Opera in Ireland - general discussion thread on all things opera in Ireland

westtip · 12-06-2017 12:48am

marienbad wrote: »

steady on lads

garancafan · 12-06-2017 11:34am

marienbad wrote: »

steady on lads

Why?

marienbad · 12-06-2017 12:34pm

garancafan wrote: »

Why?

just joking , ye are conforming to the opera stereotype and there is nothing wrong with that

westtip · 12-06-2017 3:53pm

marienbad wrote: »

just joking , ye are conforming to the opera stereotype and there is nothing wrong with that

Ah no MB far from it. My praise of this performance is based on my personal feeling that it was one of the greatest concert performances I have seen and heard for many a year. The previous Friday I was in the RAH for Juan Diego, it was memorable, but not on a par with this particular event in Dublin. I have been lucky enough to see a lot of opera and recitals over the last 40 years but believe me, this was very very special. There are about ten performances in my life that have really impacted on the way I gauge how I feel after a s performance, just for fun, I am trying to list them now as performances I will hold onto forever:

1978: Traviata in Birmingham, a very young Thomas Allen as Germont, Suzanne Murphy, Violetta and Dennis O'Neil Alfredo. I caught the virus that night!

1979. My first ROH visit. Un Ballo. Pavorotti and Cabelle. A gallows scene to remember forever!

June 1982 four days before my university finals came down from leeds to london for a Covent Garnden proms performance of Gyneth Jones and Jon Vickers in Tristan. The drinking of the potion at the end of Act one and the Brangane warning scene are still in my head, I can remember very little of my finals exams!

September 1983: Gotz Freidrich ring Cycle ROH - just amazing. My first ever Ring Cycle of several to come over the next 23 years.

1980s and cheating here 4 performances: Domingo in Otello, Tosca, Fanculla, Manon Lescaut, Boheme what a lucky boy I was!

1980s Pavorotti in Tosca, Boheme and Aida. Tosca I watched from the continuoso box that used to be just beside the orchestra. Pavorotti was about nine feet away from me when he sang Recondita, I can still hear it.

1998 - A sunday afternoon recital by Pavorotti in the ROH on stage with just him and a piano. Stunning recital in front row of Ampitheatre you could here him whisper quiet passages.

1999 - that incredible Meistersinger at ROH before the theatre closed for renovation.

1990s Andreas Scholl at Glyndebourne stunning handel the likes of which I will only hear once in my life.

OMG I have already recounted nine. I need to add. Opera Theatre Company Fidelio in Kilmainham Jail, Juan Diego in Dublin and Fille du Regiment and Orfee.

Maybe will have to put the concert last week in my top 20! but believe me it was right up there!

Too many more to list!!!!

westtip · 29-06-2017 2:07pm

Last night at the ROH can be added to the list...Kaufmans Otello is just sublime!

marienbad · 29-06-2017 3:15pm

westtip wrote: »

Last night at the ROH can be added to the list...Kaufmans Otello is just sublime!

I went to it at the cinema westtip , you could hear a pin drop the audience was so engrossed .

westtip · 29-06-2017 3:34pm

marienbad wrote: »

I went to it at the cinema westtip , you could hear a pin drop the audience was so engrossed .

How did it come over in the cinema, there was that momentary silence at the end in the theatre, you know that jaw dropping moment when people are taking a collective breath for a second when they know they have witnessed an amazing performance before the eruption of noise and applause, there were so many OMG moments, the chorus and pappano conducting were just unbelievable, I am seriously floating today pinching myself. I have been disappointed with a few things at the ROH the past few years but this was just one of those evenings. Still on cloud nine, what with this last night and Joyce two weeks ago I consider myself incredibly lucky and privileged beyond belief!

marienbad · 29-06-2017 6:30pm

westtip wrote: »

How did it come over in the cinema, there was that momentary silence at the end in the theatre, you know that jaw dropping moment when people are taking a collective breath for a second when they know they have witnessed an amazing performance before the eruption of noise and applause, there were so many OMG moments, the chorus and pappano conducting were just unbelievable, I am seriously floating today pinching myself. I have been disappointed with a few things at the ROH the past few years but this was just one of those evenings. Still on cloud nine, what with this last night and Joyce two weeks ago I consider myself incredibly lucky and privileged beyond belief!

It came across very well in the cinema with certain limitations of course - I feel the sound systems ( particularly in the Omniplex chain ) are never at enough volume .

Still it was a great night and it is a role in which Kaufmann will only get better in the coming years .

I thought the staging was a bit hit and miss , sometimes really illuminating and sometimes confusing , but altogether just too dark nearly all the time .

Iago did a bit too much eyerolling and such for a finish , but I think that may be one of the disadvantages of the cinema where every gesture is magnified .

And what with the changes at the end ? Emilia is murdered and Iago captured ?? What is that about ?

Minor quibbles though in what was a marvellous night

westtip · 29-06-2017 8:58pm

Agree about the staging and minor quibbles, the final bedroom scene was totally incongruous with the period setting, wasn't close enough to see the eye rolling! At least it wasn't an offensive production to the eye or intellect (I am thinking the disasters of Lucia last year and Meistersinger this year) The previous production was so much better, but ROH opera goers appear to be saying that about a lot that has happened under the current regime.

But hey, the entrance at act one, that duet at the end of Act one the Iago/Otello duet, the Otello soliloquy, the choral work, the orchestra the Willow song and Ave Maria, all moments of sheer magical musical bliss...:)

westtip · 05-07-2017 8:47am

http://operatheatrecompany.cmail20.com/t/ViewEmail/y/8EB67058D7200B34/41394FC66F0AB725A2432AF2E34A2A5F

Is there any hope in this announcement, truth is only if there is funding in place. What name will they come up with, Wide Open Opera is a bit meaningless.

marienbad · 05-07-2017 9:48pm

westtip wrote: »

http://operatheatrecompany.cmail20.com/t/ViewEmail/y/8EB67058D7200B34/41394FC66F0AB725A2432AF2E34A2A5F

Is there any hope in this announcement, truth is only if there is funding in place. What name will they come up with, Wide Open Opera is a bit meaningless.

Is this the end of the notion of a Summer festival in Wexford I wonder ?

westtip · 06-07-2017 11:45pm

marienbad wrote: »

Is this the end of the notion of a Summer festival in Wexford I wonder ?

Probably, Hope they retain the OTC name, Wide Open Opera is dreadful! but good luck to the new venture.

The Rape of Lucretia · 10-07-2017 8:32pm

Interesting. Yes WOO was as bad a name as you will come across.
Ditch visiting Wexford too - no good will come of it, and no justification for expensive excursions just because there is an opera house there. GCT and Gaiety far from perfect, but good to see them in the proposal - they are the only sensible solution.
Not sure about the policy of putting Irish artists at the epicentre though. It gives me a bad feeling. What we want is quality opera - we dont have the money to be wasting on Irish artists if there are cheaper alternatives available (composers :eek: .... we can barely put on an opera at all, who are we thinking we need to go commissioning them? New works is the last thing we need).
But good. Hopefully it will be a solid base with some quality rather than quantity, or dilution around the town halls of Ireland.
Programming will be key. Anyone suggest a trio of operas for each of the first three years ?

("Ireland as a centre of operatic creativity" : there is ambition, and there is out and out delusion)

marienbad · 12-07-2017 2:38pm

The Rape of Lucretia wrote: »

Not sure about the policy of putting Irish artists at the epicentre though. It gives me a bad feeling. What we want is quality opera - we dont have the money to be wasting on Irish artists if there are cheaper alternatives available (composers :eek: .... we can barely put on an opera at all, who are we thinking we need to go commissioning them? New works is the last thing we need).

Gerald Barry has come up with some marvellous operas , no reason why we can't commission a few now and then .

And in recent years we have produced a great crop of musicians and singers , why not continue that policy ? If we could manage in the bad times think what we could do in the good times .

In the last analysis though quality I agree must be the deciding factor and not country of origin .

As for the programming for the first 3 years , I would hate to think we are going to get a succession of Toscas , Carmens, La Traviatas and nothing else . A year doesn't go by without quite a few of them being staged . How about we imitate WNO or opera North whereby we have one juggernaut , one slightly lesser known but still solidly in the repertoire , and one 'outlier' but still recognisable classic . For example

1 Tosca -Un Ballo - Pelleas et Melisande
2 La Traviata - Manon (Massenet)- Peter Grimes
3 Carmen - Samson et Dalila- Lulu

westtip · 12-07-2017 4:16pm

marienbad wrote: »

G

1 Tosca -Un Ballo - Pelleas et Melisande
2 La Traviata - Manon (Massenet)- Peter Grimes
3 Carmen - Samson et Dalila- Lulu

You were doing well until the 3rd season with Carmen! I would do it like football groups.

Put 20 operas in pot A: solid standbys that will fill theatres, Boheme. Tosca, Traviata, Rigoletto, you know the sort of popular repertoire

20 Operas in Pot B: Massenet, Janacek, Britten, that kind of mix, not top performed Verdi's

With irish audiences I would suggest 2 from pot A one from Pot B in the first three years, then alternate 2 from A 1 from B, 2 from B one from A for subsequent seasons.

Forget about new opera commissions it simply won't work until the audience has been rebuilt. In five years time maybe.

marienbad · 12-07-2017 4:35pm

westtip wrote: »

Forget about new opera commissions it simply won't work until the audience has been rebuilt. In five years time maybe.

The Gerald Barry operas - The Importance of Being Earnest and Petra Von Kant were very well attended , as was The Silver Tassie by Turnage . So there seems to be a market if there is an Irish connection . And ' The Irish Ring ' as it was touted was also very successful I believe ( I must confess I gave it a miss ) .

It will be interesting to see how well Dubliners is received at Wexford this year . I missed out twice on The Dead by Ellen Cranitch despite having tickets so I can't comment on how well it was received or if it was even an opera .

I sometimes feel that the audience for Berg Barry Ades etc may not be your usual opera audience , so you may well be right .

Might I ask do you have a 'thing' (as the youngsters say ) about Carmen ?

westtip · 12-07-2017 9:52pm

Carmen - just cannot bear it!

marienbad · 13-07-2017 9:20am

westtip wrote: »

Carmen - just cannot bear it!

I feel the same way most of the time - but then you see it with Domingo in the old days or Kaufmann/Antonacci in more recent times and it really comes alive .

marienbad · 30-07-2017 1:33pm

I see we have Owen Wingrave with the ICO and Opera Collective to look forward to . I have never seen it so it will be a must for me .

Who are the Opera Collective anyway ?

The Rape of Lucretia · 31-07-2017 6:32pm

marienbad wrote: »

I see we have Owen Wingrave with the ICO and Opera Collective to look forward to . I have never seen it so it will be a must for me .

Who are the Opera Collective anyway ?

Not sure, but they seem to have the same 'develop local artists' flaw as most Irish companies.

westtip · 01-08-2017 11:27am

marienbad wrote: »

I see we have Owen Wingrave with the ICO and Opera Collective to look forward to . I have never seen it so it will be a must for me .

Who are the Opera Collective anyway ?

I have never seen it either and will try to catch it. Opera collective seems like a good platform for niche performances by young upcoming Irish singers, seems a positive step to me, but will not be the road to filling the gap for mainstream opera, which hopefully will happen now that Opera theatre company has been given a stronger position by the Arts council/Department ... we shall see. In the meantime have to report that the magic of Verona Arena has been diminished somewhat by the mobile phone and tablet, what is it that everyone feels the need at outdoor events in particular the need to hold up their mobile phone to record the moment, doesn't anyone just want to enjoy the moment and remember it anymore? Phone recording has become an obsession.

marienbad · 10-09-2017 12:01am

Just home from Owen Wingrave at the Limetree theatre in Limerick , Magnificent .

Great cast of singers , and the ICO were outstanding conducted by Stephen Buxton of the Buxton Festival . Solid attendance also which was nice to see .

The next production of Opera Collective is the Return Of Ulysses by Monteverdi which is one to really look forward to.

westtip · 13-10-2017 3:31pm

Saw the new Boheme at CG last week, pretty average, wish I had spent the money on going to Medea at Wexford, can't make it there this year. Hope it goes well.

westtip · 15-10-2017 11:14pm

This otello on bbc 4 tonight is fab. recorded the night I went to see it. It was superb! Kaufman as good as Domingo 30 years ago.

Some of us are very lucky! Imagine not ever been infected with the Opera virus!

McLoughlin · 16-10-2017 12:53pm

Wexford starts this week I've tickets for all the Operas though due to shortage of cash I've only being able to get the nosebleed seats up with the Gods. All ways an enjoyable event

westtip · 16-10-2017 2:04pm

McLoughlin wrote: »

Wexford starts this week I've tickets for all the Operas though due to shortage of cash I've only being able to get the nosebleed seats up with the Gods. All ways an enjoyable event

Any seat is good in that house, what does it hold about 700? Its like chamber opera, I cannot make it this year to any of the operas.

marienbad · 16-10-2017 3:23pm

Yeah I am doing it on the cheepy cheep this year also , no point paying the high prices anymore .I agree with westtip the house is just too small to make any difference .

I am going to two performances in White's Hotel and at 30 euro they are dearer than my tickets to the main events . Outrageous

McLoughlin · 16-10-2017 3:45pm

marienbad wrote: »

Yeah I am doing it on the cheepy cheep this year also , no point paying the high prices anymore .I agree with westtip the house is just too small to make any difference .

I am going to two performances in White's Hotel and at 30 euro they are dearer than my tickets to the main events . Outrageous

I know the shortworks are getting more expensive I'm looking forward to seeing The Dubliners as i saw The Dead earlier this year so be nice to see more Joyce.

I used to love sitting in the first row watching the Orchestra but its jut to expensive anymore especially when you are an unemployed student.

Also got a ticket for The Thomas Moore Songbook so that 3 main operas 3 shortworks adds up.

marienbad · 22-10-2017 4:44pm

Just Back from the Wexford Festival , so a few quick impressions -

Dubliners in the shortworks was outstanding . Great young cast and very faithful to Joyce . His stories really translate well to opera , surprising it is not done more often .

Of the 1 pm concerts the pick for me was the Thomas More songbook , all the old favourites and a few surprising translations .

All the main operas were outstandingly performed , one couldn't ask for better . The main bone of contention I suspect will be Fiona Shaw's staging of Medea - it was bizarre and that is putting it mildly . And I am not someone who has a problem with a director who takes a different approach , but this was one of the worst I have seen - a set that was difficult to negotiate for the performers , a muddled transition to supposedly revolutionary France but the opening scenes are set in a fitness centre complete with rowing machines, swim suit , tracksuits . When all else fails just listen to the music . All in all though an astonishing lapse by Shaw towards a work she knows exceptionally well ( at least the source material ) .

I am always curious when I see a train wreck such as this one that is after all a collective effort that no one speaks out before it is too late .

Margherita was brilliantly staged , all lightness and brightness and so enjoyable when watching , but oh so eminently forgettable . One has to ask what was the point , it was just like a hundred more Italian comedies of its time and rightfully neglected .

Risurrezione is I think another Wexford success , not in the same league as Ratcliff and A village Romeo and Juliet but a great end of what for me was middling festival overall .

westtip · 22-10-2017 11:32pm

I only fancied Medea and in truth I am sick of these directors with their re-interpretations - Katie Mitchell's Lucia at ROH last year was the final straw, I think the directors and designers or at least a cardboard cut out should come out for every curtain call of a production so we can all express our opinions not just the first night crowd. On the Lucia fiasco last year at the ROH interesting to see there are loads of tickets left for the revival run starting on October 30th I have never seen such availability for tickets, it might make theatres think about the audience they are catering for. Medea in a gym! glad Im not going! -

Opera in Ireland - general discussion thread on all things opera in Ireland

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