A Tribute to "Flicka"

With Frederica "Flicka" von Stade one of the greatest living mezzo-sopranos said goodbye to the stage earlier this year. On Saturday 3 December the San Francisco Opera is paying tribute to her operatic achievements. Joining the party will be some of the greats who shared the stage with her: Kiri Te Kanawa, Susan Graham, Joyce DiDonato and Samuel Ramey.

Inspired by this aricle by the SF Chronicle I couldn't resist but browsing through the archive of Flicka performances on youtube. I'd like to share some gems from this incredible singer's career that has lasted 4 decades but has always stayed self-critical and down-to-earth:

La Cenerentola - Nacqui all'affanno... Non più mesta (1981)

She says now that she doesn't feel she ever got a handle on [Cenerentola] - which will come as a surprise to the thousands of listeners entranced by the technical flourish and expressive openness of her interpretation. "I think to do that piece, you have to be able to just toss it off. And I was always concentrating too hard, just trying to make it be what I wanted to be."

Le Nozze di Figaro - Non so più (1985)

"[Cherubino]'s a role that I sang way past the point of decency," she said. "I just didn't want to give it up. I think it's Mozart's character in many ways."

Rosenkavalier - Final Trio

"I love doing operas where I'm super busy, running around pretending to be a boy. Octavian (in Richard Strauss' 'Der Rosenkavalier') is another one."

Dead Man Walking (2011)

Interview with Frederica von Stade and Kiri te Kanawa

Click here for some more priceless quotes! You know you want to.

Congrats Mommy Elīna and Daddy Karel!

This piece of news seems to have widely slipped the attention of the operatic public, which surprisingly doesn't seem to read tabloids: Elīna Garanča gave birth to a daughter last month. As ÖSTERREICH reports the girl's name is Catherine Louise Chichon. Congratulations to the happy parents!

© www.deutscheoperberlin.de

Elīna Garanča is scheduled to appear on stage again with a recital of Strauss, Schuman and Berg in Graz on March 3rd next year.

BREAKING: Universal Launches New Artist Agency with Hampson, Netrebko and Villazón

Musikmarkt reports the launch of Universal Music's previously announced new artist agency Centre Stage Artist Management. The agency will have offices in Berlin as well as London and is starting off with a small yet impressive artist roster: Anna Netrebko, Thomas Hampson, Rolando Villazón, Mojca Erdmann, Joseph Calleja, Ruxandra Donose, Massimo Giordano and Roman Trekel. (www.centrestagemanagement.com)


Designated Managing Director Judith Neuhoff, who previously worked for Raab & Böhm Artists in Vienna and IMG Artists in London, says, "Thanks to our collaboration with opera houses, concert halls, record labels, pr agencies and promoters around the world we can provide our artists with unique and individual perspectives and consultation. We want to take the agency to international top class level. Our fundamental principles are quality, transparency and responsibility."

Munich's New Hoffmann A Vocal Success (Press Comments)

The Bavarian State Opera chose Halloween night for their first premiere of the season: "Les Contes d'Hoffmann" with Rolando Villazón in the title role and Diana Damrau singing all of his female counterparts for the first time in her career. The muchly anticipated event turned out to be a triumph for the singers who earned overwhelming ovations. Director Richard Jones, who fell out of favor with the Bavarian audience with his staging of "Lohengrin" two seasons ago, received singular boos which, however, could be interpreted as the reaction of some unforgiving opera locals as the rest of the audience seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed his interpretation of Hoffmann's tales.

Some insightful videoclips of this production can be found on the Bavarian State Opera's website. And here's some collected press comments:


Die Welt:

"He is back. Not shining as brightly as before but with a safeness that seemed to have disappeared - Rolando Villazón."

Merkur Online:

"Villazón sings at the edge. And it is a miracle that not more things go wrong when he does."

"The actual vocal event at this 'Hoffmann' premiere were his female counterparts. Ensemble member Angela Brower was celebrated as confident and natural Niklausse. She was almost as strong as Diana Damrau who for the first time sang all four of the poet's lovers - and with that kicked open the door to a new phase of her career."

"John Relyea's dark, bronze bass provides for the perfect material for the four villains, with Dapertutto's (not original) 'mirror aria' probably being a concession to him."

"[Constantinos Carydis] adamantly, even ruthlessly implements his concept. This is not a laissez-faire Offenbach, much more an interpretation equipped with blowoffs, which is highly dramatic, surprisingly true to detail and razor-sharp."

Abendzeitung:

"From the start Diana Damrau left no doubt about who was going to pull the chestnuts out of the fire. Courageously she took on all three soprano parts in Offenbach's opera. [...] Musically Diana Damrau sets one highlight after the other. She's the superb centre that everything else revolves around. Even the protagonist has to bow to her. One had to be worried whether Rolando Villazón would have the stamina needed for the part of Hoffmann beforehand. Even before his vocal crisis he was not the ideal cast for this role. [...] Despite vocal vehemence he leaves something to be desired: When he forces the voice becomes tight. Luster and assertiveness are limited. The Mexican's acting is incredibly intense but sometimes too boisterous."

"However: Diana Damrau, Rolando Villazón, Angela Brower (Niklausse) and the superb Canadian bass John Relyea, who sang all four villains, made sure that the musical side dominated over the stage direction, which all in all dawdled along too harmlessly and superficially."

John Relyea earns much praise for his portrayal of all four villains.

Angela Brower shines as Hoffmann's muse Niklausse.

All pictures courtesy of www.br.de

A Possible Goodbye?

Is it possible that tonight's dernière of "La Traviata" might be Natalie Dessay's last performance at the Wiener Staatsoper?

© adn.com

It is likely. Frau Kammersängerin has repeatedly emphasized that she wants to quit singing and become an actress instead stating that she perceives the opera repertoire as "too narrow". She's been talking about becoming an actress for years but the actual decision might be just around the corner considering the fact that she's already looking for possible employers (at least on Austrian national tv). [Side note: She also talked about buying a farm and riding horses for the rest of her life at some point but this hasn't been mentioned ever since so we'll consider this a less probable scenario.]


Rumor has it that she will not be singing for much longer than 3 more years. Dessay has also made clear that due to the short rehearsal periods she won't be doing repertoire performances at the Wiener Staatsoper anymore. A singer of her status, of course, has the right to be picky about the work she takes on. It is, however, not very likely that she will appear in a new production at this house within the next 3 years. But this is just a personal guess...

A Swell Start For The Met's Live Cinecast Season

The Met Cinecast of "Anna Bolena" was seen by some 30.000 people in Germany and Austria last Saturday, reports Clasart Classic, which exceeds all previously seen viewer records. Roughly 40 cinemas were completely sold out, some had to move the cinecast to larger locations to provide for German/Austrian operamaniacs. Clasart Classic boss Herbert Kloiber attributes this success to the "phenomenon Netrebko". He added, however, that the fact that 125.000 tickets have already been sold for the new Met broadcast season are proof that the general demand is increasing.

Maria Callas...OF COURSE!

In a teaser for her most recent release ”An Homage to Callas” Angela Gheorghiu speaks about the revelation she had during the recording period. (Would Callas agree? Luckily, Angela will never find out.)
And here’s the long version of the trailer where Angela shows off some cleavage excellent choices of headwear.

 © EMI

To Boo Or Not To Boo

NY Times critic Anthony Tommasini calls the Met’s new “Don Giovanni” “a production with no compelling point of view” adding that it “almost makes you yearn for those new stagings where the creative team is booed on opening night”. Director Michael Grandage apparently received respectful but unenthusiastic ovations for his traditional staging that was without stirring ideas. (In that it joins the club of boredom with Vienna’s “Don Giovanni” production that premiered last season.)


Maybe Tommasini should consider visiting the Wiener Staatsoper sometime where a week ago Jean-François Sivadier and his creative team were booed without restraint for their new production of “La Traviata”. After 3 hours of a minimalist staging (a few chairs and pillows, small backdrops showing meadows or sky, the words “Violetta” and “Traviata” scribbled on the wall - a helpful reminder for the audience of what performance they were seeing) it became quiet in the house before Sivadier’s curtain call while the audience gathered momentum for the loudest booing the Staatsoper has heard since, I believe, the catastrophe that was the new production for “Macbeth” two years ago. Despite a large number of traditionalists that would have loved to continue seeing Otto Schenk’s staging for another 40 years, there were many that were looking forward to Sivadier’s new ideas…and they were majorly disappointed.

 © diepresse.com

General Manager Dominique Meyer felt compelled to comfort his fellow Frenchman Sivadier by saying, “It’s not so bad!” and, “It’s not a sin to show something new. This is a strong production and it will survive.” Will it survive? Once the wonderful Natalie Dessay and her acting skills leave the Staatsoper after six performances all that will be left of this production are the chairs, pillows and backdrops. I am afraid that my prediction stated earlier in this place will come true: An era of Traviata concert versions awaits the Viennese audience.

A Fragile New Traviata

"I like this production a lot because it is very theatrical and also very fragile. Because if not everyone acts with a lot of energy and concentration everything disappears. There is hardly any decoration, the stage is almost naked, a few chairs, that's it. Everything depends on us," says Natalie Dessay about Vienna's new staging of "La Traviata" in an interview with DER STANDARD. "Often singers are just singers. Fortunately, not always. But only if they are also actors opera can be truly great."

After the dress rehearsal of this new production of "La Traviata" at the Wiener Staatsoper two things can be said: 1. This production does work well thanks to Natalie Dessay's wonderful acting. 2. With "singers that are only singers" and without long rehearsal periods we might as well do a Traviata concert version after this premiere run.


Jen-François Sivadier's "La Traviata" premieres Sunday, October 9.

Conductor Lottery

Fabio Luisi hurried to the Met's rescue after James Levine's accident where he now resides as principal conductor. This has left the Vienna Symphonics more or less without such. (Officially Luisi is keeping this position until 2012/13. One doesn't envy him for this commute.) Was it Luisi's new calling that gave momentum to the search for a new face to hand the baton over to? Be that as it may, this week the Symphonics announced that their new face will be 36-year-old Swiss conductor Philippe Jordan. He will start this job with the season 2014/15 which leaves the Symphonics without a music director for a year. He will also remain principal conductor of the Opéra National de Paris. A comparably tolerable commute, one may add.

 © www.philippe-jordan.com

Nafornita Makes Her Vienna House Debut

As previously discussed the Wiener Staatsoper so far has been very successful at hiding Cardiff Singer of the World 2011, Valentina Nafornita, who joined the ensemble at the beginning of the new season. I am happy to announce that she will be making her house debut as Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, at last. Of course the house has failed to announce this on its deficient website where a minor role like Papagena does not show up in the cast list.

Cardiff Singer of the World In The House!

It is a sign that the Wiener Staatsoper lacks a sense of PR when the 2011 Cardiff Singer of the World joins the house's ensemble and it is not adequately communicated to the public.
Soprano Valentina Nafornita from Moldova won this year's Cardiff competition at the age of only 24 with these renditions of Korngold and Gounod, among others:

One would think that the addition of this striking young talent to the Staatsoper's ensemble would be worth a press release, a mention on the website's cover page or anything of the like but, alas, this apparently was only worth an empty page. So far she is not officially scheduled to appear in any performances which is also a pity. If the arrival of Nafornita at this venerable house was communicated appropriately, enough people would rush to the Staatsoper to find out what the fuss was all about. Not to mention the positive momentum of the international attention directed at Nafornita after winning such a prestigious prize.

But this is just an amateur's opinion who found out about these delightful news by happenstance...

Vienna's New Violetta

The Vienna State Opera is getting ready for their first premiere of the season. After approximately 300 performances of the perhaps a little dusty but still functioning production of "La Traviata" by director Otto Schenk they're throwing out the chaiselongue and bringing in an all new, (almost) all French and all modern production by Jean-François Sivadier as seen earlier this year at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence.

© http://www.festival-aix.com

One may argue that vocally this might not be the best fit for Natalie Dessay but everyone who has seen this woman act before must simply be looking forward to being introduced to her Violetta.


One may also argue that a modern production that has obviously been created around the energetic and creative person of Dessay, the actress-singer, might not work as well with park-and-bark-approaches by other singers who will take on this role in the future. It is also to be seen how the production will do without long rehearsal periods where - as experienced in the past with long standing productions at this house - little details are lost and the functionality of a production is proved...or not.

On October 9th we will try to imagine how this new Traviata production might last for another 300 shows.

© http://www.festival-aix.com

99 Autographs of Rolando on the Wall, Or: How to Approach an Artist

I like to go to the stage door after a performance - not to get autographs or take pictures of the artists but to watch the goings-on and indulge in the performance after the performance. Some opera fans have always puzzled me: Academics who camp out at ticket offices to get tickets for the most wanted performances. Filthy rich people who pay $$$ for front row seats just to play games on their smart phones while Domingo is singing. Elderly ladies using their elbows to push other elderly ladies aside only to get a peek of Grigolo. Seemingly sophisticated people who travel far just to be able to say, “The performance was as dreadful as I had expected.” People you see at the opera about 5 times a week whose biggest aim in life is to get the 99th autograph (and after that the 100th, 101st, 102nd…) of Villazón but who know nothing about the art of singing, the history of the artform or even what opera it was they did see that very night. It is especially this obsession with autographs that I will never understand, hence the question I would like to pose today:


What do people do with 99 autographs of one single artist?


I have always pictured their homes wallpapered with these autographs. Is that for real? I understand the concept of using autographs as an excuse to be close to the artist you admire. After a while the artist will remember your face, though. At least when you get your 99th autograph they will know you. And yes, they will probably ask the same question: What the heck do you do with my autographs?!


Have people ever considered a different form of approaching an artist? Call me crazy but I suggest to simply talk to them instead. If you found their performance particularly marvelous tell them how much you liked it, what you liked about it. If you’re genuinely interested in the artist’s career, in that particular production, the evening’s performance you should be able to come up with some clever question. If you ask in a respectful way they will gladly answer your questions. And when they do, say ‘thank you’ and don’t forget to greet them in a polite manner before you leave. In short: Use common sense!


If you can’t come up with anything to talk to them about show a little respect for the person who just got off work and freakin’ leave them alone! ABSOLUTE NO-GO: Getting 20 pictures signed at once! You’re never gonna get rich selling those autographs on eBay.


I don’t want to be a hypocrite about this, I’ve only seen so much go wrong in the artist-fan-interaction when respect is the simple key for every human interaction!

No Need For A Show

"Surely our eyes are given to us only so that we may weep."

~ Iolanta

And weep we all did during the concert performances of Tchaikovsky's last opera Iolanta, the story of a blind princess who learns to see when she encounters true love. This was certainly my personal highlight at this year's Salzburg Festival and judging from the sobbing and nose-blowing sounds that could be heard in the house I didn't seem to be the only one who was touched by this musically exceptional performance.


Of course this was named "The Netrebko Show" by various newspapers. Whoever comes up with such catchy lines should start reconsidering the verbal sellout of this talented woman. At the same time the reduction of this "show" to one singer does not do justice to the stellar performances the rest of the cast showed: Piotr Beczala as loving Count Vaudémont, John Relyea as King René and caring father and Alexey Markov, who in the small role of Robert received hearty ovations for his aria.

Piotr Beczala, Anna Netrebko, John Relyea

The surprise to me was that this concert performance touched me more than a staged opera has in a while. There was no "show" and there was no need for it. Tchaikovsky provided us with this beautifully composed music, Henrik Hertz with a heartbreakingl story and the artists brought it all to life with their talent and above all with the sincerity the treated this music with. One can only wish for more musical experiences like these which capture you in such an intense way while they're happening and resound long after you've left the concert hall.


A sneaky person captured the duet Tvoyo molčan’ye neponyatno during the final rehearsal which - despite not endorsing video bootlegging of classical performances - I wouldn’t want to keep from you:

Why High Heels and Salzburg Performances Don't Go Together Well

Performances at the Salzburg Festival make for a fancy occasion. One sure wants to dress adequately on the red carpet in order not to disappoint the onlookers, B-list celebrities and the odd real celebrity who mingle in front of the festival houses.

Wearers of high heels, though, should be warned to take account of the following hazards:
Cobblestone pavements. You can be most certain to break your leg if you attempt to take a longer walk through the cobbled streets of the old town. Speaking from personal experience I suggest to not even try it.

Walking distances. Salzburg is rather small and pretty much everything can be reached on foot. In fact, most festival goers prefer to walk to their performances as the traffic usually crashes in the inner city before a show and taxis have to go around the entire pedestrian area of the old city to reach the festival houses. It is more time efficient to use the pedestrians' shortcuts which unfortunately always lead through aforementioned cobbled streets. If you take a cab make sure you leave early. If you decide to walk make sure you wear comfortable shoes to avoid focussing on the blisters on your feet during your concert or opera.

Acquiring your intermission drink. Numerous stairs inside the festival houses might prevent you from getting to your well-deserved glass of champagne during the intermission in time. If you want to grab a drink you can order it before the performance to have it ready once you've elegantly conquered the stairs or be prepared to make a less elegant run down the stairs to be in front of the queue.

No Summer Without Salzburg

For many years the best remedy for my yearly cultural summer depression has been the Salzburg Festival. It always feels a bit like Christmas to visit Salzburg during the festival season when the small, usually sleepy city becomes vibrant and lively. You will hardly bump into any real natives of this city during the summer as it will be populated by hoards of The Sound of Music fans. Also, a large migration of classical music and theater lovers takes place as Salzburg turns into Austria's capital of music during the five weeks of the festival.

During this time keeping an eye out on a walk through the city it is likely you will spot a famous face, be it one of the artists performing in the festival or a socialite in town to see a performance or two (Salzburg rolls out the red carpet for their premieres for a reason). If you don't become lucky during your walk I recommend a visit to the restaurant Triangel, located right in front of the small festival house where the festival top nobs like to meet for a chat. I also recommend this place if you're simply looking for a good restaurant as the food served at Triangel is delicious. For amusement reasons they name their dishes after the festival's artists every year. Who doesn't like to say, "I'll have a Michael Schade!" (FYI: Noodles and vegetables of the wok with fried fillet of char!)

Triangel. View from the small festival house.

If on top of all the greatness that is Salzburg in the summer you're also lucky enough to even be granted (one doesn't simply buy) a ticket to one of the performances you shall have the perfect Salzburg experience. The world class artist per performance ratio is exceeded hardly anywhere else. Will I be among those lucky ones this year? I have yet to find out. But either way I will most certainly not miss out on Salzburg during festival time.

Summertime - and the living is easy?

Here, I think, DuBose Heyward was partly wrong. Life is not all that easy as an opera lover since you are deprived of your everyday dose of culture during the summer. The doors of the beloved houses that provide music on the highest level stay closed (whatever happens in there during those months will remain a mystery - secret techno clubbings are my guess) and one has to come up with alternative ideas of indulging in the arts.

One of the few reasons why one should be happy to be living in a country like Austria is that one is offered a few alternatives in this regard. In the next months I shall share my explorations of these alternatives.

Film Festival in front of Vienna's city hall

My favorite alternative to bypass cultural summer dullness is the Film Festival am Wiener Rathausplatz as it can be attended spontaneously and without burdening your budget. Here opera, concert and ballet performances (mixed with a little pop culture here and there) are shown every night from July until September. The presenters make sure not to forget the big names of opera. Hence, you can spend 3 hours of your warm summer evenings with Juan Diego Flórez, Anna Netrebko or Jonas Kaufmann - without paying extortionate entrance fees. You're in for a treat on September 3 when they'll broadcast a Simone Boccanegra live from the Wiener Staatsoper with the likes of Plácido Domingo, Ferruccio Furlanetto and Barbara Frittoli.

How often have you wished to have an alcoholic beverage handy during a performance? This is the chance for you! For lovers of food and drinks this film festival will make your heart beat faster as you will be able to see a world class performance whilst enjoying half a liter of wine cooler (or more) and food from one of the numerous food stands. And for the nostalgics amongst you who miss the shushers from your local opera house for the more authentic opera experience you will most certainly find some of them here as well trying to establish quiet in a public place like this.