The Verdi Project: Don Carlos

Verdi's last opera for Paris has a complicated history.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Troubled youth: the not-so-youthful Placido Domingo as Verdi's Don Carlos.
Photo © 1982 The Metropolitan Opera.

After the experience of Un Ballo in Maschera, Giuseppe Verdi found himself increasingly withdrawn from the world of opera. His hiatus was interrupted for the commissioning and premiere of La Forza del Destino, but the problems surrounding that opera did not encourage him to continue composing. However, he received a commission for the Paris Opera, to write a five-act grand opera in French for the 1866. That opera would be Don Carlos, and its genesis would be the most difficult of any major Verdi work.

The Verdi Project: Un ballo in Maschera

Giuseppe Verdi versus the censors of Naples.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Verdi (right) confronts an anonymous Neopolitan censor over the libretto to Un ballo in Maschera.
The original title Una vendetta in domino is visible. Image from 1857 by Delfico.

"Don't forget. I've got tickets for the opera tonight for Un ballo in maschera."
"Oh, stuff Un ballo in maschera!" -- John Mortimer

After the failure of the 1857 version of Simon Boccanegra, Verdi was looking for an easy success. He thought he had found it with Un Ballo in Maschera, a libretto by Antonio Somma that was itself an adaptation of an older libretto by Eugéne Scribe. Verdi had worked with that legendary (and well-named) Scribe on Les vepres sicillienes. The grand old man of the Paris Opera was the most successful librettist in Europe since Pietro Metastasio. What could go wrong?

His Last, Bigliest Bow

Donald Trump brings back Luciano Pavarotti.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

This didn't really happen....or did it?
Luciano Pavarotti sings with Donald Trump.

An unexpected gaffe by United States President Donald Trump on Thursday afternoon may lead to an unexpected career spotlight for Luciano Pavarotti, the beloved opera tenor who died in 2007.

Today, speaking at the White House in a joint press conference with Italian prime minister Paolo Gentiloni, Mr. Trump said: "Through the ages your country has been a beacon of artistic and scientific achievement. That continues today."

He then referred to Mr. Pavarotti and his friendship--twice: "From Venice to Florence to Verdi to Pavarotti--friend of mine," President Trump said. "Great friend of mine," he added.

Metropolitan Opera Preview: Turandot

Three very different casts and three runs for Puccini's final opera. 
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The executioner Pu-Tin-Pao (Left) confronts a giant Chinese dragon in the first act
of the Metropolitan Opera's production of Puccini's Turandot.
Photo by Marty Sohl © 2015 The Metropolitan Opera.

This umpteenth revival of the Metropolitan Opera's everything-into-the-wok Franco Zeffirelli production of Puccini's Turandot appears in three separate runs this season. Christine Goerke, Lise Lindstrom, Jennifer Wilson and Nina Stemme are the four formidable sopranos who will sing the hellishly difficult title role. This is one of the last surviving Zeff productions in the Met repertory along with La bohéme, and is a feast for the eyes as well as the ears.

Opera Review: Wide Awake in Dreamland

La Sonnambula rouses a tired Metropolitan Opera season.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The power of the voice: Elvino (Javier Camarena) woos Amina (Diana Damrau)
in the Metropolitan Opera's revival of La Sonnambula. 
Photo by Marty Sohl © 2014 The Metropolitan Opera. 

The Metropolitan Opera's revival of La Sonnambula, (seen Tuesday night) might be the double espresso that this company needs to make it to the end of this largely somnolent opera season. Mary Zimmerman's warm-hearted, "insider" production (set in a pre-gentrification lower Manhattan rehearsal loft as an unnamed opera company rehearses an upcoming production of La Sonnambula) features two stunning bel canto leads. More so, this show offers a commodity that is all too rare at Peter Gelb's opera company these days: a genuine sense of happiness upon leaving the theater.

Opera Review: A Golden Turandot

Reposted from The Classical Review.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Maria Guleghina as the Princess Turandot. Photo by Marty Sohl © 2012 The Metropolitan Opera.

The Metropolitan Opera celebrates the 25th anniversary of the 
company’s over-the-top 1987 Franco Zeffirelli production of Puccini’s 
Turandot this year. At Wednesday’s opening night, the show 
looked and sounded surprisingly fresh, serving as a gilt framework for an evening of tremendous vocal performances from the three principals.

Read the whole review by Superconductor's Paul J. Pelkonen, exclusively on The Classical Review.

Brass Tacks: Tenors

Our series continues with the ringing power of the high male voice. 

by Paul J. Pelkonen

Prize singer: Klaus Florian Vogt is one of the finest heroic tenors working today.
Image from Act III of the DVD of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
© 2008 Opus Arte/Bayreuth Festspiele.

The tenor voice is a cornerstone of opera, from the dizzying heights scaled by Rossini's comic heroes to the full-on sword-forging blast of Wagner's Siegfried. Depending on the composer and libretto, they can be either hero or villain, callow youth or grizzled warrior. The possibilities are endless.

Tenors have the unenviable task of singing difficult high music, pulling off feats of vocal stamina and dexterity that make them among the most revered (and sometimes the most despised) opera singers. (They also show up frequently in rock and roll, where some noted tenors include Rob Halford from Judas Priest, Bruce Dickinson from Iron Maiden and the late Freddie Mercury.) From the six-hour marathons of Wagners operas to the stunning "Ah, mes amis" by Donizetti (which requires nine high Cs in a row!) the life of a star tenor is never easy.

Let's start with an example of really fine tenor singing:

Jonas Kaufmann sings In Fernem Land from Act III of Wagner's Lohengrin. 

Footage from the Bayerische Staatsoper © 2009 Decca/Universal Classics.

The rewards can be worth it. Most of the famous male opera singers, (the ones that you've heard of even if you've never been to the opera) are tenors. Enrico Caruso. Lauritz Melchior. Richard Tucker. In the '80s and '90s, the operatic world was dominated by the Three Tenors: Plácido Domingo, José Carreras and the late Luciano Pavarotti. Today, the torch is carried by a modern generation of star tenors: Klaus Florian Vogt, Jonas Kaufmann, Juan Diego Flórez and Roberto Alagna.

Tenors come in many shapes, sizes and styles, but all have in common a range from the B above "low" C to the C one octave above "middle" C. Tenors are measured on a loose scale of "heaviness" with the largest, and most demanding parts referred to as the "heavier" roles. Despite the girth of some singers, it has nothing to do with body weight.

Chinese Bureaucracy

A short reflection on Puccini's birthday.

Your yuan at work: Eduardo Valdes (Pong) Joshua Hopkins (Ping) and Tony Stevenson (Pang)
in Act II of Turandot. Photo by Marty Sohl © 2009 The Metropolitan Opera.

Today we celebrate the 153rd birthday of composer Giacomo Puccini, the last of an iconic line of Italian opera composers. And I'm celebrating by focusing on an opera he never finished: (my first opera ever) Turandot.

It all started with Puccini for me. My parents took me to see Turandot at the New York City Opera when I was just nine years old. I don't remember everything about it, but I did like it enough to want to see La bohème a few weeks later. This was back when City Opera had their performances in the summer, so my parents had the time to take me.

Although Puccini's last opera, a blood-thirsty mixture of fairy-tale and Asian exoticism, is not the ideal starter opera, the story appealed to me. It was about riddles and solving problems, and the guy got the girl in the end. Of course, it's a little different when you're grown up, but I was hooked, and hooked early.

Two things stuck with me about that Turandot. First, the riddles. I spent hours poring over them in the libretto, trying to fathom why the answers were "fire," "blood," and "Turandot." The second was the three "masque" characters of Ping, Pang and Pong, who serve as a miniature Greek chorus, commenting on the action and presenting the face of Chinese government bureaucracy.

I know that everybody waits with baited breath for "In questa reggia," the Riddle Scene or the famous "Nessun dorma." But for me, Turandot is all about "Ho una casa nell'Honan", a moment of relative peace in the lives of three bureaucrats stuck in the middle of the Chinese court. Here, Ping (the Grand Chancellor), Pang (the General Purveyor) and Pong (the Chief Cook) long for the simple pleasures of country life.

This is their featured scene from Act II, Scene 1 of the Met's Franco Zeffirelli production, filmed on April 4, 1987. Brian Schexnayder is Ping. Alan Glassman is Pang. Anthony Lanciura is Pong. 

Enjoy.

Opera Review: The Finer Diner

David Lomelí triumphs in L'Elisir at City Opera.

David Lomelí as Nemorino in L'Elisir d'Amore at New York City Opera.
Photo by Carol Rosegg © 2011 New York City Opera.

If you're going to sing Nemorino, you need to be brave. The tenor role in L'Elisir d'Amore is not especially challenging for the voice. But it carries with it a legacy, the weight of association with the singing legacy of Luciano Pavarotti and before him, Enrico Caruso.

On Thursday night, in the New York City Opera's revival of the Donizetti opera, tenor David Lomelí proved himself worthy of that legacy. Mr. Lomelí has a firm, dulcet instrument, capable of adding a little steel beneath the velvet to lend force to his character's wine-fueled outbursts of passion.


He is also is a good comic actor, holding the center of Jonathan Miller's Route 66-inspired production, which transports this country bumpkin to the American Southwest of the 1950s. In this version, the hapless Nemorino is a long-suffering pump boy (with lashings of James Dean) attempting to win the affections of Adina, owner of the diner and its attached gas station.

The City Opera has surrounded the tenor with a fine supporting cast, led by Ukrainian soprano Stefania Dovhan as Adina. She has a soaring bel canto instrument under her movie-star blonde wig. Baritone José Adán Pérez was a bantam-like, cocky Belcore, re-imagined as a U.S. Army sergeant who recruits all of Nemorino's co-workers. Meredith Lustig provided able, sexy support as Giannetta.

Next to the leads, Elisir rises or falls on Dr. Dulcamara, the quack doctor who markets cheap vino as the original funky cold medina. Marco Nistico is a comic character actor of considerable charm, with a fine baritone and the quick eyes of a confidence man. His best moments came in his Act Two duets with Ms. Dovhan.

Brad Cohen conducted Donizetti's famous score with wit and charm, giving voice to sprightly rhythms and ensuring that the chorus was tight. Mention must also be made of the excellent supertitles by
A. Scott Parry, which helped in translating the action to the high lonesome of the desert.

CD Review: Pavarotti in Idomeneo from 1964

The classic recording from Glyndebourne finally comes to light.
by Paul Pelkonen

EEK! What's that?

In 1964, Luciano Pavarotti was an up-and-coming tenor, just beginning to be heard outside of his native Italy. He was three years into his career when he sang the the role of Idamante at the Glyndebourne Festival. The performances were crucial to exposing the singer to English audiences, not to mention acquainting him with the Mozart opera that he would be associated with later in his career, when he would take on (and record) the more demanding title role.

This recording is the document of those performances. It finds the young Pavarotti in top form. He might be a little raw in spots, but that could also be the fault of the sound quality. The power, range and flexibilty of his instrument are all present, along with that rich, orotund sound that the world fell in love with. Listening to this set, one gets the sense of a young man on his way up, about to conquer the world.


The rest of the cast is incredibly strong. Gundula Janowitz soars as Ilia. She's only 27 here, and the great Karajan recordings were in her future. Like Pavarotti, she was heading for bigger things. Tenor Richard Lewis is strong in the role of Idomeneo, a part which Pavarotti would take on later in his career when his voice had matured a bit. John Pritchard leads a skilful, light-footed performance, conducting from the keyboard.

It should be noted that this recording does not hold up as an ideal first choice for Idomeneo. The performers are using an edited edition of the score which hurts the work's dramatic flow and omits the ballet music. And the live-recorded sound is occasionally thin, as if the microphones were sometimes in the wrong place. However, this is a valuable document and a great performance. It's also a must for Pavarotti fans who want to hear what their hero sounded like when he was just starting out.