As they say, murder your mother for a ticket....

Right, so, Elektra by Richard Strauss, an opera I have never really got. Sung in a semi staged concert with the Sydney Symphony, and with the Sydney Dance Co providing additional stuff. Yeah, totally not what I would want to see. Except, it had The Goerkinator singing. My opera friends in the UK had all been raving about her performances last year at Covent Garden in this same role, and it seems safe to assume, that this is probably the only chance I would get to hear her live in person.

So, with quite some trepidation, we went, only paying for choir stalls seats, which means we rarely saw the singers faces as they sang facing away from us. Yet, I was still fairly certain I would hear every note from Elektra.

So, basically, I can now say I have heard Elektra live. Sung by the only person I can think of, who actually can sing all the notes, and be heard over that huge orchestra, without resorting to shouting, shrieking, or any other ugliness you care to think of. In short, Christine Goerke is a force of nature with a voice that does not demand to be heard, it gives you no choice, YOU WILL HEAR THIS VOICE! That she can do that over an enlarged Sydney Symphony, unamplified, with her back to us, probably says it all.

To be fair, it is hard to describe performances of an opera that you do not like, without sounding like a prick. I still do not like Elektra, but after this performance, I do get a sense of why people might. But, for me, it is still an opera I can't get past the unlikeable characters, to be moved by their plight. We are not talking music that makes you want to like it, but rather music that reflects the inner turmoil of the characters. It is impressive, but ultimately, if I do not hear it again, I won't be upset.

So, to the singers, really all I need to say is Christine Goerke rocks. She makes this madness musical, she lives those notes, sings them through that orchestra, and does it with ease. Her command of this part, suggests that it was written with her voice in mind. It wasn't, but it might as well have been.

As her mother Klytemnestra, we have a former Elektra in the form of Lisa Gasteen. Like Ms Goerke, she too has power to burn and claimed this part as hers. She made the scary mother, if not likeable, at least believable, with her fears, and her determination to kill and kill again, until she finds peace from the dreams that are slowly driving her mad. The dreams that stem from her killing her husband. Her voice is not as large as Ms Goerke's, and when you think she was one of the go to Brünnhildes of the recent past, you might begin to understand my comments on vocal size. But, she also sang her role in a way that left you understanding these roles can be sung, and not shouted. How rare to hear this, and how wonderful!

As Chrysothemis, Cheryl Barker was also impressive. I was much more impressed with this than some of her other Strauss roles, making me wonder if it is more the length of some of these roles that makes her hold back. In this smaller role, she was vocally fearless, in a way that she was not in say Capriccio a couple of years ago. She threw herself in vocally, and sang out with far more power than we often see from her, making me wish she did it more often.

As Orestes, I was less impressed with Peter Coleman-Wright. To be sure, I rarely like his voice, and this night was no exception. His voice sounded tired, leaving me wish for pretty much any other large baritone in the role. He really was the one weak link I noticed in an evening of very high musical standards.

I also have to say, that all the servants and other minor roles were sung superbly. The fact that most of them are not singing for Opera Australia is quite surprising. I have heard leads in large roles who were less impressive than some of the maids. Or the male servants for that matter (though, only one of them has not sung for them, and Pascal Herrington has just finished his stint at the Conservatorium!)

I also must mention the dancers of the Sydney Dance Company who were a frequent recurrence throughout the evening. While they were decorative, I have to wonder were they really adding to the presentation? Or were they distracting? I tend to feel the later, but, admittedly, I was watching from the back, so they were between the singers and me. They felt too much like an added touch, as if someone suggested it, but no one really thought through the why, just "this seems a good idea" I just found them distracting, not enhancing the action.

On the other hand, definitely enhancing the action was the conductor David Robertson. He has the Symphony sounding amazing, and responding to his every command. I think this may also be the first vocal concert where I heard no brass fluffed notes at all, which certain of my readers will be thrilled to hear!

So, to sum up. This was a concert to go to, to hear some extraordinary voices, sing music that I do not like. That I walked away amazed and thrilled probably says it all.

Christine singing Fidelio.

Sydney Philharmonia Triple Threat concert (or Stuart Skelton lovefest)

So, another Stuart Skelton concert. Another chance to glory at the singing of this man. Seriously, I am in awe. The clarity and beauty of his pianissimo high notes, that should not be legal on a dramatic voice. Seriously, those sounds, they belong in a lyric tenor, not a heldentenor. Yet, he stands there, singing beautiful soft floated notes that reach the back of the concert hall, that then swell into a huge sound that can be heard despite the full orchestra blaring. That is the sign of seriously good technique, coupled with a unique gift.

And yes, that is what we got. A lot of amazing singing. From the opening with the dawn interlude from Peter Grimes and the chorus that followed it, we got to sample Peter Grimes extensively. I admit, my Grimes knowledge is not extensive, I have yet to see a production in the flesh, and the production my memories of it derive from was in the 90's. But, gosh, so much beautiful filmic music. I mean that in the best way. The score is full of beautiful scene painting, and we got to hear some lovely excerpts from the score, with carefully programmed selections that flowed together to create a sense of the whole piece, while only playing a small fraction of the music. Of course, we got Stuart's glorious singing of "Now the Great Bear and Pleiades" which is about a thousand times better than the video attached here suggests. And Embroidery, sung by Cheryl Barker, who, as others have suggested, based on this outing, should do Ellen on stage. But we also got lots of chorus music, sung by the Sydney Philharmonia Festival Chorus, who while well drilled, sadly have about half the men they need. So, while they sounded glorious, there were times when the lack of male voices was painfully obvious.

But, more than anything, the chunks of Peter Grimes reminded me that I really made a mistake in not seeing the last Opera Australia Peter Grimes, a mistake I will not make again, if Stuart is singing it. It was a powerful demonstration why, to many people, he owns this role.

After Grimes, we had selections from Otello, starting with that gloriously unexpected choral opening that really does create the fear of watching a storm at sea. This was one of the moments that I cringed at the lack of male voices, but once it had passed, I went back to glorying in the joy of hearing a large choir sing these glorious choral scenes that Verdi used to advance his story so well. We also got to hear Stuart singing some of Otello's music, along with Cheryl as his Desdemona. Hearing them in a staged production would be a treat for any opera lover, even if making the big blond bear into a moor, could pose a challenge for the makeup department (not to mention, awkward in so many PC ways) Would it be too much to hope for? Sadly, I suspect yes.

So, after interval, it was all Wagner, all the way. With the assistant conductor Anthony Pasquill taking the baton for the Lohengrin excerpts, we had the prelude and bridal chorus from Act 3 with In fernam Land following. After hearing that, all I can say is, if you get the chance, go see Stuart sing Lohengrin. Seriously, there is no one out there who can sing it like that. Its like that aria was made for his voice. (The fact that I cannot find video of him singing it to demonstrate is highly annoying) The clarity of his pianissimo and the beauty of them, not to mention the ability to swell from them to full voice, its truly astonishing. And I say that, as someone who prefers deep voices to tenors. No one sounds like this. No one.

Then we had Tannhåuser, with a chorus and Dich, teure Halle from Cheryl, which to my ears sounded a bit overwrought somehow. It left me longing for someone with a young fresh sounding voice singing it (for example Jennifer Behnke, go look her up on soundcloud if you have no idea) but, it was still interesting to hear someone not known for Wagner, singing it.

Then we had selections from my favourite opera to end, Meistersinger. Some choruses and the prize song from the final act. Again, I now want to find Stuart singing Walther von Stolzing, just so I can go hear him in a staged production. That chunk was enough, to tell me I could sit through any abominable eurotrash production, if he was singing it.

So there you go. Some truly glorious singing, a couple of awkward repertoire choices aside for the forces involved, but a fabulous concert none the less. Go hear Stuart if he is near you, there really is no one else who can do what he does, anywhere near as well…

Happy families, not...

Ok, so Salome and her crazy family. I just saw them today. And, yes, they are all nuts. Mum clearly does not like her husband, and is jealous of her daughter, but also clearly taught her well. Daughter uses her beauty to get her step dad to do what she wants. Clearly she has learnt to twist men around her finger, but not anything about right or wrong.

Which really gets to the heart of the matter. Salome is both femme fatale and yet naive innocent. She knows how to get What she wants, but she clearly has no moral compass. She meets someone with a powerful one, but fails to convince him to succumb to her charms. And from there it all goes pear shaped.

The decision was made to show the feast that is repeatedly referred to throughout the opera. They are at the back of the stage, raised up but also hidden behind a curtain of clear plastic strips, letting us know they are there, but seeming them not noticing what happens outside. "Outside" is a circular platform with a huge metal grate in it. There are a series of about 7 curved stairs down to the floor level of the stage. Most of the action takes place on the round platform, or the stairs in front of them. The grate of course, is raised up to allow access to Jokanaan, when needed. Costumes are best described as regie-light. Yes, none of them match the period this opera is set in, but they all are appropriate for the person wearing them. Herod looks like a overweight pimp in a shiny yellow suit. Salome and Herodias have out there trashy look at me look at me dresses, with head gear to match (and OTT hairstyles often too) . The religious guests at the feast are all dressed in the costume appropriate to whatever type of priest they are representing. (They are not all Jews here) And Narraboth and the soldiers are a mix of army camoflage pants, with upper body armour that looks like it came from some scifi movie. As I said, regie light costuming.

So. You begin to get a sense of what it looked like, what did it sound like? Well, to be honest, mostly very good. No one stood out as bad, most were very well cast, some were astonishingly good. I heard no bad singing, and a lot of amazing singing. I also saw a lot of powerful acting in what ultimately is a how not to guide to family values.

None of the minor characters stood out as bad, most surprised with how good they sounded. The fact that Kanen Breen was relegated to mere First Jew, gives you an idea, that luxury casting was applied. David Corcoran was seriously good as the doomed Narraboth. His death early on, both shocked and upset (as it should) when he realised that Salome in person, was not the beautiful ideal he had in his mind, but a twisted soul trapped within a beautiful facade.

Salome herself, performed by Cheryl Barker, was a monster, in the best way. Her performance was gripping, moving and also believable. She portrayed Salome as both victim and as active participant who causes things to happen. Yes, I still think Salome needs a bigger voice, but Cheryl makes a strong case for not needing a dramatic soprano in this role. To be sure, there are times when her voice struggles to deal with the combination of heavy orchestra and the vocal writing, but she rises above it to deliver a towering final scene that had us believing. And moved. And it has to be said, she does have something of the girlishness about her voice still, that this role should have, but few do.

As her mother, Jacqui Dark was suitably demented. She adds to her list of demented monster roles, a Herodias who you seriously do not want to meet in the street. There was nothing subtle about the performance, but then, Herodias was not written to be subtle. Her stentorian tones blasted across all others in the take no prisoners style we expect. You almost do not blame Herod for looking at his stepdaughter, when his wife has become such a vile harridan of a creature.

And Herod? Well, John Pickering was amazing (and creepy). This is the first time I have encountered him in the flesh, and, well, I hope to again. Im thinking he would make an excellent Mime or Loge. Here he makes light work of an incredibly wordy part, flinging off huge amounts of dialogue through the music, while remaining totally musical and in character. He was far and away the best performer, in my opinion, in a very strong cast.

As our Jokanaan, we had the ever reliable John Wegner, portraying yet another tortured soul. This one though, is physically tortured, while his soul is elsewhere. I was perhaps less convinced by him acting as the otherworldly prophet, but there was no complaints about his sound. I felt that using speakers for him when in the cistern, was probably unnecessary, but I also recognise that with the stage at the Opera House, putting him in the pit to sing his "in cistern" lines, would not give him much time to get to up to where he needed to be when he emerged into the light. It was probably unnecessary, but it also worked. It gave his prophetic pronouncements more power, making him more the person to be afraid of, even when imprisoned. At times I did wonder if I needed to see more otherworldliness from him, but then, he did seem comparatively sane, in a world going mad around him.

Now, about the Dance. That fraught thing about Salome, is most singers who are believable in the famous Dance of the 7 veils, are not likely to be capable to sing the role. Rather than have Cheryl do some sort of big long dance number shedding clothing, our director opted to have each of the seven veils represent a different female character, an archetype of men's fantasies of women if you will. It works, probably better as a concept than in reality, but if you know it in advance, it certainly made sense. And it was a lot more believable than her doing a solo dance for the almost 10 mins of the dance, shedding clothes as she goes….

So, to sum up, on a scale of 10? I would give this production, as seen today a 9. Not quite as amazing as Lucia, but still awesomely sung, and brilliantly theatrical. And yes, moving. Though, to be honest, I have no idea why I cared about such vile people. That I think says all you need to know.







Here is something of the infamous dance:

And ABC TV's news report:

Not the best Butterfly

I find it rather telling, that most of my complaints I had with this production of Madama Butterfly can be laid at the feet of who ever cast it. Not all, but with a more appropriate cast, most of my complaints would not have happened.

To start with, if I said that the only two people who were cast correctly on voice type were Goro and Sharpless, you might begin to get an idea of why I was disappointed. When your character tenor is louder in the opening scene than your romantic lead, you have a problem. Early on, I was wondering if it would have been better to reverse the casting. Of course, with the veteran Graeme McFarlane, that might have changed the way we think about Pinkerton, but it still gives you an idea.

Quite frankly, as I said to people afterwards, who would expect me to be more moved by Lucia than Butterfly? That an opera I never go to unless I know the cast will lift a boring night into a thrilling one was more moving than an opera that should leave one either a blubbering mess or annoyed at the injustice of life, or hating men, I think says it all.
  
But why you ask? Well, to start with, I never was convinced Pinkerton was seriously interested in Butterfly. There were 2 main reasons for this. First, you need to be able to sing the music in an ardent manner, with power to burn to convince. It's not a role you give to a Mozartian tenor. To be sure, his is a beautiful voice, used well, but nothing could make up for the serious lack of power. If he had been swapped with the Edgardo we say in Lucia, both operas would have been improved, I suspect. He also did not look captivated by her. Maybe his acting did not carry to the back of the theatre, but I never felt the passion. I did not feel they were about to rip each other's clothes off after the big duet between Butterfly and Pinkerton. Considering the passionate nature of the music, and the fact we are talking their wedding night, that says damp squib more than anything else.

Our Butterfly was Japanese, and to be honest, that always gives me concerns. I have yet to hear a Japanese soprano whose voice has the power to sing Butterfly well. I'm not saying they do not exist, but Hiromi Omura did not convince me they do. Again, a beautiful voice, but not a voice with the sort of emotional power you need as Butterfly. Pretty voiced, and mostly successful in a production designed around one of Australia's more charismatic singers, but just not nearly big enough, or able to hold our interest. We need to remember, Butterfly is an Italian opera character with a Japanese veneer, not a Japanese character with an Italian veneer, which is more what we got.

Instead, we got a singer who sounded like she should have been singing Pamina, probably with a small Mozartian orchestra, not singing a big Puccini role. Yes, she produced a beautiful sound with good legato, with a sweet tone from top to bottom. But, this role needs a beautiful voice with the power to thrill, where she sounds triumphant in her climactic notes in Un bel di. Here, we did not get that. Rather we had pretty singing from a voice that was hopelessly miscast.

Suzuki you say? Well, Domenica Matthews as Suzuki was what I expected. That is to say, competent, a credible performance, but if the cast had the voices required for the role, she would have been miscast. With a small voiced Butterfly, it did not matter, but then, a big voiced Suzuki would have been wrong in this cast also…
  
The rest of the cast? None of them stood out as bad or particularly good. They were competent, as you expect, although, the Yamadori of Malcolm Ede was almost inaudible at times.

Now having said that, this is a stunningly pretty production. The set is a series of Japanese paper screen style walls that are raised and lowered as appropriate to reveal other people or scenery outside. There is a wooden platform in the centre which is surrounded by a shallow moat.  Besides the usual named characters and the chorus (who only appear on stage during the wedding at the start) there are 5 mute performers who are dressed like lepers (it is the obvious description when you see them), or, I guess, Butoh performers. They spend much of the opera on stage stationary,  or carrying things on stage for the performers. They are never acknowledged as existing, even as characters take props from them.

The costumes are all typically Japanese appearing, though I could not comment on how authentic they are. Most of the costumes in the opening were in shades of red. They always spoke volumes about the characters, with Butterfly changing to darker sombre colours as the performance progressed.  

So, to sum up. This was a deeply disappointing Madama Butterfly, with performers who should not have been cast in the roles they were. All I can do is leave you with a reminder of how good this production can be, with Cheryl Barker as Butterfly, and Jay Hunter Morris as her Pinkerton. If only I had seen that, not last night's cast!

And, a late edit to bring you this:

This is how you do Butterfly! Full blooded, with intense passion!!!

(And yes, the video is crap, but what a voice!)

So, Die Tote Stadt.

An opera I have loved since I first saw it on TV one afternoon in the now legendary performance from Strasbourg. And finally I have seen it in the flesh. And I am happy I did.

But, before we start I think we need to get something sorted first. Die Tote Stadt (the dead city) has something in common with another show I saw this year: Company (Sondheim)

They are both shows that stand or fall by whether you care about the lead male. If you cannot care about the lead, be it Paul in DTS or Robert in Company, you will find the performance trying. No matter how good the others, the person at the centre undergoing the transformation has to be someone you care about, or it all falls apart and there is nothing to keep your interest. No matter how much you may enjoy the music, if the character does not interest you, it all ends up a bit hollow.

Now, with DTS, I have to say, this opera is full of gorgeous music. Full of it! It is a lush, melodic mass of beauty that should leave you awash and blissed out, assuming you like late romantic era lushness. And at its heart is a man who has failed to deal with his wife's death. He is living in a house that has become a shrine to her, and failing to build a new life with out her.

Then of course, he meets a young woman who is the image of his dead wife. Of course it all seems to good to be true, and thus it proves to be. But not without lots of gorgeous music, and he comes out of it stronger, once again returning to the land of the living, not the city of the dead.

So, what did I think of this performance? Well, to be honest, while I love this music, I found the problem I referred to above. Our Paul was not someone to care about. Having a Marietta who was more interesting (and frankly, a much better singer) than Paul meant that the person we needed to care about was a blank space, a dead weight the other characters had to carry.

To my mind, as Paul, Stefan Vinke  was far and away the weakest performer in the whole show. While he was the character around whose actions the whole story revolves (and in whose dreams much of it happens), he was not a performer you wanted to be central. Through out the first act, I was worried about how he sounded. His was the voice of someone struggling to handle a role that seemed too big for him, possibly coupled with illness or something similar. I mean, he sang most of the notes, but a lot sounded very ugly, not the beautiful voice that you will need to make people want to care about you. To be honest, his voice did settle in the second act, sounding less strangled and more confident, but I was still hearing hoarseness, making me wonder if he was tired or ill, or else having some other problem that should be investigated. I mean, I am not saying he sounds like Kim Carnes or anything, but there is to my ear, something worrying in his sound, that suggests vocal health issues. It also does not help that his is a muscular style of voice, with harsh metal sounds, not the beautiful big lyric-esque sounds that we dream of hearing in this sort of music.

As to his Marie/Marietta, well Cheryl Barker surprised me. To be honest, I have never really understood her appeal. The only times I have heard her live I felt she sounded too small for the roles she was singing. But as Marietta, she certainly had voice to spare. Her bright tones suited this role amazingly. She certainly sang Vinke off the stage! She is also a good enough dancer to get away with portraying a dancer on stage. Im not saying that she danced lots, or anything difficult, but she did enough to make it believable, which is all we could hope for. Frankly, I think we would have been better served if Marietta was the focus of the opera not Paul with this cast.

As Paul's housekeeper, Deborah Humble was a standout. She took the small role of the housekeeper and made it special. Hers is definitely a voice I will be looking for in the future.

As for Marietta's theatrical colleagues, I only need to say that silver people rule. Jose Carbo proved a great Peirrot, singing his aria with clarity and beauty of tone, even if a little bit too Italianate in sound. His fellow silver people either sang or danced beautifully, giving that sense of an performing troupe a bit out of touch with reality quite brilliantly. Their scene in act 2 had a life all of its own, a total contrast to the depression of Paul through out the rest. As it should.

As Frank, Paul's friend, Michael Honeyman did his best to make a blank canvas into a real person, but the role is one of those roles whose main purpose is to be part of a conversation, not to take on a life of their own.

This production was mostly very traditional. The staging was designed paying attention to the script, and nothing was too jarring. Of course, there was also little that was memorable, besides the costumes of the silver people and Marietta. Even Frank was dressed in a fairly somber fashion. There was extensive use of projections throughout the opera, some of which worked, some which didn't.  I really did not like the roses on the scrim, or the light at the end. Surely there is some better way of indicating his decision than the cliche of walking towards the light?

But of course, no production of this opera can really escape that this is an opera whose first act is always going to be difficult. You have to be made to care about Paul from the start, or it just feels like so much wankery. Wankery set to beautiful music sure, but still wankery. At the first interval, one of my two opera going companions left because he could not see the point, the other was tempted to as well, but was glad to have stayed by the end of the second act. And, to be honest, I could see their point. I knew that there was much still to admire in Korngold's score, so there was no way I would leave before the end. And I was glad I did. I left, feeling both blessed out by the music, yet frustrated by the performance of Paul and our lack of concern at his plight. Yes, it is a hard role, but there are many others who can do it justice. In my dreams I hope for Andrew Richards or Stuart Skelton, but, I expect that I will not see this production mounted again in Sydney. Then again, I never expected to see it in Australia at all, so...