What opera have you been listening to, lately?

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

as well as my well trained eye control.

I doubt it. There can't be any control if these fine ladies decide to wear outfits that highlight their cough cough assets cough cough during the interview. Like Seinfeld and George would say, straight males are just not able to refrain from staring, in these occasions. It's just wired into our brains. Thankfully, it seems like the ladies have been kind enough to me to dress conservatively for the interviews... or else I'd be completely inarticulate.

OK, kidding. I joke about these things and of course it's exaggerated for comic purposes (yes, I *can* be very professional when I'm interviewing a beautiful female singer, and I *can* keep eye contact without looking like a drooling fool), but I'm not entirely joking, because indeed, one of my worst interviews was with Anna Netrebko. I couldn't really concentrate.

She was dressed conservatively, but you can't start to imagine how incredibly attractive she is in person. Anna - and the same is true for Olga Peretyatko - has this incredible body language and these ever-changing fascinating facial expressions... Both Anna and Olga are so lively in person that it is really difficult to avoid being star-struck when talking to them.

In many of my interviews I had a pre-written set of questions but I would improvise, follow their leads, deepen some aspect, etc.; I couldn't do any of this while interviewing Anna, because I couldn't stop thinking "Oh my God, I can't believe it, I'm interviewing Anna Netrebko, and oh wow, she is so adorable!" and kind of just soldiered through the questions without really engaging her more, which made for a rather bland interview. A pity.

It's interesting, this in-person versus over-the-phone conundrum. Some of my best interviews with the more attractive ladies were conducted over the phone, and then later I met them in person just to thank them and shake hands with them - this was the case for Joyce DiDonato and Danielle de Niese, for example. So, I wasn't distracted... therefore was able to be sharper and to keep things going.

Oh well, for the guys, the tenors and baritones and the conductors, it's uncomplicated... it doesn't matter if it is in person or over-the-phone, LOL.

[JohnGerald]

Now don't you feel better, getting that all out?

While my 30 years in the courts gave me the ability to maintain a poker face, it's a fact that bring in the presence of great talent, as I have been blest to be back in the day, is just plain humbling. When extremely talented folks prove to be downright gracious, and appreciative of their fans, I could understand the concept of "greatness". And when those traits combine with wicked humor, I would wish for them as dinner guests. What a night that would be!!

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

And when those traits combine with wicked humor, I would wish for them as dinner guests. What a night that would be!!

I've had a bit more extended contacts with some of the singers, outside of the interview setting, and had meals with some of them - not in my house, though - who would come all the way to North Carolina? So, the ones that I got to know a little better as persons, are first of all Jay Hunter Morris (in virtue of the fact that I published his book, we've been in touch numerous times over the months - Jay is a great human being, and yes, wickedly funny), then Matthew Polenzani with whom I remained sort of in touch and met many other times after our initial interview, then Liam Bonner whom I met twice more and had long chats with, and the same happened with Larry Brownlee, a delightful person. Next come Amanda Echalaz - we spent some time together in Santa Fe; Dr. Philip Gossett - we remained in touch by mail discussing various things and met once for an extended time (but it's been a while); and Isabel Leonard for a brief time - we had lunch together after the interview and talked about life in general. So these singers (and one scholar) I got to know a bit beyond the mere interview setting. All of them are great people.

However, while not taking anything from all the others, the ideal dinner guest would be Danielle de Niese. Not only she is extremely intelligent, but also very funny and very friendly and down-to-Earth. Meeting her in person was a real pleasure, and not only from that brief encounter (half an hour chatting about various things) but from what I hear about her from her colleagues, I know that she is a gem of a person and everybody loves her.

Also, a neat perk was to meet, although briefly, family members of some of the singers. I met Jay's wife, Luca Pisaroni's wife, Saimir Pirgu's parents, Piotr Beczala's wife, Anthony Roth Costanzo's parents, Dina Kusnetzova's husband and son, and wow, cute Diana Damrau's baby and her husband! Also very friendly and intelligent, Lisette Oropesa's husband whom I met twice and for a little longer.

[Soave_Fanciulla]

I was really struggling by the end of the first disc of this. Waaaaaay too much comic Russian mezzo and not much else. I even tossed up whether to bother with disc 2, but meanness ("I paid for this dammit and I'm going to listen to it") got the better of me and I soldiered on. And blow me down if a choral version of Night on Bald mountain, which was one of my adolescent pre-opera-addict favourites, didn't come on. Mussorgsky doing a Rossini/Handel recycle. Worth it just for that.

[Dark_Angel]

Spotify premium was kind enough to have this entire Verdi boxset available so today I am listening to a 1940 Un Ballo with famous team of Jussi Bjorling and Zinka Milanov.

My research indicates this is 29 yr old Jussi's debut MET broadcast, young Zinka is fresh voiced here compared to her 1950s RCA recordings, sound is decent, a very good fit for Jussi's vocal style......I may spend rest of my life going through these great older opera recordings available on Spotify, what a great opera resource!

[Clayton]

More Giulio this morning.

Handel: Giulio Cesare in Egitto
Jennifer Larmore (Giulio Cesare); Barbara Schlick (Cleopatra); Bernarda Fink (Cornelia); Marianne Rørholm (Sesto); Derek Lee Ragin (Tolomeo); Furio Zanasi (Achilla); Dominique Visse (Nireno) & Olivier Lallouette (Curio)
Concerto Köln,
René Jacobs
Recorded July 1991 Grand Studio de la DeutschlandFunk, Köln



Barbara Schlick is a beautiful Cleopatra, Bernarda Fink sings an anguished Cornelia wonderfully and Jacobs is deliberate.

The cover illustration is a painted wooden panel that is one of many cabinet doors in the "Studiolo" in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence. Simply, a treasure room. Each cabinet door was painted by a different artist and this one entitled Cena di Cleopatra (Cleopatra's banquet) was by Alessandro Allori (1535-1607).






Idea: I ask Ai Weiwei to decorate my tea cabinet that houses my opera CDs.

[Nekrotzar]

I've been listening to quite a lot of French opera lately (Berlioz and Rameau are two composers of whom I am particularly fond). I'm wondering if I could be recommended any bel canto operas in French (apart from La Fille du Régiment)?

The last opera I listened to, for something a little less French, was Verdi's Falstaff. It's a historical recording but I can't remember exactly who was in it unfortunately.

[JohnGerald]

If I may ...

Rossini wrote several. Moise et Pharaon, La Siege de Corinth and Le Comte Ory. 1 and 3 are on very good DVDs, while Naxos has recorded La Siege on a nicely prices CD.

Donizetti wrote La Favorite and Linda di Chamounix, both of which are well recorded on CD.

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

I'm wondering if I could be recommended any bel canto operas in French (apart from La Fille du Régiment)?

French operas by Rossini:

Le Siège de Corinthe
Moïse et Pharaon
Le Comte Ory
Guillaume Tell

French Operas by Donizetti:

Le Duc d'Albe
La Fille du Régiment
La Favorite
Dom Sébastien, Roi de Portugal
Ne m'oubliez pas (unfinished, unstaged)

Bellini doesn't have any.

Of these, Guillaume Tell, Le Siège de Corinthe, Moïse et Pharaon, and La Favorite are the ones I prefer. Le Comte Ory is a very funny comedy. Some people prefer Maometto II (the original opera in Italian that got re-worked) to Le Siège de Corinthe.

Now, if you are entering a French opera phase (or opera in French), here is a list of worthy candidates, in no particular order:

Béatrice et Bénédict
Manon
La Vie Parisienne
La Belle Hélène
Orphée aux Enfers
La Périchole
Carmen
Les Pêcheurs de Perles
La Jolie Fille de Perth
Les Troyens
Pelléas et Mélisande
Hippolyte et Aricie
Castor et Pollux
Werther
Thaïs
Manon Lescaut (Auber)
Cendrillon
Don Quichotte
Samson et Dalila
Iphignénie en Tauride
L'Heure Espagnole
Les Mamelles de Tirésias
Les Dialogues des Carmélites
L'Étoile
Roméo et Juliette
Hamlet
Le Comte Ory
Saint François d'Assise
Les Contes d'Hoffmann
Faust
La Juive
Le Roi Malgré Lui
Les Huguenots
Mignon
Damnation de Faust
Hérodiade
Dinorah
Mireille
L' Enfant et les sortilèges
Ariane et Barbe-Bleue
Ciboulette
Padmâvatî
Le Testament de Tante Caroline
Les Aventures du roi Pausole
Robert le Diable
Le Prophète
L'Africaine
Le Cid
Les Indes Galantes
Les Paladins
Platée
Dardanus
Louise
Véronique
La Voix Humaine
Guillaume Tell
Le Siège de Corinthe
La Favorite
Les Vêpres Siciliennes
La Fille du Régiment
Orphée et Euridice
Armide (Gluck)
Armide (Lully)
Iphigénie en Aulide
Moïse et Pharaon
Benvenuto Cellini
Le Postillon de Longjumeau
Fra Diavolo
Le Toréador
Le domino noir
Le Roi de Lahore
Esclarmonde
Médée (Charpentier)
Médée (Cherubini)
Persée
Alceste
Lakmé
Atys
Cadmus et Hermione
Le Roi Arthus
L’Amour de Loin
Une education manquée
Zoroastre
Le Roi d’Ys
Cléopâtre
Barbe-bleue
Les Brigands
La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein
Le Songe d’Une Nuit d’Eté
La Poupée de Nuremberg
La Dame Blanche
La Vestale
Nelligan
Henry VIII
Julietta (Juliette - Martinu)
Les Danaïdes

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

Donizetti wrote La Favorite and Linda di Chamounix, both of which are well recorded on CD.

Linda di Chamounix is in Italian, with a libretto by Gaetano Rossi. Maybe you are referring to a translated performance, although I don't know of any such recording. All 12 recordings listed on Operadis are in Italian.

[JohnGerald]

Correct, with apologies. It reinforces the need to engage the mind before the fingers.

The other French opera by Donizetti is his re-write of Lucia (Lucie di Lammermoor), which was released on TDK with Alagna, Ciofi and Tezier. Amazon sellers still offer it, but it has become pricey, due to being discontinued by TDK. Art Haus is re-issuing some former TDK discs, so it may re-appear.

[Nekrotzar]

Le Comte Ory by Rossini (thank you, Almaviva, for the recommendation) via Spotify. I'll do a bit more reading about this opera at a later date, for now I'm just going to enjoy the music. Coming from a musician/composition background I often enjoy listening to opera and thinking purely from an analytical point of view about the composition aspect of the music. I will get into the plot later, I promise!!!!

[Luiz Gazzola (Almaviva)]

Le Comte Ory by Rossini (thank you, Almaviva, for the recommendation) via Spotify. I'll do a bit more reading about this opera at a later date, for now I'm just going to enjoy the music. Coming from a musician/composition background I often enjoy listening to opera and thinking purely from an analytical point of view about the composition aspect of the music. I will get into the plot later, I promise!!!!

Well, Le Comte Ory is a sort of hybrid, recovering music from earlier works Rossini wanted recycled (Il Viaggio a Reims) so maybe not the best example of Rossini's compositional efforts in terms of operatic structure. Lots of fun, though. In French, in terms of analyzing what he was trying to accomplish, it might be more stimulating to compare Maometto II (Italian) with Le Siège de Corinthe (French), and certainly Moïse et Pharaon is one of the more ambitious and musically compelling work in his French production.

Oh God, what was I thinking when I didn't include Guillaume Tell???

It's obviously the one you need, and the French original *is* a lot better than the Italian translation. Long but sublime, and you need a recording that has the whole thing. That's a great example of Rossini technique.

[Nekrotzar]

Well, Le Comte Ory is a sort of hybrid, recovering music from earlier works Rossini wanted recycled (Il Viaggio a Reims) so maybe not the best example of Rossini's compositional efforts in terms of operatic structure. Lots of fun, though. In French, in terms of analyzing what he was trying to accomplish, it might be more stimulating to compare Maometto II (Italian) with Le Siège de Corinthe (French), and certainly Moïse et Pharaon is one of the more ambitious and musically compelling work in his French production.

Oh God, what was I thinking when I didn't include Guillaume Tell???

It's obviously the one you need, and the French original *is* a lot better than the Italian translation. Long but sublime, and you need a recording that has the whole thing. That's a great example of Rossini technique.

I happen to own a recording of Maometto II....I might bring it out to listen to again later on when I've heard Le Siège de Corinth.

In the meantime, however....



Faust: Richard Verrau
Méphistopheles: Michel Roux
Marguerite: Consuelo Rubio
Brander: Pierre Mollet
avec le Chœur Elisabeth Brasseur, Chœur Enfants RTF.
Orchestre Lamoureux, Paris.
Chef d'Orchestre: Igor Markevitch

This thing I'm really diggin'

I'm considering seeing the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Choir perform it in concert next year. I can't remember who all the soloists will be, although I do know that Bryn Terfel is one of them.

[Clayton]

Okay, so the Berlioz theme has been cast...

Berlioz: Benvenuto Cellini
Bruce Ford (Cellini), Laura Claycomb (Teresa), Franz Hawlata (Bass), Monica Groop (Ascanio), Christopher Maltman (Fieramosca), Ralf Lukas (Cardinal Salviati), Johannes Chum (Francesco), Reinhard Mayr (Bernadino), Ekkehard Wagner (Cabaretier), Matthias Hoffmann (Pompeo)
MDR Rundfunkchor Leipzig, Radio Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart
Roger Norrington
Live recording 19 September 2003, Berlin Konzerthaus



actually I had really planned to listen to this last night

Spooky