Die Walküre

Jim and I recently saw the Metropolitan Opera high definition cinecast of Die Walküre, the second of the four Der Ring des Nebelungen. It touched me deeply and unexpectedly. I originally decided to go on the strength of the other HD operas we’ve seen. I’ve never been interested in Wagner, although I have always loved his “Pilgrims’ Chorus”. The length of each opera was daunting and off-putting. However, the movie, Wagner’s Dream,  which chronicled the production of the recent Met Ring cycle, piqued my interest.

I was totally unprepared for the emotional experience I had during Die Walküre. There were no hummable tunes, I understood very little of the German and was aware that the subtitles didn’t offer a complete script. Yet, I was swept away and mesmerized. The four and a half hours seemed short.

One reason for the peak experience was the skill of the acting. Perhaps because I couldn’t follow all of the lyrics I was keyed into the facial and bodily expressions of emotional and intent. I especially appreciated Wotan, but I was drawn in by all the characters: Siegmund, Sieglinde, Hunding, and Fricka.

But I think, even more than the acting, the themes and emotions captured my imagination. The interactions: between husband and wife, father and daughter, lovers, and enemies were so compelling. They touched chords deep within me and I discovered that I yearn to explore those primal emotions.

I’m intrigued with the concept of myth describing the human condition. I enjoy thinking about how the Ring cycle compares to biblical accounts and how George Lukas must have been influenced by Wagner and the original Norse myths themselves.

Some religious parallels I saw: Siegmund is like Adam. He’s imperfect and fallen and unable to save the world. Siegfried, born of an outcast mother, but protected by Brunnhilde, is a savior figure. Fricka is justice, Brunnhilde mercy.

Verdi's Don Carlo

On Saturday, December 11, the Metropolitan Opera will offer a live cinecast of its current production, Verdi's Don Carlo. Anthony Tommasini, opera critic of the New York Times gave the production a good review:

Verdi's Don Carlo is the "Hamlet" of Italian opera. Every production of this
profound and challenging work is a major venture for an opera company. The
Metropolitan Opera has to be pleased, over all, with its new
staging...which...earned an enthusiastic ovation.
The cast is mostly
excellent...Yannick Nezet-Seguin, the 35-year-old Canadian conductor, designated
to become the music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra...drew a richly
textured, inexorably paced and vividly characterized account of Verdi's epic
score from the great Met orchestra...he is a born communicator who brought
youthful passion and precocious insight to his work.
If there is nothing
very daring about the production, it is alive with striking images. The ominous
monastery of San Yuste in Spain is framed by looming black walls with rows of
square windows through which crisscrossing shafts of sunlight shine. The scene
in the public square…is played before an ornate gold church and culminates with
the glimpse of bodies on a flaming pyre in the background.

Don Carlo is based on a dramatic poem by Frederich Schiller and which is based very loosely on the history of King Philip II of Spain. Don Carlo, the young and impetuous son of Phillip, visits France and meets his betrothed, Elisabeth, the daughter of Henry II of France, in a forest near her castle. They swear eternal love, but are almost immediately informed that as part of the peace treaty between Spain and France, Phillip will wed Elisabeth instead. Elisabeth reluctantly agrees to the marriage for the good of her people.
Anthony Tommasini:

…the bass Ferruccio Furlanetto, as Philip…brought aching expressivity and
stentorian sound to the scene in his lonely study at night,…overcome with
anguish as he confronts the reality of his life: a young wife who never loved
him; a rebellious, contemptuous son; subjects who fear him.
The lovely
Russian soprano Marina Poplavskaya, as Elisabeth…with her luminous singing,
beautiful pianissimo high notes and unforced power, was a noble, elegant
Elisabeth. Somehow the cool Russian colorings of her voice brought out the
apartness of the character, a young woman in a loveless marriage in a foreign
land.

My favorite character in the recording we have listened to many times, is the mezzo-soprano, Eboli, the beautiful and vain princess who is in love with Don Carlo and believes he is in love with her. She has a wonderful aria lamenting her fatal gift of beauty, which has brought her to ruin. Again, Tommasini:

The weak link was the Russian mezzo-soprano Anna Smirnova, in her Met debut, as
Princess Eboli, though weak is hardly the word to describe her go-for-broke
singing. Her sound was enormous, but there was too much raw bellowing. Eboli, a
dark beauty who has been the king’s mistress, is a seductress but also a victim.
She should be sultry, not blowsy.

While Verdi worked on this opera, he wrote to his publisher, “There is nothing historical in this drama.”
The historical Don Carlos, Prince of Asturias (1545-1568), was the eldest son of Philip II. He had only 6 great-grandparents, out of a possible 16, which may have contributed to his delicate constitution and mental instability. At age 17 he fell down a flight of stairs and suffered severe head injuries. Afterwards his behavior became progressively more bizarre and unpredictable.
He was betrothed to Elisabeth of Valois, daughter of Henry II of France, when they were both 14. I doubt they ever met during this time, as she lived in France (sharing a bedroom with young Mary, Queen of Scots) and he in Spain. The following year, as part of a peace treaty, his father, Philip, age 32, married Elisabeth. Philip was so enchanted with her that he soon gave up his mistress. Elisabeth wrote to her mother, Catherine de Medici, that she was fortunate to have married so charming a prince. Philip stayed near Elisabeth’s side when she suffered from smallpox. Clearly this was not “a young woman in a loveless marriage in a foreign land.”
When Don Carlos did not receive the expected command of Philip’s forces in the Netherlands at age 22, he may have contacted rebels in the area, and planned to leave Spain. When King Philip learned of these plans, he had Don Carlos imprisoned in solitary confinement. Elisabeth was always fond of Don Carlos and cried for days after hearing this. When Don Carlos died six months later, it was rumored that Philip had him poisoned, but modern historians believe he died of natural causes, perhaps of eating disorders. Coincidentally, Elisabeth died that same year, from complications after the miscarriage of her fifth daughter. They were both 23.
Philip II of Spain (1527-1598) ruled over Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and the seventeen provinces that made up the Low Countries (modern-day Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg). During 1554 to 1558, while married to Queen Mary I, Henry VIII’s first daughter (“Bloody Mary”), he was also King of England and Ireland. During his reign Spain explored and colonized territories on all the continents known to Europeans at the time. Spain was a major player in the geopolitics of the day and the Philippines were named after him.
In 1563 he was described by a Venetian ambassador Paolo Fagolo: “his overall appearance is very attractive. He dresses very tastefully, and everything that he does is courteous and gracious.”
As head of a strong Catholic empire, Philip saw himself as a primary defender of the Catholic faith and supported the Spanish Inquisition, which was established by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, originally targeted at probing into whether or not the conversions to Christianity of Jews and Muslims were complete.
Rodrigo, Marquis of Posa, is completely fictional, a creation of Frederich Schiller. In Schiller’s drama, the Marquis Posa voices Schiller’s belief in personal freedom and democracy. Of Verdi’s Posa, Thomas Hampson (www.hampsong.com) comments:

The challenge artistically, then, to a role like Posa is, in fact, to avoid the
heroic. If one sings exactly as the master wrote, constant in his use of
pianissimi, trills, phrase markings, rests, there emerges a character who is
more intent on finding his way in each new circumstance rather than an operatic
figure bent on delivering his message. Posa is very intentionally given a
separate musical tone to each for his “partners ” – Elisabeth, Carlos, and most
importantly Philip – regardless of what it is he has to say. His lyricism is not
impotence, but a rather pliant, even manipulating dialogue. His outbursts are
always born of passion that surprises even himself and thus requires immediate
further dialogue. It is curious that the role of Posa is the only character not
to be altered in form, tessitura, presence, and, therefore, intent. Throughout
all of Verdi’s various revisions and approved translations from the original
French libretto, Posa remains intact.

The characters and events in the opera Don Carlos are only loosely related to the historical Don Carlos, Elisabeth, and Philip. Verdi uses these characters to explore themes of idealism and deception, loyalty and betrayal, love and jealousy, and family and faith.

Puccini's Tosca

We’ll be going to Puccini’s Tosca tomorrow night in Boston. It’s one in our series of Cross-Generation Concerts.

Opera occupies quite an interesting spot in the cultural world. It’s “high” culture in the sense that rich, sophisticated people attend operas and underwrite opera companies, and often wear very fancy clothes while they are at it. In Jim’s first look at opera, season opening night of the Chicago Lyric Opera in 1971, the fur coats and jewelry were as memorable as the music. Opera is a kind of exclusive club, with plenty of name dropping, jargon, and insider knowledge. Most people never go to an opera. And, in opera we find the elite of some of the hardest working and most talented musicians in the world.


On the other hand, opera’s roots sink deep into the emotions and experiences of all human beings—love and romance, jealousy, death, family bonds and conflicts, faith, victory, and defeat. In this sense opera is popular and accessible. The story is told that in the Italian countryside, workers in the fields would spontaneously sing opera excerpts to Giuseppe Verdi when they realized who he was. Verdi lived 1813-1901 and composed Aida, Don Carlo, Simon Boccanegra, La forza del destino, La traviata, and many more. In an earlier age, opera composers and performers were the rock stars. Even in our age, Paul Potts singing “Nessun dorma” has had 71 million views on You Tube. Look at the clip—it’s culture for everyone, not just an isolated elite http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA).

Separately, we're posting an introduction to Tosca. During the performance tomorrow, I’ll be especially waiting for four Tosca numbers I’ve listened to over and over on a CD of Puccini highlights. They are “Recondita harmonia,” “Tre sbirri,” “Vissi d’arte,” and “E lucevan le stelle.”

The 20 most performed operas are (Tosca is #8):
1. Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini
2. La bohème by Giacomo Puccini
3. La traviata by Giuseppe Verdi
4. Carmen by Georges Bizet
5. The Barber of Seville by Gioacchino Rossini
6. The Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
7. Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
8. Tosca by Giacomo Puccini
9. Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi
10. The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
11. La Cenerentola by Gioacchino Rossini
12. Turandot by Giacomo Puccini
13. Lucia di Lammermoor by Gaetano Donizetti
14. Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo
15. Così fan tutte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
16. Aida by Giuseppe Verdi
17. Il trovatore by Giuseppe Verdi
18. Faust by Charles Gounod
19. Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss II
20. L'elisir d'amore by Gaetano Donizetti

Here's one person’s idea of the best opera singers of all time (from http://hubpages.com/hub/The10BestOperaSingersofallTimes):
12. Angela Gheorghiu -Though not as well known as many on this list, Angela has gentle pitch and a captivating voice.
11. Charlotte Church - An amazingly high pitched soft voice. Charlotte has no trouble hitting and holding the high notes. Her Christmas music is beautiful, and she is still very young!
10. Denyce Graves- She sings a little lower than most female singers, but hits her notes with such power. she makes you listen to the words as she sings.
9. Maria Callas-
8. Placido Domingo- As one of the 3 tenors, he has a commanding voice. Though not as strong as Pavoroti or as smooth as Lanza, he is a joy to listen also. His studio work is especially outstanding.
7. Rene Flemming-Listen to her version of Le Nozze de Figaro and Ave Maria. She could go as high as Charlotte Church and sound as beautiful, but has such strength in her voice and fluctuates it perfectly.
6.Andrea Bocelli- Out side of the tenors, he is an Italian favorite and legend.Listen to his duet with Sarah Brightman-Time to Say Goodbye.
5. Grace Bumbry- A real living legend. Though not as famous as the next 4, she had an unmistakable voice. She could bounce from note to note with such smoothness. Her falsetto ability was amazing in her prime. She made many musicals the classics they were.
4. Anthony Kearns- The Irish Tenor on my list. I saw him live and met him. He is an amazing live performer. If he preforms in a town near you, go see what I am talking about! His versions of Danny Boy, and Finiculi Finicula is about the best I have ever heard. He is only 38 and is taking the U.S. by storm.
3.Enrico Caruso- Many would have him higher, but I feel that Opera has changed since his era. One man was responsible for Opera's Evolution after the 90's. Caruso was awesome though.
2. Mario Lanza- What can I say about one that will NEVER be forgotten. His powerful yet smooth voice could master any opera song. He also has a museum in his name. http://www.mario-lanza-institute.org/ You will find that Balls, Dinners, and Masses, are still said in his name.
1.The Master-Luciano Pavarotti- There is one singer that everyone thinks of when they hear the word Opera. There will only ever be one Pavarotti. He is the Beatles, Elvis, and Michael Jackson of Opera. Many rock and pop legends wanted to sing duets with this man. Opera begins and ends here, with the man who took it to new levels, while making Opera mainstream music around the world, and bringing it to the MTV generation! Opera will never more be just for older white, upper class Americans, thanks to him.

Joseph Jongen Mass

Joseph Jongen was born in 1873 in Liege, Belgium and died in 1953. He was admitted to the Liege Conservatoire at the age of seven and graduated in honors in piano and organ. In 1897 he won the Grande Prix de Rome and travelled in Italy, France, and Germany. He was a prolific composer of symphonies, concertos, and chamber music. His Symphonie Concertante of 1926 was commissioned in the 1920s by Rodman Wanamaker for the rededication of the world's largest pipe organ in the Wanamaker department store in Philadelphia. Due to Mr. Wanamaker's untimely death in 1928, it was not performed on the Wanamaker organ until 2008. Many prominent organists have recorded this piece.

Paul Dredge is very enthusiastic about performing Jongen's Mass for choir, organ, and brass this Saturday with the Spectrum Singers. Their conductor, John W. Ehrlich has performed in the Boston area for over 30 years. He programs the Spectrum Singers to showcase music that is rarely heard, covering the whole spectrum of music, from Renaissance to the present day. www.spectrumsingers.org

A Prairie Home Companion evening

For the fourth year, Jim and I will be enjoying concerts with some friends. Here's some background on the first: a live "cinecast" of A Prairie Home Companion at a movie theater near you on Thursday, October 2 at 8:00 p.m. EDT.
Garrison Keillor began hosting the two hour radio show in 1974. In 1980 Jim and I learned of the show. When we lived in Columbus, Indiana we were regular listeners to WFIU, Indiana University's public radio station. We didn't own a TV, so WFIU was our window on the world and APHC was an important part of our Saturday evenings.
It offers a variety of music, especially folk, and humorous advertisements for fictional products like Powdermilk Biscuits, which "give shy people the strength to get up and do what needs to be done", and Be-Bop-A-Re-Bop Rhubarb Pie: "one little thing can revive a guy...maybe things aren't as bad as you thought..." More recently there have been messages from the Catchup Advisory Board (a compromise between ketchup and catsup) about the mid-life crises of Jim and Barb, who benefit from the "natural mellowing agents" of catchup. We relate to them in a way we couldn't back in the early 80s when we were newly-weds.
The highlight of each week is Garrison's report on the news from Lake Wobegon, a little Minnesota town that was left off the map when the cartographer accidently folded the map in the middle, covering Lake Wobegon. We still talk about stories we've heard. The small town people come alive for those few minutes: the Norwegian bachelor farmers, the young driver who becomes so captivated by a flock of birds flying down the middle of the road that he follows, imagining himself in flight with them, until he drives off the road, much to the entertainment of the older men in town. Lutheran Paster Inqvist looks forward to a winter conference in Florida, which his congregation disapproves of as an extravagance. A shy man escapes a party by sitting in a spare bedroom, reading old National Geographics. Garrison occasionally inserts himself into the town life. One evening he told of being left on a doorstep as a baby by his mother, a tightrope performer. She pinned a note to his blanket and left the pencil in his basket. His best work is written with that pencil, which he uses sparingly, since it is now a small nub. His telling of Lake Wobegon life is vivid, lovingly humorous, and sometimes poignant.
I look forward to watching the show live. I'm curious about how the sound effects man creates so many realistic sounds to accompany the stories. I want to see Garrison's face as he tells about Lake Wobegon and sings along with a guest. As my son, Peter, wrote: "I saw the theatercast in February, and it was amazing".

London Day Eight

Short version: Jim and I nearly missed our flight, which itself was uneventful. Got home safe.

The full story for my travel journal follows. Read on at your own risk.



Jim's alarm didn't go off. He awoke at 9:15. Breakfast closed at 9:30. Check-out time was 10. I was still full of the fish and chips from last night. Much as I live for bargains, it felt fine to pass on our last "traditional English breakfast." Our hotel was near Hyde Park, in Sussex Gardens, which has dozens of small hotels. We visited a few for price comparisions. Stylotel offers a double at 72 pounds during the slow season, if booked by phone. Days Inn, which has name recognition among Americans, was dearer: 105 pounds. Some places offer either an English breakfast or a "Continental breakfast." I imagine in some hotels that means real French croissants and pastries rather than the bagels and donuts of American motels, but probably not for 79 pounds a night. Speaking of donuts, Krispy Kremes are in evidence in grocery stores.

We took the double-decker bus #36 to the end of the route at Queen's Park, a 20 minute ride but just two tube stops from Paddington Station, in zone 2 of 6. It's a big city. We wanted to ride the Jubilee line to Victoria Station, and the Metropolitan line, but they were both closed for weekend repair. So our total for the week was five tube lines: Bakerloo, Central, Circle, District, and Picadilly. We bought sandwiches for later and returned to the hotel for our bags. From the lobby TV we learned that all transatlantic flights out of Heathrow were delayed. An air traffic control computer in Scotland had shut down. Jim decided to check-in online, which was key to our subsequent success.

We had both forgotten that the Circle line leg of the route to Heathrow takes about a half hour. (The Picadilly leg of the trip takes 50 minutes.) We got to the check-in queue around 1:30 p.m. for the 2:50 flight. All international flights close at "minus sixty." A cheery agent assured us we were fine, and that a closure agent would call us out of line if need be. We watched our line crawl along and watched for the closure agent, who never came by. When we got to the counter, the flight was closed. The closure agent was called over, and she assured us that there was no chance of getting onto the Boston flight, the only one that day. She obviously doubted that we had been in line and maintained that she had called for Boston passengers. She was not pleased when Jim said, "You didn't do your job!" She also doubted that we had talked to another agent, who had disappeared from our view. She offered to book us on the next day's flight. Jim insisted that Virgin Atlantic pay for a hotel and asked to speak to her supervisor. Just about then the cheery agent walked by, remembered us, and corroborated our story. Because Jim had checked in online, the supervisor found us in the computer and checked our bags 20 minutes after the flight was "closed." At this point we received VIP treatment. A new agent was asked to escort us to the gate. She took us down the first class corridor to security (no line, no waiting), actually taking her shoes off to go through security with us, and delivered us right to the queue at Gate 33. Because Gate 33 has no skyway, all the passengers were being "coached" (bussed) to the 747 on the tarmac, causing substantial delay. We arrived at the gate before some of the passengers who checked in before us, since they had to come through the economy security point.



Kudos to Jim! He methodically worked the problem and insisted on fair treatment. I was ready to go look for a hotel the first time the closure agent said the flight was closed.

Jim's seat was 50B, mine 65F, but we were just happy to be on board. I read some of Sam's pick for our family book group: His Excellency (George Washington) by Joseph Ellis. They fed us lunch and served beverages twice and even handed out ice cream bars. We breezed through customs at Logan Airport and Peter Jones kindly picked us up at the curb, or should I say kerb?

London Day Seven

We travelled back in time today, attending "As You Like It" at the Globe Theatre on the south bank of the Thames. We were in the back of the highest balcony, but the view was fine and the voices carried well. Every player was excellent. Katharine Hepburn made her comeback as Rosalind on the New York stage. It would be a great part for her. Jaques, the melancholy courtier, was played today by Tim McMullan, who played Prince Charles' secretary in The Queen. In the middle of the play we looked down to see him in front of us, delivering a line while leaning over our balcony. As he left he said, of his line: "It was a joke 400 years ago."
After the play we walked along the Jubilee Walkway along the south bank of the Thames. We had a hot falafel wrap and an almond croissant at PRET A MANGE, a sandwich shoppe franchise which specializes in very fresh sandwiches and lunch food. Which brings me to fast food in England. We see an occasional Burger King and MacDonalds, but the real fast food in Britain is sandwiches. Every little corner store has refrigerated shelves full of fresh sandwiches. I hesistated to try them the first time we saw them, but the cucumbers were crisp and the bread whole grain. Very tasty and healthier than Mickey D's.
We stopped in at St Martin-in-the-Fields Church, on Trafalgar Square. James Gibbs designed it in 1721, a rectangular building with a large triangular pediment supported by columns in front and a large steeple. It has been copied many times in New England churches. I just love the name. Right across the street is the National Gallery of Art. With museums being free here, though we always gave a donation, I experimented with the idea of going to the Gallery to look at just a few things. The NG has two Vemeers and several Rembrandt, who has been a favorite of mine since high school. While in the Dutch Masters wing we heard music playing and happened in on a concert of flute, piano and 'cello in a large gallery room. After Rembrandt we wandered around the Impressionists and Jim fell in love with John Constable's work. He bought a print which will be installed in Jim's office. When the Gallery closed we walked around Trafalgar Square and had fish and chips and a jacket before taking the double-decker #15 bus one last time.