Opera appreciations and discussion

[Steve5380]

I have much respect for Gustavo Dudamel,  and infinite respect for the Venezuelan program "El Sistema" (the system) which he helped bring forward.  I am sure that he will be an excellent music director of the Paris Opera.  After directing so many little children, he will have perfect ability to direct moody Prima Donnas, ha ha.  I could be motivated to attend an opera performance if he is the conductor!

 

I cannot hide my enthusiasm for a program that brings poor children together and teaches them music, and the best way to learn music is to play an instrument.  El Sistema gives the kids the instrument, and teaches them to play it.  America is getting an influx of tens of thousands of children refugees.  They should be a perfect material for music education, to get their minds off their troubling past and into spiritual development.  There is enough money in the US to pay for such a program.  Each year the universities crank out new batches of people with degrees in music.  What better use of their skills than teaching them to young children?  This should have priority over expenses in concert halls and big orchestras. 

 

But no more words.  Here is an example of this system, a video from, you guessed it,  YouTube:

 

 

[Steve5380]

And here after so much serious stuff,  is a short musical Intermezzo you may have heard before, "picked and chosen" from one of the best operas:

 

 

[InBangkok]

2 hours ago, heman said:

He is an excellent conductor and was here in Singapore with the SSO performing Dvorak's 9th Symphony a few years ago.

I have no doubt that Dudamel is an excellent symphonic conductor. His dozen or so years leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic have been extraordinarily successful, as have his guest engagements with orchestras like the Berlin Philharmonic.

 

The question that has been popping up on classical sites and fora is his lack of experience in conducting opera and the fact that this has become obvious in some of the few productions he has conducted. One insider pointed out that the orchestra was not very happy with his conducting of Turandot in Vienna, even though many of the same musicians do enjoy the concerts he conducts with the Vienna Philharmonic.

 

@heman makes the point that not many conductors are equally at home in the opera pit and the concert platform. His post cites Solti and von Karajan as being masters of both. I totally agree. But both those conductors started their careers in opera. Many other major conductors throughout history did likewise - George Szell, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Muti (largely), Chailly, Mackerras etc. My own view is that there is no better training ground for any conductor than a few years as a repetiteur and assistant conductor in opera. But we will have to see how Dudamel goes on with the notoriously difficult Paris Opera Orchestra and the company's very political nature. After all it drove Solti mad!!

Edited April 13, 2021 by InBangkok

[Steve5380]

9 hours ago, wilfgene said:

 

A subscription to a notion of the Arts as an embellishment to one's own life experience may be suggestible.

As well as the rest in between.

 

 

Suggestion taken, thank you. 

 

I am not opposed to live performance of operas, as some might have stated,  I simply have not had much need for them.  After this pandemic is over I will look into the events planned by the Houston Grand Opera.  I will decide if to take a subscription or just attend individual performances.  There are benefits in a subscription, which I had before,  but it depends on how many of the operas I like will be staged.  Although today, single and going my myself, I can always bring my excellent noise-cancelling Sony headphone and my small MP3 player, and if there is something 'modern' that hurts my ears or my eyes, I put on the headphones, play Schumann's Symphonic Etudes or other nice music,  close my eyes and get immersed in some musical heaven.  

[Steve5380]

Dudamel may not have MUCH experience directing opera, but he undoubtedly has some.  The elite music experts must of course debate and raise issues.  This is the basic training of every music critic.  There are some articles on the Internet over the future Paris Opera director:

 

https://slippedisc.com/2020/12/hot-tip-dudamel-to-paris/

https://slippedisc.com/2021/01/dudamel-is-finalising-his-paris-salary/

 

Some even argue that he is not fluent in French.  But with Spanish as his native language, and now a Spanish citizenship, he should have little trouble with French, and the educated French also speak English, although reluctantly... 

[InBangkok]

51 minutes ago, Steve5380 said:

Dudamel may not have MUCH experience directing opera, but he undoubtedly has some.  The elite music experts must of course debate and raise issues.  This is the basic training of every music critic.  There are some articles on the Internet over the future Paris Opera director:

 

https://slippedisc.com/2020/12/hot-tip-dudamel-to-paris/

https://slippedisc.com/2021/01/dudamel-is-finalising-his-paris-salary/

 

Some even argue that he is not fluent in French.  But with Spanish as his native language, and now a Spanish citizenship, he should have little trouble with French, and the educated French also speak English, although reluctantly... 

Your excerpts from Norman Lebrecht's site slippedisc are somewhat out of date. Yesterday there was another thread. Like all chat rooms this one has its fair share of nonsense spreaders. But it is very widely read and sees some excellent contributions from, for example, conductors like Leonard Slatkin and Fabio Luisi, neither of whose views should be taken lightly. Comments from yesterday and today include -

 

"His Wiener Staatsoper debut conducting Turandot was a disgrace."

"This will be a disaster . . . he has close to no opera experience."

"Dudamel is ike too many conductors these days who want to conduct opera but never spent time as a repetiteur."

 

How good or otherwise his past opera performances have been, they have been few and far between. 

Some have been praised; some regarded as less than average. As for his Vienna Turandot, we know from members of the Vienna Philharmonic who were in the pit that they were not impressed with him. But conducting is just a small part of the job of a Music Director in any Opera House. He has to work very closely and harmoniously with the Intendant. In Paris, the Intendant has the final say, not the Music Director. He has to work with local politicians, a job he rarely has to do in Los Angeles where it will be done by the General Director and his staff. Then he has to fit in with a company of more than 1,000 - not just the orchestra - and put up with the whims of producers and designers. There is then the issue of labour relations which in Paris are notoriously bad. All these are  why many of the greatest conductors have all started their careers in the lowly ranks of opera companies where they can learn all the ropes rather than jumping in at the top. 

 

Plus not speaking French he starts off with a major disadvantage. That would not be true in most other countries but the French are more fiercely chauvinistic than any other nation when it comes to the Bastille Opera. They will not put up with him speaking in English or Spanish at Press Conferences, for example, for more than  few months. Learning French will be part of the job description. Hopefully he will cope with all the problems and end up a major success.

[Steve5380]

1 hour ago, InBangkok said:

Your excerpts from Norman Lebrecht's site slippedisc are somewhat out of date. Yesterday there was another thread. Like all chat rooms this one has its fair share of nonsense spreaders. But it is very widely read and sees some excellent contributions from, for example, conductors like Leonard Slatkin and Fabio Luisi, neither of whose views should be taken lightly. Comments from yesterday and today include -

 

"His Wiener Staatsoper debut conducting Turandot was a disgrace."

"This will be a disaster . . . he has close to no opera experience."

"Dudamel is ike too many conductors these days who want to conduct opera but never spent time as a repetiteur."

 

How good or otherwise his past opera performances have been, they have been few and far between. 

Some have been praised; some regarded as less than average. As for his Vienna Turandot, we know from members of the Vienna Philharmonic who were in the pit that they were not impressed with him. But conducting is just a small part of the job of a Music Director in any Opera House. He has to work very closely and harmoniously with the Intendant. In Paris, the Intendant has the final say, not the Music Director. He has to work with local politicians, a job he rarely has to do in Los Angeles where it will be done by the General Director and his staff. Then he has to fit in with a company of more than 1,000 - not just the orchestra - and put up with the whims of producers and designers. There is then the issue of labour relations which in Paris are notoriously bad. All these are  why many of the greatest conductors have all started their careers in the lowly ranks of opera companies where they can learn all the ropes rather than jumping in at the top. 

 

Plus not speaking French he starts off with a major disadvantage. That would not be true in most other countries but the French are more fiercely chauvinistic than any other nation when it comes to the Bastille Opera. They will not put up with him speaking in English or Spanish at Press Conferences, for example, for more than  few months. Learning French will be part of the job description. Hopefully he will cope with all the problems and end up a major success.

 

Dudamel  is a 40 y.o. guy.  Still young, in his prime as conductor, director.  He is also a people person, with good skills to handle all sorts of individuals.  He was a repetiteur of young people, uneducated people, maybe not so much singers but players of musical instruments.  Being a professional musician, he should have a sharp mind.  If even a man like me not interested in linguistics but instead in technology and science could learn a basic French, so much he living part time in France should become fluent in this language in no time.   And given his curriculum vitae he has an aura of ...  goodness, so that people will be a little more careful in attacking him,  even with the petty politics that goes on in professional music. 

 

By the way,  El Sistema has inspired sociologists and musicians from other countries to follow its example.  In Scotland they are paying attention:

 

https://www.rcs.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Whats-Going-On-Now-report.pdf

https://www.edubuzz.org/youthmusicinitiative/wp-content/blogs.dir/2405/files/2018/05/YMI-Attainment-Report-2017.pdf

https://sceptical.scot/2019/05/let-children-play-and-learn-with-music/

 

I see a bright future for serious music if musical education is made accessible to ALL.  Every child should get an instrument of his/her choice and get lessons to play it,  get to learn the best easy pieces of classical music, and then perhaps join a youth chamber and larger orchestra.   Now that I'm writing this,  it comes to mind to speak to my son over the musical education of his children.  My  9 y.o. granddaughter has been taking piano lessons for two years, but my 8 y.o. grandson has not.  And my 1 1/2 y.o. grandson only listens to classical music, at my suggestion, and maybe soon he could come to the piano and see if he is interested in perfect pitch?  No, I don't want to make them little Mozarts, just doing my work of grandpa.  

 

[InBangkok]

5 hours ago, Steve5380 said:

Dudamel  is a 40 y.o. guy.  Still young, in his prime as conductor, director.  He is also a people person, with good skills to handle all sorts of individuals.  He was a repetiteur of young people, uneducated people, maybe not so much singers but players of musical instruments.  Being a professional musician, he should have a sharp mind.  If even a man like me not interested in linguistics but instead in technology and science could learn a basic French, so much he living part time in France should become fluent in this language in no time.   And given his curriculum vitae he has an aura of ...  goodness, so that people will be a little more careful in attacking him,  even with the petty politics that goes on in professional music.

I take the point you are making but you are projecting what you think onto what you expect to happen. It assumes a detailed knowledge of the running of one of the world's major - and most difficult  - opera companies which frankly you do not have. Dudamel was a known quantity when he was appointed to head one of America's top orchestras. He has made a major success of his tenure there as when he has been a guest conductor of other orchestras. Standing on the podium of an opera company is a very different kettle of fish. He has not yet proved himself - success in one House and near failure in another. Let's just hope he knows what he is doing and will pick up the ropes quickly. And let's hope he will be a success.

 

6 hours ago, Steve5380 said:

I see a bright future for serious music if musical education is made accessible to ALL.  Every child should get an instrument of his/her choice and get lessons to play it,  get to learn the best easy pieces of classical music, and then perhaps join a youth chamber and larger orchestra. 

I can not agree more. But we are in cloud cuckoo land if we believe that is going to happen - at least in our lifetimes. Most countries are cutting back on music education. Plus El Sistema was initially not a government programme. It was a private initiative. Its initiator Joseph Abreu started with 11 kids in an underground garage. It's objective was to get underprivileged kids off the streets and Abreu's brilliance was in recognising that music could do this. Later the government took over the financing. Perhaps the only way forward for classical music is a few Andrew Carnegie-type multi billionaires to direct his funds into music education just as Bill Gates is doing in medicine.

 

But El Sistema is a programme centred on orchestral music, not opera. Apart from educational programmes run by professional companies, there is no similar system to encourage an interest in opera. To the best of my knowledge, while El Systema graduates perform in some top orchestras and have become conductors and teachers, none works in opera.

[Steve5380]

54 minutes ago, InBangkok said:

 

But El Sistema is a programme centred on orchestral music, not opera. Apart from educational programmes run by professional companies, there is no similar system to encourage an interest in opera. To the best of my knowledge, while El Systema graduates perform in some top orchestras and have become conductors and teachers, none works in opera.

 

 

Let me first say that I am very respectful of your likeness of opera and your sincere interest in everything related to it. 

 

One can understand why opera is not part of El Sistema.  Opera is not an essential part of music.  Yes, it includes music and very good one,  but the opera music is a subset of music.  The core of western music is instrumental, even if singing is a common human activity.   From childhood we can be very attracted to instrumental music,  but I doubt that children care for opera. They may like the operatic music, but without any awareness of the operatic experience.  Opera is an acquired taste that follows a musical education and which can have other motivators than music,  like scenery, acting, big events. 

 

All the great classical composers found their life calling with instruments.  They were attracted to instruments and the musical sounds they produce. In the sound of the instruments is where they found the music.  The musical center of Mozart was awakened by the instrumental music played by his father and his friends,  and soon he was guided to make music with instruments like strings and keyboards.  That we know of, he did not cultivate music by singing, but by playing on keyboards.  

 

Speaking (not again(!)) about my personal experience,  I spent my childhood and adolescence immersed in music but with opera completely absent.  Yes, I enjoyed may overtures of operas, but I had no patience listening to long singing.  And I had nothing visual to go by, it was all audio,  we didn't have money for operas and I only attended a few free performances. Only later in life I acquired some interest,  my father-in-law was a big opera fan, my wife had acquired some of it too, and so we found it entertaining and classy to subscribe to the Houston Opera.  My likeness for opera did evolve from there, I did study singing and I find it more attractive the more I listen to it,  and perhaps...  I may become an opera fan one day too. 

 

Summing up,  children may get all their music education with instruments, learn to read notes, the theory of tonal music with its harmony rules, learn the story of its evolution and become familiar with all its styles, periods while having little awareness of opera.  They can get all the spiritual, intellectual, emotional, social benefits of serious music without ever setting foot in an opera house.  These benefits is what society can gain enormously from.  But this in no way should diminish the appreciation of opera nor its availability to a selected subgroup of music lovers.  It is like the move to feed humanity should not lead to the demise of fine French restaurants.    

.

Edited April 14, 2021 by Steve5380

[InBangkok]

The recent focus here on Dudamel is timely, if only to highlight the plight of many professional orchestral and opera musicians during the pandemic. Surely no opera orchestra has been treated as badly as that which played at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. For 15 years, the Met has been run by a man, Peter Gelb, who was not only singularly unqualified for the post, he has since then proved this time and time again. James Levine, whatever his personal failings, crafted that orchestra so carefully that by the time of Gelb's appointment it was recognised as one of the world's finest.

 

That orchestra has received no pay for an entire year. Many of its musicians have been forced to move away from New York because they and their families can no longer afford to live in a very expensive city. Why Gelb could not have persuaded some of the Met's legion of donors to provide some funding or even dipped into the company's Endowment Fund seems to be a deliberate strategy to force the orchestra musicians to accept  major salary reductions. Interestingly, the Cleveland Orchestra just received $1 million from a donor to help its musicians. Gelb's man management skills have been shown time and time again to be near non-existent - other than the love fest he seems to enjoy with key members of his Board. Professionals in the world of opera regularly throw their hands up in despair about the future of the Met as long as Gelb remains in charge.

 

The point of the post, though, is to highlight a recent action by the excellent conductor Fabio Luisi. In 2010 James Levine had been going through a series of health problems that many feared would end his career. At short notice, Gelb persuaded Luisi to give much more time to the Met as Principal Guest Conductor. Luisi had excellent opera credentials having started as a repetiteur/assistant conductor in Graz and most recently been Generalmusikdirektor in Dresden. He had a love affair with the Met musicians and all were delighted. Every one of them, indeed everyone in the music business, assumed that Luisi was from that point on Levine's successor. Despite Luisi's success, Gelb's eyes soon refocussed down the road to Philadelphia where the young, charismatic - and openly gay - conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin had just taken over the reins of that august ensemble. Increasingly he got bored with the tried and true - and exciting - Luisi and instead decided to appoint Nezet-Seguin as Levine's successor. Bye bye, Fabio. You are not wanted any more. It was another example of Gelb's dreadful man management.

 

As Gelb continues not to pay his musicians a cent, Luisi has invited 50 of the Met Orchestra musicians to join him and his Dallas Symphony Orchestra (where he is now contracted till 2029) to perform a socially distanced Mahler's First on April 30 and May 1. The concerts will be fund raisers for the Met and Dallas orchestra musicians funds. Luisi is a true gentleman. Gelb proves yet again that he continues to run one of the world's top opera companies into the ground.

[InBangkok]

5 minutes ago, Steve5380 said:

From childhood we can be very attracted to instrumental music,  but I doubt that children care for opera.

What comes first for a young child? Humming and singing? Or listening to a piano, violin or other instrument? 

 

Singing is natural for all children. Hearing instruments is unnatural, if only because proportionately very few homes have them and people to play them.

[InBangkok]

Just now, InBangkok said:

What comes first for a young child? Humming and singing? Or listening to a piano, violin or other instrument? What do mother's do? They hum or sing

 

Singing is natural for all children. Hearing instruments is unnatural, if only because proportionately very few homes have them and people to play them.

 

[Steve5380]

2 minutes ago, InBangkok said:

What comes first for a young child? Humming and singing? Or listening to a piano, violin or other instrument? 

 

Singing is natural for all children. Hearing instruments is unnatural, if only because proportionately very few homes have them and people to play them.

 

You are right that the inclination to sing and to appreciate singing starts at birth.  Mothers sing lullabies to their babies and this calms them down, makes them happy.  

 

The voice however has its limits.  We cannot make chords with our voice.  We cannot study intervals, different tonalities, the circle of fifths with it.  But it is perfectly melodic and can develop our appreciation of the 7 tone scale, major and minor (to the frustration of Schoenberg). 

 

The lack of instruments in today's homes is a problem, and not only because of their cost.  The availability of recorded music and so much electronics allows even educated people to listen to plenty of music without ever touching an instrument.   Here is where El Sistema helps: it gives out the instruments (given or on loan) and the teaching.  It was not so long ago when every middle-class home had to have a piano.  But this may come back thanks to the very convenient electronic, hybrid pianos.  I am looking for one of these too. 

[InBangkok]

Appropriately for a thread with this heading, I was reminded last night of Thea Musgrave's opera Mary Queen of Scots. This was premiered at the Edinburgh Festival and proved relatively popular with further performances taking place in the UK, Germany and the United States.

 

Scottish by birth and upbringing, 92-year old Musgrave has lived in California for most of her long career. A pupil of Aaron Copeland, she held various Professorial teaching positions at US universities. I know and love her horn concerto but know little of her operatic output other than this version of the Mary Queen of Scots story.

 

The history of Mary is fascinating, one of the most romantic in British history.  Indeed, I think it is surprising that before this work by Musgrave only Donizetti had included her in an opera - Maria Stuarda inspired by Schiller's play and the possibilities it offered for dramatic confrontation between Mary of Scotland and Elizabeth of England, a drama that ended with Mary losing her head.

 

Mary had a fascinating history that I feel neither opera fully exploits. Created Queen of Scotland after her father's sudden death when she was only 6 days old, she spent her early years in France with which Scotland had an alliance. At 15 she married the younger future King of France and became Queen of both countries for two years until the French King soon died of health reasons still not determined.

 

Musgrave's opera starts with Mary's return to her homeland. As a staunch Catholic she was immediately in opposition to most of her nobles in a country which had converted to Protestantism. This was due in large part to the fiery ministrations of John Knox who had been impressed in Geneva when attending sermons by another staunch Protestant preacher, John Calvin. Mary also spoke only French. 

 

After an aborted Catholic Rebellion, Mary was forced to abdicate in favour of her one year old son, James, and flee to England. There she sought the protection of her cousin, Queen Elizabeth. But Elizabeth was persuaded by her staunchly Protestant courtiers that Mary was planning a coup. Mary was then imprisoned and eventually beheaded. Elizabeth was haunted by this for years because she believed monarchs were anointed by God. But in this case Mary had the last word.

 

After Elizabeth died childless, her nearest relative was Mary's son. So James became the first King of both Scotland and England. Equally interesting for a gay forum, James VI and I was gay and enjoyed three long relationships. The first was when he was 14 with the much older Duke of Lennox. After Lennox' death, he had an 8 years affair with the Earl of Somerset. Finally an 11 year affair with the Duke of Buckingham. He even wrote of his relationship with Buckingham as similar to Christ and John - "Christ had John, and I have George." Surely there is an opera somewhere in that story!

 

This short monologue from Musgrave's opera reveals her feelings on her return to Scotland after a stormy sea passage from France. The full opera is available on the Lyrita label.

 

 

[Steve5380]

On 4/13/2021 at 1:16 AM, InBangkok said:

In Joseph Losey's wonderful movie version of Don Giovanni Berganza appears as Zerlina. Zerlina is supposed to be just a girl and at well over 40 Berganza should have been too old. Yet she looks and sounds marvellous. Indeed, I think the casting is superb with Raimondi, van Dam, Moser, Te Kanawa and Maazel conducting the Orchestre de Paris.

 

Not sure if you have seen the movie. I think it is the finest film of any opera made specially for the screen. The idea had been given to Joseph Losey by Rolf Lieberman who had been the hugely successful Intendant in Hamburg before moving to the same position in Paris. The visuals set mostly in a gorgeous Palladian Villa in the Veneto would be hard to beat. There are only very occasional slips when the lip sync is slightly out, but these are few and far between. This is a short video clip about the making of the movie.

 

 

 

Today I received from Amazon the DVD with Joseph Losey's Don Giovanni.  Great movie!  A pleasure for the eyes as well as for the ears (of course!).  The singing is excellent,   Te Kanawa as Donna Elvira is perfect, the same as Ruggero Raimondi as Don Giovanni.  I had seen before a video of Raimondi rehearsing his favorite role Don Giovanni in another production, which I had found very interesting:

 

 

 

The quality of this latest release on DVD is very good. I would have bought the movie in a Blue Ray format, which should be even better, but I don't have a Blue Ray player yet.  

 

Thank you InBangkok for having recommended this production  

[InBangkok]

I am glad you enjoyed it. I also enjoyed that documentary on Raimondi. I have never seen him as Giovanni and it is now too late. 15 years ago I saw his worthy successor, the South American Erwin Schrott who is regarded as the perfect Giovanni today and still only 49. For half a dozen years he was the reigning diva Anne Netrebko's partner and they have a son together. But the relationship did not last. 

 

You have often said the words in an opera do not matter to you. I hope the obvious and deliberate mismarriage of the music with the words in Anna's recitative before the aria Or sai chi l'honore and in Elvira's aria Mi tradi illustrate how important the words actually are for, as the documentary points out, they express one emotion whilst Mozart's music expresses something completely different.

[heman]

2 hours ago, InBangkok said:

they express one emotion whilst Mozart's music expresses something completely different.

i fully agreed with that statement. This is not only in Mozart's opera but also in Wagner and Strauss where the music at times contradicted with the lyrics. In the famous first act of Rosenkavalier for example when the Marcheline said she had migraine, the music that accompanied it said something else.

[InBangkok]

Getting away from Mozart and following on @heman's comment about Wagner, I have always wondered why those who claim that The Ring has no melodies in it - apart from the Siegmund/Sieglinde duet in Act 1 of Walkure and Wotan's Farewell at the end of Walkure - do not listen more closely to Siegfried. From the moment I first heard it, I was captivated by the entrance of Wotan disguised as The Wanderer in Act 1 accompanied by Mime's frenzied terror. This is a wonderfully melodic piece of Wagner.

 

I have tried without success to find it on youtube. However, the complete Solti/Vienna Philharmonic Siegfried is available with the benefit of the full score on the visuals. Best to start just before the section I refer to as Siegfried exits after his failure to weld the broken sword Nothung together. The dwarf Mime who has been looking after him as he secretly desires the power of the mended sword curses alone just as the Wanderer enters to a majestic theme. The Wanderer proposes Mime asks him three questions. If he fails to get one correct, he will forfeit his head. Mime agrees and stupidly asks three questions to which he knows the answers. Wotan berates him, and then turn the tables. He will ask three questions in return for Mime's head. Naturally Mime cannot answer them and becomes hugely agitated. Although you need not listen to it, during the quiz many of the motifs from the cycle can be heard.

 

Start at 27'13" for the final exchange between Siegfried and Mime before Siegfried's exit

30'51" The descending brass chorale-like theme heralding the Entrance of the Wanderer

35'00" Start of the Quiz

54'56" End of the Quiz Scene and Departure of the Wanderer

 

It is hard to think of any three singers more suited and able to portray Mime, Siegfried and Wotan as wonderfully as Gerhard Stoltze, Wolfgang Windgassen and the great noble Hans Hotter. Equally has any conductor and orchestra played this scene as effectively as Solti and the VPO? Considering the recording was made almost 60 years ago, the remastering is magnificent. But it is Wagner's scoring that is so superb. The solemn brass phrasing behind the Wanderer, the frenzied strings portraying Mime's fear, the enchanting introduction of a short floating oboe phrase at 32'14", the upward scales on the violas 45'40" etc.

 

Interestingly, Solti and his brilliant producer John Culshaw wanted a younger sounding Siegfried than Windgassen who was the reigning heldentenor of the day. They decided on the heldentenor Ernst Kozub who had been attracting rave reviews and they started the recording with him. But they quickly realised he had no real understanding of the role as he had not performed it on stage. He was basically learning it as they went along. So the call went out for WIndgassen and they were able to extricate him from several engagements to make him free. Kozub died in 1971 aged only 47. A German magazine stated it was a result of leukaemia.

 

 

[Steve5380]

On 4/16/2021 at 6:13 AM, InBangkok said:

I am glad you enjoyed it. I also enjoyed that documentary on Raimondi. I have never seen him as Giovanni and it is now too late. 15 years ago I saw his worthy successor, the South American Erwin Schrott who is regarded as the perfect Giovanni today and still only 49. For half a dozen years he was the reigning diva Anne Netrebko's partner and they have a son together. But the relationship did not last. 

 

 

Erwin Schrott is really outstanding.  He is a native of Montevideo, Uruguay.   Just across the Rio de la Plata from where I was born in Buenos Aires, he was born in 1972, the same year I started my international journey with the company where I worked all my life.  I find him even more gifted than Raimondi, with a great versatile voice and a good looking presence that is perfect for Don Giovanni,  and also Leporello, like he sings in the following video:

 

 

 

 

The only difference between Uruguay and Argentina is the river in between, and we are the same people.  He speaks exactly like we Argentinians do, and he has the same love for TANGO.  With his voice he can be, and actually is, a perfect singer of tango like Carlos Gardel was.  In the following concert he gave in Germany we see the potential of this man.  He is charming and a good actor.  In this concert about TANGO,  I see for the first time in my life the tango danced by TWO MEN,  ha ha.... (sign that there is progress in this world) 

 

 

 

[Steve5380]

On 4/15/2021 at 8:51 PM, Steve5380 said:

 

Today I received from Amazon the DVD with Joseph Losey's Don Giovanni.  Great movie!  A pleasure for the eyes as well as for the ears (of course!).  The singing is excellent,   Te Kanawa as Donna Elvira is perfect, the same as Ruggero Raimondi as Don Giovanni. 

 

 

I didn't realize that I have in my collection of DVDs an old recording of Don Giovanni, 2 DVDs, recorded at the 1987 Salzburg Festival with orchestra director Herbert von Karajan and Samuel Ramey as Don Giovanni. I just watched it again, and I find it also excellent.  Great!  Now I have two choices!   Ramey does also a great singing.  One feature I like in the new DVD with Losey's movie is that the subtitle shows the words of the two singers in the frequent duos.  About this text, I noticed in the aria "Madamia" of Leporello the following:

 

LEPORELLO
Pretty lady, here's a list I would show you,
Of the fair ones my master has courted,
Here you'll find them all duly assorted,
In my writing, will't please you to look,
Here is Italy, six hundred and forty,
France is down for five hundred and twenty,
Only two hundred the Rhineland supplied him,
But mark the climax, Spain has already one thousand and three,
Here are Countesses in plenty.
Waitingmaids, nineteen or twenty.
Rustic beauties, Marchionesses,
Ev'ry grade his pow'r confesses.
Here are courtly dames and maidens,
Young and handsome, old and plain.

etc.

 

So Don Giovanni seduced and had sex with a total of 2,363 woman.  Who said that gays are promiscuous?

Perhaps some gays can average 120 partners a year over 20 years,  and get about the same total!  Should they deserve the same condemnation and be thrown in hell? 

 

Definitely not!  Don Giovanni had to deceive all those poor women and fill them with lies. THIS is where the real sin lies. We gays don't need to do this, our sex partners can desire it as much as we want.    The only penalty may be some STDs, and this not from Hell but from Mother Nature.  

[InBangkok]

There is so much in the story of Don Giovanni as outlined by da Ponte that we can easily question whether the number of seductions was indeed 2,363 or that is mere fiction. The fact is we do not know, for we know little detail of the characters of the Don or Leporello apart from what they themselves or the others tell us. Every other character in the opera has longish arias in which their innermost thoughts and emotions are exposed, Giovanni and Leporello have none. It's true Giovanni has four short arias. Fin ch'han dal vino and Deh vieni which illustrate his love of booze and his art of seduction, followed by those in which he swaps roles with Leporello and the chase scene with Masetto. But these merely illustrate actions. They give us no clues about Giovanni's true character that we do not already know, although the violence of the beating of Masetto is perhaps surprising. So, are the 2,363 seductions fact? Or merely a joke which Giovanni and Leporello have hatched up and used before to get rid of unwanted women?

 

If we know little about the real Giovanni, we know a lot about the emotional complexity of the other characters. Take Elvira, for example. She is determined on vengeance for having been betrayed. Giovanni seduced her, called her his wife and stayed with her for an astonishingly long time for him - 3 days. Yet despite that anger and desire for vengeance which Mozart so clearly illustrates in the score, Elvira straddles a fine line between love and hate. She still loves him, still hopes he will return to her, still is anguished when he is dragged to hell at the end.

 

Was Anna raped as she claims? That seems strange, especially in the light of the music underpinning the detail of her "rape" in the recitative prior to the aria Or sai chi l'honore. Further, nothing in the libretto gives us the remotest clue that Giovanni was a rapist. He was a narcissistic, driven seducer. It was the seduction that he lived for, that he enjoyed, much more than the sex. Why would he merely enter Anna's room and rape her? Even if she responded angrily, as she later tells us, why would Giovanni continue and rape her instead of merely disappearing to fight another day, as it were, or to pursue another conquest?

 

Mozart and da Ponte agreed on the description drama giocosa for the opera. Taken literally this means drama with jokes. This title title was rarely used in opera, although both men also used it for Cosi fan tutte. The joke thought up by Don Alfonso in Cosi is perfectly obvious and encompasses the entire opera. But where, what or who is the 'joke' in Giovanni? Could it be Leporello. If so, is that not more reason for the catalogue also being a joke? Merely a thought!

 

[heman]

 

On 4/17/2021 at 12:53 PM, InBangkok said:

The Ring has no melodies in it

Yes there are many melodies in the Ring of Nibeling. These in my opinion forms what the leitmotif is all about. However unlike Mozart or Handel , these Wagner's melodies are devoid of aria-like structures where pyrotechnics or extremely lengthy melodic lines are prominent . The Rings drama is  full  of distinctive melodic fragments, though like what InBangkok mentioned are more prominent in some sections of the cycle. Indeed this is especially so in the first act of Walkure. That love duet is one of the most momentous piece in this epic music drama. 

 

Edited April 19, 2021 by heman

[Steve5380]

10 hours ago, InBangkok said:

There is so much in the story of Don Giovanni as outlined by da Ponte that we can easily question whether the number of seductions was indeed 2,363 or that is mere fiction. The fact is we do not know, for we know little detail of the characters of the Don or Leporello apart from what they themselves or the others tell us. Every other character in the opera has longish arias in which their innermost thoughts and emotions are exposed, Giovanni and Leporello have none. It's true Giovanni has four short arias. Fin ch'han dal vino and Deh vieni which illustrate his love of booze and his art of seduction, followed by those in which he swaps roles with Leporello and the chase scene with Masetto. But these merely illustrate actions. They give us no clues about Giovanni's true character that we do not already know, although the violence of the beating of Masetto is perhaps surprising. So, are the 2,363 seductions fact? Or merely a joke which Giovanni and Leporello have hatched up and used before to get rid of unwanted women?

 

Mozart and da Ponte agreed on the description drama giocosa for the opera. Taken literally this means drama with jokes. This title title was rarely used in opera, although both men also used it for Cosi fan tutte. The joke thought up by Don Alfonso in Cosi is perfectly obvious and encompasses the entire opera. But where, what or who is the 'joke' in Giovanni? Could it be Leporello. If so, is that not more reason for the catalogue also being a joke? Merely a thought!

 

 

Yes, it could be that the 2,363 seductions were a tool of Giovanni in the story to get rid of undesired women.  Very ingenious!  I have no idea what people in da Ponte's days thought of two thousand seductions.  Was this even possible?  Not for the common man,  but the nobles and rich had plenty of easy pussies around.  And like in any opera story, "Any Resemblance to Actual Persons, Live or Dead, is Purely Coincidental",  ha ha.

 

I have to confess that I don't see Giovanni in such a bad light.  Much more evil people have always been around.  His killing of the Commendatore  was forced on him, at most a 'manslaughter'.  His mistreatment of others and his proud character were probably his spoiling and consenting to everything by a rich family.  Some strong disgrace or heavy punishment could have changed him,  without need of the fire of Hell.  But I find that the story is perfect, and so is the whole Opera.  I often am undecided of which one to call Mozart's best,  if Don Giovanni, The Marriage of Figaro or The Magic Flute.

 

Now I am looking for a best modern recording of Le Nozze di Figaro.  My problem is that there are so many good recordings with excellent singers!   And I don't even know why I am looking for this.  I have an old DVD, so old I don't remember when I got it, with a performance at the Drottningholm Palace Theater, with director and singers I don't recognize.  I am watching it now,  with nice scenery and subtitles, and I have nothing to complain about.  Decent music, decent singing, decent acting.  It is the usual pleasure from the usual source that is Mozart's music.   

[Steve5380]

5 hours ago, heman said:

 

Yes there are many melodies in the Ring of Nibeling. These in my opinion forms what the leitmotif is all about. However unlike Mozart or Handel , these Wagner's melodies are devoid of aria-like structures where pyrotechnics or extremely lengthy melodic lines are prominent . The Rings drama is  full  of distinctive melodic fragments, though like what InBangkok mentioned are more prominent in some sections of the cycle. Indeed this is especially so in the first act of Walkure. That love duet is one of the most momentous piece in this epic music drama. 

 

 

Melodies in Wagner's operas cannot be compared with Mozart's melodies.  I am listening now to Figaro, and I am getting DRUNK with melody, a relentless continuum of one beautiful aria after the other.  Like enjoying in an expensive buffet a shelf full of exquisite desserts and eating one after the other  but with no risk of indigestion.

 

Of Wagner I like mostly his orchestral music in his overtures and in between some singing in his easy-listening operas. 

.

Edited April 19, 2021 by Steve5380

[InBangkok]

13 hours ago, heman said:

 

Yes there are many melodies in the Ring of Nibeling. These in my opinion forms what the leitmotif is all about. However unlike Mozart or Handel , these Wagner's melodies are devoid of aria-like structures where pyrotechnics or extremely lengthy melodic lines are prominent . The Rings drama is  full  of distinctive melodic fragments, though like what InBangkok mentioned are more prominent in some sections of the cycle. Indeed this is especially so in the first act of Walkure. That love duet is one of the most momentous piece in this epic music drama. 

 

I agree wholeheartedly. An interesting question is how many leitmotifs are actually included in The Ring. I first struggled - really struggled - through Robert Donnington's The Ring and its Symbols. This is a fascinating introduction to the detail of 91 leitmotifs, how many are derived from existing motifs and how Wagner twists and alters them as the storyline evolves, sometimes revealing the unspoken thoughts behind the words, at others the plotting behind a smooth exterior. Other writers have identified almost 200 motifs.

 

I think the simplest and best introduction to the leitmotifs is the double CD by the excellent Wagner scholar Deryck Cooke. Cooke died young after a stroke at the age of 57. His last years were marred by illness but he devoted these to a massive study of The Ring. Although he was unable to complete it, he had given a talk on the BBC reading his research to date and using clips from the Solti Ring recording to illustrate each motif. This was recorded and remains available on amazon - Wagner: An Introduction to Der Ring des Nibelungen.

 

Although I cannot upload images (don't know why!) in his analysis of the Siegfried motif, for example, he points out this is made up of two sections. From the heroic nature of its first phrase, the theme moves on to a "powerful assertion of unhappiness". Siegfried as the tragic hero! Appropriate perhaps given that Wagner's original idea for what became The Ring was to write an opera titled Siegfried's Tod.

 

[InBangkok]

Placido Domingo is still singing at the age of 80. Most recently there was a Gala concert with the tenor and some of the winners of his Operalia annual vocal competition at the glittering Bolshoi Opera. The event was organised by IMG Artists, once one of the world's leading artists' agencies managing artists like Perlman, Kissin, Perahia, Renee Fleming, Te Kanawa and others. Then it was taken over by a financier, Barrett Wissman, who had been convicted in the USA in a major case of securities fraud. Many of its big names eventually departed for other managements. On its singers'  web page it still includes Catherine Malfitano who retired in 2005, Te Kanawa who retired years ago and her close friend Frederica von Stade ten years ago. Weird agency!

 

Wissman soon sold half of the company to a Russian. Ironically, before he took over IMG Artists had tried hard to bring Placido Domingo into its fold. It managed to organise a handful of arena concerts with him, including one in the Singapore Indoor Stadium in 1990, but never more. With Domingo at the end of is career, no other agency was interested in organising events for him, - except IMG Artists! With half of IMGA being owned by a Russian and allegations of sexual impropriety dogging him in the west, it is no accident that he has been appearing a lot in Russia.

 

The latest is a clear knock-off of the Three Tenors phenomenon. No problem there, except Domingo now clearly struggles vocally. When I think of what a great actor he was and what a fantastic instrument he once possessed, both as a tenor and then much later in the baritone repertoire, I do wish he had retired a few years ago.

 

 

[wilfgene]

3 hours ago, InBangkok said:

Placido Domingo is still singing at the age of 80. Most recently there was a Gala concert with the tenor and some of the winners of his Operalia annual vocal competition at the glittering Bolshoi Opera. The event was organised by IMG Artists, once one of the world's leading artists' agencies managing artists like Perlman, Kissin, Perahia, Renee Fleming, Te Kanawa and others. Then it was taken over by a financier, Barrett Wissman, who had been convicted in the USA in a major case of securities fraud. Many of its big names eventually departed for other managements. On its singers'  web page it still includes Catherine Malfitano who retired in 2005, Te Kanawa who retired years ago and her close friend Frederica von Stade ten years ago. Weird agency!

 

Wissman soon sold half of the company to a Russian. Ironically, before he took over IMG Artists had tried hard to bring Placido Domingo into its fold. It managed to organise a handful of arena concerts with him, including one in the Singapore Indoor Stadium in 1990, but never more. With Domingo at the end of is career, no other agency was interested in organising events for him, - except IMG Artists! With half of IMGA being owned by a Russian and allegations of sexual impropriety dogging him in the west, it is no accident that he has been appearing a lot in Russia.

 

The latest is a clear knock-off of the Three Tenors phenomenon. No problem there, except Domingo now clearly struggles vocally. When I think of what a great actor he was and what a fantastic instrument he once possessed, both as a tenor and then much later in the baritone repertoire, I do wish he had retired a few years ago.

 

 

Bitten by the stage bug.

[Steve5380]

18 hours ago, InBangkok said:

Placido Domingo is still singing at the age of 80. Most recently there was a Gala concert with the tenor and some of the winners of his Operalia annual vocal competition at the glittering Bolshoi Opera. The event was organised by IMG Artists, once one of the world's leading artists' agencies managing artists like Perlman, Kissin, Perahia, Renee Fleming, Te Kanawa and others. 

 

 

Wonderful!  He did sing all his life and is still doing it at 80 y.o.!  Hurrah,  I have at least two more years I can sing, and I didn't wear out my voice.  I still practice it a little, but I find much more pleasure playing the piano.  Sometimes I do both with Schubert lieder.

 

14 hours ago, wilfgene said:

Bitten by the stage bug.

 

This is a very dangerous bug, and no vaccines have been developed against it.   Other viruses can help, if they are air borne infectious, like we see with the current pandemic.  But it is still better to let the stage bug predominate, because it is innocuous in general,  except in conversations.  Those bitten by this bug have the freedom to follow it and live for the stage.

[wilfgene]

1 hour ago, Steve5380 said:

 

Wonderful!  He did sing all his life and is still doing it at 80 y.o.!  Hurrah,  I have at least two more years I can sing, and I didn't wear out my voice.  I still practice it a little, but I find much more pleasure playing the piano.  Sometimes I do both with Schubert lieder.

 

 

This is a very dangerous bug, and no vaccines have been developed against it.   Other viruses can help, if they are air borne infectious, like we see with the current pandemic.  But it is still better to let the stage bug predominate, because it is innocuous in general,  except in conversations.  Those bitten by this bug have the freedom to follow it and live for the stage.

At the expense of being associated with such milieu?

Discretion may be advisable.

[Steve5380]

4 minutes ago, wilfgene said:

At the expense of being associated with such milieu?

Discretion may be advisable.

 

You are right, but there are worse milieus. And we have not reached the end of the pandemic yet.  

So the risk of association is relatively low. 

[InBangkok]

The words say it all. The great (an overused word but so apt in this context) mezzo-soprano Christa Ludwig has died aged 93. She was a true legend. From her early years she was almost destined to become a singer. Her mother was a mezzo-soprano and her father worked in a senior position in the Opera House in Aachen. Herbert von Karajan was a frequent guest at the Ludwig home over several years during his time as Music Director there before she was in her teens.  

 

Karajan gave her her debut at La Scala as Waltraute in Die Walkure. She would later acknowledge that the three major conductor influences in her career were Karajan, Boehm and Bernstein. At a recital she gave during the 1990 Macao Festival, I recall she changed the programme to include Bernstein songs, a tribute to her conductor friend who had died just weeks earlier.

 

She was an outstanding artist on stage and in the recording studio. Has her Octavian in the famous 1956 Karajan, Schwarzkopf, Stitch-Randall, Edelman Rosenkavalier ever been bettered? The list is endless. Now we are left only with memories. May her soul rest in peace.

Edited April 26, 2021 by InBangkok

[heman]

When did she pass away? She is one of the finest mezosoprano the world has ever known - a legend amongst the legends. She was one of the very few that could shift her vocal gear from opera to lied and vice versa.

Her phenomenal recording as Judie in Bartok's Blue Beard Castle along with her first husband Berry Walter which i have in my collection is phenomenal. 

I recalled her DVD on Wagner's Nibelung Ring at the Metropolitan Opera remarkable. Also herrole as Bragnane in Tristan and Isolde as musical superior. Her many recordings of Das Lied von de Erde touched the soul. 

May she RIP.

[InBangkok]

1 hour ago, heman said:

When did she pass away?

At her home on Saturday evening.

 

The acclaimed opera director Otto Schenk with whom she worked on many occasions - including in the role of Fricka in the Met's last excellent 1989 Ring cycle (I believe the one @heman mentions in his post) prior to its Robert Lepage disaster - has said, "With Christa Ludwig it went straight from the heart, from the brain to the vocal cords, so that you couldn’t tell whether she was singing, feeling or talking. It was all a single microcosm."

 

I mentioned the 1990 Macao Festival. Apart from Frau Ludwig, that was a stunning Festival. Its line up of singers also included Teresa Berganza, Lucia Valentini-Terrani, Alfredo Kraus, Peter Schreier and Ferruccio Furlanetto. I can't recall another event in Asia with such a stellar ensemble of artists.

Edited April 26, 2021 by InBangkok

[heman]

4 hours ago, InBangkok said:

three major conductor influences in her career were Karajan, Boehm and Bernstein.

Indeed in the book on DIVA , she did mention on how she learned from them. Karajan advised her how to place the vocal line with the orchestra (you can never fight against a hundred orchestral players as was mentioned), Bernstein on how one can treat an opera like a symphony. I cant recalled what Boehm advised her about using her voice

 

Edited April 26, 2021 by heman

[InBangkok]

I had wanted to upload a long video conversation of two greats - Christa Ludwig and her close friend and colleague, the soprano Gundula Janowitz. Wonderful personalities and wonderfully strong women. Filmed 6 years ago it sounds fascinating even although it starts with Janowitz singing the fiendishly difficult Act 1 Odabella aria from Attila which is really not her fach. Sadly that documentary is all in German. with no subtitles

 

So instead, as a small tribute, here is a video of her discussing von Karajan. Although the focus is more on Karajan, the man, conductor and his methods, there are several fascinating insights into Frau Ludwig's own life and career. It was uploaded a year ago but I think it was recorded some years earlier.

 

 

[heman]

I just heard from the youtube " Christa Ludwid - Her Final Concert "Tribute to Vienna (2003) " 

Superb concert in spite of her age !!! A real legend !

[Steve5380]

5 hours ago, heman said:

I just heard from the youtube " Christa Ludwid - Her Final Concert "Tribute to Vienna (2003) " 

Superb concert in spite of her age !!! A real legend !

 

Yes, this is (was) an excellent concert.  From trustful comments it seems that the concert year was 1994, when she was 66 y.o.,  although for this age she could look younger. Her singing is first class, the same as the accompaniment by pianist Charles Spencer.  Here is the first time I hear Schubert's lieder Geheimnis and Sehnsucht.  Here she sings and he plays the lied Der Tod und das Medshen much better than she did when she was younger and Gerald Moore was the accompanist.  I could not contain my tears hearing Der Lindenbaum in one of the best performances I can remember.  Likewise enjoyable are the lieder from Mahler and Hugo Wolf.

 

 

I was particularly moved by one of the comments  with the video:

 

16 hours ago

Möge ihre Stimme in den Chor der Engel einstimmen. RIP, Christa Ludwig...

( let her voice resound in the choir of the Angels,) RIP, Christa Ludwig!   

.

Edited April 26, 2021 by Steve5380

[InBangkok]

20 hours ago, heman said:

I cant recalled what Boehm advised her about using her voice

Britain's Gramophone magazine has published a lovely on-line tribute which details Karl Boehm's major contribution to her career. I believe with the passing of such a superb artist it is extremely useful to review her entire career. With acknowledgement to the magazine, I reprint the article here.

 

"The only time London audiences heard Christa Ludwig sing in English was in concert performances of Leonard Bernstein's Candide. She took the part of the Old Woman and brought the house down in the glorious 'I am easily assimilated'. It might have been the motto for a mezzo whose ability to get inside a host of different roles - and to work with such totally different artists as Leonard Bernstein and Herbert von Karajan - was extraordinary. It was a long career, well represented on disc and entirely reflecting her range and diversity. As a favourite mezzo of the producer 'Walter Legge she formed part of his tightly-knit company that was at the forefront of the musical renaissance in post-war Europe. Like her contemporary Elisabeth Schwarzkopf she worked in opera, oratorio and Lieder with equal command and her range within those genres was comparably broad.

 

"Born in Berlin, Ludwig's exposure to singing started at birth - her mother, Eugenia Besalla-Ludwig, was a talented mezzo who, rather as her daughter was later to do, took on some of the more dramatic soprano roles such as Leonore (Fidelio) and Elektra (both of which she sang at the Opera in Aachen under a prodigiously talented young conductor, Herbert von Karajan). Ludwig's father was also an opera singer, a baritone who had sung Papageno at the Vienna Volksoper aged 18 and at only 21 sang in Pagliacci at the Met opposite Enrico Caruso (who thought Ludwig père was a tenor, a direction he later followed, singing Tannhauser and Lohengrin in Vienna). Not only did Ludwig learn much of her craft from her mother but also a great deal about diction and projection from her father who also taught singing, acting and public speaking.

 

With parents so steeped in the operatic world, Ludwig's career path seemed firmly set and in 1945 she received her first professional contract in Giessen with the company managed by her father. Because the opera house itself had been destroyed in the war, her work involved singing opera and operetta in factories and bars. For the 1946-47 season she was engaged by Frankfurt Opera where her early roles included Orlovsky (Die Fledermaus), Ulrica (Un ballo in maschera) and Niklaus (Contes d'Hoffmann). It was at this time that she also sang in her first Verdi Requiem, a work that was to remain a cornerstone of her choral repertoire. Her contract continued until 1952 when she joined Darmstadt Opera - a smaller house but one which afforded her the opportunity to sing major roles and work with the stage director Harro Dicks whose synthesis of music, word and action put Darmstadt's production firmly on the map.

 

"It wasn't until 1955, however, that her international career really started to take off. In April that year she made her debut with the Vienna State Opera at the Redoutensaal as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro in a cast that included Paul Schöffler, Sena Jurinac, Irmgard Seefried and Erich Kunz. More important for her, though, than these glittering colleagues, was the conductor, Karl Böhm. In her career Ludwig worked with the greatest conductors of the day but three in particular left an indelible mark: Böhm, Karajan and Bernstein. In her memoirs (the wonderfully wise and readable In my own voice; Limelight Editions: 1999) Ludwig writes that 'Böhm guided me past many obstacles, and showed me the way out of the provinces and into the great world. He gave me the base on which to build an international career... [He] was one of the rare conductors who understood the voice... He knew what could be expected from a particular voice, he knew at what age and stage of development a singer could sing a certain role, and he knew when a singer would be ready for a role, even if she wasn't ready yet.' Later that year Böhm guided Ludwig through her Salzburg Festival debut as the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos; then in the newly rebuilt Vienna State Opera her career started to show the breadth for which it would become famous: Octavian, Niklaus, Brangäne, Amneris, Eboli, Dorabella. Interspersed were Judith (Bluebeard's Castle) in concert and the Beethoven Missa solemnis. 

 

"During the mid-1950s Ludwig performed a lot of contemporary music, indeed she acquired something of a reputation in the field. As well as creating the role of Miranda in Frank Martin's opera Sturm, she sang works by Honegger, Hindemith, Egk and Pizzetti. The wonderfully even, fluid tone that was her calling card must have been alluring to the composers of her time.

 

"Salzburg was to remain a fIxture for the rest of her career and it brought her into closer contact with Karajan. Indeed, if Böhm was her mentor from the mid-1950s to the mid-'60s, Karajan was to be her guide for the next decade until she fell under the spell of Leonard Bernstein with whom she worked most closely during the 1970s. It was Karajan, as vocally acute as Böhm, who helped her to some of the higher, often dramatic soprano roles such as Kundry (which they performed together in Vienna in 1961), the Fidelio Leonore (1962), Venus (Tannhäuser, 1963) and the Dyer's Wife (Die Frau ohne Schatten, 1964). Ludwig tells a delightful story about Isolde. 'When I told Karl Böhm that Herbert von Karajan wanted me to sing Isolde with him, he raged, "This is criminal!" Then after a short pause to think things over, he continued, "But with me you could sing it.'''And it was Böhm who husbanded her into the role of Ariadne at Salzburg in 1964.

 

"At her prime in the 1960s, when the majority of her greatest recordings were made, Ludwig's voice had a warmth, flexibility and evenness of colour throughout its wide range. There were no holes where the registers change, a problem that often besets singers who push up from the mezzo into the soprano ranges; there is a firmness of production throughout the voice that makes listening to Ludwig such a satisfying experience. Somewhat out of step with the repertoire for which she is famed, though gloriously done, is her Adalgisa to Callas's Norma in 1960. Her Octavian to Schwarzkopf's Marschallin (from 1956) is one of her greatest creations, full of impetuousness with a voice brimful with the sap of youth. Similarly her Dorabellas (both recorded with Böhm, 1955 and '62), a role she enjoyed in her youth, capture her effortlessly produced lines to perfection.

 

"Ludwig's Fidelio Leonore, which she contributed to Klemperer's now classic 1962 recording, was at her own admission her 'problem child'. Being a true soprano role with elements of the lyric as well as the dramatic, it really lay outside her range, but with care she could encompass it. The 'Abscheulicher!' aria, the moment where she voices her resolve to rescue her imprisoned husband, is the crowning - but most testing - moment in the opera and in the opera house is particularly daunting. When recording, of course, things are much easier because the order in which arias are sung can be changed and in that EMI set it truly is the shattering moment it is supposed to be (interestingly Ludwig, with one disastrous exception, only ever sang the part on stage with her two guardian angels in the pit, Böhm and Karajan).

 

"She made Wagner's Ortrud, Kundry and Brangäne very much her own. On Kempe's 1963 Lohengrin, Ludwig brings all her stage experience to bear on Ortrud, experience she gained largely from her mother who had also sung the part. She didn't care for the role of Brangäne considering her 'very stupid, and, because of that, very dangerous' but on the classic Böhm Tristan recording from Bayreuth in 1966 she is simply magnificent.

 

"Leonard Bernstein came into her musical life in 1967 for a VPO performance of Mahler's Second. It was with Bernstein that she graduated from Octavian to the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier. And it was with Bernstein that she really came to terms with Mahler's world view. A disc of the Knaben Wunderhorn songs with her then husband Walter Berry is full of detail, colour and a sense of wonder. Ludwig believes 'that my own interpretation of Schubert's Winterreise was very much influenced by my work with Bernstein on Mahler's music.' Her devotion to Bernstein resulted in recordings of his Jeremiah Symphony and Candide.

 

"Ludwig's work in oratorio and song ran in parallel with her operatic career and it is easy to understand why conductors wanted such secure, warm vocalism in their solo quartets. A regular performer of the Verdi Requiem and Beethoven Missa solemnis, Ludwig brings a wonderful poise. In Lieder, she worked with a host of impressive accompanists, from her beloved Erik Werba via Gerald Moore (the partner for her debut recital for EMI in 1957) to Irwin Gage, Bernstein, James Levine and Charles Spencer, communicating to the audience with fluency and ease. In an age that seems to have taken the mezzo voice to its heart, Ludwig's reputation, wonderfully captured on record, remains as a testament to her incomparable artistry and humanity."

[Steve5380]

I am discovering that Christa Ludwig was not only a great singer but also a great person.

Here is the video of an interview she gave in 1994, the year she retired.  The English subtitles will allow to understand all the intelligent things she says.

 

 

 

 

Even more impressed I am with a conversation she had about four years ago on occasion of the centenary of Leonard Bernstein's birth, "He lived for the profundity of music".   Ludwig must have been around 89 y.o. at that time and it is  amazing how clear and strong her mind is and her perfect memory.  Even without English subtitles, just seeing her speak conveys her ability at such an advanced age.  And if you understand the words, this conversation is full of themes about music and musicians.

 

She has the appearance and the character close to what my late aunt Liesel had, who passed away 15 months ago at an age of 94 y.o.  Like Ludwig, her mind remained clear, and just a few years ago I was talking with her about the ills of Trump!  Ludwig and the other two in the conversation remind me of the adults in my family when I was a child and young boy, hearing and sometimes participating in exactly the same intellectual conversations in exactly the same clear accent of German.  Thanks to Hitler, I was born in a German cultural bubble moved from Germany to Buenos Aires nearly intact. I don't know much details of Christa Ludwig's move from Belin to America,  but the way the German tragedy affected my family made them into the kindest persons.  The passing of Christa Ludwig has for me a special significance beyond the death of a singer.

 

 

 

Edited April 27, 2021 by Steve5380

[InBangkok]

10 hours ago, Steve5380 said:

Thanks to Hitler, I was born in a German cultural bubble moved from Germany to Buenos Aires nearly intact. I don't know much details of Christa Ludwig's move from Belin to America,  but the way the German tragedy affected my family made them into the kindest persons.

Lovely videos. But did Frau Ludwig move to America during World War II? I am sure she did not. She and her family remained in Europe, first in Aachen and after the family home was bombed to Hanau. When she talks about returning from America, I am sure she refers to returning after singing guest performances in America much later.

[Steve5380]

56 minutes ago, InBangkok said:

Lovely videos. But did Frau Ludwig move to America during World War II? I am sure she did not. She and her family remained in Europe, first in Aachen and after the family home was bombed to Hanau. When she talks about returning from America, I am sure she refers to returning after singing guest performances in America much later.

 

You are right.  I just read that her family moved to Aachen in 1944 (near the end of WWII) after their home was bombed.  They must have put up with all the Nazi era and the bombing by the Allies. Thank God they survived.  It can be difficult for us to imagine what it must be to have one's home destroyed by bombs!

[wilfgene]

1 hour ago, Steve5380 said:

 

You are right.  I just read that her family moved to Aachen in 1944 (near the end of WWII) after their home was bombed.  They must have put up with all the Nazi era and the bombing by the Allies. Thank God they survived.  It can be difficult for us to imagine what it must be to have one's home destroyed by bombs!

Or robbed by others who claim to have been there earlier.

[Steve5380]

9 hours ago, wilfgene said:

Or robbed by others who claim to have been there earlier.

 

You are thinking about the Palestinians?

[hard pecs]

Over the past month I watched three operas on OperaVision (on YouTube) that were all unusual and very interesting. 

 

La Voix humaine by Poulenc. It's a one act - one soprano opera. Kudos to Opera Zuid's creativity in rehearsing, staging and broadcasting during lock down. Talar Dekrmanjian as Elle was amazing, carrying the story and drama all on her own with just a few props. The austere colours from the orchestra (scored for a chamber orchestra) further heightened the edgy story. 

 

L’Heure espagnole was in the second half of this double bill. Romie Estèves was Concepción - capturing sexual frustration perfectly. The orchestra did a fine job in bringing out the nuances from Ravel's score. 

 

 

I have seen many productions of Der fliegende Holländer, but this was the first time where a real ship was on set and the stage was physically at the dock side. Almas Švilpa sang the title role with torment and hope, Sandra Janušaitė's Senta was innocent yet edgy. The most amazing was that the stage was on the waterfront in Klaipeda - no need for backdrop! You could even see ships going past. I could imagine there were challenges galore - amplification was needed (as it was outdoors), slippery stage with water chucking down, and impossible sight-lines for the singers.

 

There is still time to catch these productions. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did. 

[hard pecs]

 

On 4/12/2021 at 10:54 PM, InBangkok said:

The new 'hot' lyric dramatic soprano of today is the Norwegian Lise Davidsen. Gramophone Magazine wrote of her Strauss/Wagner CD issued 2 years ago, "It's been a long time since a singer generated as much buzz." Anticipating her Met debut also in 2019, the New York Times headed an article, "Not Just A Voice. The Voice." She possesses an extremely powerful voice and has already sung the Tannhauser Elizabeth at Bayreuth and Munich. Last year she should have sung Fidelio opposite Jonas Kaufmann at Covent Garden which the pandemic postponed.

 

Last year (March 2020) Lise Davidsen did sing in Fidelio at Covent Garden. I was there. And indeed she was phenomenal. David Butt Philip was a late replacement for Jonas Kaufmann who did a fine job as Florestan. I think Fidelio had a full run and the Royal Opera only shuttered around April. 

[InBangkok]

Lise Davidsen makes her La Scala debut on May 10. It's a concert to mark the 75th anniversary of the reopening of the House after the Mussolini period. In addition to Wagner and Strauss, she will - rather surprisingly to me - sing Dido's Lament. Looks like the concert weill be streamed from May 11.

[InBangkok]

An unexpected side of Christa Ludwig that most of us never saw. Here she sings "I'm Easily Assimilated" from Leonard Bernstein's Candide. The occasion was Bernstein's 70th birthday event at Carnegie Hall when a lot of stars took part. Frau Ludwig is introduced by Beverly Sills.

 

 

Also at the same event, the marvellous actress Lauren Bacall sang a number about Bernstein's life and career. The "Saga of Lenny" (with acknowledgement to Kurt Weill) was written by his close friend and collaborator (and also gay) Stephen Sondheim. If you listen carefully you can hear snippets of Sondheim scores during the very short piano interludes.

 

 

[heman]

Last weekend I managed to listen Ludwig's CD interpretations  of Shubert's Winterreise with James Levine together with her Mahler's Kindertotenlieder with Karajan and Berliner Philharmonic. It was sheer joy and beauty to listen and study her vocal interpretations of both lieds. It was very lyrical and poignant and almost devoid of sentimentalism in her approach. We really lost a vocal gem in our classical music world.

[Steve5380]

11 hours ago, heman said:

Last weekend I managed to listen Ludwig's CD interpretations  of Shubert's Winterreise with James Levine together with her Mahler's Kindertotenlieder with Karajan and Berliner Philharmonic. It was sheer joy and beauty to listen and study her vocal interpretations of both lieds. It was very lyrical and poignant and almost devoid of sentimentalism in her approach. We really lost a vocal gem in our classical music world.

 

The Winterreise interpreted by Christa Ludwig and James Levine is indeed a pleasure to hear, especially her.  For the video, I would prefer to see the two performing, instead of some landscapes.

 

I didn't know that James Levine was also an accompanist, and when I looked him up I realized that he had passed away this March.  RIP GOOD MAN!  Being gay should not have lead to that ugly and unnecessary scandal (!)  I also learned that he had Parkinson's,  although he apparently died of "natural causes". 

 

My current favorite interpretation of this cycle from Schubert is by Fischer-Dieskau with Alfred Brendel at the piano.  What I especially appreciate in this version is that singer and pianist are equals (equally great).  And with Brendel comes... well... Brendel's quality of playing, that I find superior to all the other accompanists.

 

 

Edited May 4, 2021 by Steve5380

[Steve5380]

17 hours ago, InBangkok said:

An unexpected side of Christa Ludwig that most of us never saw. Here she sings "I'm Easily Assimilated" from Leonard Bernstein's Candide. The occasion was Bernstein's 70th birthday event at Carnegie Hall when a lot of stars took part. Frau Ludwig is introduced by Beverly Sills.

 

 

 

LOL!  She is really good!  And she sings "in German with English words",  ha ha.  An accent so strong one can cut it with a knife.