June 28, 2005: Werther in Torino

2005-06-28 Werther (Massenet), Teatro Regio Torino

Werther = Roberto Alagna
Charlotte = Kate Aldrich
Albert = Marc Barrard
Sophie = Nathalie Manfrino
Bailli = Michel Trempont
Schmidt = Leonard Pezzino
Johann = Armando Gabba
Brühlmann = Alessandro Inzillo
Kätchen = Ivana Cravero

Alain Guingal, conductor

Werther

Libretto di Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet e
Georges Hartmann
dal romanzo Die Leiden des jungen Werther
di Johann Wolfgang Goethe

Musica di Jules Massenet


Gli altri figli del borgomastro, voci bianche
Stefania Costa, Fiammetta Fanari,
Roberta Nobile, Miriam Schiavello,
Giulia Voghera, Carlo Alberto Italia,
Alberto Occelli, Giulio Sanna


Direttore d’orchestra Alain Guingal
Regia e scene David Alagna e Frédérico Alagna
Costumi Louis Désiré
Maestro del coro Claudio Marino Moretti
Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Regio

Elementi del Coro di voci bianche del Teatro Regio e del Conservatorio
“G. Verdi”

Nuovo allestimento Teatro Regio.

Bravo Roberto Alagna!!!!!
Bravi David & Frederico Alagna!!!
Bravi tutti!

Even, bravi dog and horses!!!

First time in Torino for me. The Alagna brothers made this production a feast for the eye and ear. And with Roberto Alagna, their big-brother as the star of the evening it was absolutely magic. Schmidt and Johann visited the home of the Bailiff with a real dog. The dog acted admirably even when the singing was near. Naturally the dog was in a leash and all took care of the big dog. The carriage was with a real horse that took Charlotte and Werther to the ball and back. When Sophie came to the church she was on horseback, not the same horse that had carried the carriage. And was it disturbing the opera in any way? No. It was all perfectly done.

Roberto Alagna et al. was wonderful in their singing and dancing. The children, too. The sets and costumes was beautiful and totally right for Werther. Roberto Alagna was perfect as Werther. Kate Aldrich was totally convincing as Charlotte, which was wonderfully sung. Sophie was also quite marvelous as were Albert. This production with its use of red lightning at special moments in Werther was truly amazing and wonderful...

The perfect Werther!

June 28, 2003: Turandot in Verona

2003-06-28 Turandot (G. Puccini), Arena di Verona

Turandot = Giovanna Casolla
Altoum = Aldo Bottion
Timur = Hao Jiang Tian
Calaf = José Cura
Liù = Micaela Carosi
Ping = Marco Camastra
Pang = Iorio Zennaro
Pang = Gianluca Floris
A mandarin = Giuseppe Riva
The prince of Persia = Angel Harkatz
First maidservant = Daniela Forapani
Second maidservant = Antonella D'Amico

Alain Lombard, conductor

Arena di Verona
28 June 2003 - 21.15

Turandot


Dramma lirico in 3 acts by Giacomo Puccini
Libretto by Giuseppe Adami e Renato Simoni


PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR Alain Lombard


DIRECTOR Yuri Alexandrov
Assistant Director Tatiana Karpacheva


SCENOGRAPHER Vjacheslav Okunev
COSTUME DESIGNER Vjacheslav Okunev
CHOIR MASTER Marco Faelli
Director of the Corps de Ballet Maria Grazia Garofoli
Light Designer Paolo Mazzon
Director of stage design Giuseppe De Filippi Venezia

Turandot 28.6.2003 with Jose Cura. Jose Cura sang wonderfully, all the bravos (and some shouting of "bis." they sounded more like dislike-shouting, than "Da Capo" in French) after his wonderful Nessun dorma.

It was a colorful, beautiful Turandot. But I did not like all of the directors ideas. The choreography of the crowd was disturbing, and some of the dancing was too. One could be distracted so that one suddenly did not know where Cura was. Cura looked dashing in the soldier-uniform, with all that black hair. It was definitely "there he is!!". But to make Calaf a soldier, was a fault. He is the unknown Prince, who is in exile, trying to hide from his enemies. And certainly as a soldier he would have seen Turandot before. So it was an illogical choice. But he looked great in the silver-armor.

All C´s got al lot of applause, Cura (Calaf), Cassolli (Turandot) and Caresi (Liu). But too much circus in this Turandot, to my taste.

The opera stopped early because of rain, when Turandot sings :"La mia gloria e finita!" We waited a bit, but the weather forecast was not good, so a bit over midnight it was all over. And I went back to my hotel in the rain and in Blitz und Donner!

"Non piangere, Liu!"

June 28, 2002: Jose Cura in Dalhalla

2002-06-28 Opera Concert, Dalhalla, Sweden

José Cura, tenor & conductor
Giuseppina Trotta, mezzo
Sinfonia Varsovia
Pietro Veneri, conductor

PROGRAM
It begins with a rowboat, and Cura with an umbrella, then he arrives at the stage, jumps up, and begins conducting
Giuseppe Verdi
LA FORZA DEL DESTINO - Ouverture, Cura conducts
Veneri comes out, and conducts Il Corsaro, and Cura does Corsaro in his usual way.
Il CORSARO - Ah si, ben dite - Tutto parea sorridere Cura sings
Giuseppina Trotta joins Cura in this duet. I was disappointed by hearing her, a little voice and the duet did not catch air.
IL TROVATORE - Madre, non dormi Duet: Cura/Trotta
Cura talks to the audience, " you are crazy, sitting in the rain". Telling us as a Latino for him this is Winter. "Wonderful Dalhalla" Then Trotta sings alone. This is not a highlight.
Pietro Mascagni
CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA- Voi lo sapete, o Mamma Trotta
Cura sings Cielo e mar, not just the aria but also its introduction. He is doing alright, he is sick, has a cold.
Amilcare Ponchielli
LA GIOCONDA Cielo e mar (introduction + aria) Cura
The conducting of Forza del Destino was disinteresting, but he made a very good Intermezzo from Manon Lescaut, I have not heard it, so touching as Cura made it. It was really great. He said in his Verdi DVD that Verdi can easily become band-music and he did that to FORZA. But with Manon Lescaut he redeems that fault.
Giacomo Puccini
MANON LESCAUT Intermezzo Cura conducts
Cura is trying to sing O paradiso, it is never apparent in which language he sings it, it sound like a combination of French and Italian, maybe with a Spanish touch. He is sick, maybe that is the reason, or maybe he haven't learnt it properly.
Giacomo Meyerbeer
L'AFRICAINE O, paradiso Cura
Wonderful,in the program it says only the intermezzo, but we also gets Cura singing the song to the Flag (the Argentinean Flag,naturally). It is really touching, but I would to hear it when Cura is vocally on top, too.
Hector Panizza
AURORA Intermezzo epico Veneri conducts
Cancion de la Bandera Cura

Intermission
Cura talks again, this time about AURORA, and the song of the flag, National Song of Argentina. It is the first time it was sung outside Argentina, Cura said. And he saw the Argentinean Flag when he was singing it. Very touching. I looked up and I saw an umbrella, with white and the light-blue of the Argentinean flag, so I know what he saw. (But I was wrong there was Argentinean flags there as one Argentine who lives in Sweden told me in an e-mail. But I did not see it). Then it the Girl of the Golden West, Cura conducts, and then after it is over the Prelude, Veneri have to "fight" with Cura in order to get the baton. And then Cura have to make an excuse to the audience for having blown his noise for open mike in the first part. And then it is "Ch'ella mi creda". Again he sings the introduction to the aria too (seldom done in concerts)
Giacomo Puccini
LA FANCIULLA DEL WEST Prelude Cura conducts
Ch'ella mi creda Cura sings, Veneri conducts
Veneri conducts a wonderful Bacchanale, then Trotta sings the seduction-aria, and in the end of the aria, Cura comes out, and sings "Dalila, je t'aime" .
Camille Saint-Saëns
SAMSON ET DALILA Bacchanale
"Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix Trotta / Cura
Veneri is a good conductor, and Trotta was much better in the Carmen section than anything else. Cura had really a cold, but with a careful use of his voice, out came one of the finest interpretation of the Flower Aria. Then the end-duet, and Cura was so sick, he had to fight with himself not to cough in the wrong musical moment, concentrate to have his throat ready when the duet need Don José. Most singers would have said to the audience, I am sick, this duet is too much for me today. And nobody would have thought less of Cura had he done that. (It was his right, and maybe his obligation to do so)
Georges Bizet
CARMEN Prelude
Habanera Trotta
La fleur que tu m'avais jetée Cura
Entr'acte, act 4
C'est toi, c'est moi Trotta / Cura

EXTRA
Addio, fiorito asil (MADAMA BUTTERFLY) Cura
Seguedilla (CARMEN) Trotta / Cura
Nessun dorma (TURANDOT) Cura
Who would have thought that we would get extra-numbers. I thought that in case of extras, it would have been Trotta and Veneri who would have to do it, Cura needed rest. But he sang one of the shortest arias, Addio fiorito asil, I think it is not really an easy aria, even if it is being short. Trotta sang Seguedilla and Cura came in as Don José does in the opera. Then HE ended it all with Nessun dorma, it wasn't necessary, but we loved it. As the absolute end of the show, this Gala concert, he made us applaud every section and every musician in the Sinfonia Varsovia. The Concert ended at 22.00


JOSÉ CURA IN DALHALLA

Friday 28:th - 19.00-21.30 - Open 17.00
José Cura, tenor and conductor
Giuseppina Trotta, mezzo soprano
Sinfonia Varsovia
Assistant Conductor: Pietro Veneri