I'll give you something to cry about [UPDATED]

Reacting to something chez Chalk, I thought I would join the "fun" and post some things that make me choke up when I hear/see them live. I don't boo-hoo but my eyes water even rather copiously and I feel deliriously alive. I get into a zone in which sadness and joy are interchangeable and all is understood as the ineluctable prey of mortality--- and yet paradoxically free of it at the same time.

Here are six items that do it for me. I am not going to tell you what they are but you will no doubt know some of them. I will be happy to answer questions in the comments if there is any curiosity.

In (1), we have a theme that blooms so beautifully that I am always suprised by how much it affects me. So sweet. So sad.

(2) is from the same work. Last time I heard this section live I was not that happy with the performance but then I got a hold of myself and plunged right into excess; I thought that a distinct regret of mine when dying will be that I will never hear this music again. A little self-indulgent, a little maudlin--- so I got carried away! I blame the music.

[UPADATED WITH LINK] (3): with the final bars of this concerto, there is no need to stay for the symphony, if they are so foolish not to put this piece last. I mean what is there left to say--- and I was heard to remark, all portentous-like, "there is no other concerto," last time I heard this piece. Honestly, sometimes I should leave these things in the bottle. (But you know I kinda meant it?)

(4) = sweet poesie at the opera. So pretty! Time stands still. Those chord progressions! The piano! Time is still standing still. And will you look at that, will you? My eyes are watering!

(5) Yeah yeah--- he is the villain but did ever a villain break your heart like this? No. Of course not. Can I borrow the handkerchief? I think I have to dab my eyes and I need to go off and think a little. ("I will love ya, babe, even if she won't.")

(6) An act one curtain; after about 60 minutes of restless chromaticism the bright C major as the ship pulls into port on the bright blue Atlantic is orgasmic. The tension breaks and the plot has done some major shifting--- love is on the horizon and tragedy after it--- but for the moment we are in ecstasy with the protagonists and their abandonment spreads to the entire mise-en-scene. For the moment mortality is defeated and the final chord stretches into infinity (or something like that). When I see this on stage my eyes water furiously, I choke up, and, completely happy, I really don't want to talk to anyone at intermission.

Some Good News

I have received the good news that I was promoted from Lecturer level 5 to Lecturer level 7. This may sound like overprecision in a depressingly bureaucratic situation--and you may have something there (but my take on that is that it is ALWAYS something in Academe, so, like, whatevs)--but it hides the fact that I am now tenured [!!] because I went over the bar that exists between levels 5 and 6 [promotion over a bar renders one tenured like magic] and that I was given an accelerated pay raise in addition to the promotion, which is a stamp of approval from the committee over and beyond what was sought (it IS an honour---I should and do feel good about that).

To celebrate, I have a track by a New Zealand coloratura soprano, Mina Foley. This recording was probably made in the early 1950s. This singer evidently went koo-koo coa-coa-nuts crazy and therefore did not have the career all were expecting and that is why she is not more famous. In any case, it is THAT aria ("O luce di quest'anima") from Linda di Chamounix. You have got to hear this rendition to believe it. It starts off modestly enough and then she goes to town, way down-town , then up-town, then all-around town. One might say, one may, that she had a couple of high notes. Yes one could.

Here it is.

Let me know if it will not play, btw. My old solution stopped working and this is new.

Turandot Review

Well this was the best thing I have seen the opera do since I came to NZ. The Faust last year was not bad. The Lucia earlier this year had a nice soprano, Elvira Fatykhova, whose only fault was that she could hit a high e-flat and hold it for only about 2 seconds--- she would hit it and you would be going, "sounds nice, ok! give it me, sock it to me, mamma!" and then she would wrap it up and take it away, as though saying "that's all for you, young man!". Why she does not have a really major career is clear enough to me. It was awkward, really, that she would hit this note and then take it away so quickly. I had never heard anything like it before. We will pass over the Edgardo, Yvan Momirov, in nearly complete silence. The rest of the cast was fine. The minister, Raimondo, one Jud Arthur, was a good singer and easy on the eyes...ok...he was teh hott. Ooh boy. Preach it! You want me to sign something? Sure, anything, ANYthing for you, RaiJudArthurMondo.

But I am here to discuss Turandot.

Like I say, it was really a good production. It is an Alden production which I almost always like. He did an awesome Lucio Silla in Long Beach and super-duper-neato-torpedo Vespri in SF (I still thrill to the triple assassination of Tenor, Baritone, and Soprano in slow-mo in the final moments [yes-- Procida shoots Arrigo, Montfort and Elena dead!! Teh excitement!!!111!! 4rls!!])

But, like I say, not as I do, so far, I am here to discuss Turandot.

The Alden production eschews for the most part overt Chinoiserie (sic?) and instead conjures up a hybridized scene. It is a combination of Cultural Revolution China and late-capitalist-glamour-puss-globalized-celebritized-absolutistic naked assertion of dictatorial-cult-of-personality power---um, you know what I mean. Turandot becomes a glamorous vision of modernity that nonetheless anchors itself in a timeless claim to authority. Modern glamour in purple velvet makes a primeval claim that is not to be denied. This production is highly perceptive on the direction the world very well might be going in. I found it highly thought-provoking.

Check out Turandot. This is from Act 2:





See what I mean? The scenery--spare, modern--cements this impression.

The singing was at a very good level (Liu) to truly excellent (Calaf, Timur and, crucially, Turandot). Here is the cast and production team list:

Turandot Margaret Medlyn
Calaf Dongwon Shin
Liù Maria Costanza Nocentini
Timur Grant Dickson
Ping Phillip Rhodes
Pang Adrian McEniery
Pong Benjamin Fifita Makisi
Conductor Nicholas Braithwaite
Director Christopher Alden

It was announced that Medlyn had a cold but she went on anyway. She has a powerful voice that has a number of brilliant and incisive colours in it. She is an excellent actress and will make you forget that there is anyone else on the stage. She has the measure of the role vocally and histrionicly. We are lucky to have her. Most successful!! Brava!

Shin in the mid range can sound a tad provincial but his upper notes are highly brilliant and deservedly bring the house down. He cleaned up in "Nessun Dorma", and, folks, it really was good. Nocentini sounded a little out of sorts. I saw the dress rehearsal and she was better there. Timur was good. Powerful. The three Ps had lots of funny business to do and I have never seen them staged so well. However, this was closing night and they were still muffing their lines a tad. Honestly! That should not have been happening. Braithwaite chose one excellent tempo after another and the orchestra played fine. The piccolo player needs to work on his or her e flat--it fell apart at the end of Liu's death scene (Why do I note this? Well, I play the flute and piccolo myself.) Fatykhova and the piccolo need some e-flat tutoring.

Here are some more pictures:

Turandot and Liu (Act 3):



Turandot and Timur (Act 3):

Mas de Adriana Blogging

Moving associatively sideways repertoire-wise, we bid goodbye for the moment to Daniela Dessi and can barely recall someone whose initials are Andelina Nebtraintrestle. We now spend some time with this aria from Adriana.

First up is Mirella Freni. She has never been one of my favorites but her voice here is really rich and nice. She just fills the tones out so nicely. This is clearly from a MET Gala or a special performance of Die Fliedermaus:



Howzabout that second to last note? Damn she sounds good at the further end of her career and this is singing that would be nice at the beginning too.

Next is a link to Renata Tebaldi singing this aria on some cheesy telephone hour show, but damn she owned this role. Rudolf Bing said that Tebaldi demanded a production of Adriana at the MET as a quid pro quo. He tried to wiggle out of the agreement but she smiling would not let him. If my memory serves, that smile put "dimples of steel" on her face and he had to do the opera. Here is the

Tebaldi link.


And this is a singer I knew more by reputation but now I have both a visual and an audial image. OMG! This is so over the top! But kids, this is opera!! Portentosa, splendida, fucka, yeaha, si si si!!. Drum-roll please! [fanfares] "Ladies and Gents, I give you scenery-chewer extraordinaire...let's give a loud round of applause... to... Marcella Pobbe!!! (now with pearls):



P.S. She is lipsynching of course, as happens in these Italian films of the operas. I wondered if this were an actress playing the part. No, it IS she:

Dessi in Adriana Lecouvreur

[Dessi blogging!!! OK!!]

Earlier this year, they did Adriana Lecouvreur, a wonderful opera by Cilea, at La Scala. Gosh I would have loved to have been there for that. Opera Chic covered it very nicely in a number of posts. Here is one of the entries if you are interested. You can get all scrollolicious from there and read more, if you are of a mind. OC is fascinated with the Dessi's bust and makes reference to Dessi's endowment amusingly a number of times.

But how is it that Dessi has come to be on the blog menu, as it were? Weren't we supposed to have Trebzoroaster blogging? Well, we were but YouTube has taken away the video that I wanted to post. The lost video is a version of Musetta's waltz-song from La Boheme done like a music video that J-Lo or someone like her would do, only with Puccini. Anyway in it La Trebsaldine is married to this guy and they are like rich and stuff and as they are being driven somewhere her eyes keep meeting the eyes of the hottt chauffeur AND it looks like something may happen but it does not AND at the end it looks like she has only thought of dishonouring her vows and will not now, nor ever. The final look between them is farewell forever [or at least they finish their meal and need a ride home, I guesss] (I add here that Anna Banana has also been singing full on in the back seat of the car, which does put a lot of weight on ye olde suspension bridge of disbelief, you know). Furthermore, the narrative of the video where infidelity is thought of but then is successfully resisted (and let me tell you the wedding bands are a bright shiny gold if memory serves), seems like the idea of what constitutes edgy on some Christian network. Oooh she almost gave in to sin. Thrills. Chills. Sheesh, this is hardly the dementia of which Ethan Morden speaks. But anyway, I am not going to discuss that video because instead I have this one which I ran across as I searched for the other one.

Cilea, Cilea, Cilea! One of the also-rans in the verismo sweepstakes, but he did place well with this opera. The melody is 24 carot-gold and Dessi does it well. She has a nice strong voice and she looks great, if you ask me. And the boys, right before she starts the big melody: "splendida...portentosa...musa...diva...sirena," talk about a fan club! The aria and opening material make for a most gratifying entrance for the soprano. It has been one of my favorite things since I first heard it. Cilea 4eva! 4rls!

Back!

My manuscript is now wending its way to the publishers. May they please say "yes we want your manuscript--OMG--- we want you you you!!1eleven11!!!" (or words to that effect).

I will hopefully be able to post more than in the recent past.

It is Spring down here and here are some pictures from the botanic gardens in Wellington.

But first!, before the pictures, I have learned that Chalkenteros is officially in love with Anna Netrebko again. We wish the happy couple all the best. We hope that true love will find a way and they can stay together. (In fact stay tuned for more Anna blogging!)

Anyway, here are the pictures from the trip over to the gardens: