(Photo credit: Mary Altaffer)
The Metropolitan Opera kills us softly with the news that tonight's La Fille du Régiment leads, Diana Damrau (sweetie down there) and Juan Diego Flórez (hottie up there), have pulled out of the production due to sickness.
Filling in are Lawrence "JDF" Brownlee and Leah Partridge.
(Photo credit: Mary Altaffer)
(above: impromptu promo space outside of the Metropolitan Opera for La Fille du Régiment.)
We were privy to ours in Milan one year & two months ago, Vienna had theirs one year ago, and now it's New York's chance to hear the applause-inducing man-chine that is Juan Diego Flórez perform his vocal-chord-defying bravado by encoring, "Ah! mes amis, quel jour de fête!" (o hai utubes has the clip from the same production) with the "Pour mon âme" cabaletta. For this Donizetti La Fille du Régiment, Flórez belted eighteen high C’s in the span of mere minutes, and effortlessly attacked, strong-armed, devoured and digested those pesky notes.
Flórez. The man should change his name to singular form like Madonna or Elvis, Beyonce or Liberace. He's the perennial favorite, the undefeated champion of high C's. o lawdy i'm still shaking like a leaf. ok, playin. When he encored "Ah! mes amis" at the end of Act I, OC was all like 'o hai this again?' I mean, it's like kinda how Milan is at any given time 6-hours ahead of NYC, so I guess all those extra hours added up, and you NYers got your high C "Pour mon âme" encore in some weird time warp fourteen months later. :-P~~
For the Metropolitan Opera encore, Flórez hit his high C’s effortlessly and confidently, without breaking a sweat, much less staccato from the dress rehearsal, but with a definitive crystalline punch. It was delivered with a lovely bel canto that warmed and froze the clearly smitten Metropolitan audience simultaneously. After three minutes of applause he stood perfectly still with a bowed head, breaking only once to acknowledge the audience. After his amazing encore, the packed house gave him a standing ovation.
The other Flórez crowd-pleaser was his Act II, “Pour me rapprocher de Marie,” an extraordinarily paced aria that he sung sumptuously, with perfect pitch and a delicate, mature understanding, which provided a lovely contrast from his more aggressive and high-energy "Ah! mes amis". Another Flórez accomplishment of the night is his apparent weight gain, which must account for a delicious wedding cake. He looks amazing, a far cry from a sickly, gaunt, thin tenor we flinched at when we saw just three months ago at la Scala in recital.
Onto the performance: fo’reals, if u want a perfect synopsis of the operatic arc, go here to OC’s La Fille dress rehearsal review from Friday, April 18, 2008.
Not terribly much had changed with the staging, although obvs, cast & crew gave like 125.9%. N e wais...Marco, marco, Marco: tonight's conducting by Maestro Armiliato, an unsung conductor with a passion for strong, driven performances and famous among orchestras for his memory (glancing @ scores is 4 lam3rZ) was elegant, once again...animated, sprite, infectiously joyful, but a few instances were just too muscled and large for la Dessay and the ensemble.
OC noticed that some of the visual gags had been completely cut from Laurent Pelly’s direction, and the comic relief had been overall toned down. This fared well for everyone, audience included, as when the giggling got out of hand, harsh shushing erupted from quite a few patrons. Tiny things were cut, which nevertheless went a long way to create a more seamless drama -- as opposed to the dress rehearsal with the constant vie @ visual gags that gave a disjointed, unhinged, and irritated feel to many of the dramatic moments.
The chorus still needs to spend some extra time doing crunches or drills or whatever will not make them almost drop the entire "Allons, plus d'alarmes!" on the stage floor, a moment at the beginning of Act I when OC truly thought that things were going to quickly fall apart, messy, slimy pits all over the floor. Harrowing.
What killed was the not so analogous props during Act I. Here we have Marie doing her awesomely choreographed ironing routine, "Au bruit de la guerre", and in the background are all the laundry washing tools from WWI…like the wooden slat washboard and big iron tubs...yet la Dessay is hemming away at the ironing board with a white plastic iron, something you'd pick up at Sears. It was lost on me. Is it a statement on feminism? Cuz I ain't no Gloria Steinem.
Although on paper & paychex it was JDF's night, the evening belonged to la Dessay. Flawless dialogue crackled through Act I, along with a gorgeous coloratura that she controlled even as she was carried offstage horizontally or flopped over piles of laundry. She is one of the most musically spirited singers on stage, with excellent control, flawless diction, and face it...she's just frikking kewl. She slays you with a huge voice that betrays her lithe body, unleashed at the most unexpected moments, peeling and flaying the gold leaf off the highest rows in the Family Circle. (While we're at it: Gelb, my man, during your reign, plz rename "Family Circle" to something a little edgier. I mean, what the hell? Family Circus, my Disney a$$. Rename it after one of Dante's Circles of Hell. Anything. Something.)
Dessay gorgeously belted her tireless voice throughout the gigantic armory that they call The Metropolitan Opera house, a feat which is quite a challenge stacked against the smaller, more intimate opera houses in Europe. "Chacum le sait, chacun le dit" started with confident, secure top notes, and ended without straining, filled to the end with gorgeous coloratura, soaring and rich, all the while Dessay acted-off her felty 21st Regiment pants.
Act II's "C'en est donc fait" received one of the highest regards of the evening from the audience, who threw down a chilling tsunami of brava at la Dessay. She was inundated with so much applause, that she sprung forth from the 21st Regiment, motioned for the audience to stop the applause with a decisive cut of her arms, and then leapt back comically and egregiously to her blocked-out position.
This performance, the Marquise of Berkenfield and the Duchess of Krakenthorp had toned-down the interjections of Americanisms, and Krakenthorp seemed a bit detached, less fierce, but both characters still brought the el oh els.
During curtain call, Dessay came out holding Maestro Armiliato's baton, brandishing it at the audience as she took her bows. Between acts, there were too many B-C-D celebrity sightings to relay, but before the opera began, Florez's new father-in-law was front & center on the grand staircase with a posse of fellow blonds, La Trappa looked vary dazzling in Swarovski, and many of the famous faces from the Honorary Committee were in attendance glaming-up the place (check out the names below, click 4 bigger). It was a rilly rilly random mix...Gossip Girl Leighton Meester? hellys naw. Rufus...again with his mother? Yawnz0r. Naomi Campbell in a black jacket and black pants; Stefano Pilati in a weird sparkly YSL cardigan and bedroom slippers; Chuck Close; Olatz Schanbel, designer of US$ 400 plush bathrobes and nice pj's, always a woman of breathtaking beauty, living evidence of her big fat hairy genius of a pajama-wearing husband's impeccable taste, in stunning red; Emmy Rossum in sky-high heels and a sweet black puffy dress; and UFO-like sightings of Anna Wintour, but OC didn't spy her; Susan Graham munching at the first intermission; & most disheartening of the night? JDF colleague Ramón Vargas booking out of the front doors 15 minutes before show time and rushing-off into the approaching dusk. We <3 u Vargas…stay 4 teh show!
We at Team OC are happy that New York City can finally bask in the glow of that same magic we had @ la Scala 14 months ago, when Juan Diego Flórez encored "Ah! mes amis, quel jour de fête!" We're like the first ones who could sit through Flórez singing a triple-header of Wagner's Ring Cycle without any intermissions, but to be quite honest, tonight's encore felt like sloppy seconds.
(above: Gossip Girl Leighton Meester @ the MET for la Fille)
(above: Rufus Wainwright @ the MET for La Fille with his mam)
(Stefano Pilati and La Naomi)
(La Editrix)
Olé for Olatz!
(above: Flórez as Tonio, Dessay as Marie, Felicity Palmer as the Marquise of Berkenfield, and Marian Seldes as the Duchess of Krakenthorp)
Opera Chic has been talking about it since February 2007, the London critics went insane over it last winter, and over a year later, Natalie Dessay & Juan Diego Flórez in the Laurent Pelly production of Donizetti’s La Fille du Regiment, are poised to take over New York City.
OC wasn’t completely left out of the recent La Fille Fever, however, as she was in Milan in January 2007 for Scala’s highly anticipated, historic La Fille, when Juan Diego Flórez broke the long-standing ban against encores, and belted a second round of “Ah! mes amis” to the delight of the bad-boy loving opera world.
Missing from that Scala performance was Natalie Dessay, who, as we reported here, canceled her appearance as lead Marie (rumor had it, purportedly hating as much as we did the garish, dated, and frankly boring Zeffirelli production that Scala fished from storage). Instead we had a sufficient Désirée Rancatore singing the lead as Marie, who unfortunately now pales in comparison to her colleague Dessay after witnessing yesterday’s treat. Not that she wasn't any good...but gott dayyum!
To begin the open dress rehearsal (THANK U MET MANAGEMENT & the NY State Council on the Arts!) Gelb stepped out on the stage and made a few announcements, and the curtain lifted. The overture played while a flat projection took form on stage, showing gray, stacked slabs of concrete with "1840" and "La Fille du Régiment" etched across, homage to the premiere performance at Paris's Opéra-Comique that same year.
(above: costumes on display, taken straight from the Laurent Pelly production of La Fille @ the MET.)
Listen up now and enjoy Marco Armiliato's elegant, controlled color of great understanding and tireless energy -- as the opening piece becomes one of the rare moments during the next couple of hours when the audience doesn't chuckle and guffaw unrestrained at Laurent Pelly's comedic direction or Agathe Mélinand's libretto rewrites (for OC an unfortunate mar of the entire production that decimated Donizetti's lively yet stylish score, the rare moments of subtlety inaudible over the over-achieving audience). Comedic, yes, this production brings the lawls. But the drama comes through too far & few in between, and when it did, it felt disjointed to the prior riots. To counteract the buffoonery of the direction, Maestro Armiliato carefully balanced Donizetti's composition, which was sadly lost in the unvarying hee-hawing of the audience.
Act I's curtain lifted to the Austrian Alps, and the MET chorus was dressed in local villager garb, swarming over their belongings that looked like something out of Fiddler on The Roof, straight from the Broadway stage. The chorus huddled over makeshift
armoires and wardrobes. The chorus performed their first piece, inspired by something from the opening scene of a Mel Brooks’ Broadway ruse, replete with a can-can-style romp. The chorus needs to seriously firm it up, and it seemed the women’s chorus in particular couldn't handle doing two things at once: singing and dancing. Discordant & reedy.
Finally the peasants' carts roll away to reveal Act I's scenery: three large maps folded and re-molded to create life-sized mountains and mounds as the troops of the 21st regiment campgrounds, sleeping cots sprinkled through the folds. Set designer Chantal Thomas said during the Q&A that the scale of such common things to create landscapes was to create discordance between predictable human scales. More curious, Chantal continued that it also helped make the 21st Regiment seem like toy soldiers on a battlefield. Very sweet, as indeed the regiment takes on a dioramic toy solider feel.
La Fille is supposed to take place in the early 1800s, during the Napoleonic Wars, but Pelly's is updated to occur during WWI. Because of this, lots of rewrites in the libretto glibly pepper the dialogue, aiming to refresh and satirize the old version, but more on that later.
The heroine of the opera, Natalie Dessay entered holding white laundry in her arms; a white wife beater tucked into the washed, seal blue felty uniform pants of the 21st regiment, a wig showing a shock of orange hair and a small braid in the back. Elastic suspenders were a nice touch, which she snapped against her (non existent) bewbs during one of her early tantrums.
(above: costumes for the 21st Regiment for the Laurent Pelly production of La Fille @ the MET)
Dessay is a good sport for wearing something so insanely unflattering and icky, both color and cut. But she is Marie, the embodiment of the tough & fast-talking (but sensitive & tender) tomboy. Although insanely petite and slender, her lithe dancers’ body is magnetic, and it's impossible to track anyone else when she's on. Her first vocal feat -- in tandem with on stage-daddy, an endearing Sergeant Sulpice sung by bass Alessandro Corbelli -- "Et comme un soldat j'ai du coeur!", slowly built to a memorable duet, where moments of comic relief were indeed apropos to the libretto, as in one instance, she recalled when he took her riding as a little girl, and then proceeded to mount him as if he were a horse, riding on his back and spouting her lines.
Fast forward to Juan Diego Flórez's entrance, in clean, adorable, traditional Tyrolean lederhosen...a white blouse, a full flap, shorts, and oatmeal wool knee socks with boots. Sexay. A new OC fetish? Or is it Tyrolean chic?
Fomr the first time Flórez and Dessay were together on stage, they fit against each other perfectly. Both petite and buoyant, their bodies echoed and folded on stage as comfortably as twins, although they simultaneously managed to spark that necessary chemistry as young, excitable lovers.
Dessay was sublime. She truly gave everything she had in creating Marie, a role she clearly enjoys. The energy is unable to be contained, and she twirled around the stage like a hyperactive kid. The role fits her like a glove, and once you see her as Marie, you can't imagine anyone ever coming close, and the recyclable Maries that we've seen on stage before are simply underwhelming. She had moments of brilliant, spoken-word vignettes, perfectly regressing into the saturnine mind of a reeling teen between the turmoil of love and adolescence. One of her memorable bits of comedy occurred as she read the letter outing her legacy before Suplice and the Marquise of Berkenfield, doing so in a choppy flow of latent illiteracy for what seemed ten minutes.
Flórez’s “Ah! mes amis” had a less-than-stellar male chorus struggling to keep sync with Armiliato's sprite, but not-too-quick tempo. It was far from perfect, but it simply made Flórez shine all the more. He proceeded to push his notes out more staccato than I've ever heard, but still in perfect form.
Marie’s tragic “Il faut partir, adieu!” is not a moment of omg lol, but as Dessay came out hauling a wash line of the 21st Regiment's long johns to begin her aria, the audience was hysterical, only to be deafened in silence 10 seconds later when they realized it wasn't a work of comedic relief. For this OC was not so fond of such egregious ploys at rewrites and slapstick direction…as the audience began to single out the smallest idiosyncrasy as a bid for comedy.
(above: costume sketches from the Laurent Pelly La Fille @ the MET)
It was during Act II's opening scene (where the castle has been represented as a skewed drawing room with picture frames instead of walls), with such a delicate and elegant touch by Maestro Armiliato that the comedic action on stage was just oblivious to Donizetti's score (as well as later on when the wedding guests arrive, stooped over in old age and tottering around on stage, the audience was laughing so loud that the graceful undertones of the strings could not be heard at all). As four maids dusted the Berkenfield castle, it seemed to bring on paroxysms that lasted like 5 minutes.
It was also during Act II that the rewrites from the Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-Francois-Alfred Bayard libretto went into overdrive. The Duchess of Krakenthorp (played by an excellent Marian Seldes, replacing an ill Zoe Caldwell for the entire run, who we don’t mind as a Tony-Award winning Broadway actress who made her stage debut in 1947) made comments about arriving to the palace from her Bentley, with another comment thrown around from the Marquise about someone being on the bobsled team. Don't ask.
Loads of English language dialogue is thrown in from the Duchess of Krakenthorp (and the Marquise of Berkenfield, too), who plowed ahead bullying everyone with American idioms and phrases like, "whatever, whatever". There were also rewrites that weren't necessarily from Donizetti's time, such as an order for the wedding party, to "not be stingy with the verve clicquot." ho hum. Another instance? In Act I, after Tonio utters, "Je t'aime, Marie," their subsequent duet literally interjects their love feeling like, "électrochoc". One of the punchier aberrations of the dialogue (tho' an addition in French) is when Marie screams to the audience that she is a free woman, ending the statement with a triumphant, "merde".
“C'en est donc fait” was lovely from Marie, but the orchestra still had a few obvious rusty spots to be worked on. The climax of Act II, when the 21st Regiment came rushing in to reunite with their beloved Marie is loads of fun, via a makeshift, miniaturized army tank ferrying the way loaded with too many soldiers like a circus clown car.
“Tous les trois réunis” was adorable, with lightning-fast head turns from Dessay to echo the opening measures that had the audience reeling. The closing finale ended with an etching of a rooster suspended from the ceiling, who crowed a triumphant call at the closing strains of the opera.
The upcoming performance on April 26, 2008 from The Metropolitan Opera House will be transmitted live in high definition to movie theaters for those of you who didn’t spring to pluck-up tickets back in January (when they were almost already sold-out), most likey from the two identical cameras on dollies that swing obnoxiously from the first two opposing parterre boxes. O hai btw, practically this whole production is on youtube, as it was broadcast live from Austria's ORF.
During the Q&A after the performance, Marco Armiliato was delayed, as the starchy tuxedo was just too much for him to bear any longer, and reappeared wearing a red cotton polo shirt, black blazer, and jeans, in great spirits, complimenting cast and crew alike.
(above: Maestro Marco Armiliato, bro of Fabio, and Alessandro Corbelli as Sulpice during the Q&A for the MET's Laurent Pelly la Fille)
Newlywed La Julia Trappe was in the audience waiting for her new husband, wearing the spoils of the recent wedding gifts from head to toe, cashing in on the lovely exchange rate for Euro card holders…Extensions added to her newly-platinum locks (which she wore in a ponytail), a cream-colored blazer and bright, um, slacks...sporting a new Gucci (we're pretty sure) bag from the Spring line and silk scarf.
Flórez, when questioned, said that this cast was the original, and the best he’s worked with. The same from London, rehearsals in NYC were much easier this time. Dessay spoke about her energy and physical prowess on stage, saying that her voice was gone by the end of the dress rehearsal (we noticed, but hey, it's the dress rehearsal). And Marian Seldes as the Duchess of Krakenthorp said that it was her opera stage debut.
We rushed out into the gorgeous Spring weather after the show, confident that this one will again, conquer its critics and adhere itself as one of the resonant, iconic Filles of the new generation. OC will be there for la prima on Monday night, ready to report any revisions or if the drama llama rears its ugly head!
Last night, our Juan Diego Florez delighted Vienna audiences with his high-C mad skillz in La Fille du Regiment; & he denied those pesky Viennese an encore (because he ONLY loves US, HE REALLY LOVES us!!!111 in Milan and does not love you).
Also, the genius of la signora Montserrat Caballé reappeared on stage for a rare, fantastic cameo, even tastier than a Sachertorte: she played the Duchess of Krakenthorp, simply honoring the audience with her legendary presence.
Juan Diego's highCtastic skillz will be on display next April at the Met. Let's see if he loves you more than he loves us.
Oh, and the Met goes to China (after The Last Emperor, Opera Chic can only say zzzzzzzzzz)
A kind reader alerts us that Opera Chic's little liveblog BlackBerry post, last Tuesday night during intermission at La Fille du Regiment, has been given a nice shoutout (without link, tho) from our friends @ the CBC (which is kinda like the BBC, only with funnier accents)!
Here we go:
One opera fan even blogged the event during intermission.
"OMG HE DID IT!" a young U.S. woman living in Milan posted on her opera chic blog Tuesday night.
"WE ALL CHEERD [sic] WILD FOR 5+ MINS & HE GAVE US AN ENCORE!"
Eh?
Here they come, as they always do whenever they smell somebody else's success: the Krankypants who didn't really appreciate Juan Diego Florez's breach of Scala tradition, his Fille du Regiment solo encore that broke a 74-year-long tradition.
In today's (conservative, Silvio Berlusconi-controlled) Il Giornale, a snark snark snarky review of la Scala's show. Here we go, and we quote:
First the bad news or the good? Let's get it over with the bad news first. La Scala did commemorate her great Toscanini without an exhibit, or a reasoned book (ED: yeah, they only had an extraordinary Daniel Barenboim Beethoven in memoriam concert attended even by the President of the Republic!!!wtf???), and the other night they spat in Toscanini's eye by allowing a tenor to deliver an encore after the most circus-like aria of the entire opera.
It was Donizetti's Fille du Regiment, with a bittersweet operetta taste, and the tenor was Juan Diego Florez, a prodigy of elegance and technique, a computer-like applause machine. The piece contains nine high Cs in the sequence, and even in light voices such as Florez's that is a lot of work. That is all. La Scala distinguished herself even in the cult of the composer's art opposed to the singers' old vanity. Toscanini had forbidden encores just for this reason. In recent years only Gavazzeni (with the chorus of I Lombardi) and Muti (Va' Pensiero) had broken that tradition, and these were two choral pieces cosely associated with our tradition. This, instead, was vocal athleticism. Regression, regression.
The good news. The old, loveliest staging with scens and costumes by Zeffirelli that combines the antique earnest drawings by Epinal with the daring color feast is still appreciated.
Is this enough? Not really. The superlame, 1959 cartoonish staging (in yesterday's Corriere della Sera's immortal words, "Today, it looks like a parody of the traditional stagings: and in this sense, it is paradoxically modern"), the one that convinced Natalie Dessay -- as reported in the usual breaking-news fashion by Opera Chic more than 2 months ago -- to ditch her engagement here was very, VERY much appreciated by Il Giornale:
An Opera Chic piece of advice to the haterz out there: Stop chugging that Haterade jug! Dontcha be hatin' on our Giovan Diego!
"Flórez-style is immensely strong, and immune to nearly any weapon. When it is properly used, it is almost invincible."*
*Enter the Wu-Tang/36 Chambers: "Da Mystery of Chessboxin".
Decked-out in a Pringle black cashmere dress (with a silk frill top and severely pleated skirt), I threw one of my Burberry trenches over, and made my triumphant return to La Scala. Without a scarf (in Milan = scandalous), I skipped down to the theater in black stockings from Kristina T and Boule de neige black pumps; Like a sweaty blind-date, Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment at Teatro alla Scala was waiting. But to disclose before I begin: Opera Chic was seated in a *very* conspicuous, open area, which made it a ginormous challenge to capture media for her lovely readers. But like a t-shirt ninja, I dug-in and infiltrated…because I ♥ you guys!
Soprano Désirée Rancatore was vocally stunning, and sang deftly. She played Marie's surly defiance well with her brash mannerisms and equally piquant voice. Dressed in garish costumes throughout the performance, she somehow was able to wield her petit frame proficiently. She however did flub at least three recitatives during Act I, omitting a few words, which were accompanied by a few titters from the audience. With her overall heaviness, she succeeded in making Flórez appear to float at least a few inches above the stage. I freely admit that if Natalie Dessay had not cancelled her commitment for Marie in December 2006, this performance really would have been something quite spectacular. Dessay's graceful, ballerina idiosyncrasies simply would have been better suited against lighter-than-air Flórez.
Onto Juan Diego Flórez: his Tonio was superbly placed, but then again, I've never been disappointed. Since my days at the MET witnessing the lamby-throated tenor in a bevy of performances, he continues to charm the audience with his charismatic smile and graceful elegance. He flitted around the stage during Act I in a red vest, green knickers, and white tights. And his hair is a bit bigger than his L'italiana in Algeri days at the NYC MET.
About that bis: The applause after A mes amis was about four or five minutes, with Flórez bowing deeply and solemnly the entire time. It was Le Caporal et Choeur who began the foot-stomping on stage (the traditional call for bis), which never really spread to the audience lol. But we all knew what was inevitable, and cheered regardless the perfection of this stellar tenore di grazia. Flórez was, after all, quite deserving of the endless cheers. Bis! Bravo! Viva il Flórez! Yves Abel picked-up the orchestra, and the tenor took A mes amis from an abbreviated point. He effortlessly nailed the 9+9 high Cs, leaving the audience breathless. His slang is mad dangerous…more deadly than the stroke of an axe, choppin’ through ya back *swish*…givin’ bystanders heart-attacks. (Wu-tang represent).
Opera Chic is thrilled to be part of this operatic history that was captured last night, but can't really quantify my sentiments...because we are talking about JDF here, and the half-lamb/half-prince can do no wrong in my eyes. If it was another tenor who called for the bis, I probably would have regarded it as a tacky, desperate attempt at show-boating. I can definitely see how Toscanini banned the aria bis, and branded it as a clumsy interruption of the artistic adhesion of an opera. But Flórez could make drying paint appealing. He could have wheeled-out his accountant and sorted through his taxes right there on stage, and I would be rapt with attention.
Anyway, the rest of the cast was lovely: Francesca Franci's La Marquise de Berkenfield was strong, entrancing, and entertaining. Anna Proclemer's La Duchesse de Crakentorp was almost mythical. Alessandro Corbelli's Sulpice was lovely, and great fun with his “rataplan”.
By the middle of Act II, the audience started demanding additional bis from like everyone and their mother, and there was a definitive moment of sheer stupidity when deafening applause and shouts of bis was called for one of Désirée Rancatore's later arias (regardless of the fact that she was treated to a very lukewarm reception during Act I). The soprano rightly did not deliver.
(Four images from the giant La fille du regiment catalog showing Frengo's sets & costumes.)
Frengo's garish, grating sets and costumes made the very subdued and elegant Opera Chic want to rend her eyes blind. Flamboyant pinks, yellows, and royal blue assaulted each outfit, and distracted from the wonderful singing. The scenery transpired as Victorian paper-cut-outs and comic-book inspired renderings that seemed almost demonic and twisted in contemporary times. Filippo Crivelli's beyond-old-skool direction hasn't been seen since that whiny, campy Bergonzi/Scotto 1952 L'Elisir d'Amore [well, it reminded me of that, although Crivelli wasn't culprit]. This production desperately is in need of a make-over. Of course, the Flórez 2005 live performance of Tonio at Teatro Carlo Felice springs to mind. And again, whereas Marie is supposed to steal the show, Flórez again upstages everyone, and becomes the very force that the opera revolves around.
At the end of the evening, some crazies in the loggione showered the orchestra from Galleria I with 4x6 fliers stating: “Lissner! GO HOME! Take the train to Paris!”
But more on that l8r...and more throughout the day…
(It's always Goundhog Day at la Scala now!)
Today's Corriere della Sera carries a great review titled, "Scala, Flórez’s Encore Breaks A Taboo", of last night's Fille du Regiment by the always interesting music critic and scholar Enrico Girardi.
Girardi loved Juan Diego Flórez, “the young, exceptional Peruvian tenor” (of course, who wouldn't), but advises against breaking La Scala's tradition of "NO ENCORES" in the future.
Here's his reasoning regarding "the encore":
“Is it right? Is it wrong? Is it an audience’s sacred right? Is it heresy? There’s nothing more mundane, in opera houses: an especially beautiful and well-sung aria gets repeated because of the audience’s furious requests. Not at La Scala.”
[...]
"Now, there’s no denying that Flórez is a truly exceptional singer, the point isn’t whether or no the derserved such an honor. The point is that until the other day, nobody would have been allowed to do an ancore by La Scala’s management. La Scala è La Scala, they would have told him: It just is not done here. With reason. The reason is not that "La Scala è La Scala", (La Scala needs to earn night after night the reasons for her pride) but that music is more important than those who perform it; it’s even more important than the audience: an unpopular, but flawless concept. It is fact."
"Anyway it happened, and there’s no reason to turn this into a drama. It happened. Amen. But it’ll be better not to have any encores in the future.
We are happy to hear that the management had advised the young tenor against the encore (he had announced his plan the other day in a Corriere interview). Other things are more worrying anyway. For example, La Scala needs to avoid in the future that somebody like the boring and shallow Canadian Yves Abel gets hired to conduct an opera only on surface 'easy' such as La Fille Du Regiment. In his hands Donizetti’s opéra comique loses much of its lively, exciting spirit. This damages the already way-too-seasoned staging – from 1959 – by Filippo Crivelli and Franco Zeffirelli, with his fable-like atmosphere, the painted sets. Today, it looks like a parody of the traditional stagings: and in this sense, it is paradoxically modern."
We kind of agree: NEW RULE @ LA SCALA NO ENCORES FOR ANYBODY XCEPT JUAN DIEGO: JDF IS REQUIRED TO DO THE ENTIRE OPERA AS AN ENCORE @ OPERA CHIC'S HOUSE (AKA LA CASA DE OPERA CHICA) K?
In a follow-up to this recent Flórez post citing the lamby-voiced tenor's promise to encore at tonight's La Fille Du Regiment la prima, I captured the article below:
Opera Chic predicts that at tonight's La Fille Du Regiment at La Scala, Flórez is going to go off the deep end. Like way off. Like off the entire frikkin planet. Teasers promised l8r tonight...
Opera Chic came back home (aka Milano) just in time to catch her boyfriend (he just doesn't know that yet) Juan Diego Florez's appearance at la Scala, starting tomorrow night, in La Fille Du Regiment.
And in today's Corriere della Sera our sweet Giovan Diego hints that, if we'll cheer loud enuff, he'll generously give us an encore of "Ah, mes amis" and its killer 9 high Cs!!!!!!!111
Quote:
"If, tomorrow night at la Scala, they'll insist on me giving an encore, maybe I'll do that -- the famous nine high Cs of the 'Ah, mes amis' aria. In London, where I've just appeared in the Donizetti opera, I didn't do an encore, even if the cheering was loud and sustained. But I did an encore at Carlo Felice in Genova, in 2005, when Decca made the DVD"
JDF repeats that he doesn't plan to add Verdi to his repertorio (except for his Fenton) but that "in a few years, in Dresden, I'll be the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto"!!!OMG!!!
In the meantime, Opera Chic will be at la Scala tomorrow nite in a choice position to report on the happenings. And she'll totally scream "BIIIIIIIIS!!! BIIIIIIIIS!!!" (ie, "Twice").
Until next time, hat tip to our buddy Jay-Z:
Now can I get an encore, do you want more
Cookin raw with the Brooklyn boy
So for one last time I need y'all to roar
The Telegraph is running an interview with Peruvian heartthrob Juan Diego Flórez,
(image on left from story) on occasion that tonight is la prima of Donizetti's La Fille du régiment at the The Royal Opera (as reported here).
So what's the big question from Rupert Christiansen that starts the interview? Flórez is immediately asked his position regarding Roberto Alagna's behavior at Teatro alla Scala during the Aida walk-off incident. God, Christiansen...that is like soooo 2006.
"Inevitably, the first thing to be discussed with Juan Diego Flórez is the much-publicised scandal surrounding his fellow tenor Roberto Alagna, who recently stormed off the sacred stage of La Scala, Milan, after being booed during a performance of Verdi's Aida, and never returned."
"Flórez expresses polite admiration for Alagna the artist, but it is clear that the 33-year-old Peruvian is a much cooler customer who would not have reacted in the same way. 'I've never been booed, though I've been in productions where everyone else was, so I can imagine the pain. Perhaps one day it will happen to me, but so far I've had luck. I think it is something I could handle OK.'"
I can't imagine the day will ever come when anything other than praise is heaped upon the stage for Flórez's sterling performances. But if/when that day comes, I can assure you that Opera Chic will have the scoop!
(Juan Diego Flórez in 2005, La Cenerentola)
JDF sightings all over London as Flórez steadies himself for la prima of Donizetti's La Fille du régiment at the The Royal Opera on Thursday night. With Natalie Dessay's Marie, and (Opera Chic's beloved, the most underrated great conductor working today) Bruno Campanella conducting, along with direction and costume by Laurent Pelly, this is sure to be a great night at the opera.
Opera Chic is beyond excited tonight, as she just had her extremely-difficult-to-acquire ticket delivered for the late February 2007 la prima of the Milan-stretch of the Flórez/La fille tour. Except, ours will be without Dessay (as I reported here, Dessay said kthxbi), with direction by Zeffirelli, and conducting will be Yves Abel.
