The way over due post

So, I did not write about 3 of the operas I saw in New York. Or, for that matter, the operas I saw in Australia last year. (more anon) But I do need to look back and describe some stuff, because it feels a bit undone, as I approach my first opera of the year, to have not written about some of the best things I have seen, that happened last year.

So first, I did see some operas here. Love for 3 Oranges, which was amazing, and the Pearlfishers, which was less so.

So, for those that do not know, Love... is a farcical tale of fantasy and true love triumphing over evil, and features Prokofiev's challenging music Its a light hearted romp full of fun and craziness, with a cast that showcased just how good Opera Australia can be, when they trust in their own performers, and work as a team. It also featured the best performances I have seen from most of the leads featured (Rosario, being funny and singing beautifully, Kanen Breen showing that however good he is in other things, he is an amazing physical comic). It was so good, I actually saw I twice. Because, the first time, Kanen (and a few others) were sick, and there was a bunch of roles shuffled around to cover. It was fun, but the second time, with the leads as planned, it was stunning.

Pearlfishers, on the other hand... Well, yes, it was sung beautifully. The cast worked well together. The imported star (Pavol Breslik) did not stand head and shoulders above everyone, but fitted in with the standard of the rest quite well  (Jose Carbo, Daniel Sumegi and Ekaterina Siurina) But, in this case, the director tried to work around the problematic tale by changing some of the characters to try make it less "white men judging the foreigns". The problem is, I think he made it worse, by making the two male leads ex pats. Well, that was the way it felt to me.

So, to the rest of my fabulous stint in New York. Yes, I got to see the Nina Stemme and Stuart Skelton show, and yes, it was every bit as amazing live as I expected. Possibly more so than I expected, because the modernisation of the production worked better than I feared. Yes, if I knew Tristan better, I might think otherwise, but for me, it worked. It was the first time seeing the opera and, as an introduction, it was pretty amazing. And yes, if the cast was not so fabulous, it would have been quite tiring at times. But Nina, Stuart, Rene Pape, Evgeny Nikitin and Neal Cooper, all were amazing. Not to mention the surprise of Ekaterina Gubanova as Brangaene, who left me wondering why had I never heard of her before. She should go straight to the top of the list of mezzos to sing Wagner, her voice fitted right in alongside the starry names and staked a claim for similar recognition. I will also say, seeing those performers up close and hearing THAT ORCHESTRA from the third row, well, it really is astonishing. Talk about wallowing in sound!

Then there was the tragedy that is Jenufa, Janaczek's tale of woe in a small village. Once again with an astonishing cast, singing the snot out of their roles. Karita Mattila, having recently given up singing Jenufa, now sings the Kostelnicka. And how! Oksana Dyka proving once again, that she is great in Eastern European roles, as the tragic title role. Not to mention, Joseph Kaiser and Daniel Brenna as the competing tenors, and Hanna Schwartz (!) as the grandmother, Maria Zifchak as the Old Shepherdess and Elizabeth Bishop as the Mayor's wife. I mean, seriously! That is a cast!!! And yes, this was seen from the cheap seats, but, again, such great voices, and performers, there was no doubting the intensity..

Then we had Don Giovanni, the matinee that was used for the "Live in HD at The Met" performance. To be honest, I am not sure that DonG works well in such a barn of a theatre. Yes, the leads sang well, yes the set was quite clever in how it worked. But... Trying to make what is an intimate opera work to the back of the Met? Yeah, I am not convinced. Maybe it was just let down by a comparison with some of the other shows? But, despite the great cast (especially Paul Appleby as a non wimpy Don Ottavio) I was still left thinking this is something that needs to feel intimate, you need to be able to almost feel the heat of the flames licking at DonG's feet as his fate is realised. And that is something you will never feel from the balcony at the Met. Not, that I regret going, just it was a good reminder that opera works better in smaller theatres, and that big barns of theatres are an aberation, born of a bigger is better mentality in the USA. Which, while it can work well with somethings, will never work well with the many small scaled works that make up much of the repertoire.

Swiss Patriots

Right, so for my first Met visit I lucked into a good one. A well cast and sung opera I did not know well, or how it ended, in a serviceable production I'm going to call it. The things that were needed were there, there a few gimmicks, but nothing that took    away from telling the story. And a number of items that with thought may end up being quite telling to the director's thoughts on the opera.

First though, how good is it to be in a theatre where the sound does not turn to mush. After the clarity of the overture onward, going back to the sound of the orchestra pit at Sydney Opera House will be something I won't relish. 

The new production is the one mounted by the Dutch National Opera, by Pierre Audi, who clearly had a good handle on the characters and story, nothing jumped out as out of character, even if a couple of the characters do seem 1 dimensional. Why is Gesler such a cartoon style villain? The libretto does not tell us, and it seems just accepted that he is the evil vicious governor on behalf of the Austrians, with no indication that anyone else objects. Until Mathilde decides to stand up and use her imperial rank to overrule him over Tell's son 

So, to the singers. There was a big cast in WT, and all of then were clearly audible, despite being in the balcony, a considerable distance for voices to carry. As Tell, we had Gerald Finley, bringing both flexibility of tone and dignity to the role. It's a long role, and he never showed signs of flagging, as he portrayed the famous hero of the piece. This was a role that showed why he is one of the most sought after singers in the world today, it was a remarkable performance. Why he was dressed like a Jedi master, I am not sure.

As the tortured and lovelorn second hero Arnold, we had Bryan Hymel, bringing all his power and high notes, and considerable flexibility to this role. If Tell was the soul of the piece, Arnold was the heart, torn between family and homeland, and the imperial Mathilde, who he met in the past, who returns his love. Loving the enemy never ends well, in these things, and this couple provides much of the complications.

The princess herself was sung by Marina Rebeka, bringing a highly flexible, focused, if somewhat hard sound to her florid writing, but that bloomed wonderfully into a big lush sound in her more lyrical moments. Her costumes seemed variations on Victorian era riding habits, changing from black to white as she begins to distance herself from Gesler and his regime. 

The evil Gesler was played by John Relyea, being loud and obnoxious, as he is well capable. It's not a voice you expect in Rossini, but then, it is not written full of his usual complex flexible vocal lines, this is more Verdi-style villain writing, which he clearly enjoyed. 

I keep mentioning things as being unlike Rossini's normal style, and indeed, at times it did not feel like Rossini. The final chorus especially, has moments where you think, Rossini wrote this? It sounds 20th century. Other times, it is very clear, this is the same composer who wrote the Barber of Seville. The long well known overture is clearly his, with its long crescendi and strident calls to arms. Yet, the same composer writes proto-20 century music to end the night? It all seems a little unexpected. What isn't unexpected is Rossini's need of a good editor. This is NOT a short opera, and frequently the same music and words are repeated over, thus, there are times when it seems what would be a whole aria, but is only part in Rossini's world, is repeated, just to emphasis how lovely it was, and how heartbroken/eager to fight/in love they really are. A ruthless editor could easily chop 1/10 from the piece I think, if the repeats were killed. But, then, this was a French grand opera, where nothing is short. 

Speaking of French grand opera, the big ballet scene in Act 3 was handled very well, it helped to build the antagonism between the Swiss and the Austrians, demonstrating their heartlessness towards them. It was also one of those situations where the chorus has to take part (always fraught), but thankfully their dance part was fairly simple in a large complex scene. But pity the chorus who had to go from singing to dancing energetically to singing... 

So, all round a great night. Lots of great singing, a chance to see a piece I am never likely to see mounted in Sydney. And a rollicking good story, even if it took far longer to tell, than it needed to.