Random Jottings

Night at the Opera

A few weeks ago I ranted on Random about the fact that Juan Diego Florez had pulled out of the performance of the Barber of Seville for which I had tickets.  I was livid and fired off a blistering email to Covent Garden and to my astonishment received a telephone call from them full of apologies and giving me tickets for another night.  I was delighted.  Then two weeks later I received another email from the Opera House saying they could not believe they were writing to me again, this time to let me know that Simon Keenlyside, who was due to sing Figaro, had been ordered to rest his voice by his doctor and was out of the run.  At this stage I contacted Covent Garden and said I would be happy if the orchestra promise to turn up.....

When I finally got there, with fingers crossed that nothing esle would go wrong, it was to find a performance of Barber of Seville which was well night perfect.  No weak link in the casting at all, in fact with all due deference to Simon Keenlyside who I love, I cannot see that he would have sung Figaro any better than his replacement, Pietro Spagnoli, who I had never heard of and who was terrific.  Made his opening entrance from the back of the stalls and walked his way through the audience.  The Rosina was sung by Joyce DiDonato, another singer of whom I knew nothing, but oh what a lovely voice, creamy and luscious and a gorgeous top range. 

The chorus were excellent, firstly as the musicians accompanying Count Almaviva's serenade to Rosina, and then later as the local Guard, dressed all in blue uniforms and clutching truncheons and looking like something out of HMS Pinafore.  The opera was set in the 1950's with wonderful colours and costumes (save for Almaviva who was attired in a dashing frock coat and breeches), and in order to emphasis Rosina's confined life and being kept indoor by her guardian, Dr Bartolo, was in a boxed set which began to sway to and fro in the climatic ensemble at the end of Act One where all the protagonists express their varied feelings.  Backwards and forwards it went, side to side with all the singers staggering and stumbling backwards and forwards and I wondered how they could possibly sing under these circumstances. 

I had noticed that Rosina had been propping herself up with a stick purloined from Dr Bartolo and it was then announced in the interval that she had sprained her ankle in all this kerfuffle, but was determined to continue. Sighs of relief all around and a huge round of applause when she appeared in Act 2 leaning on a NHS crutch decorated with a pink bow.  The British do appreciate a plucky little trouper.

So on it went, getting better and better and then, well I have yet to mention Juan Diego Florez and gosh what can I say?  He was superb.  It is not fair really.  He is tall, dark and handsome, with an elegant and slim figures and a voice surely gifted to him from the gods.  At the end of the opera, all opposition routed, all misunderstandings cleared up, and the fun and laughter comes to an end as he turns to Rosina, declares his love, reveals who he is and asks her to come and be happy with him.  This aria is the perfect finish, it stops being funny and becomes intensely moving and I sat there with a beam on my face from ear to ear, and a choked feeling in my chest and had a hard job not to burst into tears.  When you are faced with perfection, it takes the breath away and I was witnessing it.  I could feel the same feeling all around me from the enraptured audience and when he finished, the place erupted and the applause just went on and on an on.

A simply stunning evening and makes me even more determined that even if I have to give up a week's pension and live off baked beans and cheese sandwiches, nights like this are not going to go by the board.  I adore opera and this evening just showed me once again why I do.

Glorious.

And on another note, by the end of the opera Juan Diego as Almaviva was involved in a lot of heavy clinches with Rosina and lots of neck nuzzling and liplocking going on and I thought to myself, No wonder she staggered through with a crutch.  No way was she going to let her understudy cheat her out of that....

PS - have just read Joyce DiDonato's blog. Appears she spent spent four hours in casualty post performance and has broken her fibia or tibia...one of them anyway so even more kudos for carrying on

Oh and here is a review from the Independent

 

Cardiff Singer of the World 2009 - The Final

I have said before that it all depends on the performance on the night and it was true again in this year's final.  I am putting my thoughts down here at 19:38 before the judges make a decision so I cannot pretend I knew who was going to win all along.  You have to admire my honesty. Well, you don't have to but it would be nice if you did.......... 

Japanese soprano - my favourite but she pushed a bit tonight and not sure she is going to do it; Italian tenor, terrific fun but at 21 a bit unremitting and feel he needs more colour in his voice though he was wonderful and I shall keep an eye out for him, a Pavarotti in the making (and no, he did not sing Nessun Dorma thank heavens, that would have been too much of a good thing); bass did an aria from Don Carlos and I felt he was good but he did not thrill me (I gather he won the Lieder prize).  Then the Russian soprano (I apologise for using nationalities instead of names but I cannot spell most of them) came on and did a complete performance and was brilliant.  I thought she was the weakest of the five even thought she did a wonderful letter scene from Onegin in her round, but tonight she was spot on.  The counter tenor simply sensational and the audience adored him.

So in my opinion it comes down to the Russian soprano or the counter tenor and my choice would be the counter tenor - just.  I wonder if the jury will agree with me - my gut feeling is they will go with Russia but we shall see.

I will let you know in about half an hour if I was right...or more likely, wrong.

LATER - Well, I was right. The Russian soprano won and on the performance she gave tonight the correct decision though I do wish the counter tenor had done it as I think that would have been a bold award.  However, as soon as Ekaterina had finished, I thought 'she's got it'.

The audience prize, voted for by everyone watching in the theatre throughout the week and on TV and listening on radio, was Giovanni Lucca, the Italian tenor, and he was beaming all over his face.  Lovely young chap and he is going to be a great singer, if, and it is a big if, he is not pushed too far, too fast.

The trophy was presented by Dame Joan Sutherland who made it, though she has recently had a fall and hurt her leg I gather.  There she was and it is a sobering thought to realise that she is now 80 years old.  I remember seeing her when I was just eleven  in Lucia at Covent Garden and meeting her back stage afterwards.  A kind and gracious lady who signed my programme for me. Needless to say as soon as she walked on the stage the audience leapt to their feet and simply yelled. Magical moment.

So, wonderful competition as ever and I thoroughly enjoyed the leisure and time that is now mine to sit and watch every single round.  I have had hay fever back again the last few days so have spent a lot of time indoors and delighted that there was decent TV available.  Oh and to add to it all of course, Andy Murray won the tennis championship at Queens today, the first Brit to do that for over 70 years.

So a good day - as I said in my previous post Tennis and Top Notes.  Great mixture.

Cardiff Singer of the World - Round Two

Tonight's round illustrated perfectly the comment I made in my first post on this competition and what makes an artist stand out.  Five singers tonight, all obviously good as they made it through to the 25 chosen contestants, and yet none of them set me on fire, had that X factor that is so important.

And then in the last ten minutes of the evening it happened. Ekaterina Shcherbachenko from Russia was on the platform.  She had just performed an aria from Cosi fan Tutte an opera to which I have a great resistance.  I have seen it several times and by the end of act one am usually climbing the wall and by the end of the evening am bored to extinction by the awfulness of the main characters and the tedium of the music. And yes I know it is Mozart so no need for all Mozart fans to excoriate me - it has all been done before I can assure you.  I hasten to add, I love other Mozart and Magic Flute is one of my top favourite operas, I just cannot come to terms with Cosi.

Anyway, Ekaterina sang an aria from this opera which I thought did not suit her personality or voice and I felt that it stretched her vocal technique and did not show her at her best. Oh dear, I thought, who am I going to choose?  Then out she came and sang the Letter Scene from Eugene Onegin and was transformed.  Of course it helps she was singing in her native language, but the rich creamy glorious tone just poured out of her, the hairs stood up on the back of my neck and I choked up. There it is I thought, she will go through - wonderful.

And she did.

So I have a 100% success rate  but three more rounds to go.

Oh and I don't suppose for a minute it was all down to me, pretty sure I was one of hundreds to bellyache about it, but the result of tonight's round was not on the website before the concert was broadcast. There was, however, a gallery from pictures from Concert Two and at the end a picture of, yes you have guessed it,  the Winner.....I will give the Beeb the benefit of the doubt and hope that it just went up but but but I wonder....

 

Cardiff Singer of the World 2009/ the BBC and Dumbing Down

 

This is a bi-annual competition and seems to come round quicker and quicker each time and it was with a sense of shock at how fast the months vanish that I picked up this week's copy of the Radio Times and saw it was back.   When this competition started back in 1983 which, let's face it, is a lifetime ago in the way we view television, it was hyped big time.  Pages giving us pictures of all the contestants, potted biographies, each heat given  two hours broadcast time each night and all on BBC1, yes folks BBC1.  The grand finale more or less took over the schedule for the Sunday night and it was regarded as a Jewel in the Crown of BBC broadcasting.

Then of course the rot set in and over the years since its inception it has received less and less coverage and I remember one year it was not broadcast at all, only the final and then it was given a measly two hours. Same thing has happened to Young Musician of the Year.   Big  Brother and shows of that kind reigned supreme in the agendas of TV directors and anything remotely to do with classical music was more or less ignored.  During this period we still had the Prom concerts but only the first and last nights were given much attention and other occasional recordings of the Proms were put on late at night.

Of course, now we have the digital channels and the BBC were thrilled to bits that they could hive all this intellectual rubbish over onto these stations that, in the beginning, hardly anybody could receive, but by saying they were broadcasting these programmes, the BBC could pretend that they were still committed to high class broadcasting.

Thankfully, these channels are now more widely available and with the advent of digital TV, the choice has widened and I am grateful for BBC4 which is showing each heat of the competition every evening this week and I gather the final will be given prominence on BBC2.  However, it still means that the Beeb will not give this sort of programme time on the more mainstream channels and they should be ashamed of themselves.     So while I am happy to be able to see this wonderful operatic week, my feelings towards the BBC remain the same, irritation at their persistent dumbing down of their output.  This feeling was also confirmed by the trailer show on Sunday, half an hour at 4.30 pm (on a nice day beautifully timed so nobody would see it), with Petroc Trewlawny (always good) paired this year with a female presenter who being young, black, chirpy and ignorant ('I am new to this and have a lot to learn'), presumably ticks all the right diversity boxes, as well as the one marked Irritating.  I look forward to the penetrating questions she will ask.  And in case you think I am being a tad harsh, I would like to mention that at the First Night of the Proms last year they had in the BBC studio a lady from Dragon's Den, an sub-Apprentice type show, called Deborah whose sole qualification for being there appeared to be that the had Grade 6 piano.  I am not joking.  Lot of letters and complaints about this but needless to say all brushed aside with the usual BBC arrogance.  I tell you, nobody does arrogance like the Beeb.

Have just nipped over to the 2009 website, and note that the first heat has already taken place but was shown only on BBC Wales.  WHY?

OK well if you have made it this far and have read this rant, my congratulations.  I suppose I should be glad that Cardiff Singer of the World is being shown at all and I am very much looking forward to watching it.  In the past I have managed to pick the winner more or less immediately, much to the irritation of my then husband (himself a musician an opera singer) who dismissed this as amateur's luck.  This may well be, but you can hear all the most wonderful singers in the world, they will all perform beautifully and sing magnificently, and then one will come along, open their mouths and that is IT.  That is The One.  They will have that extra something that is impossible to describe, impossible to put your finger on and yet you will feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end and know that you are in the presence of something special.  Happens every time.

One winner of a few years ago, Marius Brencui, had left me fairly cold.  Lovely tenor voice, nice bloke, but I did not think anything special and then in the final he came out and nailed it with a simply wonderful performance of Lensky's aria from Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky which brought tears to the eyes.  Another year, Lisa Gasteen from Australia did the same with a performance of Pace Pace from Verdi's Forza del Destino which another soprano had sung earlier in the evening, equally beautifully, and yet Lisa had that extra something and she won.  No need to mention Bryn of course, though he did not win the title, he won the Lieder prize that year as Hvorostovsky beat him to it in a brilliant competition entitled the Battle of the Baritones.

Anyway, I have ranted and waffled enough.  I shall be sitting down in an hour or so and watching and seeing if I can spot the winner of each heat.  It can look straightforward but sometimes the jury can make unexpected choices, and as they are all opera singers, teachers and conductors, they obviously look for different things than me sitting on my sofa in Colchester.  Just to make things even more tricky, winning your heat is no guarantee you will make the final either, so it is all to play, or to sing, for.

Needless to say, if I am right I shall be letting you all know...

LATER - Well sorry to rant again but the BBC takes the biscuit.  First concert was shown last night but it is only appearing on BBC4 tonight and though it has not been billed as 'live' the impression given is that this is how it is.  I had thought that the first concert had not been broadcast at all and tonight's was the second.  In fact, we are 24 hours behind and the BBC in their infinite wisdom have put the result on their website thus robbing watching each concert of its tension as the winner is already out there.  I have (well of course I have!) fired off an email to the complaints department saying it was only sheer luck that I did not read the result beffore watching tonight. Why oh why oh why do the BBC behave in this crassly stupid way?

Be that as it may, I am going to stick my neck out here big time and say that the winner of this evening's concert will be in the final. Winning each heat is no guarantee of a final place, it is the best five singers over the entire week but Eri Nakamura who won tonight, was simply sensational and she had the IT factor, big time.  Huge voice, totally in control, her characterisation and performance spot on and the sound she made brought goosebumps up all over.  I think she could win it and I am aware that there are others to hear, but it is going to take somebody special to beat her - my opinion only, of course...

Jose Carreras retires

Was checking the Times on line this morning and this headline caught my eye and I flicked over to the article.

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/opera/article6243600.ece

Jose Carreras says he is now calling time on his operatic career as he finds the demands of performing on an opera stage too much for him now.  My feeling was that he had left the opera stage some time ago, so perhaps this is just a confirmation of his career over recent years.  I have seen that he has performed in many concerts and festivals but the last time I saw him on stage was in Stiffelio at Covent Garden, must be back in the early 1990s, but my memory may be faulty on this.

I first fell in love with Jose back in the 1970s when my then hubby was doing some extra chorus work at Covent Garden in a productoon of Verdi's I Lombardi and he got me a ticket for the dress rehearsal.  All great fun, lots of choruses and all most enjoyable and then this tenor came on stage, opened his mouth and out poured this glorious, golden, limpid tone that simply knocked me for six.  None of us had heard him before and my reaction was the same as all around me.  His voice, its timbre, phrasing (which has always been immaculate) reminded me so much of Guiseppe di Stefano, an Italian tenor I used to love when I was learning my opera andlistened to the old Scala recordings with him, Callas and Gobbi.  Was extremely pleased to discover that I had not been wrong as Carreras cited Di Stefano (as well as Mario Lanza) as his role model.

So that was it, I was hooked and fell in love.  On this particular occasion, I went backstage to meet my husband and we ended up in the canteen having lunch.  This was before Covent Garden was poshed up and it was all pretty basic in the back areas and I was standing in the queue having fish and chips doled out by a dinner lady when I became aware that her eyes had glazed over and when I looked to myleft there was the man himself standing next to me in the queue.  Oh my goodness, he was SO handsome with  cheek bones you could hook a hanger on, tiny mind you, only up to my shoulder, but just gorgeous.  Spent the next half hour gawping at him and watching him eat his fish and chips, mine went cold.  I daresay I put him right off...

Then of course, several years later, he got leukemia and I remember being totally devastated at this and horrified at what had happened to him. Well, we know he made a wonderful recovery and I was present at Covent Garden on his come back recital, just him and a piano, and the audience was in tears, went potty and hurled roses onto the stage.  However, it is true to say, and I am sure that the man himself would agree, that he was never the same again and the voice began to sound more strained and his vibrato started knocking on doors.  He very sensiblyy cut back his operatic appearances and then of course, came The Three Tenors which I have posted about before here.

Pavarotti is no longer with us, Placido is, thank God though he is now singing baritone roles (Boccanegra next year at ROH), but his voice still rich, round and wonderful but with Jose only doing recitals in future, we are now down to  One Tenor. 

These three did so much to bring opera to a wider audience and I am forever grateful to them all, and though I adore Placido, I have to admit that my heart has always belonged to Jose.

And take a look at this early picture of him and then you will realise just why I fell in love with him. Yes, right the voice was wonderful but oh the packaging does help you know, it really does......

The Flying Dutchman - the mighty Bryn

Some eighteen months ago, Bryn Terfel pulled out of his contracted performances of the Ring Cycle citing his son's injury, fractured, crushed fingers and decided he wanted to be with his family.  A certain Rupert Christian, amongst others, berated him for his actions but while most critics were angry, they pulled back from saying what the Telegraph arts writers said.  This is one sentence from the whole article which truly appalled me with its narrow minded, old fashioned attitude.

"The show goes on though the bombs are falling; the enterprise is bigger than you are. There is no room for sentimentality: you have to be ruthless and put your personal life second. We don't know the details of your son's accident, but the boy has a mother and it's her job to be at the bedside." (My emphasis - Elaine)

He went on to say that if the injury had been more serious then Bryn's absence would have been understandable and acceptable but this was only 'minor'.  So, if his son was seriously ill, that would have been all right then....

Bryn defended his decision vigorously, he was supported by some (including me but I am honest enough to admit that as I had decided not to buy tickets for this Ring as I loathed the production, I was probably more understanding than I might have been if I had shelled out several hundred pounds), not by others and during an interview this article was quoted to him.  He looked the interviewer in the eye and made a reply along the lines of 'yes, I know who he is' and I thought at the time that if I was Mr Christian I would not go down a dark alley at night all alone.

So, what has Mr Christian got to say about Bryn the the Flying Dutchman after telling the Opera House that perhaps they should show him the door?  See link below:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturecritics/rupertchristiansen/4799000/Der-fliegende-Hollander-at-the-Royal-Opera-House-review.html

One can only assume that Mr C did meet Mr B down a dark alley.....the words 'humble pie' come into mine, or perhaps 'grovel' or perhaps one should just view Mr Christian as a clear eyed critic who is viewing this from a purely artistic viewpoint, which bearing in mind the strictures of his first excoriation of Bryn, might very well be true.

   

And what did this critic think of it?  Well, I am biased of course as I simply adore Bryn and have done for over 20 years when I saw him in Cardiff Singer of the World and heard him sing the act one entrance aria from Dutchman and he brought the house down.  Since then I have seen him in Wagner, Verdi and Puccini and my admiration knows no bounds for this simply wonderful voice.  The Flying Dutchman is one of Wagner's earlier operas and if I say it is full of stonking great tunes, don't misunderstand me, the Ring Cycle has all these as well, but they are just so much grander and mind blowing, Dutchman is more your 'ordinary' opera if you can understand what I mean.  Well, I know what I mean.... There are also duets and a trio or two, not something abounding in the Ring, and it is all great stuff.

What I like about Bryn is the beauty of his soft singing, the warmth and shape of his tone, it sounds easy and expressive, his German is spot on and, well, he was simply wonderful.  He did not overpower the other singers, he was not the star of the show, he was part of an ensemble and I felt this was a very unselfish portrayal.  Yes, he got a huge round of applause at the end of the evening but I really felt that the audience appreciated this whole company approach and reacted accordingly. The new production was in a modern setting, not to my taste but then I am very old fashioned when it comes to opera productions, but very well done and the lighting and atmosphere almost converted me by the end of the evening.  Never fails to amaze me and fill me with admiration, the sheer imagination and inventiveness of designers and producers and how they set everything and move the singers around to achieve the maximum effect. 

Senta, the woman obsessed with the Flying Dutchman, is one of Wagner's annoying creations, well as far as I am concerned anyway, neurotic and, to me, a bit boring as heaven knows she does go on.   Does have some great music though and the soprano, Anja Kampe, was pretty powerful and certainly made an impression.  Her outpouring at the very end of the final scene made me tingle.

The main star of the evening though, was not the soloists, but the chorus. They were simply stunning, with a sound that knocked your socks off.  Extra chorus employed for the ghostly crew of the Dutchman's ship and when the two were going it pinned you to your seat (do forgive all these cliches).  Took a bow on their own at the end with the chorus master and rightly so.  I have never heard the Covent Garden chorus sing so well.

When I have seen Dutchman in the past there has been an interval and two acts.  Tonight it was billed as Romantische Oper in one act and that is how Wagner wrote it and that is how it was done at the Royal Opera House.  In other words, straight through, two and a half hours, no break. Despite this being made clear in the programme, during the booking period, and also subscribers reminded by email, there were still some dozy people there who did not realise this and got very ancy, and nipped in and out, presumably to go to the loo or whatever, much to the annoyance of others. If one such had been sitting next to me, rest assured he/she would have been pinned to the ground and not allowed past me.

Glad I was that I had shelled out for a decent seat as not sure I would have made it up in the Amphi or in the slips.  When I met Daughter No 2 before the start she had not realised this and blinked a tad, but then I pointed out to her that she had sat through and loved Gotterdamerung and the first act of this final opera in the Ring was the same length as the entire performance of Dutchman, and 'oh that's alright then'.

And so it was, a glorious evening.  Next booking period has Bryn back as Scarpia in Tosca, so that is on my hit list, and I am looking forward to 2010 when he sings Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger with the Welsh National Opera.  If ever a man was born to sing a part, it is Bryn and Hans Sachs and I have become a friend of WNO purely so I can get my mitts on tickets which I am already assured are going to be the hottest in town.

Cardiff here I come.

A Night at the Opera

In recovery mode today after a wonderful evening.  Allowed plenty of time yesterday afternoon to get on train and get to London and just as well as on arrival at Colchester station the dreaded words 'signal failure' were being bandied about.  Still, it was ok in the end we arrived safely, had a meal at a restaurant opposite the opera house and then in we went.

   

No matter how many times I visit the ROH I always get a thrill when I walk through the door and into the auditorium and see the lights, the red curtain, the sweep of the galleries and the buzz of an audience anticipating a good evening.  We had brilliant seats in the Grand Tier which I have bought in the light of my New Year's Resolution last year, that as I don't go to the opera that often, while I can I will buy good seats and treat myself, and we had great sight lines, could see and hear beautifully and felt much more at one with what was happening on the stage, whereas sometimes up in the amphi you can feel a tad isolated.

Last time I saw Tales of Hoffman, Domingo was singing the title role which gives some idea of what a sing this is.  Offenbach is known for Orpheus in the Underworld, La Belle Helene and the famous barcarole from this opera and, really, very little else.  This is his Grand Opera as I have already discussed at length in an earlier mail, so will not repeat here, but suffice it to say, you are sitting there enjoying the wit, the music and the fun and then suddenly out comes a stunning, glorious aria, duet or trio that would not be out of place in Verdi's grandest of grand, and knocks you for six, pins you to the seat and make every hair stand on end.  The trio in Act 3 with Antonio, the ghost of her mother and the devilish Dr Miracle, was simply sensational and brought the house down.

 

Now, what of Rolando Villazon who sang Hoffman last night?  He had to take a long break from singing a year or two ago as his voice was suffering and he also, it seems, was depressed and anxious and his come back last year was eagerly awaited.  I saw him in Don Carlos, which I do not think he should ever sing again if he wishes to retain his tenor voice which is not a golden, free voice but, in my opinion, a more dark, back of the throat tenor which will crack under pressure.  He has triumphed in Hoffman at the House in the past and, while I thoroughly enjoyed his performance and thought he brought great charisma and charm to the role, once more I have to say, I do not think he should be singing this role any more than that of Don Carlos.  His voice has similar qualities to Domingo and there were times if you closed your eyes that you could mistake him for that tenor, but Domingo has a solid lower register which comes of him being a baritone before a tenor.  This has supported his voice throughout his magnificent career and I really do not think that Villazon has the physical attributes to last as long.  He is a slight man, whereas Placido is broad chested, taller and strong.  From my years of opera going and listening to various singers throughout my attendance at opera houses, and witnessing singers attempting roles they should never have essayed, my feeling is that Villazon should be singing Mozart, Donizetti, perhaps Rossini (though not sure his voice is flexible enough for that) and Bellini, in short singing which calls for a lighter brighter tone.  It won't be easier - nobody ever said Mozart was an easy sing, but it will suit his voice better.

But, hey what do I know?  He was very very good last night, husbanded his resources beautifully so that in the last act and the epilogue he could really let rip, it is a four hour opera after all, and was a delight to watch.  The supporting cast not quite so brilliant, the baritone completely cocked up the wonderful Diamante aria in the second act, last note so flat that he came off it quick instead of floating it over the orchestra as he should have done, and some of the lesser parts a but underwhelming. But, I have not desire to sound like an operatic pedant of the worst kind, and it was a great experience all round.

And an enjoyable evening made more so by two London cabbies.  First one took us from the station to the House, turned out to be a child singer who had auditioned and appeared in a couple of operas at ROH when he was a little lad, and who was hugely entertaining and interesting.  Second, was the lovely driver of the cab which took us back to the station in the evening.  My friend Rosemary, with whom I saw the show, has very bad arthritis and cannot walk very far and when I grabbed this taxi, in the teeth of a man who had also hailed it, but I nipped in front and practically threw myself across the bonnet (much to his fury which I cannot blame him for), the driver parked it and as he could not turn it round said he would wait for me while I went to fetch her, even offering to come with me.  Then very helpful all round and chatty and nice and little things  like this just added to the joy of the evening.

Should mention that as I plunged into the traffic in search of a cab, I stepped out right in front of a cyclist who I nearly unseated and who, quite rightly, hurled abuse at me.  I apologised profusely and said I was sorry to give him such a fright and he was so taken aback at somebody actually admitting they were in the wrong, he nearly came off his bike anyway and mumbled 'oh that's alright love'.

So an eventful night all round, but glad to get home, curl up in bed and think about it all. And then this morning found myself with a car load of rubbish at the local Tip and could not help laughing at the contrast from the night before... tiaras and arias to trash.

Tales of Hoffman

In a couple of weeks time I am off to the Royal Opera House to see Offenbach's Tales of Hoffman.  This is one of my favourite operas and Offenbach's only 'grand' opera as he is more famous for Orpheus in the Underworld, A night in Venice and lots of other light operettas.  Hoffman is altogether more dark and mysterious and has a prologue and an epilogue and, in between, three sumptuous acts.

Hoffman is a poet and has had three great loves in his life:  Olympia who turns out to be a mechanical doll created by the inventor Spalanzani, her eyes provided by Coppelius (and yes this story was used in the ballet Coppelia) when the hero is daft enough, like Hoffman, to fall in love with this doll he sees sitting on a balcony.  For a poet, Hoffman is not very bright.

Antonia - she is a singer who lives in Munich.  She is consumptive and has been forbidden to sing any more by her father Crespel as he fears it will exhaust and kill her. He keeps her hidden and away from Hoffman but he finds her and declares his love (and of course they have a sing and her father is furious).  Later on in the act she is forced to sing by the evil Dr Miracle and she dies.

Giulietta - a courtesan, though Hoffman does not appear to notice this (said he wasn't very bright) who deceives him and runs away from him.  This act is set in Venice and features the famous Barcarole.

Each act has its own style and big number, in the first act we have a glorious coloratura aria for Olympia and on the recording which I own and in which the same soprano sings all parts, Joan Sutherland, this aria is tossed off with consummate ease. This woman was a marvel with a seemingly endless trill and capacity for hitting top notes that must have been a nightmare to any other soprano around at the same time.

The Antonia act has a simply stunning trio between Antonia, her dead mother when a portrait of her comes to life, and Dr Miracle and every time I have seen this opera it brings the house down, it is sensational and frightening as Antonia is unable  to stop singing try as she might as an evil spell compels her to carry on.  There are some wonderful violin riffs in this trio and when I saw it many years ago at the English national Opera, a sinister violinist would be highlighted on the sweeping stairs, in a different position each time.  I can only assume that that producer had seen the Powell Pressburger movie made in the 1940's with Robert Helpmann as the evil genius as it had the same dark gothic feel.

The Venetian act has, as I have already mentioned, the famous barcarole but also a baritone aria for Dr Miracle who appears in each act in a different guise, in which he lures Giulietta away with a seductive song about jewels and dangling them in front of her.

It is never explained just why Hoffman has this character lurking around him and spoiling and wrecking every love he meets which make sit all the more sinister.  Hoffman becomes more and more despairing and at the end of the opera, decides to forsake human love and only to love his muse - poetry.

This is going to be such a treat and I cannot wait to see it.  My friend and I are sitting in wonderful seats. I mentioned in an earlier post that as I do not go to the opera that often, I was going to sit in comfort and luxury each time I go, and I am sticking to that plan as long as I can afford to fund it. 

Hoffman is being sung by Rolando Villazon who I saw as Don Carlos earlier in the year.  I am not totally overwhelmed by him and I have my doubts about the sort of roles he is tackling.  I thought Don Carlos was too heavy for him, bearing in mind that the last Don Carlos I saw was Domingo and you need a tenor with a bit of bottom (to his voice I hasten to add) to sing in that opera and it is also a worry that I have also seen Domingo in Hoffman (same production as well at the ROH) which Villazon is now essaying, and who was quite magnificent as always.  The opera starts at 6.30 pm and it is a long long long hefty sing and, once again, I have my worries that Villazon should be singing this.

But it is going to be gorgeous and magical and there is nothing, simply nothing as wonderful as sitting in one's seat at the Royal Opera House, the lights go down, the conductor arrives, lifts his baton, the music starts to play and those glorious red and gold curtains separate and part and rise and there I am watching the best music art form in the world.  It has everything, acting, singing, glorious music, wonderful singers.. cannot be beaten and I adore it.

Photo of the Day

Triumphal Scene from Aida - Arena de Verona 

Spot the difference...

On the left Rowan Atkinson as Blackadder, on the right Rolando Villazon as Don Carlos, or is it the other way round??