March 19, 2005: Josep Carreras in Bergen

2005-03-19 Jose Carreras, Grieghallen (Bergen)

Josep Carreras, tenor
Nuovo Quartetto Italiano
Lorenzo Bavaj, piano



Jose Carreras first time in Bergen, Norway
For the first time in Bergen. Grieghallen March 19th, 2005. With him is string quartet Nuovo Quartetto Italiano and Lorenzo Bavaj on piano.
The End of Carreras Nordic Tour 2005.
Standing ovations and 6 extra numbers!!!!

PROGRAMME

Jose Carreras: Luna Nova (Mario Pasquale Costa)
Jose Carreras: Elegie (Jules Massenet)

Nuovo Quartetto Italiano: L'Ultima Canzone (Francesco Paolo Tosti)

Jose Carreras: Segreto (Francesco Paolo Tosti)
Jose Carreras: Sogno (Francesco Paolo Tosti)
Jose Carreras: Aprile (Francesco Paolo Tosti)

Nuovo Quartetto Italiano: Intermezzo (Respighi) (played Presto by Donizetti??)

Jose Carreras: T'estimo (Edvard Grieg)
Jose Carreras: O primavera (Pier Adolfo Tirindelli)

PAUSE

Jose Carreras: L'Oreneta (Enric Morera)
Jose Carreras: Andaluza (Enrique Granados)

Nuovo Quartetto Italiano: Scherzo (Giuseppe Verdi)

Jose Carreras: Na sera e maggio (Giuseppe Cioffi)
Jose Carreras: Firenze sogna (Cesar Cesarini)
Jose Carreras: Passione (Vincenzo Valente)

Nuovo Quartetto Italiano: Crisantemi (Giacomo Puccini)

Jose Carreras: Silenzo cantatore (Gaetano Lama)
Jose Carreras: Musica proibita (Stanislao Gastaldon)




JOSÉ CARRERAS
Lorenzo Bavaj, piano
Nuovo Quartetto Italiano
Grieghallen, Bergen 19.3.2005

Josep Carreras 9th time in Norway, and first time in Bergen. Almost 15 years after I saw Josep Carreras live for the first time I see him this time too in Norway. 14 years and 11 months on the date since his recital in Oslo Konserthus. This time a much better seat. This time also full house. But this is a great evening with standing ovation and 5 extra numbers. 15 years ago it was more the baroque arias, this time it is the more lighter songs of Tosti, Costa and so on. Of the more major composers Grieg and Massenet.

He started with LUNA NOVA by Costa, not my favorite piece and more of a warming up of voice piece. His voice is perfect for Massenet and his mastering of the French is superb. ELEGIE of Massenet was the first highlight of the concert. What a disappointment that L'ULTIMA CANZONE by Tosti was just played by the string quartet, where it became just a very minor classical piece. Josep Carreras came back to sing 3 more songs of Tosti, not really his best rendition of the song but sung with full passion more suited for opera arias, really. After Tosti the Nuovo Quartetto Italiano was supposed to play INTERMEZZO by Respighi but they played PRESTO by Donizetti (?!).

After the quartet had played Carreras came back and treated us with an exquisite rendition of Griegs JEG ELSKER DIG in Catalan T*ESTIMO. Sorry to say that the string quartet did not enhance the magic of this romance, but Lorenzo Bavaj and Josep Carreras gave it all the magic needed to take the breath away of the enchanted audience. The height of musicality was somewhat lowered in the O PRIMAVERA by Tirindelli but still it sounded almost like a major classical piece.

PAUSE.

The second part was really superior to the first. To sing the Catalan songs gave Carreras a boost that maybe already the romance of Grieg had given. L*ORONETA and especially ANDALUZA was magnificently sung. The string quartet was OK with Verdi's SCHERZO, but luckily when Carreras came back to sing Neapolitan songs as NA SERA MAGGIO, FIRENZE SOGNO and PASSIONE, all the passion the Catalan tenor used was justified and a mesmerized audience succumbed completely. At last the string quartet that had bothered us with it good but not great playing had found the piece right for the occasion Puccini's music where the magical music from his greatest opera, MANON LESCAUT was heard. At last there was some opera music. And the official program was ended with some of my favorite music, SILENTIO CANTATORE and MUSICA PROIBITA. And the audience was up on its feet, applauding and shouting BRAVO!!

And the we were treated with a tenor with lots of humor, gratefully to his Bergen audience. 6 extra numbers. This concert was a smash hit in Bergen.

EXTRA NUMBER

1. Un'Ombra (from PURE PASSION)
2. Coren'grato (CARDILLO)
3. Vurria
4. Un Núvol blanc (LLACH)
5. Neapolitan song about Winter
6. Santa Lucia

OD Travel + Photos

February 6, 2005: Il Corsaro in Barcelona

2005-02-06 Il Corsaro (Verdi), Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona

Corrado = José Cura
Medora = Marina Mescheryakova
Gulnara = Susan Neves
Seid = Carlo Guelfi
Giovanni = Josep Ribot
Selimo / Un Eunuco Negro / Schiavo
= José Manuel Zapata

Marco Guidarini, conductor



Il corsaro (versión concierto)

Musical Director
Marco Guidarini

Orquestra Simfònica
del Gran Teatre del Liceu

Cor del Gran Teatre del Liceu

06/02-2005

2005-02-06 Il Corsaro (Verdi), Barcelona

another wonderful concert performance with Jose Cura as Corrado,
Susan Neves as Gulnara, Marina Mescheryakova as Medora, & Carlo
Guelfi as Seid.

Some madrileño had come to Barcelona just to disrupt this
performance. But the Catalan audience hushed him.

OD Travel + Photos

February 5, 2005: Ewa Podles in Barcelona

2005-02-05 Recital, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona

Ewa Podles, mezzo
Roman Markowicz, Piano

I

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
El desig de la noia, op. 74, núm. 4
El noi ben plantat, op. 74, núm. 8
L’anell, op. 74, núm. 14
Cançó lituana, op. 74, núm. 16
Estimat, op. 74, núm. 12

Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868)
Giovanna d’Arco (Cantata)
“E Notte”
“O mia madre”
“Eppur piange”
“Ah, la fiamma”
“Corre la gioia”


II

Serguei Rakhmàninov (1873-1943)
Crist ha ressucitat, op. 26, núm. 6
Des que ha arribat l’amor, op. 14, núm. 3
En el silenci de la nit, op. 4, núm. 3
Tot passa, op. 26, núm. 15
Tant bella com el migdia, op. 14, núm. 9
Rius de primavera, op. 14, núm. 11

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Zigeunerlieder, op. 103
“He, Zigeuner”, núm. 1
“Hochgetürmte Rimaflut”, núm. 2
“WiBt ihr”, núm. 3
“Lieber Gott”, núm. 4
“Brauner Bursche”, núm. 5
“Röslein Dreie”, núm. 6
“Kommt dir manchmal”, núm. 7
“Rote Abendwolken”, núm. 8




Date Serie Price scale*
Saturday 05-02-2005 18:00 h F IV

Saturday 5th, 2005. I decided go early to the Gran Teatre del Liceu to get the guided tour at 10am and I decided also to see the club Cercles de Liceu. Of course the most interesting part of the opera house was closed, the backstage, the technical areas, and not allowed to take photos of the stalls, but the mirror hall was allowed. And the club was nice, but not that interesting. I only got a head-ache after these guided tours. Then I needed some food and I went to the MacDonalds just over the road of Espai Liceu. I had an interresting view. The MacDonalds sign at the top of the small window and the view of Liceu and in the middle the front of the programme of Wolff-Ferrari´s Sly which I saw in June 2000. Ironic and worlds apart.

Then in the evening, Recital Ewa Podles at 1800. It lasted 2 hours with songs of Chopin, Rossini, Rachmaniov & Brahms, the first extra Cruda sorte from Rossini´s L'Italiana in Algeri. and then something that sounded like de Falla's Polo from Siete cançiones españolas, and Spanish song of Rossini.

Then I waited for Ewa Podles to come by the stage door. I took some photos, and I almost talked to her.

OD Travel

February 3, 2005: Il Corsaro in Barcelona

2005-02-03 Il Corsaro (Verdi), Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona

Corrado = José Cura
Medora = Marina Mescheryakova
Gulnara = Susan Neves
Seid = Carlo Guelfi
Giovanni = Josep Ribot
Selimo / Un Eunuco Negro / Schiavo
= José Manuel Zapata

Marco Guidarini, conductor






First I took the night bus to Oslo as usual. Luckily my bus was not affected by the bad weather, real snowy conditions that had closed som montain roads. So I came in Oslo in good time for my flight. And then I was in Barcelona after almost 3 hours on the plane. All one had to look forward to was untasty plane food. So bad
that only the cola light and Pringles tasted good. At last, Barcelona airport and my first encounter with the Catalan way of queuing. Very polite and nice queu for taxi. And there were many taxis and many people, and it was quick and polite. So then I was at my hotel. Nice hotel but my room was very cold. Then I went to Placa
Catalunya to get used to going to the centre and to have some nice food (and get my tickets). Then soon it was time to get to the Liceu for a concert version of Verdi´s Corsaro.

The orchestra was onstage. It was chairs and note-stative for the singers. I was on front row. It was a wonderful sung and "acted" Corsaro, Medora was wonderful, Gulnara even more wonderful, & Corrado, the Corsair, Jose Cura was splendid. After a long wait Jose Cura came out at the stage door. He was photographed, and after signing and talking to his fans, at proximo midnight it was truely
over.

Today, Friday 4th, I have been suffering headaches, after my first try out, I had to stop before I came to Placa Catalunya, I stopped at Provinca and sat down at a small cafe, unfortunately It was heavily music'ed. So I had to get to Muntaner and my hotel. After more tablets and eating, and laying in my bed. I was ready to go out again. Placa Catalunya and down la Ramblas to Liceu and down to the harbour (almost) and the up again. At Placa Catalunya I visited Fnac, at Liceu I visited the Shop and then Placido Domingo came, he is singing Parsifal day, and I got one good photo of him, when I came up from the harbour, I was hijacked into a restaurant, ate great ensalada and had a bite of pollo, then back to Muntaner, and
my hotel.

OD Travel + Photos

December 3, 2005: Lohengrin in Vienna

2005-12-03 Lohengrin (Wagner), Wiener Staatsoper

Heinrich der Vogler = Kwangchul Youn
Lohengrin = Johan Botha
Elsa von Brabant = Soile Isokoski
Friedrich von Telramund =
Falk Struckmann
Ortrud = Janina Baechle
Heerrufer = Adrian Eröd

Semyon Bychkov, conductor

LOHENGRIN

Dirigent: Semyon Bychkov
Inszenierung: Barrie Kosky
Bühnenbild: Klaus Grünberg
Kostüme: Alfred Mayerhofer
Choreinstudierung: Ernst Dunshirn



I did not realize it until the day after that this was the uncut version of Lohengrin. That notion explained things up for me. I thought I had forgot parts, and the love duet did not quite play up the romanticism that I heard in Plácido Domingo and Jessye Norman in the Decca recording of Lohengrin. And the end, something was amiss in the end, I thought the reason was that it was some time ago that I listened to my recording, maybe years even. The conductor was brilliant and orchestra played wonderfully, but still... it was boring. The complete Lohengrin I am sorry to say is not such a great opera. I wonder if that would have been my notion if I had just heard it on the radio. Webcast Radio.Orf.at. ?

I had hoped to see Agnes Baltsa as Ortrud, that was my primary and indeed only reason to go to Vienna. But she walked out for health reason and Janina Baechle sang instead. But for me it was obviously that the replacement mezzo was singing an Ortrud that was really created for Agnes Baltsa. The voice of Janina Baechle do not have a personality as Baltsa, it was a blank voice, and her acting was too extreme, she over-acted. Agnes Baltsa as Ortrud would have been really the center of the opera, eye-catching, and her voice willing to be ugly for the drama, and Ortrud needs to have an actress willing to the extremes. The undoing of Janina Baechle was to try to not be Ortrud but to be Baltsa's Ortrud.

It was a rather colorless Lohengrin, beautiful sung but lacking in personality. Falck Struckmann as Graf von Telramund, Johan Botha as Lohengrin, Soile Isokoski as Elsa von Brabant; was good singers but still their voices was colorless. Kwangchul Youn was a good Könich Heinrich, Adrian Eröd as Heerrufer was very good.

This production made Elsa von Brabant into a Blind Woman which made nonsense of the libretto. The director maintains that he plays the score on the piano before defining the opera, so why didn't he read the libretto, too. Soile Isokoski is totally believable as a Elsa even as a blind woman. And this is not a performance making Elsa into a sorry handicapped person, no, Elsa is blind but that is not hindering her a bit. This is a great performance of Soile Isokoski, but to my ears she still does not have the vocal resources for this Wagner role. But still, BRAVA!!

Johan Botha is singing Lohengrin, Parsifal, Radames, Calaf, etc in Wiener Staatsoper, why ? His voice is not really heavy enough for Lohengrin. He is just a fat tenor.... He doesn't sing like a Lohengrin, he doesn't look like Lohengrin. Why not give him a suit that makes him look more like Grail Knight. Long white hair apart, thumb down. I have really no idea if this man can act, I put most of the blame at the feet of the director and team.

The production was really, really.... I don't know, irrelevant... Stupid.

Lacking in personality was this Lohengrin production. With Agnes Baltsa there would have been at least one personality....

OD Travel + Photos

For more reviews from my travels, see www.operaduetstravel.com
If you want to see more photos from my OperaDuets Travels, go to www.operaduetsphotos.com

November 6, 2005: Le Villi in Vienna

2005-11-06 Le Villi (Puccini), Wiener Staatsoper

Roberto = José Cura
Anna = Krassimira Stoyanova
Guglielmo Wulf = Franz Grundheber

Simone Young, conductor

Le villi
(6. Aufführung in dieser Inszenierung)

Dirigentin: Simone Young
Inszenierung: Karoline Gruber
Ausstattung: Johan Engels
Licht: Patrick Woodroffe
Bewegungsregie: Beate Vollack
Choreinstudierung: Ernst Dunshirn



Karoline Gruber makes this opera into a kitchy Tirolean story. Very much about women doing the housework and men drinking beer. Luckily it is not totally ruined thanks to Cura, Stoyanova and Grundheber. One good idea the use of the Villis is very effective. Puccini's music is much better than this so-called inszenierung makes it.

OD Travel + Photos

For more reviews from my travels, see www.operaduetstravel.com
If you want to see more photos from my OperaDuets Travels, go to www.operaduetsphotos.com

November 6, 2005: Osud in Vienna

2005-11-06 Osud (Janacek), Wiener Staatsoper

Zivný = Jorma Silvasti
Míla Válková = Cornelia Salje
Mílas Mutter = Anja Silja
Poet/Dr. Suda/Ingenieur = John Dickie
Lhotský/Verva = Adrian Eröd
Konecný = Georg Tichy
Fräulein Stuhlá = Ǻsa Elmgren
Frau Major = Regina Knauer
Ein Student = Robert Maszl
Eine alte Slowakin =
Waltraud Winsauer
Frau Rat = Janina Baechle
Eine junge Witwe = Eliza Zurmann
Erster junger Mann = Jeong-Ho Kim
Zweiter junger Mann = Ion Tibrea
Doubek als Student = Terry Wey
1. Dame/Pacovská/
Fanca/Soucková =
Ileana Tonca
2. Dame/Kosinská = Simina Ivan
1. Gast = Dritan Luca
2. Gast = Michael Wilder
Ein Ober = Wolfram Derntl
Hrazda = Cosmin Ifrim
Zán = David Prochazka
Nána = Michaela Marhold
Pianistin = Raluca Stirbat

Simone Young, conductor

6. November 2005



OSUD
(6. Aufführung in dieser Inszenierung)

Dirigentin: Simone Young
Inszenierung: David Pountney
Bühne: Stefanos Lazaridis
Kostüme: Johan Engels
Licht: Rudolf Fischer
Regieassistenz: Nicola Raab
Chorleitung: Ernst Dunshirn




AN OPERA about a composer writing a opera. A sort of opera in a opera. Or is this ... Without Jorma Silvasti as the composer this opera would no doubt fail.

Pountney has some point in his regie, it took some time grabbing it, but then I understood the opera better.

Thanks to Agnes Baltsa I have heard Jánácek music before in the opera Jenufa (Wiener Staatsoper 2002). That naturally meant that I had an easier time dealing with the music than I would have had without. But where Jenufa is a more straight forward kind of opera, it is more linear story and you get to know the persons more in a straight way. Osud, Destiny, is a peculiar opera, more operatic than most operas, starts with a chorus containing more of just feelings of sunniness than of sun.

Anja Silja as the mother of Mila. Die Silja is of course famous for her many roles, and is especially known for her Jánácek roles. So here was an expectation that she would as important as Emily Marty in the Macropolous Case or as the Küsterin in Jenufa, two roles that are really her own. But there is not such a big role for her. Of course Anja Silja did it well but I couldn't help to think that Agnes Baltsa would in this role spring much more excitement and be more of a "can't take one's eye of her". Some magnetism was lost. But this was not Anja Silja's opera.

The role of Mila was much more as long as it lasted. And Cornelia Salje was great in this opera. From the moment she appeared it was her show. All other singers faded except Jorma Silvasti as her lover Dr Zisny. Cornelia Salje sang and acted her role as no other could have created this dysfunctional woman, was it the experience with Zisny that have made her such or was it her mother's fault , or...

OSUD is an opera that stands or fails with the tenor singing Dr Zisny. Jorma Silvasti was certainly the chief motor in holding it all together. Where as the role of Laca Klemen in Jenufa never allowed him to show the full extent of his voice and acting ability. The longer one get into the opera one realizes that it is not being realistic is Dr Zisny's opera in the making that we see. Everything is maybe in the composers head. The opera is about the torment of a composer making an opera out of his own experiences. David Poutney makes it possible to see this opera for what is probably is, the working process of an opera seen from the composers view.

One important person in the opera is Doubek, the son of Mila & Zisny. He is in many ways the reason why it all happened. Zisny wants his small son and finds his old love of Mila being as it was new. They live together unhappily with Mila's mother who is demented. When an unfortunate accident kills both Mila and her mother, Zisny is finally able to write an new act. Then Doubek grows up. Zisny decides that the opera is going to be on a stage finished except that 3rd act is missing. When he tells the students about the opera/his life is is almost finished up thinking to hear Mila's voice and a sort of forgiveness/cleaning up the mess happens, and when Doubek helps his father up, Zisny take a bow to the audience, and is like that before our eyes we have seen the 3rd act take shape. It is an opera inside this opera.

OD Travel + Photos

For more reviews from my travels, see www.operaduetstravel.com
If you want to see more photos from my OperaDuets Travels, go to www.operaduetsphotos.com

October 23, 2005: Rigoletto in Nordfjordeid

2005-10-23 Rigoletto (Verdi), Opera Nordfjord

Monterone = Knut Skram
Rigoletto = Thorbjørn Lindhjem
Gilda = Trude Helen Binderø
The Duke = Gardar Thor Cortes
Maddalena = Anna Einarsson
Sparafucile = Trond Gudevold
Borsa = Gunnar Domstein
Marullo = Morten Kvaal
Count Ceprano = Bjørn Gisle Seter
Countess Ceprano / The Page =
Ann Magritt Bjørnsen
Giovanna = Solfrid Bjørkum

Michael Pavelich, conductor

First time as opera director, famous Norwegian actor Toralv Maurstad is making his debut with the tragic opera Rigoletto by Verdi in Opera Nordfjord. In my opinion this must be one of the most successful productions of this opera. With two veteran baritones Thorbjørn Lindhjem as Rigoletto and Knut Skram as Monterone, no wonder it works out well. This Monterone is truly impressive, and this Rigoletto is very dramatic and real. Soprano Trude Helen Binderø as Gilda is more than just a beautiful voice. Duke of Mantua is sung by tenor Gardar Thor Cortes from Iceland, a great promise with not only beautiful voice but perfect diction, and a great actor, too. The Swedish mezzo-soprano Anna Einarsson sang Maddalena and what a great mezzo voice it was, very impressive. Trond Gudevold as hired murderer Sparafucile was another great find. How wonderful to find people who can act in such a natural way, that is sometimes missing in the Sparafuciles of the world. Also Gunnar Domstein as Borsa impressed me much, imagine that he is not a professional opera singer. Marullo sung by baritone Morten Kvaal did not impress me in the same degree but then Marullo is not often marked upon when you see this opera. Bjørn Gisle Seter as Count Ceprano was vocally underpowered and not always quite there as an actor. Ann Magritt Bjørnsen who sang both Countess Ceprano and the Page did a good job though I did not quite agree on the interpretation of Countess Ceprano but that must be the director's fault, or maybe it is just my impression.

The known scenography and costume designer John Kristian Alsaker was responsible in making this RIGOLETTO such a great success.

And conductor Michael Pavelich lead this Rigoletto to a successful end. Strangely this time the orchestra was not together all the time as yesterday. But that is just blue-berries.

www.operanordfjord.no

***On an earlier post about Rigoletto someone tried to tell me that I wrong about feeling that either Morten Kvaal or Bjørn Gisle Seter was not great (which was my impression) or that I was wrong in state that one of them was even singing. Well, what can I say, I only have the role list from Opera Nordfjord and no one told me about a change in casting.***

Of course, I am interested in knowing who really sang what, but to just say I am wrong or even rude when I personally find such or such singer underpowering, that is a bit too much, isn't it?

OD Travel + Photos

October 22, 2005: Rigoletto in Nordfjordeid

2005-10-22 Rigoletto (Verdi), Opera Nordfjord

Monterone = Knut Skram
Rigoletto = Thorbjørn Lindhjem
Gilda = Trude Helen Binderø
The Duke = Gardar Thor Cortes
Maddalena = Anna Einarsson
Sparafucile = Trond Gudevold
Borsa = Gunnar Domstein
Marullo = Morten Kvaal
Count Ceprano = Bjørn Gisle Seter
Countess Ceprano / The Page =
Ann Magritt Bjørnsen
Giovanna = Solfrid Bjørkum

Michael Pavelich, conductor

On my OperaDuetsPhotos site I wrote (earlier) that I traveled to Nordfjordeid to see Knut Skram as Monterone.

When Knut Skram came into the stage it was a truly operatic occasion. A thunder, unbelievable wonderful moment that almost in itself foretold that this Rigoletto production was a well-crafted and sure in detail. Was it the director Toralf Maurstad or was it the world famous Norwegian baritone Knut Skram that made the crucial impact. (Probably both...)

Maybe better start from the beginning. On this next to last opera performance for the season, the house was full with people. The scenography it self told of a wonderful opera performance to expect (and the newspapers had had raves for reviews). The Opera intendant Kari Standal Pavelich welcomed us the Rigoletto, one interval after act 1. Then the conductor Michael Pavelich came. And for me I noticed immediately that the responds conductor and orchestra was well-tuned. I did not like the updating and silly dancing in the beginning of act 1, and having a Icelandic tenor singing Questa o quella in Norwegian seemed like a gamble. But to sing the Duke is never easy, and Norwegian would have been hard even for a Norwegian-speaking tenor. He did well, Thor Gardar Cortes, fought bravely with our Norwegian vowels, and even managed to act as the Duke. I think that that all managed very well to sing in Norwegian, having a theatre man as director must have helped a lot. Having Thorbjørn Lindhjelm's Rigoletto meant that bel canto lines were few, mostly a few with Gilda, but opera is not just about singing it is about DRAMA, and here was it high drama, true acting. Having quite a few limitation in his voice and voice production meant that every ounce of opera experience was drawn out to make this Rigoletto stand out as a real human being. When Monterone came in the sonorous voice of Knut Skram, one almost though they should have swapped role, but then the high drama would have suffered. Having a true force of nature as Monterone is so right, and why should poor Rigoletto with his such a life to live in this kind of society sing beautifully, there is no delight in Rigoletto's life than Gilda....

Another wonderful thing in this production is really how the scenography is just working perfectly, so that when Rigoletto is going home and meet the hired assassin Sparafucile it is totally believable. And the one have Trond Gudevold's Sparafucile. Great wonderful acting by both men. A bass that is absolutely perfect and wonderful acting. And then finally Gilda, Trude Helen Binderø, what a warm wonderful soprano voice. It is so seldom that Gilda is sung with such a warmth in color. Those perfectly rounded tones. I think maybe it is because of her special quality of voice that it was often difficult to hear the Norwegian words she sang. There I think the cold and often hard tone of voice of many sopranos that sings Gilda would be more easily to hear the diction. Again our Rigoletto is heroically using his registers to make the father/ daughter duet a beautiful duet. Lindhjem knows how to manipulate his voice in the dramatic right way. The acting is as it was all night perfect. Solfrid Bjørkumas Giovanna was also in every inch the role, very good interaction with Rigoletto, Gilda and the Duke. I did not need to worry about the duet Gilda and the Duke. I am still amazed that it worked so well with the Norwegian lyric. After such love duet, no surprise that Caro Nome was excellently sung by Trude Helen Binderø. And that when the noblemen came to rob Gilda from Rigoletto there was no surprise that the chorus with Marullo, Borsa and Count Ceprano did very well as they did all the evening. It is a joy to have such a believable scene being so well acted and sung.

In the interval I had the pleasure to talk a bit Kari and Michael Pavelich. It is some of nicest features of Opera Nordfjord, you get so close the action and people. It is like a local mega-event.

Act 2 Thor Gardar Cortes sang a wonderful Ella mi fu rapita-Parma veder le lagrime. Something funny must have happened on the stage when the chorus was coming in telling the Duke about Gilda's abduction. There was laughter, and I have no idea what really happened. Anyway, Possente Amor mi chiama was potently sung. And the another "highlight" Rigoletto's Cortigiani...where I longed for more beautiful singing but the drama was there and that is more important. Then it was the duet father/daughter. What can I say, more than fantastic.

Act 3 could it be better, yes. What a quartet, La donna e mobile. And I loved the Swedish mezzo as Maddalena, Anna Einarsson. And the Death scene so moving......


BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From fingers and baton of Michael Pavelich and every single person a Thank You and 3 Cheers!!!

OD Travel + Photos

September 18, 2005: Fanciulla del West in London

2005-09-18 La Fanciulla del West (Puccini), Royal Opera House, London

Minnie = Andrea Gruber
Dick Johnson (Ramirez) = José Cura
Jack Rance = Mark Delavan
Nick = Francis Egerton
Ashby = Robert Lloyd
Jake Wallace = Jonathan Lemalu
Sonora = Mark Stone
Bello = Grant Doyle
Happy = Jared Holt
Joe = Harry Nicoll
Larkens = Graeme Broadbent
Trin = Hubert Francis
Harry = Robert Murray
Sid = Adrian Clarke
José Castro = Jeremy White
Wowkle = Clare Shearer
Billy Jackrabbit = Graeme Danby

Antonio Pappano, conductor



La fanciulla del West

The Royal Opera 2005 - 2006

6:00 PM
18-Sep-05


Supported (2005) by The Jean Sainsbury Royal Opera House Fund

Sung in Italian with English surtitles

Running time: 3 hrs 30 mins

Conductor: Antonio Pappano
Director: Piero Faggioni
Set Designs: Kenneth Adam
Costume Designs: Piero Faggioni
Lighting: Piero Faggioni



My seat was better but the performance on Thursday was better I felt. This was just a nice Ch'ella mi creda where as Thursday had more passion. Mark Delavan was perhaps a bit better, but everything hung by a thread, nearly getting things right. The weak point of this production seem not to observe the details closely. More faithfulness to Belasco's play would have been a pluss. Minnie's portrait was not true the a real woman of the West, too much girlishness and to little of the pioneer woman, a woman who sleeps with her gun. Andrea Gruber should have been perfect, after all she has sung Turandot, not Liu.

After the opera, we waited for the stars to get out. Andrea Gruber I saw, but no photos did I take, she was walking fast, and when she stopped there was too many people between us. Harry Nicoll and the man who sang Nick, the same. But Mark Delavan and Robert Lloyd got photographed. Then Jose Cura came, his wife and his son Jose Ben was waiting for him. So Cura was invited behind the glass to sit and autograph and getting photographed. Of course we were plenty people there almost all with cameras.

OD Travel + Photos

September 15, 2005: Fanciulla del West in London

2005-09-15 La Fanciulla del West (Puccini), Royal Opera House, London

Minnie = Andrea Gruber
Dick Johnson (Ramirez) = José Cura
Jack Rance = Mark Delavan
Nick = Francis Egerton
Ashby = Robert Lloyd
Jake Wallace = Jonathan Lemalu
Sonora = Mark Stone
Bello = Grant Doyle
Happy = Jared Holt
Joe = Harry Nicoll
Larkens = Graeme Broadbent
Trin = Hubert Francis
Harry = Robert Murray
Sid = Adrian Clarke
José Castro = Jeremy White
Wowkle = Clare Shearer
Billy Jackrabbit = Graeme Danby

Antonio Pappano, conductor



La fanciulla del West

The Royal Opera 2005 - 2006

7:00 PM
15-Sep-05

Supported (2005) by The Jean Sainsbury Royal Opera House Fund

Sung in Italian with English surtitles

Running time: 3 hrs 30 mins

Conductor: Antonio Pappano
Director: Piero Faggioni
Set Designs: Kenneth Adam
Costume Designs: Piero Faggioni
Lighting: Piero Faggioni



§ Jette Parker Young Artist

I liked the production but I think the Zurich production (2004) was superior. Anyway the tenor was the same as in Zurich, and Jose Cura did a wonderful job. He had improved and proved that the role of Dick Johnson alias Ramirez is probably the ideal opera role for Jose Cura at this time. Just as it used to be for Plácido Domingo in the 1980s.

Andrea Gruber was a wonderful Minnie, superbly acted but not always vocally on the top of things, but it was a mere minor detail. Worse was it that Mark Delevan as Sheriff Jack Rance was so weak, a bit better in act 2 and act 3 but nothing as the menace that Juan Pons gave this role in Zurich 2004./ Jonathan Lemalu as Jack Wallace was a disappointment. Francis Egerton as Nick was acting wonderfully and was in beautiful voice the whole evening. Mark Stone made an Ok Sonora. Robert Lloyd was making Ashby almost a good role to do. Harry Nicoll as Joe was something I have a hard time remembering anything of, so unlike Zurich 2004 where Joe was quite poignant. It was a great chorus moment though.

It was a wonderful opera night. It started raining again, and to make matters worse it was a "premiere" party and so we couldn't stand there and just wait for how many hours to maybe see Jose Cura appear. It was a bit cold too. So we just went home...

OD Travel + Photos

August 30, 2005: Turandot in Verona

2005-08-30 Turandot (Puccini), Arena di Verona

Turandot = Giovanna Casolla
Altoum = Angelo Casertano
Timur = Paolo Battaglia
Calaf = José Cura
Liù = Maya Dashuk
Ping = Marco Camastra
Pong = Giovanni Floris
Pang = Iorio Zennaro
A mandarin = Carlo Kang
The prince of Persia = Saverio Bambi

Lü Jia, conductor



Arena
30 August 2005 - 21.00

Turandot


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


Principal Conductor Lü Jia
Director Yuri Alexandrov
Scenographer Viacheslav Okunev
Costume Designer Viacheslav Okunev
Choir Master Marco Faelli
Director of the Corps de Ballet Maria Grazia Garofoli
Lighting Designer Paolo Mazzon
Director of stage design Giuseppe De Filippi Venezia


On August 29 my parents and I went to Venice. It was a wonderful and hot day. This day, August 30th we visited the house of Juliet and her "tomb". So it should have been more appropriate if it was Bellini's "I Capuleti ed i Montecchi" or Gounod's "Romeo et Juliette" that was the opera of the evening. Instead it was the great fable of Turandot, the same opera that I saw most of in 2003, but this time, luckily, the weather was on our side, no rain or thunder interrupted the opera. And I got to hear and see the whole end of the opera from "Principessa di Morte" and the happy ending.

This was truly an happy ending for our trip to Verona. The next day we would be turning back to our home.

Needless to say it was a wonderful opera night. I think this Turandot production very beautiful as it is, is still not quite to my liking. Jose Cura was powerful as Calaf, if the singing was not ringing enough, the acting was. It would have been wonderful to see Turandot twice, but that August 27 was canceled did not hurt so much after such a wonderful end.

From OperaDuets Travel and Photos

August 28, 2005: Aida in Verona

2005-08-28 Aida (Verdi), Arena di Verona

The King = Carlo Striuli
Amneris = Marianne Cornetti
Aida = Amarilli Nizza
Radames = Salvatore Licitra
Ramfis = Giorgio Surian
Amonasro = Silvano Carroli
A messenger = Enzo Peroni
High Priestess = Nicoletta Curiel

Daniel Oren, conductor



Aida
Opera in 4 acts by
Giuseppe Verdi
Libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni

Arena
28 August 2005 at 21.00

Principal Conductor Daniel Oren
Director Franco Zeffirelli
Scenographer Franco Zeffirelli
Costume Designer Anna Anni
Choreographer Vladimir Vassiliev
Choir Master Marco Faelli
Director of the Corps de Ballet Maria Grazia Garofoli
Lighting Designer Paolo Mazzon
Director of stage design Giuseppe De Filippi Venezia


Lead guest dancer Myrna Kamara
Male lead dancer Giovanni Patti

Just the day before we arrived in Verona, on August 27 I should have seen Turandot in the Arena but it rained away. First it seem that if the opera was to be canceled we still wouldn't get our money back because of Arena rules. But luckily when we had waited over 2 hours for the opera to begin or be canceled, then finally it was announced canceled and we could get our money back. Back to the ticket office, I queued for over 1 hour, so at midnight we were ready to go to our hotels. Dripping wet, of course...

But another day was Sunday August the 28th. The sun was shining. And hope was high. Yesterday was but a memory. And as it was closing to evening and opera night, still the rain had not come, and it was a nice hot evening. For the first time my parents was to see Aida in the Arena. The perfect end of a perfect day. Being tourists in Verona, and then a soiree with JCx-friends as an aperitif for the opera, even though the Radames of the evening was Salvatore Licitra and not Jose Cura, our hero for the Jose Cura Connexion.

My parents was so overwhelmed by Aida that they simply refused to go to another opera, Turandot with Jose Cura as Calaf (August 30th). And I do agree with my parents: this was a perfect Aida. Salvatore Licitra with his ringing voice. Marianne Cornetti as Amneris and Amarilli Nizza as Aida was great. Carlos Striula as the King and Giorgio Surian as Ramfis was two great basses. Silvano Carroli did his best as Amonasro, a bit worn in voice. The acting was phenomenal in this Aida. Just on the point, and never a second late or too early, the ever-troubling problem of opera acting.

Salvatore Licitra was so great as Radames that I almost thought of changing Jose Cura for Licitra. But my heart is set on Cura. Even if I thought that Licitra sang more beautiful than Cura, but I cannot imagine myself traveling so often for Licitra. It will be always JCx!!

From OperaDuets Travel and Photos

July 5, 2005: Otello in Munich

2005-07-05 Otello (Verdi), Opern-Festspiele, Munich

Otello = José Cura
Desdemona = Barbara Frittoli
Jago = Sergei Leiferkus
Emilia = Hannah Esther Minutillo
Cassio = Raymond Very
Rodrigo = Kevin Conners
Lodovico = Maurizio Muraro
Montano = Steven Humes
Ein Herald = Matthias Wippich

Zubin Mehta, conductor



Otello

Giuseppe Verdi
Arrigo Boito



Conductor Zubin Mehta
Regie Francesca Zambello
Scenography and costumes Alison Chitty
Choreography Alphonse Poulin
Light Mimi Jordan Sherin
Chorus Andrés Máspero


This time I did not have just a standing room ticket, but I sat on the first row. And I could see everything. Naturally having seen this Otello before on July 2nd meant that there were no surprises. But this time I could see the whole stage and see what was happening deep down on the stage. It was a wonderful Otello on July the 2nd, and it was actually even better this time. Jose Cura's interpretation of Otello's agony is very physical even at the edge of portraying Otello as a psychological unstable person, very much in the way Cura did Don Carlo in Zurich. But nevertheless, it works. The Regie works, Francesca Zambello did another masterwork of Verdi's great Masterpiece Otello based on Shakespeare's Masterpiece. This would not have been surprising had one not seen so many of the masterpieces of Opera destroyed by the scandal- or ego-driven directors. This time Otello was Otello.

The conductor Zubin Mehta held everything in his hands, and Orchestra & Chorus and the whole Ensemble responded magnificently. Barbara Frittoli had her eye-twitching movements but sang and acted as the great Desdemona she is. Hannah Esther Minutillo was equally a total Emilia, blending and acting well in duets, ensembles etc. Raymond Very as Cassio did a very well indeed. I have read some criticism of Sergei Leiferkus' Jago but I do not think that is fair. He was a very good Jago, someone who you could believe that others would think him honest and true, his malice subdued.

Sadly I had to go before all the applause was ended because I had a train to catch, since this was my last opera in my Summer Opera Holiday 2005.

OD Travel + Photos

July 3, 2005: Verdi Concert in Berlin

2005-07-03 Evviva Verdi (concert), Deutsche Oper Berlin
Daniela Dessi, soprano
Fabio Armiliato, tenor

Roberto Rizzi Brignoli, conductor

"EVVIVA VERDI"
Sonderkonzert mit Arien, Duetten, Chören und Ouverturen von Giuseppe Verdi

Musikalische Leitung | Roberto Rizzi Brignoli
Sopran | Daniela Dessi
Tenor | Fabio Armiliato

Chor und Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin

Arien, Duette, Chöre und Ouverturen aus
DIE MACHT DES SCHICKSALS - [La forza del destino]
DER KORSAR [Il corsaro] - MACBETH - AIDA - LUISA MILLER
DON CARLO - OTELLO - NABUCCO


Programme
1. La Forza del Destino - overture
2. Aida - Celeste Aida (Fabio Armiliato)
3. Macbeth - Tre volte miagola (chorus)
4. Macbeth - Ondine e Silfidi (chorus)
5. Don Carlo - Io vengo a domandar grazia alla mia regina (Armiliato - Dessi)
6. Luisa Miller - overture
7. La Traviata - brindisi (Armiliato - Dessi)

Pause
1. Macbeth - Patria opressa (chorus)
2. Otello - Dio mi potevi scagliar (Fabio Armiliato)
3. Nabucco - overture
4. Il Trovatore - Tacea la notte (Daniela Dessi)
5. Nabucco - Va, pensiero
6. Otello - Gia nella notte densa (Armiliato - Dessi)

Extra: La Traviata - brindisi (Armiliato - Dessi)

July 3rd. Inspired by last night I decided not to take the night train back to Munich but rather stay at Hotel an der Oper after the Evviva Verdi-concert in Deutsche Oper Berlin with Daniela Dessi & Fabio Armiliato. Unfortunately Dessi did not feel well enough to sing all the program that was decided, but lucky for us she sang most of it and very wonderful indeed. After the concert there were also signing in Berlin but here the queue was very orderly, and it looked nice. I got a chance to say to Dessi & Armiliato thank you for a wonderful Aida in Parma, too.

OD Travel + Photos

July 2, 2005: Otello in Munich

2005-07-02 Otello (Verdi), Opern-Festspiele, Munich

Otello = José Cura
Desdemona = Barbara Frittoli
Jago = Sergei Leiferkus
Emilia = Hannah Esther Minutillo
Cassio = Raymond Very
Rodrigo = Kevin Conners
Lodovico = Maurizio Muraro
Montano = Steven Humes
Ein Herold = Matthias Wippich

Zubin Mehta, conductor



Regie Francesca Zambello
Scenography and costumes Alison Chitty
Choreography Alphonse Poulin
Light Mimi Jordan Sherin
Chorus Andrés Máspero



From Verona, Parma, and Torino when I had seen Aida, Werther and Nabucco I was on my way to Berlin. Had planned to take the night train to Berlin from Munich. But knowing that Jose Cura would sing Otello in Munich I decided to try my luck for a ticket in Munich, knowing that it was all sold out, hoping that somebody would be having an extra ticket. And I was at the Theatre 10 minutes before Otello was starting. 5 minutes before 19 I had my ticket for standing room only. It was a hot day and I was already quite tired, but luckily it was a bar to hang on there and I was so happy it had one pause of 30 minutes to sit and drink a little. It was heavy air to stand there and hot. It was a wonderful Otello and I could see the whole stage of course something's was not so visible if I bent down a bit I could see the subtitles.

It was a Francesca Zambello production and it was a the most wonderful Otello production seen until then. All in splendid form. Jose Cura, Barbara Frittoli was wonderful as Otello and Desdemona. Leiferkus was great as Jago. Cassio was also wonderful. Emilia was a dream. It was a dream Otello.

And after the opera Jose Cura was signing. Long was the wait, and unruly the queue. But he came and so many JCx friends were there. And after all this, a late dinner for JCx in a nearby Stube. At 1 the Stube had to close and so I had to find a hotel for the rest of the night, and I found it close to Hauptbahnhof.

OD Travel + Photos

July 2, 2005: Otello in Munich

2005-07-02 Otello (Verdi), Opern-Festspiele, Munich

Otello = José Cura
Desdemona = Barbara Frittoli
Jago = Sergei Leiferkus
Emilia = Hannah Esther Minutillo
Cassio = Raymond Very
Rodrigo = Kevin Conners
Lodovico = Maurizio Muraro
Montano = Steven Humes
Ein Herold = Matthias Wippich

Zubin Mehta, conductor



Regie Francesca Zambello
Scenography and costumes Alison Chitty
Choreography Alphonse Poulin
Light Mimi Jordan Sherin
Chorus Andrés Máspero



From Verona, Parma, and Torino when I had seen Aida, Werther and Nabucco I was on my way to Berlin. Had planned to take the night train to Berlin from Munich. But knowing that Jose Cura would sing Otello in Munich I decided to try my luck for a ticket in Munich, knowing that it was all sold out, hoping that somebody would be having an extra ticket. And I was at the Theatre 10 minutes before Otello was starting. 5 minutes before 19 I had my ticket for standing room only. It was a hot day and I was already quite tired, but luckily it was a bar to hang on there and I was so happy it had one pause of 30 minutes to sit and drink a little. It was heavy air to stand there and hot. It was a wonderful Otello and I could see the whole stage of course something's was not so visible if I bent down a bit I could see the subtitles.

It was a Francesca Zambello production and it was a the most wonderful Otello production seen until then. All in splendid form. Jose Cura, Barbara Frittoli was wonderful as Otello and Desdemona. Leiferkus was great as Jago. Cassio was also wonderful. Emilia was a dream. It was a dream Otello.

And after the opera Jose Cura was signing. Long was the wait, and unruly the queue. But he came and so many JCx friends were there. And after all this, a late dinner for JCx in a nearby Stube. At 1 the Stube had to close and so I had to find a hotel for the rest of the night, and I found it close to Hauptbahnhof.

OD Travel + Photos

July 1, 2005: Nabucco in Verona

2005-07-01 Nabucco (Verdi), Arena di Verona

Nabucco = Leo Nucci
Ismaele = Nazzareno Antinori
Zaccaria = Giacomo Prestia
Abigaille = Susan Neves
Fenena = Tiziana Carraro
High Priest of Belo =
Francesco Palmieri
Abdallo = Luca Casalin
Anna = Cristina Pastorello

Vjekoslav Sutej, conductor




Arena
1 July 2005 - 21.15



Nabucco


Dramma lirico in 4 acts by Giuseppe Verdi
Libretto by Temistocle Solera


PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR Vjekoslav Sutej


DIRECTOR Graziano Gregori
SCENOGRAPHER Graziano Gregori
COSTUME DESIGNER Carla Teti





Lucky for me it did not rain in the evening of Nabucco. It had been raining on June 29 and even thunders and lightning, the next day not so much. on July 1rst it was raining from the morning and then stopped. But in the evening the clouds again looked heavy, and when I came to Verona with the Opera Bus the clouds were hanging heavily and dark over the Arena. Then the time neared for Nabucco to start, suddenly the sky was clear.

The conductor Sutej was a wonderful opera conductor but although the overture was wonderful I remembered Jose Cura and his conducting of this overture as superior. This was a wonderful production but still even with Leo Nucci being a fantastic Nabucco an everything being quite OK I found the Nabucco in the Arena was no match to the Nabucco I have seen in Vienna State Opera. Susan Neves was an energic Abigaille who acted and sung with aplomb. Fenena and Ismaele was good enough, a true mezzo as Fenena was usual (I found) but wonderful. Giacomo Prestia was a good Zaccaria. But I missed the Vienna production that brought me to the heart of the matter in this opera, here I was on the outside looking in. The Va pensiero chorus was dacapo'ed. The audience loved it, and was especially fond of Leo Nucci, Giacomo Prestia and Susan Neves.

But whereas Miroslaw Dvorsky as Ismaele and Eliane Coelho as Abigaille in Vienna 2002 was something to remember, they were great, Nabucco in the Arena was more a big fuss than an opera.

Nabucco might seem perfect for an arena with its big chorus's but that makes the drama harder to unfold where as the intimacy of an opera house makes it more an emotional tour.

OD Travel + Photos

June 28, 2005: Werther in Turin, Italy

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!

OD Travel + Photos

June 26, 2005: Aida in Verona

2005-06-26 Aida (Verdi), Arena di Verona

The King = Marco Spotti
Amneris = Tichina Vaughn
Aida = Micaela Carosi
Radamès = José Cura
Ramfis = Vitalji Kovaliov
Amonasro = Alberto Mastromarino
A messenger = Carlo Bosi
High Priestess = Antonella Trevisan

Daniel Oren, conductor



Arena
26 June 2005 - 21.15



Aida


Opera in 4 acts by Giuseppe Verdi
Libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni


PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR Daniel Oren


DIRECTOR Franco Zeffirelli
SCENOGRAPHER Franco Zeffirelli
COSTUME DESIGNER Anna Anni



Wonderful!!!

I could have had another opera the day before, La Gioconda (June 25) but I decided to rest in Hotel Tryp Verona. I think that was wise. June 26 at 1830 I took the Opera Bus to Verona (Castelvecchio) and as before I ate some dinner at Cafe Opera before the opera started. This time too I saw no JCx friends before I too was inside the Arena, even more friends this time.

And I sat on the front row and this was an even better Aida, almost perfect. Again it was the conductor's tempi (too fast at delicate places in Aida). I could see the conductor from my place, in my opinion he was too preoccupied with the orchestra and looked seldom up to the singers.

But still the singers was better, the conductor was also a bit kinder to the singers. Another Ramfis this time, Vitalji Kavaliov, also doing quite well. Indeed they were all doing very well despite this time there was a few times when they almost sang wrong. But this was a more energetic Aida and better acted. Alberto Mastromarino as Amonasro was doing well although he was not so exact as on June 23.

Better last act certainly. Wonderful AIDA!!!

OD Travel + Photos