absorbed and full of herself, and while she reminds me of Kathleen Battle, she does not have her unpleasantness and knows how to cover her arrogance. At any rate, if she continues to choose her roles carefully, and given her recent marriage to Gus Christie, she should continue to enjoy a successful career and major gigs. Last, but not least, the supporting cast was solid, and I am looking forward to their future careers.

All in all, this was an enjoyable afternoon and a good performance that could have been better. The program was as unattractive and pointless as ever, nothing compared to the rich booklet sold by Covent Garden at a steep price, but totally worth it. Still, the Met program is even worse. Come to think, there was only one highlight, Sir Peter Hall’s musings on Margaret Thatcher’s reactions to Figaro and her anger at Hall’s assurance that sublime Mozart could display a temper and actually swear and use dirty language! I particularly enjoyed his equation of Thatcher with the Archbishop of Salzburg that Mozart so hated. Last, but not least, whoever translated the libretto did a lousy job, so those who are not familiar with it missed out on all the jokes and often read totally unrelated stuff. In the end, I think I still prefer the McVicar production of Figaro for Covent Garden, but I cannot complain because my poor brother did not have the benefit of an uplifting Mozart. Sadly he spent his time watching Ibsen's highly depressing Ghosts at London's West End!! (Yikes!) Yes, it could have been much worse than Sir Peter Hall and the nostalgic Americans, ever fond of lavishness and past European glitter.

Myrtó Papatanasiu on the Dessí incident et alia

2010-03-21T04:07:00.011+02:00

(Click to enlarge)

Myrtó Papatanasiu returns to her patria for a Concert with the Budapest Symphony Orchestra under Ivan Fischer that will take place on March the 23rd at the Athens Megaron, Beethoven's 6th being the starter and the 9th being the main course. Tickets sold like hot cakes and the performance was sold-out since Day 1, fortunately Parsi will be there for Myrtó and Mo. Fischer but also for mezzo-soprano Kelley O'Connor, tenor Jorma Silvasti and bass Kristinn Sigmundsson.

Myrtó Papatanasiu was interviewed for the Sunday edition of the daily newspaper To Vima, and among other things, she testified her point of view on the Frengo-Dessí incident a couple of months ago at the Teatro dell´Opera di Roma:

"I don't think I have anything to say. I had a great success in every aspect and that's all. It's something that at the same time was and was not of my concern"

And on things she loves:

"My partner, my family, my nephew, my friends, travelling, taking excursions, the sea, some jogging. And music of course. I can listen to everything when not at work: jazz, Hadjidakis, Freddie Mercury, Amy Winehouse."

Full interview HERE

Requiem Aeternam for Christos Lambrakis

2010-03-18T22:38:00.011+02:00

Berlin, Philarmonie, September 1975,

Anna Tomowa-Sintow and Agnes Baltsa meet Werner Krenn and José Van Dam and with the Berliner Philharmoniker under the direction of Herbert Von Karajan create one of the most emblematic recordings of Mozart's 626.

Salzburg 1989,
Anna Tomowa-Sintow and Agnes Baltsa meet Gösta Winbergh and Ferruccio Furlanetto and this time sing Mozart's Requiem in the Memory of Herbert Von Karajan under Riccardo Muti.

Athens, Megaron, 17 March 2010
35 years after the DG recording and 21 years after the Salzburg Requiem the two Grandi Dive meet again on stage, in order to sing Mozart's Requiem for their friend, Christos Lambrakis, who passed away in December 2009.

The In Memoriam Gala was organized for friends, partners, associates, employees of the late Lambrakis and was not open to the public - a shame, as there were many empty seats despite the big number of music-lovers that were calling the Athens Megaron desperate for a ticket.

Greek pride, star-violinist Leonidas Kavakos left us breathless with his out-of-this-world virtuosity in Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61 and said his goodbye to Christos Lambrakis with the Andante from Bach's Sonata no.2 - offered to the audience as an encore -probably the most glorious minutes of the whole night.

Second part of the concert and the great Divas step on stage to meet tenor Mario Zeffiri and bass Christophoros Stamboglis. Anna Tomowa-Sintow, 69 years old, ("Toscanini never had access to a voice like hers - she can hit C sharp at nine o'clock in the morning" HV Karajan) sang with pathos but in obvious vocal decline while Agnes Baltsa was sensational in a piece she has not sung in 21 years.

Zeffiri and Stamboglis at the peak of their careers and with their vocal powers intact, contributed to the vocal pleasure. Unfortunately the Camerata Orchestra was miles away from Mozart's divine partitura and there were moments trully embarassing for both the orchestra and the conductor.

Photo album
(with Agnes Baltsa looking like a million $$$)

Stunning Agnes Baltsa:

Two short videos from the News

Hamlet at the MET, 1884 - 2010

2010-03-18T01:15:00.013+02:00

Metropolitan Opera Premiere

Music Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio: 21 February 1884.
Ophélie: Marcella Sembrich

Mme. Sembrich gave a unique and lovely interpretation of Ophelia. It was a tender, sympathetic, consistent interpretation, which found its legitimate climax in the last scene. She was in the best of voice, which she always managed according to the rules of high art. In the scene of the Gardens of the palace, where she sings alone, her acting was of great assistance to the whole effect. The subsequent aria, which Hamlet overhears, was one of the successes of the evening. In the final scene the aria, "I will divide my flowers," was sung with the most finished execution. Her command of fioriture was again fully demonstrated, as well as her highly artistic management of voice. As far as sentiment goes, Mme. Sembrich always does extraordinarily well. Last night she gave proof of how beautifully she can take a low note, and how very comprehensive is her range of voice. In the time of the portamento also was equally happy. Her voice too, was expressive and sympathetic throughout, at the same time in the upper register it was not always agreeable in quality, nor was it always reliable as to intonation. On the whole here Ophelia was a very decided success, and she received a full share of that enthusiasm Cincinnati audiences have already accorded her.

(Unidentified review in unidentified Cincinnati newspaper)

~.~

Metropolitan Opera House
December 6, 1893
New production
Ophélie: Nellie Melba

The Ophelia was Mme. Melba, who, it is needless to say, added very greatly to the general strength of the performance. Her splendid voice was heard again with great delight, and she achieved a triumph in the mad scene, which, it must be admitted, is more consistent than Donizetti's in "Lucia."

(New York Times review of W.J. Henderson)

~.~

Metropolitan Opera House
December 4, 1895
In Italian?
Ophélie: Emma Calvé

Everybody puts up with the lugubrious proceedings, however, patiently waiting till the end, when it is hoped that some great Ophelia may indemnify them for the ennui and the sufferings of an ill spent evening. Such an Ophelia appeared in the person of Mme. Calvé, at the Metropolitan Opera House last night. Other prima donnas have sung the mad scene - the whole part is so vaguely drawn, musically as well as dramatically, that it virtually resolves itself into this single opportunity - more brilliantly. Notwithstanding, this is the first Ophelia since the days of Christine Nilsson and Ilma di Murska. Vocally, it is incomparably the finest thing that Calvι has done here. Her tones had the eerie quality that quite made you forget the singer's virtuosity. A great artist it was that you were listening to, not a singer of scales trills, and staccati. It was really the mad, pathetic Ophelia of Shakespeare we saw last night, not a prima donna who masqueraded in the part. In this scene Calve moved her audience as much, nay more, than she had ever moved them as Carmen or Santuzza. For it was emotional singing and acting of the very highest order that they had seen and heard. In the early part of the opera - which should never be given - Mme. Calve was simple and unaffected, but conventional. Occasionally she sharpened, too. Perhaps that was merely a little realistic touch illustrative of "sweet bells jangled harsh and out of tune." But isn't that knowing one's Shakespeare too well? Let it be as it may. Calve has found a new role, or scene rather, in which she is beyond compare. If she would only overcome that sharp, choppy stride. Sarah, we can forgive this mannerism, but no one else.

(Review of Henry Krehbiel in the New York Herald)

~.~

Metropolitan Opera
March 16, 2010
New production
Ophélie: Marlis Petersen

Petersen sang with pathos and impressive agility. Her light, frothy soprano suited the character’s fragility, but Thomas’ frequent leaps to the top of the range sounded challenging.

By Ronni Reich (nj.com)

His partner in previous runs of this production was the French coloratura soprano Natalie Dessay, and she had been scheduled to take the part of Ophelia at the Met. When she canceled because of illness, the company brought in the German soprano Marlis Petersen, who performed something of a heroic feat. She finished another engagement in Vienna on Friday, flew toNew York on Saturday, then had all of two days to rehearse before opening night.

Under the circumstances, she did a creditable job, though she did not appear to have had time to develop much chemistry with her co-star. Vocally, she is a little underpowered in her lower register and her sound tends to harden on her highest notes. But the role of Ophelia is really all about her extended mad scene, and here Petersen had some lovely moments of pathos, even if she didn’t always project a sense of her character’s derangement. She wasn’t helped by theproduction, which moved the setting from a riverbank to a room in the castle and made Ophelia die by stabbing herself instead of drowning.

By Mike Silverman, AP

By Tuesday night, however, this trouper was ready. A lovely woman with a bright, alluring and agile voice, she seemed immersed in a role that, to judge from her beautiful and emotionally vulnerable singing, she clearly relishes.

By Anthony Tommasini for the NY Times

Dessay’s cancellation was certainly a disappointment to many, but it cleared the way for Marlis Petersen, a German soprano who was both less polished and more vulnerable in the role than Dessay’s usual presentation these days. At first (in her Act I love duet with Hamlet) there was a threat of weakness, but she sang very beautifully in her mad scene (which sounds oddly exotic, faintly presaging Lakme’s Bell Song), with clear, jewel-like tones that were not only lovely but had a quality of innocence in keeping with the character. It wasn’t a barnstorming performance -- Dessay usually sets out to grab you from the first moment she’s on stage, for better or worse -- but ultimately an effective one.

By Anne Midgette for the Washington Post

~.~

Listen to Marlis Petersen
singing Ophélie´s Mad Scene
(A vos jeux, mes amis)
Met, 16 March 2010
(all 12 minutes of it)

and downloadable here

~.~

(Pics and reviews courtesy of the Met Archive)

Eglise in, Diana out

2010-03-17T01:10:00.004+02:00

The DOB website informs us that

"Diana Damrau is sorry to announce, that she has to cancel the first performance of LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR on March 20, 2010 due to illness. Eglise Gutiérrez will be singing the part of Lucia."

Next to Eglise's Lucia, Robertito Alagna as Edgardo.

Musings on Traviata - with sound

2010-03-16T20:32:00.008+02:00

My (english) friend Attila spent a few days in Athens and has kindly agreed to write a brief review of the Traviata he watched at the Greek National Opera on March the 14th.

Four years ago - at the time of the last football world cup - I saw Elena Kelessidi as Liú in Turandot at Covent Garden; if she didn't quite steal the show from Ben Heppner and Georgina Lukács, she certainly dominated that evening with radiant sublime singing that seemed to make time stand still and which drew the loudest applause of the evening.

Seeing her on Sunday in the current revival of La Traviata at the Greek National Opera in Athens, it's clear that time has diminished Kelessidi's voice. The glorious tone now eludes her and everything seems more of an effort. But her sheer artistry really shone as she worked that stage almost single-handedly amidst colleagues who at times looked like they were performing in an unrehearsed scratch performance. The mediocre static chorus seemed totally uninvolved in either the party or in the drama taking place in front of them, and the orchestra played with the refinement of a big band.

Fortunately, Kelessidi seemed to exist in a different dimension - every move had meaning, every note for all it's effort expressed her character's experience and suffering. For me, a master stroke of this production is that the last act doesn't take place in the usual spartan unfurnished garret but in the same splendid French empire setting of the Act 1 party. Kelessidi totally caught me by surprise as I found myself haunted by the eerie feeling that I was in present in the sumptuous Paris apartment of the dying Maria Callas at 36 Avenue Georges Mandel. I was witnessing the last days of a once great singer as she now slowly surrendered to disillusionment and mortality.

As one star fades another takes to the firmament. Dimitri Platanias shows a rich talent from the first moment he walks onto the stage as Giorgio Germont, handing his hat and coat to the waiting servant with a gravitas that sets the scene for his confrontation with Violetta. His solid frame brings a monumental quality to his scenes, and the voice purrs effortlessly like a Bentley V8 engine; so much so that at times I found myself revelling in the beauty of the tone without worrying what he was singing about. I sense there is plenty more to come from Mr Platanias.

Listen to Dimitri Platanias singing Di Provenza on

January the 22nd 2010

January the 23rd 2010

All photos (C) Akriviadis from the premiere of January the 22nd with Elena Kelessidi, Stefan Pop (a real find!) and Dimitris Platanias.

Autographs #4

2010-03-15T22:26:00.007+02:00

One of my most "adored" autographs
(as a huge Grube fan I own quite a few).
La Gruberova signed this one for me when on the 9th of September 1997 she appeared for the first - and most probably for the last - time at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus and sang a Recital that led the audience to a state of collective insanity.

From that very night,
listen to Edita Gruberova as Linda in
"O Luce di Quest'Anima"

BrAVA Philly!

2010-03-15T00:05:00.006+02:00

A Gala concert not to be missed will take place at the Academy of Vocal Arts of Philadelphia featuring among others the adored Yankee Diva Joyce DiDonato, hawt tenor James Valenti and the glamorous couples of Stephen Costello+Ailyn Perez and Eglise Gutierrez+Burak Bilgili.

The Academy of Vocal Arts has produced some of the world’s most brilliant opera stars – and many of them will return to Philadelphia to celebrate AVA’s 75th Anniversary. International superstar mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato leads a lineup of AVA singers, including tenors James Valenti, who debuts at the Metropolitan Opera in March, Stephen Costello, winner of the 2009 Richard Tucker Prize, and Michael Fabiano, star of the feature film “The Audition,” plus rising star sopranos Eglise Gutierrez, Angela Meade and Ailyn Pérez, bass Burak Bilgili and baritone Luis Ledesma and many more great up-and-coming artists.

Philadelphia, March the 31st 2010

Ceci's new DVD

2010-03-14T23:41:00.004+02:00

Filmed in high-definition widescreen on location at the magnificent Baroque Palace of Caserta in Southern Italy, Olivier Simonnet's stunning cinematographic vision of Sacrificium shows Cecilia Bartoli in full historical costume singing a selection of showpiece arias written for the castrato stars of the Neapolitan School. The spectacular settings, which include the Court Theatre, the impressive Vestibule and the Palace Gardens, set the great arias of the Italian Baroque in their cultural context.

Inspired by the extraordinary story of the 'Castrati', the musical selection includes all the world premieres featured on the original album. In addition, arias include Handel's 'Ombra mai fu' and Broschi's 'Sol qual nave' - previously only available on the deluxe version of the album. Special bonus features include an illustrated interview in which Cecilia Bartoli talks about the Sacrificium project, and a visual guide to the Palace, town and region of Caserta. Cecilia Bartoli is dynamically supported throughout the film by the leading Italian period ensemble Il Giardino Armonico under their conductor Giovanni Antonini.

Official trailer:

Tonio, Canio, Otello, Mario, Dick, Pinkerton: José Cura's multiple faces in Athens

2010-03-11T22:07:00.011+02:00

As announced exclusively a few weeks ago,

José Cura will be back to Athens on April 17th
for a unique recital at the Athens Megaron.

Now, don't tell me that I don't spoil you
when posting what Cura is gonna be singing
5 weeks in advance!

(This is not the complete programme
and it's subject to changes)

Leoncavallo, Pagliacci
Prologo

Vesti la giubba

Verdi, Otello
Dio, mi potevi scagliar
Niun mi tema

Puccini, Tosca,

E Lucevan le stelle

Puccini, La Fanciulla del West,
Ch’ella mi creda

Puccini, Madama Butterfly
Addio fiorito asil

There are some "plus" that I'd rather not reveal.
Be there if you want to find out...

ps. Ticket prices are the lowest we've seen in years:
20 euros lower price - 15 euros for students???

Le tour du monde en 80 minutes - Bejart's swan song finally in Athens

2010-03-09T21:34:00.007+02:00

Maurice Béjart's final creation, under the title "Le tour du monde en 80 minutes", will have its Greek premiere on March the 27th at the Badminton Theatre of Athens for just 2 benefit performances.

In autumn 2007, between two tours, the 35 Béjart Ballet Lausanne dancers rehearse for "Around the world in 80 minutes". Although Maurice Béjart uses Jules Verne’s cherished idea of a trip around the globe, he adds his own touch with memories of the countries he has visited. Few choreographers have travelled as much as Béjart. Whether at the head of his Ballet de l’EtoileBallet-Théâtre de Paris (1957-1960), his Ballet du XXème siècle (1960-1987) or his Béjart Ballet Lausanne (since 1987), he has travelled the world incessantly, halting always where he feels most comfortable: at the crossroads of civilisations.

Maurice Béjart, choreographer and ballet director, was born on January 1, 1927.
He died on November 22, 2007, aged 80.

The info:

Choreography: Maurice Béjart
Music: City percussions, Stavinsky, Theodorakis, Vivaldi, Hadjidakis, Mozart, Strauss, Wagner, Ellington, Warren Harry, Tchaikovsky, traditional music from Korea, China and Peru.
Tickets

Videos:

La fille de Barcelone: le video

2010-03-09T21:18:00.003+02:00

A video from TV3, Televisió de Catalunya.
Part of "Pour mon âme" included.
In the video one finds out that Ciofi's real name is...Fabrizia.

Tell me something I don't know: JDF and Ciofi awe Barcelona in La fille du Regiment

2010-03-07T23:55:00.000+02:00

A few minutes ago at the Gran Teatre del Liceu!

Opening night of La fille du régiment, a triumph for Juan Diego Flórez and Patrizia Ciofi.

JDF bised (as expected) Pour mon âme after a huge, never-ending ovation.

In the (many,many,many) photos, Juan Diego Flórez, Patrizia Ciofi, Pietro Spagnoli, Victoria Livengood, Alex Sanmartí, Angel Pavlovsky and Yves Abel.

Militaiiiiiiiiiiiiire!

Brava Patriziaaaaaaa!

We love Patrizia car-Ciofi's reactions, as she was the one who enjoyed this triumph the most.

10 performances of La Fille left, 4 of them with Antonio Gandia and fab Nino Machaidze.

Marlis Petersen: Athens' sweetheart returns to the Met

2010-03-07T21:27:00.001+02:00

Lulu, Athens 2005

The Greek audiences rarely fall in love with a singer but in the case of Marlis Petersen, it was love at first sight. Since her spectacular Lulu at the Athens Megaron in 2005 -4 performances, all sold out and people begging for tickets outside the theatre- till her last appearance as Thais in March 2009, the love at first sight has become a solid amour. Now Marlis is practically a Greek girl as about a year ago she moved to Athens and it's not very unlikely to see her walking by in the Kolonaki area (been there, done that).

Medea, Vienna 2010

I first got acquainted with Petersen's art when in 2002 she replaced Natalie Dessay (again!) as Zerbinetta at the ROH (next to Petra Lang's Ariadne and to Sophie Koch's Sophie) to some raving reviews. Back then Opera magazine (John Allison) had written:

"Marlis Petersen, a Düsseldorf ensemble member making her Covent Garden debut, was a sexy, savvy Zerbinetta, her rock-chick characterization as athletic as her vocal roulades: her brilliant coloratura carried all the emotional weight it should."

The ROH Zerbinetta

Zerbinetta, Thais, Lulu, Konstanze, Medea (her recent performances as Reinmann's Medea in Vienna were triumphant) and now again Ophélie: six performances of Hamlet at the Met, replacing Natalie Dessay who withdrew due to illness, next to Simon Keenlyside's Hamlet - not actually a step-in as Petersen would anyway sing a couple of scheduled performances before wearing the clothes (or the non-clothes) of Lulu once again at the Met in May 2010. (Petersen debuted at the Met on 19 December 2005 as Adele in Die Fledermaus)

(Petersen's debut at the MET as Adele,
pics by Ken Howard)

Here you can watch a few minutes of Petersen as Lulu in the awesome Eike Gramms production at the Athens Megaron (I would kill for that video, somebody get it for me pleeeez-ok, thanks).

Thais, Athens 2009

Marlis as Adele

An interview with Marlis at the Wiener Opernball 2010

On youtube you can find practically the whole performance of Haydn's Orlando Paladino starring Marlis Petersen as Angelica but also Pietro Spagnoli and Alexandrina Pendatchanska (major parsifal's protegés) as well as the Brahms Liebeslieder Walzer recording with Petersen and Doufexis - that we also had the chance of listening live in Athens - review available here.

Parsi treats:

Marlis Petersen singing Duparc's Chanson Triste

Marlis Petersen singing Martern aller arten (Aix-en-Provence, July 9, 2007)

Ach ich liebte (Aix-en-Provence, July 9, 2007)

Barbaro, o Dio - Il re pastore - (Salzburg, July 24, 2006)

Elena Souliotis last

2010-03-07T15:19:00.002+02:00

Watch Elena Souliotis in her last operatic role,
as the Countess in Tchaikovsky's Pikovaya dama,
Stuttgart 1999.

Divine Waltraud Meier sings La mort de Cleopatre in Athens

2010-03-06T12:08:00.003+02:00

Waltraud Meier in kimono and wearing glasses, amazed the Athenians with a fine performance of La mort de Cléopâtre on February the 27th.

Christoph Eschenbach led the Orchestre de Paris in Berlioz's lyric scene for soprano and orchestra during the first half, while at the second half the fab Orchestra performed Mahler's Symphony No. 1 in D major (the Titan,"eine Tondichtung in Symphonie-form").

From where I was sitting, where I couldn't have an overall idea of the Orchestra's sound, I heard an excellent orchestra with fantastic strings and brass.

The opinions I heard after Mahler's 1st were divided - some said the Orchestra sounded like a big-band, others that it was fantastic, an excellent performance of the Titan, but that Eschenbach's conduction was narcissistic, and was missing depth and weight.

In any case everybody agreed that Meier was friggin' gorgeous but Cleopatre was too short of a delight for an artist of her caliber. Shut up and worship the Idol, u punks.

Athens, Megaron, 27 Feb 2010

Autographs #3

2010-03-05T00:33:00.003+02:00

An autograph from Joan Sutherland, signed to me by la Stupendissima herself, 15 years ago, when Sutherland was in Athens as member of the Jury of the Maria Callas Grand Prix. Most vivid memories of that night: a) La Stupenda was not very willing to sign the photos and CDs I was carrying, as a matter of fact she was quite grumpy, but I was too young to be sent to hell... b) The members of the Jury were all opera legends, from Luigi Alva to Irina Arkhipova and from Elisabeth Söderström to Kostas Paskalis, however when one after another they stepped on stage to present the awardees, La Stupenda provoked an "earthquake" in the Hall of the Athens Megaron as the audience started shouting "brava Stupenda", clapping hands like crazy and stamping feet on the floor.

A bit like that:

Milk-Punch, o Wisky? Madama Butterfly opens in Athens

2010-03-04T01:27:00.011+02:00

As expected, the premiere of Madama Butterfly of February the 26th at the Athens Megaron was a personal triumph for Chinese diva Hui He.

Hui He appeared extremely confident and excelled both vocally and dramatically. A voice of important volume, easy high notes, great fraseggio -still some flaws in pronunciation though- and a committed actress, He was sensational in every aspect, received a long applause after "Un bel dí" and was hair-raising in "Che tua madre" and "Tú,tú piccolo iddio".

Listen to Hui He singing "Un bel di"

Angelo Simos as Pinkerton sounded strained in the high register (Dovunque al mondo) and was shadowed significantly by Hui He, especially during the love-duet (Bimba dagli occhi). Furthermore, he appeared uncomfortable on stage and we couldn't help noticing that he didn't take his eyes off of the lateral conductor screens. Still, at times, especially during the most lyric bars of the score, a healthy shiny voice would emerge, unable though to erase the impressions.

Marissia Papalexiou was impressive dramatically and seemed to be the only one respecting 100% the instructions of Fausta Mazzucchelli who was responsible for the "choreography". Suzuki is a rather thankless role and doesn't give to the mezzo many chances to unfold her virtues, other than the duet with Butterfly and Act III but Papalexiou's dark mezzo suited perfectly the part and sang a powerful Suzuki. Thankless is also the role of Sharpless, but Dimitris Tiliakos was a credible and well sung Sharpless, however a bit on the dull side (an impression I have had of his last few performances in Athens).

Far duller was the staging by Nikos Petropoulos, a staging with the sole virtue of not offending the conservative audience: no nudity -thank God!- no blood, no real hara-kiri on stage, nothing extreme but also nothing new to recommend.

Two great Butterflies of the past honoured us with their presence:

Marina Krilovici

Jeanette Pilou

Tonight 3/3, Hui He sang her 3rd and last performance of Madama Butterfly in Athens and we can only wish to have her back soon in one of her other significant roles (Tosca, Aida, Amelia) or in something as surprising as her smashing Ariadne, a few months ago.

Hui He posing for parsifal's backstage

Hui He, Con onor muore...

A photo album from the curtain calls:

Autographs #2

2010-03-02T02:05:00.003+02:00

An autograph by Richard Bonynge, taken during a run of La Traviata that he conducted at the Athens Megaron back in 2004 (the 2 casts included Ruth-Ann Swenson, Andrea Rost, Charles Castronovo, Piotr Beczala, Eduard Tumagian and Jean-Luc Chaignaud).

Let Beauty Awake

2010-03-01T01:49:00.008+02:00

In my only post-Paris/ante-Barcelona “excursion” to the Athens Megaron, I had the great joy of assisting a recital by Greek bass Christophoros Stamboglis. Stamboglis offered us Vaughan Williams’ “Songs of travel” during the first part of the recital, that were completely unknown to me, (I hadn’t even listened to the Thomas Allen recording), and I must say I was amazed by the beauty of those petits jewels. Unfortunately the enthusiastic applause after almost every song prevented us from diving deep inside Williams' atmosphere.

During the second part Stamboglis offered a selection of well known songs and arias by Donizetti, Verdi and Bellini and bised with La Calunnia (what a fantastic interpretation, even without an orchestra!) and Tosti’s “L’alba separa dalla luce l’ombra”. A demonstration of great artistry by this excellent Greek singer who within 2009 debuted at the Met and who is currently there rehearsing Don Basilio.

Stamboglis and his excellent accompanist Dimitris Yakas

Listen to Stamboglis in La Calunnia

(Let beauty awake is the second of nine songs in Ralph Vaughan Williams' Songs of Travel. If not familiar with the work, just take a tour @ this youtube channel. Totally worth your time.)

Tristan und Isolde in BCN

2010-02-28T11:44:00.013+02:00

Gran Teatre del Liceu, 20 February 2010

A week has passed since Tristan in Barcelona and truth to be told, I can't get it out of my mind.

Back in December I was raving about Sebastian Weigle and his "Tote Stadt" in Frankfurt. I had used the words "pure operatic bliss" to describe what I had felt back then and had written for Weigle "the protagonist was with no doubt Sebastian Weigle and the Frankfurter Opern-und Museumsorchester whose perfect, overwhelming, splendid, awesome (somebody stop me, please) sound sent me to an intergalactic trip for more than 2 hours".

Same applies for this Tristan, Weigle was an experience to listen to, and the orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, was in fantastic form as well. Lorin Maazel will always be my fav conductor but Weigle has already a very special place in my heart. (Next chance to hear Weigle: Parsifal in Frankfurt, starting March 7th, check his agenda for more details).

This old production of Thor Steigraber that comes to Barcelona from Los Angeles features as its main attraction David Hockney's colorful sets and costumes. They may seem awkward in the pics but they were quite impressive in the theatre, especially the Act II set, with it's fairy-tale-like castle and its perspective.

Deborah Voigt was a wonderful Isolde (if you think that Voigt is finished, well, you'd better reconsider). Her voice might have changed and she might have lost some vocal (and not only vocal) weight, but her's was a vibrant, credible Isolde who overcame all difficulties in the partitura and got to the Liebestod with enough powers to make us all weep (as a matter of fact, I was sobbing during the last few minutes, and I truly thank opera-god for still being able to experience this kind of extreme feelings in the theatre).

Listen to Deborah Voigt in Liebestod
Barcelona, 20.02.10
(no, I really didn't listen nor I cared for the last note-the "lust").

Peter Seiffert was a good Tristan but by Act III sounded exhausted. Nevertheless he did manage to rule over the huge orchestra when needed and was quite good dramatically (in a rather not challenging mise-en-scene).

Korean bass Kwangchul Youn was an elegant, imposing King Marke but it was Micaela Schuster that impressed me the most: what a fine Brangäne, what a beautiful, velvety voice. Her interventions during the Act II Tristan-Isolde duet were heart-breaking. Bo Skovhus made quite an impression too as Kurwenal, kudos also to Norbert Ernst as Melot, Francisco Vas as the Shepherd and Manel Esteve Madrid as Steurmann.

Special mention for the audience that on that night was a disgrace. Only a few seconds in the overture, a LOUD cell-phone rang, obliging maestro Weigle to start da cappo, while especially during Act II the audience didn't, not even for a second, stop coughing.
Extra special mention for the Gran Teatre del Liceu that ran out of printed programmes...

Listen to the first few minutes of the overture and the cell-phone ringing (they should hang this kind of people from a light post at Las Ramblas)

And a video + pics from the curtain calls

Micaela Schuster about to catch her flying bouquet

~.~

Debbie and her little friend signing

The post from where they should hang people with cell-phones

Breaking: Andrea Chenier interrupted Updated!!!

2010-02-25T23:23:00.021+02:00

Something quite weird has happened a few minutes ago in Madrid as the performance of Andrea Chenier at the Teatro Real starring Marcelo Álvarez and Fiorenza Cedolins, has been suddenly interrupted. The performance was being broadcast live by Radio Clásica and was cut for 10 minutes most probably due to the boos and whistles that Marco Vratogna received for his aria. The broadcast was finally cancelled by decision of the Direction of the Teatro Real . People that were in the theatre, report that the audience protested for the use of amplification before Vratogna going wild and starting shouting to the audience...

***Update!***

Here's how things happened as one can hear from the recording:

Vratogna sings his aria when a voice from the audience is heard

-¡Que quiten la amplificación!
-Tell them to shut down the microphones!

-¡Es una vergüenza!
-It's a shame!

Cedolins starts singing, the boos and the shouts go on, people are whistling while Cedolins continues. The boos and the whistles get louder and louder while Vratogna and Cedolins sing their duet, and people shout "They should learn how to sing first" (¡Que aprendan a cantar)!

Cedolins speaks to the audience, then has a brief dialogue with the maestro and the performance is cut.

~~~Update~~~

Here's the audio of the incident.

Vratogna+Cedolins trying to sing despite the whistles and the booing, finally Cedolins speaks to the audience "If you want we can all go home...".
My favourite guy is the one who says "Qué aprendan a canta y a impostar" (They should learn how to sing and project).

Marcelo Álvarez singing "Un Di All´ Azzurro Spazio'.
Right after the aria a voice is heard saying
"Y el micro, qué?"

Fammi ridar la spada! Urmana as Odabella at the MET

2010-02-25T01:41:00.006+02:00

"Odabella’s heroic resolve comes through in music filled with daring vocal leaps and bursts of defiant coloratura, and the soprano Violeta Urmana dispatched the part with fearlessness and earthy power. Yet, true to the Muti credo, she sang each line with articulate shape and grandeur." (via NYT)

Listen to Violetta Urmana singing "Santo di Patria..."(plus cabaletta)
and "Liberamente or piangi"
on the premiere of February the 23rd.

Autographs #1

2010-02-25T01:04:00.002+02:00

A huge box full of autographs by famous divos and divas that gets bigger and bigger with the years sits in the bottom of some closet in Villa Parsi. Most of them are autographs I have managed to get myself the last 18 years, others carry nice calligraphic signatures, others terrible, blurry, illegible ones, others have just a smudge while others have sincere, moving dedications. The one above by Montserrat Caballé is one of the very first I took, circa 1993.

(click to enlarge)

Upcoming and unmissable: Händel's Theodora at the Megaron

2010-02-23T00:44:00.012+02:00

"The other major delight was the conducting of George Petrou. If there is any justice in the musical world, this young conductor deserves international recognition".

These were the words that David Blewitt used for George Petrou in his February 2010 review of Gluck's Alceste at the Athens Megaron featuring Antonacci and Kunde (Opera Magazine).

After the raving reviews, the awards, a new recording of Giulio Cesare and the October Alceste with Antonacci and Kunde, George Petrou is ready to rawk Athens with a semi-staged performance of Händel's Theodora (Megaron, March the 13th).

His cast will include Emanuela Galli as Theodora, Kristina Hammarström as Didymus, Irini Karaianni as Irene, Jason Darnell as Septimius and Yiannis Yiannissis as Valens. Paris Mexis will do the stage-direction (fully staged, not semi-staged as stated on the Megaron web).

Tickets (from 7 to 45 €!) already out.

Reviews of the new Giulio Cesare recording by the Bayerischer Rundfunk, by Presto Classical, by NDR Kultur and by Voix des Arts.

José Cura in Athens!

2010-02-23T00:11:00.004+02:00

~Exclusively at parsifal's~

José Cura will be back to Athens for a Recital on April the 17th (at the Megaron).

Cura's last appearance in Athens took place at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus back in 2003 and before that he had sung Radamés at the Athens Megaron during the 1999-2000 Season.

From the 2003 Athens Recital, listen to Cura in "Sì, de' corsari il fulmine",
Corrado's cabaletta from Verdi's Il Corsaro.

Mendelssohn's Elias at the GTL (or what you should avoid doing on your next birthday)

2010-02-22T21:36:00.010+02:00

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.

Tristan und Isolde, Barcelona 20.02.10

2010-02-21T01:32:00.002+02:00

A couple of hours ago at the Gran Teatre Del Liceu

Oh! se una volta sola rivederla io potessi

2010-02-17T23:39:00.002+02:00

Natalie Dessay, Ah! Non giunge - Paris, 15 February 2010

False alarm

2010-02-14T17:23:00.003+02:00

It seems tha chinese diva Hui He will finally sing 2 out of 5 scheduled performances of Madama Butterfly at the Athens Megaron, the premiere of 26/2 included.

Marcelo speaks: Plácido should free the way. He has already paid off his mortgage

2010-02-12T00:32:00.008+02:00

-Hace unas semanas «The New York Times» le dedicaba un reportaje a Plácido Domingo sobre su futuro sucesor. ¿Ve algún nombre para recoger su testigo?

-Estamos hablando de uno de los artistas más grandes que merece todo todo mi respeto, pero yo sí que creo que hay vida después de Plácido Domingo. Mire, ahí está Kauffman, por ejemplo. Lo que sucede es que él está amparado por los medios, que le sirven como altavoz, está todos los días en prensa, radio y televisión, es agotador y no deja el camino libre a otros, a los que empiezan y a los ya estamos. Es tenor, director de orquesta, intendente y ahora también barítono, lo que implica que está demasiado involucrado en todo. Pavarotti, por ejemplo, era mi ídolo. No creo, por otra parte, que sea un tabú hablar de Plácido Domingo, un artista al que admiro y respeto como tenor y por todo lo que ha dado a la ópera. ¿No decían que después de Caruso la ópera estaba muerta? Creo que el único record que le falta a Plácido es que no haya nadie que le pueda sustituir.

~.~

- A few weeks ago The New York Times dedicated and article to Plácido Domingo and his future successor. Do you see anybody who could take the batton?

-We are talking about one of the greatest artists who deserves all my respect, but of course I think that there is life after Plácido Domingo. Look, there is Kaufmann for example. What happens is that he [Domingo] is protected by the media that he uses as his loudspeaker, he's everyday in the press, radio and television, it's exhausting and it doesn'n leave a free way for others, for those who begin and for those of us who are already here. He's a tenor, a conductor, a theatre intendant and now he is also a baritone, which means that he's over-involved in everything. Pavarotti, for example, was my idol. I don't think, on the other hand, that it's a taboo to speak of Plácido Domingo, an artist I admire and respect as a tenor and for everything he has given to opera. Didn't they say that after Caruso, opera was dead? I think that the only record that Plácido is yet to break is to be irreplaceable.

~.~

Full, JUICY interview at La Razón! Marcelo Álvarez speaks also of Gerard Mortier ("I'm leaving for now but I will be back: he will leave in five years and I will be back"), Franco Zeffirelli ("We need people who can help us, not directors to destroy us"), Rolando Villazón and Giancarlo del Monaco.

Step back in time: excavating for Kostas Paskalis

2010-02-11T00:05:00.011+02:00

Parsi did some digging in his archive and after some epic battles with dust and spiders, found a few interesting files regarding the late Kostas Paskalis.

In the photo above, the cover of a Greek opera magazine that had had a brief career back in the 90's and only made a few issues (just 8-9, I think). This issue, dated December 1995, was dedicated to the new production of Simon Boccanegra at the Greek National Opera, directed by Kostas Paskalis and with Paskalis as Simon. Next to Paskalis on the cover, George or Georg or Giorgio Pappas (I have seen all possible versions of his name on cast-lists).

Among others, the magazine featured a translation of the entry about Kostas Paskalis of the New Grove Dictionary of Opera ...

...but also a list of the previous productions of Boccanegra that had been staged in Athens till 1995 (Stagione 1962/3 with Nicola Moscona as Fiesco and John Modenos as Simon and Summer of 1974 at the Odeon Of Herodes Atticus with Kostas Paskalis and Nicola Zaccaria)...

...a short interview with Kostas Paskalis & some wonderful pics from the 1974 production of the Athens Festival...

...and a few b&w photos of the 1995 production...

That was not the only relic I located in the parsi-dungeons. What is probably Paskalis' last interview - an interview to Sotiris Kakisis for the Greek newspaper TO VIMA, contains some extra rare shots of the legendary baritone, just a few months before his death.

The Tribute to Kostas Paskalis, published on February the 9th 2008 and containing obituaries, bio, and plenty of sound files, photos and download links is always available here, an exquisite CD (transferred from an old LP) with recordings of his Verdi roles is downloadable here (and highly recommended) and a few splendid videos of Paskalis as Simon, Iago, Macbeth etc can be seen on youtube.

RIP Maestro.

3 years without Kostas Paskalis

2010-02-09T01:37:00.009+02:00

Kostas Paskalis
September 1, 1929, Levadeia -
February 9, 2007, Athens

Addio fiorito asil...

2010-02-09T01:08:00.003+02:00

Parsi hears that chinese diva Hui He, has withdrawn from the upcoming run of performances of Madama Butterfly of the Greek National Opera at the Athens Megaron due to financial discrepancies with the theatre...

Questo è un nodo avviluppato: an awesome Cenerentola at the TCE

2010-02-06T11:33:00.012+02:00

Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, 30 January 2010

Hilarious! There's no better word to describe the premiere of La Cenerentola, on Saturday night at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées.

This production by Irina Brook that first opened at the TCE a few years ago, has already seen revivals outside Paris and major stars singing the role of Angelina (Elina Garanca, Malena Ernman, Vivica Genaux). And although I had already watched parts of it (mainly from the telecast of the Stockholm staging), I was not prepared for such a mind-blowing night.

Bar Magnifico ;)

Genaux and Spagnoli

Vivica Genaux (Angelina) matched pretty fine with Antonino Siragusa (Don Ramiro) and both sang great, so did Stéphane Degout (Dandini) and I have only good words for Nidia Palacios (Tisbe) and Carla di Censo (Clorinda). However it was Pietro Spagnoli and Ildebrando d' Arcangelo who stole the show.

Baritones in uniform

D'Arcangelo is not an exemplary rossinian and his singing sounds undisciplined, unfocused, flat at times but he managed to make us overlook his flaws and focus on his stage personality and on his charisma as a comedian. On the other hand I really enjoyed Spagnoli's singing, a bit over the top "brutto" at times, but what a fine creation of Magnifico that was! And if his Barbiere in London matched just fine but never equalled the awesomeness of JDF and JDD, in this Cenerentola we witnessed an incredible one-man-show!

They 're too sexy for your party...

...And they do their little turn on the catwalk, (yeah on the catwalk)

And from a different perspective (the ovation was so long that I even had time to leave my seat and go to the lateral of the premier balcon):

And a treat! Vivica Genaux, Non piú mesta, TCE 30 January 2010 (and yes, I've been bad again):

Un rêve: Jonas Kaufmann and Sophie Koch in Werther

2010-02-02T23:14:00.023+02:00

Opéra Bastille, 29 January 2010

What are the reasons that have made both audience and critics rave about the revival of this production of Werther that premiered in 2004 at the ROH? Most of you might have already watched the "ARTE" telecast a week ago. I had to contain myself from watching it knowing that in a few days I would be there experiencing it live and avoided any contact with images/utubes that would spoil the element of surprise.

The production of Benoît Jacquot hardly contains any surprise. The story is not changed a bit (no kiddin!) and Jacquot uses beatiful impressionistic tableaux to recreate the atmosphere of the era (sets and lights by Charles Edwards).

Werther seems to suit Jonas Kaufmann like a glove, both vocally and dramatically. And even if recovering from a cold, there were hardly any signs of it. To be honest, there were so many moments of sheer beauty (not talking about Pourquoi me réveiller only) that the people who interrupted various times to clap -even during the music- leading to an angry plead from a spectator at the upper tiers for them to stop, were totally justified and excused. Equally justified was the screaming and shouting that turned La Bastille into an arena during Kaufmann's curtain call. Talking about m-a-d-n-e-s-s!

Sophie Koch was my favourite for the evening, delivering a classy but desperate, dark but innocent Charlotte, vocally and visually perfect. Her Air des lettres gave me goosebumps but it was "Va! laisse couler mes larmes" that made me burst into tears.

Ecco un' artista (and from now on our "protégée")!

Adding nothing more than perfection to the already perfect couple, Ludovic Tézier was an ideal Albert. Special mention for our Sophie who made us reach for our programmes to find out who that fantastic young lady was: Her name is Anne-Catherine Gillet and you 'd better keep an eye on her!

Maledizione to the elder couple sitting next to me that obviously had the mission to destroy my evening. Both of them moving and changing postures every 15 seconds and using their binoculars every 7 seconds (even when the stage was empty).

As already mentioned, the curtain calls were triumphant for all members of the casts. I couldn't yell louder my "brava" for Sophie Koch and most possibly Kaufmann's reception is one of the loudest I 've ever witnessed.

Time was pressing, the performance had been delayed, the time was about 11 and we were running late for our reservation at the Cafée des Musées. In a moment of despair we decided to skip the stage-door and not greet Jonas+Sophie. Wise decision as it seems that Peter Gelb who was also present at the performance, wanted to monopolize Kaufmann and made him use an alternative exit.
A couple of bottles of Château de l' Aisine and a fantastic dinner (you just gotta love the échine du porc noir de Bigorre) were the best way to give an end to this memorable night.

A maid, a stocking, a snow storm and some stoves: La Sonnambula at La Bastille

2010-02-01T22:12:00.011+02:00

Opéra Bastille, 28 January 2010

"Bien que souffrant...blah blah blah....Natalie Dessay...blah blah". Nothing, not even the announcement of Dessay's situation, seemed to surprise the audience of La Bastillle that had flooded the vast hall and had made all tickets for all performances of La Sonnambula disappear in about 20 minutes on the first day of sale. We had all heard the same ol' story before and we already knew that Dessay had sung the first couple of performances sick. And such was the demand for tickets that there were quite a few desperate people outside the theatre holding signs reading "I only want ONE ticket" and the black market guys were everywhere around trying to sell le billet d'or.

According to Marco Arturo Marelli's vision, La Sonnambula takes place at some winter resort of Courchevel or Gstaad or wherever, where poor Amina is working as a maid (ugh), Lisa seems to be one of the resorts's clients (or is she the manager?) and il Conte is just il Conte. Still haven't figured out if Elvino is a valet or a bell boy. So, Amina is getting married and all the other maids are very happy and inbetween tidying and cleaning rooms they sing for the happy virgin that found the real love. On the other hand, Lisa is just a libertina, an "easy" girl - who spends most of the opera wearing only one stocking and one of her high heels - the missing stocking and the missing high heel are in the possession of the Conte and will be the evidence that will lead to Amina's triumph -a handkerchief in the original version.

Most interesting point of the stage direction: when Elvino finds out Amina's betrayal, during a snow storm, one of the windows on the left is crashed and loads of snow, storm in (literally). In Act II everything is upside down and covered by the snow -I mean even the interior of the hotel-, the window is still broken and there are stoves on stage (for obvious reasons). Freakin' genious! (...). And it get's even better: Dessay spends most of the opera singing on tables. Don't ask me why, ask the stage director.

Enough with trashing this man's vision. Let's move to the interesting part (and as I always say, messieurs les directeurs, no matter what you do, it's the singers we go to the opera for, not you - ok, maybe I would go to a Lenhoff staging just for him).

Natalie Dessay, la Marianne d' opéra français, even if announced sick, was an excellent Amina. Period. And I could not accept any comment or opinion on that. Say what you say, trash her as much as you want, the sick Dessay I watched was 100 times better that all the Aminas that sing the role nowadays (hmmm..I wonder if there are any...). The thing with Natalie is that she has just spoilt us during all these years of spectacular career, and we, the audience, expect from her to be super-human. I 'm not claiming that her singing was flawless, I'm not pretending not to be annoyed at times by her hysterical approach to roles/arias/whateva, but I'd rather go for an exciting Amina than a flawless one. And yes, the finale of the opera where the curtain falls and La Dessay stays alone on stage, gowned and bejeweled, to sing her Ah! Non Giunge is very callassiano, but hey, it's the Marianne of Opera we 're talking about.

Watch Dessay singing Ah! Non giunge!

It was the first time I was listening to Javier Camarena live. The voice is smooth and agile, the high notes sound fabricated and at times annoying, however, if you can't get JDF for the role, Camarena is as good as it gets.

Michele Pertusi passed almost unnoticed. I don't think he finds much excitement in the part and one can tell - his "Vi ravviso" was more boring than watching grass grow.

Kudos to Marie-Adeline Henry, our Lisa who had to spend most of the performance ballancing on one high-heel only (I suppose a big challenge for every young singer, especially when they also have to wear only one stocking), to Cornelia Oncioiu who was a good Teresa and to Nahuel di Pierro who was surprisingly interesting given the extent of his part.

Evelino Pidó struggled to make a difference and strangled Bellini's spirit. I must admit though that the ensemble finale of Act 1 was very impressive- not due to the chorus that was mediocre, missed some entrances and at times was 0ff-tempo.

Overall a very good perfomance, at least vocally, with a staging that was burnt far too early.

Time for some (more) nagging: It seems that very few things have changed from Violetta Valery's Paris and tuberculosis is still among the main causes of death. I 've never seen such a disrespectful, undisciplined audience before, coughing like being in the last stages of consumption, talking loud to one another, checking blackberries, texting, etc. There's no unacceptable theatre behaviour that was not present on Thursday night. And on top, all this at the parterre, in a zone of particularly expensive tickets. C'mon people, I know your entrecôte is waiting for you after the performance but just pretend that you 're not bored even for 30 minutes.

~Photo-album~
Curtain calls

Marie-Adeline Henry and her stocking...

~-~

Next: Werther with Jonas+Sophie and our flight to the moon (and back).

Who's that girl?

2010-02-01T21:41:00.003+02:00

Could someone please tell me who is Lina Castellanza

and what is her job description at La Scala?

Mr. Lissner? Mr.Fournier? Mme Di Freda? Somebody?

(click to enlarge)

Allons enfants du Pirée!

2010-01-31T22:03:00.002+02:00

An open-air hyper-massive-spectacle performance of AIDA will take place at the Stade de France of Paris on the 2nd of October and Greek tenor Dimitris Paksoglou will be singing Radamés!

Posters and banners are already all around the city.

Ildebrando d'Arcangelo will smack you with his baton

2010-01-31T10:11:00.010+02:00

Vivica Genaux+Antonino Siragusa+Pietro Spagnoli+Ildebrando d'Arcangelo+Stéphane Degout+Nidia Palacios+Carla di Censo

triumphing...

La Cenerentola, Théatre des Champs-Elysées, 30 Janvier 2010

A few hours ago...

2010-01-30T09:24:00.007+02:00

Jonas Kaufmann + Sophie Koch,

Ludovic Tézier + Anne-Catherine Gillet

Werther, Opéra de la Bastille, 29 Janvier 2010

A few minutes ago...

2010-01-28T23:32:00.000+02:00

Natalie Dessay + Javier Camarena + Michele Pertusi

La Somnambule, Opéra de la Bastille, 28 Janvier 2010

L’Heure Exquise

2010-01-27T21:19:00.003+02:00

Parsi is packing for la cité de la lumière where he will most certainly spend some heures exquises, but for the ones who 'll be in Athens on the 30th of January, don't miss a Recital by mezzo-soprano Anna Pangalou at the Benaki Museum together with harpist Maria Baldea in works by Gluck, Massenet, Berio, Albéniz etc.

A Requiem for Christos Lambrakis

2010-01-26T21:10:00.009+02:00

Veteran divas Anna Tomowa-Sintow and Agnes Baltsa, together with tenor Mario Zeffiri and bass Christophoros Stamboglis, will be the soloists of the performance of Mozart's Requiem , that will take place on the 16th of March at the Athens Megaron and will be dedicated to the memory of Christos Lambrakis.

Star violinist Leonidas Kavakos, will also perform Ludwig van Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D major with the Athens State Orchestra under the direction of Vyron Fidetzis.

Christos Lambrakis, a close friend of Baltsa, Tomowa-Sintow etc, a major patron of the Arts and one of the most influential people in Greece, passed away on December 21st 2009.

Werther backstage

2010-01-21T21:08:00.006+02:00

Kaufmann & Plasson backstage at the Opéra de la Bastille.
Thanks Esti!

Paata+Marcelo+Ambrogio+Michele, together for Haiti

2010-01-20T22:08:00.005+02:00

Force of Nature, Georgian bass Paata Burchuladze and his Foundation will organize a joint concert for the children of Haiti at the Tbilisi Opera House on January 21. Together with Paata on stage, non others than Marcelo Álvarez, Michéle Crider and Ambrogio Maestri.

The concert will be telecast by Georgian TV.

Greek splendor @ Francesc Viñas

2010-01-20T21:36:00.003+02:00

Listen to the Winner of the 3rd Prize, of theXLVII Edition of the Concurs Francesc Viñas (2010), Dimitrios Flemotomos, singing "O paradis" and "No puede ser" at the Final Concert, at the Gran Teatre del Liceu.

(press on the link above)

Arizona Werther

2010-01-19T22:45:00.005+02:00

One more tenor stepping in for Jonas Kaufman who seems to be still recovering from a bad cold. Andrew Richards, our fav Arizona guy got on a plane to Paris today and will sing the tomorrow performance of Werther as announced at the Paris Opera web.

Toi X 3 for Andrew!

ps. James Valenti who was originally covering for Kaufmann is currently in Santander rehearsing for La Boheme (2 performances on 28+30 January)