Opera News

Operatic Magic

Posted Jul 16th, 2011 at 6:04 pm

There are moments in opera when the genius of a composer melds with the inspiration of singers who visually and vocally transform it into theatrical magic. Francesco Cilea‘s, (an opera composer, little known) genius is apparent in Adriana Lecouvreur, which premiered in 1902, two years after Puccini’s Tosca. Puccini, of course, is an operatic titian of many work. Cilea is the inspired creator of one, Adriana Lecouvreur, an opera that depends heavily on its interpreters to float it to the top of the operatic firmament.

Rightly so, Adriana is generally produced when a soprano of importance demands to plum the juicy role of the supreme French actress of her day, Adriana Lecouvreur. There have been numerous divas who have drawn on its calling…Olivero, Tebaldi, Sutherland, Freni, and Caballe to name a few. They have often been partnered by great tenors,  for it takes a team to make it extraordinary;  it takes a miracle to make it sublime.

When Covent Garden announced  Adriana earlier this year for Angela Gheorghiu, it was dubious that she could live up Adrianas of yore. The voice is on the small side and perhaps not dramatic enough for the supreme actress. When Jonas Kaufmann was announced as her lover, Maurizio, it crossed my mind that the opera should be renamed Maurizio, much as many thought  Carmen with Kaufmann should be renamed Don Jose.

By whatever name one calls it, this Adriana was definitely an EVENT; operatic EVENTS are few and far between these days, so I was excited that one of the performances was being broadcast live by the BBC. I was able to listen to that live broadcast (not with great sound),  and I was impressed. Recently, a number of the scenes from that performances have been posted on You Tube.

In this final scene of the opera, Adriana has been poisoned by Maurizio’s lover, a rich Princess who provides him with the perks of wealth, power and fame.  His heart belongs to Adriana, a great actress. Having discovered Maurizio’s betrayal, Adriana has withdrawn from life and the stage and is dying.

In true operatic form, Maurizio and Adriana reunite to express their love in one of the most beautiful death scenes in all of opera. Kaufmann and Gheorghiu transform this into something so personal, we are almost embarrassed to intrude on their most intimate, private moments… add Cilea’s score and the package is sublime.

Gran Dio!

Posted Jul 16th, 2011 at 4:26 pm

Gran Dio!  It’s been 5 months since I’ve posted to my opera blog. Thanks to all of you who have written with various questions, comments, and kind words saying you’ll miss me in the Fall.

As many of you know, I am taking a year off from teaching;  so far it’s been great to become just another opera fan, with nary a thought of what I’d like to teach and delighted at how much there is to learn & enjoy from today’s great Opera singers and artists.

In the past months there have been an awful lot of operatic “headlines” forthcoming, so I thought I’d just outline a few that come to mind.

The New York City Opera, after 75 years,  is on the brink of collapse. This is an epic story that dates back to a Golden Age when Opera and its star Singers garnered their own headlines to current times where those of little talent,  manipulate  and corrupt this  classical art form and create box office by being booed at final curtain having insulted many of the very hands that feed them.  If you haven’t kept up with the City Opera saga, you’ll  get a great overview by  Googling the following Headline in  The New York Times on 7/14/11.  Arena Opera, Mortier Style by Times music critic, Zachery Woolfe. It is both fascinating and disheartening…

Technology just keeps amazing.  Last week, I watched on line  a live performance of Beethoven’s Fidelio from the Munich Opera staring Jonas Kaufmann and Anja Kampe in a Eurotrash production that ignored Beethoven (what did he know?),  had a costume budget of $1.25, and basically required  poor Kaufmann to body mop  the stage (for which I hope he got paid extra) for a good deal of the 2nd act. In spite of it all,  both principals sang gloriously and acted with self generated inspriation.  The production was booed on opening night,  so it was a box office success and the directors will strike again. Oh by the way, I almost forgot : It does feature a scene with both Kaufman and Kampe disrobing and dressing into fancier duds!

Last minute switcheroos by San Francisco Opera:  Francesco Meli, tenor is out and Michael Fabiano, tenor is in as Gennaro in Lucrezia Borgia with Renee Fleming in October.  Now this is at least  interesting, if not a headline.   Fabiano was the  young, disgruntled tenor who was a  winner of the Metopolitan Opera’s Young Artist competition and featured  in the documentary film, The Audition, which was shown a few years ago at the Rialto. It will be a great coup for Fabiano to sing with Fleming and raises  interest in the Opera a notch, which up until now solely rested on Fleming’s draw.  Another reversal of concern  is the switch out of star tenor, Ramon Vargas as Foresto  in Verdi’s Attila next summer, for Fabio Sartori. Who?