What opera have you been watching lately?

**Soave_Fanciulla** · December 13th, 2015, 02:57 AM

Good straightforward production, amazing singing, and an unfamiliar opera with lots of familiar music #Rossinirecycles.

**Florestan** · December 13th, 2015, 04:20 AM

A film adaptation with actors lip synching real singers. This is very good.
That is the Dutchman with Senta on the cover.

Good article on it here (the one shown in the article has subtitles. Mine doesn't).

**Florestan** · December 13th, 2015, 06:09 PM

**Festat** · December 15th, 2015, 10:06 PM

Last week's Giovanna d'Arco from La Scala (on Arte) with Netrebko in the title role and conducted by Chailly. Quite impressive. Even Jesus makes a cameo.

Yesterday I watched the recent Iphigénie en Tauride with Anna Caterina Antonacci on DailyMotion but apparently it's been taken down — I can't find it anymore. Pity, it was also a powerful performance.

**Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)** · December 16th, 2015, 02:38 AM

Originally Posted by Festat

Last week's Giovanna d'Arco from La Scala (on Arte) with Netrebko in the title role and conducted by Chailly. Quite impressive. Even Jesus makes a cameo.

Mixed feelings about this one. The production is interesting and I'm glad that La Scala is showing some imagination. Anna is as usual a great singer. However her male counterparts are not so good, and they managed to make Anna so unattractive with that awful gown!

**Festat** · December 16th, 2015, 02:50 AM

Yes, I agree the guys aren't up to her or the production's standards, but I don't think they get in the way. They may leave me unimpressed but not bothered. The fact that Anna practically never leaves the stage probably makes everything more easily bearable.

About the gown... the woman's Joan of Arc, haircut, armor, helmet and all. I don't really think looking good is a priority.

**Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)** · December 17th, 2015, 11:07 PM

Originally Posted by Festat

I don't really think looking good is a priority.

Erm... for me, it is...

**Amfortas** · December 18th, 2015, 12:02 AM

Originally Posted by Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)

Erm... for me, it is...

As is immediately clear from your photo. As a great man once said, "I would rather look good than feel good."

**JohnGerald** · December 18th, 2015, 12:27 AM

Originally Posted by Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)

Erm... for me, it is...

"Get thee behind me, Satan!" The temptation is almost overwhelming!

**Festat** · December 18th, 2015, 09:41 PM

After yesterday's listen... This Nozze di Figaro is really unfair competition, though. Gundula Janowitz, Lucia Popp and Frederica von Stade are the definition of dream team.

**Povero Buoso** · December 18th, 2015, 10:02 PM

Been a while since I've watched new operas (essays...) but today was the pre planned watching of Cavalleria Rusticana and the nice surprise that Andrea Chénier was on BBC 4 (Thanks Sospiro for the heads up). Either way it was a collective 3 or so hours well spent.

The Met on Demand Cavalleria Rusticana was will sung and importantly well acted as well. Everyone was in sterling form from what I saw and heard. Special notice goes to Lola's singer Ginger Costa-Jackson who managed both physically and vocally to portray Lola's flirtatious nature and very easily make you believe in a character who could easily cheat on her husband with little remorse. The staging was by comparison slightly meh but I enjoyed it overall and a drinking song always adds an extra half point. Hence I enjoyed my first experience of this Opera and though it is not quite as good as Pagliacci musically I will probably needs a recording of it at some point for my Ipod as well as Pagliacci.

The ROH Andrea Chénier by comparison was music I did not enjoy as much. However, the opera was immensely interesting from a story perspective and the music for most of the characters was very believable. Everyone was great in their roles but I feel special mention needs to go to Zeljko Lucic who really seemed to get into the role vocally and physically. His portrayal of Gérard made the other two main leads seem like they were playing flat tenor and soprano stereotypes compared to his outstanding portrayal of a very interesting character. The opera falls into the category of an opera in which the title character is of less interest than one of the other leads although this may just be down to a great performance.

Cavalleria Rusticana 8.75/10 (Music and Singing were both great but the staging damages this one somewhat. Not a bad staging just meh.)

Andrea Chénier 8.75/10 (Singing great but Lucic excellent. Staging excellent. Music was not bad but I'm not humming anything from it. However, a strong plot and strong performances means anything less than an 8 would feel unjust. [It gets an extra 0.75 because of Lucic. I really liked his performance.])

**Soave_Fanciulla** · December 19th, 2015, 09:10 AM

Very silly French humour

**JohnGerald** · December 19th, 2015, 04:31 PM

For the last two evenings, we watched the ROH performance of Don Carlo. I do wish an upgrade to Blu ray would issue, but that aside, it was a spellbinding performance, with (IMHO) Furlanetto stealing the show as Philliip II. Pappano's conducting was a near religious event: I have never heard it done so well from that standpoint.

On another note, do any of our British members know why he always appears to be chewing something? I think that he is about the best post-Levine conductors of opera, but the jaw thing is distracting.

**Soave_Fanciulla** · December 19th, 2015, 06:49 PM

Originally Posted by JohnGerald

On another note, do any of our British members know why he always appears to be chewing something? I think that he is about the best post-Levine conductors of opera, but the jaw thing is distracting.

Yes, how the ROH orchestra keeps a straight face and/or doesn't get distracted, I don't know.