Friday, June 11, 2010

Aspettando la Donna del lago c'è la Joyce DiDonato

La Donna del lago [or La dame du lac, as it was duly translated into French ;)] is expected to open next Monday, June 14, and so far no detail about the production leaked to the press. The show will take place at Opéra Garnier, which is a big theater but not as big as Bastille ==> the situation with tickets is absolutely insane. To score a ticket for one of the shows in June is literally impossible. The show was sold out months in advance and if/when there is a couple of tickets returned there are immediately dozens of people emerging from nowhere, assaulting the box office, ready to pay whatever the price just to get those tickets. You don't see this kind of craziness in Opera these days...

Joyce on France2 singing the final rondo from La donna del lago - June 10, 2010



Here is what we know about this Donna:
  1. The world premiere will be at the Paris Opera next Monday, and after the series of 10 shows the production will go to Milan where it will be presented at La Scala in 2011. Later on, in 2014, the production will travel to Covent Garden. 
  2. The cast for this premiere is amazing: Joyce DiDonato, Juan Diego Florez, Daniela Barcellona, Colin Lee among others. Joyce also promotes her CD Colbran, so she appeared yesterday on French National TV, where she gave an interview which ended by her singing the final rondo from La donna del lago. You can see the whole interview and Joyce singing here (ENJOY!) She will also be at the FNAC - Montparnasse [Paris] on June 25 at 5:30 p.m., so if you're around... Don't forget the recital with Joyce at Théatre des Champs-Elysées next Wednesday, June 16.
  3. The preparations of this production don't seem to have gone smoothly: Joyce, on her blog, gave such an impression last week -- even if she said nothing explicitly. We then speculated that most probably she had hard time coping with the boiling character of Lluís Pasqual -- the production director. ;) I get the same impression after reading an article published by the Spanish news agency EFE [or I'm reading too much in between the lines ;)]
  4. Lluís Pasqual also says that he wanted his staging to be some sort of homage to belcanto (whatever that might mean!?) In the same paper he's more than harsh in his comments about the libretto of La donna del lago...  
Great professionals as they all are, I'm sure the result of their hot collaboration will be good. I have no tickets for the premiere but I'll be there for the second show, which is next Friday, June 18.

See Wiki for a synopsis of La donna del lago.

10 comments:

  1. This cast is tantalizig, I wish the production was at the same level...

    I've already desisted to get a ticket for this title... :-(

    Fortunately there are a lot of alternatives for a backup plan...

    Do you know when will be bradcasted by France Musique...?

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  2. So sorry for you, Mei. I know how strongly you wanted to see the show. :(

    I hope you'll enjoy Pelléas et Mélisande (if you're into that kind of music), and Die Walkure is definitely worth 5 hours of your day ;)

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  3. Hi. Love your blog!

    I'm sorry to say, but in the EFE article there's nothing about Lluis Pasqual problems neither with DiDonato nor with maestro R. Abbado.

    Mei: try AROP, they always have tickets.

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  4. Thanks. It's maybe me looking too much in between the lines!? ;)

    Mei, I couldn't find the date of the radio broadcast on France Musique [I'll post it here as soon as I find it], but I see that the recording of the Geneva show will be broadcast tomorrow, June 12, at 20:00 on THIS radio.

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  5. @Opera Cake, I'll go to Pelleas, Walküre and Anna Caterina Antonacci recital... It's a very good backup plan... ;-)

    @Alcorac Alonso, thank you for the suggestion but unfortunately I won't be in Paris for the AROP gala... :-(

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  6. I look forward to your report next week!

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  7. You can find pictures from this production in Javier Camarena and Simon Orfila's Facebook.
    Arabella

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  8. I am at the final dressing rehearsal and it's interval ;)
    SUPERB singing by EVERYONE -- Colin Lee rocks!!!

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  9. Thanks Arabella. I saw the show... Will post a few comments tomorrow, without entering the details because it was nevertheless the final dress rehearsal.

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  10. Jonathan wrote

    Mei and Opera Cake,

    What is sad is that 'La donna del Lago' has sold out but not 'Pelleas et Melisande'.

    Isn't Debussy's opera incomparably superior to the Rossini ?

    Jonathan


    Jon, Rossini and Debussy were not contemporaries and represent completely different styles, so I don't think it's fair or reasonable to compare them. They were both great in their own ways, and the operas of both of them can very well coexist today. ;)

    As for the sold out shows, Comique will be full too. It's just that La donna involves 3 big stars of bel-canto [with Colin Lee fitting like a glove with the rest] which was a big attractor. Plus this opera is performed very rarely...

    Peace out!

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