Netrebko

Peter Gelb, General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera, was voted into TIME’s 100 for 2008! Gelb became the Met’s 16th general manager in 2006, and he immediately launched a crusade to reinvigorate the sometimes stodgy world of opera. His initiatives, most notably the high-definition live broadcasts in movie theaters across the country, and in Europe and Japan has brought opera to a wider audience. Additionally, last September Sirius Satellite Radio started broadcasting Met opera performances 24/7! Anna Netrebko, the stunning Russian soprano, has written the tribute to Peter Gelb in TIME. In the article Netrebko refers to Gelb as “revolutionary and a visionary in the field of classical music” and says what impresses her most is that he has “implemented these new and exciting programs while also elevating the art of great singing.”

Bravo! Mr. Gelb!

photo: www.metoperafamily.org

This morning we slept in and didn’t venture out until after 10 a.m.; it was raining (a drizzle) and chilly. We had breakfast and coffee at Café Boulevard, right on the corner of Wenceslas Square. After breakfast we moved north through the city and discovered a little Holiday Market consisting of little wooden buildings decorated with garland and lights. There were also many food vendors, too many, because we ate…and ate. For the most part we “window” shopped, remembering what we’d seen and where, so we could come back and buy it later. The next stop was the Old Town Square.

In the Old Town Square we found another Holiday Market. It had the same vendors, but was much bigger than the the one we’d just left. Right in the middle of the square is the famous Town Hall Astrological Clock. The clock was built in 1490 by a master clockmaker named Jan Z. Ruže. As legend has it, after he completed his work to ensure the clock wouldn’t be reproduced elsewhere, the city council blinded the clockmaker. The next item on our list was Charles Bridge.

We knew that if we headed east, we’d eventually hit the Vltava (the river that runs through the city) and the Prague bridges. As it turns out, it didn’t take that long. We exited the city in front of the Rudolfinium (also known as Dvorák Hall), which is the home of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. The structure was built in 1884 and in addition to a concert hall is also an art museum. In front of the museum is a statue of the famous Czech composer Antonin Dvorák (we have tickets to one of his operas tomorrow night). I was a little disappointed to see the statue in disrepair and missing some letters. From this location, we could see Charles Bridge in the distance and instead of walking down the street to the entrance to the bridge, we decided to take the long way through the city (across the Ivánes?v bridge standing right before us).

As we crossed the bridge, we admired the Prague Castle stretched across the hillside. It was an impressive sight. We were going to detour from our trek to the Charles Bridge to visit the castle, but got sidetracked along the way and never got up there. On the other side of the bridge there was a wall with playbills from various performances, including one from the Met: Anna Netrebko in Gounod’s Roméo et Juillete. Incidentally, this particular opera will be broadcast in HD to theaters around the world on December 15. Anyway, our next discovery on the way to Charles Bridge was the Church of St. Nicholas. WOW!

This church was absolutely beautiful. The church was built in 1703, with some final touches put on the frescoed nave in 1761. It was designed by father and son architects and is the premier example of the European Baroque period. The dome fresco features in immaculate detail, the Celebration of the Holy Trinity, and towers 230 feet high. We spent a considerable amount of time in the church, simply in awe of the artistry. Cindy lit a candle and sat in the pews and prayed. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the church. Next, we finally cross Charles Bridge.

Charles Bridge is Prague’s most familiar monument and connects the Old Town with the Little Quarter. Although today the bridge is designed for pedestrian crossing, at one time it could take four carriages across. The bridge is lined with statues of various saints, on statue of the Madonna, St Dominic and St Thomas, shows the Madonna with the dominican emblem, a dog. Many people rub the bronze images on the status and they absolutely sparkle. The bridge was filled with street vendors, displaying original artwork and crafts. There were also a couple of performers, including a puppeteer and a “bridge band.” Exiting the bridge, we passed under the Old Town Bridge Tower. This is a magnificent tower built in the late 14th century. It was originally an integral part of the town’s fortifications and contains several sculptures, including St. Vitus, the bridges patron saint.

By this time it’s getting dark and we needed to get back to the Old Town Square to buy tickets for a Carol Concert in one of the churches. First, we stopped in a local pub for a beer and to take the chill off. After the rest, we walked back to the Old Town Square and purchased tickets for the concert. We had about an hour to kill before the show, so we walked around the Christmas Market, which by this time was all lit up. There was also a beautiful tree in the corner near a stage where children were singing carols in Czech. The Church of Our Lady before Týn made a wonderful backdrop. We window shopped and snacked on foods from the vendors in the market until it was time for the concert.

The “Advent’s Gala Organ Concert” at the Salvátor Church was very nice. It was good to get out of the cold. The pews in the church were wooden and were designed to make one sit straight. Still, it wasn’t too uncomfortable. The concert featured the music of Schubert, Gounod, Mozart, Mascagni, Bach, Vivaldi, Dvorák (of course) and Händel. The music was played on the organ, harp and violin, and a local soprano sang the carols. We really enjoyed the performances. After the concert we had a late supper in St. Wenceslas Square and returned to the hotel, tired and happy.

Tomorrow evening is the Opening Night Gala at the Metropolitan Opera! For me, the gala begins at 5:30 p.m., as I tune in to Donizetti’s bel canto masterpiece, Lucia di Lammermoor broadcast live via Sirius “Met Opera Radio”.

Natalie Dessay

With this production, the Met kicks off its 2007-08 season and tomorrow night’s Lucia promises to be absolutely exhilarating! The opera features French soprano, Natalie Dessay, in the title role.

I enjoy Dessay, she has an interesting perspective on opera and the roles she plays. When asked about the intimidation of being the fifty-eighth Lucia at the Met, and following in the performance footsteps of such great sopranos as Lily Pons, Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland, she shrugs it off, “I’m not a musicologist” … “These questions of who sang what, when, how–what can I say?” Needless to say, Dessay doesn’t scour ancient scores to rediscover the embellishments of past performers, rather she focuses on her own intrepretation and performance. Dessay says, “The challenge of Lucia, to me, is to make the character real.” In doing so, she focuses on being musical and theatrical at the same time, which requires great care for the words she sings. Dessay desires to create the illusion of speech in her singing, which is the key to creating the right theatrical performance:

“I try not to remind people that I’m singing instead of speaking. To make that happen, you should sing it really, really well, with deep commitment to the truth, so that you are believable as a character, not as a singer. This is what I want to achieve. Music is not the last goal–it’s a way to achieve the goal which is theater.”

Accompanying Dessay’s Lucia will be Sicilian-born tenor Marcello Giordani, who plays Lucia’s lover Edgardo; Mariusz Kwiecien, her scheming brother Enrico; and John Relyea as the compassionate Raimondo. Maestro James Levine conducts the the performance.

On Tuesday night, another Met performance will be broadcast live over Sirius: Gounod’s sensual interpretation of Shakespeare’s Roméo et Juliette.

Anna Netrebko

Starring the stunning Russian soprano, Anna Netrebko, as Juliette, and tenor Roberto Alagna, as her Roméo. Nathun Gunn will play Romeo’s friend Mercutio, and the incomparable Maestro Plácido Domingo will conduct.

The Met will stage several performances of Roméo et Juliette throughout the season, including their New Year’s Eve gala. Accompanying Netrebko during these performances will be several “high-voltage” Roméos: Roberto Alagna for the first two performances, Joseph Kaiser in his company debut, and Matthew Polenzani for the New Year’s Eve performance. Nathan Gunn and Stéphane Degout will share the role of Mercutio. Rolando Villazón was originally scheduled to star opposite Netrebko, but on the advice of his doctor, has cancelled all performances for the next couple of months. Villazón still remains scheduled to play Roméo during the December 15th matinee performance to be simulcast in movie theaters and recorded for television.

It’s going to be a good week!

The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Metropolitan Opera, and New York City Opera’s tribute to Beverly Sills has just ended. What a heartwarming presentation it was! The event was free. Tickets were given away starting at noon today on a first-come, first-served basis at the Met box-office. The event was also broadcast live to Times Square and on Sirius Satellite Radio (my venue). The performers included, Plá¡cido Domingo (accompanied by James Levine on piano), who sang Handel’s “Ombra mai fù”; Anna Netrebko singing Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Nightingale and the Rose”; John Relyea singing Schubert’s “An die Musik”; and Natalie Dessay who sang Strauss’ “IIch wollt ein Sträußlein binden”. The speakers included many of Sills’ family and friends: her brother, Stanley Sills told a story about the famous “pubic” typo in the first edition of Sills’ autobiography, Bubbles; Mayor Mike Bloomberg spoke of Sills’ penchant for fundraising; Met Chairman, Peter Gelb said her departure from the Met had nothing to do with his arrival (which Sills orchestrated); comedian Carol Burnett was especially touching as she relayed that Sills’ was the first person she phoned whenever she came to New York; television journalist, Barbara Walters spoke heartwarmingly about Sills’ daughter “Muffy” who is deaf and suffers from MS; and former Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger described the “hide-in-plane-sight” affair the two shared (tongue-in-cheek, of course).

The two-hour event was interspersed with recorded performances by Beverly Sills, including the song, “Just an Octave Apart,” a duo she sang with Carol Burnett.

All of the speakers were sincere and witty; obviously, Beverly Sills had touched each of them in a very special way. Peter Gelb, whom Sills hired, said she would call him after he’d started working and ask, “Peter, is everything perfect?” Today, Gelb’s reply was, “Sadly, Beverly, without you the world of opera is less perfect.”

I recently picked up the DVD of an opera by Gaetano Donizetti called L’Elisir d’Amore (i.e. The Elixer of Love). This is a recording of a 2005 performance at the Vienna State Opera. It was conducted by Alfred Eschwé. The opera stars

• Anna Netrebko (soprano) as Adina,
• Rolando Villazón (tenor) as Nemorino,
• Leo Nucci (baritone) as Belcore, and
• Ildebrando D’Arcangelo (bass) as Dulcamara

This is opera buffo at its best! Nemorino, a simple-minded young man, is in love with Adina, who is impressed by the dashing Sergeant Belcore, a man overly impressed with his own charms. Dulcamara arrives in the village, offering panaceas of his own fraudulent design. Nemorino seeks a love potion which is happily provided by Dulcamara, but the love potion is actually just a bottle of wine. Adina, meanwhile, has agreed to marry Belcore, forcing Nemorino to obtain more elixir from Dulcamara, which he can only pay for by enlisting in Belcore’s troop. Rumor reaches the village that Nemorino has inherited a fortune, and he now finds himself immensely popular among the girls of the village, arousing Adina’s jealousy. When Dulcamara tells her that Nemorino has enlisted in order to find a way to her heart, she relents, dismisses Belcore and agrees to marry Nemorino, after buying him out of the regiment.

The music was absolutely wonderful and the performances were fantastic. Anna Netrebko’s voice was superb and her portrayal of the coy, teasing Adina was striking to say the least. Nucci did a great job as the pompous Sergeant Belcore and D’Arcangelo’s Doctor Dulcamara was outstanding and affectionately sleazy!

The best of the show was Rolando Villazón! His Nemorino was a perfect match for Netrebko’s Adina. I love these two best when they perform together! Villazón is an amazing actor and his performance ranged from comical (especially when getting a little tipsy after drinking the love potion) to softly heartwarming. I laughed out loud at his silly bottle dance and was surprised by his juggling skill (yes, he juggled apples). He absolutely stole the show when he sang, “Una furtiva lagrima,” (A furtive tear) his soft, quiet expression–a pianissimo–and breathtaking decrescendo at the end earned a welcomed encore for the young tenor!

Photo: Rolando Villazón and Anna Netrebko in L’Elisir d’Amore.