Opera Music

Fresh from last night's John Fulljames new production premiere of Donna del Lago at the Royal Opera House comes Rupert...

According to the Royal Opera House’s new production of Rossini’s La donna del lago, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. But while the production’s vague juxtaposition of barbaric highlanders and European-style courtiers doesn’t really work, there’s a lot of exciting singing, Joyce DiDonato as the titular aquatic lass, and Juan Diego Florez in a kilt. So there’s that. Rossini, La donna del lago. Royal Opera House Covent Garden, 5/17/2013. New production premiere directed by John Fulljames with sets by Dick Bird, costumes by Yannis Thavoris, and lighting by Bruno Poet. Conducted by Michele Mariotti with Joyce DiDonato (Elena), Juan Diego Florez (Uberto), Daniela Barcellona (Malcolm), Michael Spyres (Rodrigo), Simon Orfila (Douglas). La donna del lago is a peculiar match of style and content. The story is wildly Romantic but the musical language is a semi-anachronistic, heavily ornamented opera seria that doesn’t seem to gel with the more primal sentiments that it is expressing. (My colleague the Zwölftöner wrote about this in terms of a very different production of this same opera.) Throw in a convoluted plot and threats of fairy tale kitsch and this is a very tricky opera to stage in a dramatically interesting way. But it’s a star vehicle and Rossini singing is arguably one of the brightest corners of operatic vocalism right now, so it’s a problem that keeps coming up. John Fulljames’s production is not convincing, however. He gives us a Scottish court of Europe-oriented aristocrats, dressed in a French style and situated in something that is simultaneously a library and, the side boxes suggest, the inevitable theater-in-theater. A sentimental landscape painting of a loch covers the paneled wall at the back, and encased in glass are the human domesticated fragments of Scotland’s wild Highlands are literally encased in glass in the middle of the room. The courtiers let Elena out of her box, she’s in a white nightie looking dazed and emerges singing her opening cavatina. In disguise, the King (that would be Juan Diego) runs off into their Highland world--this is the main body of the opera’s plot. The courtiers constantly observe this action. At the end, Elena is not married into the court but paired off with fellow wild Highland spirit Malcolm, and they are both returned to their glass boxes. So I guess Fulljames is setting up a juxtaposition of wild Scottish Romanticism with the vestiges of eighteenth-century Enlightenment-era court life, something like the contrast between Walter Scott’s source and Rossini’s transformation of it. The problem is that this isn’t integrated enough to feel anything more than tacked on. Also there may have been a Rossini look-alike running around. I'm not sure if that was him or not. There are some cheap attempts to be shocking, such as the disembowelment of a goat (a small ram?) that looked so fake as to not even make my Top Five Operatic Onstage Disembowelments (what can I say, I go to see Bieito productions a lot—but seriously, I can name a whole slew of opera houses that the ROH props department could call for tips on making that carcass look more realistic), some hanging bodies at the end that show us the cost of the court’s taming of the Scottish beasts within, and finally the Highland men do the now-expected thing where they prepare for war by groping passing women, a thing I really wish productions would stop doing. I know what you’re trying to do but you’re using women as a prop to say something about the men, and that’s problematic no matter the message. The moment to moment Personenregie is not good at all, involving many stock gestures and static moments. I know that you can’t demand too much during this kind of obstacle course singing, but you can do better than this. The result was a certain dearth of character development. The cast was, ho

Peter Gelb says the Ring will definitely not return, as originally planned, in 2017, and where has La Cieca heard that before? [New York Times]

Some of my favorite singers in this Vespri Siciliani from Palermo, 1957 under Tullio Serafin. Featured are Antonietta Stella, Giuseppe taddei, Mario Filippeschi, and Bernard Ladysz. (70 min.)

Peter BrathwaiteIf that model in the Dockers ad looks familiar, it might be because you've seen him on a London opera stage, on the cover an Amore CD or even in the Barihunks calendar. Peter Brathwaite was chosen as a brand ambassador for the pants company Dockers. He was named one of four "Men of Style" in their new campaign. The Dockers' "Men of Style" campaign showcases some of the most influential men in the world of style and their stories.You can check out Peter Brathwaite's interview on the Dockers website, where he talks about his career, his favorite hangouts and his sense of style. You can also watch his video here: You can next see the Manchester native live at the Brighton Festival where he's singing the role of Billy Bone in the world premiere of Captain Blood's Revenge, a pirate opera, produced by Glyndebourne with music by Lynne Plowman and words by Martin Riley. Performances are on May 24 and 25 and tickets are available online. In June, he heads to the Nationale Reisopera in The Netherlands for Randal Corsen's new opera Katibu di Shon. The Opera “Katibu di Shon,” based on the novel Slave and Master, an “histoire perfumée” by Carel de Haseth, tells the story of Wilmu a slave owner, and slave Luis, two boys growing up together and their feelings for slave Anita. This triangle ends up in a confrontation between the two boys, between slave and master. The premiere will take place at Amsterdam's Stadsschouwburg in front of the new King of The Netherlands.

Every time I enter the Royal Opera House I go see this photo. I like to spend a few moments there at the end of the performance, after every body else leaves. It's a thing of mine. I noticed that the photos atound it changed in time, but this is always there, in that precise place. Next visit at ROH, in July. Looking forward! Have a nice weekend!

The great miracle of singing, Birgit Nilsson, was born on May 17, 1918. In tribute to her we present the following scenes: Ariadne:Est gibt ein Reich (Stockholm, 1949) under Eugen Jochum Die Frau Ohne Schatten: Act 2 finale (Munich 1977) w.Theo Adam under Wolfgang Sawallisch Tristan act 2 sc.w.Grace Hoffman (Florence 1977) under Artur Rodzinski Liebestod from Orange 1977 under Karl Boehm Siegfried Final sc.w.Hans Hopf Bayreuth 1960 under Rudolf Kempe Gotterdamerung Immolation Scene Bayreuth 1960 under Kempe (71 min.)

Sir Jack Lyons Theatre, Royal Academy of Music Dido – Sarah Shorter Belinda – Sónia Grané Second Woman – Helen Bailey Sorceress – Rozanna Madylus First Witch – Tereza Gevorgyan Second Witch – Irina Loskova Spirit – Rosalind Coad Aeneas – Samuel Pantcheff Sailor – Ross Scanlon Sandy, Officer 1 – Iain Milne Blazes, Officer 2 – Samuel Queen Arthur. Officer 3, Voice of the Cards – Andri Björn Róbertsson John Ramster (director) Jake Wiltshire (lighting) Patrick Doyle (costumes) Chorus Royal Academy Sinfonia Iain Ledingham, Lionel Friend (conductors) Samuel Queen (Blazes), Andri Björn Róbertsson (Arthur) and Iain Milne (Sandy). Pictures © Royal Academy of Music, May 2013 Not the most obvious of pairings, perhaps: Dido and Aeneas and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’s The Lighthouse. One can certainly find connections if one tries, as director John Ramster valiantly did in his director’s note, especially with respect to the role of Fate. And of course one can make connections between most things if so inclined, when placed together. This, however, seemed more like an evening of two halves. The performance of The Lighthouse was spectacularly good, at least a match for the recent English Touring Opera production, and arguably still more theatrically gripping. (How fortunate we are to have had two stagings in close succession!) There was not a great deal in the way of scenery; much was done with Jake Wiltshire’s brilliant – at some points, literally so – lighting, by turns suggestive of the lighthouse itself, the red eyes of the Beast, and much more. Ramster and his colleagues engendered a terrifying sense of claustrophobia and whatever horror – production, like opera, leaves matters tantalisingly unclear – it is that actually takes place. The sheer hell of being cooped up together, the promise of release having clearly been frustrated more than once, is conveyed viscerally, more by the characters’ interaction than anything external, and thus all the more powerful for it. For that, of course, the three singers should claim a great deal of credit. Andri Björn Róbertsson struck Calvinistic terror into the heart as the hypocritical fundamentalist, Sandy. From the moment of saying grace, his sonorous deep bass, combined with charismatic stage presence, had one thinking of a perverted (anti-)Christ figure. His physical excitement during Blazes’ song, offered attempted release in more than one sense. Samuel Queen and Iain Milne presented a nicely ambiguous Blazes and Sandy, quite as impressive as actors as singers. Lionel Friend’s direction of the Royal Academy Sinfonia was quite beyond reproach; after a lacklustre showing in the first half (about which, more below), the orchestra sounded rejuvenated: precise, sardonic, and at times overpowering. The knife-edge balance between fatalism and human agency on stage was replicated, indeed engendered, in the pit. Quite outstanding! What a difference a conductor makes, for Iain Ledingham’s direction of the same orchestra in Dido and Aeneas had been disappointing. Adopting that strange practice of having modern strings simply eschew vibrato, as if that somehow were enough to qualify as an ‘authentic’ performance, whatever that might be, Ledingham set the tone for what was to follow in the Overture: listless, hard-driven, and with sonority redolent of a school orchestra. (It was certainly not in any sense the players’ fault, as The Lighthouse demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt.) If only Friend had conducted both. Vocal performances were less impressive too, or rather they were in the title roles. After a shaky start, Sarah Shorter recovered well, but was so let down by Ledingham’s conducting that it was difficult to reach any proper judgement. Samuel Pantcheff sounded out of sorts as Aeneas; maybe he was under the weather. Not for the first time, though, Sónia Grané shone,

I was there at the Royal Academy this evening.  Primarily for Peter Maxwell Davies' The Lighthouse.  This piece is now something of a classic.  A production by Peter Sellars in Boston around 1984 brought further attention to this brilliant young director.  Indeed it was the reason for my becoming interested in him and subsequently bringing him to Glyndebourne.  And The Lighthouse was also produced by COT 23 years ago to great acclaim.  COT's founder Alan Stone was a brilliantly innovative producer - this should not be forgotten. The performance of The Lighthouse this evening was the Royal Academy of Music Opera at its best.  The small cast, of just three men, was remarkably accomplished in every department and made the most of this extremely disturbing but effective One Acter.  So hats off to Iain Milne, Samuel Queen and Andri Björn Róbertsson, and the distinguished and authoritative Lionel Friend in the pit, for bringing this piece off so well. We had a "curtain raiser" (well there was actually no curtain) in the form of Dido and Aeneas.  This is a pretty tricky piece to pull off.  it may have been first performed at  a girl's boarding school in Chelsea - but for the full effect it needs the strongest forces of an established  opera company both on the stage in in the provision of technical resources.  But we had some lovely performances, notably from Rozanna Madylus (Sorceress) Sónia Grané (Belinda) and Tereza Gevorgyan (First Witch).  And yet another former Glyndebourne music staffer from the 1970s/80s vintage, Iain Ledingham, conducted. Meanwhile back in Chicago COT has announced its 2014 season.  This is a further development of a completely new direction for the company.  Some interesting stuff there - but nothing written in the distant past of the 17th 18th or 19th centuries.  But I am sure that it will be an appealing program for people passionate about music theater in all its manifestations. However I do hope that, when they have run out of 20th century pieces deserving of revival, the older reaches of the opera repertoire will be mined again.  All in good time! I have a busy family weekend about town and in Sussex. 

An exciting performance of Verdi's "I Lombardi" from Rome, 1969 under Gianandrea Gavazzeni, with Renata Scotto, Luciano Pavarorri, Ruggero Raimondi, Anna di Stasio (Viclinda), and Umberto Grilli (Arvino.)