Welcome to the White Shirt live comment thread for Handel’s “Aci, Galatea & Polifemo” from Turin (2017), with Antonio Florio conducting and staged by Davide Livermore.
Cast List:
Sara Mingardo (Galatea)
Luisa Baldinetti (Galatea’s double)
Ruth Rosique (Aci)
Cristina Banchetti (Aci’s double)
Antonio Abete (Polifemo)
Sax Nicosia (Polifemo’s double)
Librettolibretto (1708 version): here in English and Italian, here in German and Italian.
Hallo, ready for some serious fangirling!
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I brought the oxygen tanks, here I am.
I’ll also watch on the low-fi YT because the Dropbox has been saying “temporarily not working” all week, so we should be save!
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oh, how annoying. grrrr. high res would have been nice!!
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someone needs to be driving the blog car, after all. And the quality just autoadjuste to 240, so I should be sufficiently sober.
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here!
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ok, 1 minute to start?
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sure
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OK, start?
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ah, there we are! :15! START!
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wonder if i should care to look at libretto? (would i have time? between all the shoulders?)
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forget the libretto, watch the screen
(what a start!)
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❤
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I think I have to make another tr for the HD later.
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a must…
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hands…
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head tilt…
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I think I am still somewhere at ð and I like that jacket and hey, that is one version I sky bue that I don’t mind because it doesn’t come with a 31-y.o. jerk attached.
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I don’t even have time to write
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hahaa.
does anyone care about the plot at this point?!
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please note her speed of walking too…
(oh, now on bed…)
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didn’t you say hypnotizing this week?
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(oh Anik, it was this soprano that i thought you should pay attention to range, for the role Aci…)
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definitely, I vote for the dancer’s jacket for that soprano.
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This doesn’t give us much time to adapt, does it?
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no, very proper start
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attention facial expression.. it was her expression here that gave me the depth of her acting.. (and not afraid, rather in character)
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(don’t mind me, i’ll move on at some point…)
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…but we don’t want you to!
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(guess what i’m currently listening to on 2nd screen.. while desperately trying to produce a figure for the main slide…)
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Meanwhile, me waking up with coffee and lovely screencaps 🙂
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(i haven’t moved on… was here the entire weekend too)
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Oh dear, I’m now watching this on the bigger screen and in hig res….
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no return to blurry after, ever
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*sigh*
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Where should I look, the dancing is nice, but distracting, ahh finally duet starts
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HELLLO CONTRAST
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there needs to be literature for contraltos as female leads.
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❤
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now i go full screen…
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the orchestration sounds really slender here, chamber take – very clear plus no one needs to push, Nice!
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hands…
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here. at head tilt.
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Ah, I am finally getting the head tilt pattern, also on the WS balloon.
>
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…just rewatched the first scene, head tilt and that loving expression…
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You’re contributing to a really productive afternoon on my side of the pond…
>
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Yeah, productivity…. (had just forced myself to start creating table, than you start talking about SP’s shoulder again…)
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haha. and i am now proceeding to giving practice talk, have to make sure to kill ALL tabs…
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haaaannnds… and facial expression…
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…and phrasing, lamento style.
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omg, this aria.. (and the amount of dance & ∂…, in high res…..)
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yes the ð have me kind of overwhelmed (have we seen the dancer in something else? She seems familiar!)
what’s with the creepy butterflies?
(and someone already knows how this wil end, at least it sounds like that)
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sigh…
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more sighs.
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I think they wouldn’t even need the dancers, both singers would do well taking over the dancing as well.
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we want them to focus on the essentials, though. 😀
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and dancers = allowing that Galatea’s double effect.. @-@
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Time for the workout verdict?
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jawdropping. plus great lightning.
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MUUUCH more favourable than the hair verdict!
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hair, what hair.
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I think we had a really gaudy nativity set with angels who had lametta hair like that at some point. That, or someone broke in the DonG depot at Vienna Staatsoper.
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Haha, that very same thought may have crossed my mind
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if i was that dancer.. and she was singing just behind like that.. drop dead.. knees spontaneous buckle..
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slowly descending..
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I guess they specifically cast dancers immune to contralto sound and delts.
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these visuals with the arms slowly raising.. with the incredible amount of arms overlapping.. majorily distracting…
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yes, you would not have gotten cast there as a dancer, except for as a moth who is currentlly going up in this candle/contralto flames.
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i thought you were saying the moth going up the contralto’s arm…
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I should have thought of that scenario. here, have some oxygen.
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LOL!
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i’m supposed to be producing slides.. good lighting you said?
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Excellent lightning! I vote for adding it to your slides. 😀
>
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Only now, after you’ve pointed it out, thadieu, In notice how the dress is quite limiting movements of the legs (still, this may be the only setting where this ‘mermaid’ style has some justification)
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but i think that’s why the dancer was always there (behind her, pass out..) with 2 arms support ❤
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Yeah, but if you were the dancer you would need catching, not her.
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Lol. I agree.
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and oxygen!! i would have majorily delayed the contralto.. would be interesting to see how i’d negotiate with self as i *must* be conscious to *help* the contralto..
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you think you would be able to spell a big word like “negotiate”? Uh-hum.
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🙂
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I thought the double-pointed train was a butterfy reference?
PS. Mingardo also does frozen face rather well.
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jeah, it was actually interesting to see her does that. i think it’s intentional (originally i thought she checked out…)
those glares are also quite effective
butterfly? hmm, i might need to sort out brain to *think*
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Isn’t Galatea supposed to be a mermaid or did I mix this up over deltas?
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you probably mix it up less than I do, at least for that particular reason.
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no idea, not sure if i even know the story
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soprano and contralto in love, mainpaining sexist butts in, ending could use rewriting.
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only now noticing that dancer Galatea has a shorter skirt – yeah, focus.
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—holding back Aci, not hiding behind…
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holding back WITH ARMS.
because cinammon roll hubby running off in a jealous fit to face a monster twice is not a smart idea. clearly Galatea got brawns and brains here.
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jeah, and walked in front of Aci to face the brute
(he was the one holding the book in ACA’s Nerone , and also there in ACA’s Agrippina)
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now everyone covering their ears at the bellowing Baroque Wotan impersonator.
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…soprano trouser smurf should listen to her girlfriend.
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Missing Pisaroni, possibly my only straight moment this evening.
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*snort*
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his singing is a bit blurry . this staging requires a lot of posing and coordination.. and at times become static (when a certain singing is not
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…pretty much.
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haha
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Haha, the bewildered expression, like, what the hell?
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(she has quite a few facial expressions, the stoic look, the bewildered..
oh, she’s back singing again, hang on.. now taking it to the brute)
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she could hold unto me for support when singing.
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…how very generous of you.
(PS. support is not “in a heap at someone’s (vocal) feet”)
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Chuckle…
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jeah, normally i’d compete with you.. except i kept collapsing on the floor in the other corner..
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good think I have these oxygen tanks to casually lean onto to pretend I am standing upright on my own.
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(a very good starting point to discuss more “type” 🙂 . though if i’m correct you were also offering shoulder for S.Prina’s Galatea? (did she need any support?) )
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Haha, do you remember Prina’s seductive shoulder roll in Sorge il di? (not really my thing typewise, but still unforgettable)
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*staring off into space*
Yes, I think we all remember THAT. 😉
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Polifemo needs to treat himself a little nicer. Really, that just breeds abuse.
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oxygen Anik, please. this speed of coloratura, and that heft
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the flexing needed to land that low note..
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and on that issue, THAT LOW NOTE.
My 2017 aesthetic: contraltos calling out sexist abusers.
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YEEEEEES.
here, will uncooordinatedly throw you a full tan because distracted by take on aria.
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Hngg, what was that octave drop!
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I think a domino cause because I don’t know about you two, but I dropped to the floor ehre.
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(check my comment waaay above, also continously dropping, knees just evaporate..)
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oh, now the bass is gonna whine for like 4 min, recovery time…
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His double is SERIOUS about his miming, though.
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hihihi , and nice contralto with stoic face in back drop too.. hand in hand with her dancer..
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united front!
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oh, whining done.. OH NO, she also left the stage!! NOOOoooooo , what should i do now? (get up td, now is your chance, go help the contralto, she might need some leaning-on behind dat door.)
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think about soprano options. Obviously.
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oh, right, Anik, i asked before.. about someone singing Aci?
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Isn’t Aci more a light coloratura part?
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yes i know, doesn’t prevent me from checking out what is possible.. you know how much i wish for ze shirt next to this Galatea
ohhh, she’s back.. talk later.
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more a coloratura than a lyric, agreed but it probably depends on how you want to do it? The first aria has quite a bit more weight than this one and you would need a flexible voice, but it wouldn’t need to be the piercing kind of bright.
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Invernizzi’s version is really good…
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Sigh, Invernizzi…
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the bass’s double has pretty cool facial expression and acting . the knife plunges here also quite good in missing (good acting)
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this sudden emptiness…
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Ah OK, here singer and double mix,
Her sound is very straightforward, but involved acting.
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kind of soubrett-ish? Bright, but unicolor piercing front seat, plus a bit of vibrato that seems a styistic choice?
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she’s the Drusilla in Connolly’s Nerone in Liceu
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oh, I will have to look for that next time!
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Bring a fish knife and a harpsichord to a duel. Yep, that’s gonna end wel.
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She’s back!
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oh, she’s coming to help Aci… back then mermaids don’t have swords?
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no, i get it now, no need for swords. the low notes! and growl. take that!
to this tune.. ❤
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(coming tune, you know i have watched this before!)
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yup, little butterfly recorders plus something that sounds suspiciously like harp? (Dantone used a harp in the Cesare and guuuuuh…. that was lovely.)
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if he is a siren, she does not need a sword, she can just sing it.
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No, but this is interesting, as much as I sometimes appreciate swords, I don’t see Mingardo in a character using violence, maybe has to do with what you meant by ‘feminine approach’? (only just read your comment, will reply more tomorrow)
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an approach not prescribing to physical violence/physical threat? (back with the non-toxic thing)
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(jeah, just me. note the amount of time i ask for swords whenever a brute barged into a female or trouser character’s space)
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(no, i sometimes just have the urge to plunge it through bad guys, it’s my thing. jeah, i much prefer her to send him her low notes and phrasing)
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no, i was referring more to her more “rounded” movements. I see Barcellona’s and Prina’s movements always as more “angular”, if that makes any sense.. Mingardo’s movements are always on the smoother/gentler approach to me, that’s what i mean.
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and thus my usage of the word “feminine” is wrong, because it stereotyping/boxing movements instead of reacting from the core.
further elaboration: i don’t know if we’d ever see Mingardo portraying Polinesso like SP’s in Aix or Carnegie Hall. Or the other way around, would we see SP as that gentle Polinesso in the puppet show? Take also the role Juditha we we have only heard both of them vocally: even on the vocal level their takes are different. There is of course no need for comparison, as long as both approaches make sense to our brain. But i think at the time i was not sure if Mingardo’s more gentle approach , esp. in trouser roles, were aligning with you 🙂 , given how much you enjoyed S.Prina’s movements and phrasing. (not sure if i’m making any sense here..)
(ok, now i go get coffee for *real*, and start working on slides..)
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Haha, this is all going in parallel, seems our thoughts are very similar (see other reply over at Figaro’s). But to add, I think even if we are talking about very experienced and versatile actors and we can’t conclude from role portrayals on a singers’ private life, their acting starts somewhere, and it probably does include bits of their personality which they bring into all their roles to some, if only little, extend?
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This is a good point, I hope i find the time to come back to this some more.
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Ah, OK, just refered to that on the other post. Rounded movements, OK, but yes, otherwise we men the same thing I think, a more gentle approach.
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i like the accentuation in the strings!
and the bass is not quite up to the role methinks.
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“il fjo-ho-määäh…” well. Some air on the, which flattens the sound, and, more than that, recurring spots of tightness/lack of elasticity?
I like the very “branch yes, leaves no” take the pit shows.
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He obviously does not dare to slap Galatea, Oh,I hope she won’t slap him either, does not fit for me.
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no, she let him have it with the melancholy aria ❤
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i did read up the meaning of this aria. it’s about sailing boats coming to shore in peaceful time, or something like that..(?) . very very big picture.. , sort of stepping out of the person to see
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and her double is back ❤
(omg, now they're doing that again, walking back-to-front.. help..)
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i reallly like the dancer’s arm and body movements in this dance sequence, and the separation
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oh, sorry there Agathe, there are 2 hiccups in this high res, argh
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was interesting to see the contrast between S.Mingardo’s breaking the extension (as a non-dancer) versus how her double extended it 🙂 .
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let me get back to that in HD once DB stops acting up.
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(*must*)
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butterfly dance vs. singing focus? Yes, it’s effective when the dancers vary from the singers.
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standard Baroque metaphor – boat at sea (either in storms, or not). Particularly fitting for a mermaid, though!
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he just went after her girfriend!! – well, she does it at a distance.
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Wow, credits to Rosique for still making that outfit kind of work.
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the sound contrast!
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in the ensemble that is.. to woodwinds and harpsichords
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at least they brought back-up this time!
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yep, that is… really unfair. And rather unfortunate.
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oh? i meant i love the contrast in sound when SM entered, lying below all, and with heft
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Now onto file 2!
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well, at least I can skip that step.
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well, that was a quick first act.. 2nd?
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of course!
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Ok, time to appreciate the holding
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Or no, that’s the dancer.
Ah, she’s back with a shorter dress!
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yes, where did the rest of the dress go?
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Haha, thadieu and me both wanted to help her when she was offstage.
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hihihi
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oh, let me watch closely..
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Addio? why? why is she leaving? (will read later libretto..)
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what is he singing here? why does he have extended time? :p
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somethign about belittling confused butterflies.
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The whole libretto is rather confusing, no real storyline
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which is why we just need to watch 🙂
this is an interesting in that right out of the gate you (we, us,) have NO time to breath.. then only 1/2 way in we ponder the story..
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good tactic. 🙂
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right take on that from the start
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if you think about it: this was how i discovered her Galatea. Same with her entrance for Ottone. Maxing it out right out of the gate! INSTANT fan!
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Why is the bed made up ‘Princess and the pea’ style?
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haha, the things we wonder when the contralto is offscreen
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lovely uplifting tune
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oh, interesting, is Aci alone? without the double?
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speaking of which, you know what i really love: that both doubles are female!
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Very clearly Aci is a woman here
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yes, that crossed my mind early on, too. What a respite!
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a little too on the coloratura-y side for others…
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(but they, those first 10 minutes would go well)
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Gasp…
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where are you? ah, i think you’re a split second ahead of me! she’s coming with that LOOOOW recit! that voice & heft is really something as soon as she starts.
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Yes, that was the ‘gasp’
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ps- this is my *official* discovery of her acting! back in Aug 2014, i discovered her via puppet, then wanted to find out *anything* of hers, and came upon this exact clip!!
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you certainly know how to make an entrance, too!
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Was just about to comment on dress change, now fighting off fainting at lascia mi sola..
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that slow ascent.. *help*
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the pain in the face
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hands!!
(and please note her change of speed as soon as she walked past Aci, omg. )
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hmm…wait, the long ress is back?
(do I care?)
(but why did they change it temporarily? Did she need more fredome of movement for the staging).
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*sh*t* that was the 2nd hiccup on the high res, reaaaaly sorry
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yes, that gasp was well-timed. The whole show is very much hinging on cues – great when it works, not so great when it’s hit and miss.
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very much on cue here.. (oxygen please)
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can’t think, that are really low notes and lethal lyric lines involved.
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i’m even trying to think if you can find any current singer who can sing that low with this amount of full expression..
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no as relaxed or with as much ease, no pressure, and keeping that kind of flow.
Galou kind of has a similar ring in range, but she does not have that effortless ‘hypnotizing’ roundness.
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‘hypnotizing roundness’! (making a note of this description)
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🙂
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the head tilts at the end..
(never mind the phrasing..)
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what’s with the losing clothes at random intervals?
(and wait, that duet is aso in… wait – whe—
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the voice mixing is incredible, and the effect of the low deep voice
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something about the difference in the somber moods in their singing about making love and watching as a 3rd person is quite heart breaking.
(though i did wonder whether it was done for gazing or artistic…)
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might work both – the sadness and knowing that this won’t end well and what they’re losing and that they can’t defend themselves against intruding evil?
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😥
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I think it may have a point artistically, but too much distraction from the singing for me (well, I’m torn here)
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but it does take a stance on Aci’s gender, or genderlessness?
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Yes, true
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Wow, that’s a lot of action in a few minutes, now Aci dead, and I’m still hung up with the duet .
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😥
with Galatea standing there not able to do anything
to this line of Aci’s music
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I think my problem with the staging approach is, that I really cannot see her double as Mingardo, such a difference
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i can in the sense that she also has a “afraid” side, and here she can see that side as a 3rd person. quite heart breaking
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all that to the recit..
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Ah, OK, I didn’t get that so far, need to pay attention to this point next time
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(i’m not gonna tell you how many times i’ve listened to this.. without exactly knowing the story of course..)
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I guess it will take a while until I’m through with this (probably never completely)
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(jeah, and you might see now what i mean by her in trousers or dress apparently work for me both.. well, as i said, i saw her first as Polinesso, then Galatea, then Ottone.. 🙂 )
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I feel the discussion going on throughout the next week, I’ve lots of thoughts still halfway in my mind… but off to sleep for now…
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(please keep writing during the week.. i might be slow to reply but will follow intently.. conference time again..)
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especially since the discussion has already been going on for a week…! We will just continue for another week. Or two.
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jeah, you know it’s coming.
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and now she’s back with her powerful double!
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and in middle of defiance, mourning the loss of Aci (B-section) 😥
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jeah, you can see the “real” Galatea is constantly fighting off, while her double at times can not, and at others managed to be more courageous than her. i like it a lot.
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or is fighting, but not from such a point of agency.
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jesh, looking for higher power (wishful sometimes..)
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And this is the difference for me, i.e. how she managed to make the slapping not look a helpless attempt to fight, but as an inner impulse.
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So enjoying this aria! What a lovely contrast between energetic A and thoughtful B part.
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orchestra did a superb job
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great Handel work!
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(but some conductor still makes agitated porridge out of it! luckily not here
oh, Aci is back with Galatea in the baack..)
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and mouthing along Polifemo’s words? I think Polifemo is quoting him, though? nice detail.
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Just too short!
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but the good thing about that is that you can watch it on a weeknight and still get enough sleep 🙂
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or through the night while working
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is this a higher concentration of contralto range than Tamerlano? serious concentration..
who had time to see some strange butterflies flapping in the background’s stage?
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and she has the edge in the voice for the fiery arias as well. that, and rhythmically how she’s coordinating with the orchestra (or how orchestra works very well with her in building the tension)
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Yes, the voice really gets a different ‘character’ in the faster, more energetic parts, more radiating versus heartbreakingly pining (here we are again)!
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Here we are again, and likely forever 🙂
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Sigh, voice sounding through in ensemble and that stance…
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I don’t even remind the moral sentences that way.
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sobbing, the end already
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Thank you, that was a really lovely ending to a really stressful week. Goodnight/Good day to you two!
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good night to you. many thanks for putting up with me (us) on a very busy weekend!
Agathe, hope you will sleep well too. i might hit the repeat button.. after i get my milk tea..
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Good night/good day to you both!
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