Frustrating Carmen (Audio Only – That's the Frustration)

I learned today from Michael Fabiano’s Facebook post that the new production of Carmen by Dmitri Tcherniakov at Aix-en-Provence is being broadcast on Arte.tv (but not in the U.S.) and on France Musique radio (via website or phone app* ).

I am listening to it now as I type. I am pleased with the musical performance but perplexed by the production. There is a whole dialog** scene before the overture starts. Tcherniakov (as is his wont) has layered a new concept over the opera, and the visual element (apparently) is not what one usually expects from Carmen.  The point is there is a lot going on that is not music. I want to see what's happening! Hence my Carmen Frustration.

As I listen, I tracked down a few reviews in English, so I now have an idea what I am missing. The idea of enacting Carmen as therapy*** is interesting (though I doubt it would ever catch on over here in the U.S.) and I look forward to seeing the realization. The production also stars a favorite mezzo: Stéphanie d'Oustrac.

I do have a quibble—one that is pointed out by more than one reviewer: apparently Tcherniakov created this new concept because couldn’t really “get into” the traditional bullfighter/gypsy/soldier story. I echo one of the reviewers, wondering why T. accepted the job if he really didn’t “feel” the opera.

Berlioz from Glyndebourne – Only Two More Days

Will they or won't they? (B&B have a moment.)

I finally got my act together and watched Berlioz' Béatrice et Bénédict from Glyndebourne. Unfortunately, it's only available for a few more days. (I don't know whose "midnight" is the cutoff time, though I'd guess it's GMT.) However, I am sure it will show up somewhere else. 

It’s not performed often, and one can imagine why. It’s a pleasant little piece, and this is a fun production, but not terribly profound or moving. It’s short enough to absorb (unlike Les Troyens) in a single shot. The cast—especially Stephanie D’Oustrac and Paul Appleby as the title couple—act well and sing beautifully. The chorus seems to have fun and does a great job (as does the orchestra!) And no one dies in this one.

The look of Laurent Pelly’s production set vaguely in a 1940s “black and white” film is startling at first, then soothing—makeup and costuming are all in blacks, whites, and greys. During the curtain calls, it’s startling again, when the “life-like” creative staff show up on stage, in an odd contrast to the cast. The set consists of boxes, representing the expected way of life that Béatrice et Bénédict do not wish to follow—they don’t want to be “put in a box.” However, if you know the play on which this is based (Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, which most people do in fact know), you won’t be surprised when they give in to love, and end up in a “happily married” box.

I am trying not to say “fluffy,” but there’s not a lot of substance to this little opéra comique. That said, there is some pretty music—particularly a duet and trio for the principal women, and Béatrice’s aria, in which she realizes she really is in love with Bénédict. The production is fun, well sung, and looks pretty; and it’s pretty amusing. If you can catch it on the Glyndebourne site in the next day or so, do take a watch and listen. (And/or watch for it to show up elsewhere.)

La Clemenza di Tito @ L'Opera National du Rhin

Another Clemenza di Tito?  YAY!  It looks like an interesting production, in which I am certain "...dans lequel on ne s'ennuie pas une seconde…" Of course, no opera lover I know could ever be bored with any performance of Clemenza. There's always something to see or listen to! 

Stéphanie d'Oustrac' Sesto  should be pretty amazing; and this blogger is a big David Bižić fan. Two things I particularly love about the second video below: (1) Publio trying to fingerprint Sesto during the "Vieni!" trio; (2) the harpsichord tuning in the background of one interview. It says, "Hey folks, we are in the Opera House!" 

I'm glad francetv is publicizing this production. D'ya think they'll broadcast it? 

One can only hope that someone will. 

Tito Benjamin Bruns 
Vitellia Jacquelyn Wagner 
Sesto Stéphanie d'Oustrac 
Servilia Chiara Skerath 
Annio Anna Radziejewska
Publio David Bižić

Chœurs de l'Opéra National du Rhin
Orchestre symphonique de Mulhouse 

Direction musicale Andreas Spering 

Mise en scène Katharina Thoma 
Décors Julia Müer 
Costumes Irina Bartels 
Lumières Olaf Winter

In Case You Missed It – Orphée from La Monnaie Replay

I did a "kind of" review of this production when it was streaming from La Monnaie last summer, stating, in part:

While I'm not 100% sure how I feel about this production...Stéphanie d'Oustrac...is an amazing singer/actor. In what, for the singer, is essentially a concert performance, she evokes Orphée 's full range of emotions.  

In case you missed the performance, or want to check it out again, here it is at the Toob. If you haven't seen it, I do recommend setting aside about an hour and a half to view/listen to it.  If you have a little less time, go directly to the scene leading up to Je perdu mon Eurydice.

Zero Degrees of Separation – Stéphanie d'Oustrac and Thomas Dolie

This audio clip features yesterday's Dido from Calvados and Aneas from Amsterdam as Rosina and Figaro in Bordeaux.

Purcell: Dido and Aneas Times Two

A video of a semi-staged performance featuring Stephanie d'Oustrac and Nicolas Rivenq with William Christie and Les Artes Florissants (with gowns by Lacroix, sweetie. Lacroix!)

…and a concert performance from 2009 on Concerthuis 4, with the wonderful Ann Hallenberg as Dido and Thomas Dolie as Aneas. (Unfortunately, I cannot get this broadcast to play all the way through. I don't know if it's a local internet issue, or a question of trying to listen to it in the wrong country. I am hoping my readers in the UK and Europe may get to hear the whole thing.)

Double-Mezzo Monday – Belle nuit, Indeed!

Continuing my pursuit of Sd'O: what to my wondering eyes did appear? 

A duet with ASvO (before she learned the part of Niklaussse by heart!)!! 

Gratuitous Friday Double Feature – The Merry Widow Waltz

I said I wanted to hear more from Stéphanie d'Oustrac; and this clip is one of the first I came across. Of course she's sung a lot of real French music, and a lot her performances can be found on YouTube. But here is something that couldn't be much more different than her recent appearances as Orphée. Duetting with her is the (unknown to me) tenor Philippe Do, who sounds like he's worth searching out, too. 

Singing the Merry Widow outdoors seems to be a very European thing to do. Right on the same page as the above video (thank you, YouTube, for being one of the biggest time sinks in my life) is this performance from Hanna-Elisabeth Müller (seen recently in Munich with very big hair as Servillia) and Martin Mitterrutzner (noted previously in this blog.) Could they be any more charming?

Moving (if somewhat manipulative) Orphée from La Monnaie

I really want to write a full-on review of this performance. But, as so often is the case, I am not 100% sure how I feel about it. I feel manipulated; but I'm not sure I mind. 

Overlaying a new story over an established plot is not a new idea. That's what great directors (sometimes) do. While Romeo Castellucci is no Stefan Herheim, I believe he has an interesting and effective new way to approach Orphée et Eurydice. Castellucci equates Eurydice's plight to the story of Els, a young Belgian woman suffering from Locked-in Syndrome, or a pseudocoma. She is completely paralyzed, and seems comatose, but is fully aware of here surroundings; and with accommodation, she can communicate. The story of her condition and how her family has responded is quite moving; so moving that it actually threatens to overtake the opera completely at some points.