"Another! No, not to any other..."

I've really been a bad blogger of late - hopefully this post of bullet points will not compound bad with worse!
*  This is week 3/10 of school, and all my classes are incredibly fast-paced.  I haven't had much time or inclination to do any reading, so poor Tanglewood, along with most of my other projects, is indefinitely on hold.
*  Last Saturday was the big day that finally arrived.  I got to see the Met Opera's live streaming of Eugene Onegin with Anna Netrebko and Mariusz Kwiecień.  It was INCREDIBLE, the best production I have seen yet and probably ever will.  So romantic, devastating, and of course poetic (Tchaikovsky - enough said). It will be performed in NY for the next few months; I will try to get up a proper review of some kind later this week.
*  Well, I thought I had a lot of points to write about, but those two are the gist of it. I don't actually have a ton of homework, but I end up spending so much time on it that the net effect is the same.
*   P.S. I moved my art blog to Blogger and have another installment coming up for the OC Origami series...hope to post it soon.

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Un Ballo in Maschera

Opera review: Un Ballo in Maschera (2012)

Giuseppe Verdi (ca. 1859)
The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD
In Italian with English subtitles 

Not gonna lie . . . I went to see this at the movie theater just for this baritone, and this aria ("Eri tu" / "It was you who stained this soul"):

(I figured I'd never get to see my favorite opera singer in "real life," so this was my birthday present to self . . . well worth it!)

Un Ballo in Maschera ("A Masked Ball") is your typical melodramatic opera - tortured, lovesick hero, swoony heroine, and heroine's jealous husband, all bawling their eyes out until a very dramatic and tragic ending finishes them off.  Still a better love story than Twilight.  ;)  No, really . . . I had cynical expectations for the plot, but it is much better than it first appears.  King Gustavo (played by Marcelo Álvarez) is in love with Amelia (Sondra Radvanovsky), who is already married to Gustavo's best friend, Anckarström (Dmitri Hvorostovsky).  At the same time, there is a group of citizens planning the king's assassination.  Anckarström is devoted to the king and literally prepared to take a bullet for him, when he is betrayed by (guess who!) the man he is trying to save.  Amelia, being a weak-willed woman, attempts to distance herself from the king, only to be pursued and won over by him.  When Anckarström finds them alone together, he suspects the worse and promises vengeance.

There are no heroes here, only gray characters that make you think (if not altogether sympathize).  In the end, it seemed to me that, overall, Anckarström was the more "sympathizable" of the two.  Yes, Gustavo is a sensitive, loving guy, but he's still a selfish jerk.  He takes advantage of his friend's loyalty and his friend's wife - and when he finally decides to make amends, it is only with the idea of packing Anckarström and Amelia off to a different country (seriously).  On top of that, if we are to believe the conspirators, Gustavo is responsible for deaths and other ills that have befallen his subjects.

Anckarström is also horrible, in a different way.  He's a calculating perfectionist - a cautious, uptight guy who's met all the responsibilities and duties required of him, and then some.  When he finds out he's been rewarded with infidelity, he goes crazy.  I'm incredibly biased, but Hvorostovsky stole the show . . . he played his part to perfection, without falling into the trap of overacting.  His singing had (and always has) this understated intensity nobody else really matched, and "Eri tu" was even better than the YouTube clip. 

The ending was my least favorite part - political correctness in the nineteenth century!  Verdi had to portray the ruler in a more or less positive light, so you have Gustavo getting all forgiving and benevolent all of a sudden, and Anckarström , too, repents of his actions.  That would have been great, if it had been more convincing and less rushed.  

As for this particular, new production - the director David Alden chose a 1920s (30s, 40s?) setting, which highlighted the political side of the story and was actually pretty cool.  Some of the choreography and costumes were a bit weird (too many wings), but overall it was more interesting than I expected.  Even the minimalist sets worked well on the big screen, much better than on YouTube.  The Fall of Icarus painting, which has been talked about a great deal, was perhaps overdone, but not as annoying as some reviewers have thought it.

Finally, with the Live in HD showing, you get cast interviews, opera previews, and behind-the-scenes clips during intermissions, which was nice.  I would totally go to another Met Opera "movie"! 

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Day 15: A person you admire + Day 16: A song that makes you cry

In a more general sense--I admire people who are hardworking, self-disciplined, humble, kind, patriotic, true to their principles, and trying to lead decent lives.

* * *

Right now I am really (as in REALLY) into Rodrigo's arias from Don Carlos, by Verdi.  Without making me cry necessarily, they're certainly tear-worthy.  In typical opera fashion, this is sung by a character who is dying with a bullet in his chest.  By some baritones, it is sung quietly, but I love how Dmitri Hvorostovsky just suspends all disbelief and sings with gusto all the way through. That is a huge part of what opera is about--living in the moment, making every moment count!

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More ramblings

• I'm always tired on Mondays. 
• But thankfully, no more long, boring Thursdays!  No more getting up at 5:30 am, being at school for two hours and then an additional 3+ hours in the afternoon.  >_>
• Dear library patrons:  Please return your DVD ASAP so we can watch it next?  :)
• Started Eugene Onegin (2007 Met) last night.  I was keeping a (somewhat snarky) running commentary, which was somewhat cancelled out by a sudden onslaught of tearing up during the letter scene.  <3
• SO TIRED OF YOUTUBE ADS THAT CANNOT BE SKIPPED.  I know, I know, cotton is the fabric of Emmy Rossum's life...
• I'm sure I've said it a billion times, but I love my history/poli-sci classes!  We've been learning about FDR and just started WWII.  Not new topics, but there are a lot of (new to me) nuances to the topics that are very interesting. 

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Lohengrin

To be the first (hopefully) of a series of opera reviews on this blog.  Keep in mind, I'm a newbie to opera, so these reviews are by no means academic.  ;)

Opera review: Lohengrin (1990)

Richard Wagner (ca. 1850)
In German with English subtitles

© Garry Knight

When the Duke of Brabant dies, his daughter Elsa is proposed to by Count Friedrich of Telramund, a nobleman greedy for power.  But Elsa refuses, and in revenge Telramund brings her to trial for the supposed murder of her missing brother, Gottfried.  The King of Germany declares that justice must be found by single combat.  Elsa agrees, and waits for the arrival of the "Swan Knight," the noble protector she claims she saw in a vision.

When the hour of the duel arrives, a stranger appears on the scene.  He wears no emblem on his sword or tunic, and, while he vows to fight Telramund for Elsa's sake, he warns her that she must never ask him his name or where he has come from.  Meanwhile, Telramund's sorceress wife, Ortrud, sees this as an opportunity to get rid of Elsa and claim the throne of Brabant, once and for all.

Music: If, like me, you're more used to watching movies than stage or opera productions, then Wagner operas are for you...Lohengrin is no exception.  Beginning with a short overture that sets the mood, Lohengrin is one continuous journey of music and story, with some soaring themes, powerful solos, and upbeat chorus melodies.  The "theme songs" recur throughout the opera, giving the characters more personality.  While I also like the Mozart-style operas, that have distinct arias, I felt like the music in Lohengrin was very personable and truly the driving force behind the opera, as it should be.

Story:  Except for the ending, I loved the story: think of it as Cinderella, with elements of Ivanhoe.  It's fantasy, but fantasy that is clean, beautiful, and surprisingly deep, exploring the power of faith and how even true love can hurt.  Everything hinges on Elsa's faith, both in God and in the Knight she believes was sent by God.  Telramund is a complex villain, torn between fear, good, and evil.  The King is a devout man (in his own way), genuinely wishing that the innocent win and the deceitful are punished.  And, by the end of the opera, Ortrud's malicious schemes are duly undone.

Spoiler (in white):

I was disappointed, then, at the ending, when the Knight is revealed to be from "the holy grail", and must, as a matter of duty, leave Brabant after telling his secret, having also lost his "superpowers".  It really seemed to cheapen the story, by infusing it with so much myth.  This, too, is after he has married Elsa.  So, even after everything which happened, Wagner would have us believe that Elsa must still ultimately suffer.  A pretty stupid ending, in my opinion.

Singing & acting:  No complaints here.  I thought the singers portraying the King and Telramund were particularly good.  Plácido Domingo (the Swan Knight) was excellent, as always.  His acting was top-notch, and his pianissimos in Act 3 were utterly amazing. 

Costumes & sets:  Bland, awkward, and dreadful in general.  I think they were going for a "realistic" look, but it is incongruous with this opera and unimpressive even for realism.

Choreography:  Unimaginative and painfully slow.

Overall:  While visually Lohengrin was a weak film, the music and story made up for it, and I recommend it for those reasons.  It's an opera I would certainly consider viewing live, either at a theater or Seattle Opera.

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O Sole Mio {never fails to make me smile}

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