Ferruccio Furlanetto is God, or something damn close to it

If there is a scene that is the heart and soul of Don Carlo, or Don Carlos, as OperaAustralia insist on calling it, it is that big scene for Filippo at the start of the third act. First of all he pours out his heart lamenting the fact that he is married to someone who has never loved him, who he should never have married. Then, he is joined by the Grand Inquisitor, who proceeds to tell him what he should do, and threatens the king, showing clearly that despite his temporal power, he is only there at the mercy of the church, and possibly also because he is easier to control than who might follow. It is also the big showpiece for the bass playing the king, being the time when he gets to allow himself to be the man, rather than the monarch and husband. In the right hands it can be a riveting piece of singing acting that shows the man behind the crown. In the wrong hands, it becomes a piece of indulgence that holds up the story.

Needless to say, in this production we had the master of this role, singing as if he has lived this life, slipping into the troubled King's shoes as comfortably as we might our favourite pair of slippers. And what a treat, to see and hear the definitive Filippo of our time, live in the flesh! When his opening notes of the monologue, which he effectively sings into his hand that is supporting his head, and which are still clarion clear at the back of the theatre, you know why this man has the reputation he does. That he can do that, and make us care for this tyrant who we already know is responsible for the death of thousands, such is the power of his performance. Oh, and the power of Verdi's masterful writing too, of course.

And yes, having Ferruccio Furlanetto sing this role was the reason I had decided that this would be a must see performance, even before I knew we had Latonia Moore in the role of his wife Elisabetta de Valois. As probably the current Aida of choice for opera companies everywhere, her performance in the theatre here a few years ago remains something I will not forget. If this was not quite that potent a performance, I do think that it is one that she will grow into, with a few more outings, till it is the equal of her Aida. So, think not incredible, but merely very good. This is a queen being torn apart by duty vs emotion, who fell in love on first sighting the young man who later becomes her stepson. Yes, I know, only in opera! To be sure, that glorious voice with its beautiful creamy high notes is still glorious, and the ability to put into a look so much feeling that it carries to the back of the theatre was there. But I still think that she has more to give in this role, I do not think she has plumbed its depths yet and lived with it long enough to build the strength of characterisation that makes her Aida so devastatingly good.

Then we had the Rodrigo of Jose Carbo, a role I know he has long wanted to play, and clearly relishing the opportunity he has been given. Hearing someone you used to sing with a significant number of years ago living up to their potential is always a thrill. When they are singing in such exalted company and showing they belong there too, it is a magical thing. Needless to say, he lives the role, and he is singing better and better each time I hear him, pouring out the sounds in a way that clearly shows he knows the role backwards and lives the meaning of all of it. His death scene was especially well sung.

I mentioned before the Grand Inquisitor (played by Daniel Sumegi) who has that delicious snarling duel of a scene with the king. I did not mention that he was played and sung beautifully. He clearly plays someone who is used to getting his every demand met, who has grown old and yet remains still very much the feared arm of punishment that the church uses to bend others to its will. The somewhat harsh sound that he produced was just right for the elderly but still in control priest.

I also have to say, for a small chorus, we get a lot of sound out of them. The start of the auto da fe scene may have been a bit quiet where I sat, but by the time the chorus were all on stage and not at the back, the sound was impressive. It is a scene that never quite makes sense to me, but Elijah Moshinsky has tried to make it work. To modern sensibilities, being excited over people going to their deaths will always be a big ask. But, he tries, and succeeds in making us see some at least in the crowd are excited.

I will say however, that the casting of Diego Torre as Don Carlo was not something I was overly pleased with. To be sure, he has the ability to sing all the notes, and sing them in a way that ensures he can be heard by all. The problem is, I am not sure it is a voice I want to hear. In the first half, he came across as having a harsh overtone somehow, or maybe it was an awkward resonance the theatre was picking up. I want to say he has the voice of a tenor villain, but I can't think of any tenor villain that needs to be that loud, apart from maybe Grimes. Either his voice improved in the second half, or I got used to it, but he still remained someone who could only sing loud or louder, which was grating against the nuanced performances of the other singers. He also did not convince me that he was still madly in love with his mother in law, which while a stretch for anyone, is essential for his character to be believable.

Also in the less than successful department was our Princess Eboli, Milijana Nikolic. Constantly drowned out in ensembles and at times seeming to run out of breath in her two big arias in awkward places. Last time I heard her in Verdi (as Azucena) I was impressed at how well she took on the role and sang it. This time, I was constantly thinking she was trying to sing a role that is much too big for her. It was quite odd. Of course, having to sing alongside some very big voices would not have helped, but it was a surprising let down given her Azucena was most impressive.

Now, having said all that, I have to say, who in their right mind when setting up the bows puts the unsatisfactory tenor in the title role in as the last to bow in a cast, when you have  two big names in opera in leads? Well, apparently our national opera company do. I could not believe they did not put Furlanetto on last, as quite frankly, he was what made this a special night. He deserved it, both for being the big name star in the company, as well as being far and away the best performer in the cast.

4 fantastic singers? 5 pretty good ones

So Il Trovatore, that opera where we have to believe that a mother threw the wrong baby in the fire, and then raised her enemy's son to destroy his biological brother. Well, yes, it is an opera, so there is always a certain amount of disbelief required, but, that's opera for you.

First of all, I have to say, this was a surprisingly even cast. There were no stand out bad performers the whole night. That also means of course, there were no stunningly good ones either (like Monserrat Caballe at the top) . Instead, we had a night of well sung, well acted, if not always thrilling opera.

This production was the Elke Neidhardt production that is shared between the various state opera companies here. It resets the opera to the Spanish Civil war, but never really tells you which side who is on. All you know (indeed, all you really need to know) is that Di Luna and Manrico are on opposite sides.) The sets consist of a series of grey walls that get rearranged from time to time. They all show signs of war damage, and get moved to indicate changes of location for each scene. They worked very effectively, especially coupled with the very effective moody lighting.

There were no obvious "regietheatre moments" that made you scream "what the?" but a mostly sensibly directed opera, that focused on telling the story clearly. Ok, so maybe the moment of gratuitous total male nudity with the arrival of the new recruits was not necessary, but it did lighten up the scene (and the supers were very pretty)

Now, to the performers, because, as is mythologised, this opera stands or falls on the four leads (I would argue five, but hey, who says singers can count?)

First off, when you get a notice on your seat that a singer has been swapped for health reasons, you normally sigh a little. Well, when I heard the Ruiz was swapped (admittedly a small role) I was quite pleased. My previous experience of the singer in question left me wondering why he had been cast. Instead, we had Sam Roberts-Smith, who I hope we hear a lot more of. As Ruiz, he sang only a little, but left us wanting to hear more, and liking what we heard. Why the other singer was cast in the first place still leaves me scratching my head, knowing his replacement was available at the time...

Now, frankly, Daria Masiero is no Monserrat Caballe (or for that matter, Angela Meade, or Latonia Moore) but she is a fine singer with a big voluptuous voice of the type needed. To be sure, I would prefer one both larger, prettier and better controlled, but we are talking dream casting vs affordable casting. For a company that cannot afford the A list singers, Daria is pretty good. No fluffed notes, nice even sound and plenty of power to bring to those exciting climaxes Verdi gives. To be sure, she does not sound as in control of her voice as Latonia Moore (or Angela Meade, who I have only heard via recordings) but there was nothing wrong with what she did. We are talking degrees, more the difference between something I consider acceptable, to something truly glorious. She was workmanlike would be my comment.

Likewise, Arnold Rawls. As the evening progressed, his voice definitely eased into the role, sounding less tight. Sometimes he sounded  not entirely comfortable in the role in the first act. But by the second act he was sounding truly heroic, his C on "Di quell piera" was something to behold, if a touch OTT for the purists. I say, if you have it like that, use it!!!!

The surprise of the evening for me was Michael Honeyman as the Count di Luna. This was the fourth time i have heard him recently, so you can understand why I was shocked when I heard him. I have always liked his voice, but I long to hear the voice that he has yet to become, instead of the smaller sound we have been getting. Well, somewhere between last year and this production, he has found that big sound. WOW! Suddenly, its like he had a big break through in vocal technique and the sound is much fuller, richer and just plain bigger. Im really looking forward to hearing what happens in the future now.

Our bass for the evening was of course, the reliable Richard Anderson as Ferrando. Quite why the captain of the guards became a priest in this production, I am not sure, but it did not detract too much from the story. Indeed, it only occurred to me later that he is not normally a priest. Too many Italian operas have priests that do everything they shouldn't I guess..

And finally, we had Milijana Nikolic as Azucena, the mother who threw her son on the fire by mistake, intending to throw the Count's brother. Previously, I have not been that impressed by her. This time I was convinced. Her Strida la vampa and the scene following with Manrico were stunning. In many respects that scene became the emotional centre of the opera in this performance.

And of course, as usual, the chorus sang well, swapping frequently from being soldiers to freedom fighters and back again.Im sure there was lots of men changing back stage in the wings…

So I will leave you with our tenor. Not perfect, but pretty damn good, and certainly worth paying for.

So, last night, I saw Aida again....

Leontyne Price shows us how it is done (O Patria Mia)

 And Ritorno vincitor from the same night, (her last night at The Met)


First of all, for those that do not know, Jacqueline Mabardi is no Latonia Moore (or Leontyne Price). This was no surprise to me. However, I was relieved at her not being anywhere near as bad as I was led to believe. Not as big a voice as Moore (obviously) she still sang the role credibly, with that mix of control and abandon that we need to hear. However, my criticism would be that her voice lacks the clean focus that Moore (and for that matter Leontyne Price) has. This is a voice which seems too much core, not enough focus. Which makes me worry about the long term use of it, as well as explains (when I think about it) why the floated high notes near the end were not soft and floating, but hit with too much power.

Against Mabardi, Rosario La Spina and Milijana Nikolic came across as much stronger than previously. At the start, I suspected La Spina was having troubles, as he seemed a bit hesitant in the recit before Celeste Aida, but the aria itself was fine. However, I do think as the evening went on, I could hear him off the peak of the previous performance. Possibly a cold? Or hay fever? Either way, he still sang with power and ease throughout his range. And yes, his voice is not the prettiest tenor, but the power and security of his line of sound, means that quite frankly, I don't care. We need singers who can do the job, and he does it well. Nikolic sang better than I remember, but again, possibly a comparison situation?

Having said that, I can say that Warwick Fyfe and David Parkin were definitely an improvement on Michael Honeyman and Paul Whelan. Both much bigger voices, though I still feel both seem too small in these roles. But, they were more secure and larger voices than before, and were both convincing in their roles.


Now, having said all that, I also have to say, we need some new good Verdi conductors in the pit. Our conductor Andrea Licata seemed unable to get the fire of Verdi in the belly of our orchestra, at times they seemed rather tepid. If you cannot bring the fire and passion to Aida, you do not deserve to be conducting it. Also, there were a couple of times where things started to get a little bit out of synch between the stage and pit. Not train wreck badly, but I spotted it, so it was noticeable.

As for the production, once again, while I love the many clever touches of this production, I again was wishing at times people would just stand still and sing! That the director was a dancer is very obvious. Yes, the dances were witty and fun, but we do not need a chorus to move around on the stage in the temple scene, its meant to be static.

Oh, and some of you know that we took an opera virgin to this production. He loved it, and was moved by it in a good way. In some ways I think that is the best compliment we can give. Someone who did not know the story before, got the story, and felt for the characters. Its not rocket science folks, it should just work!


Previous performance review here

Aida, mark 1

So, I have just stood through the length of Aida (it's more than 3 hours) and I would do it again if I had the chance. I think that says something about how great it was.

So, before I say anything else, let me just say this. if you have the chance to see Latonia Moore live in Aida, go, do not question the price. Sell something if you have to, but just go. Seriously, she is that good. I really cannot think of anyone singing at the moment who could match Latonia Moore as Aida. I fully expect to find she is identified with the role in the future like Leontyne Price was with it. Yes, she is that good, a singer who other soprani will be measured against in this role. And she is still young.

But anyway, enough gushing and how about I tell you why, right? Well, we are talking a huge voice. Huge, as in sing over the top of the chorus and fellow soloists in the triumphal march scene huge. As in, could take on Turandot in the future if she wanted huge. But, while she has the power to make Ritorna vincitor the potent mix of excitement and horror it should be, the most impressive aria was O Patria mia, with its long floating phrases just hanging beautifully with that gorgeous tone filling the theatre and with stunning crescendi to powerful notes that were both expressive and controlled. Just listen to this La mama morta to get an idea of her voice: 

So, yes, you could say, today's tickets were worth it purely for seeing Latonia do her thing, and do it very well. But she was not the only good thing about today's performance. To be sure, she out sang everyone on stage, but they all held up quite well beside her. As her lover Radames, Rosario LaSpina proved what a fine big voiced tenor he is. To be sure, today was not his best sounding day, but never once did he sound awkward or lost. Rather, his issue today was more a tendency to sound a bit "strangled tenor" not the clear open sound I have heard from him before. Having said that, he still sounded much better than many tenors I have heard live in big roles. It's more that when I know how good he can sound, I get upset when he does not sound that good. But hey, if that was an off day, I would be pretty happy with it. He still got the second biggest applause of the curtain calls, and never once sounded in danger of not hitting the note, or cracked, or went "splat" on a high note, he just did not sound as good as I have heard him. Radames might not be his best role. Listening to him today, I was wondering if he is heading into dramatic tenor territory. There was something of the ugly sound about him that some dramatic tenors get. That sound that is not pretty, but boy is it loud. That was more like what he was sounding like today. And that is not a bad thing for Radames really. Especially when you get the ending right, singing with as much sensitivity as your Aida did (she got THAT note right) in their final death scene.

With today's Amneris, Milijana Nikolic, I started thinking she was going to be sung off the stage physically. Her opening left me wondering what OA were doing casting her in the role. Having said that, by the time of the Nile scene, there was no doubt she belonged on the stage with Latonia and Rosario. Not warmed up enough maybe? I don't know, but by the end, her voice was holding her own against the big guns, working hard at making Amneris a human figure, not just the cruel figurehead of a rejected woman, but a woman who both is used to getting everything she wants, and trying to deal with not getting the one thing she really wants.

Of the others, well, Andrew Brunsdon was a luxury casting Messenger and sang it as beautifully as I would expect him to.

Jud Arthur brought his beautiful bass sound to the King, but sounded way under powered against the others on stage. To be sure, his is a small role and basses that sound this good are not common, but it made me wish for anyone of a number of basses from OperaAustralia's past in the role.

Amonasro was Michael Honeyman, who recently impressed me in Die Tote Stadt, proving again today that this is a voice to watch. I wanted more power from him, but I was more than happy with what I was hearing, I just wanted it to be bigger. Time will fix that of course!

Ramfis was sung by Paul Whelan and I was again wanting a bigger voice. The big bad bass has to be big and bad to really convince, and frankly, Paul did not sound like the big threatening high priest who has the say in much that happens in this opera. Its a role that needs more power to make you believe he is that powerful, and frankly, I felt like he was a boy playing at being the man. Which screams bad casting, to my mind, rather than a bad performance.

I have to say, though, I was not impressed with Arvo Volmer's conducting. Verdi has to be a bit, well, barbaric? You really need to feel those dotted rhythms, and feel the marches in your soul and they lacked the bite they needed. But, having said that, he really got the last 2 acts right. The lyrical beauty of the Nile scene was milked for every ounce of beauty, and the judgement and death scenes were impressive in control. I just wanted that sense of abandon that great Verdi has, and I was not hearing it at all.

On the other hand, I was impressed with Graeme Murphy's direction with limited resources. Obviously OperaAustralia does not have the resources of The Met to mount Aida with masses of chorus and extras. But he has worked well with minimal resources (and the tiny Sydney Opera House stage) to make this a spectacle. The triumphal march scene was cleverly done, with a mix of live figures and cutouts in the parade. The set throughout was based on a steep rake with a ramp that opened at the back at certain points for entries and exits. There was a triangle on the backdrop which was sometimes used to indicate a pyramid, at other times other things. Various "Egyptian" set elements were flown in or brought in from the wings at various times to indicate differing locations with a minimum of fuss. There was also a thin strip of water between the pit and the rest of the stage, which represented the Nile. Its presence the whole time was an interesting reminder of Egypt's dependence on it in the past, as well as used cleverly, especially in the Nile scene. The death scene worked, with a coup de theatre that I did not expect. His staging focused on telling the story, allowing the drama to develop and making us care for the characters. It worked well. There were a few surprising touches, but nothing that stood out as a whoops or what the moment. It was the story, and nothing but the story.

However, while the set was effective and functional, the lighting design was definitely something. While it did not hinder from the story, some of the extra projections of Egyptian symbols did leave me feeling "enough already". Mostly, the lighting worked well to draw attention to the things that matter, sometimes too much so, but then, I do know Aida backwards.  Some of the awkward mass scene moments were helped by lighting tricks, making us focus on those intimate between two character exchanges, not wondering why others don't notice what was said/sung.

However, it does have to be said, while Graeme Murphy is a great opera director for bringing the story to life, he really has a reluctance to let things just be, to let us just focus on the glorious singing. Several times I watched massed movement happen and realised there was no reason for it, apart from trying to avoid a static scene. And, in Aida, you do sort of expect a few static scenes as the masses just let rip and sing. A couple of times I wanted to say, "just stand still and sing" but it was a small price to pay for a performance with standards on the whole, as high as today's were.

But ultimately, it has to be said, Aida ultimately stands and falls on the strengths of the main leads, and today, Opera Australia delivered those, and did it well.

Can we do it again now? (And the answer is, yes, seated, with a different cast in September)

And below, a snippet from Latonia singing at Dallas...