music and musings to cap 2016

Edit: did i hear it right, she will be singing Britten in Vienna! (starting minute 32mn20s, David McVicar stage director)
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Currently listening: Another interview with Anna Caterina Antonacci on francemusique, on 19/Dec/2016, including many fantastic samples of her singing (Barbara Strozzi, Berlioz, Hahn)

Ok, my French listening comprehension is improving, but her French is a bit more difficult to understand 🙂 . hehe, she’s discussing which roles she likes (Didon , not sure from Berlioz which she hasn’t sung, or Purcell). If my comprehension works ok, She enjoys singing Elletra, Vitelia, Cassandra and *detests* Dorabella 😀 . There’s also discussion on Sancta Susanna, which is also available on francemusique The piece starts at 1hr20min20sec. Before that is Cavalleria rusticana:

I think one can try to compare how the singing is delivered here versus the intimate recording linked 2 posts ago, to get an idea the difference between a huge orchestra in a gigantic hall versus a smaller setting.

This caps a year of super fun internet gathering over at Anik’s to discover new operas/singers/opera-buddies as well as the few live performances I managed to see and greatly enjoyed. Oh, and on the subject of French comprehension, I was highly impressed with myself 😀 , this past trip to Paris, i was able to *communicate* !! sure, the vocabulary is lacking as ever, but wow, suddenly it was simple to use the 1% available bit and pronunciation wasn’t an issue at all! all thanks to Mitridate and extensive listening to French radio and broadcasts this whole year. Onto some musings on the road.

March 2016, “Ariodante” in London

thadieu: (jetlagged, falling hopelessly asleep..)
Dehggi: “whore!”
thadieu: huh?
Dehggi: the translation is rather blunt
(on stage: Genievra whining nonstop and isolated on an island)
thadieu: (thinking in head: what’s wrong with her? why is she whining nonstop?! aohhhhhh, i got it! she’s being wrongly accused of being a slut!)
…
(while stopping to admire Ariodante’s jaw)

thadieu: my bubble is popped! i’ve always thought Ariodante a courageous handsome knight! but he’s a total dweeb! i so sad!

October 2016, “Alcina” in Wien, in standing-room waiting line

Anik: in “Verdi Prati” she (Ruggiero) was just standing there and she (Bradamante) didn’t act at all!
thadieu: did they roll around?
Anik: what rolling around?
thadieu: , what do you mean?! Kasarova and Hammarström were on top of each other! i was confused for some 6 years**!
Anik: (?)
thadieu: wait a minute, (googling on phone), here.
Anik: nooo, they didn’t do that! just standing.

December 2016, “Don Giovanni” in Paris,

1 min before curtain raised
thadieu: they put Donna Anna in a suit!! Anik showed me a curtain call video
Dehggi: (ignoring..)
…
post opera, while Dehggi taking touristic photos of the venue
thadieu: he’s so whiny. no wonder she delays the marriage for 10 years!
Dehggi: 10? i thought it’s only 1 year
thadieu: oh, it’s our liveblog! and every time the statue showed up, i heard your voice in my head “its mouth is moving!”

So, that wraps up 2016. Not as many live performances as I would have liked, but the rare fews were true fun, and the summer festival liveblog, as well as discovery of Mitridate (and a certain soprano) were true gems. Rolling on to 2017 🙂 .

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** though we settled that perhaps it’s like the green grapes.