August 2006

I’m listening to some of my favorite opera pieces tonight while enjoying a glass of Clemente VII Chianti Classico…

1. “Carmen”by Georges Bizet. Opera prelude with Claudio Abbado conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. This performance is superbly disciplined. Abbado nails its colors to the wall at the very start in a breathtakingly fast account of the opening prelude to the opera. This recording was made at the 1977 Edinburgh Festival.
2. “Brindisi” sung by tenor Rolando Villizón and soprano Anna Nebtrebko from the 2005 Salzburg Festival’s production of Giuseppe Verdi’s “La traviata” (the lost one). This is a drinking song and expresses the pleasures of wine. Alfredo (Villizón) is prompted into entertaining the company of a party after the coaxing of the wild courtesan, Violetta (Netrebko).
3. “Un Pensiero Nemico Di Pace” (A thought inimical to peace) from Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno (The Triumph of Time and Disillusionment) by George Frideric Handel. In the first decade of the 18th century, the church, for all intents and purposes, prohibited opera in Rome. Basically, the only performances took place in religious institutions such as seminaries and colleges. Opera survived through private performances for societies elite. This piece is referred to as “Aria della Bellezza” (Beauty’s Aria) and is sung by mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli. This piece is more appropriately called an oratorio and is basically an allegoric play in which Pleasure, Truth and Time appear as characters in the action. Torn between them is Beauty who first succumbs to fleeting, earthly temptations and then, after a dramatic dispute, entrusts herself to the “eternal wisdom of heaven”.
4. “Ah, Fors’e Lui” (Ah, for him) from “La travita.” After the singing of Brindisi and the crowd disperses, Alfredo expresses his love for Violetta. In this piece, Alfredo has departed and Violetta, much affected by Alfredo’s declaration reveals her longing to love and to be loved. Anna Netrebko sings.
5. “Nessun dorma” (No one must sleep) from Giacomo Puccini’s “Turandot.” Turandot was Puccini’s last opera and unfortunately he didn’t live to complete the score. Franco Alfano, a friend of Puccini’s, completed the score with some help from Puccini’s notes. The story of this opera takes place in the city of Pekin, where dwells Princess Turandot. She was to be won only by a royal suitor who could answer three riddles. If he failed he was to be executed. A suitor, Calaf, the son of Timur (the exiled King of Tartary), sings this aria on the eve before the name of the unknown prince was to be announced. Calaf turns out to be the unknown prince. Tenor Franco Corelli is singing this aria.
6. “Hojotoh! Hojotoho!” The Ride of the Valkyries from Richard Wagner’s “Die Walküre” (The Valkyrie). This opera is actually the second part in Wagner’s “Ring of the Nibelung” and is basically a story about the god Wotan who has had a lengthy affair with the Earth goddess, Erda, producing nine daughters who have grown up to be equestriennes with enlisting commissions. They swoop down on battlefields to bring up to Valhalla recently deceased heroes who are to form a guard for the fortress. These girls are known as the Valkyries, and one of them, Brunnhilde, is the character referred to in the title of the opera. This piece, sung by Anita Soldh, Ruth Falcon, Ute Walther, Urusla Kunz, Margareta Lilowa (sopranos and mezzo-sopranos), opens the last act and is the exciting “Ride of the Valkries.” This should be familiar to every concert-goer but is far more exciting when the curtain goes up and the music is supplemented with the warrior maidens themselves rushing over the mountain tops, first four, then eight of them calling to each other, “Ho-yo-to-ho.” Unfortunately this piece is probably associated more with the phrase “I love the smell of Napalm in the morning” (Robert Duval in “Apocalypse Now”) than the opera.
7. The “Humming Chorus” from Puccini’s “Madame Butterfly” closes the first scene of the second and final act. This is a beautiful melody used earlier in the production in what is known as the “Letter Duet.” At this point in the opera, Cio-Cio-San (Madame Butterfly) and her servant, Suzuki, are watching the Nagasaki harbor for the arrival of Cio-Cio-San’s husband, Pinkerton. The humming chorus is played and hummed by an off-stage chorus, and the act quietly closes.
8. The “Nuns’ Chorus” from the operetta “Casanova” by Johann Strauss II. A beautiful piece sung by soprano Kiri Te Kanawa and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
9. “Mi chiamano Mimi” (They call me Mimi) from Giacomo Puccini’s “La Bohéme” (The Bohemians). This piece sung by soprano Mirella Freni, is our introduction to the character of Mimi, a seamstress, who is visiting the apartment of her neighbors, Rodolfo and Marcello, on Christmas Eve. The song describes her simple life as a seamstress.
10. “O mio babbino caro” (Oh, My Beloved Daddy) from the Puccini opera “Gianni Schicchi.” Soprano Renée Fleming sings the part of Lauretta, the daughter of Gianni Scicchi. In the opera, the wealthy Buoso Donati has died and his relatives search frantically for his will. Rinuccio, who is in love with Lauretta, finds the will and discovers Donati has left his fortune to the monks of a monastery. He secretly sends for Scicci and urges his relatives to consult his prospective father-in-law. However the relatives protest. Lauretta, whom her father loves very much, urges him to find a solution to the troubles of the Donati, so that she may marry Rinuccio.
11. The “Chanson Bohéme” (Gypsy Song) opens the second act of Bizet’s “Carmen.” Teresa Berganza sings the part of Carmen. Carmen and her gypsy sisters are in Lilla Pastia’s tavern. Some of the girls are dancing and Carmen sings this song about their music and dance. The third verse is the strongest, rising to a crescendo, and all the girls are dancing at this point. Carmen sings:
    

    Vigorously the gypsies
    drove their instruments wild,
    and this dazzling din
    held the gipsy women spellbound.
    Under the rhythm of the song,
    ardent, wild, feverish,
    intoxicated, they let themselves
    be carried away by the whirlwind dance!
    La-la-la-la…

12. “Voi che sapete” (Tell me what love is) from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Le nozze di Figaro” (The Marriage of Figaro). Teresa Berganza sings this aria, which is of course, a love song.
13. “Non mi dir” (not to say to me) from Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” (Don Juan). Considered by many the greatest opera ever composed. Soprano Anna Netrebko sings the part of Donna Anna who is responding to her fian?e, Don Ottavio’s, marriage request. With great tenderness she tells him that she does love him but that while her sorrow for her father (who was murdered by Don Giovanni) is still so fresh she can’t think of marriage.

I’ve been in Hawaii for the past 10 days. I came to the island for a conference and added a few days of leave at the end of it. Cindy came over, too, and we had a great time. Of course there wasn’t much time for us to do things together during the conference, but we did have a nice dinner together every night in Waikiki…Thai, Mediterranean and much more.

Cindy got to spend my conference time shopping and out by the pool. After the conference ended we laid out on the beach and swam in the beautiful blue Hawaiian water. We took a submarine ride and shared the deepest kiss ever…over 100 feet! After the submarine, we had a romantic dinner cruise–felt the ocean spray and enjoyed a wonderful sunset. Our last day, we visited the Polynesian Cultural Center for a traditional luau and evening show featuring sounds and sights of the islands.

Cindy flew out this afternoon and I’ll be leaving tomorrow morning.

I miss her terribly!

It was my birthday recently and I bought for myself a DVD of the Salzburg Festival’s La traviata featuring soprano Anna Netrebko as the wild courtesan, Violetta Valery, and Rollando Villazón as her gentleman suitor, tenor Alfredo Germont.

I think it’s interesting to note that in the first performance of this opera in Venice, 1853, the performers wore modern clothing. Opera-goers at the time were used to grand opera and neither the critics, nor the public, appreciated this unique presentation. This sentiment is being echoed by many today.

Personally, I found that the striped-down presentation actually enhanced the performance. The clock that many consider gaudy and distracting served its purpose well and was a constant reminder that time was running out for Violetta.

The one thing that everyone seems to agree on is the amazing performance by Anna Netrebko! Her voice is simply beautiful and her diction clear, with a rich coloratura that will only get better as she matures. She portrayed a bright, vibrant Violetta in perfect contrast with the sickness that consumed her during the course of the opera. I absolutely loved her rendition of the aria, Ah! Fors’ é Lui–one could feel the emotion as she wondered if this “country boy” could truly represent true love in her life.

And what of the leading man? Although he hasn’t garnered the attention of Netrebko, Rolando Villazón’s performance is just as amazing. His acting is superb, his emotional expression is impressive and believable. His voice is well-balanced and sensuous.

Brava! Bravo!

Photo: Anna Netrebko as Violetta Valery