Vingt Regards

Just a quick note on an interesting concert I just attended. The brother of one of my colleagues here in the classics programme played Messiaen's "Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jesus ["20 Looks at You Know Who"]. What an amazing work it is. It is 20 movements and takes something over 2 hours to be played. It is a work out for a solo pianist.

The various movements recreate the effect of the movements of the stars, the tender look of The Virgin at her baby, the quiet omnipresence of God, the Son gazing upon the Son. Inverted rainbows are to be found. So are inverted lightnings. Amazing.

The pianist, Read Gainsford (who teaches piano at Florida State [I think] in Tallahasee) played like the god that is needed for this piece. He has delicacy, power and awesome intelligence.

Seeing this piece was a treat and while I am not a Xian, I nonetheless find the sprituality of this piece honest and most assuredly not cloying. I like Messiaen better and better all the time.

Abigaille + Marisa Galvany = A Reason to Live

Gosh I wish I had been in the audience for this! Is this from the 70's the late 60'? Who knows! Who cares!!

Prima Donna Galvany was an exciting dramatic soprano whose powerful instrument and take charge stage manner brought much joy to opera lovers like me back in the day.

Here, in this scene from Verdi's Nabucco, she is is playing Nabucco's imperious daughter, Abigaille, who has just seized control of the kingdom. At the end of this scene she orders her father (her own father! teh excitment!) arrested. And if you study her movements as he shakes off the guards who are leading him away, she is laughing at him. Bad bad bad!! In fact, study all her movements at the end. She brings her arms fast down after the high e flat---

(which she just pulls [thnx!] out of the ether [drawing on an account the pin number to which only she knows, kids])

---as though to say--- if the kingdom weren't mine before this note, after it it would be!---and that e flat is mighty nice, what bravura singing! She then sweeps her costume back to show dad that she so so so so so so so means business. She laughs at him, as already noted, and then up go the arms as she faces an idol or something that is at the back of the stage--- TREMBLE, PROFANI, I AM TEH QUEEN!!!

Out the Window This Morning

The wind had just shifted bringing cool winds up from the South. There were some showers riding on these winds.

Pictures of Anna Sure to Please My Dad!

Hey dad, we could take Anna to target practice!!! That would be pretty boss, don't you think?

In any case, don't #$%^ with Trebs is henceforth the watchword, surely.




The facets of Anna are fascinating in their unfolding, to put it mixedmetaphorically [I was seduced by the effs, your honour; the siren-song of alliteration made me do it!]

And, you know, a certain Romanian diva recently was less than complimentary about la Trebazoid. Hmmm. [Sotto voce to Angela, "cuidado, chica, k? justsayin' kthnxbi."]

(via Sieglinde's Diaries)

Eleanor Steber Sings the Pagliacci Aria!

Sorry not to be posting lately. There is just so much to do around here. Teaching of course and Chapter Five is well-along but it just takes so much time and sometimes I feel like I am in among the weeds near a pond and not on the royal road that will lead me home and to the finish.

But enough about that--- for the moment.

Here is Eleanor Steber, American Super-Star Soprano from 50s.

I love her! Have done so for just forever! If you run across the old recording of Barber's Vanessa, get it and you will hear her doing an excellent job with the title role.

Her voice has the sound of a well-schooled American diva from the middle of last century, which is not so surprising of course.

I dote on her rolled "r"s. Delightful.

You hear often a metaphor for good operatic singing-- that you have your capital that you preserve and that you sing off the interest. A solid base of masterful and patiently acquired technique makes the singing well-founded and the sound the audience hears is an epiphenomenon of a much larger structure. Understanding singing in this way means that the good singer does not throw him or herself into the role and lose control. Steber's singing here recalls such a metaphor (which is ironic, for she evidently did do things later that she should not have and, they say, ruined her voice [one of these roles was Marie in Wozzeck!])

AND, and and and and, don't miss the lovely control of articulation and volume from about the 44 to 35 second mark--- que bella!!--- AND, and and and and, she also takes no breath here. People!!

Take it away Eleanor!:

bb

Vacation Picture Addendum

Presenting: Scenes from...

...our little vacation to the South Island. Same place we went last time. We like it clearly and the object was to relax. Next summer, in late Jan. and early Feb., the plan is to head way down south to Dunedin and Queenstown kai ta loipa [etc.] and have a proper touring vacation. These were all taken in and around Takaka.

Yeah, yeah... it was beautiful and I WILL be posting pictures but

honestly, what did we listen to? I read your mind. And here, from your ever humble servant, is OPERA LOG!!:

14 April 2007:
Manon, Massenet
studio with Victoria de Los Angeles; she is very fine.


15 April 2007:
Semiramide, Meyerbeer
conducted by Bonynge. A live on Naxos. Meyerbeer was like 22 years old when he brought this work out in 1813. Just a kid and he sounds so so so Italian here. Though there is a certain quality to the line that suggests the future master of French grand opera.

Le Roi de Lahore, Massenet
the Sutherland studio—a stunning piece---and there’s a really kick-ass ballet, by the way

Die Gezeichneten, Schreker
DVD from Salzburg (Act One)—remarks below


16 April 15, 2007
La Caravan du Caire, Gretry
An opera ballet with, not surprsingly, lots of instrumental sections. This is a delightful work.

Cristofo Colombo, Franchetti
Interesting work on the life of this explorer; a star-turn from Bruson late in his career; the orchestration is really rich and lovely; the work lacks a strong artistic profile and the plot is pretty darn diffuse

Die Gezeichneten, Schreker
DVD from Salzburg (Acts Two and Three); this euro-trash production is vexing—a total opportunity missed; if everyone looks like they are showing up for a night of bondage at the club when the curtain opens--- the progressive revelations lose a lot of their punch. Gosh I sound like a cranky older gentleman. Hmm and hmmm. The singing and conducting range from nice to very good indeed (especially the soprano, Schwanewilms who looks good and sounds even better; she is sooooo good--- I am fan of hers from now on; I want to hear more.). The score is cut. Most of the cuts don’t hurt much but there is one (Chalk, are you sitting down?) that is vexatious in the extreme: the grand procession from Act 3 is cut!!


17 April 2007
Polyeucte, Gounod
Zzzzzz, I mean there are like zzzzzz like these good parts zzzzz but zzzz where was I?

Carlo di Borgogna, Pacini
Basically an undisovered masterpiece in a passionate and virtuosic performance; um, like, you need to own this? Oh yes you do; no home should be without it! Below are two exciting moments from this awesome opera: check out Jennifer Larmore (from Act II)—she is pretty f’ing amazing, I should say, here and throughout. Demented and at one with the music!! This is furious and meaningful coloratura in the grand manner. Also below are the final bars from the finale to Act One—the whole cast and orchestra are going mad together. Schuweet!! This is such exciting music making and composing. Futral is great throughout and I think a medal is due Bruce Ford for exemplary service in cause of Bel-Canto for years.
CLIPS:
Final bars of Finale from Act I; the arrial of the bass drum etc. right toward the end is pretty electifying. Close your eyes, volume on high.
Larmore showing all and sundry how this kind of thing is done. Close your eyes, volume on high.


18 April 2007
Elijah, Mendelssohn
Terfel, Fleming, y otras personas.
Husband dotes on this piece and this seems a nice performance of it.

La Cieca’s 200th Podcast—A Gala [Parts One and Part Two]
Many fine things throughout; special mention of Giordani and Stoyanova in with the duet from Les Hugenots—when he sings those soaring lines, I get what the deal about Meyerbeer was/is; the raw emotion and the love of the voice make his writing very special and an opportunity for the artist to display his or her ability and the personal beauty of his or her voice that is coincident with an opportunity to be gloriously IN CHARACTER

19 April 2007
Rinaldo, Handel
Daniels, Bartoli, Organasova, Fink (Hogwood—Academy of Ancient Music); a starry line-up, thatsforsure. As I live blog this, they are delivering; it is very nice work indeed in presenting a piece that gave us a lot of pleasure at NYCO in 2000--- those of you who saw it, can you ever forget Christine Goerke the Armida arriving on top of a huge box amid thunder and lightning—among many other felicities?

I Capuleti ed I Montecchi, Bellini (Act One)
A podcast from Parterre Box with Anna Netrebko as Giulietta! And man does she sound good in this 2004 performance from Salzburg!!

20 April 2007
Tancredi, Rossini
Kasarova, Mei, Vargas, cond: Roberto Abbado; Mei does pretty coloratura; Kasarova is all melancholy introspection and delicacy which, while fetching in a certain way, is not optimal here. Vargas is nice. He is always so nice. Everyone agrees he is nice. Yes he is nicely nice in the most nicely nice way. Roberto Abbado (cond.) needs more pep.

I Capuleti ed I Montecchi, Bellini (Act Two)--- the continuation of last night’s broadcast
A strong finish.


21 April 2007
Rhodelinda, Handel
A boring recording from the late 90s on the Veritas label

Nelly Miricioiu recital disk
Her voice is sort of ugly but she is able to deliver some excitement and has a way with the bravura coloratura. I like her and I like her intelligence and passion. (Donizetti, Boito, y otras cosas)

22 April 21, 2007
Massenet, Manon
Angela Ghjkllthdkjiu [Me and Romanian? Not so good.] and Alagna sounding pretty good; though she is less interesting to me in this role than Sills or De Los Angeles. Alagna was pretty sweet. Pappano is an excellent conductor and was true to form here.

Gone for about a week to the South Island....

...see you on the other side. Eating too much, opera on CD and DVD (Die Gezeichneten from Salzburg!), much dog walking, much sleeping are on the docket. I will make a sprint to try to finish the fifth chapter of my book. Wish me luck with that. TRH will study bridge books to prepare himself to represent the club in interclub competition! No danger of me being asked to do that, though I will practice playing bridge hands on BridgeBaron.

Here are some pics.

Nelson as a puppy:



Nelson grown up:



TRH does not like this picture. He is wrong:



Say "Pacini Cabaletta"!:

Remembrance

Here is a picture of our beloved Niels who left us (after a long and rich life) two years ago today.



I still miss him but his successor, Nelson, does make the missing a sweet thing and something easy to accept. This is a picture of Nelson with TRH:

Another Piece of Convincing Evidence as to Why One Should Love Bel-Canto

We are now back to some original content. Hooray!

Below is a short clip from the Act One Finale of a real rarity: L'Ultimo Giorno di Pompei by Pacini. (The plot of this opera is not without interest to Classicists in the audience and, to my ears, Pacini has included a number of odd-sounding marches that are meant to evoke the Roman mileau.) He wrote this opera in the 1820's. The recording from which this clip comes is a good performance of a very fun piece. I recommend it to you. I listened to the whole thing yesterday morning and was most pleased. You can check out the entire recording here.

The clip features the talented (if a tad bit wild) Iano Tamar as the lead (as you will hear). I like the way Pacini writes an assertive and cutting line for his prima donna. Teh ok! Then when she is done with her bit the chorus bounces in with some very catchy music which has some insinuating chromaticism that falls so sweetly upon the ear (or on my ear at any rate). You know, the bel-canto masters will insert little things here and there in their works that will enchant the listerner if he or she is susceptible. I am terminal in this regard and Pacini is very, very good.

Here is the clip. Enjoy!

Manon Gavotte Face-Off

OK.

Here's the deal. Here is roughly the same excerpt from Massanet's Manon, featuring three heavy hitters: Netrebko, Fleming, and Sills.

[A momentary prayer of Thanksgiving for YouTube would not be out of line here]

It is fascinating to hear the different ways this supremely solipsistic scene can be played.

I will say at the outset that I find Fleming the least successful. This is from Paris I am pretty darn sure cuz we were there. We (TRH and I) were in the front row actually (and feeling highly satisfied with ourselves that we had scored these tickets--- when I saw these seats as being available at the ticket office, I did not even look at how much they cost and just told TRH to give me the VISA cuz "they have some seats" "how much are they?" "the VISA please, it is worth it", and, suprisingly pliable at times, he handed over the Visa and the rest, as they say, erat historia)--anyway, since we were in the front row, we got a long luxuriant look at the red red red costume she is wearing. I sort of like it (but then I have bad taste in women's clothing) but I also wonder if it looks a little like what Carol Burnett wears in the famous sketch she did sending up Gone with the Wind (in a different colour, of course).



Well, maybe not. Memory plays odd tricks sometimes. It must be the upholstered effect of F's costume that made me think in this direction.

But to the singing. I recall being most extremely pleased with her performance. Now however I find some of the sounds she makes just bizarre, croony and underpowered. I think she is better live than on the radio or on recording. But that said, I recall being extraordinarily distressed by her lack of force in filling out the line in the Il Pirata at the MET a couple of years back and that had been a performance we had been looking forward to most most most most keenly (and perhaps too keenly, there was perhaps no way reality could compete with all that anticipation [or with Gavazzeni's conducting on the recording with Caballe (you have GOT to hear the way they do the Act One curtain! It is so exciting!!111!!!)], we were, in short, doomed.) But on the other hand, there is real delicacy in a lot of the passage work and the colors in her voice often are just so so pretty (and she does hold the final long note for a good long time):



Trebs here characterstically ducks out on a little bit of ornamentation here and there but the line is quite authoritative all the way through. She is powerful and the voice comes off as quite slavic when you have her sandwiched by these whitebread girls. She is teh sexaay too. The top is brilliant and pretty darn clean--- love the sound of her big money-shot high notes:



And then there is Sills. The ornamentation just pops out. She sings this music with a real sense of authority. She is oddly enough not interested in some of the longer notes and on the basis of this can almost be seen as an opposite to Trebs. I really like the way she does this. She was justifiably famous for her Manon:



I will probably listen some more and update. But I wanted to get this out there. What do you think? Do some Trebs haterz want to get their freak on? Does someone want to get Rosemary Bollin on line one? Should I have looked at and posted the Gruberova version of this that I did not look at and did not post?

As per request from TRH...

... here are some pictures of a dahlia from our front yard.



TRH feels that this most excellent plant's glories must be beamed out into the internets for all and sundry to admirilate. I agree:





VT ROGATVM, SIC FACTVM.

Bruckner in Wellington

Just back from this most excellent concert. The only work on the program was the 80 minute long Bruckner 8th symphony in C Minor. Lawrence Renes masterfully conducted our most excellent New Zealand Symphony. This very important monument of the symphonic repertoire was given A no. 1 treatment. It has been a favorite of mine for like 30 years now so I know it really well. It is a great work but it needs care. A performance of it can go wrong especially in the slow movement if the conductor does not know what he is doing. But rest assured that Renes knows what he is doing. He tapers the sound to nothing (and has about seven different levels of nothing that he asks for and gets from our god-like orchestra) and he also gets the most delightful grand sounds where needed. A sense of the large-scale structure of this work was everywhere present.

Yes this is a rave. It was totally awesome.

The shattering climax at the end of the first movement was, well, shattering (Mission accomplished) and the coda that followed it, which feature broken bits and pieces of various themes, was so appropriately perfectly desolate. This work is just great here: there is this big climax and then it is like everything is broken, ruined, lost, destroyed, FUBAR, perditum, deletum (you get the idea) and so the movement limps to an ending with these fragments trying to say something, anything and yet all there is to be said is the fact that there is nothing to be said. From this dark spot the symphony rebounds of course and we have at the very end of the symphony a blaze of C major that has been earned and which is transfiguring. Good good stuff.

Keep your eyes out for Renes and run to hear him in anything at all I think but especially in Mahler and Bruckner.

Concert Report: Kiri in Mozart and Strauss and Renes and Kiri in a Mahler 4th

Well, as I write this post I am sitting at my lovely desk while the enchanting stylings of Myslivecek's opera seria Il Bellerofonte are rawking de house [Myslivecek 4evah!!!!111!!! (I experience things that don't happen to everyone everyday, clearly)]. Anyway, last night's concert was a nice thing if mildly frustrating in places. Lawrence Renes is a super conductor. He excelled in his accompanying of Kiri in three Mozart concert arias and in three Strauss songs. The Figaro overture which opened the program was delightful. And, most importantly, the Mahler fourth was pastoral where it needed to be, gently sarcastic where it needed to be, passionate, too, where it needed to be. The symphony breathed and his view of the work felt natural and right and was totally engrossing. He is, TRH and I agree, pretty easy on the eyes too:



We see him in Bruckner's 8th symphony tonight. The stars might very well be in alignmnent for something really good.

At 63, Kiri is in the sunset years of her career. She looks like a million bucks and played the role of cool yet impeccably gracious diva to perfection. The beauty of her preternaturally beautiful voice is still in evidence. There were no issues with intonation worthy of mention. Her ability to edge her tone or makes it smooth as creme is still hers to do as are her always tasteful and beautifully judged portamenti. But (and you were waiting for that, were you not?), she was underpowered. We were not far back and we could not hear her at times especially when she needed to do a little bit of coloratura. Also, in spaces where you wanted her to let the tone free [Rawk de house Kiri!!11!!! Let the big dog hunt!!], she seemed to hold it back. I sensed that she could have filled the hall on a number of occasions but then chose not to. But you know, she may know best. I just teach Latin and think about monks and sex, while she is still singing in her sixities and quite well, all things considered. We will admit that perhaps the Dame knows best. I was glad to see her again.

Trebs Mania -- Part the [who's counting?]

This is really very nice. This is Elettra's final aria from Idomeneo. It is a mini mad-scene and an opportunity for a soprano to chew the scenery to a fare-the-well. I saw the divine Carol Vaness do it so so so so so so so so so so so so well in SF in the late 90s [sotto voce to Carol: you got that somewhere on video? Send it to me and I will post it right here. k?luvuthnxbi.]--- as I was saying, Vaness does well and so does La Trebs.

Minus first: a tad bit of hoarseness (?) in the lower register. But whatever.

She ducks out of like two of staccati at the end of the twin runs at the end (you will note them when she goes up and then seems to go down in a figuration that suggests maniacal laughter). She should not have done that.

[Over at Parterre Box, there are some who will figure she needs to go to Sing-Sing and break up rocks for 30 years for this--- but I am not talking about those pedants, oh no, I am not mentioning those bitter people, oh no, I am not thinking of those ____ (because I am not thinking of them I will not say what I am thinking!) at all. Oh. No. Not. At. All.]

Pluses: the line is pulled so nice and tight all the way through (as is so so so so so so so so so so so so so so appropriate to this character at this point in the opera). Contrast with Renee Fleming's indulgences--swoops and croons. Trebs goes for and achieves a severe classic grandeur here. So tense. So intense. Yes!! I just love that! Score!! Go team!!

There is the touch of the slavic in the tone but the execution is all done to the highest of international standards, if you get what I mean. She is a playa.

Check out the drama in the voice--- it is there independent of the her acting with her face and body. Close your eyes; don't even look and it still is happening. It is really something how she does both. But all the same, do look. The arm coming up slowly as the aria is coming to its explosive conclusion is electrifying and it comes down so slowly even as the applause still continues.

Gosh I sure liked this!!

Something good in prospect...

... and more than likely in reality.

March 30 and 31, this coming Friday and Saturday, we have some good music down at the New Zealand Symphony.

Lawrence Renes (a conductor with whom I am not familiar) will be conducting both concerts.

Here is the program for Friday night:

MOZART Overture to The Marriage of Figaro

MOZART Arias including:
Vado, ma dove?
Chi sà, chi sà qual sia
Nehmt meinen Dank, ihr holden Gönner!

STRAUSS Lieder including:
Morgen
Standchen
Zueignung

MAHLER Symphony No 4 in G Major

And the soprano will be Kiri Te Kanawa. [!] It will be interesting to hear how her voice is doing. I have not heard her since a Capriccio in San Francisco back in the 90's some time. My understanding is that she is still in pretty good shape.

AND then on Saturday night, we have the rich over-the-topness of Bruckner's titanic Symphony #8.

It is going to be a lovely weekend.

Here is the inside of the Michael Fowler Centre (generally the home of the excellent New Zealand Symphony when it is in Wellington):

I play bridge...

...and as a newbie and one who at times is NOT that good at hiding his reactions to the hands the deals reveal... well, shall we say that Antonietta Stella here in this clip from La Fanciulla Del West by Puccini...um... erk... shall we say that I know how she feels AND that I have a better notion of how I must look at times? Shall we say that? Sure. Let's.



Of course, she is quite happy at the end because she has saved her lover's life through this card game. In my imagination she could be singing in those final glorious broad and high lines the following:

"I bid five and got one over-trick AND we were vulnerable!"

[Which happened last night!! Buona Notte indeed!!]

[[Via NYC Opera Fanatic]]

[[[P.S. I think I need to get more Antonietta Stella in my life.]]]

Looking for Catharsis? I give you the Act 3 Finale of La Juive!!

We saw this production a few years back when it was in New York at the MET. It was one of the best evenings I have ever spent at the opera. The scene here, if I remember correctly is when it has been discovered that Prince Leopold has been consorting with a jewess. In the course of the scene, you will see him rejected-- anathematized, actually, by Cardinal Brogni.

The gentiles are above in white and Rachel (the eponymous Jewess) and her father Eleazar are in black below. I find particularly effective how Eleazar just gets back to work while the Christians above work themselves up into a blood-libel frenzy. He knows that what will be, will be and that he might as well ignore it, cuz what else can he do--- and besides there is work to do. He wraps the leather straps around his wrists so that he can get back to jewelry making.

Halevy, the composer, by the way, is nothing less than a genius. The music that is bringing this curtain down with a bang [in a most passionate G minor] is some of the most exciting and cathartic music I know. As Princess Eudoxie collapses (right at the end), what music is this for a collapse! It all makes my eyes water in the best way.



When we saw this scene at the MET, I remember being quite at a loss for words afterwards. It was also fun going into Tower Records and other places that weekend after the performance. Everyone seemed to be talking (or so I thought) about how dramatic and involving this opera had been... and they were also saying how suprising it had been that the MET had produced something riveting (these were in the days before the teh sexy reign of Gelb, of course).

Netrebko Fever Bollywood Style

Please to click here. Anna Netrebko controversy is unabated in its intensity and, it would seem, unbounded in its extent.