Reply With QuoteI checked out the trailer for this Semiramide and opted out. But with the right cast and staging, I'd wallow in four hours of the opera!
Semiramide is a long opera with a lot of coloratura, you are right. Hm... I like the part about "amazing figure."
"J'ai dit qu'il ne suffisait pas d'entendre la musique, mais qu'il fallait encore la voir" (Stravinsky)
I checked out the trailer for this Semiramide and opted out. But with the right cast and staging, I'd wallow in four hours of the opera!
Cavalli: La Didone
Recorded live at the Théâtre de Caen, October 2011
Anna Bonitatibus (Didone), Kresimir Spicer (Enea), Xavier Sabata (larba), Maria Streijffert (Ecuba) & Katherine Watson (Cassandra)
Les Arts Florissants, William Christie (conductor) & Clément Hervieu-Léger (director)
Princely/Godly: Anna Bonatatibus, Xavier Sabata, the costumes
Mere mortals: Stage sets, Kresimir Spicer, the costumes
Rank of shadows: the costumes
Rameau: Castor et Pollux
Recorded live at Het Musiektheater, Amsterdam on 21st & 25th January 2008.
Anna Maria Panzarella, Véronique Gens, Finnur Bjarnason, Henk Neven, Judith van Wanroij, Nicolas Testé, Thomas Oliemans & Anders J. Dahlin
Chorus of De Nederlandse Opera & Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset (conductor) & Pierre Audi (stage director)
Stellar: Anna Maria Panzarella, chorus, sound, colours
Far out: yes it is
There are a few parts of this production that are so far out, it is a bit like the Kingdom where the light never shines. That said, this is the first time I have seen or heard this opera and I really like it. There are some romantic (or tragic) music that is beautiful and sung wonderfully here. I shall be coming back here soon. Though next time I might have a bit of whatever that is that Pierre Audi is on.
almost like I needed to remind myself of the brilliance of De Nederlandse Opera and Pierre Audi...
Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea
Cynthia Haymon (Poppea), Brigitte Balleys (Nerone), Michael Chance (Ottone), Harry van der Kamp (Seneca), Ning Liang (Ottavia), Heidi Grant Murphy (Drusilla), Jean-Paul Fouchécourt (Arnalta), Dominique Visse (Nutrice), Claron McFadden (Valletto)
Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset, stage direction by Pierre Audi
1994
Triumph of love: Brigitte Balleys, stage set, Harry van der Kamp, costumes, Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset
Murderous intent: no evidence
I Due Foscari from ROH with Placidone, Francesco Meli and Maria Agresta.
A daft unfocused production with extra stage business that added nothing (no Jacopo's wife doesn't go mad in the end and drown her son in a convenient puddle; distracting everyone from Placidone's big death scene, what were you thinking, Thaddeus Strassberger?).
Agresta and Meli were good, but surprisingly the night belonged to Placidone; he brought great conviction and pathos to his portrayal of the conflicted Francesco Foscari, and the wobbly old voice doesn't matter as he was paying a man even older than him. Some lovely music too.
I'm still trying to work out why the bass playing the baddy Jacopo Loredano was booed. In London, not Milan! Was it a pantomime boo, because he was the baddy, or did they think he sang badly? He was a bit vanilla, could have made more of it, but he was reasonably competent. Either way I really did not like that booing, found it quite shocking.
Natalie
Originally Posted by Soave_Fanciulla
I Due Foscari from ROH with Placidone, Francesco Meli and Maria Agresta.
A daft unfocused production with extra stage business that added nothing (no Jacopo's wife doesn't go mad in the end and drown her son in a convenient puddle; distracting everyone from Placidone's big death scene, what were you thinking, Thaddeus Strassberger?).
Agresta and Meli were good, but surprisingly the night belonged to Placidone; he brought great conviction and pathos to his portrayal of the conflicted Francesco Foscari, and the wobbly old voice doesn't matter as he was paying a man even older than him. Some lovely music too.
I'm still trying to work out why the bass playing the baddy Jacopo Loredano was booed. In London, not Milan! Was it a pantomime boo, because he was the baddy, or did they think he sang badly? He was a bit vanilla, could have made more of it, but he was reasonably competent. Either way I really did not like that booing, found it quite shocking.
I didn't see the opera live but have just asked my friend who did see it and she says it was definitely panto baddy booing which the singer acknowledged as such.
I think it's a stupid fad and I hate it.
"Every theatre is an insane asylum, but an opera theatre is the ward for the incurables."
FRANZ SCHALK, attributed, Losing the Plot in Opera: Myths and Secrets of the World's Great Operas
Oh wow, our friend (and Opera Lively member and interviewee) Thaddeus Strassberger's career is definitely picking up, with a directorship at the Royal Opera House, but it seems to be controversial, huh? I wish I could have seen it. Is it still online somewhere accessible to me?
"J'ai dit qu'il ne suffisait pas d'entendre la musique, mais qu'il fallait encore la voir" (Stravinsky)
La Sonnambula, Parma 1993 Devia, Ballo, Pertusi; Ãstman, no subtitles.
"Music is enought for a whole lifetime--but a lifetime is not enough for music." --Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XODE4MjY5NTg4.html
It has Chinese subtitles but the video is good quality. You may have to wait for the 'ads' to finish before it loads. I just looked to see if it was out there and the ads ran for over 2 minutes. If you get the picture with the 'space guy' and a broken wire connection, you have an ad blocker running that is blocking you from seeing it. I find Chrome works best for that site.
Mary will want to see this if she has not already. I'm not that keen on this opera but I did like the production except for the seduction scene which was on such a steeply raked stage that the singers had to put almost all their energy into not sliding ignominiously down to the bottom while simultaneously having a good grope. Oh, and singing a fiendish aria too. All directors and stage designers should be forced to try doing what they ask their singers to do.
Also" Vesti la giubba" = Jonas's most copious drool ever. Dropped off his beard. But he did a lovely job of the aria.
Natalie
Yeah, the fake beard (like he doesn't usually sport one of his own). Don't know the purpose behind that, unless it was to make Canio appear older and emphasize the age difference with Nedda.
Watched this golden oldie yesterday, still a very nice film.
No to polished and perfect in detail. a.k.a the heat in the outside scenes , Mrs Migenus armpits...(not shaved) .
I have the ols Erato version, no idea if this still available .
First opera DVD I ever bought in a fit of nostalgia for the original film and my long lost VHS version.
Watched this golden oldie yesterday, still a very nice film.
No to polished and perfect in detail. a.k.a the heat in the outside scenes , Mrs Migenus armpits...(not shaved) .
I have the ols Erato version, no idea if this still available .
Natalie
We did an operatic experiment: discussing whether the Blu ray of I Puritani with Netrebko or the version with Machaidze and JDF was superior, we watched both, back to back. The unanimous favorite was the latter. While Netrebko was the better soprano by a very narrow margin, the balance of the "Puritani Quartet was far superior on the Decca version. Conducting was also better on the Decca set. Pier Alli's directing is a bit off putting due to his incomprehensible emphasis on uniform hand movements in the chorus. We also concluded that Puritani is musically amazing.
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