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Elegy (Featured Past Post #81)

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I had indigestion last night. I love Handel and I love LHH and Magadalena Kozena but listening to two cds of Handel arias back to back with these two wonderful ladies was, I think, a bit much. Maybe I should have split them up (like a couple of days apart?) or put something on between the cds, sort of washing the palate between tasting wine.

I once read all of Jane Austen's book, back to back, and when I was done they all blended together as one.

I think there's a moral in there somewhere. I just have to remember it.

I've done that with Dickens. After a while, you start using words in everyday speech like "niggardly" and "dastard" and people tend to mishear you.

I remember, after seeing a performance of Coronation of Poppea, it was really difficult to avoid speaking in semi-quavers.

From that Guardian link in ACD's post:

That would be Peter Sellars, a plausible mountebank who dressed Cherubino as an ice-hockey player and had him feigning copulation with a mattress during "Non so più".

Don't these guys ever think of what the poor singer is going through? Trying to sing a clean legato while spasmodically jerking your abdomen is not something of which Manuel Garcia would approve.

But 'tis a conundrum, eh. I rather like opera productions which have been filtered through a sensibility formed by all of the historical and cultural experience that has transpired since the opera was written. I think Wagner's universal themes particularly lend themselves well to this kind of social comment. And the theme of personal integrity, courage and the quest for freedom in Fidelio certainly resonates with 20th C history and its' images, as in the Canadian Opera Company production of last February. But the pendulum has certainly swung into the realms of excess. Nowadays, it seems like major opera companies have to prove their credibilty as art houses through productions that "challenge" - read "offend" - and that "outrageous" is all too often mistaken for "thought-provoking".

And yes, what does the neophyte operagoer make of productions that bear no resemblance to the libretto? (How the hell did Bieito insert mutilated nipples into Abduction and why doesn't someone get him a therapist?) But hopefully, this is a period, as I say, of excess fuelled by sensation and concomitant commercialism, and eventually, the best of the best will emerge. I'm sure that throughout history, there was a heap of dross, from which only the notables remained to be remembered by history. Probably Calixto Bieito et al are destined for oblivion, or perhaps merely an amusing footnote. But I'll bet that Wieland Wagner's name will be remembered, because his productions really were of quality.

I, listened to a wonderful opera on WETA, "Ercole amante" performed by the Muziektheater Amsterdam, and fell in love with it. It was written in 1662 by Francesco Cavalli and the music is beautiful. Since it was dedicated to the Sun King and his wife, Maria Theresa, there was a lot of "dance" music which I loved. It reminded me of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice.

The cast and chorus were outstanding. I was not familiar with the cast, which included Luca Pisaroni (Erocole); Veronica Cangemi (Iole); Anna Bonitatibus (Juno) and Jeremy Ovenden (Hyllus). Has anyone heard these singers before?

I went to amazon and the one cd of this opera is $250 with Felicity Palmer. I'm going to have to run around online to see if I can find a more affordable recording of this wonderful and lovely opera. Great Fourth with discovery of a new album.

Now to send my contribution in to WETA FM for their wonderful programing.

Lulusheen:
I just love your enthusiasm and the way you find all these obscure operas.
Maybe you could take the place of Tom D and do some posts on obscure operas. Eh?

I just love your enthusiasm and the way you find all these obscure operas.
Maybe you could take the place of Tom D and do some posts on obscure operas. Eh?

Mogs! I didn't know you were Canuck! How's it goin', eh?

brunnhilde wrote:

I just love your enthusiasm and the way you find all these obscure operas.
Maybe you could take the place of Tom D and do some posts on obscure operas. Eh?

Mogs! I didn't know you were Canuck! How's it goin', eh?

You've lost me, Brunnie.
Where and when did I indicate that I was a Canuck?
American born (borne) and bred (bread).

nyoka:

I was informed that Veronica Cangemi will be appearing at the WNO in Nozze next spring and I will just have to go see/hear her. I am going to get a ticket as soon as I can. I'm going to check if WETA has a taped rebroadcast online of this wonderful opera. Someone else heard it online (I think) from Amsterdam. Will have to check out that site.

nyoka:

Canadians use "eh" all the time. I have a Canadian cousin, named Sheila, who when she and her mother came to visit used it all the time that by the time they left I too was using that expression.

nyoka:

Here's a link to the story.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =104457455

lulu wrote:nyoka:

Here's a link to the story.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... =104457455

What a purr-fect opera -- so convoluted, just like a true opera should always be!
Thanks for posting it.

Mogs, lulu explained the reference to "eh", Canada's national oral punctuation. But your spelling gives you away as a Yank. My American mother has been living in Canada since the early fifties, and she still can't spell "Labour Day".

brunnie:

That's because "labour" is correctly spelled "labor." Who needs that extra u? Neighbor is long enough without adding another letter. Or favorite? Down with unnecessary "u's."

lulu: Mericns R vwl chllnged.

B 4 txt glish B came nrml u cld be fied by ur writins.

Only at La Scala

I came across this in the January 1, 1966 issue of Opera News:

"La Scala, Milan, erupted in demonstrations three times during Act I of the opening night La Forza del Destino, on December 7 [1965]. First, Baritone Piero Cappuccilli, who later claimed to be suffering from laryngitis, garnered boos for his inn-scene aria. This was followed by a barrage of leaflets from the upper regions, all aimed at Felice Riva, whose bankrupt cotton mill had reportedly left 7,000 workers in the lurch. Finally, those onstage countered with leaflets of their own, which they launched into the auditorium; these, according to the New York Times, protested against “the Mafia of opera houses.”

calvert wrote:Only at La Scala

I came across this in the January 1, 1966 issue of Opera News:

"La Scala, Milan, erupted in demonstrations three times during Act I of the opening night La Forza del Destino, on December 7 [1965]. First, Baritone Piero Cappuccilli, who later claimed to be suffering from laryngitis, garnered boos for his inn-scene aria. This was followed by a barrage of leaflets from the upper regions, all aimed at Felice Riva, whose bankrupt cotton mill had reportedly left 7,000 workers in the lurch. Finally, those onstage countered with leaflets of their own, which they launched into the auditorium; these, according to the New York Times, protested against “the Mafia of opera houses.”

Delightful!

I just opened up Magdalena Kozena's new Handel CD, and what a revelation! Loved every piece on it: she's full of dramatic flourishes and exaggerations without ever going over the top, that bring the music to life: this is not intellectualized Handel, by any means. Lively, spontaneous, and pinpoint accurate singing in runs and flourishes, she's got a glorious voice and knows exactly how to use it for maximum effect. IOW, I enjoyed this album tremendously.

I love the idea of the soloists and chorus on the stage throwing their own protest leaflets into the audience. Although I wonder: were they calling La Scala the "Mafia of opera houses," or was that a general protest against the network of opera houses in Italy, comparing it to a crime syndicate?

Of course, maybe throwing the leaflets from stage was part of the staging. Regietheater turning Forza into a vehicle for social protest.

So, were they singing while throwing the leaflets? Did they try to punctuate the drama by throwing the leaflets at strategic moments?

Talk about "papering the house"!

Perhaps Cappuccilli punctuated the downbeats in "Son Pereda, son ricco d'onore" by tossing handlfuls of leaflets into the audience. Maybe lousy singing isn't the only reason they booed him.

Come to think of it, La Scala has a very wide orchestra pit spanning the full width of the stage. Just how did someone on stage throw leaflets into the audience? Have you ever tried throwing loose papers any distance? Not so easy to do.