Wednesday, December 27, 2006
I had a chance to listen to the Met’s production of Don Carlo recently and have to say that it was enlightening. Having seen it once with my mother, and now this second time, I now realize its musical value and how difficult it is to pull off. I’ve listened to arias from it by Callas --but it's not a diva opera, but a compilation of diva and divo roles –5 prime characters. The Met’s production was a once in a century performance (The New York Times said it was the greatest performance since 1981, with Domingo and Freni).
The music in act 4 is wonderful. Verdi came at the dawn of Bel Canto -- a technical stype of singing -- but nonetheless expected his singers to be trained in it. So this cast, conducted by James Levine himself was something special: "Dramatico Coloratura" among all the three principals, conveying a an evil among the most benign and a benign among the most evil.
Callas taught me how to listen to opera. Opera is not just a few great tunes, but rather dramatic moments that move the story along in every moment. In “O Don Fatale” where Eboli curses her beauty for having gotten her into a love affair with the king was unnerving. (She is forced to admit this to the queen, Elisabeth, of her sins.) And the final aria, sung by Elisabeth, where she awaits her tortured love, sings “Tu che le vanità” was, as my mother put it, “worth the continental trip from California to New York alone”.
Dear God, even I didn’t appreciate it the first time. I’ve always recognize the opera as an art form that requires the most introduction. But to know opera is not enough, you must know the opera in performance.
The music in act 4 is wonderful. Verdi came at the dawn of Bel Canto -- a technical stype of singing -- but nonetheless expected his singers to be trained in it. So this cast, conducted by James Levine himself was something special: "Dramatico Coloratura" among all the three principals, conveying a an evil among the most benign and a benign among the most evil.
Callas taught me how to listen to opera. Opera is not just a few great tunes, but rather dramatic moments that move the story along in every moment. In “O Don Fatale” where Eboli curses her beauty for having gotten her into a love affair with the king was unnerving. (She is forced to admit this to the queen, Elisabeth, of her sins.) And the final aria, sung by Elisabeth, where she awaits her tortured love, sings “Tu che le vanità” was, as my mother put it, “worth the continental trip from California to New York alone”.
Dear God, even I didn’t appreciate it the first time. I’ve always recognize the opera as an art form that requires the most introduction. But to know opera is not enough, you must know the opera in performance.
# posted by otas : 7:04 PM
