OSR, the orchestra leading the symphonies Italian Worldwide
CLT - Lyrical / OSR, which leads the orchestra and symphonies in the world Italian
Rome, 28 February (The Velino) - As nearly half of the 2010-2011 season, it's good to get back pay attention to the Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma (OSR), often neglected even by the press because of the weight of the Roman Symphony Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, whose budget is ten times higher. It is not neglected, however, by his fans (many young people), on Sunday afternoon and Monday evening, the crowd because of the large auditorium of Reconciliation, also because of the policy of low prices for subscriptions and for individual concerts. They also formed an association of friends OSR organizing seminars to accompany the musical culture and travel on tour. An example at the same time interesting and stimulating public participation in the activities of an orchestra who see them.
This year the season is devoted almost entirely to three "full" - Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Mahler - to coincide with important anniversaries. However, the OSR has not forgotten too often forgotten Italian symphonic music (after having recorded the complete of Martucci, sta ora arrivando nei negozi di dischi quella di Casella). La riscoperta del sinfonismo italiano è infatti uno degli elementi che l’hanno resa celebre nel mondo: in Germania, Austria, Polonia, Gran Bretagna, Belgio, Spagna, Russia, Nord America, America Latina e Cina. Francesco La Vecchia, che ha creato e dirige l’Orchestra, quest’anno dirige l’integrale di Mahler oltre che a Roma, anche a Budapest e a Seul. Un vero e proprio tour de force che pochi direttori d’orchestra affrontano in un arco di tempo così breve. Il concerto in programma il 6 e 7 marzo a Roma è interamente dedicato alla nona sinfonia, una struggente riflessione sulla morte del maestro boemo, considerato a ragione il ponte tra l’Ottocento and the twentieth century.
The last two concerts this month (20 to 21 February and 27-28 February) were instead a trip in the nineteenth century. The first was directed by a young Chinese conductor, Yang Yang, and was known as a solo violinist of Ukraine, Vadim Brodsky, who until the late eighties has been forbidden to play outside the Soviet bloc. The second was directed by La Vecchia, a young soloist, and beautiful, the Korean violinist Fabiola Kim, already very popular both in Asia and the United States. A trend in line with the objectives of OSR, it seeks to explore new artists, often little known in Italy and taking advantage when their career is not più solamente una promessa ma si sta lanciando a livello internazionale.
Nel primo concerto, l’Ottocento è stato colto nelle sue sfumature più nettamente romantiche con il Concerto n. 4 in Re minore per violino ed orchestra e con la Settima sinfonia di Beethoven. Nel secondo si è invece partiti con due notissime composizioni di Mendelssohn (la breve ouverture Die Hebriden e il Concerto per il violino e orchestra in Mi minore) per approdare al grande sinfonismo italiano a cavallo tra la fine del secolo e l’inizio del Novecento (La Serenata, La Govotta e la Giga di Martucci) e chiudere con l’unica breve Symphonie di Wagner, il Siegfried Idyll. Un viaggio appassionante accolto con grande apprezzamento del pubblico, che has had its high points (and to greater effect) in the virtuoso Vadim Brodsy and Fabiola Kim. By popular demand, both have a granted.
(Hans Sachs) February 28, 2011 13:13
TOP
Monday, February 28, 2011
Keeping A Clean Bunny Cage
NEVER PUT TOO POLITICAL CAPITAL IN THE HAND The Gazette February 28
AND THE PAPER IS ...
NEVER PUT TOO POLITICAL CAPITAL IN THE HAND. While the physical and financial capital can be eroded if you use too much and hurt, the capital of "political" is increased if you use it and uses it well. But what do the politicians of their financial capital? It is not farfetched a question, because in countries like the U.S. mid-term policy for 30 percent of GDP. And in Europe, 50 per cent. It is assumed that allocation to do so with the same shrewdness with which The good father spends the activity in the nucleus. Andrew Eggers and Jens Hainmueller Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology have taken the trouble to do some 'accounts and to publish a preliminary version of the "Microeconomcs: Asymmetric and Private Information eJournal" work "Political Capital: The (Mostly) Poor Performance of Congressional Stock Portfolios, 2004 to 2008. "
The picture is not encouraging: while a sample study of the nineties showed that MPs knew Americans go in and out of this or that action timing, the stock portfolios of U.S. senators and representatives, between 2004 and 2008, it appears to be went below the average market indices of 2-3 percent per year. A factor may be that investing in a "disproportionate" - and Eggers say Hainmueller - venture capital to companies in their constituencies. With the result that you are often not only poor performance but also with conflicts of interest. (Giuseppe Pennisi)
AND THE PAPER IS ...
NEVER PUT TOO POLITICAL CAPITAL IN THE HAND. While the physical and financial capital can be eroded if you use too much and hurt, the capital of "political" is increased if you use it and uses it well. But what do the politicians of their financial capital? It is not farfetched a question, because in countries like the U.S. mid-term policy for 30 percent of GDP. And in Europe, 50 per cent. It is assumed that allocation to do so with the same shrewdness with which The good father spends the activity in the nucleus. Andrew Eggers and Jens Hainmueller Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology have taken the trouble to do some 'accounts and to publish a preliminary version of the "Microeconomcs: Asymmetric and Private Information eJournal" work "Political Capital: The (Mostly) Poor Performance of Congressional Stock Portfolios, 2004 to 2008. "
The picture is not encouraging: while a sample study of the nineties showed that MPs knew Americans go in and out of this or that action timing, the stock portfolios of U.S. senators and representatives, between 2004 and 2008, it appears to be went below the average market indices of 2-3 percent per year. A factor may be that investing in a "disproportionate" - and Eggers say Hainmueller - venture capital to companies in their constituencies. With the result that you are often not only poor performance but also with conflicts of interest. (Giuseppe Pennisi)
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Can You Wash A Duffel Bag/
Photos Cross Country 2011 Cross Country
PHOTOS: Student Sport Games -
Cross Country - Gioiosa Marea 17/02/11
Cat Student / and
Fantastic Profs . from left: M. Cavallaro - G. Pellegrino - P. Geraci - F. Ripa
Team ITIS E. Majorana Milazzo
LS Spadafora 1 ° class. Cat Cadet
Iti Barcelona 1, Cat Students
Iti Milazzo 2nd place. Cat Students
PHOTOS: Student Sport Games -
Cross Country - Gioiosa Marea 17/02/11
Cat Student / and
Fantastic Profs . from left: M. Cavallaro - G. Pellegrino - P. Geraci - F. Ripa 
Team ITIS E. Majorana Milazzo 
LS Spadafora 1 ° class. Cat Cadet 
Iti Barcelona 1, Cat Students 
Iti Milazzo 2nd place. Cat Students 
Friday, February 25, 2011
Signs That Your Dog Has Testicular Cancer
Four good reasons not to turarsi nose Il Foglio February 26
February 25, 2011
Four good reasons not to turarsi nose February 25, 2011
Photo Gallery:
• Why run to Parma or Reggio Emilia to see a staging conceived in 1974 of the "Nose" by Dmitri Šostakovi? First, consider how a few rubles (in 1974) but so much talent can be put on a show still fresh and funny. In a time when serious concerns regarding the closure of the temples of opera in Italy (whose average costs are twice those of the European Union) is salutary to see how the small "chamber opera" (200 places) the director Prokrovksij Boris and his colleagues have been able to recreate the Petersburg of the late nineteenth century, ranging from the immense cathedral to the corridors of power with a minimum of props, costumes and clever play of light bright: what is more surprising is that the show is also impressive today not only the elderly but also young people (as we have seen the preview for those under 30).
Secondly, the director Boris Prokrovksij staged the work after 41 years since the last representation in Russia. Was banned after two performances in 1931 (a triumphant return after 14 performances in 1930): even if it was staged in a secondary theater of Leningrad annoyed "Moscow-that-could", to Stalin and his entourage. Still scratching against all bigotry and is therefore very timely. Thirdly Dmitri Šostakovi turarci teaches us not to go straight but his nose.
In 1930, he was 24, was a big champagne drinker of Crimea and frequent visitor of the beds of other men's wives. A fortiori, in his first work for the scene ridiculed the false respectable Puritans. Fourth, the show is the result of team work in which singers and dance with brio recite a "Wozzeck" in reverse. An age similar to that painted by Berg is shown not with bitterness but with joy and irony with a daring and eclectic score on both the orchestral and vocal.
© - sheets daily
Giuseppe Pennisi
How Much Would Insurance Be For A Warehouse?
unmistakably American in Musik and Vision January 23
unmistakably American
William Bolcom's 'A View From The Bridge',
heard by Giuseppe Pennisi unmistakably American
William Bolcom's 'A View From The Bridge', America's 'new' operatic productions are very Little Known in Italy, in Spite of the amount, variety and quality and the Stated intention to capture new audiences for music theater through strong and eclectic librettos But Easily understood scores. In the 2009-10 season, in spite of the hard economic cycle, at least twelve new operas were premièred in the USA; of these, two (Il Postino by Daniel Catán and The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Ricky Ian Gordon) were based on well-known Italian movies. In Germany, Austria and a few other European countries, 'new' American operas are often performed, but in Italy only André Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire and Lorin Maazel's 1984 have been seen in major opera houses. For the 'new' American theatre, I mean the genre that has quietly developed over the last century or so starting with masterpieces such as Carlisle Floyd's Susannah, Douglas Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe, and Gian Carlo Menotti's The Consul. Floyd and Moore combined traditional European operatic models with American folk influences to tell a distinctly American story: in the case of Baby Doe, the real-life rags-to-riches story of Horace 'Silver Dollar' Tabor and in the case of Susannah, a Biblical tragedy re-set in the American bible belt. The Italian-born Menotti creates a chilling picture of European totalitarianism and, by implication, of American complicity. In the seventies, Thomas Pasatieri composed twenty-two operas mostly drawn from well known plays; in my opinion, the best was The Seagull. In parallel, Dominick Argento developed visionary operas such as A Postcard from Morocco.
A scene from William Bolcom's 'A View from the Bridge' at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. Photo © 2011 Corrado Falsini. Click on the image for higher resolution Kim Josephson as Eddie Carbone and Marlin Miller as Rodolfo in William Bolcom's 'A View from the Bridge' at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. Photo © 2011 Corrado Falsini. Click on the image for higher resolution
William Bolcom's A View from the Bridge is in line with this canon or set of implicit rules. It has strong roots in a well known Arthur Miller play which was also a successful film. Arthur Miller himself wrote the libretto in collaboration with Arnold Weinstein. Some scenes from the original play are either eliminated or shortened, but a major role is given to the chorus with the view of giving the opera the slant of a Greek tragedy, just as Arthur Miller intended to do in the first version of his work -- a one act play in verse. Bolcom's opera had an Italian precedent: in the Teatro dell'Opera of Rome's 1960-61 season, Renzo Rossellini's Uno Sguardo dal Ponte had been unveiled based on the translation of Miller's play. Rossellini's opera was revived a few times in Italy, but it fell into oblivion. It was a good, unmistakably Italian verismo opera with more emphasis on specific musical numbers, a smaller role for declamation and, of course, a lesser function for the chorus.
John Del Carlo as Alfieri (left) and Mark McCrory as Marco in William Bolcom's 'A View from the Bridge' at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. Photo © 2011 Corrado Falsini. Click on the image for higher resolution
Instead, Bolcom's A View from the Bridge is unmistakably American. It was commissioned by the Chicago Lyric Theatre and has been seen in New York, Washington and other major opera houses in the United States. The production opened in Rome on 18 January 2011, and this review is based on that opening performance. It had been staged in Chicago (and elsewhere in the USA) before crossing the Atlantic. It is, thus, a well proven product with an effective stage direction by Frank Galati (special attention is given to acting), an impressive three-level stage set by Santo Loquasto (Woody Allen's favorite set designer), projections by Wandall K Harrington and lighting by Jeff Bruckerhoff. Most of the main singers are American: John Del Carlo (Alfieri), Kim Josephson (Eddie Carbone), Dale Travis (Louis), Amanda Squitieri (Catherine), Gregory Bonfatti (Tony), Marlin Miller (Rodolfo) and Mark McCrory (Marco). Amanda Roocroft (Beatrice Carbone) is British. The chorus of the Teatro dell'Opera, the chorus master Roberto Gabbiani and a few singers in minor roles are Italian.
Mark McCrory as Marco and Amanda Roocroft as Beatrice Carbone in William Bolcom's 'A View from the Bridge' at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. Photo © 2011 Corrado Falsini. Click on the image for higher resolution
Before commenting on the performance, it is worth noting that the normally conservative Teatro dell'Opera audience took this dive into the uncharted waters of the 'new' American operatic genre quite well. There were open scene applauses after the arioso-song of the lyric tenor (Marlin Miller) as well as after that of the bass (Mark McCrory) in the prison scene. There were ten minutes of accolades at the final curtain calls, after a performance of two hours and 45 minutes, including intermission. 
Marlin Miller as Rodolfo is nearly strangled by Kim Josephson as Eddie in William Bolcom's 'A View from the Bridge' at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. Photo © 2011 Corrado Falsini. Click on the image for higher resolution Dramaturgically, Arthur Miller's play is very tense; as mentioned, the stage direction and sets enhanced its power. Musically, Bolcom's score is eclectic, but has considerable invention and power which complement and strengthen the action with rare acuity. Naturally, in the score, the listener senses Gershwin and Bernstein, but there is also a hint of Luciano Berio. The orchestration is especially rich: there are some twenty leitmotifs, used not in any Wagnerian manner, but rather as in Puccini's La Fanciulla del West to depict characters and situations and to bring them back to the listener's memory. Again and again, the orchestration confidently establishes just the right emotional temperature in any given scene. David Levi conducted the Teatro dell'Opera orchestra effectively, and the orchestra, on its own account, responded quite well.
Amanda Roocroft (left) as Beatrice Carbone and Amanda Squitieri as Catherine in William Bolcom's 'A View from the Bridge' at Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. Photo © 2011 Corrado Falsini. Click on the image for higher resolution
Bolcom exploits the glory of the human voice. The speech rhythms are embedded in the music, which always feels melodic and part of the surging whole. Amanda Roocroft is a powerful dramatic soprano. The vocal protagonist is Kim Josephson, and indeed it seems that the Eddie Carbone role was written especially for him, even though he has no single number and his mastery is in shading various types of declamation. His opposite is the bass Mark McCrory, quite agile, especially in his prison scene arioso. The trio is completed by John Del Carlo, a versatile bass-baritone with the function of chorus leader and commentator. The two young lovers were tender but excellent in their acute: Marlin Miller (a lyric tenor with a timbre similar to that of the late Fritz Wunderlich) and Amanda Squitieri (a good lyric soprano). In short, an effective cast both vocally and dramatically.
Copyright © 23 January 2011 Giuseppe Pennisi,
Rome, Italy
TEATRO DELL'OPERA
ROME
ITALY
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
OPERA
AMANDA ROOCROFT
Boneless Beef Rib Steak
unmistakably Italian in Music and Vision January 24
Unmistakably Italian
A fresh start for Gnecchi's 'Cassandra',
by GIUSEPPE PENNISI
The late Dame Joan Sutherland and her husband, the conductor Richard Bonynge, loved Catania's 'Massimo Bellini' Theatre in eastern Sicily, not only for its elegant façade and its smart auditorium, but also for its perfect acoustics. In the late 1880s, its architect, Carlo Sada (later in charge of designing Buenos Aires' Colón) developed an acoustic miracle where in all series of seats the audience feels to be literally embraced by the music. This jewel has had ups and downs during the last twenty five years. It is not one of the thirteen centrally subsidized Italian 'national' theatres but a Regional Foundation financed mostly by the cash-strapped Sicilian Regional Government as well as by limited support from the central Ministry of Culture and by a few private sponsors. Also, Catania's audience has changed: it used to be highly intellectual but, although the city has one of the best universities of Southern Italy, the main focus of the ruling elite is on reviving industry in order to absorb the very high unemployment. Some twenty years ago, under the guidance of the late Spiros Argiris, the Massimo Bellini had splendidly innovative seasons. More recently, financial and other problems had the consequence that the program was mostly based on standard low cost repertory.
Teatro Massimo Bellini, Catania. Click on the image for higher resolution
A new phase in the Massimo Bellini's life may be starting. Last year, the inaugural opera was a much praised production of Richard Strauss' Elektra -- valiantly performed by the theatre's orchestra and chorus and a good number of well experienced guest artists. This year, the inaugural production was a nearly forgotten opera by Vittorio Gnecchi, Cassandra. The opening night was 11 January. This report is based on the 16 January 2011 matinée performance.
Teatro Massimo Bellini, Catania. Click on the image for higher resolution
Many opera guidebooks and even encyclopedias just ignore Gnecchi's Cassandra, even though in 1905 the work seemed to be heading for certain success. Gnecchi was the scion of a very wealthy Milan family and quite well-educated in all the forms of music being developed in the early years of the twentieth century. Arturo Toscanini conducted the 1905 Bologna première of Cassandra. The opera was successful in Vienna and in New York but was seldom revived in Italy -- its last performance was in 1942 as a part of a special season of Rome's Teatro dell'Opera. In the very same season, Alban Berg's Wozzeck was premièred in Italy, even though the composer and its work were highly forbidden in Germany and in the 'occupied territories', and this was the key moment of World War II.
Why did Cassandra disappear? The machinations of Italian (and European) musical politics foreshortened the piece's history, and forced Toscanini to break off relations with the composer. The occasion of Salome's 1906 Italian début inadvertently set the stage for a scandal, when Gnecchi offered Richard Strauss the piano-vocal score of Cassandra. When both Cassandra and Strauss' new Elektra were performed -- nearly back-to-back -- in Dresden during the 1908-9 season, 'surprising similarities' were noted between the two operas. Gnecchi accused Strauss of plagiarizing his work. A very heated dispute followed. Shortly after that, Gnecchi and his opera faded into obscurity.
A scene from Gnecchi's 'Cassandra' at Teatro Massimo Bellini. Photo © 2011 Giacomo Orlando. Click on the image for higher resolution
More recently, in 2000, Radio France opened the tomb where Cassandra had been set to rest, most likely forever. After this Montpellier concert performance, a hard-to-buy record was produced. In 2009, the Deutsche Oper Berlin staged a double bill with an abridged version of Cassandra coupled with Elektra. The Massimo Bellini production is the first opportunity to listen to and to see the full one-hundred-minute score fully staged in a Prologue and two Acts. In short, the early twentieth century fuss was not only unfair but unjustified. The overlapping subject matter -- within Aeschylus's Oresteia, Strauss's opera represents the 'sequel' to Gnecchi's -- could predispose listeners to exaggerate the musical resemblances. Gnecchi's opening musical gesture -- an ominous three-note fanfare, followed by orchestral turbulence -- may seem shockingly familiar to those who know and love Strauss' Elektra. Some of the orchestral interludes sound very Straussian, particularly (as at the end of Act I) when the horns come prominently into play; so do the chromatic harmonies at the entry of Electra and Oreste, here young children. However, one hundred years ago, this was part of rather widespread 'new trends' in musical theatre.
<< M&V home Concert reviews
Mariana Pentcheva in the title role of Gnecchi's 'Cassandra' at Teatro Massimo Bellini. Photo © 2011 Giacomo Orlando. Click on the image for higher resolution
The cast was quite strong. The protagonist, the prophetess Cassandra, doesn't appear until the second act, but comes to dominate it: the final curtain falls at her cries of 'Oreste! Oreste!' (another resemblance to Strauss!), predicting doom for Clitennestra and Egisto. Mariana Pentcheva is a dramatic mezzo, Eastern European rather than Italian in her bright, shrill timbre and quick vibrato. Clitennestra and Egisto here fulfill the 'young lovers' function. Giovanna Casolla is an experienced, albeit no longer young, dramatic coloratura soprano; she makes the most of her resources, filling out and inflecting her lines with style, playing with dark, rich colors in the low range, and really feeling such musical points as the change to the major in the love music. Her Egisto is Carmelo Corrado Caruso, an expressive baritone. John Treleaven is a good Agamennone, an impervious and very taxing role.
Giovanna Casolla as Clitennestra and Carmelo Corrado Caruso as Egisto in Gnecchi's 'Cassandra' at Teatro Massimo Bellini. Photo © 2011 Giacomo Orlando. Click on the image for higher resolution
Gabriele Rech's stage direction is quite imaginative: with complex two layer scene machinery by Giuseppe Di Iorio, the tragedy becomes a modern family drama with blood, sex and violence.
The audience responded well with several minutes of applause.
Copyright © 24 January 2011 Giuseppe Pennisi,
Rome, Italy
ITALY
>
Unmistakably Italian
A fresh start for Gnecchi's 'Cassandra',
by GIUSEPPE PENNISI
The late Dame Joan Sutherland and her husband, the conductor Richard Bonynge, loved Catania's 'Massimo Bellini' Theatre in eastern Sicily, not only for its elegant façade and its smart auditorium, but also for its perfect acoustics. In the late 1880s, its architect, Carlo Sada (later in charge of designing Buenos Aires' Colón) developed an acoustic miracle where in all series of seats the audience feels to be literally embraced by the music. This jewel has had ups and downs during the last twenty five years. It is not one of the thirteen centrally subsidized Italian 'national' theatres but a Regional Foundation financed mostly by the cash-strapped Sicilian Regional Government as well as by limited support from the central Ministry of Culture and by a few private sponsors. Also, Catania's audience has changed: it used to be highly intellectual but, although the city has one of the best universities of Southern Italy, the main focus of the ruling elite is on reviving industry in order to absorb the very high unemployment. Some twenty years ago, under the guidance of the late Spiros Argiris, the Massimo Bellini had splendidly innovative seasons. More recently, financial and other problems had the consequence that the program was mostly based on standard low cost repertory.
Teatro Massimo Bellini, Catania. Click on the image for higher resolution
A new phase in the Massimo Bellini's life may be starting. Last year, the inaugural opera was a much praised production of Richard Strauss' Elektra -- valiantly performed by the theatre's orchestra and chorus and a good number of well experienced guest artists. This year, the inaugural production was a nearly forgotten opera by Vittorio Gnecchi, Cassandra. The opening night was 11 January. This report is based on the 16 January 2011 matinée performance.
Teatro Massimo Bellini, Catania. Click on the image for higher resolution
Many opera guidebooks and even encyclopedias just ignore Gnecchi's Cassandra, even though in 1905 the work seemed to be heading for certain success. Gnecchi was the scion of a very wealthy Milan family and quite well-educated in all the forms of music being developed in the early years of the twentieth century. Arturo Toscanini conducted the 1905 Bologna première of Cassandra. The opera was successful in Vienna and in New York but was seldom revived in Italy -- its last performance was in 1942 as a part of a special season of Rome's Teatro dell'Opera. In the very same season, Alban Berg's Wozzeck was premièred in Italy, even though the composer and its work were highly forbidden in Germany and in the 'occupied territories', and this was the key moment of World War II.
Why did Cassandra disappear? The machinations of Italian (and European) musical politics foreshortened the piece's history, and forced Toscanini to break off relations with the composer. The occasion of Salome's 1906 Italian début inadvertently set the stage for a scandal, when Gnecchi offered Richard Strauss the piano-vocal score of Cassandra. When both Cassandra and Strauss' new Elektra were performed -- nearly back-to-back -- in Dresden during the 1908-9 season, 'surprising similarities' were noted between the two operas. Gnecchi accused Strauss of plagiarizing his work. A very heated dispute followed. Shortly after that, Gnecchi and his opera faded into obscurity.
A scene from Gnecchi's 'Cassandra' at Teatro Massimo Bellini. Photo © 2011 Giacomo Orlando. Click on the image for higher resolution
More recently, in 2000, Radio France opened the tomb where Cassandra had been set to rest, most likely forever. After this Montpellier concert performance, a hard-to-buy record was produced. In 2009, the Deutsche Oper Berlin staged a double bill with an abridged version of Cassandra coupled with Elektra. The Massimo Bellini production is the first opportunity to listen to and to see the full one-hundred-minute score fully staged in a Prologue and two Acts. In short, the early twentieth century fuss was not only unfair but unjustified. The overlapping subject matter -- within Aeschylus's Oresteia, Strauss's opera represents the 'sequel' to Gnecchi's -- could predispose listeners to exaggerate the musical resemblances. Gnecchi's opening musical gesture -- an ominous three-note fanfare, followed by orchestral turbulence -- may seem shockingly familiar to those who know and love Strauss' Elektra. Some of the orchestral interludes sound very Straussian, particularly (as at the end of Act I) when the horns come prominently into play; so do the chromatic harmonies at the entry of Electra and Oreste, here young children. However, one hundred years ago, this was part of rather widespread 'new trends' in musical theatre.
<< M&V home Concert reviews
A scene from Gnecchi's 'Cassandra' at Teatro Massimo Bellini. Photo © 2011 Giacomo Orlando. Click on the image for higher resolution 
As a whole, Gnecchi's opera is unmistakably Italian in idiom and spirit. The fullness created by the clear, warm choral sonorities in the Prologue and the opening of Act I inhabit a different world to Strauss' darting solo strands. Clitennestra and Egisto, transmuted here into a soprano and baritone, are young adulterers, expressing their illicit ardor in a lyrical duet full of passion (but with little eros). The quietly proud brass chorale marking Agamennone's entry contrasts with Strauss' more contrapuntal deployments, while the layering of voices in the ensuing ensemble is a familiar Italian technique. The splashy beginning of Act II sounds like a more opulent version of Mascagni's Parisina or Isabeau.
Thus, the Massimo Bellini production does justice to Gnecchi's Cassandra. It could also open the path to a broader revival if, as I hope, other theatres may be interested in this quite intriguing score. The conductor, Donato Renzetti, rightly emphasizes the 'Italian' rather than the 'German' aspects of the vocal and orchestral score. As a whole, Gnecchi's opera is unmistakably Italian in idiom and spirit. The fullness created by the clear, warm choral sonorities in the Prologue and the opening of Act I inhabit a different world to Strauss' darting solo strands. Clitennestra and Egisto, transmuted here into a soprano and baritone, are young adulterers, expressing their illicit ardor in a lyrical duet full of passion (but with little eros). The quietly proud brass chorale marking Agamennone's entry contrasts with Strauss' more contrapuntal deployments, while the layering of voices in the ensuing ensemble is a familiar Italian technique. The splashy beginning of Act II sounds like a more opulent version of Mascagni's Parisina or Isabeau. Mariana Pentcheva in the title role of Gnecchi's 'Cassandra' at Teatro Massimo Bellini. Photo © 2011 Giacomo Orlando. Click on the image for higher resolution
The cast was quite strong. The protagonist, the prophetess Cassandra, doesn't appear until the second act, but comes to dominate it: the final curtain falls at her cries of 'Oreste! Oreste!' (another resemblance to Strauss!), predicting doom for Clitennestra and Egisto. Mariana Pentcheva is a dramatic mezzo, Eastern European rather than Italian in her bright, shrill timbre and quick vibrato. Clitennestra and Egisto here fulfill the 'young lovers' function. Giovanna Casolla is an experienced, albeit no longer young, dramatic coloratura soprano; she makes the most of her resources, filling out and inflecting her lines with style, playing with dark, rich colors in the low range, and really feeling such musical points as the change to the major in the love music. Her Egisto is Carmelo Corrado Caruso, an expressive baritone. John Treleaven is a good Agamennone, an impervious and very taxing role.
Giovanna Casolla as Clitennestra and Carmelo Corrado Caruso as Egisto in Gnecchi's 'Cassandra' at Teatro Massimo Bellini. Photo © 2011 Giacomo Orlando. Click on the image for higher resolution
Gabriele Rech's stage direction is quite imaginative: with complex two layer scene machinery by Giuseppe Di Iorio, the tragedy becomes a modern family drama with blood, sex and violence.
The audience responded well with several minutes of applause.
Copyright © 24 January 2011 Giuseppe Pennisi,
Rome, Italy
ITALY
>
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Eros versus Thanatos Music & Vision on January 8
Eros versus Thanatos
'Ariadne auf Naxos' in Paris,
experienced by GIUSEPPE PENNISI
Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss, based on a Hugo von Hofmannsthal text, is one of the pinnacles of twentieth century opera. It has all the elements of a highly sophisticated intellectual divertissement: theatre within the theatre; opera seria (or rather tragédie lyrique) mixed with comic opera (or more exactly, commedia dell'arte, rather than opera buffa); a comparatively small orchestra of thirty-seven) with the capacity to make a Mozartean sound as well as that of the grand Wagnerian symphonic approach to musikdrama (which generally requires 120 instrumentalists in the pit), both coloratura and Wagnerian singers, and an intriguing libretto made up of a forty-five minute 'Prologue' and a ninety minute one act 'Opera'. Thus, it is not easy to understand why the current Paris Opera production is attracting such a large audience that it has already had as many as twenty-six performances in the huge Opéra Bastille (2700 seats). The production was initially devised for the smaller glittering Palais Garnier in 2003; it was so successful that it was revived, at the Opéra Bastille, in 2004. It was back again at the Opéra Bastille in December 2010 -- this review is based on the 30 December performance -- and most likely will return there during one of the next 'seasons' after a tour of other European Opera Houses.
The plot is rather complicated. In the 'Prologue', we are in the salon of 'the richest man in Vienna', where preparations are in progress for a new opera seria based on the Ariadne legend, with which the master of the house will divert his guests after a sumptuous dinner. Laurent Pelly (stage director and constume designer) and Chantal Thomas (set designer) move the action from the seventeenth century (as per the original Strauss-Hofmannsthal opera) to our times; the mansion is grossly grand and modern as appropriate for a member of the 'nouveau riche', mostly probably wealthy due to complicated financial trading before the 2007 financial crisis. The Music Master accosts the pompous Major-domo, having heard that a foolish comedy is to follow his pupil's opera, and warns that the Composer will never tolerate such an arrangement. The Major-domo is unimpressed. No sooner have they gone than the young Composer comes in for a final rehearsal, but an impudent lackey informs him that the violins are playing at dinner. A sudden inspiration brings him a new melody, but the Tenor is too busy arguing with the Wigmaker to listen to it.
Ricarda Merbeth as Ariadne and Jane Archibald as Zerbinetta in 'Ariadne auf Naxos' at the Opéra national de Paris. Photo © 2010 Julien Benhamou. Click on the image for higher resolution
Zerbinetta, leader of some comedians, emerges from her dressing room with an officer just as the Prima Donna comes out asking the Music Master to send for 'the Count'. At first attracted to Zerbinetta, the Composer is outraged when he learns she and her troupe are to share the bill with his masterpiece. Zerbinetta and the Prima Donna lock horns while dissension spreads. As the commotion reaches its height, the Major-domo returns to announce that because of limited time, the opera and the comedy are to be played simultaneously, succeeded by a fireworks display. At first dumbstruck, the artists try to collect themselves and plan: the Dancing Master extracts musical cuts from the despairing Composer, with the lead singers each urging that the other's parts be abridged, while the comedians are given a briefing on the opera's plot. Ariadne, they are told, after being abandoned by Theseus, has come to Naxos alone to wait for death. No, says Zerbinetta -- she only wants a new lover.
The comedienne decides her troupe will portray a band of travelers trapped on the island by chance. Zerbinetta assures the Composer that she too longs for a lasting romance, like Ariadne, but as the young artist's interest in the actress grows, she suddenly dashes off to join her colleagues. The final scene of the 'Prologue' is the key to Ariadne both musically and dramatically. Musically, Strauss allocates the characters or crucial words differentiating the contrasting approaches to a subject through major or minor keys. Optimist and down-to-earth Zerbinetta sings Tod ('Death') on a major chord, whilst the Composer sings it on a minor chord. Then a crescendo develops with the Composer's solemn explanation of the meaning of Ariadne's myth; the solemn explanation slides gently into his flirtation duet scene with Zerbinetta and then leads to his apostrophe Musik ist eine heilige Kunst, which is both the climax of 'The Prologue' and the bridge to 'The Opera'.
In this production, Naxos island -- where 'The Opera' is set -- is a rundown banlieue where buildings look either half built or half destroyed -- light years away from the pompous mansion of 'The Prologue'; this heightens the contrasts that are, as seen, one of the key dramatic and musical determinants of Ariadne. Ariadne is seen first at her grotto, watched over by three nymphs who sympathize with her grief. Enter the buffoons, who attempt to cheer her up -- to no avail. As if in a trance, Ariadne resolves to await Hermes, messenger of death (Ein Schönes war); he will take her to another world, the realm of death. When the comedians still fail to divert Ariadne, Zerbinetta addresses her directly (Grossmächitge Prinzessin). In a long and highly difficult coloratura rondo, she describes the frailty of women, the willfulness of men and the human compulsion to change an old love for a new. Insulted, Ariadne retires to her cave. Again, Zerbinetta is given sharp keys and Ariadne flat throughout. When Zerbinetta concludes her address, her cronies leap on for more sport. Harlequin tries to embrace her while Scaramuccio, Truffaldino and Brighella compete for her attention, but it is Harlequin to whom she at last surrenders.
A scene from 'Ariadne auf Naxos' at the Opéra national de Paris. Photo © 2010 Julien Benhamou. Click on the image for higher resolution
In the treatment of the commedia dell'arte, Strauss was clearly ahead of his contemporary fashion; 1916 was the time of seventeenth and eighteenth century recreation by Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Busoni, Respighi and Casella, not to mention Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire. The nymphs return, heralding the approach of a ship. It bears the young god Bacchus, who has escaped the enchantress Circe for Ariadne. Bacchus is heard in the distance, and Ariadne prepares to greet her visitor -- surely death at last. When he appears, she thinks him Theseus come back to her, but he majestically proclaims his godhood. Entranced by her, he claims he would sooner see the stars banish than give her up. In the duet, the contrast between flat and sharp is the main element to convey misunderstanding: bitonality is used here -- D flat and A major. Although reconciled to a new, exalted existence, Ariadne joins Bacchus in an ascent to the heavens with the ending in D flat major, while Zerbinetta sneaks in to have the last word: 'When a new god comes along, we're dumbstruck.'
What is the meaning of this singular text and very special vocal and orchestral score? 'Music is a sacred art' (Musik ist eine heilige Kunst), 'gathering the wildest follies like cherubim around a gleaming throne!' Such is the Composer's article of faith, vehemently proclaimed at the end of the Prologue. Boldness is hardly lacking in Strauss and Hofmannsthal's masterpiece, consisting of a long prologue that shows the process of artistic creation at work followed by a one-act opera in which the serious and the comic mingle with heady freedom. More than an illustration of the mixing of styles, Ariadne auf Naxos is its radiant embodiment. Displaying their poetic art, Hofmannsthal and Strauss also offer us a cast of unforgettable characters: the young, idealistic and amorous Composer, brother of both Mozart and Wagner; the luminous Zerbinetta, with her breathtaking coloratura originating in a peal of laughter; and the noble Ariadne, a character from lyric tragedy singing to the stars but shown in 'The Prologue' in the less flattering but so very amusing guise of a capricious diva. The world is a delightful hotchpotch to which art brings order, though art cannot and will not smooth its rough edges or resolve its intractable contradictions. << M&V home Concert reviews Gustavo Dudamel > The holy beauty of music, though, is the theme of many an opera -- from Monteverdi's L'Orfeo to Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and eventually to Menotti's Help, Help, the Globolinks. In Ariadne, this element is married to another leitmotif, very topical in 1916 when World War I was destroying the best crop of European youth and Sigmund Freud was active in Vienna. Ariadne is an anthem to the victory of Eros over Thanatos both in the lyrics (eg the triumph of Zerbinetta's lust for sex over Ariadne's intention to commit suicide) and in the music -- a lush sensual score beautifully directed by Philippe Jordan and played by the Orchestra of the Opéra National de Paris with the right balance between Mozart's and Wagner's styles. 
From left to right: Michael Laurenz as Brighella, François Piolino as Scaramuccio, François Lis as Truffaldino, Jane Archibald as Zerbinetta, Edwin Crossley-Mercer as Harlequin and Xavier Mas as the dancing master in 'Ariadne auf Naxos' at the Opéra national de Paris. Photo © 2010 Julien Benhamou. Click on the image for higher resolution The stage director, Laurent Pelly, and the conductor, Philippe Jordan, have a top-notch, well experienced cast to perform with: all good actors and excellent singers, well-endowed with the right physique du role. As with many operas by Strauss, Ariadne is a women's opera -- Strauss detested tenors but appreciated baritones and loved all women's voices. Zerbinetta is the young Canadian Jane Archibald, a coloratura soprano likely to become the heir of Natalie Dessay, Cecilia Bartoli and Desirée Rancatore; she received accolades after the rondo. Ariadne is the Wagnerian, albeit slim, Ricarda Merbeth with a fabulous acute. The real surprise is the mezzo: Sophie Koch in the trouser part of the Composer -- tender and sweet like an adolescent. Bacchus is Stefan Vinke who takes the impervious part with many high Cs well, and all the baritones and basses are of a high level. Due to the quality of acting, singing and orchestral work, the audience has a lot of fun and, thus, runs to this highly sophisticated -- but very meaningful -- divertissment conceived for the German and Austrian world of nearly a century ago.
Copyright © 8 January 2011 Giuseppe Pennisi,
Rome, Italy
RICHARD STRAUSS
GERMANY
PARIS
FRANCE
Eros versus Thanatos
'Ariadne auf Naxos' in Paris,
experienced by GIUSEPPE PENNISI
Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss, based on a Hugo von Hofmannsthal text, is one of the pinnacles of twentieth century opera. It has all the elements of a highly sophisticated intellectual divertissement: theatre within the theatre; opera seria (or rather tragédie lyrique) mixed with comic opera (or more exactly, commedia dell'arte, rather than opera buffa); a comparatively small orchestra of thirty-seven) with the capacity to make a Mozartean sound as well as that of the grand Wagnerian symphonic approach to musikdrama (which generally requires 120 instrumentalists in the pit), both coloratura and Wagnerian singers, and an intriguing libretto made up of a forty-five minute 'Prologue' and a ninety minute one act 'Opera'. Thus, it is not easy to understand why the current Paris Opera production is attracting such a large audience that it has already had as many as twenty-six performances in the huge Opéra Bastille (2700 seats). The production was initially devised for the smaller glittering Palais Garnier in 2003; it was so successful that it was revived, at the Opéra Bastille, in 2004. It was back again at the Opéra Bastille in December 2010 -- this review is based on the 30 December performance -- and most likely will return there during one of the next 'seasons' after a tour of other European Opera Houses.
The plot is rather complicated. In the 'Prologue', we are in the salon of 'the richest man in Vienna', where preparations are in progress for a new opera seria based on the Ariadne legend, with which the master of the house will divert his guests after a sumptuous dinner. Laurent Pelly (stage director and constume designer) and Chantal Thomas (set designer) move the action from the seventeenth century (as per the original Strauss-Hofmannsthal opera) to our times; the mansion is grossly grand and modern as appropriate for a member of the 'nouveau riche', mostly probably wealthy due to complicated financial trading before the 2007 financial crisis. The Music Master accosts the pompous Major-domo, having heard that a foolish comedy is to follow his pupil's opera, and warns that the Composer will never tolerate such an arrangement. The Major-domo is unimpressed. No sooner have they gone than the young Composer comes in for a final rehearsal, but an impudent lackey informs him that the violins are playing at dinner. A sudden inspiration brings him a new melody, but the Tenor is too busy arguing with the Wigmaker to listen to it.
Ricarda Merbeth as Ariadne and Jane Archibald as Zerbinetta in 'Ariadne auf Naxos' at the Opéra national de Paris. Photo © 2010 Julien Benhamou. Click on the image for higher resolution
Zerbinetta, leader of some comedians, emerges from her dressing room with an officer just as the Prima Donna comes out asking the Music Master to send for 'the Count'. At first attracted to Zerbinetta, the Composer is outraged when he learns she and her troupe are to share the bill with his masterpiece. Zerbinetta and the Prima Donna lock horns while dissension spreads. As the commotion reaches its height, the Major-domo returns to announce that because of limited time, the opera and the comedy are to be played simultaneously, succeeded by a fireworks display. At first dumbstruck, the artists try to collect themselves and plan: the Dancing Master extracts musical cuts from the despairing Composer, with the lead singers each urging that the other's parts be abridged, while the comedians are given a briefing on the opera's plot. Ariadne, they are told, after being abandoned by Theseus, has come to Naxos alone to wait for death. No, says Zerbinetta -- she only wants a new lover.
The comedienne decides her troupe will portray a band of travelers trapped on the island by chance. Zerbinetta assures the Composer that she too longs for a lasting romance, like Ariadne, but as the young artist's interest in the actress grows, she suddenly dashes off to join her colleagues. The final scene of the 'Prologue' is the key to Ariadne both musically and dramatically. Musically, Strauss allocates the characters or crucial words differentiating the contrasting approaches to a subject through major or minor keys. Optimist and down-to-earth Zerbinetta sings Tod ('Death') on a major chord, whilst the Composer sings it on a minor chord. Then a crescendo develops with the Composer's solemn explanation of the meaning of Ariadne's myth; the solemn explanation slides gently into his flirtation duet scene with Zerbinetta and then leads to his apostrophe Musik ist eine heilige Kunst, which is both the climax of 'The Prologue' and the bridge to 'The Opera'.
In this production, Naxos island -- where 'The Opera' is set -- is a rundown banlieue where buildings look either half built or half destroyed -- light years away from the pompous mansion of 'The Prologue'; this heightens the contrasts that are, as seen, one of the key dramatic and musical determinants of Ariadne. Ariadne is seen first at her grotto, watched over by three nymphs who sympathize with her grief. Enter the buffoons, who attempt to cheer her up -- to no avail. As if in a trance, Ariadne resolves to await Hermes, messenger of death (Ein Schönes war); he will take her to another world, the realm of death. When the comedians still fail to divert Ariadne, Zerbinetta addresses her directly (Grossmächitge Prinzessin). In a long and highly difficult coloratura rondo, she describes the frailty of women, the willfulness of men and the human compulsion to change an old love for a new. Insulted, Ariadne retires to her cave. Again, Zerbinetta is given sharp keys and Ariadne flat throughout. When Zerbinetta concludes her address, her cronies leap on for more sport. Harlequin tries to embrace her while Scaramuccio, Truffaldino and Brighella compete for her attention, but it is Harlequin to whom she at last surrenders.
A scene from 'Ariadne auf Naxos' at the Opéra national de Paris. Photo © 2010 Julien Benhamou. Click on the image for higher resolution
In the treatment of the commedia dell'arte, Strauss was clearly ahead of his contemporary fashion; 1916 was the time of seventeenth and eighteenth century recreation by Prokofiev, Stravinsky, Busoni, Respighi and Casella, not to mention Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire. The nymphs return, heralding the approach of a ship. It bears the young god Bacchus, who has escaped the enchantress Circe for Ariadne. Bacchus is heard in the distance, and Ariadne prepares to greet her visitor -- surely death at last. When he appears, she thinks him Theseus come back to her, but he majestically proclaims his godhood. Entranced by her, he claims he would sooner see the stars banish than give her up. In the duet, the contrast between flat and sharp is the main element to convey misunderstanding: bitonality is used here -- D flat and A major. Although reconciled to a new, exalted existence, Ariadne joins Bacchus in an ascent to the heavens with the ending in D flat major, while Zerbinetta sneaks in to have the last word: 'When a new god comes along, we're dumbstruck.'
What is the meaning of this singular text and very special vocal and orchestral score? 'Music is a sacred art' (Musik ist eine heilige Kunst), 'gathering the wildest follies like cherubim around a gleaming throne!' Such is the Composer's article of faith, vehemently proclaimed at the end of the Prologue. Boldness is hardly lacking in Strauss and Hofmannsthal's masterpiece, consisting of a long prologue that shows the process of artistic creation at work followed by a one-act opera in which the serious and the comic mingle with heady freedom. More than an illustration of the mixing of styles, Ariadne auf Naxos is its radiant embodiment. Displaying their poetic art, Hofmannsthal and Strauss also offer us a cast of unforgettable characters: the young, idealistic and amorous Composer, brother of both Mozart and Wagner; the luminous Zerbinetta, with her breathtaking coloratura originating in a peal of laughter; and the noble Ariadne, a character from lyric tragedy singing to the stars but shown in 'The Prologue' in the less flattering but so very amusing guise of a capricious diva. The world is a delightful hotchpotch to which art brings order, though art cannot and will not smooth its rough edges or resolve its intractable contradictions. << M&V home Concert reviews Gustavo Dudamel > The holy beauty of music, though, is the theme of many an opera -- from Monteverdi's L'Orfeo to Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and eventually to Menotti's Help, Help, the Globolinks. In Ariadne, this element is married to another leitmotif, very topical in 1916 when World War I was destroying the best crop of European youth and Sigmund Freud was active in Vienna. Ariadne is an anthem to the victory of Eros over Thanatos both in the lyrics (eg the triumph of Zerbinetta's lust for sex over Ariadne's intention to commit suicide) and in the music -- a lush sensual score beautifully directed by Philippe Jordan and played by the Orchestra of the Opéra National de Paris with the right balance between Mozart's and Wagner's styles.
From left to right: Michael Laurenz as Brighella, François Piolino as Scaramuccio, François Lis as Truffaldino, Jane Archibald as Zerbinetta, Edwin Crossley-Mercer as Harlequin and Xavier Mas as the dancing master in 'Ariadne auf Naxos' at the Opéra national de Paris. Photo © 2010 Julien Benhamou. Click on the image for higher resolution Copyright © 8 January 2011 Giuseppe Pennisi,
Rome, Italy
RICHARD STRAUSS
GERMANY
PARIS
FRANCE
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Mediterranean Splendour in Music & Vision of January 5
Mediterranean Splendour
Dancing to Bizet's 'L'Arlésienne' and 'Carmen',
by GIUSEPPE PENNISI
I do not generally review ballet performances, but this Roland Petit show on Bizet's music is really a special combination of music and vision as it marries top-class music (the suites from L'Arlésienne and from Carmen) with superb dancing and excellent stage sets based on Van Gogh (L'Arlésienne) and Picasso (Carmen). The carefully crafted sets place both dramatic actions under a bright Mediterranean sun (albeit with different shading).
It is not a brand new production but a joint venture of the three major Opera Houses -- La Scala where the double bill was presented in 2008 (and most likely, it will return in 2012 because it was acclaimed by the audience), the Teatro dell'Opera of Rome (until 2 January 2011) and the Teatro Petruzzelli of Bari (until 10 January 2011). Also, the original conceptions of two ballets date many years back: Carmen was unveiled in Paris in 1949 and L'Arlésienne in Marseille in 1974. They have travelled all over the world -- often, however, without conductors and orchestras up to the level of Bizet's score, and occasionally -- oh dear! -- with taped music.
In this joint effort by three major houses, justice to Bizet's music is given by a good full-sized orchestra, conducted in Rome and Bari by the versatile American Nik Kabaretti, often a guest at the Vienna Staatsoper and at the Florence Maggio Musicale. Under his baton, Bizet's complex score was caressed. In addition, eighty-six-year-old Roland Petit, the choreographer, come to the rehearsal to oversee the quality of the performance: on 22 December 2010, the opening night in Rome (on which this review is based), he received accolades from the audience where Zize Jeanmaire, his wife and lifelong dancing partner, was in row fourteen of the orchestra.
Erika Gaudenzi and Ivan Vasiliev in 'L'Arlésienne'. Photo © 2010 Corrado Maria Falsini. Click on the image for higher resolution
Overseeing the quality meant also giving a fresh new coat of paint to the sets (by René Arlio for L'Arlésienne and by Antoni Clavé for Carmen) where the references to van Gogh and Picasso brightened in their full Mediterranean splendour, still more stunning because outside the theatre it was raining cats and dogs. (Since early November, Rome has constantly, and depressingly, been wet.)
Erika Gaudenzi and Ivan Vasiliev in 'L'Arlésienne'. Photo © 2010 Corrado Maria Falsini. Click on the image for higher resolution
Bizet's L'Arlésienne was originally conceived as stage music to Alphonse Daudet's play about passion driving a young man to suicide in a small provincial village in Provence. The two scenes are based on a strong musical and visual contrast: a very sunny country courtyard where two families are re-united for the long-awaited wedding of their two children (Fréderic and Vivette); it's very dark (like a tomb) in the attic of the barn where Fréderic, unable to forget l'Arlésienne, 'a woman of prohibited passionate love', flings himself into space in a desperate suicide. In the several scheduled performances, three couple take the main roles: Erika Gaudenzi and Ivan Vasiliev, Eleonora Abbagnato with Benjamin Pech, and Sara Loro with Alessandro Riga. On 22 December, Erika Gaudenzi and Ivan Vasiliev not only danced but acted superbly.
Ivan Vasiliev in 'L'Arlésienne'. Photo © 2010 Corrado Maria Falsini. Click on the image for higher resolution
The Carmen suite is an abridged forty-five minute summary of the opera. The plot has been slightly changed. The Micaela character, for instance, is not included, and Escamillo appears only in the last of the five scenes. A bedroom scene is added (Scene III) to enhance sex and sensuality to Carmen and Don José's relationship. Also, there is no travel to the Sierra (Act III of the opera), but Don José is driven by Carmen's friends to become a killer during a night robbery on a deserted Seville street. 
Polina Semionova and Robert Tewsley in 'Carmen'. Photo © 2010 Corrado Maria Falsini. Click on the image for higher resolution The crux of Prosper Mérimée's novel and of George Bizet's opera is all there. Two dancing couples alternate in the main roles: Polina Semionova with Robert Tewsley, and Gaia Straccamoree with Mario Marozzi. On 22 December, Polina Semionova and Robert Tewsley were enthusiastically applauded by the audience.
Polina Semionova and Robert Tewsley in 'Carmen'. Photo © 2010 Corrado Maria Falsini. Click on the image for higher resolution
The performance was Micha von Hoecke's début as director of Rome Opera's corps de ballet, and it was a very good start.
Copyright © 8 January 2011 Giuseppe Pennisi,
Rome, Italy
GEORGES BIZET
CARMEN
LA SCALA
TEATRO DELL'OPERA
ROME
ITALY
>
Mediterranean Splendour
Dancing to Bizet's 'L'Arlésienne' and 'Carmen',
by GIUSEPPE PENNISI
I do not generally review ballet performances, but this Roland Petit show on Bizet's music is really a special combination of music and vision as it marries top-class music (the suites from L'Arlésienne and from Carmen) with superb dancing and excellent stage sets based on Van Gogh (L'Arlésienne) and Picasso (Carmen). The carefully crafted sets place both dramatic actions under a bright Mediterranean sun (albeit with different shading).
It is not a brand new production but a joint venture of the three major Opera Houses -- La Scala where the double bill was presented in 2008 (and most likely, it will return in 2012 because it was acclaimed by the audience), the Teatro dell'Opera of Rome (until 2 January 2011) and the Teatro Petruzzelli of Bari (until 10 January 2011). Also, the original conceptions of two ballets date many years back: Carmen was unveiled in Paris in 1949 and L'Arlésienne in Marseille in 1974. They have travelled all over the world -- often, however, without conductors and orchestras up to the level of Bizet's score, and occasionally -- oh dear! -- with taped music.
In this joint effort by three major houses, justice to Bizet's music is given by a good full-sized orchestra, conducted in Rome and Bari by the versatile American Nik Kabaretti, often a guest at the Vienna Staatsoper and at the Florence Maggio Musicale. Under his baton, Bizet's complex score was caressed. In addition, eighty-six-year-old Roland Petit, the choreographer, come to the rehearsal to oversee the quality of the performance: on 22 December 2010, the opening night in Rome (on which this review is based), he received accolades from the audience where Zize Jeanmaire, his wife and lifelong dancing partner, was in row fourteen of the orchestra.
Erika Gaudenzi and Ivan Vasiliev in 'L'Arlésienne'. Photo © 2010 Corrado Maria Falsini. Click on the image for higher resolution
Overseeing the quality meant also giving a fresh new coat of paint to the sets (by René Arlio for L'Arlésienne and by Antoni Clavé for Carmen) where the references to van Gogh and Picasso brightened in their full Mediterranean splendour, still more stunning because outside the theatre it was raining cats and dogs. (Since early November, Rome has constantly, and depressingly, been wet.)
Erika Gaudenzi and Ivan Vasiliev in 'L'Arlésienne'. Photo © 2010 Corrado Maria Falsini. Click on the image for higher resolution
Bizet's L'Arlésienne was originally conceived as stage music to Alphonse Daudet's play about passion driving a young man to suicide in a small provincial village in Provence. The two scenes are based on a strong musical and visual contrast: a very sunny country courtyard where two families are re-united for the long-awaited wedding of their two children (Fréderic and Vivette); it's very dark (like a tomb) in the attic of the barn where Fréderic, unable to forget l'Arlésienne, 'a woman of prohibited passionate love', flings himself into space in a desperate suicide. In the several scheduled performances, three couple take the main roles: Erika Gaudenzi and Ivan Vasiliev, Eleonora Abbagnato with Benjamin Pech, and Sara Loro with Alessandro Riga. On 22 December, Erika Gaudenzi and Ivan Vasiliev not only danced but acted superbly.
Ivan Vasiliev in 'L'Arlésienne'. Photo © 2010 Corrado Maria Falsini. Click on the image for higher resolution
The Carmen suite is an abridged forty-five minute summary of the opera. The plot has been slightly changed. The Micaela character, for instance, is not included, and Escamillo appears only in the last of the five scenes. A bedroom scene is added (Scene III) to enhance sex and sensuality to Carmen and Don José's relationship. Also, there is no travel to the Sierra (Act III of the opera), but Don José is driven by Carmen's friends to become a killer during a night robbery on a deserted Seville street.
Polina Semionova and Robert Tewsley in 'Carmen'. Photo © 2010 Corrado Maria Falsini. Click on the image for higher resolution Polina Semionova and Robert Tewsley in 'Carmen'. Photo © 2010 Corrado Maria Falsini. Click on the image for higher resolution
The performance was Micha von Hoecke's début as director of Rome Opera's corps de ballet, and it was a very good start.
Copyright © 8 January 2011 Giuseppe Pennisi,
Rome, Italy
GEORGES BIZET
CARMEN
LA SCALA
TEATRO DELL'OPERA
ROME
ITALY
>
Jack Roush 03 Mustang Pic's
A High-Level In Music Production & Vision of December 31, 2010
A High-level Production
'The Merry Widow', heard by GIUSEPPE PENNISI
The Merry Widow is much too often treated as a 'holiday season' family show. Thus, it is staged by make-shift companies, with an overly simplified, if not altogether rudimentary, orchestra and only a few dancers, possibly on loan from a graduation class of some nearby Dancing Academy. This is neither Franz Lehár's The Merry Widow as originally conceived nor the production I saw in Verona on 18 December 2010 -- the basis for this review. The Merry Widow has sublime music; for this reason it has been one of the favorite scores of conductors such as Bernstein, Karajan, Kleiber, Matacic and many others amongst the best batons of the twentieth century. The 'operetta' has been also much appreciated by singers such as Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Nicolai Gedda. Its waltzes and mazurkas demand the best étoiles and a very well trained corps de ballet. Its orchestral playing deserves top-notch musicians and even some well rounded soloists.
The production I enjoyed is a joint effort of four major Italian opera houses -- the San Carlo Theatre in Naples, the Carlo Felice Theatre in Genoa, the Verdi Theatre in Trieste and the Filarmonico Theatre in Verona. The staging has been entrusted to a well-known Italian director, Federico Tiezzi and the sets, the costumes, the lighting and the choreography to Edoardo Stanchi, Giovanna Buzzi, Gianni Pollini and Giovanna Di Cicco -- all very professional specialists. The principals and the conductor are basically the same in all the four towns and theatres. The orchestras and the corps de ballet change from town to town and from theatre to theatre -- also due to 'closed shop' trade unions' practices -- but are always up to the standard of a major opera house. Furthermore, Verona has a rich ballet season in both Winter and Summer and, thus, an experienced ballet company. Thus, it is a high level production.
The Merry Widow is a special operetta. It erupted when this type of musical theatre was considered on its way out. The seventies and the eighties of the nineteenth century had been the heyday of Viennese classical operetta with Johann Strauss being the best known and most popular author. The exceptional success of this stylistic fashion produced a horde of librettists and composers who adapted the genre in a thousand of different ways; only a few of them propagated new ideas, melodies and rhythms. Thus the genre was dying out when its leading exponents were still alive. At the turn of the century, little or no operetta seriously existed, and nobody believed in the possibility of its renaissance. A similar phenomenon had occurred in France where operetta was mostly linked to the name of Jacques Hoffenbach and of its sharp and witty satire of the upper class in the Second Empire and in the Third Republic.
Within this setting, The Merry Widow started a new era. It was premièred in the An der Wien Theatre of Vienna on 30 December 1905, only three weeks after Richard Strauss' Salome had shocked Dresden's audience and worldwide music critics. Albeit very different in many aspects, the two works have the same basic theme: sex, money and power as perceived by a woman. It is the same core element of Strindberg's plays as well as a signal of the beginning of Freudian psychoanalysis. Musically, Franz Lehár's waltzes and mazurkas were as revolutionary as Richard Strauss' dissonance. It is significant that The Merry Widow became world famous not right after its première in Vienna but a few months later as a result of its tremendous success in Berlin, where its fiery and unconventional spirit was at once recognized and acclaimed.
The text is amusing but not exceptionally brilliant. It is based on a rather dull French play, L'Atttaché d'Ambassade by Henri Meilhac; the play had had some limited success in the period around 1861-65. The real marvel is the music: in a way, Lehár brought the Wagnerian revolution as close as possible to the dance hall and to the general entertainment theatre. There is a clear basic leitmotif, the love waltz around which other themes enfolds: the brisk Maxim's march, Hanna's brilliant entrance aria, the melodious Vilja song, the tender pavilion duet, the chorus of the grisettes, the Septet in the second Act played and sung again at the end of the third Act. The tunes are never banal. Lehár's waltzes are more caressing and sweeter than those of the classical Johann Strauss; they carry in them the foretaste of the slow waltz. Also the orchestration is rich -- much richer than that of Johann Strauss. Thus, it is not easy to perform The Merry Widow well. You need a good central idea for the staging, a good group of singers, a first rate ballet, an experienced orchestra and a director and conductor able to pull all of this together.
Tiezzi's key idea is to move the action from 1905 to 29-30 October 1929, ie to the beginning of the major financial crisis which opened the way to the Great Depression. In the background of a single set, where projections and props provide for the changes in scene (the Embassy of the bankrupt Balkan Kingdom, Hanna Glawari's fabulous mansion in Paris and finally Chez Maxim's), the audience sees stock exchange data and indexes like in a ticker of a financial TV program. Of course, the indexes fall until the final happy end when a marriage and a lot money save everybody and the stock exchange becomes bullish. The costumes are strictly in the 'roaring Twenties' style. Great attention is given to acting and dancing. The spoken parts are reduced to the essential -- as in the original 1905 edition -- by deleting the jokes gradually added in the last century and now considered part of the tradition.
Thus, there is the right emphasis on the music. The conductor, Julian Kovatchev, underlines the most modern aspects of the score -- eg the central role of the love waltz and its connections with the other themes; the orchestra is fine, especially the strings.
In the cast there is only one veteran, the 'basso buffo' Bruno Pratico, well-known in Italy and abroad as a regular presence at the Rossini Opera Festival. He sets the tone in the Septet, as the women ... Yes, the study of women's hard drives and the other six singers of this spicy concertato. The other principals are mostly young, but already in careers. Hanna Glawari, the widow everyone wants to marry for her money, is Silvia Della Benetta, a good melodious voice but with limited volume in the large Verona Filarmonico Theatre, nonetheless, she received a well deserved applause at the end of her entrance aria Please , gentlemen and in the hard second act song It's alive 'a Vilja. Of course she, does much better in the duets with Gezyn Myshketa, a young and very promising Albanian baritone who is her Danilo Danilovich. Myshketa's well-rounded voice is apparent from his entry aria Oh fatherland, do you do during the day to the final silent lips. I foresee that he will go far.
The second couple (Valencienne and de Rossignol) is not as well balanced: from the first duet (How to comme!), Davinia Rodriguez with her powerful voice overtakes Ricardo Bernal, a very light lyric tenor who, however, has the right touch As for a Rosenknose. All the others were good. In short, a delightful Widow.
Copyright © 31 December 2010 Giuseppe Pennisi,
Rome, Italy
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A High-level Production
'The Merry Widow', heard by GIUSEPPE PENNISI
The Merry Widow is much too often treated as a 'holiday season' family show. Thus, it is staged by make-shift companies, with an overly simplified, if not altogether rudimentary, orchestra and only a few dancers, possibly on loan from a graduation class of some nearby Dancing Academy. This is neither Franz Lehár's The Merry Widow as originally conceived nor the production I saw in Verona on 18 December 2010 -- the basis for this review. The Merry Widow has sublime music; for this reason it has been one of the favorite scores of conductors such as Bernstein, Karajan, Kleiber, Matacic and many others amongst the best batons of the twentieth century. The 'operetta' has been also much appreciated by singers such as Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Nicolai Gedda. Its waltzes and mazurkas demand the best étoiles and a very well trained corps de ballet. Its orchestral playing deserves top-notch musicians and even some well rounded soloists.
The production I enjoyed is a joint effort of four major Italian opera houses -- the San Carlo Theatre in Naples, the Carlo Felice Theatre in Genoa, the Verdi Theatre in Trieste and the Filarmonico Theatre in Verona. The staging has been entrusted to a well-known Italian director, Federico Tiezzi and the sets, the costumes, the lighting and the choreography to Edoardo Stanchi, Giovanna Buzzi, Gianni Pollini and Giovanna Di Cicco -- all very professional specialists. The principals and the conductor are basically the same in all the four towns and theatres. The orchestras and the corps de ballet change from town to town and from theatre to theatre -- also due to 'closed shop' trade unions' practices -- but are always up to the standard of a major opera house. Furthermore, Verona has a rich ballet season in both Winter and Summer and, thus, an experienced ballet company. Thus, it is a high level production.
The Merry Widow is a special operetta. It erupted when this type of musical theatre was considered on its way out. The seventies and the eighties of the nineteenth century had been the heyday of Viennese classical operetta with Johann Strauss being the best known and most popular author. The exceptional success of this stylistic fashion produced a horde of librettists and composers who adapted the genre in a thousand of different ways; only a few of them propagated new ideas, melodies and rhythms. Thus the genre was dying out when its leading exponents were still alive. At the turn of the century, little or no operetta seriously existed, and nobody believed in the possibility of its renaissance. A similar phenomenon had occurred in France where operetta was mostly linked to the name of Jacques Hoffenbach and of its sharp and witty satire of the upper class in the Second Empire and in the Third Republic.
Within this setting, The Merry Widow started a new era. It was premièred in the An der Wien Theatre of Vienna on 30 December 1905, only three weeks after Richard Strauss' Salome had shocked Dresden's audience and worldwide music critics. Albeit very different in many aspects, the two works have the same basic theme: sex, money and power as perceived by a woman. It is the same core element of Strindberg's plays as well as a signal of the beginning of Freudian psychoanalysis. Musically, Franz Lehár's waltzes and mazurkas were as revolutionary as Richard Strauss' dissonance. It is significant that The Merry Widow became world famous not right after its première in Vienna but a few months later as a result of its tremendous success in Berlin, where its fiery and unconventional spirit was at once recognized and acclaimed.
The text is amusing but not exceptionally brilliant. It is based on a rather dull French play, L'Atttaché d'Ambassade by Henri Meilhac; the play had had some limited success in the period around 1861-65. The real marvel is the music: in a way, Lehár brought the Wagnerian revolution as close as possible to the dance hall and to the general entertainment theatre. There is a clear basic leitmotif, the love waltz around which other themes enfolds: the brisk Maxim's march, Hanna's brilliant entrance aria, the melodious Vilja song, the tender pavilion duet, the chorus of the grisettes, the Septet in the second Act played and sung again at the end of the third Act. The tunes are never banal. Lehár's waltzes are more caressing and sweeter than those of the classical Johann Strauss; they carry in them the foretaste of the slow waltz. Also the orchestration is rich -- much richer than that of Johann Strauss. Thus, it is not easy to perform The Merry Widow well. You need a good central idea for the staging, a good group of singers, a first rate ballet, an experienced orchestra and a director and conductor able to pull all of this together.
Tiezzi's key idea is to move the action from 1905 to 29-30 October 1929, ie to the beginning of the major financial crisis which opened the way to the Great Depression. In the background of a single set, where projections and props provide for the changes in scene (the Embassy of the bankrupt Balkan Kingdom, Hanna Glawari's fabulous mansion in Paris and finally Chez Maxim's), the audience sees stock exchange data and indexes like in a ticker of a financial TV program. Of course, the indexes fall until the final happy end when a marriage and a lot money save everybody and the stock exchange becomes bullish. The costumes are strictly in the 'roaring Twenties' style. Great attention is given to acting and dancing. The spoken parts are reduced to the essential -- as in the original 1905 edition -- by deleting the jokes gradually added in the last century and now considered part of the tradition.
Thus, there is the right emphasis on the music. The conductor, Julian Kovatchev, underlines the most modern aspects of the score -- eg the central role of the love waltz and its connections with the other themes; the orchestra is fine, especially the strings.
In the cast there is only one veteran, the 'basso buffo' Bruno Pratico, well-known in Italy and abroad as a regular presence at the Rossini Opera Festival. He sets the tone in the Septet, as the women ... Yes, the study of women's hard drives and the other six singers of this spicy concertato. The other principals are mostly young, but already in careers. Hanna Glawari, the widow everyone wants to marry for her money, is Silvia Della Benetta, a good melodious voice but with limited volume in the large Verona Filarmonico Theatre, nonetheless, she received a well deserved applause at the end of her entrance aria Please , gentlemen and in the hard second act song It's alive 'a Vilja. Of course she, does much better in the duets with Gezyn Myshketa, a young and very promising Albanian baritone who is her Danilo Danilovich. Myshketa's well-rounded voice is apparent from his entry aria Oh fatherland, do you do during the day to the final silent lips. I foresee that he will go far.
The second couple (Valencienne and de Rossignol) is not as well balanced: from the first duet (How to comme!), Davinia Rodriguez with her powerful voice overtakes Ricardo Bernal, a very light lyric tenor who, however, has the right touch As for a Rosenknose. All the others were good. In short, a delightful Widow.
Copyright © 31 December 2010 Giuseppe Pennisi,
Rome, Italy
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Friday, February 18, 2011
Tick Infestation In Home Natural Methods
Giochi Sportivi Studenteschi A.S. 2010-11
Campionati provinciali
di corsa campestre
Gioisa Marea (Me) 17-02-2011
Classifica individuale cat. Allievi
1° Sammodi Adil (Iti Copernico - Barcellona P.G.)
2° Trimarchi Giuseppe (Iti E. Majorana - Milazzo)
3 rd Syracuse James (ITCG Borghese - Patti)
5 ° Terrizzi Alessandro (ITIS E. Majorana - Milazzo)
Giueppe Cambria 9 th ( ITIS E. Majorana - Milazzo)
Teams Ranking cat. Students
1, Iti Copernicus Barcelona - 16 points - (1 st - 7 th - 8)
2 ° Iti Majorana Milazzo-16 Points - (2 ° - 5 ° - 9)
3 ° Itt Messina Verona-Trento-Points 35 - (4 ° -10 ° -21 °)
rank individual cat. Students
Conti 1, Noemi (Isa Capo D'Orlando)
2 nd boat Martina (Ls Medi Barcelona)
3 ° Simona Ruggeri (ITC Jaci Messina)
5 ° Maiorana Ilaria (ITIS Majorana Milazzo)
15 ° Alessia De Mariano (Iti Majorana Milazzo)
17 ° Bucca Giulia (Iti Majorana Milazzo)
20 ° Valentina La Malfa (Iti Majorana Milazzo)
cat Teams Ranking . Students
1, Iis Galilei Spadafora 22 points (4-8-10)
2 ° Isa Capo D'Orlando 29 points
3 ° Ls Caminiti S. Teresa Riva 29 points
6 th Iti Majorana Milazzo
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Cats With Double Canines
BALANCE MIND
The scale tells us our burden, but this is not the whole truth . Two people with the same height and weight may look completely different, a toned and muscular, the ' another with bacon and shorts!
In addition to weight is important to know the body composition, ie how much of our weight consists of fat as by water and fluids from the muscles . tissue muscles are more metabolically active, what allows us to eat more and maintain weight while the fat from this point of view is " inert, does not consume and indeed, produces hormones inflammatory action: having an excess of fat is certainly not positive for either health or for aesthetics.
When you begin a journey of weight loss is important initial assessment of body composition, and occur at the time that the weight lost is primarily fat, not muscle or noble structures. The aspect that carved often depends on who is on a diet by a lack of muscle mass, which is very harmful. Follow in time the patient can "adjust the aim For time, vary the diet therapy intervention depending on the actual physical response of each.
Actually, can not be measured directly, but it can be estimated. In the study using two different instruments
.
The first is the BIA101 of Akern, "the" best tool on the market for the estimation of body composition, crossing over 1000 and published scientific articles 25 years of clinical research. This tool allows you to measure two parameters bioelettrici, impedenza e reattanza , che sono direttamente collegati quantità di fluidi all’interno dell’organismo ed all’ integrità delle membrane cellulari . La combinazione di queste due misurazioni viene riportata su un grafico detto BIAVECTOR, che permette di valutare la situazione : tanta o poca massa cellulare, buona, scarsa o troppa idratazione. Le misurazioni successive permettono di valutare il tipo di modificazioni all’interno del corpo: può succedere che non si perda apparentemente peso, ma in realtà la quantità di adipe è minore mentre è aumentata la massa magra, uno moving the "dot" tells us much more than just weight.
The software makes a calculation of the various compartments: pounds of lean mass, fat mass, water, but estimates are subject to greater errors.
The second tool I use is' adipometro . This tool works a little ' as an ultrasound, the application is quick and discreet, and allows you to measure the thickness of fat chosen points, then over time we can directly measure the changes Couch fat.
The measurements are performed whenever necessary. Since the impedance estimate the amount of water present in the body is good to do the measurement at the right time in order to obtain a measure that is more responsive as possible to the "normal" situation of the person. We suggest that you do not sport in the hours preceding the visit (if you're not high-level sport, in that case does not change), to avoid long journeys car. Better not do the measurement during the menstrual cycle, as this will normally result in a higher water retention usual.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Waffle Cone Recipe Martha Stewart
Giochi Sportivi Studenteschi
Corsa campestre 2011
Fase interdistrettuale
Capo Milazzo 3 febbraio 2011
RISULTATI :
Categoria ALLIEVI
1° Sammodi Adil (Iti Copernicus Barcelona)
2 nd Joseph Trimarchi (Iti Majorana Milazzo)
3 ° Terrizzi Alessandro (Iti Majorana Milazzo)
7 th Joseph Cambria (Iti Majorana Milazzo)
team championship
ITI 1, E. Majorana - Milazzo - paragraphs 12 (2 ° -3 ° -7 °) 2 ° ITI
Copernicus - Barcelona - 18 points (1 ° -6 ° -11 °) 3 °
IIS Galilei - Spadafora - 32 points (5th - 12 ° -15 °)
Category STUDENTS
1, Martina Barca (Barcelona Medi Ls)
2 nd Melissa Quattrocchi (IIS Galilei Spadafora)
3 ° Viviana Schepisi (Iti Majorana Milazzo)
4 ° Maiorana Ilaria (Iti Majorana Milazzo) 16 °
Bucca Giulia (Iti Majorana Milazzo)
team championship
1, IIS Galilei - Spadafora - 13 points (2 ° -5 ° -6 °) 2 ° ITI
E. Majorana - Milazzo - paragraphs 23 (3 ° -4 ° -16 °) 3 °
LS Medium - Barcelona - paragraphs 30 (1 ° -14 ° -15 °)
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