Opera Chic

Ioan Holender Nukes La Scala: Attacks "Envy" Of Scala GM Stephane Lissner "Who Cannot Read Music": We Have The Great Conductors And La Scala Doesn't. Vienna vs La Scala Kung Fu Fightin'

It's unusual to see such public vitriol at such high levels, even in the famously snarky world of opera.

A few days ago Scala GM Stéphane Lissner had snarked, in the press, Vienna and Munich, "where they don't rehearse as much and this has recently been the cause of substandard shows", in Italian "spettacoli di basso livello", literally translated as "low-level shows".  "A Vienna ho visto un Don Giovanni di assoluta routine. Per il signor Holender non è mai troppo tardi per imparare", Lissner told Italian paper La Stampa: "In Vienna I saw a substandard Don Giovanni. For Mr. Holender is never too late to learn".

Yesterday Ioan Holender, Vienna's Staatsoper director has shot back with surprising vitriol, as reported in today's papers.

"This (attack) is unprecedented between opera houses: it is very embarrassing to engage in a dispute with someone who cannot read music but I understand Lissner needs to distract the Italian press from what is happening -- or better yet, not happening -- at la Scala".

"To cancel a new production (ed: the Andrea Chenier Opera Chic wrote extensively about) because the director and almost all of the cast have vanished is quite unusual and unbelievable for a opera house. With such attacks against my work Lissner disqualified himself, since he knows that I have been leading for 16 years the glorious Vienna opera with more than 60 operas in repertoire and more than 300 shows every season. Monsieur Lissner's envy is understandable when one sees that these days on the Vienna podium we have Christian Thielemann, Seji Ozawa, Riccardo Muti and Zubin Mehta, who are among the world's greatest conductors. They are not at la Scala where, unfortunately, there is only Lissner: this is sad".

If we were Brits, we'd totally say: Blimey Guv'nor!

Because You'll Never Get Sick of Anna @ The 2008 Opernball

 

(click me click me yeah, everyone is waiting.)

Although we've already covered it extensively (here, too), we came across another video from the 2008 Vienna Opernball that we rilly rilly wanted to share. The raisin? A clip of José Carreras singing at the ball (unfortunately under some vary v a r y bad lighting), and then dancing a lovely waltz with Anna Netrebko in the Emperor's box.

Direct linking of the media is basically impossible, but you can try your luck here. If that didn't work, start here, and look for the video link called, "Video: Walzer und Fußball beim Wiener Opernball" in the middle of the page. Below are some screen shots for souvenirs, and OC included an idiot's guide to finding the easter egg below.

 

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Sox Populi @ Vienna Staatsoper: The Era Of The Too-Short Grey Socks Is Finally Ovah

In the historic picture above, Ioan Holender (left) and his designated successor Dominique Meyer organize an impromptu fashion show on the stairs of the glorious Vienna State Opera.

Even if the Staatsoper, like a certain Milanese institution, is at the present time long on chaos -- and on below-par performances -- but often short on present-day awesomeness, the victory of the black knee-hi sox over the terrible calzini corti is something to be cherished.

It's a good start.

(The prohibition of short-sleeved shirts -- with tie! -- is also another painful but necessary step that just had to be taken).

Salzburg Redux

Exploring an off-season Salzburg turned-up a few destinations worthy of sharing with all of Opera Chic's music<3'ing readers. Stumbling upon CD store, musikhaus katholnigg, on Sigmund-Haffner-Gasse 16 (pictured above), gave the impression of who exactly holds popularity with the Salzburg crowd.

Browsing the stacks revealed a giant selection of Magdalena Kožená, Ceci Bartoli, Thomas Hampson, Natalie Dessay, Bryn Terfel, and Rolando Villazón. However, golden-boy Juan Diego Flórez held just one single CD spot, and Fleming just had two. However, they did have a few copies of the NTA Hampson & Ramey CD, so this store frikkin rules.

 

Autographed, signed 8x10s of famous singers and conductors flank the walls (image above), from Leontyne Price to Nicolai Ghiaurov to Mirella Freni to James Levine.

Now here are a few other images from the weekend in Salzburg.

^^^^^ (above) Oh hay there: Herbert von Karajan Platz, Salzburg.

^^^^(above) Mozart Platz, Salzburg.

^^^^^(above) Gigant0r Muti poster at the Großes Festspielhaus for his May Salzburger Pfingstfestspiele performance.

^^^^(above) Mozart Geburtshaus, Getreidegaße 9, Salzburg. teh bebbah mozart!

The Staatsoper's Manon is Netreb-tastic (Alagna who??)

Reports are trickling-in from tonight's la prima of the Netrebko/Alagna Massenet's Manon at the Vienna Staatsoper, and luckily Alagna kept a few mozartkugeln in his pockets, thus avoiding teh vap0rs.

In one article titled, "Netrebko rules in Massenet opera 'Manon'", a gushing review of Netrebko sidelines Alagna's performance:

"This time, that man was not Rolando Villazon but tenor Roberto Alagna as Des Grieux, her lover. But if Netrebko was missing her almost perennial partner, she didn't show it."

"She and Alagna were an example in animal magnetism, whether cuddling in bed in their simple Paris walk-up, clutching in church in the scene where she reclaims him from his life as a priest, or engaging in a final embrace as the stage turns dark, and the curtain prepares to fall."

"Alagna, too, delivered a bracing vocal and stage performance, as did the other principals, helping to lift what is sometimes considered a relatively lightweight opera into the realm of serious enjoyment."

Oooooohh! Y'all know Alagna is *soooo* hatin' on her right about now..."b!@ch stole my thunder!"

W.A. Mozart -- The Vienna Stalker

(Don't be fooled by his take-me-home-to-meet-your-parents smile. He's a playa!)

From Heldenplatz to the Hofburg Neue Burg to the Burggarten to Stephansplatz to Kartnerstrasse, they plague and stalk tourists as high potential cash-cows. They are the dreaded Vienna Mozart-men. Like how dogs and bees smell fear, the Vienna Mozart-men can sniff-out tourists from a mere trace of sweat alone.

I don't know how they do it -- these magic Mozart-men -- judging your tourist status from a subtle turn of the cuff, or a minimal sweep of hairstyle, or the make of a shoe. But they know instantly that you just tumbled from your high-thread-count Hotel Sacher piume comforter, and they race after you spewing more languages then you ever knew existed. If captured, their goal is to convince you into buying tickets for the Wiener Staatsoper, or any other secondary venue event for your visit. I usually beat them over the head with a rolled-up copy of my Kleine Zeitung.

For the WIENER MOZARTJAHR 2006, which marked the 250th anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's birth, twenty-eight well-known filmmakers living and working in Austria (entire list here and here) were commissioned to create one-minute films on the subject of Mozart. The output was diverse, and Opera Chic caught one of these "Mozart Minutes" during a screening of the documentary "Shadowing the Third Man" at the Burg Kino cinema on Opernring.

However, to my horror, just when I thought I had escaped those crafty Mozart-men stalkers in the safe darkness of the theater, there they were! Looming on the screen as part as one of those pre-feature commercial segments!1!!!!!11!!! omg!

The "Mozart Minute" playing on screen featured a mélange of nine of those ubiquitous Mozart-men relaying their names (Limani Mozart, Amari Mozart, Jordansky Mozart, Alin Mozart, etc.). Titled lol "Die Mozarts" lol ("The Mozarts"), the one-minute segment was created by "Deutsch.Schimek", which is a combination name of both Vienna-born, 60-something filmmakers Gustav Deutsch and collaborator Hanna Schimek. From the website comes the description of those crafty Mozart-men:

"Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - the advertising icon for the country of Austria - is brought to life in Vienna’s urban space every day by a multiethnic group of actors. Sellers of concert tickets in historic costumes and wigs stand around St. Stephan’s Square, at the State Opera House, at the Mozart monument, in front of the Burgtheater, trying to convince passing tourists to buy one."

Opera Chic was there for her readers (even before she had any)! On-the-fly, I captured the segment, and uploaded it to YouTube. Enjoy!

Alagna + Netrebko + Massenet's Manon = Let's Hope They Don't Boo Him

Clock's ticking for "clockwork tenor" Roberto Alagna: on Saturday night he's supposed to be on stage at the Vienna Staatsoper, for the Manon prima with Paris Hilton sidekick Anna Netrebko.

Slide show is here.