Picnicking with your computer: Turn the Screw to Glyndebourne today

Today --Sunday, August 21-- at 19:00 (cet) you can watch the live broadcast of The Turn of the Screw from Glyndebourne. This is a magnificent opera and this particular production (premiered in 2006) might actually be very good.

Jonathan Kent recently offered us a brilliant production of The Fairy Queen and although his Don Giovanni presented at Glyndebourne last year was not so good, we can be optimistic and hope for a thrilling show tonight. Will be interesting how he will cope with the ambiguity of the main character: is she insane or actually possessed by the ghosts?!

The cast is promising with always superb Toby Spence and with Miah Persson opening a non-Mozartian chapter of her career.

You can watch the web-stream either on the Glyndebourne Festival website, or on The Guardian website.  See also an introduction to this opera very well organized by The Guardian staff (and a Trailer below)
Enjoy!

It is maybe a moment to remind you of the extraordinary production of this opera presented at Aix several years ago (DVD available), directed by Luc Bondy, conducted by Daniel Harding, and with equally extraordinary Mireille Delunsch in the role of the Governess.

Quatuor Ebène, Natalie Dessay, Stacey Kent, Luz Casal

Quatuor Ebène usually end their concerts with something jazzy as an encore, and those improvisations became very popular with fans -- which is why they recently released a CD called Fiction with special appearances of Natalie Dessay [who sings in her normal voice], Stacey Kent, and Luz Casal.

Tomorrow, November 15 @ 20:00 (cet) at Folies Bergère in Paris all these artists will perform with Yours Truly in the audience. Good news is that all of you guys can see and listen to the same concert thanks to the medici.tv portal who will provide  live-webcast on this link. It's free but you have to register (if you didn't already).

Don Giovanni in Glyndebourne

Tonight, July 23 at 18:00 (Paris time) via Medici TV we can all see --live from Glyndebourne-- new Don Giovanni, directed by Jonathan Kent. I loved his production of The Fairy Queen and hope this Don Giovanni is fine too. It is unfortunate that this broadcast comes less than 3 weeks after we saw the finest Don Giovanni ever, i.e. the one by Dmitrii Tcherniakov presented at the festival in Aix-en-Province. We will try and stay unbiased as much as possible ;)

From Jonathan Kent's production of Don Giovanni in Glyndebourne 2010

Musically it should be very good as Vladimir Jurowski will conduct the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and the cast includes: Anna Samuil (brilliant Donna Anna in Verbier last year!), Gerald Finley (always good!), Luca Pisaroni (is Luca the most talented singer of his generation?), Kate Royal, Anna Virovlansky, Guido Loconsolo, William Burden, and Alastair Miles.

Ed:  Tcherniakov's production is a century ahead from this half-baked bufoonery by Kent. I think the best is to pretend this actually never happened and move on (Anna, Luca, and Gerald were very good though)

Appended are two videos about the production...

Hello New York! Titania, Oberon and the crew are coming...

I see the sensational Jonathan Kent's production of The Fairy Queen is coming to New York this month [to BAM], and the show is not sold out!!! Whata... 

 The Fairy Queen, Jonathan Kent's production presented at the Opéra Comique in Paris, January 2010

Trust me guys, you don't want to miss out on this one. It's so much better than the usual Met soup... It's one of those shows that stays with you forever. [ DVD will be released after the run in New York.]

I saw it both in theater and recorded and it's soooo much better in the theater -- you can see better the details and feel that special spark between the stage/pit and the audience. 

If Love's a Sweet Passion, why does it torment?
If a Bitter, oh tell me whence comes my content?
Since I suffer with pleasure, why should I complain,
Or grieve at my Fate, when I know 'tis in vain?
Yet so pleasing the Pain, so soft is the Dart,
That at once it both wounds me, and tickles my Heart.

I press her Hand gently, look Languishing down,

And by Passionate Silence I make my Love known.

But oh! I'm Blest when so kind she does prove,

By some willing mistake to discover her Love.

When in striving to hide, she reveals all her Flame,

And our Eyes tell each other, what neither dares Name.

 The Fairy Queen, Purcell (Act Three)

Cos'è la bellezza? This is...

Oberon and Titania [Finbar Lynch & Sally Dexter] in the Jonatahan Kent's production of The Fairy Queen at the Opéra Comique in Paris, January 2010

See, even Night her self is here,
To favour your Design;
And all her Peaceful Train is near,
That Men to Sleep incline.
Let Noise and Care,
Doubt and Despair,
Envy and Spight,
(The Fiends delight)
Be ever Banish'd hence,
Let soft Repose,
Her Eye-lids close;
And murmuring Streams,
Bring pleasing Dreams;
Let nothing stay to give offence.

Night in The Fairy Queen, Purcell (Act Two)

The night I fell in love with the Queen

France loves England!

Better than this is impossible. To make the full (cca 4 hours long) play/opera, with such an enormous cast and such a respect for the work of Purcell - it's love!

It's the most remarkable combination of the baroque and modern expressions, a celebration of theater immersed in the total beauty of Sheakspearian expression and the sublime of Purcell's music.

Jonathan Kent just knows how to capture the best of British culture, and with the superb actors the success was almost guaranteed. Add to that lots of beautiful singing, the great orchestra lead by a living legend - Bill Christie.

I have a busy day today. Hope to post more on this tomorrow... Cheers

The Fairy Queen premieres tonight at Opéra Comique

Tonight is the première of the Jonathan Kent production of  Purcell's Fairy Queen at the Opéra Comique in Paris. With his Les Arts Florissants,  maestro William Christie will bring this semi-opera to life.

Hope I won't be too hard to please since I still am ecstatic about Werther with Sophie Koch and Jonas Kaufmann. Plus, I'm not too big a fan of baroque, and this is apparently a work of wagnerian length.  On the other hand every music played well sounds even better in this humanly-sized theater, which is the Opéra Comique; Jonathan Kent's introductory remarks are a big teaser for me; and then, listen to this beauty...

Video from the same production in Glyndebourne, posted on YouTube by OedipusColoneus

Off I go... Cheers!

Sheakspeare returns to Opéra Comique

I figured the new production of The Fairy Queen, which is supposed to open at the Opéra Comique coming Saturday - January 16, is a co-production with the Glyndebourne festival where this production has been premiered past summer and then kept secret so it could come out on DVD after its run in Paris.

Opéra Comique is not too big a theater, but it is nevertheless surprising to see that all the shows of this production have been sold out LOOONG in advance [including the most expensive seats!!!]
Well, that's what Sheakspeare does for you :)

To prepare for The Fairy Queen on Saturday, here is what  Jonathan Kent had to say about his production, and William Christie about decrypting the Purcell's music.