Opera Chic

Tiny Dancer: Simon Russell Beale

"All I want is to be able to put down the unlikely words 'principal guest dancer at the Royal Opera House' on my CV. That's all I want."

-- Simon Russell Beale, probably the greatest actor in Britain.

Muti, Chicago, and Toscanini's Risotto

Guess who's coming to dinner:

"I am very tough with myself. I never like what I do. Wally Toscanini, the daughter of [Arturo] Toscanini, when I said to her I am never happy with what I do, she said to me, in La Scala, 'My father, when he was 80 years old, and he would still conduct "Traviata," every time after a performance, or after a concert or after a recording session, he went home' -- and when his wife, Carla, was still alive and she would be preparing the risotto -- 'he went through the score again after the performance -- at the age of 80! -- to see what went wrong and why it went wrong!'

On Sunday, Riccardo Muti will make his debut as CSO Music Director in a free concert at Millennium Park, Chicago -- it's Festa Muti!

Sunday Brunch with Daniel Okulitch: OC Name Checked in the L.A. Times

 

Daniel Okulitch (a.k.a. that really hawt naked dude from L.A. Opera's The Fly) who is one of the most buff bass baritones in the business (check out these photos from the Fort Worth Opera's Dead Man Walking) chatted with The Los Angeles Times about his upcoming Figaro in Le Nozze for the L.A. Opera. He'll be singing with Marlis Petersen as Susanna, Bo Skovhus as the Count, and Martina Serafin as the Countess under the baton of Plácidone Domingone.

OC was name checked today in The Los Angele's Time's Sunday Conversation, highlighting Okulitch's NYCO Don Giovanni from last year, a standout of GM George Steel's comeback season:

Operachic.com called you "a swaggering rock star" in "Don Giovanni" in New York. Do you think that opera singers have to bring the same kind of sexual bravado that rock musicians do to the stage to attract younger audiences?

I've seen various performances with the people touted as these sort of personas. It gets them in the door, but 20 rows back, no one can tell the difference. You really can't. What's interesting about that that if you tell someone you're going to see Erwin Schrott or Anna Netrebko and they're really hot and you tell them this enough times, even if they're sitting 50 rows back they're going to think, "Wow, I'm watching a really sexy, attractive person onstage." And their brain fills in what the eye is not catching. So it's a self-feeding loop; it's a snake eating its own tail. In the end, what's going to keep people coming back is if they have a satisfying dramatic musical experience.

Yeah, you'll definitely want to go ahead and read the rest of the interview. Trust. Okultich divulges the naughtiest (we hope?) item that he packs in his suitcase. Here's a hint: No time for love, Doctor Jones! We're hoping he packs a black fedora to complete the look!

Placidone's New Look For L.A. Opera's Il Postino

(Photo: epa & los angeles opera)

A new opera, a new look. It's been one year since we've seen the Spanish tenor without his sweet fluffy lamby beard. Above is the latest shot (with OC's mindreading, ESPN skillz) from the (previously postponed) upcoming Los Angeles Opera world premiere of Il Postino, a new Spanish language opera by composer/librettist Daniel Catán which was inspired by the 1994 Italian movie of the same name. Domingo stripped down (his beard) to sing the role of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. 

Snakes Musicians on a Plane!

The Amsterdam Sinfonietta, stuck on a KLM plane at the Shanghai airport waiting for take-off, gave a spontaneous Mozart concert. MULTI TASKING!

Rienzi's Totally Totalitarian For Deutsche Oper Berlin

(Above: Scene from Rienzi. Photo Bettina Stöß & Deutsche Oper Berlin) 

Deutsche Oper Berlin's January 2010 production of Wagner's Rienzi had the audiences in nightly rows (reportedly at the end of every major scene!) in a controversial, provocative production by German director Philipp Stölzl. The totalitarian dictator of 14th century Rome was synthesized into a generic version of historical bad guys Stalin, Mussolini, Hitler, and Ceausescu and given an updated 1930s Fascist swing. The production was chopped down to a condensed version of two hours, which was intense enough. It's early Wagner -- fun for the whole family -- and it's available on September 28.   

In this production, conductor Sebastian Lang Lessing directed Torsten Kerl's Rienzi, Camilla Nylund's Irene, and Kate Aldrich's pants'o'rrific Adriano over a backdrop of WWII propoganda staples. Photo gallery here.

Bloggers Vs. The Theaters

Opera house sends cease and desist e-mail to opera blogger; opera blogger takes it to the streets; opera house apologizes; group hug!

We’ve totally been there before (and we didn’t even get an apology out of it!)

Maestro Maazel's Remembrance on the Ninth Anniversary of 9/11

 

Tomorrow evening Lorin Maazel bears witness to the traumatic events of September 11, 2001 in a gala concert at Rome's Auditorium Parco della Musica. He'll be conducting a performance of the massive, achingly spiritual, gorgeously sustained Brahms' German Requiem with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana and the chorus of Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (and soloists soprano Jeanine De Bique and bariton Paul LaRosa). The concert can be heard live on Rai Radio 3 on September 11 at 8:30pm (Italian time). 

Glam Hollywood Style for an Opera Singer's Daughter

Why do we like Rebecca Hall so much? Aside from intelligently charting out her nascent acting career (she was Vicky in Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and had roles in Frost/Nixon and Dorian Gray), the English actress' mother is Maria Ewing, American soprano (at times mezzo) who made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1976 in Le Nozze and went on to have an international career. In the clip below, Ewing interprets the teen drama queen and takes it all off in the Dance of the Seven Veils in a production directed by first husband, Peter Hall. NSFW, obviously. Honey, what mommy was doing was art. 

Above, London-born actress Hall was on the red carpet during the Venice Film Festival's premiere of "The Town" in an emerald crepe de chine gown from French design house Vionnet's Spring 2011 collection. Rebecca shares "The Town" spotlight with co-stars Ben Affleck and Jon Hamm, Affleck's new Beantown cops and robbers thriller done in the whole charming Affleckian formula.

 

Eleonora Abbagnato Rocks Milano: Vogue Fashion's Night Out

It's Fashion's Night Out in Milan -- 570 stores burning the midnight oil in the worldwide shopping extravaganza (for a good cause: the environment). Among the many people involved in the effort here in Milan, Opéra Garnier prima ballerina Eleonora Abbagnato, being her usual cool self. After the jump, Opera Chic's candidate for next General Manager of la Scala, Roberto Cavalli (he brings the party!).

Photo-Friendly Bryn Terfel Represents Wales (AGAIN!)

(Terfel by Cambridge Jones) 

Ahhhh! Bass-baritone Welshman Bryn Terfel has been awesomely (and scarily) captured by photographer Cambridge Jones in a new photo exhibition of famous Welsh people including Anthony Hopkins, Michael Sheen, Rhys Ifans, and Shirley Bassey. Also included is Katy Jenkins (although we didn't find portraits of Charlotte Church or Catherine Zeta Jones)!   

The portraits of Jones' "Talking Pictures" comes to Lincoln Center Plaza's NYPL for the Performing Arts on Sept. 23, just in time for NYC's classical music season openings.

(Above: Jenkins by Cambridge Jones)

Purring in Mantova

It's cool and all that the live-action Rigoletto from Mantova brought us so many treats: Domingo as baritone (again) in another career milestone, the gorgeous Renaissance palazzi and fortresses of Mantova, and the lush, cinematic vision of a talented cast and crew. But for OC, it pales in comparison to a small item found in La Repubblica. During filming, the cast and crew of over 350 people warmed to a stray cat that was hanging out at the Rocca di Sparafucile. Ingratiating himself to the cast, they called him "Sparafucilino", elected him as mascot and called him a good luck charm. We only hope that one of those 350 gave little Sparafucilino a warm home full of tuna and catnip.

"We're All Fans of ENO"

Rupert Christiansen on English National Opera, and why it matters:

But the overall quality of performance must be the ultimate measure of success. The young music director, Edward Gardner, is a major asset, popular with the press and public, and both orchestra and chorus are in excellent nick. A welcome renewal of commitment to the nurturing of young British or British-trained singers has been made this season, with a decrease in the import of Americans. The casting in general looks strong.

(last year's OC interview with ENO MUsic Director Edward Gardner is here)

For Kaff: "A Voice is a Person"

Boris Terk, Kathleen Ferrier biographer, has a new book out about the great -- greatest, probably -- mezzo: "A Voice is a Person".

Dr.Terk just dropped by Olivier Bellamy's radio show, and coolness ensued.

Ozawa Back to the Podium

Reuters reports:

Japan's most famous orchestral conductor, Seiji Ozawa, returned briefly to the stage Sunday following a nine month battle with throat cancer. Ozawa arrived to open the Saito Kinen Festival in Matsumoto city, central Japan, to deafening applause, explaining that he was back as he took up the conductor's baton for Tchaikovsky's "Serenade for Strings" but with a bad back.

"Allow me to apologize to you today. I was taken care of by superb doctors so I can say I have graduated from being a cancer patient but there's one small snag -- my back, which had in the past given me trouble is bad again," Ozawa told concert-goers.

Honored to have you back, maestro.

Bohemian Like Banksy: "Exit Through The Gift Shop"

One day Opera Chic will finally see an opera house hire Banksy as production designer for the coolest Bohème ever. In the meantime, all we're left with is his forthcoming DVD, "Exit Through the Gift Shop".

La Valchiria: Milan's Francesca Schiavone, Opera Fan, in 2010 US Open Quarterfinals

She won Roland Garros against all odds, the first Italian woman ever to win a Grand Slam singles event.

She's just moved to the US Open quarterfinals, where she'll find Serena Venus Williams.

She's an opera fan.

“Music like tennis is an art,’’ Schiavone said, remembering the time years ago when she attended the opera at La Scala in her hometown, Milan, sneaking in because she had not enough money. “It was wonderful, but I forget the name of the opera.’’

Maybe it was “Die Walkure,’’ featuring Brunhilde, the warrior. I could see Schiavone in the role, swinging a racket instead of a sword. But she shouldn’t give up the lioness gig.

She's only 5ft 5½in, she's accustomed to be considered a long shot, a dark horse, but her t-Shirt says "Nothing is Impossible", and she's living proof that sometimes it is true.

Go Francesca go!

Voice Piece for Soprano and Wish Tree

Yoko Ono contributes to the evolving vernacular of contemporary American composition. Gawd Bless her soul, Yoko won't be on this fluffy green earth forever. One day, some lucky soprano will have to continue the legacy that Ono's mapped-out in her "Voice Piece for Soprano and Wish Tree".

Conclusion of Rigoletto a Mantova

«Rigoletto a Mantova» concluded late tonight after three separate installations had been shown, live, on Italian television. If you missed them, you can read OC's take on Part I here and Part II here.

 

Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro made us lust after the Renaissance settings of Mantova's landmarks, including insanely-cool Rocca di Sparafucile (above) that was the location for tonight's Part III. Much darker, duskier and foggier, Act III hinted at the opera's nightmarish, cruel underbelly. OC still loves the opera\cinema hybrid despite the fizzling chemistry and anti-climactic camera work from Marco Bellocchio -- we feel that he royally overstepped the final scene outside Rocca, robbing Placidone of an Emmy moment. And we didn't like the (fake) lightning that flashed in almost every scene, at times reducing the delicious scenery to a campy horror flick.  

Vittorio Grigolo as Duca di Mantova sweated his way through the first scene -- a gorgeous stone kitchen with a wooden floor, and a fire that had been kindled in the hearth that turned the normally powdered, collected Grigolo into a sweaty, steaming hot mess that we imagined manhandling his way across Mantova. Nino Surguladze as Maddalena was fierce, even her sweat-flecked bewbs were fabulous.  

We fell a bit out of love with Julia Novikova's Gilda She brought it in Act I, but each progressive act we found ourselves bored. When she was murdered (in a been-there-done-that strobe light effect of darkness battling light), we didn't feel any remorse -- and that made us feel dirty!     

Ruggero Raimondi reinforced again what we've said from the beginning: Sparafucile isn't a bit part. Raimondi brought dignity -- the Harry Dean Stanton of the opera world. Vocally he showed some strain by Part III, but he looked every part the murderer. A character straight out of a Robert Louis Stevenson book, he was absolutely mutinous.    

Tonight, the psychological depth from Placidone was tamed, even slightly tranquillized, although still dignified. He was an aloof Rigoletto. The shame, pathos, and madness had been ditched for a declawed reading. Sadly, Domingo in one of opera's biggest WTF moments didn't work for us. He was too introspective. But to be fair, Marco Bellocchio's camera work took a lot away from the final scene. Instead of shooting Domingo's face with his copious tears, he panned to Gilda instead, who wasn't very effective in portraying the slowly-dying daughter. For Domingo's finale, we would have liked more if he borrowed from Leo Nucci's ham-flavored Rigoletto. So Domingo -- for the original Se7en «What's in the box?» moment -- fizzled. Brad Pitt as Domingo (as Rigoletto) and Gilda as Gwyneth Paltrow's head in a box.  

We kept waiting for Mehta to go insane and unleash the surly hounds of Verdi from his podium in nearby Teatro Bibiena with Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale Rai, but it never happened. Maledizione. Still, for this unconventional Rigoletto, we briefly lived the dream. We transcended. And we can live with that.  

You Ain't Nothin' but a Hound Dog

Young Glenn Gould and friend (ph. Sony Music, via)

Scorrer Fa il Pianto sul Mio Cor: Placidone's Tears

Act II of Placido Domingo's "Rigoletto" from Mantua is just over, live on Italian TV -- Act III to follow tonight at 11:10PM, and there are a few more first impressions, before a full review to come tomorrow.

DP Vittorio Storaro -- the man who shot Last Tango in Paris, The Conformist, Apocalypse Now (now in a new edition), Reds, The Last Emperor among many others -- switched beautifully from the Caravaggio, oil-lamp palette from last night to a fantastic, multilayered use of natural day light coming from the large windows of the Palazzo.

Conductor Zubin Mehta speeded up the tempi a lot -- last night's tempi, as OC reported, were definitely dragging, probably due to technical issues -- the show goes live, the orchestra is elsewhere, the singers have to pick up cues from carefully placed small LCD screens showing them thje conductor. Act II had the benefit of speedier tempi, a very lively, elegant Verdi.

Vittorio Grigolo, looking hotter and hotter, dripped sexual tension and youthful vigor -- until Placidone showed up and gave a performance that, far from perfect vocally, especially in the "Vendetta, tremenda vendetta" where his lack of vocal weight was clear, is astonishing in its psychological depth.

As OC wrote last night, PD's Rigoletto is a court jester of intimate dignity, that carries the weight of his shame, of his sins -- a man on the brink of madness whose cruelty is played very close to his chest, a man who understands that it's the love for his daughter that keeps him human -- that keeps him sane.

Julia Novikova, who wasn't particularly strong in Act I (nerves? if that's the case, it's very human and understandable), grew a lot in Act II, vocally and especially dramatically.Even if Domingo had declared to the Italian press that Rigoletto moves him so much that he was afraid he'd cry during the performance, we did not expect that to actually happen. But fleetingly, in Marco Bellocchio's close up (more tomorrow in the full review about Bellocchio's many subtle, wildly intelligent touches) in the natural light and deep shadow of Storaro's genius -- Storaro's Rigoletto is a primal, merciless story of good vs evil, of light versus darkness -- "Ah! piangi, fanciulla, scorrer fa il pianto sul mio cor" was underscored by Domingo's tears. Staring in his daughter's eyes, Domingo's Rigoletto cries. Gilda, in her fear and sorrow, calls that "the voice of an angel", an angel to comfort her -- Domingo understood that it is indeed an angel speaking, not one with wings but one of the better angels of our nature. It's Rigoletto's humanity singing, the reason for Rigoletto's -- and Domingo's -- tears.

For all its vocal limitations (and thankfully this is a miked-up TV show, no necessity to project in an opera house), this is an extraordinary performance.

More tonight about Act III, and a full review tomorrow.

Placidone's Rigoletto in Mantua: First Impressions After Act I

 

Part I of «Rigoletto a Mantova», a hybrid of opera, cinema, and Giuseppe Verdi (and yeah, Placidone, Mantova, blah blah blah) just finished its RAI broadcast. It doesn't make any sense to write a critical review of a virtual opera as an real-life opera -- i.e., in proper opera house, singers on the stage without wires or mics, conductor + and orchestra in the pit. Instead we witnessed a live TV show where the singers were in an ancient Palazzo (Ducale), the conductor and orchestra were off elsewhere, there was mic'ing and cables, including the lighting, which goes against the grain of everything that we usually define as opera. And that's okay.

That said: After Act I (Act II and Act III will be broadcast, again live, tomorrow by RAI1 here), Opera Chic can share a few of her impressions. It's entirely unfair to judge the singers, obviously, and everybody was waiting for Placidone's big Rigoletto unveiling, so this needs to be addressed.

What really struck Opera Chic was the slow conducting (Zubin Mehta had to slow things down because it must have been a nightmare to keep things together under those conditions -- already at a slower-than-normal tempo-- a fast Rigoletto would probably fall apart anyway) and the way Mehta didn't really seem to be meshing with the singers. Again, the orchestra was somewhere else and everything had to be linked and patched together.

Placidone kept his vocal powder dry -- tenor-turned-baritone, whatever -- but really, in a stroke of genius, in this Act I -- we'll see tomorrow -- he managed to create a Rigoletto as profile in brinkmanship. Placidone's actually on the brink vocally, as Rigoletto? OK then -- so he realizes this. And turns Rigoletto on its head, making that a key of his interpretation of the character. Rigoletto as a man on the brink of madness and of cruelty. Rigoletto as a weak man playing his cards very close to the chest. But the key here is the shaky balance between weakness -- it's always the curse (never his fault) to the tragic end -- and the love for his daughter.

The voice? Most of the notes are there, the way they were in Boccanegra. Still, Opera Chic thinks he's more Don Giovanni than Simone. Or Rigoletto.

But it's such a treat to see the red carpet being rolled out for opera -- on prime time Italian State TV on a Saturday night with the Italian President as MC. It warms every opera lover's heart, regardless of the results -- and frankly, we can't wait for tomorrow's conclusion! 

If you missed the live blogging of Act I, scroll down past this post or just click here!

Liveblogging Placido Domingo's "Rigoletto"

8:31PM You know, that's why Opera Chic moved to Italy and is still here after all these years: the Italian President introduced to RAI's audience the live Rigoletto from Mantua, praising Verdi's genius. Imagine the same thing happening in the US.

8:36PM Grigolo! Questa o quella!

8:38PM Placidone in a funny red hat!!!

8:40PM The cinematography's really yellow, warm warm warm palette!

8:41PM Director Bellocchio loves his close ups.

8:45PM Palazzo Ducale is, simply, stunning.

8:46PM Sii maledetto! Ten minutes in and they're already sweating like crazy -- in close up!!!

8:50PM Maestro Storaro lit up that alley like a Caravaggio, he's the Michael Jordan of cinematography

8:51PM Raimondi is just class. No small parts, etc.

8:56PM Quel vecchio maledivami! Go Placidone, show then how it's done.

8:58PM Deh, non parlare al misero... Placidone's eyes welling up...Gilda lacks that sweetness. Storaro going for the realistic candle-lit effect, insanely warm colors. Plasma's loving the deep deep blacks

9:04PM Quanto affetto! Quali cure! Gilda's getting shrill...Not that seriously reviewing opera on TV, not broadcast from an actual opera house but from a building not designed for the performance, with the orchestra and conducto rmakes much sense anyway...

9:09PM Still trying to recover from the sight of Placidone in a funny jester hat thirty minutes ago... singing Rigoletto... really

9:15PM E' il sol dell'anima...That's one handsome, sweet puppy of a Duke... poor Gilda (and that courtyard is really, really cool)

9:17PM OMG the Kiss!

9:18PM Caro nome!!!!!

9:20PM Not the best Caro Nome ever

9:20PM Zubin you're losing her....

9:21PM Big big challenge to sing under this conditions, in a courtyard, no conductor, crazy miking, earbuds, wild marking, lights everywhere, ALL live on TV

9:24PM She0's walking inside... tracking shot...

9:25PM Da quel vecchio fui maledetto... in near darkness... Placidone loving that cloak

9:29PM Son bendato! Always scary, creepy. Bellocchio pulls back, fast. It's a good idea...

9:30PM La maledizione, aaaaaaaaaaand-- we fade to black.

More Photos from the Live Action Rigoletto in Mantova

(Above: Act II, Domingo in Mantova's Palazzo Ducale)

More photos from the live-from-Mantova Rigoletto (covered here, here, and here). 

^^^UPDATE^^^: you can watch it live, online via ZDF. 

 

(Above: Act II in Mantova's Palazzo Ducale)

 

(Above: Domingo as Rigoletto)

^^^Click for ten more!^^^

Domingo as Rigoletto, Raimondi as Sparafucile

First view of Domingo and Raimondi in tomorrow night's world premiere of Rigoletto in Mantova.