Sunday 31 January 2010
"Drop in the Ocean"
Saturday 30 January 2010
"Where shall I fly?"
I've become a complete Handel fiend...so I'm going to keep going in that direction I think :)
Friday 29 January 2010
"Fairest Isle"
Thursday 28 January 2010
"Ohime, se tanto amate"
Wednesday 27 January 2010
"Ye boundless realms of joy"
Tuesday 26 January 2010
"Dans le silence de la nuit"
Monday 25 January 2010
"Ero desso, il figlio mio"
Sunday 24 January 2010
"Ach! So fromm, ach! So traut"
Saturday 23 January 2010
"Alélyoua"
Friday 22 January 2010
"Duet from 'Nina'"
Thursday 21 January 2010
"Bevo al tuo fresco sorriso"
Wednesday 20 January 2010
"Mild und leise wie er lachelt"
Tuesday 19 January 2010
"Pochudilis mne budto golosa"
Monday 18 January 2010
"Cara speme"
Sunday 17 January 2010
"Abendsegen"
Saturday 16 January 2010
Richard Eyre's "Carmen"
I can safely say that everyone in the theatre fell in love with Elina Garanca over the course of the opera. I wouldn't be surprised if every man and woman in that theatre was seduced by her intelligent, sultry, and witty interpretation of a role so open to cliche. I was eavesdropping a bit in the theatre, and most people confirmed my belief that she's such a convincing and natural actress that it's hard to believe she's doing all that whilst singing with such technical security (and sometimes dancing as well!). The amount of comedy that she brought to the table, be it by teasing the officers or doing bizarre bugle impressions, gives the Carmen that we all know so well, a realistic and 3 dimensional edge. And who knew eating an orange could be so seductive? But what she really pulled off, was the element of spiritual freedom (with which she tempts José in the second act) as well as a perfect dose of nonchalance; she was like a sly cat playing with the poor little mice before eating them. This made the whole journey of the character, and her swapping from man to man, much more believable. This is just perfectly demonstrated after poor Don José pours his heart out to her, in a 'bravo!' worthy rendition of 'La fleur que tu m'avais jetée'. She keeps her facial expression the same throughout, only to blow away the dried leaves of the flower which José holds out to her. It got quite a laugh from the obviously sadistic opera fans.
Friday 15 January 2010
"Waterloo Sunset - Choral Collection"
Thursday 14 January 2010
"Che faro senza Euridice"
Wednesday 13 January 2010
"In questi estremi istanti"
Tuesday 12 January 2010
"Fra il padre"
Monday 11 January 2010
"Priveghiati si va rugati"
Sunday 10 January 2010
"Nel suo amore rianimata" and a bit of a rant...
Saturday 9 January 2010
"Ubi Caritas"
Friday 8 January 2010
"Cantique de Jean Racine"
Wednesday 6 January 2010
"Poèmes pour Mi"
I want to like this. I should like this. I'm not adverse to a bit of 20th century dissonance - I'd even go as far to say that I like it. I love French. The autobiographical love story is beautiful. I love Renée Fleming, whom I first heard singing these poems which for which Olivier Messian set his own text. So why aren't I moved by this celebration of the spirituality of love?
But maybe it does; it's certainly growing on me! Having listened to it non-stop for about an hour, I've realised that what I first thought was dissonance, has now sort of grown into a polymodality...it's not as chromatic based as I thought it was - it simply keeps on changing. This is quite clever really, because if you look closely at the text, it’s also focused around change; going from marriage preparation to a spiritual union.
For me, it's the text that makes this, with truly haunting words; Olivier was quite the poet! In this video clip, Renée Fleming describes the poetry with much more poise and grace than I could possibly attempt...
Despite my initial negativity, this poem cycle is far, far from a letdown - and I have a favourite poem :) "Printemps Enchaine". It just seems it's going to take a bit of work - and more than one listen - to hear this cycle's full beauty. I'd love to be able to sing this at some point - it seems like a piece you need to dive into and sing before you really get to know, and understand, exactly what it's saying.
Tomorrow: Fauré's "Cantique de Jean Racine"