Welcome to the White Shirt live comment thread for Mozart’s “Le nozze di Figaro” from Geneva (2017), with Marko Letonja conducting and staged by former house director Tobias Richter.
Cast List:
Guido Loconsolo (Figaro)
Fabrice Farina (Don Curzio)
Bálint Szabó (Bartolo)
Ildebrando D’Arcangelo (Graf Almaviva)
Nicole Cabell (Gräfin Almaviva)
Regula Mühlemann (Susanna)
Mélody Louledjian (Barbarina)
Avery Amereau (Cherubino)
Monica Bacelli (Marcellina)
Bruce Rankin (Don Basilio)
Libretto: English/Italian/German (html)
Good evening, everyone. Dust mops at the ready!
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i here i here! with my local dl copy
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*waves*
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waving back, with my opera glasses (for viewing the contralto)
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ha yes!
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good reason.
(ah yes, those glasses – contraltos and the occasional soprano!)
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and mezzos.
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hello 🙂
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halllllo halllo
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😀
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….only here for the cat toy curtains? 😉
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and for the doilies!
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no TVs to adorn here, though (would be very Marthaler)
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doesn’t the countess’ bedroom look just out of DR, though?!
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isn’t that the same one anyway?
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yes, before and after 😀
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yes!!
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waiting for Agathe?
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sure, we can give it a few minutes?
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jeah, let me go wash face 2nd time…
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don’t want to let the contralto see you sweaty 😉
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hehee
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is Cate Blanchett in this? cuz that’s all i’ve been doing on my solo weekend, laundry and watching Cate movies…
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not sure this evening can measure up to Cate, but hey, aging mezzos, young contraltos: here to support our ladies!
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also scouting the haus, for a certain soprano, cough. i like the size of the stage!!
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😀 😀 😀
(are you back? The we could start)
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Do they have hurricanes within them? Cuz that will work. 🙂 (Elizabeth: The Golden Age. Honestly she’s good in everything).
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also pretty sure Cate’s a contralto with that deep voice. So.
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I will subscribe to this argument.
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subscription paid for life.
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i *love* that movie (Elizabeth). just rewatched it 2 weeks ago. she was GREAT! (and then i watched a 5-hr documentary on Mary & Elizabeth afterward , followed by Maria Stuarda the opera… )
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also watched Elizabeth, last night (just finished Golden Age before this). I kept looking up the Maria Stuarda synopsis, LOL
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Sorry, sorry, I’m here, kids didn#t want to go to sleep….
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We waited up for you – as soon as Dr T is done washing her face, we’re good to go!
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i’m back, and ready! start!
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START!!
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starting!
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stage looks deceptively open and neutral, and then they’ll turn it into a conversative mess?!
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It seems only the costumes are super traditional?
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I would say so is the staging, but so far I am not seeing any staging.
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Thanks for waiting!
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jes, of course we wait. row call is a fun activity in itself 🙂
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contralto in western boots sighted. Good start.
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oooh, i better pay attention, already miss… but i see the female violinists
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yea, I missed that too.
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you were watching the curtain? 😉
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yes!
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sound a little padded, perhaps not conducted as sharpy, either? But the sound comes off nicely warm. Could work well for someone.
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i wouldn’t call that conducting sharp.
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yup.
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odd opening staging i guess
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We saw Cabell in that Geneva Alcina I think?
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ugh, yes.
and in one of JDD’s many Romeos as Giulietta.
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jeah, i’ll listen with open ears, i never quite get her phrasings…
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yep, another perspective with Mozart. open mind!
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woodwinds don’t really get across, it seems?
And the conductor camera angle is hardcore Karajan.
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Now you mention it…. this seems a very un-Currentzis style in general, rather tame?
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imagine Currentzis with that staging 😀
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I nearly wish for him her for contrast
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we need choir waking around barefoot with raised hands. At least it would be an excellent choir.
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that choir would make the count pay for all the women he “coaxed” into the first night. Rip his heart out and cook it for the countess 😉
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Now you’ll make me miss CURRENTZIS, of all possibe options.
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i think the singers are wearing mic but they don’t have good mic in the pit
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it seems unbalanced, plus brass completey dimmed out? did they put the mics right in front of the plexiglass partitions?!
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too bad the conductor himself wasn’t hardcore Karajan.
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at least my bitching would have been on another level then.
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LOL
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Holy smokes, I can actually participate in this one! At least for an hour.
Anyone willing to share a way to watch?
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there’s a ARTE link 2 or 3 posts ago
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GGeek!!! 🙂
It’s on ARTE; link in the announcement post!
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here
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The set is stealing the basic idea of the Amsterdam one, but the the furniture looks dreadful?
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this count is either stingy or very poor.
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*snort*
even the arm chair looks uncomfortable. And that ironing board is ages below Amsterdam, where most of the set motions seem to come from.
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are they all Audi cast off? god help us.
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no eggplant colored columns so far. though we have not seen Ze BEdroom yet.
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(countess’ dress in the bedroom).
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i’ve seen more kissing-chemistry in teh Foil song. ahem.
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yes, this is just one Figaro stock pose after another, and no chemistry at all.
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Oh, the headgear, right, haha!
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what’s that water fowl on Susanna’s head?!
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haha
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a rare red pond chick peacock.
Who designed this??? someone from Vienna?
or is this just there to distract from the lack of personenregie? Because this entire recit made NO SENSE in relation to the text.
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not a magpie at least.
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that’s for opera seria 😉
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*snort*
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LOL
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Susanna is training for a big as Adele in The Fledermaus, and Figaro is bellowing.
Mühlmann was more fun in a soldier’s uniform making eyes at Bartoli in that Zurich Comte Ory… so far, this is cutezzzzzzzy, no more.
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I was going to say he sounded old skool. I like his basic tone, though perhaps not as Figaro.
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i mean, we’re not really here for the bass though, are we. 😉
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right, but he has good arias!
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Man, that Act IV one. Hard favorite!
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jeah, Marcellina’s aria! favorite!
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perhaps he still needs to warm up (looks young, too). Bottom color is nice and round, top flails a bit. Perhaps a better Verdian someday?
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perhaps! Sounds quite oomphy.
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hipster front lobe man bun, though.
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Figaro does not get through very well vocally it seems. Or the acoustics may be difficult?
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i think they should work a bit on getting the sound from the orchestra better captured.. else it left the singers out dry in sound..
ps- i really like the small stage!!
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I like the singers out and loud.
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jeah, but i do like supporting music to carry the sound. here it’s a bit detached. like sounds are sharp and individual rather than togetherness
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turns out the conductor was a bit detached, too.
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hahaha
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Got it! I’ll sync up as I see your comments. SO EXCITED!
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great surprise to have you join in! 🙂
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that basket is such a good idea for poor Cherubino! always having to crouch behind furniture.
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oh, i should invest one for myself too!
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hahaha, are you putting the moves on a countess? 😉
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no, for future following contraltos 😉
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hahahaha, the basket is moving! hide the contralto 😀
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(jeah, built-in holes at bottom , 4 holes)
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nono, that would be me. 🙂
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so true.
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care for a basket?
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PLEASE! 😉
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OH, of course, that’s what the baskets are for 😀 (and that’s probably why they caught my attention subconsciously)
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at least I hope they will use them thus…
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they never did, what a waste.
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weird, right?!
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really weird.
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sometimes you do wonder. We thought about it just by sitting around and these professionals bought a few and didn’t use them – instead we got the tired chair with sheet on it…
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totally.
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And I’m quite sure I have seen him hiding under such white armchair covers as well, in Munich maybe?.
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several places, I think.
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in EVERY figaro, more or less.
On a side note, turning Bartolo and Marcellina into laughing stock takes away from the clear danger signify and makes the plot so much more tepid. They should be creepy baby boomers in power with far too good court contacts.
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creepy baby boomers, haha!
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instead, he will go from prepubescent to Falstaff in under 30 minutes.
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hahahahaha! after a good meal.
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(i’ve discovered.. next time i’ll navigate to the French ARTE for the French subtitles 🙂 )
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I believe you can toggle it from German to French with the gear icon @ ARTE
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ah, thanks. i downloaded it, and it’s got German “attached”..
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Oh, phooey. :-\
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it’s ok. i know this story.. and am *learning* German (haha)
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When you ask yourself what might be in the baskets, there is something wrong with the singing-acting or staging.
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LOL
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at least Baceli plays it as skeletons.
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Susanna keeps looking at the camera.
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anyone else having sound/video synch issues? or is it my wifi
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No issues for me @ 13:53
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ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
they eyebrow!!!
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something’s growing from within!!!! 😮
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(i’ll settle this with you later, still too busy watching Bacelli’s acting 😉 )
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yes, Bacelli i an awful dress. We want a liberated Marcellina in a riding outfit 😀
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omg, is that Bacelli????
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jes, i recognized her IMMEDATELY thanks to extensive viewing of Tamerlano & Andronico this past week…
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it was the voice for me. Idamanteeeeee!
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(something for me to discover..)
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We really should watch that Idamanteeeeee together at some point.
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Where are the plastic flowers??
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we was cheated!
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There’s Bacelli, I’m trying to adapt to clothing…
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i’m adapting just great. hair !! and eyebrow!
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and *very* thin lipstick, hihihihi, waaaay too fun
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Marcellina got a few punches on the way to the count’s.
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i’d love her to take the Countess. and teach Cherubino a few moves.
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😀
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ohhh, i’m really enjoying watching her acting
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Let’s just imagine this is Tamerlano having some fun and exagerating dresses further
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Tamerlano would be so down with that.
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ohhhh, her phrasing. hahaha and the gestures.
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ohhhh, i’m absolutely love this (hmm, may be Dehggi is right, i’m discovering something here!)
this is like going to a Figaro for Marcellina
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I have done that before. Will do it again!
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so far she seems like the only one who knows what’s going on
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yes! but that Susanna is way cute ❤
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perhaps the ladies doth protest too much. 😉
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hahaha, she does have too much fun messing with Cherubino’s identity, after all.
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YES!
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me too but they really went out of their way to make her look old!
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bartolo’s having some timing issues…
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So far, Bacelli’s voice seems to carry best of all, even when she is overdoing.
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no, i didn’t see her overdoing. it was just right for me (hihi)
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stage presence, too
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awkward and obvious lowering of a cupid
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ooooooooffffff
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haha, Cherubino isn’t subtle at all!
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(hmm, don’t singers have to breath and sing? now sprinting too?)
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cherubino is gonna end up in one of these baskets at some point, i swear.
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the bet is on!!
(with or without a lady companion)
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(with, one hopes)
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i can’t believe i lost this bet.
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hopefully with the countess.
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great minds thinking alike and all that
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YES
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jeah, Dehggi and i already talked about it way up there 😉 (and me in one in future outing with presence of contraltos..)
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heeeeeelo contralto vibes. Sounds much more comfortable at the bottom. God, get that woman some Vivaldi, stat. I am listening!
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very nice!
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I’m hearing some pretty heavy early Cecilia-Bartoli-inspired pacing and shaping on the ‘Non so piu’
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certainly not the worst when looking for role models!!
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Indeed!
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Yes, some great sound there, everything on top she was doing well, but it’s obvious it’s not really her tessitura.
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someone pelase send her to Mingardo island for her next dis project. Forget mainstream, come to Baroque!
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timing issues again, i blame the conductor.
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So, Cherubino is the vampire Lestat…?
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this Cherubino is around 17 (no complaints, though, makes the countess look a lot less like a cradle robber).
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Isn’t he supposed to be 17, (it’s way cute, so earnest)
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no, I thought more like 14.
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Beaumarchais said 13, but he is usually staged as 17? ‘OctavianCalling
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13? the countess was really desperate.
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well, 13 in the 1780s (when teh countess was likely 19?) was about the same as 32 in the 1910s…?
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did only a few years pass? I always thought it was more like 10.
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plus BEaumarchais was arguing for “harmlessness” when he put that into the defensive intro.
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harmlessness = lesbian sex.
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sort of. Only that of course that couldn’t mean sex.
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not in the 1780s.
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is it just me or the count and Figaro resemble each other? Poor Susanna, issues.
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I thought the same. – is that d’Arcangelo?!
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the car mechanic extraordinaire!
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Yes, he would be a perfect car mechanic Figaro. (or that Luigi (?) guy in Rizzoli and Isles)
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isn’t Luigi always a pizza man?
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nice traditional Count sound, though.
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Oh god PLEASE BUTTON UP YOU SHIRT, Almi.
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HA
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Ehem, so far this is second best-looking outfit in my opinion,
haha, patting Susanna in rhythm.
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well, good insofar as there is less of it in general.
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wow, this is irritating (disgusting). where is the sword in one of those baskets?
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yes, after a Weinstein debate week and two different essays (one by Susanne Mentzer) on sexual harassment in the opera business, this ring s a little close to reality.
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Basilio: Andy Warhol playing John Lennon on Montmartre.
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There’s a lot going on there.
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haha, Warhol indeed!
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okay, but d’Arcangelo is fun. and just the right amount of sleazy.
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just the right amount = a lot
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i’d really like a staging where Susanna has a sword
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and she runs through all the scheming men and runs off with the countess…
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plus Cherubino and, in this case, Marcellina. Who can also have swords (and riding boots).
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and they all go to Marie Therese’s and live happily ever after.
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her footmen will make sure no one bothers them 😀
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HA, yes!!! No Ochsen allowed. 😊
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Curzio looks like an aging, middle class hippy.
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(nice haus, someone will not have trouble projecting. me might look at schedule… )
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you’ll get stagings like this, though. Remember that alcina?
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(jeah, i might just survive if it’s not Armonia soemthing band.., and no CT.. and there’s also Ciofi..)
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Ciofi!!!
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jeah. in this small haus. am tempted! her and someone. i think i can survive staging.. biggest concern is the orchestra sabotaging.
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Amonia 😉
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(combust 😉 )
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(that Alcina, my biggest hurdle was actually Cabell’s phrasing as Alcina.. i couldn’t understand.. same with her Giulietta..)
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we’ll see if she does better as the countess.
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yes, I am genuinely interested in that. Because so far, I did not really “get” her in what I heard of her.
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no, I will NOT willingly remember that.
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you’re forgiven, I kinda liked the drunken off her tits Morgana.
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(who was Morgana again? i just remember that cap with Bacelli & Hammarström matching tattoos..)
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no idea. I don’t know that I liked the singing, just the character reminded me a lot of small-town party hardys from around here.
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have to check dates again.. and conferences!
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There comes uncovering the white sheet….hello!
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I can’t believe they didn’t use the basket! What a waste.
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the countess hasn’t come yet!
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there are all kinds of things one could do in/on those baskets.
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I wish they would though
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they will!
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Still plenty of time!
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yes. What a waste!
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waste basket 😉
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Quality pun!
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one’s waste is another’s treasure
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with holes for feet 😉 that one’s waiting for you.
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no no, wait for the countess! can’t use up all your hideouts yet!
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I wish the choir would finish painting that wall! It bugs me.
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LOL
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and you know the MusicAeterna choir would have painted the wall while singing and barefoot, too.
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that being said I’m rocking to the ladies’ head-doilies.
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if doilies, go for broke!
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hahahaha! the more the merrier.
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Count making eyes at Cherubino it nearly seemed?
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Bromance?
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Cherubino, we’ll send you to Ernman’s push-up boot camp.
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this Figaro needs more detail but I guess it’s not that kind of voice.
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Susanna and Figaro depict the perils of dating a hairdresser – probably one who has a salon with once of these forced creative names like “hairetics”. They probably met there and need to promote a curling iron line.
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Haha, yes. Somehow it’s hard to sympathize with them here, they both seem a bit dump.
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so far, here for Cherubino, Marcellina, Count, and possibly Basilio.
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I like hairetics! Around here it’s all “choppy cut” and “mess”. Somehow I’m not encouraged to go in.
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(oooohhh, i wouldn’t mind a staging with someone marching down to the audience either ❤ , sorry, i'm distracted..)
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thought the same – more enthusiams in the first row (especially when he drops the marching to start flirting again)
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All that eye contact with the audience… I would die a little (in a good way).
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Him enjoying his new fancy jacket was cute!
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you mean YOU were enjoying his fancy uniform jacket? 😉
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that should’ve been the row reserved for WS!
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❤
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would at least have properly appreciated the (tom)catwalk.
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maybe the old ladies did too…
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more decorum than we have?
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less energy 😉
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oooh, here comes… hang on..
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that bed looks dreadfully uncomfortable.
Might explain why Countess is fully dressed and not lounging in the sheets in a nightgown.
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It looks like a plywood box under a sheet. No thanks.
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yep, better move the actions to the baskets.
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HA!
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Now I immediately picture A. Fritsch in the Downtown Abbey staging.
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symbol of hetero marital life.
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as opposed to Lesbian Laundry Baskets?!
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😀 😀 😀 good, clean fun!
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cherubino flirting with the audience is a nice touch
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okay, Cabell makes more sense to me here than previously, though I think I’ll simply not click with her at large – and I need to move past the vibrato range. Recit works better for me here.
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Oh look, someone is mansplaining harassment to two women while brandishing a huge PLAN.
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SIGH
(while brandishing a huge….PLAN)
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(jeah… that phrasing.. i think it’s her way of delivering the (not continous) lines , i always hear the words interrupting the lines, even the weights interrupting , and sometimes the physical movements as well..)
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got a call from my beloved so missed Porgi Amor but I could tell just from watching the Countess is better than all this mess.
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The Countess’ expressions so far have been delightful.
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also not sure why she is holding hands with Susanna, but who am I to protest?
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That’s clearly fan service for us 😉
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we approve!
Also, DAMN does the first phrase o Voi che sapete ever sit nicely for a contralto tessitura.
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Like the slightly defiant expression.
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we never protest hands, do we?
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should that lavender dress cue us in on something?
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what’s with the eye of sauron on the wall? is the count using that to spy on the countess?
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well, if Cherubino continues to pine that right, there might be reason to shoot that off the wall first.
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awww, that glance the Contessa gave to Cherubino.. i might just ignore my phrasing issue.. and a screen cap deserves.. (after this aria..)
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and i need a version without subtitles for the Countess’s reaction to Cherubino’s brush… (gif that is…)
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so, isn’t that Alcina’s dress from the Audi production?
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BWAHAHAAAA. Dyed two shades darker.
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The Countess being surprised and impressed! Nice nice.
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okay, that “avvampar” chinches it. Someone get Ms. Amereau some Vivaldi/Handel trousers, preferably of the piny kind.
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Yes, very nice glimpses what could be!
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Count still didn’t knock.
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Oooh, the shift from schoolboy recitation to active seduction was really good.
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yep. Timbre helps, too.
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are they going to give Cherubino a doilie for the head?
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I fear as much.
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ahhhhahahahaha
as you wish
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*groan*
I shall imagine someone tearing it off, and by someone I mean the Lady of The House.
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😀 what a lettuce!
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Handing over the score… DYING. that is some expert level piny gazing right there.
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Mmmm, and that gazing at the end. Perfection.
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the continuing gazing you mean..
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yes, and does anyone have a not-gay explanation for the Countess fanning herself at seeing Cherubino in a dress?!
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i’ll overlook my hearing issue with Cabell.. that’s some level of exchanging (not so subtle) glances..
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may not get her singing as well as I would like to, but I really applaud her acting here.
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NOPE.
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NO! she loves him the girlier he gets 😀
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okay, I may not get Cabell’s phrasing, but this COuntess’ nerves at seeing Cherubino disrobe? Spot on.
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#HotAndBothered
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tremendously appreciated..
and her recit phrasing is spot on..
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same – I get the recits much better.
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That’s less “masculine striding” and more “pregnant lady waddle,” buddy.
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I don’t see Cherubino objecting to having the Countess’ babies.
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Hahahahaha!
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YEEES, that recit, much better flowing, straighter lines (musically straight I mean)
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yes – much clearer without the vibrato.
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Yes, that was bothering, voi che sapete is just so high.
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ah, I meant Cabell.
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i see, Agathe was paying attention to Cherubino.. while some of us might be paying heightened attention to the Contessa..)
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musically
straightultra bendingthere, fix it for you.
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here, have an excuse to run your hands up those arms…
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off goes the doily!!!
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UM
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Couldn’t Almi have taken longer to button up his shirt I MEAN.
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Taking some liberties there, woo! *fans self*
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nothing that is not in the libretto! 😉
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Cabell’s facial expressions are great, also a great fit with d’Arcangelo.
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really my first experience of her, i like her
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that was a helluva table cherubino knocked over in the closet.
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perhaps it was a basket?
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Ha, a very clangy basket.
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containing the count’s hidden silver!
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no, it was his gold wig! he sweated all nite to prep that!
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hahaha! solid gold! imagine Cherubino’s face when he first saw it.
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*snort*
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jeah, you recall how loud the lid was!
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The first row really gets an upgraded show.
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they were probably young when they started queuing for the tickets to this performance.
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hahaha
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(Dear same haus, please stage D.Anna and D.Elvira walking down to the audience as well. Many thanks in advance.)
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THAT is an argument for first row seats.
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ps: dear haus, please also provide baskets for WS.
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(the WS can bring parts to put together the basket on the fly)
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hahaha, whilst bonding in the £1 queue, perhaps 😉
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roomy baskets.
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how about balloons for larger WS families?
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well, if we want to keep it family friendly, we don’t need the roominess.
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they have the Countess take the high C line? – Very old school.
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Boahh, the wip, I really don’t like the staging, dull and sexist.
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yeah, dangerous cocktail – sexist preserves.
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agree wtih you both
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Did the director practise with the singers at all? What’s that about tempi?
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sorry, the conductor I meant of course. The director obviously did practice some cheap jokes with them
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you’re on a roll 😉 I was gonna bitch about the director missing some obvious choices whilst going for the obvious.
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it would be so easy to improve this by giving the Countess the riding boots and the sword.
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*fans self*
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❤ , to pair with pregnant Cherubino
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escaping by tying one of those baskets to the WS balloon. There. We fixed it.
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can we wait for D.Anna and D.Elvira as well?
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“we need a bigger basket”.
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the conductor probably said “he, if the stage director isn’t working with the singers beyond pushing them in a general direction, I don’t have to either!”
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Cherubino was swallowed by Sauron! 😮
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I was just about to type “Oh no Cherubino is jumping into the eye of Sauron! My preeeeciouuuuus”.
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he will never give up that ribbon if it kills him!
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Hahaha. true, though!
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this conductor can’t keep up with his singers.
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Cabell/d’Arcangelo camping it up soap style is by far the most engaging moment in this staging so far (with the exception of Marcellina, perhaps)
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Good duet Count and Countess, leaving cutesy for a moment at least vocally.
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yes, those two have nice chemistry.
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Have to duck out for about half an hour. See you all in a while!
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See you for Act III CHerubino!
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this is one of the mildest counts I’ve seen! a sort of lecherous Homer Simpson.
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not taking himself too seriousy with taking himself all that seriously?
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bring in donuts and we shall see!
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less than 10 minutes until more Bacelli!
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d’Arcangelo is a RIOT here.
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probably decided that if there is no staging at all, he can just as well telenovela it through the roof.
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(same with the Countess going for it with Cherubino ❤ )
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we have seen all kinds of versions of that already (thankfully!) 🙂
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have we? this is the most agreeable version for me thus far.. clearly i haven’t seen enough Cherubino
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What about the WS Monday called “Oh Countess, my Countess?”
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(i’ll have to dig… am ..
oohhhh, Bacelli has arrive, will talk later)
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same.
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isn’t that why we watch this opera? I’m now enjoying bits I normally skip 😮
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“oh countess my countess” pops right up in the search, and now i shall be late for supper (fanning self wildly)
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Did they just attach a plait to D’Arcagnelo’s natural hair?
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probably? (he DOES have great hair)
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Antonio clearly is an extra rom the Branagh version of “Much Adoe”. Or possibly the older brother of Sabata.
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seriously this conductor…
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omg, gosh i love Bacelli
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i seriously have a thing for this Marcellina
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must be the grinning and the middle range ping.
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the facial expression matching with with *precise* movements, and music. like TOTAL synching. (and you’re right, because i can hear.. but even if i can’t hear.. omg, her hand movements.. i’ll have to research about myself after this..)
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Marcellinas should ALWAYS have early music phrasing experience, she can make sense of that whole scene on her own, directing attempts or lack thereof be damned.
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this could still totally be Tamerlano
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oh, she’s totally get her own dancing gif..
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yes please!!
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Tamerlano, the happy ending version.
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where Tamerlano gets to marry Figaro after Andronico skips town with Asteria?
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Figaro? you mean the Susanna? while the Countess invites her as special counsel for her wife (Cherubino) ‘s grand movements.
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bargain!
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Haha, Bacelli 😀
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left to themselves they made it like a Rossini act ending (no complaints from me).
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cleary making the best of the circumstances
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hahaha, jeah, i forgot which opera this was
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Probably at one point no one took it seriously any more, so they were just throwing their own party.
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😀
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Marcellina & Count are clearly having fun!
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oh, Alcina is back!!
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Do you mean Count or Countess?!
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i was thinking of that fluff on the Countess’s hair? (and the dress)
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yes, just kidding.
I thought at first some dove had gotten lost in there and lost all their feathers.
And with whatever was left of the fabric, they cushioned the high chairs.
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Against my better judgment, I like this goofball Count. Something about making the character vulnerable by joking about him at the same time.
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He is a fun actor and a sensitive singer.
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(at times. i think this small haus helps tremendously with his engagement and sounding fresh and spontaneous.)
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Oh right, that could play a role, I was not so impressed by his Figaro in Munich might have to do with the house size.
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he has great material, and it’s still in splendid shape. Staging-wise, he could be horriby smarmy & sexist DonG a decade or so ago; this here is clearly a work of growth.
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I like the count a lot. I really dislike the heavily dickish ones.
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this one’s fun ike Figaro is fun sometimes, with poking fun at hegemonic masculinity. The abusive riding crop wielding brutes (Fischer-Dieskau…) do make a point on class and gender systems, but I really dislike them.
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I guess we all know how women have been treated down the ages so snark is easier to digest.
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Ohhh, this is cute even when acted a bit silly, and D’Arcagnelo’s singing can’t be completely spoiled by the conducting.
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yes. and he is spoofing his own DonG masculinity, going all out. Not too many guys who would do that.
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sorry, when the countess came in i mistook her for the marschallin which sent me on a search…
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haha
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she definitely borrowed something from her closet here.
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Yep. They probably share a closet though right? (oh wait. that was that fanfic we read…)
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right, that fanfic!!
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He’s saving the show here, (looking forward to his Assur!!)
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that should be great.
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(my impression of him has been mixed.. here he’s super spontaneous, like in that Wien DonG.. but that donG with MP in that disgusting staging, it was beyond repair his tiring singing.. might have been protest..)
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yes, this one here is reminding me that he can be far better if given the chance. That PukeGiovanni was really beyond saving.
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you know, i’m beginning to think Cabell is great in arias that require power and movements , not the slow burning ones…
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is this vibrato something she can not take out? or is it her choice to sing with it?
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I know it’s very big for Mozart. I think they tried to balance it with that sparkly bunny in her hair.
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(Roschmann ❤ ❤ ❤ )
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Sigh yes, we still need to live blog a Röschmann Countess!
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YES! 😀
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well, there is the Berlin one with Crebassa, right?
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Yes Yes Yes!
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But, maybe we should Idomoeneo first, since T. is so enthusiastic about Bacelli right now?
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Idomeneo would be great, I love that staging. – I’m out the next two Saturdays, though. And didn’t you want to do Galatea with SM first?
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❤
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Looks like we’ll need one of those roomy baskets for all the hearts 😉
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#RöschmannReaction
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lighten the mood, put some sparklers in the wig!
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I love it when it moves! and it’s such a earnest aria! ahaha.
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HAHA
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if she went less for power, perhaps…
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I would guess a bit of both? Her take seems heavy to me, rather old-school (though I find her really alert in acting) – she does pull-backs to piano that seem near abrupt given the weight she puts in; and I think I share your impression of phrase length. Still, I like this one more than her Alcina and her Giulietta.
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may be here we can kind of work it into a spunky Contessa?
ihihihihi, here again my lady… smooch smooch..
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i do appreciate her expressiveness in her acting.
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I don’t know, her dynamics seem a bit studied to me? Often a tiny bit too much?
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Yes, I guess that is what I mean? Starting a size too big, and then the nuance gets lost? And it is old-school in sort of emulating the great of the 60s?
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Well, friends, I’m home, and ARTE will not let me skip to any time but the start, so I believe that’s it for me today. 😦
I’ll read through the comments at the end, though!
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oh, that’s too bad.
(we just make it to Dove sono)
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This uninspired conducting really irks me. It seems to be the singers showing where to go, and then it’s like, “Oh OK I could do a bit here”.
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yeah, it’s really tepid, and ham-handed and often out of sync. Slobby mezzoforte and an occasional thought of “Ah, right, there is a singer up there.”
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yeah, it’s annoying.
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omg, Bacelli killed me here! Hahaha!
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got that soap energy down to a T!
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I still can’t believe it’s the same person who usually sings such heartfelt arias to damsels in distress!!!
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well, she is about to put the moves on Susanna. The mother in law moves.
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have you seen Tamerlano?
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not sure, having a mental fart, I’ve seen her in quite a number of things.
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Tamerlano really helps.
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❤ ❤ ❤
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*phrasing* ahhhhhh, major hearting.
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and the shade of “And this is your Dad” BWAHAHAAA:
and now the Count having a breakdown. Watching for usually underappreciated scenes, indeed.
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oh gosh, i love her phrasing. how she sang the words. the weights. and the gestures, and the wide smiles..
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so sad she doesn’t have her own aria. soooooo saaaaaadddd
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is her Act IV aria cut?
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oh, no idea, i didn’t know. i don’t know the opera well!
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You really need to see Idomeneo at this point!
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oh yes, her Idamante is the adorable kind of dashing, and also has a dose of Hillary and I just ❤ ❤
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Hillary, hihi!
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(jeah, we’ll see. i can’t believe how much i enjoyed her in this non-trouser role. I think it’s normally the case for me, to see the singer in something non-typical to really appreciate their acting & phrasing , hence VK & Helene..)
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true, always a good way to see new aspects in a cherished singer. (lmits apply when it comes to Verdi/PUccini…)
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Like, you only know someone is truly great when they pass the ugly-dress test? Yes!
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i think poor VK might win that contest… that dress they put her in for Hélène was something… and that dress she had on for Rosina in Zürich rivaled if not surpassed…
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that Rosina was a visual challenge, but she came through!
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(and as far as dresses go, i thought this fit very nicely!! and i really like those curls on her hair 😀 )
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if Leia can do cinnamon buns and lead a revolution, why should Marcellina not do the same.
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Hihi, I think your vision is blurred by your Bacelli situation!
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i have been thinking about this, i am quite certained i dont have a Bacelli situation 🙂 . and strangely it was her tole in dress that drew my attention to finally really appreciate her movements/gestures and phrasing.. rather than the other way around of somehow having the situation clouded my judgement and admiring her in dress :-). i also worked it out that it has to do with the actual color of her voice , somehow it doesnt paralize me…
i can also assure you i have a serious Mingardo situation 😉 , have been since Aug 2014… also interestingly with her i can identify regardless of whether she is in a dress or in trousers. and after seeing Bacelli ( and hearing both you and Dehggi complaining about the dress) i wonder actually if i somehow nornally dont look at them as much but rather at body postures and angles. (and voice, being the primary reason of course, before any postures/gestures even come in play)
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Interesting, I think clothes often matter for me, also because they are linked to movements/posture/stance? But clearly there are exception from this in some singers, who don’t correspond to traditional displays of femininity when wearing a dress.
I agree about the voices, my reaction to Bacelli is often more a ‘really cool’ and I think her general stance is a core part of her appeal, while Mingardo yes, ‘paralizing’, that’s the right description, she makes me feel physically weak, and why did it take me such a while to really ‘get’ her voice?
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now that i think about it: i do pay attention to clothes, but in a sense that they don’t hinder but highlight the movements. Like Bacelli’s dress in this prod, i find it punctuates her gestures and facial expressions very well: i could see her arm extension all the way to the tip of her fingers, and the wrist angles/gesturing, and eyebrow! 😀 , and that adooooorable smile while sheepishly asking for something, soo in tune.
i know we also talked about this before as well: designs that allows free-movements and punctuate angles (ze shirt + pants in Paris, even Aspasia’s dress, and VK’s shirt in Orphée..) vs designs only for the look or destroys the angles / limiting movements (this Galatea’s dress at the knees, wrong material on shirt on Romeo in Munich, etc.) . And indeed when putting on the trousers i think you get to see the postures more i tend to believe because they highlight different angles (Ottone in particular, of angles we might never see from S.Mingardo otherwise).
I wonder if Mingardo singing the same repertoire as S.Prina’s is one of the reasons it took you a while to investigate her? 🙂 . That’s the reason it took me such a long time to appreciate Ann Hallenberg. i was thinking about it yesterday while walking home from work: that i managed to explore Mingardo simply because she has ZERO overlap with Kasarova. (Almost the same goes with Antonacci).
(ps- oh, “paralyzing”, not only is she shutting down my brain, now I also can’t speak properly either, might need the basket! )
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I can already see that I’ll be the designated blog driver tomorrow; your amount of pre-blog fangirling is outmaxing the scale!
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tehee
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Hihi (but it was you who started all the δ talk, I’m simply adapting)
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Angles, yes, I need to think more about this, probably much of this works subconsciously, and you may be better than me or others in looking ‘through’ the outer appearances like clothing (Ehem, this sounds a bit cheesy, but you know how I mean it).
You’re probably right about the overlap with Sonia Prina because when you are obsessed with one approach on a piece it is difficult to appreciate others for the moment. I always found Mingardo’s voice very pleasant, but since her voice is warmer than Prina’s, it was also harder for me to overcome that perception of an alto voice as ‘mature’ or ‘matronly’ (in a very feminine way), and I think I had this perception quite internalized from many years of oratorio singing/listening. So, it is a bit embarassing to apparently ‘work’ that simple, but having that voice connected to someone who is super attractive at first sight and not matronly at all seemed to do the trick for me (remember when you posted the Ottone picture during a live blog?). And I wonder how much of angles and stance was already showing on that single picture, because it really was an eye opener. Although, before, in the Aix Trionfo, I do remember being intrigued by her smile already.
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ah, it was the picture! how cool 🙂 . i wasn’t sure at all, i put it there mainly for me to drool while whining about missing the contralto. it was a pleasant surprise to see your sudden interest 😉 . and i had it taken wrong that you might have thought hers is a “feminine” approach ( we’ll even have to elaborate what i mean there at some point.. ), but that’s why i thought once the army uniform was off your interest would immediately dropped.. so was internally happy to hear another person who also hearing SM well..
i’ll have to think how this works in general… but i believe how we see “beyond” an appearance is quite similar, even if what we look for might be different:
For example, i had always taken (before, based on her Polinesso in Aix) that S.Prina’s approach was always very “angular” and “tough” .. which i interpreted as 1d, and it was her Cesare, showing vulnerability (remember that scene she pounded the chest, then at the slightest noise panic and ran off..) and immediately i catch on to the “artist” rather than a 1d singer.. and further evidence of course in her sensitive delivery of Rinaldo, which from the first look is also quite a tough dude.. so i think it’s at that level of eureka that we “hear” the finer details. And for artists who are that talented that once we get over a certain self hurdle then it works for us, no matter with outside influence or not.
back a little bit to her Ottone: indeed i was truly happy to see her in this role, because i’ve already known how she portrayed female roles and Polinesso.. but this one was eye opening in how she approaches “caring for someone” in the most basic sense instead of imitating movements / postures to appear male. Perhaps similar to what she said in that Andronico’s interview: seeking a point where she and the role merge into one and she is the person with that feeling, rather than imitating.
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…catching up on this! First, I need to look at the picture again, it was the Schwetzingen Poppea, right? Ah, yes, really lovely, that relaxed posture and the combination of uniform and roses, but of course it’s only getting really interesting when you connect that to the voice. Her approach on Ottone was very moving, you really have to explain what you mean by ‘feminine’, but if it includes more human weakness and insecurities versus being tough and ready to fight at all times, I’m all for feminine approaches in trouser roles.
As you say, Mingardo is very authentic in her roles, merging with a role, but I do wonder if her male and female roles do have different movements and gestures? And if yes, is it because of the characters gender or more because they are just different characters? I seems to me Galatea does have a different way of moving but that may really be only because of the constricting dress (Now that you’ve mentioned it, I can’t unsee it, and it really bothers me).
Btw. I may have given the wrong impression in what I’m looking for with my thing for Polinesso, but in fact I think that is more a case of appreciating a favourite singer and her acting abilities in whatever role, after having discovered her in other roles before (Rinaldo definately has a soft side and that Cesare was just very funny and cute in his imperfections) and once you have seen their soft side, it is easier to even appreciate brutish behaviour in Polinesso?
Oh and, also connecting to ‘feminine’ Ottone, since the topic of the gender of trouser roles did come up repeatedly lately, I thought about it, and I think I usually see them as women, but need to pay attention if there are exceptions in some cases (i.e. once they are having a beard or a very convincing costume/makeup, it’s getting more confusing of course).
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❤
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And I have always been drawn to her voice, but knew her only from non-opera and concert repertory, so until Aix and Ottone, she wasn’t that much on my radar as a stage singer, i.e. For gestures/movements/stances.
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