Pelleas et Melisande

Last night I saw Pelleas et Melisande at the Met. This 1902 Debussy opera is stiflingly atmospheric, grim and ethereal.

The narrative, about an old prince, his young bride, and her romantic attachment to his brother, has an abstract symbolic quality to it that made it difficult to emotionally connect with.

The music was beautiful and complex, and there were many interesting moments where there were no vocals, just stretches of music where the performers froze in a tableau and the set moved in a circle, hauntingly slow, mesmerizing, aesthetically pleasing, (yet still somehow emotionally alienating).

A few scenes of note: this strange extended moment when Melisande leans awkwardly out a window so that her long, somewhat straggly hair can brush against Palleas and they can each fondle themselves.

Then there was another physically awkward and dramatically tense moment when Melisande's husband has his nine year old son on his shoulders peeking into Melisande's bedroom. The young boy, by the way, had a BEAUTIFUL voice, and his performance was the most captivating and satisfying to me.

Simon Rattle conducted, and Stéphane Degout, Magdalena Kožená, and Gerald Finley sang the leads.

Tosca!

Last night Meridita and I saw Tosca in HD outdoors at Lincoln Center.

It was wonderful! We had sandwiches from 'Snice and delicious wine and cookies.

I enjoyed the story, the intensity of Tosca's emotions, and the beauty of the lead singers' voices. But somehow I didn't feel as emotionally drawn is I wanted to be. Gorgeous and tragic, it left me dry-eyed.

This was a new Met production that premiered last season. The set was actually booed! I'm not sure what the audience's issue was. I didn't have a problem with the stark fortress like structure, although the design choices for the interior of the castle seemed off to me, and I couldn't figure out what era the piece was supposed to be taking place in...

Karita Mattila sang Tosca, Marcelo Alvarez was AMAZING as Cavarodossi, and George Gagnidze sang the villainous Scarpia. Joseph Colaneri was the conductor.

New Yorkers (and Tosca in HD at the MET)

"New Yorkers still pride themselves on being a town of gifted shape-shifters whose natives recognize one another by their ability to adopt a cultivated mien or a mad, mute stare, as the situation requires."
Knickerbocher: The Myth behind New York, Elizabeth Bradley

The day began with an hour-long multi-hoop session with Brece and Seth.  Then off to NeroDoro for the best gazpacho ever.

This New Yorker came in for coffee:
 

Then Diana and I met at the MET for HD screening of Tosca.  All 2,800 seats were filled and there were lots of standing room and lawn chairs along the perimeter.   Marcelo Álvarez as Cavaradoss was my favorite of the production.

The evening blossomed into one of those musical NY nights.

These New Yorkers were playing a very jazzy versions of Summertime:

Then we sat down one the bench to wait for the c train and things really got interesting.  Another New Yorker hauling a laundry cart filled with odities (decorated with a bumper sticker that read "There is no sex in the city.") turned to the woman sitting next to us and said.  "I've just come from my first Opera!"

Around that time the folks down by the jazz band had started to dance.

Then the C rolled in filled with New Yorkers in excellent fashions (silver studded, gold lame, leopard print, purple batik, earrings as large as a hamburger bun), elaborate tattoos, rolling luggage, all accompanied by a sound track of live bongo players.

What a day.  What a town.

Beauty, power and scope

Opera on Tap's Amberleigh Aller sings at Figureworks

"For the first time in my life I was treated to Grand Opera where the beauty, power and scope of the music was equally matched by the visual presentation." — Cecil B. DeMille, (Fan letter to Powell and Pressburger about their 1951 film adaptation of Les contes d'Hoffmann)

What a fantastic treat to have opera sung in proximity to my artwork!

Set Design and Rush Opera News

"The result is a sort of scenographic gestalt.  Humans have this great ability to imagine and to convince themselves they see what they imagine."  Arnold Aronson and Harold Prince, American Set Design

Rush Kid Quentin started this set during our first class with Opera on Tap back in October.  Yesterday we finished it off as a group.  After a disagreement as to which opera Quentin was designing for (we never did agree and Quentin was at an PSAT prep class) we decided to sort of mix and match from a variety of operas.

Also opera related:  Following up on Dennis' idea about the Cherry Blossom mural at PS165 being a perfect set for Madame Butterfly, we are going to host a special performance by Opera on Tap at Rush Gallery at PS165 Friday May 28 1-2pm!

And if that weren't enough opera excitement -- Opera on Tap will be doing a cameo aria during both of our Rush Education Exhibition 2010 openings.  Hope you will be able to join us!

Armida MET HD Screening at BAM

The crowd at these BAM HD screenings is unbearable - rude and bitchy.  And I can not fathom why they would design a movie theater where every seat is bad.  

Armida (Gioachino Rossini) seems to have made its way for the first time to the Metropolitan Opera as a vehicle for the incredibly talented Renée Fleming.  Unfortunately, it does not seem to be the best role for her.  Flemming sings the challenging part beautifully enough, but she is an excellent actor and that talent is really underutilized in the rather one-dimensional silly story.

The sets and costumes range from disappointing and dull to ugly and awful.  A real let down after seeing the preview behind-the-scenes bit in the set and prop department at work on Armida.  The large bugs were ridiculous hovering on stage above the enchanted forest that looked like a Pina Bausch set made out of Astro turf and pot scrubbers. The painted scrim used as an outer curtain was rather dramatic but looked like the cover of a Patrick O'Brian novel and did not fit with any other part of the set.  Oh, wait -- perhaps the gigantic bat set in the final scene could compete for drama sake.

There is a bevy of tenors in the production, all of whom are excellent (if a bit short of stature).  I felt the best performance was Lawrence Brownlee as Rinaldo. 

I also enjoyed the performance by the young lady playing Love.  She had the perfect cherubic face and pranced about with a carefree glee.

Renee Fleming and Bryn Terfel: Under the Stars

Just watched Renee Fleming and Bryn Terfel: Under the Stars, a DVD of their concerts in Wales. The disc has two separate concerts, one of Broadway hits and one of classical hits.

The Broadway is just AWFUL. They both look uncomfortable and their classical singing voices sound weird on the Gershwin and Sondheim. I was very disappointed.

The classical program, however, is amazing. They both look like they are having a blast. Terfel in particular can't seem to suppress a smile. None of the arias were familiar to me, but they were all gorgeous. And I'm now officially in love with Renee Fleming.