Carmen:Bizet

So I was a bit slow on this post. Sorry about that! Carmen was FANTASTIC. I was so excited to hear this opera, kind of a milestone opera in a viewers career. I loved it. I loved that I already recognized some of the music and I loved that it was a busy, active show.

Can't recommend it enough!

Must See Rating: *****

CARMEN!!!!

Super excited for the opera tonight! The girls and I are going to get some super yum dinner and then watch this bad girl bring the whole house down.

And for your viewing pleasure, The Muppets sing the Habanera.

Porgy and Bess: by George Gershwin

First up for the 2011-2012 season was Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. Once again I was watching a "modern" opera with English lyrics. Unfortunately two big immediate strikes against it. But even without those two big biases I still didn't enjoy this opera.

I suppose I should start with the things that I liked though to be fair. I liked that we were watching the primary artists. There was no secondary cast so that was really nice. I enjoyed several of the artists individual performances Gwendolyn Brown (Maria) was magnificent and I always enjoy Gordon Hawkins (Porgy) even though this was not my favorite role for him.

My complaint with this opera was two fold. One, it sounded like a musical. When the overture began it had the flavor of a musical to it, so when the artists began to sing in operatic form it was odd and disconcerting to say the least. I kept wishing that either the music was different or the style of singing was different. Not something to fault any of the artists on. They did fabulous with what they had. It was a underlying problem with the opera itself rather than any individual performance. Two, the opera uses dialect which is important to the story line but completely bizarre to listen to. Imagine a person saying the line "I's loves you Porgy. I's yo' woman." But instead of hearing the entire sentence as words the last word of each sentence is a trilled opera note. Alarming and unusual right?

Finally, I just didn't really love the story line. Honestly. Many parts were interesting and I enjoyed the role of Sportin' Life. But overall it was just not my favorite.

Must See Rating: **

Die Zauberflöte: by Mozart

Die Zauberflöte (otherwise known as "The Magic Flute") was the final opera of the season. I had been anxiously awaiting this opera since it is the one and only opera I actually own and am familiar with. It has taken me all week to process the opera experience and now I finally feel semi-prepared to give my review.

Pros: I LOVED this opera. There is something to be said for intimately knowing an opera. And not just one or two famous arias but the entire thing. From the moment the overture started I was transported back in time to my bedroom. I am 17 years old and I am blasting this opera for all to hear at 6:15 am. It was amazing. The overture was handled masterfully by the orchestra. It was like I was listening to my recording all over again. Tamino was brilliant. Papageno was outstanding. OUTSTANDING. The staging and the costuming were both fantastic. It was everything I had hoped for and then some. Also, since I had only ever heard the recordings of the opera I was unaware that there was so much actual dialogue in between arias. It made the story so much more understandable.

Cons: I really only had a few items that marred the experience. The biggest one was the soprano who performed the role of the Queen of the Night was a bit shaky in the upper register during her aria O zittre nicht, mein lieber Sohn. She struggled a bit in her second aria Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen (video is shown above) but overall it was better than the first. Possibly part of my perfectionism is the amount of times I listened to the recorded version. There was not going to be a lot of leeway allowed for it to measure up to my expectations.

My only other distraction was with costuming. Tamino's first costume so strongly reminded me of Prince Humperdink from the Princess Bride. It took me until halfway through the seond act to finally place why it looked so familiar. And Monostatos costume looked exactly like one of the flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz. Other than that it was practically perfect in every way.

Must See Rating: *****
This absolutely makes my list of good operas for first timers.

Getting Excited

The Magic Flute is coming up in just 2 and a half weeks. I am super excited. I have been waiting for a LONG time for this one. It is the only opera that I own on CD. It is going to be wonderful to see it played out. I just hope baby boy does well while I am gone. That is going to be the real trick!

Don Quixote: by Jules Massenet

There is one bad thing about the season tickets Penny and I have for the opera. And that is the performance we see is the next to last one of the opera's run. Which means if one of us gets sick then we have very limited wiggle room to reschedule. Such was the case with this fourth opera of our season. Penny came down with the stomach flu and was unable to attend. Fortunately my dear friend Joanna was available to take her place and give me some company in Seattle.

Don Quixote was actually a relatively short opera. We were walking out the door right at 10:05 which is absurdly early for most operas. However, being 9 months pregnant and crammed into a little seat is not the most comfortable so I was happy to see that it was relatively short.

Pros: Wonderful fast moving opera. Nice chorus numbers interspersed throughout the entire opera. There was a HORSE and a DONKEY on stage. No joke. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza both rode them multiple times throughout the opera. It was pretty amazing. I was very impressed that the animals did not balk at the lights or the noise or the person sitting on their backs singing VERY loudly. The orchestra was brilliant as well. I am guessing the opera must not be super complicated because they seemed sharp the entire time. But then again what do I know!

Cons: Was there a con to this opera? I don't know that there was. The biggest negative was that two women were singing the part of two men. But I am sure that was how it was supposed to be. I just find it irritating.

Must See Rating: *****

The Barber of Seville: by Rossini

Got to experience the brilliant Barber of Seville last night. It was funny and very well done. One thing I really enjoyed was the fact that the music was so incredibly recognizable. The above clip is a Bugs Bunny cartoon that uses the overture from the Barber of Seville as the backdrop. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to give opera a chance.

Pros: Very fast paced fun loving opera with lots going on. Visually you are never bored and the set design was wonderful. Vocally it was a very fun opera to listen to as well. The first act is an hour and a half long, which is quite lengthy by normal opera standards. But the time goes quickly because of the recognizable score and the abundance of action within the plot.

Cons: Sadly the overture, which is incredibly familiar, was not played super tight. I don't know if the strings were having an off night or if they just needed to have another rehearsal or two. The section that was very obviously off you can hear in the above video at about minute 3:30. It should be dead on but they seemed as though one or two players were off. Of course I still enjoyed it but my dear opera companion Penny was quite disappointed. And after she mentioned it then I recalled it too. But it is the difference between a musician and an non-musician listening for sure.

Must See Rating: *****

Lucia di Lammermoor: by Donizetti

After the massive snooze-fest that was Tristan und Isolde, I was excited to see that we were going to be watching an opera this time around with some action in it. I am always much more interested in the operas with lots of action and a tempo that keeps things moving along swiftly.

Pros: There were some truly wonderful performers in this production. All the main characters were wonderful and the soprano that sang the role of Lucia was outstanding. There were also several duets that truly were audio perfection. The staging was quite wonderful and the chorus was great as well. Act 3 contains the famous mad scene where Lucia sings right after having murdered her husband. The aria is brilliantly written and it is done somewhat as a duet with a flute solo. Never thought of the flute and the soprano voice as being similar but I'll be darned, they go extremely well together. My mom would have called this a goose killer opera. Professionals would call it coloratura. I call it wonderful.

Cons: I really can't think of anything that I didn't like. It really was quite wonderful. Usually I have something that is not my favorite either but the pacing of the entire opera was wonderful and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Must See Rating: *****

Tristan und Isolde: by Richard Wagner

I don't think there is any other way to start this post other than saying this is one SERIOUSLY long opera. Clocking in at 4:30 (including intermissions) necessitated the early start time of 6:30 pm rather than the usual 7:30 pm. Let me tell you all it was a good thing, because I was already dropping off to sleep at 11:20 when it finished.

Pros: The music really was quite lovely. It really was. There is a beauty in Wagner's music from the listeners perspective that is not easily duplicated. At first listen it seemed as though the overture was simple but then I stopped and really listened. While it was easy on the ears like a simple piece of music this was hardly simple! There were so many parts that it was insane! I mentioned to Penny at an intermission that the man must have been on LSD when he wrote the music because there were so many parts but yet they all flowed together perfectly. Also, Greer Grimsley (for all that his photo in the program makes him look like Fabio) has a perfectly lovely voice and was a pleasure to listen to. My only sadness was that he was not featured until Act III. It really was a shame. We also had a huge treat in that we got to hear the spendy performers. Most often we hear the understudies or those who have been cast for the alternate performances. So hearing the big guns was very nice.

Cons: I knew this one was going to be long. I really did. I also knew that it was maybe a bit sleepy with very little action. Which was very, very true. All of Act I was dialogue. And if you have never heard opera dialogue it is strange. It is kinda half sung half chanted. There were no true arias in the entire Act I. Totally bizarre. Act II had the most dispassionate love affair that I have ever seen. Obviously there is no going back and rewriting what Wagner has done but I find it disappointing that the staging was so stilted. This "love affair" didn't even have the lovers hold hands. They stood and sang with very little passion, more often then not, not looking at each other. Penny and I decided that if that was what a love affair was all about we would pass thank you very much! Since the artists that had been cast in the roles have performed it multiple times for multiple different opera companies I can't help but wonder if that is just how it is supposed to be performed. Bizarre at the least. Like a love affair of zombies.

All in all it was about as good as I expected. I went in with the expectation that I was going to be sleepy by the end of it and I was. I think I would enjoy it more if I stopped trying to read the dialogue and just closed my eyes and enjoyed the music. Although I might fall asleep, you never know.

Must See Rating ***

Amelia: By Daron Aric Hagen

I should preface my review with the following. I do not really enjoy modern music in terms of the opera. I also am very leery of operas sung in English. There is something strange about them. I suppose it is the way the words are drawn out. It somehow sounds better in Italian, French or German. So keep those biases in mind.

Seattle Opera commissioned this opera. It is a brand new work that is getting its first shot at public viewing. There has been a lot of hype about it and it has gotten good reviews in general. As always my reviews aren't refined at all.

Pros: I really enjoyed the story. I think that if you can get a winning story behind an opera you won't be doing too bad. The story is what draws the people in and then keeps them. The premise that we were dealing with a person who had lost their father in war was one that I am sure is both universal and compellingly current. Many avenues for people to relate even if it was just in the hypothetical. The part of Icarus was sung by Nicholas Coppolo and he has a wonderfully lovely tenor. It was the winning voice of the opera for me. I also enjoyed the vocal talent of Jane Eaglen but that is not unusual. She has a phenomenal voice always. She could probably sing the phone book and make it sound good.

Cons: Unfortunately there were several things that really bothered me about this opera. First, the music. As I have said, I am not a huge fan of modern opera. The last one I saw was the End of the Affair which was dreadful. The music seemed a bit scattered. The vocal arrangements in parts reminded me of alley cats all yowling at the same time. There often seemed to be no theme or direction of notes. Rather the random always was in play. So, the music was mediocre. Also, the settings took entirely too long to change from scene to scene. The scene with the village in Vietnam was stunning as was the set for Paul's work. However, if you have to write an interlude of music (3-5 minutes long) to give the techies enough time to switch sets out then the sets are entirely too aggressive and complex.

Second item that really bothered me was the character story lines. There were no less than 3 story lines going on within the opera. They were all part of the main story line but it seemed as though the story was a bit overworked. One of the instances where a bit more editing of the libretto would have serviced the opera well. The story of the Flier in particular I would have gotten rid of. I am sure that is total and complete sacrilege to the opera writers but it seemed unnecessary and mostly disconnected to the entire opera. Also (and this would also get my potentially blacklisted) I would have done away with the third scene of the second act entirely. It was a prime example of reaching too far and not adding ANYTHING to the overall story. Add 3 minutes to tie up the loose end left in scene two and it would have been perfect. The ending was a bit anticlimactic.

Third item that got under my skin and there is no way to say this nicely. It was a bit like Opera meets the Sixth Sense. There were dead people wandering around the entire opera that would periodically interact with Amelia. It was strange and bothersome at best. Particularly when they were wandering the halls of the hospital. It just seemed unnecessary.

Must See Rating: *** Only because I am hoping it would improve upon a second viewing.

Falstaff: By Verdi

Note to self: When thinking of a storyline plot to write an opera about, look to Shakespeare. That man had brilliance in his brain! Falstaff is a comedic opera. Which in my book is always a good thing. I love the funny ones. Mostly because they tend to frolic through the story without getting too bogged down by anything too serious. I don't mind the serious ones (if I did I probably wouldn't like opera all that much) but I vastly prefer the ones with at least a glimmer of humor. Anyway, got to see Falstaff this weekend and it was really good. Since the Seattle Opera has been going with a Verdi-centric season it has been fun to compare the different operas. I decided to take some notes on my program as the opera was going to help me with the blog. Often I forget things once I leave the theater. It is late, I am tired. These things happen. Anyway, my notes should help me remember.

Pros: Falstaff is fast paced. The music never stays too long on any one note which tends to send the opera zooming along. There is a dirty old man in this opera who is the butt of many jokes. It was interesting to see the combination of physical humor and word plays. Kinda kept you guessing where the next laugh was coming from. Dame Quickly was played by the wonderful and always brilliant Stephanie Blythe. I always enjoy repeat performers. I have seen Ms. Blythe in several other performances and she is truly a joy to listen to. The role of Falstaff was performed by Eduardo Chama and he was very good. His voice had a wonderful tone that seemed almost too good for a part that was consistently being laughed at. Favorite line of the night was "only an ass would trust his wife, or his beer to a German or a his food to a Dutchmen or his spirits to a Turk" Good stuff. Also, there was a fabulous use of Pop-Its. Good to know they are useful for more than the 4th of July.

Cons: Visually I found this opera quite boring. At the beginning of the show there seemed to be a large set but as we got close to the show starting a screen came across the back of the set. The screen only changed color, presumably with the mood of the song, and added nothing too the set. Also, one "trick" staging scene was ruined by a lack of flashing at the bottom of a false walkway. It would have been an easy fix to add flashing to the bottom of the set and it would have preserved the humor of the joke. Since I could see the character crawling along the back of the set it really dimmed my enjoyment of the gag. In addition to the lackluster set was a strange "tree" made of chairs (it was weird, modern art based and seemingly completely out of place with the period piece costuming). Also, while in general a fast paced comedic opera is my favorite I lost many of the jokes while trying either to read the words or focus on the characters. Often the words were amusing and I was watching the movement or I would be focusing on the words and the characters would be gesturing in an amusing way. It became frustrating to hear people laugh and know that I had missed one or the other. The other interesting thing that was somewhat off putting is the occasional disregard of the 4th wall. It was difficult to get used to and somewhat strange. The characters did not leave the set (mostly) in between numbers they would sit on the sidelines and watch. It almost gave the impression that they knew it was a play and that we were there the entire time. Strange. It became hard to immerse the mind in a world where even the characters are not taking themselves seriously.

Must See Rating: ****

Phew!

For now my tidal wave of blog posts are done. Unless I feel the mood to blog about opera between now and March, you will be left without a post until then. Had to get all that information out of my head though before they ran together even more. The website at Seattle Opera was particularly helpful with the memory process. Sadly I am a very visual person and seeing the set pictures often helped me remember what was going on in the opera. Until next time!

Coming Up In March: Falstaff: by Verdi

Il Trovatore: by Verdi

Since this is the latest opera I have seen my memory is freshest with it. You may actually get some real information with this one. Il Trovatore is fantastic. It also has an incredibly recognizable song in it which is the video above. Check it out. You may find your toes even tapping along. (Hang on until about 1:20 seconds)

Pros: Wonderful chorus numbers. Hopefully you will have found the anvil chorus to be as familiar to you as I did. Particularly I enjoyed the aria's by Leonora that hit the lower half of her vocal register. They were masterfully done and I get the impression that while it is difficult to keep a high note from breaking the low notes are difficult to project throughout the entire opera house. I keep reminding myself that mics are not used.

Cons: The gypsy lady is weird. And unless you read the back story portion in the opera program you may have found yourself a bit confused. They seem to glaze over some of the details (at least the subtitling did) I also found the vocal performance of Manrico to not be as strong as I wished. Sometimes he seemed over powered by Count di Luna.

Must See Rating: ****

La Traviata: by Verdi

Finally, finally, finally I am in the current season! I am so excited to have three operas by Verdi this year. It is quite neat to be able to compare the different operas in such a close time period.

Pros: Wonderful story line and singing. I couldn't help but want everything to work out for these characters. The singing was wonderful.

Cons: Really really did not care for the dad in this opera. Of course I wasn't supposed to be thrilled with him so I guess in that matter he did a good job.

Must See Rating: ****

The Marriage of Figaro: by Mozart

Such a fun opera. I have to say that it is always nice to have one or two that are just fun to watch. Lots of characters and situations. This opera includes some slapstick elements which are always a treat. Very delightful to hear the entire opera house roaring with laughter.

Pros: Entirely enjoyable. An opera for the masses. It is ridiculously popular and for good reason. The staging was great. The costumes were great. Their were large sections of pseudo conversation (which I happen to like)

Cons: Crowded theater. That is about as bad as I can say though!

Must See Rating: *****

Erwartung: by Schoenberg

Ok. This opera is best described as opera on acid because there is no plot. It is like the mental break of a woman who killed her lover. The walls moved and flowed and she roamed around like a crazy person (no pun intended).

Pros: I found the visual performance to be quite enthralling and kept my attention the entire time.

Cons: Since there is no real story, just one woman singing the entire opera, it feels a bit like a weird monologue that you can't get out of seeing. It was also not as interesting musically especially compared with Bluebeard's Castle. The two operas were a fine fit in length but topically it was quite a stretch to see them together.

Must See Rating: **

Bluebeards Castle: by Bartok

This opera I saw paired with Erwatung since both are short one act operas. The theme is really creepy and the lady had to be an idiot to think that this guy is worth marrying but that is just me. Without that dynamic there would be no opera.

Pros: Astounding music. Very reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock horror shows and scary movies. It kept you on the edge of you chair knowing that something very, very bad was going to happen to this new bride.

Cons: By the time you hit the seventh door it feels a bit redundant but that is ok.

Must See Rating: ****

The Pearl Fishers: by Bizet

Just when you feel like all opera is consumed with death and revenge along comes an opera like The Pearl Fishers. This opera is a wonderful story about making the right choices for the right reasons.

Pros: Brilliant scenery and lighting. The singers were fantastic and the story line was great. Had a very ancient feeling to the story.

Cons: None that I can recall!

Must See Rating: ****

Electra: Richard Strauss

Electra is a complementary opera to Iphigenia in Tauris in topic only. Both operas are roughly drawn around the same story line although each tackle different components and seasons of the tale. Both are extremely dark story lines which of course makes for fabulously intriguing opera.

Pros: Spooky feel to the whole story line.

Cons: You tend to not know who to root for. Do you cheer for the daughter with only revenge on her mind? Or the mom who just wants to move on? Somehow neither option seems right.

Must See Rating: ****

Aida: by Verdi

Finally we are in a season that I remember more clearly. 2008/2009 was a good season and Aida was a fabulous way to begin it.

Pros: Wonderful story and costuming. The set was really good too. I remember enjoying both of the main story lines of this opera and found the music to be quite enjoyable.

Cons: Can't think of any which is a good thing

Must See Rating: ****