Musical weekend, Speight Jenkins, Ilkka Talvi.
Speight was right, anomann, you shoulda been there.
I Puritani was terrific!
Maybe the weather had something to do with it, but I have never in all my opera going experience (all at Seattle Opera) seen such audience response.
Every aria was applauded.
The standing ovation at the end was ear shattering, I was holding mine which saved my hands from applause blisters.
Bravos, Bravas, Tuttibravas abounded.
The story, of course was absurd and irrelevant.
As was Bellini, frankly.
Well, B. wasn't any more absurd than any other composer, it's just that the performances were so outstanding that the work itself didn't seem to make much difference.
In order of audience decibelity the stars of the show were;
Lawrence Brownlee, As Arturo; What a fantastic voice!
Norah Amsellem, as Elvira; Just a touch shrill at the top but more than capable of convincing me that she was, in fact the tortured girl in question.
Pretty much tied with;
Mariusz Kwiecien, as Riccardo; Great stage presence, bounding up staircases two at a time while singing. I would comment on the singing, but it was overshadowed by Brownlee's.
The set, for some reason was a DaDaistic collection of stairways.
Reminded me of Kurt Schwitters a bit.
I liked it, but I can't imagine what it had to do with Cromwellian England.
It didn't really need to.
Would have been fun to play on.
Anyway, that was Saturday Night (Live of which I missed because I.P. was four hours long [Wagner territory {though it didn't seem long to me, as Wagner often does}], I didn't mind),(however)
Meredith was uncomfortable due to being under dressed because of the strange weather
(warmer than Arizona, go figure) and having a blast of conditioned air down her back.
Soooo.....Sunday...
Out in Tukwila (means hazelnut in the local native language) the Rainier Symphony gave a concert yclept "Around the world in 80 minutes" a "Pops" concert.
David Waltman - Music Director -- Ilkka Talvi - Concertmaster
Overture to William Tell ..................................Gioacchino Rossini
Bersaglieri March ..............................................E. Di Capua
Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 ...............................Franz Liszt
The Sorcerer's Apprentice ...............................Paul Dukas
Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, Op 28 ..Camille Saint-Saëns
The Capriccioso was played by Marjorie Kransberg-Talvi
Intermission
Toccata and fugue in D minor .................Johann Sebastian Bach/Leopold Stokowski
Tarantelle, Op6..........................................Camille Saint-Saëns
Peer Gynt Suite No1.................................Edvard Grieg
The Pirate King Song from "The Pirates of Penzance" Sir Arthur Sullivan
Hoedown from "Rodeo" ...........................Aaron Copland
Tarantelle was played by Shari Muller-Ho, flute and Eric Tishoff, clarinet.
Andrew Krus was scheduled to conduct (and sing) "Pirates" and "Hoedown" but couldn't make it, so Mr Waltman did the honors (including costumes)
But wait, don't leave the theater yet we have three John Phillip Sousas for you.
ending up with "Stars and Stripes" the greatest march ever written.
Kicks "Radetzky's" butt.
Eat your heart out "Aida"
Stay tuned for more
Find out what this is all about.
I Puritani was terrific!
Maybe the weather had something to do with it, but I have never in all my opera going experience (all at Seattle Opera) seen such audience response.
Every aria was applauded.
The standing ovation at the end was ear shattering, I was holding mine which saved my hands from applause blisters.
Bravos, Bravas, Tuttibravas abounded.
The story, of course was absurd and irrelevant.
As was Bellini, frankly.
Well, B. wasn't any more absurd than any other composer, it's just that the performances were so outstanding that the work itself didn't seem to make much difference.
In order of audience decibelity the stars of the show were;
Lawrence Brownlee, As Arturo; What a fantastic voice!
Norah Amsellem, as Elvira; Just a touch shrill at the top but more than capable of convincing me that she was, in fact the tortured girl in question.
Pretty much tied with;
Mariusz Kwiecien, as Riccardo; Great stage presence, bounding up staircases two at a time while singing. I would comment on the singing, but it was overshadowed by Brownlee's.
The set, for some reason was a DaDaistic collection of stairways.
Reminded me of Kurt Schwitters a bit.
I liked it, but I can't imagine what it had to do with Cromwellian England.
It didn't really need to.
Would have been fun to play on.
Anyway, that was Saturday Night (Live of which I missed because I.P. was four hours long [Wagner territory {though it didn't seem long to me, as Wagner often does}], I didn't mind),(however)
Meredith was uncomfortable due to being under dressed because of the strange weather
(warmer than Arizona, go figure) and having a blast of conditioned air down her back.
Soooo.....Sunday...
Out in Tukwila (means hazelnut in the local native language) the Rainier Symphony gave a concert yclept "Around the world in 80 minutes" a "Pops" concert.
David Waltman - Music Director -- Ilkka Talvi - Concertmaster
Overture to William Tell ..................................Gioacchino Rossini
Bersaglieri March ..............................................E. Di Capua
Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 ...............................Franz Liszt
The Sorcerer's Apprentice ...............................Paul Dukas
Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, Op 28 ..Camille Saint-Saëns
The Capriccioso was played by Marjorie Kransberg-Talvi
Intermission
Toccata and fugue in D minor .................Johann Sebastian Bach/Leopold Stokowski
Tarantelle, Op6..........................................Camille Saint-Saëns
Peer Gynt Suite No1.................................Edvard Grieg
The Pirate King Song from "The Pirates of Penzance" Sir Arthur Sullivan
Hoedown from "Rodeo" ...........................Aaron Copland
Tarantelle was played by Shari Muller-Ho, flute and Eric Tishoff, clarinet.
Andrew Krus was scheduled to conduct (and sing) "Pirates" and "Hoedown" but couldn't make it, so Mr Waltman did the honors (including costumes)
But wait, don't leave the theater yet we have three John Phillip Sousas for you.
ending up with "Stars and Stripes" the greatest march ever written.
Kicks "Radetzky's" butt.
Eat your heart out "Aida"
Stay tuned for more
"Road to Ruins"
Find out what this is all about.Labels: Mickey Mouse, punctuation jokes
posted by Lane Savant at 9:53 AM
3 Comments:
I puritani (The Puritans) is an opera in three acts, by Vincenzo Bellini. Libretto by Count Carlo Pepoli based on Têtes rondes et Cavaliers by Jacques-François Ancelot and Joseph Xavier Saintine. First produced at the Théâtre-Italien in Paris, January 24, 1835. At the same time, Bellini composed an alternative version intended for the famous Maria Malibran, who was to sing it in Naples; in fact, this version was not performed on stage until April 10, 1986 at the Teatro Petruzzelli, Bari.
The story takes place during the latter part of the English Civil War.
Act 1
A fortress near Plymouth, commanded by Lord Gualtiero Valton.
At daybreak, the Puritan soldiers anticipate victory over the Royalists. Riccardo had been promised Elvira's hand in marriage by Lord Valton but, returning to Plymouth, he finds that she is in love with Arturo (a Royalist), and will marry him instead. He confides in Bruno ("Ah! Per sempre ... Bel sogno beato").
In Elvira's apartments, Giorgio reveals that it was he who persuaded Lord Valton to grant Elvira's wish. She is overjoyed.
Arturo arrives for the wedding and celebrates his new-found happiness ("A te, o cara"). Valton is to take a mysterious lady (suspected of being a Royalist spy) to appear before Parliament. Arturo discovers that she is Enrichetta, widow of the executed King Charles I. Elvira appears with her wedding veil ("Son vergin vezzosa"), but drops it as she departs to make ready for the wedding. Arturo uses the veil to disguise Enrichetta as Elvira and so enabling her to escape. On the way, they encounter Riccardo and, when he discovers that the woman with Arturo is not Elvira, he is content to let them pass. When the escape is discovered, Elvira believes herself deserted and loses her reason ("Oh, vieni al tempio, fedele Arturo").
Act 2
Another part of the fortress. Giorgio describes Elvira's madness ("Cinta di fiori"). Riccardo brings the news that Arturo is now a fugitive who has been condemned to death for allowing Enrichetta to escape. Elvira now appears, still deranged but longing for Arturo ("Qui la voce ...Vien, diletto"). Giorgio and Riccardo argue over whether Arturo's death will mean that Elvira will die of grief, but eventually agree that he must die if he is found fighting for the Royalists in the impending battle ("Il rival salvar tu dei ... Suoni la tromba").
Act 3
In the countryside near the fortress, three months later, Arturo is still on the run, but has returned to see Elvira. He hears her singing ("A una fonte afflitto e solo") and they are reunited ("Vieni fra le mie braccie"). But Elvira fears that they will again be parted, and when Riccardo arrives, with Giorgio and the soldiers, to announce Arturo's death sentence, she finally comes to her senses. An ensemble ("Credeasi, misera") develops, during which the unusually high note of an F above high C is required from Arturo, and even Riccardo is moved by the plight of the lovers. The soldiers demand Arturo's execution, but word is brought that, although the Royalists have been defeated, Oliver Cromwell has pardoned all prisoners. The lovers are finally united for good.
Kind of incredible to see Savant so worked up over an Opera and a performance like that. Tuttibravas sound bravura and boss.
In the span of just six years, the remarkable Lawrence Brownlee has proven himself to be one of the most prominent bel canto tenors on the national and international scenes. He is lauded repeatedly for the beauty of his voice, as well as his seemingly effortless technical agility, and dynamic and engaging dramatic skills.
His schedule regularly comprises a varied array of debuts and return engagements at renowned music centers for appearances with the world’s most prominent opera companies, orchestras and presenting organizations.
The 2007-08 season commences in the Nation’s Capital with the first of three role debuts, Arturo in Bellini’s I puritani, with the Washington Concert Opera under the baton of its Music Director, Antony Walker. This is Mr. Brownlee’s third appearance with this organization, having previously sung La donna del lago (2004) and Tancredi (2006). He renews his association with Rome’s Accademia di Santa Cecilia for a series of Rossini Stabat Mater’s led by Antonio Pappano. For his debut with Valencia’s Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía he takes part in a series of operatic concerts in surrounding Spanish cities led by Lorin Maazel. (This replaces a run of the conductor’s 1984, which was canceled due to flooding in the opera house.) Immediately thereafter, a company and role debut take Mr. Brownlee to the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma where he appears as Osiride in Rossini’s Mosé in Egitto. As 2007 ends and 2008 begins, he is found at the Staatsoper Hamburg revisiting a part which served as his debut vehicle with the Company in 2006, Tonio in La fille du régiment. He returns stateside for a recital on the Tuesday Musical Club Artist Series in San Antonio, Texas and subsequently makes his debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Mozart’s Mass in C minor with Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting
And my goodness, the Rainier Symphony was boffo too. You must be pumped up and pleased, sir. As to that, yes, we the loyal commentors are really getting a jones for more of the continuing saga of THE ROAD TO RUINS. so just do it.
Glenn
If you were ever in the same room with a tenor singing an F over high C, you'd be impressed too.
Woke me up
Hallo, Lane & Neredith!
Glad you liked (NO, LOVED!!) "I Puritani", sad I didn't have the chance to experience it, too. Had to stay here to see what the Stage Director has in mind for this summer's festival "Carmen", so I could write the English text of the Plot für das Programmheft. Here, Lillas Pastia (owner of the inn in Act II) is a Capo Mafioso, and his gang are drug dealers, not smugglers, and "Carmen NÈVER loved Jose, but felt challenged by his failing to notice her (until she tossed the flower), and, in ActII merely wanted to pay back Jose's freeing her in Act I". Monday, I turned in my English version, and the Stage Director edited it (content, not English) a bit, and next week I leave for Seattle.
Tschüß,
Anonomann+LovelyLibrarian
P.S. I'll write Speight in the hope he'll read your glowing blog on "Puritani".
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