Aida 1988-2016

I have experienced the Opera Aida live twice, the first time at Earls Court in the 1988, and on Saturday 29^th October 2016 at the Empire Theatre Sunderland, and twice via a cinema relay from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, once at the Tyneside cinema (2009) and at the Cineworld Bolden (2012). I also have the 1989 and 2009 DVD performances of the opera from the Met and I watched the first two acts from the DVD’s when writing these notes. I decided against going to the Cineworld, Bolden to watch the relay of AIDA the Sidney Harbour Bridge, earlier the year and the only instance where I will try to see this opera again if there is a relay performance from the Royal Opera House or somewhere like La Scala with soloists I know and would like to hear again.

Aida was not the first opera which precipitated my interest in this form of art entertainment experience for as a child I was taken to see performances of Carmen and the double bill of Pagliacci and Cavalleria rusticana by a touring company which came to Croydon and it was some years later when I left school and first worked in local government that I purchased an extended play 45 record of the Rome Opera Chorus with the Triumphant march from Aida. It was a very expensive but which the owner of the record shop in Stafford Road, Wallington apologised costing as much, if not more, than a full vinyl long play record.

Much later when taking the family to watch the makeshift 15000 seat Earls Court production with a 45 metre stage and 600 performers, I regarded the opera only as a spectacle which had not lived up to expectations at the time and where in fairness the evidence is that Verdi created the opera with a spectacle in mind, including orchestral periods which enable dancers, numerous fighting men and their prisoners together with the spoils of a successful war to be paraded before the Egyptian rulers and their people.  The Harvey Goldsmith production at Earls Court was regarded as a major event with Diana, the Princess of Wales attending. There was no choice of seats and those allocated to us were at the back of the vast arena so noting that others were moving into the vacant tiered seating which provide a side view over the stage we rushed to joining them and we all, especially our daughters, enjoyed seeing what was going on behind the front of stage. Another two decades were to past when during part of the intervals in the productions relayed from the Lincoln centre in New York, the camera are left on showing the effort that goes in to preparing the scenery for the next act.

It was only during the first relay from the Met this season that I earned why there has been so much spectacle in their productions as when the Opera House was first constructed on its original site all the effort went it to create an opulent and memorable experience in terms of comfort and view for the audience and the backstage was so cramped that scenery had to be left outside the theatre in the open air. This explains the vastness of the backstage at the Met which enables the scenery for more than one production to be available and it was interesting to note the similarity with the grand march sequence in 1989 and 2009 which occurs in[CS1]  second Act.  There appeared to be some 300 performers on the stage added to which there is the full orchestra, the huge backstage crew at the Met, the technical crew and the additional technical crew for the live relay rivalling the boast of the 600 performers at Olympia, London and remembering that the two performances were only separated by a year (88-89) that at the Met outshines that attempted at Earls Court. (The met has a backstage crew of 150 and 50 makeup artists).

There is a saying in football about a game having two halves meaning that what takes place in the first is no indication of what can happen in the second and this is true for Aida where emphasis of the third and fourth Acts is on the relationship between the three main characters and not on spectacle. The nature of the opera is that is requires strong voices to command our attention over the visual and orchestral experience as well as communicate the emotional intensity, the passions aroused by two women wanting one man. This tends to mean that the principal soloists are experienced, older and of more large frame than the storybook suggests and poses the issue of credibility which opera houses now are trying to address, particularly because of the close ups available in relay and which  command audiences of several hundred thousand worldwide compared with the 3800 seats at the Met, 2250 at the Royal Opera House and the 1800 at the Sunderland Empire which was full on previous visit to see Sunny Afternoon the story of the Kinks and a third full for Aida.

In 1998 Earls Court production Aida an Ethiopian personal slave to  Princess Amneris, the daughter of the Egyptian King was played by an aging opera star which challenged the central issue of the Opera, the willingness of the young commander of the Egyptian Army to reject the opportunity to marry the daughter of the King, and one day rule his homeland and then betray his country by revealing the tactics proposed by the army in defending  themselves from an attack by the Ethiopians, discovering too late that Aida is the daughter of the Ethiopian King, and that her father overhears what he has told her.

There was a similar problem when Dolora Zajick reprised the role of Princess Amneris, the daughter of the King in 2009, and which she had made her own on the same stage in 1989.  Dolora has played the role some 250 times and in 2009 she received a remarkable in theatre audience reaction with applause in the cinema which was then something I had not previously experienced since my childhood and youth.

For a time, I bought a subscription to the online services provided by the Met and viewed the 1989 performance, before buying the DVD’s of both performances which demonstrates the capacity of a singer to add greater emotional intensity as they have personally experience the realities of life. In the 1989 production Placido Domingo performs the roles of Rademes the commander of the Egyptian army.  The ages,  and therefore the physical appearance of the three stars was appropriate with Placido 48, Aida 30 an the Princess 37 so although  they were performing roles of younger individuals the passionate relationships were convincing, from the outset although small in terms of the height and grandeur of the stage setting they were able to impose themselves on the audience from the opening first act when Rademes declares  his love for Aida “Celeste Aida” and three engage with each other “Vieni o dilletta appesati” as Rademes and Aida hide their love although Amneris had become suspicious in the duet, “Quala insalata gioia nel tuo suardo”.

In the 2009 production, the singing was extraordinary but the idea of all consuming passion between Amneris (57), and Radamés played by the large frame South African Johan Botha who died of cancer earlier this year aged 51 and between Botha and Violeta Urmana, the Lithuanian Mezzo soprano, who is coy about her age.

This contrasted with the soloists in the Ellen Kent company production, the third of her Operas experienced at the Empire Theatre in Sunderland and with two more booked for March 2017. Ellen Kent provides the opportunity for young soloists as well as inviting local stage and dance schools to participate in their touring productions making live opera accessible at a reasonable price. I paid £85 for three operas with a central aisle seat in the stalls midway in the theatre so I was close enough to see the facial expression with constantly shift gaze to view the sub titles above the stage.  The Theatre is part of the AGT chain where you pay a significant premium for online and telephone bookings.

The cinema relays have increased in price as they have in frequency and popularity with every cinema chain having showings although not at every cinema and where at Cineworld there has been a recent increase in the Ballets from around the world. An adult going to the Nabucco relay at Cineworld will pay £20 compared to my £8.10 as a senior with an unlimited card and £28 to view live in Sunderland, while individual performance relays at the Tyneside Cinema in the circle with superior seating and in theatre bar and snacks £30 with a 10-performance season ticket £240. Parts of the cost of the reasonably priced seats at the Sunderland Empire and the Theatre Royal Newcastle is the extensive changes made to enable West End Musical Productions to transfer and I pay under £30 to see performances at Northern Stage and much less at Live Theatre Newcastle with professional actors and creative scenery.

I did wonder how the Ellen Kent company would cope with the spectacle aspects of Aida which was tackled in two ways. The first is the use of digital projection and lazar projection fire and which worked to the extent than someone near me said WoW. The Royal Operate House has been experimenting with projection for some time as mentioned in their production of Don Giovanni where facts about the villain were projected onto the three-floor structure which occupies the stage for the greater part of the opera and was not in the recent Met production. I am looking forward to the Royal Shakespeare production of the Tempest Stratford which is going to use Motion capture projection and avatars or the first time. Ellen Kent also used a small group of dancers compared to the fifty plus at the met and the triumphant march was more symbolic in terms of the numbers and artefacts although I did think the carts of gold bullion effective and a performance of a solo dancer playing with fire was entertaining.

In the present Ellen Kent production Liza Kadelenik performs the role of Amneris, a beautiful Ukrainian Opera singer who has updated her Facebook profile with a photo of herself posing in front of Sunderland Empire (she has also toured as Carmen with the Scottish Opera), and Ecaterina Danu as Aida, about whom I can find nothing, and  Giorgio Meladze, the Spanish tenor who has toured with the company in previous years plays Rademes and impressed the audience if the volume of applause which greeted him is a measure of their appreciation. He immediately accepted my request to be friends on Facebook. Age can be deceptive among Opera singers but the trio and most the chorus came across as under 30 and comparatively slim.

In the 2012 Met production, there was a new conductor Fabio Luisio, interviewed during the interval in one of several interviews, with the two female leads having similar features, the worldly experienced Russian Mezzo Soprano, Olga Borodina (then 49) as the Princess and the mysterious Liudmyla Monastryrska (age undisclosed) in her debut role outside the Latvian Opera House in the Ukraine, where she had toiled as a lead for many years unrecognised until now by the rest of the operatic world. Nothing appears to be published about this woman except that she had kept in contact with her singing teacher who was now ninety-two. She needed the help of an interpreter for her brief interview.

“In the 2012 the part of Radamés, the appointed army commander, is played by Roberto Alana a man approaching his sixtieth year but who looks ten years younger with an extremely passionate and tender tenor voice. Used to powerful singers in the title role he was booed by some when he performed the role at La Scala Milan in 2006 and to the horror of the management he walked off the stage not to reappear. After the death of his first wife he married the great soprano Angela Georgiou but their relations became stormy to the extent that she refused to perform with him in the 2009 Metropolitan Production of Carmen which I also saw live and in truth felt he had been miscast. The marriage has continued after separation and contrary to the audience reaction in Rome I thought he brought an important new dimension to the role and one which echoed the approach of the conductor. It is become more than an opera of two parts”

Back to story and with Rademes off to lead the army consecrated by the High Priest Ramifies at the Isis Temple Aida is torn between anxiety for him and for her father the Ethiopian King, a fact which is unknown to the Egyptians

In the first part of the second Act the Princess, having grown more suspicious of Aida tests by saying that Radamés has been killed and therefore Aida reveals her position, but hides her distress on learning that her people have been defeated.

There is then the Triumphant March scene famous all over world because of its spectacle with the climax when the prisoners are brought in and Aida sees her father, the king, in shackles. The Egyptian king offers Radamés anything he wishes so he pleads for the freedom for the slaves who can return home except for Aida and her father who has said the King had died. The Egyptian King then throws the proverbial spanner in the works by giving Aida to Radamés in marriage, a gift which cannot be refused and which is to the great pleasure of the Princess.

There are half hour intervals between the first two acts at the Met, the changes between the third and fourth acts are made with the audience remaining in their seats. At the second interval at the Empire someone asked if the opera had ended as a lot people made their way to bars and toilets! An interesting development by AGT is the Ordertorium, the at seat ordering of drinks and snack from a provided menu of 30 items and where the best option is £6 for a variety box either a 187ml bottle of wine, crisps and coated raisins or bottle of water, cream, crisps and raisins and which compares to £9 is bought separately. I paid £4.50 for a bottle of Becks at the bar prevented from entering until an hour before the show where as the AGT offer half price drinks if you order before 6.30. The foursome who joined my table and where we had a grand chat about football in North East as Sunderland had surrendered against Arsenal in the midday kick off and other things North East ordered a bottle of wine for the interval at £18. I had the £3 ice cream at one interval rather than the larger £4 tub and panicked through the second as I could not find my car park payment ticket.

In 2012 I wrote that a feature of all Met Relays and since introduced at the ROH is that before performance and during the intervals the lead singers are interviewed, by often by the soprano Renée Fleming,

“After the interval, we learn that the response of the freed Ethiopians, with unbeknown to Ramadi’s, the father of Aida is their King, having assembled a new army and have launched a new campaign. Amneris goes to Temple to pray until dawn and thus can overhear when Radamés and Aida meet in secret and he is persuaded by her to run away together after she has met up with her father and he persuades her to try and find out the battle plans. Radamés, not aware of this aspect, suggests they travel in a different direction from the Egyptian army, unaware what he is doing giving away the army location.”

“As soon as Radamés reveals the route plan, Aida ‘s father reveals himself and he and his daughter beg Radamés to flee with them. He is horrified at having unwittingly given away the battle route information and when confronted by Amneris who has summoned the High Priest, he surrenders to their judgement. Their decision is for him to be entombed in the vaults below the temple, and this constitutes the final act after Amneris pleads with him to give up Aida and she will plead with her father to save him.  When he refuses, she turns away from him, momentarily.”

“In the tomb Radamés finds that Aida having learned of the verdict has not accompanied her father and hidden in the tomb to wait for him. She explains that they will face death together in each other’s arms.”

“Meanwhile above them and unaware that the couple are together, the Princess is beyond consolation for having given Radamés over to the judgement of the Priests. While everything beforehand was outstanding, it is the dramatic singing of the last act which for me has taken the opera to a new height.”

I also wrote 2012 before visiting the Royal Opera House in London that there have been few cultural experiences of a similar impact in my life, hearing traditional jazz for the first time in a Soho cellar, hearing Verdi’s Requiem Mass at a Royal Albert Hall promenade season both when seventeen years old.  There have been other magical moments from the Live Aid Concert, to the stage musicals Les Miserables and Miss Saigon, to the Bruce Springsteen concerts and to hearing Louis Armstrong playing half a century ago at the Davis Theatre in Croydon. I suspect that it was only from the accumulation of these and more general life experience emotional highs and lows than one can appreciate the magnificence of the voices and their emotional intensity.

“Then to be able to experience the original production using the same set and costumes and libretto added an even greater dimension to the experience. I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity and to now be able to experience more,” was how I also wrote in 2009.

“It is therefore against this benchmark that I most judge the latest production Borodina is good but no one can approach the emotional intensity of Zajick. I will need to experience the performance of the 1989 and 2009 roles of Aida again to compare with that of Liudmyla whose voice I thought matched that of Olga. For my Christmas present to myself I have purchased the two DVDs which have become available together with the 2008 performance of Madam Butterfly.  Stefan Koran was the priest, George Agonize played father and Miklos Sebestyén the King.”  Since writing this I bought the 3D performance of Carmen and plan the original performance of Angela Georghiou of La Traviata for this Christmas coming.

I relaxed during the third and fourth acts of Aida at the Empire thinking that I must have left the ticket on the front car seat, only to find on return that I had not! I had parked the car close to the exit so summoned an assistant from what has become a 24/7 car park anticipating having to pay a premium for the lost ticket. No problem he said giving me a piece of paper to write down the registration number which I immediately forgot although I have had the car for over five years! Because of a digital CCTV system, they confirm the time arrival so you only need to pay for the hours of use 5 x 50p and two days later when checking I had my unlimited card in the metal wallet I carry, there was the car park ticket. I must remember to prepay on next visit.

I usually book shows on the Thursday because the Bridges shopping centre has late closing with free parking until 9. I was surprised that everything was closed when I arrived just after 6 on a Saturday so I could go through Debenhams and although there was part passage through the shopping centre the main way was closed as I had intended to go through to McDonalds for a coffee. In instead I had a good walk around the town centre which give the Saturday night was at that point dead. There was a lot of noise coming from the Vesta Tilley pub close to the theatre which was showing Premier Football in relay. Later, the way back to the car park there were some early Halloween revellers, looked like students with ne being sick and as the car existed there was party of young men five of whom were all dressed similarly as Jockeys which seemed odd

---

 [CS1]

Don Giovanni at the Royal Opera House London and Metropolitan Opera New York

On Saturday 22^nd October 2016, I went to see a relayed production of Don Giovanni from the Metropolitan Opera House at the Lincoln Centre New York, having previously seen a relay from the Royal Opera House, in London in February 2014, shortly after I had written to Secretary of State for Education, Northumbria Police and Sunderland Council that I had become aware of moves to hold a comprehensive inquiry into past crimes against children in care and giving my views on what was needed.

I published the following notes on the experience beginning not knowing much about the opera by Mozart which I had experienced for the first time by relay to the Cineworld, Bolden on a cold and windy evening and where on I arrival we were told that strong winds   were affecting the world-wide relay and that interruptions could be anticipation. During the first half of the opera there were three breaks, fortunately of no longer than 3 mins and a loss of the subtitles in two instances. The management rallied providing little cups of chocolate during the intervals was not hot and I did not enjoy but then issues a free pass in compensation for another event of similar cost which was splendid.

The opera is extraordinary with eight principal roles and in true Mozart style there are several instances where almost everyone is involved in groups, in couples in quick succession so while there is no great aria compared to Puccini, Verdi one sits marveling and at times overwhelmed. For once at least six of the singers had the physique and were of an age to reflect the roles they were playing and the other two were passable., The set was also one of the most extraordinary if not the most extraordinary and creative then experienced. A mansion on several floors which revolves close to the front of the stage and upon which there were constant projections throughout successfully reflecting the mind of Don Giovanni based on the legend of Don Juan supposed taking to his bed, so to speak over 2000 women of all ages and descriptions during his short life before he is left in the hell of isolation.

The set at the Metropolitan Opera was similar in terms of the three-level building, but darker and with the imaginative projects. In the past, I have said that I thought the Met always looked for ways of providing a spectacle where greater confines of the Royal Opera House meant less special effects with consequently attention focused on the singing and actor, although the comment was intended to suggest the acting and singing was any less but that there were distractions the Royal Opera House.

The information about Don Giovanni is projected on to the building. Don Juan is a mythical figure but Casanova is not and I own a small biography by Bonomy Dobree a which attempt to separate myth from the reality of what is actual known from his writing and other contemporary documentation. The book is part of a Men of Destiny series and is mentioned because of the extraordinary speech made by the singer who plays Don Giovanni, Simon Keenlyside, who appeared to be making a calculated and planned case for the kind of sexual freedom Libiteranism which would have horrified what is known as Middle America and the bible belt. The interviewer appeared surprised by this outburst where usually there is references to the role, forthcoming roles, the excellences of working colleagues, the Director of the work and its conductor. Simon appeared to me to be making an attack on the new puritanism and, reminding of revolutionary freedoms which at one level sound a plea for sympathy for this ruthless, rapist and seducer without any regard of the impact of his behaviour on the subsequent lives of his victims, especially those from the peasant class who lack any of the protection and support given to those of his peers.

Bryn Terfil, the Welsh baritone provided the oral introduction to the two acts of the opera of 95 and 85 minutes while the programme notes to the performance at the Royal Opera House in 2014 while the Met notes provide a summary. Seville, Spain, in 1700’s and the father of the first heroine Donna Anna is describe as the Commendatore, an Italian Order of chivalry but used here I believe someone of senior nobility and therefore the rape/seduction of his daughter by a masked stranger becomes such a matter of honour that he feels obliged to fight the young man and is killed, Donna Elvira has a fiancé who she presses to avenge her father.  Another of his conquest Donna Elvira who remains in love has followed him to Seville.

The community celebrate the wedding of two peasants with Don Giovanni on the lookout for new conquests attends and his trusted manservant. Donna Anna who also attend and has befriended Elvira recognizes the voice and presses her fiancé to gain revenge. Don Giovanni focusses on the seduction of the bride inviting the wedding party to his Palatial home. The attempt to seduce the bride fails and the attack is blamed on his servant after clothing been the two men has been swapped. The two women and the fiancé attend the Palace wearing masks to confront Don Giovanni who retreats leaving his man servant behind.

This does not prevent Don Giovanni turning the head of the maid of Donna Elvira, the fiancée and young married couple finding the man servant alone and turning on him until he admits the truth about his master. He too escapes and meets up with Don Giovanni where they come across the statue of the Commendatore. As a joke the statue is invited to Palace for a meal. In the Met production, the meal is presented as a bawdy party combining food and sex, (cannot immediately remember the name of the film the film about this subject which I suspect influence the scene setting. The ghost of the murdered man arrives and gives Don Giovanni ad invitation which is refused and the womanizer is consumed by the eternal fires of health as his future form of immortality., one aspect of the film Dr Strange I was to see a few days later. The victims and their menfolk rejoice. Donna asks for more time before marriage. The impact of Don Giovanni continues to affect their lives.

Wikipedia provides the titles of the arias, duets and combinations of voice, “Don Giovanni's servant, complains of his lot ("Notte e giorno faticar" – "Night and day I slave away"). He is keeping watch while Don Giovanni rapes or seduces the Commendatore's daughter, Donna Anna. When the two appear, Giovanni is masked and Donna Anna is holding onto his arm. Something has happened and she insists on knowing his identity (Trio: "Non sperar, se non m'uccidi, Ch'io ti lasci fuggir mai!" – "Do not hope, unless you kill me, that I shall ever let you run away!"); before he can break free from her grasp she cries for help. The Commendatore appears and forces Giovanni to fight a duel. Donna Anna flees into the house. Giovanni kills the Commendatore with his sword and escapes with Leporello. Anna, returning with her fiancé, Don Ottavio, is horrified to see her father lying dead in a pool of his own blood. She makes Ottavio swear vengeance against the unknown murderer. (Duet: "Ah, vendicar, se il puoi, giura quel sangue ognor!" – "Ah, swear to avenge that blood if you can!").

Scene 2 – A public square outside Don Giovanni's palace

Giovanni and Leporello arrive and hear a woman (Donna Elvira) singing of having been abandoned by her lover, on whom she is seeking to wreak her revenge ("Ah, chi mi dice mai" – "Ah, who could ever tell me"). Giovanni starts to flirt with her, but he is the wretch she is seeking. He shoves Leporello forward, ordering him to tell Elvira the truth, and then hurries away.

Leporello tells Elvira that Don Giovanni is not worth it. His conquests include 640 in Italy, 231 in Germany, 100 in France, 91 in Turkey, but in Spain, 1,003 ("Madamina, il catalogo è questo" – "My dear lady, this is the catalogue"). In a frequently cut recitative, Elvira vows vengeance.

They leave, and a marriage procession with Masetto and Zerlina enters. Don Giovanni and Leporello arrive soon after. Giovanni is immediately attracted to Zerlina, and he attempts to remove the jealous Masetto by offering to host a wedding celebration at his castle. On realizing that Giovanni means to remain behind with Zerlina, Masetto becomes angry ("Ho capito! Signor, sì" – "I understand! Yes, my lord!"). Don Giovanni and Zerlina are soon alone and he immediately begins his seductive arts (Duet: "Là ci darem la mano" – "There we will entwine our hands").

Elvira arrives and thwarts the seduction ("Ah, fuggi il traditor" – "Flee from the traitor!"). She leaves with Zerlina. Ottavio and Anna enter, plotting vengeance on the still unknown murderer of Anna's father. Anna, unaware that she is speaking to the attacker, pleads for Giovanni's help. Giovanni, relieved that he is unrecognised, readily promises it, and asks who has disturbed her peace. Before she can answer, Elvira returns and tells Anna and Ottavio that Giovanni is a false-hearted seducer. Giovanni tries to convince Ottavio and Anna that Elvira is insane (Quartet: "Non ti fidar, o misera" – "Don't trust him, oh sad one"). As Giovanni leaves, Anna suddenly recognizes him as her father's murderer (Anna aria: "Or sai chi l'onore Rapire a me volse" – "Now you know who wanted to rob me of my honour"). Ottavio, not convinced, resolves to keep an eye on his friend ("Dalla sua pace la mia dipende" – "On her peace my peace depends").

Leporello informs Giovanni that all the guests of the peasant wedding are in Giovanni's house and that he distracted Masetto from his jealousy, but that Zerlina, returning with Elvira, made a scene and spoiled everything. However, Don Giovanni remains cheerful and tells Leporello to organize a party and invite every girl he can find. (Giovanni's "Champagne Aria": "Fin ch'han dal vino calda la testa" – "Till they are tipsy"). They hasten to his palace.

Zerlina follows the jealous Masetto and tries to pacify him ("Batti, batti o bel Masetto" – "Beat, O beat me, handsome Masetto"), but just as she manages to persuade him of her innocence, Don Giovanni's voice from offstage startles and frightens her. Masetto hides, resolving to see for himself what Zerlina will do when Giovanni arrives. Zerlina tries to hide from Don Giovanni, but he finds her and attempts to continue the seduction, until he stumbles upon Masetto's hiding place. Confused but quickly recovering, Giovanni reproaches Masetto for leaving Zerlina alone, and returns her temporarily to him. Giovanni then leads both to his ballroom, which has been lavishly decorated. Leporello invites three masked guests to the party: the disguised Ottavio, Anna, and Elvira. Ottavio and Anna pray for protection, Elvira for vengeance (Trio: "Protegga il giusto cielo" – "May the just heavens protect us").

Scene 3 – Finale: Ballroom As the merriment, featuring two separate chamber orchestras on stage, proceeds, Leporello distracts Masetto by dancing with him, while Don Giovanni leads Zerlina offstage to a private room. When Zerlina screams for help, Don Giovanni tries to fool the onlookers by dragging Leporello into the room and threatening to kill him for assaulting Zerlina. But Ottavio produces a pistol, and the three guests unmask and declare that they know all. But despite being denounced on all sides, Don Giovanni escapes – for the moment.

Act 2

Scene 1 – Outside Elvira's house

Leporello threatens to leave Giovanni, but his master calms him with a peace offering of money (Duet: "Eh via buffone" – "Go on, fool"). Wanting to seduce Elvira's maid, Giovanni persuades Leporello to exchange cloak and hat with him. Elvira comes to her window (Trio: "Ah taci, ingiusto core" – "Ah, be quite unjust heart"). Seeing an opportunity for a game, Giovanni hides and sends Leporello out in the open dressed as Giovanni. From his hiding place Giovanni sings a promise of repentance, expressing a desire to return to her, while Leporello poses as Giovanni and tries to keep from laughing. Elvira is convinced and descends to the street. Leporello, continuing to pose as Giovanni, leads her away to keep her occupied while Giovanni serenades her maid with his mandolin. ("Deh vieni alla finestra" – "Ah, come to the window").

Before Giovanni can complete his seduction of the maid, Masetto and his friends arrive, searching for Giovanni with the intent of killing him. Giovanni (dressed as Leporello) convinces the posse that he also hates Giovanni, and joins the hunt. After cunningly dispersing Masetto's friends (Giovanni aria: "Metà di voi qua vadano" – "Half of you go this way"), Giovanni takes Masetto's weapons away, beats him up, and runs off, laughing. Zerlina arrives and consoles the bruised and battered Masetto ("Vedrai carino" – "You'll see, dear one").

Scene 2 – A dark courtyard

Leporello abandons Elvira. (Sextet: "Sola, sola in buio loco" – "All alone in this dark place"). As he tries to escape, Ottavio arrives with Anna, consoling her in her grief. Just as Leporello is about to slip through the door, which he has difficulty finding, Zerlina and Masetto open it and, seeing him dressed as Giovanni, catch him before he can escape. When Anna and Ottavio notice, what is going on, all move to surround Leporello, threatening him with death. Elvira tries to protect the man who she thinks is Giovanni, claiming that he is her husband and begging for pity. The other four are resolved to punish the traitor, but Leporello removes his cloak to reveal his identity. He begs everyone's forgiveness and, seeing an opportunity, runs off (Leporello aria: "Ah pietà signori miei" – "Ah, have mercy, my lords"). Given the circumstances, Ottavio is convinced that Giovanni was the murderer of Donna Anna's father (the deceased Commendatore) and swears vengeance ("Il mio tesoro" – "My treasure" – though in the Vienna version this was cut).[16] Elvira is still furious at Giovanni for betraying her, but she also feels sorry for him. ("Mi tradì quell'alma ingrata" – "That ungrateful wretch betrayed me").

Scene 3 – A graveyard with the statue of the Commendatore. Leporello tells Don Giovanni of his brush with danger, and Giovanni taunts him, saying that he took advantage of his disguise as Leporello by trying to seduce one of Leporello's girlfriends. But the servant is not amused, suggesting it could have been his wife, and Don Giovanni laughs aloud at his servant's protests. The voice of the statue warns Giovanni that his laughter will not last beyond sunrise. At the command of his master, Leporello reads the inscription upon the statue's base: "Here am I waiting for revenge against the sacrilegious one who gave me death" (Dell'empio che mi trasse al passo estremo qui attendo la vendetta). The servant trembles, but the unabashed Giovanni orders him to invite the statue to dinner, threatening to kill him if he does not. Leporello makes several attempts to invite the statue to dinner but for fear cannot complete the task (Duet: "O, statua gentilissima" – "Oh most kind statue"). It falls upon Don Giovanni himself to complete the invitation, thereby sealing his own doom. Much to his surprise, the statue nods its head and responds affirmatively.

Scene 4 – Donna Anna's room.

Ottavio pressures Anna to marry him, but she thinks it inappropriate so soon after her father's death. He accuses her of being cruel, and she assures him that she loves him, and is faithful ("Non mi dir" – "Tell me not").

Scene 5 – Don Giovanni's chambers

Giovanni revels in the luxury of a great meal, served by Leporello, and musical entertainment during which the orchestra plays then-contemporary late-18th-century operatic music: "O quanto in sì bel giubilo" from Vicente Martín y Soler's Una cosa rara (1786), "Come un agnello" from Giuseppe Sarti's Fra i due litiganti il terzo gode (1782) and finally, "Non più andrai" from Mozart's own The Marriage of Figaro (1786).[17] (Finale "Già la mensa preparata" – "Already the table is prepared"). Elvira appears, saying that she no longer feels resentment for Giovanni, only pity. ("L'ultima prova dell'amor mio" – "The final proof of my love"). Surprised by her lack of hatred, Giovanni asks what it is that she wants, and she begs him to change his life. Giovanni taunts her and then turns away, praising wine and women as the "support and glory of humankind" (sostegno e gloria d'umanità). Hurt and angered, Elvira gives up and leaves. A moment later, her scream is heard from outside the walls of the palace, and she returns only to flee through another door. Giovanni orders Leporello to see what has upset her; upon peering, outside, the servant also cries out, and runs back into the room, stammering that the statue has appeared as promised. An ominous knocking sounds at the door. Leporello, paralyzed by fear, cannot answer it, so Giovanni opens it himself, revealing the statue of the Commendatore. With the D minor music from the overture now accompanying the bass voice ("Don Giovanni! A cenar teco m'invitasti" – "Don Giovanni! You invited me to dine with you"), the Commendatore offers a last chance to repent, but Giovanni adamantly refuses. The statue sinks into the earth and drags Giovanni down with him. Hellfire, and a chorus of demons, surround Don Giovanni as he is carried below.

Donna Anna, Don Ottavio, Donna Elvira, Zerlina, and Masetto arrive, searching for the villain. They find instead Leporello hiding under the table, shaken by the supernatural horror he has witnessed. Giovanni is dead. Anna and Ottavio will marry when Anna's year of mourning is over; Elvira will spend the rest of her life in a convent; Zerlina and Masetto will finally go home for dinner; and Leporello will go to the tavern to find a better master.

The concluding ensemble delivers the moral of the opera – "Such is the end of the evildoer: the death of a sinner always reflects his life" ("Questo è il fin di chi fa mal, e de' perfidi la morte alla vita è sempre ugual"). In the past, the final ensemble was sometimes omitted by conductors (such as Gustav Mahler) who claimed that the opera should end when the title character dies. However, this approach has not survived, and today's conductors almost always include the finale in its entirety. The return to D major and the innocent simplicity of the last few bars conclude the opera. “

These summaries and descriptions cannot communicate the power of the various combinations of voice with every soloist in the production appearing to vie to command our attention and admiration. Adam Plcechetka as the man servant; Paul Appleby as the loyal fiancé, Zerna Malfi as the bride, Malin Bystrom was Evira and Hibla Gerzmava- Donna Anna. Matthew Rose jealous and doubting husband while Kwangchow Youn impressive as the Commendatore

Tristan unde Isolde

I have never been a fan of the operatic works of Richard Wagner because of prejudices starting as a child of the Blitz and whose first memory was of a V1 rocket heading for our home and falling short, and then learning that his music was favoured by Hitler because he believed it extolled the things in which he believed. I have also to be honest that I find the German language harsh perhaps because of my Mediterranean heritage Spanish, Italian and Greek have all had greater appeal. This has not prevented experiencing some of his thirteen opera in the cinema via relay from a great opera House.  Der fliegende Hollander and Die Meistersinger within the past three years had impressed and changed some of my previous feelings.  

The epic duets of Tristan unde Isolde experienced at the Cineworld Bolden on Saturday evening at 5pm, 8^th October 2016 means that I do get their worldwide popularity and I also realised that without preparation such as when seeing a Shakespeare play the ear takes time to attune. The opera was being relayed from the Metropolitan Opera House, New York which is celebrating fifty years since moving to its present premises at the Lincoln centre from the inadequate and limiting former home where the effort had been made to create an auditorium fit for the elite but failed to foresee the needs of singers and for staging as the 20th century progressed. One of the advantages of attending the Relays is the provision of background films and live interviews which in this instance covered the history of Opera House and which opened at the Lincoln centre on September 16^th 1966 over a year late and even then the new machinery kept failing putting the opening in peril.

In fact, it has been the tendency of the Met to appear to concentrate on spectacular staging and when during intervals there is no film or interview taking place the camera shows the background work between acts of changing staging and vast area which the back stage occupies whereas previously some staging had to be kept outside against the back wall and in all weathers. In addition to its huge chorus and orchestra the Met has an army of people working behind the scenes as well as front of House and which is added to up to over fifty more in order to make the relays and which also lead to DVD’s and CD’s. Even with its refurbishment and updating the Royal Opera House has always struck me as less extravagant although my impression, which I accept may be false is that the British House has been pioneering the use of digital projection and which was a feature of this production with each Act commencing with projections of a large ring in which there are abstract images of a vessel travelling in a turbulent sea, or just the forces of nature dictating the events of human kind.

In Tristan and Isolde of Tristan and Isolde the two leads played by the renowned Nina Stemme and the more still up and coming Stuart Skelton are on stage for some four hours together or separately with other soloists. There is no on stage chorus and that off stage is only heard briefly. The performance rests on the two principals and the other soloists all exceptional. There is some theatrical movement with at the ends of the set stairways between the decks of the ships.

For this writing of my experience I will reproduce the story provided by Wikipedia to which I donate a monthly subscription such has been the value to me over the past three years, although I always check any material with other sources. I am doing this because for the first time there was double printed sheet setting out the story and presenting the cast list and which I suggest may mark a move to persuading the relay goer to go to digital programme which includes film clips in addition to the photographs, production notes and credits in the programmes previously free but now available at a cost of less than half the printed souvenir, unless you chose to print out in colour

“Act 1

Isolde, promised to King Marke in marriage, and her handmaid, Brangäne, are quartered aboard Tristan's ship being transported to the king's lands in Cornwall. The opera opens with the voice of a young sailor singing of a "wild Irish maid", ("Westwärts schweift der Blick") which Isolde construes to be a mocking reference to herself. In a furious outburst, she wishes the seas to rise up and sink the ship, killing herself and all on board ("Erwache mir wieder, kühne Gewalt"). Her scorn and rage are directed particularly at Tristan, the knight responsible for taking her to Marke, and Isolde sends Brangäne to command Tristan to appear before her ("Befehlen liess' dem Eigenholde"). Tristan, however, refuses Brangäne's request, claiming that his place is at the helm. His henchman, Kurwenal, answers more brusquely, saying that Isolde is in no position to command Tristan and reminds Brangäne that Isolde's previous fiancé, Morold, was killed by Tristan ("Herr Morold zog zu Meere her").

Brangäne returns to Isolde to relate these events, and Isolde, in what is termed the "narrative and curse", sadly tells her of how, following the death of Morold, she happened upon a stranger who called himself Tantris. Tantris was found mortally wounded in a barge ("von einem Kahn, der klein und arm") and Isolde used her healing powers to restore him to health. She discovered during Tantris' recovery, however, that he was actually Tristan, the murderer of her fiancé. Isolde attempted to kill the man with his own sword as he lay helpless before her. However, Tristan looked not at the sword that would kill him or the hand that wielded the sword, but into her eyes ("Er sah' mir in die Augen"). His action pierced her heart and she was unable to slay him. Tristan was allowed to leave with the promise never to come back, but he later returned with the intention of marrying Isolde to his uncle, King Marke. Isolde, furious at Tristan's betrayal, insists that he drink atonement to her, and from her medicine chest produces a vial to make the drink. Brangäne is shocked to see that it is a lethal poison.

Kurwenal appears in the women's quarters ("Auf auf! Ihr Frauen!") and announces that the voyage is coming to an end. Isolde warns Kurwenal that she will not appear before the King if Tristan does not come before her as she had previously ordered and drink atonement to her. When Tristan arrives, Isolde reproaches him about his conduct and tells him that he owes her his life and how his actions have undermined her honour, since she blessed Morold's weapons before battle and therefore she swore revenge. Tristan first offers his sword but Isolde refuses; they must drink atonement. Brangäne brings in the potion that will seal their pardon; Tristan knows that it may kill him, since he knows Isolde's magic powers ("Wohl kenn' ich Irland's Königin"). The journey almost at its end, Tristan drinks and Isolde takes half the potion for herself. The potion seems to work but it does not bring death but relentless love ("Tristan!" "Isolde!"). Kurwenal, who announces the imminent arrival on board of King Marke, interrupts their rapture. Isolde asks Brangäne which potion she prepared and Brangäne replies, as the sailors hail the arrival of King Marke, that it was not poison, but rather a love potion.

Act 2

King Marke leads a hunting party out into the night, leaving Isolde and Brangäne alone in the castle, who both stand beside a burning brazier. Isolde, listening to the hunting horns, believes several times that the hunting party is far enough away to warrant the extinguishing of the brazier – the prearranged signal for Tristan to join her ("Nicht Hörnerschall tönt so hold"). Brangäne warns Isolde that Melot, one of King Marke's knights, has seen the amorous looks exchanged between Tristan and Isolde and suspects their passion ("Ein Einz'ger war's, ich achtet' es wohl"). Isolde, however, believes Melot to be Tristan's most loyal friend, and, in a frenzy of desire, extinguishes the flames. Brangäne retires to the ramparts to keep watch as Tristan arrives.

The lovers, at last alone and freed from the constraints of courtly life, declare their passion for each other. Tristan decries the realm of daylight which is false, unreal, and keeps them apart. It is only in night, he claims, that they can truly be together and only in the long night of death can they be eternally united ("O sink' hernieder, Nacht der Liebe"). During their long tryst, Brangäne calls a warning several times that the night is ending ("Einsam wachend in der Nacht"), but her cries fall upon deaf ears. The day breaks in on the lovers as Melot leads King Marke and his men to find Tristan and Isolde in each other's arms. Marke is heartbroken, not only because of his nephew's betrayal but also because Melot chose to betray his friend Tristan to Marke and because of Isolde's betrayal as well ("Mir – dies? Dies, Tristan – mir?").

When questioned, Tristan says he cannot answer to the King the reason of his betrayal since he would not understand. He turns to Isolde, who agrees to follow him again into the realm of night. Tristan announces that Melot has fallen in love with Isolde too. Melot and Tristan fight, but, at the crucial moment, Tristan throws his sword aside and allows Melot to severely wound him.

Act 3

Kurwenal has brought Tristan home to his castle at Kareol in Brittany. A shepherd pipes a mournful tune and asks if Tristan is awake. Kurwenal replies that only Isolde's arrival can save Tristan, and the shepherd offers to keep watch and claims that he will pipe a joyful tune to mark the arrival of any ship. Tristan awakes ("Die alte Weise – was weckt sie mich?") and laments his fate – to be, once again, in the false realm of daylight, once more driven by unceasing unquenchable yearning ("Wo ich erwacht' weilt ich nicht"). Tristan's sorrow ends when Kurwenal tells him that Isolde is on her way. Tristan, overjoyed, asks if her ship is in sight, but only a sorrowful tune from the shepherd's pipe is heard.

Tristan relapses and recalls that the shepherd's mournful tune is the same as was played when he was told of the deaths of his father and mother ("Muss ich dich so versteh'n, du alte, ernst Weise"). He rails once again against his desires and against the fateful love potion ("verflucht sei, furchtbarer Trank!") until, exhausted, he collapses in delirium. After his collapse, the shepherd is heard piping the arrival of Isolde's ship, and, as Kurwenal rushes to meet her, Tristan tears the bandages from his wounds in his excitement ("Hahei! Mein Blut, lustig nun fliesse!"). As Isolde arrives at his side, Tristan dies with her name on his lips.

Isolde collapses beside her deceased lover just as the appearance of another ship is announced. Kurwenal spies Melot, Marke and Brangäne arriving ("Tod und Hölle! Alles zur Hand!"). He believes they have come to kill Tristan and, in an attempt to avenge him, furiously attacks Melot. Marke tries to stop the fight to no avail. Both Melot and Kurwenal are killed in the fight. Marke and Brangäne finally reach Tristan and Isolde. Marke, grieving over the body of his "truest friend" ("Tot denn alles!"), explains that Brangäne revealed the secret of the love potion and that he had come not to part the lovers, but to unite them ("Warum Isolde, warum mir das?"). Isolde appears to wake at this and in a final aria describing her vision of Tristan risen again (the "Liebestod", "love death"), dies ("Mild und leise wie er lächelt"). “

According to Wikipedia and other sources a knowledge of aspects of the German philosophy of Schopenhauer is essential to understanding key issues in the opera and also explains why much of the Opera has been set at night. My knowledge of Schopenhauer was limited to reading the chapter in Russell’s history of Western Philosophy which I have quickly skimmed through reminding that he was pessimistic about human behaviour believing that the will of the individual especially their passions and desires dominated reason and knowledge. The Wikipedia article explains that Wagner sets his opera at night where the lovers can express their passions and be themselves without having to put on the fronts of the daytime and that night, the dark, also represents death, the end or transition from human form depending on beliefs.

The star of this opera in terms of written role and individual performance is that of the Swedish soprano Nina Stemme acclaimed worldwide for commanding and technically brilliant performances of the work of Wagner and what we were able to see because of the close ups that she is an outstanding actress.  She is married, lives in Stockholm with three children and speaks five languages.

Two other of the soloists are recognised worldwide great Wagnerian singers. Of the roles they perform. Ekaterina Gubanova from Russia who plays Brangane came to the Royal Opera House at 23 and the Met in 2007 but achieved prominence because of her role as Brangane in Paris in 2005. Similarly, Rene Pape from the former East Germany as King Marke has been described by one critic as having an enviable base voice who brings compassion to the role to which I would add an enlightened understanding of human relationships even before he finds out about the love potion, the device for taking away individual responsibility for subsequent behaviour reminding immediately of what happens in a Midsummers Night’s Dream.

The conductor Sir Simon Rattle made his name with the Birmingham City Orchestra and is shortly leave the Berlin Symphony where he has been since 2002 to become D head the London Symphony Orchestra in 2017. His role as the conductor of Tristan unde Isolde is not only his debut with the Met but may be his first at any major Opera House. He made the point of saying that he encouraged the orchestra to make full and lasting notes. Several of the singers emphasised that the music of the piece is essential not just to reflect the words and their mood but to reveal something of the tragedy ahead.

The supporting soloist whose role is developed in its importance in the final act is that performed by the Russian baritone Evgeny Nikitin whose plays Kurwenal and whose interview, whether from nerves or his usual mannerism when interviewed standing was to have a swaying motion which distracted from what he was saying. His singing and acting was again exceptional. 

Stuart Skelton has performed in the works of Wagner and in the role of Tristan in his homeland of Australia. He fully merited the ovation given at the end. I appreciated the quality of the singing and acting and understood something more of the appeal that Wagner’s work has especially for the German speaking people. Can I say I was emotionally engaged? No. Was it an enjoyable and satisfying experience? Again I must say no. Did I feel I had made a good choice to attend? Yes. Will I go to other productions when relayed? Yes.

The National Theatre Production of the Three Penny Opera

The Threepenny Opera which I saw in a cinema relay from the National Theatre at Bolden Cineworld on 22^nd September 2016 is a musical and visual presentation of a socialist view of the world of capitalist exploitation of and within the underclass of society, brought up to date and performed just before the Labour and Conservative Party annual conferences. It is important to say at the outset that the work is as opposed to the top down state bureaucratic direction of the economy of Communism or the tolerance and acceptance of the basic capitalist premise of the twentieth century by the Blair and Brown Administrations, following those of Thatcher and Major and furthered with enthusiasm by the Lib Dems under Cameron and George Osborm

The work was created by Bertolt Brecht/ Kurt Weil and performed in Berlin in 1928 as Germany wrestled with having lost the first World War and the collapsing capitalism as vehicle for his wife Lotte Lenya and significantly not performed in the UK until 1956 when it was condemned with the same kind of skilled abuse recently applied to the rise of Jeremy Corbyn. The work is based on the earlier Beggars Opera by John Gay where I am convinced I have seen a Royal Shakespeare production but a search of my programmes as so far failed to confirm. I did experience the Rise and Fall of the House of Mahogany by Brecht and Weill performed at the Royal Opera House in 2015

Although created for a German audience the play is set in London and the National Theatre warns that the work is full of filthy language and immoral behaviour but I found the comical approach dampening the impact rather providing a biting edge of the kind found in the production pf the Season Ticket at Newcastle Stage or the emotional engagement of Norma. I was amused but overall disappointed and just in case my reaction was contrary to the professional critic I have looked at what the Telegraph and the Guardian have had to say and there is agreement that by today’s theatrical, film and TV norm there is a lack of anger. My concern, in addition to the lack of engagement with the characters, the absence of any attack on the basics of internal corporate capitalism.  

The scene is set. and I agree it came across as makeshift without adding to the acting or basic work content, just before coronation day when in the best tradition of Fagan, the gang is prepared for a great day of pick pocketing and the whores to loveless sexuality.  There is a good swipe at the top establishment and the recent rewarding of Cameron’s capitalist chums with complicity state honours as the murdering woman brutalising, and sexually exploiting Macheath (Mac the Knife) not only escapes the gallows but is promised a knighthood and an annual pension of £50000 a year.  There is also reference to the grooming, the seduction of young women   who are viewed as pleasure objects but also to contemporary educational enlightenment and fighting fire with fire as Polly an accountant gains access to the books and joins forces with his other female victims.

I could not help feeling that the inclusion of cross dressing gender bending and someone in a wheelchair with speech disability was more to have contemporary appeal than to enhance the work. It was a good enjoyable evening but not a memorable one. There was a large enthusiastic cast for which the national is famed with Rory Kinnaer as Macheath. Rosalie Craig as Polly and Haydn Gwynne as her jealous mother having also been one of those having sexual intercourse with psychopath. I paid £8.10 for the ticket and enjoyed a 40 pence bar of plain chocolate. Back to the Conservative  Party conference to see how they next exploit  the abysmal failure of the parliamentary Labour Party.

Norma, an Opera Cinema relay from the Royal Opera House music by Vincenzo Bellini and conductor Antonio Pappano

It has been my good fortune to experience a number of memorable Operatic experiences at the Royal Opera House and at Cineworld Theatres at Bolden, Newcastle, Nottingham and London in addition to enjoying live opera more recently in Sunderland and previously in Newcastle and Leeds. I thought I had witnessed the most emotionally engaging experience of any live theatrical experience last year at the Royal Opera House, but that of Norma at the Bolden Cineworld on Monday 26^th September 2016 proved the most complete satisfying blending into a whole of orchestra, voice, production and set that I have experienced in sixty years having first been taken to live performances of Carmen, of Pagliacci and Gilbert and Sullivan as an adolescent.

I arrived late to find someone sitting in the next seat which was odd because the relay from the Royal the Royal Opera House was held in theatre 7 one of the biggest at the multiplex and which was less than a 6th or higher filled.  The woman who immediately engaged in conversation explained that she usually attended relays at a different   cinema which had failed badly and therefore she came to Bolden having booked a seat in the area below the staired tiers and found herself alone so had moved to second seat to one side where I book when performance is located in the theatre. I was tempted to warn that the relays at Bolden did not always go without a hitch and I have given up and left it to others to point out to management that the performance had begun and the lights were still on although in fairness recently the timing has been spot on.

Unless I am with someone I like to sit on my own in an aisle seat to the screen facing right of a theatre as it provides an uninterrupted view, a stretch of the legs possible and not to bother about intruding on the space of the person in the next seat. However, given the special nature of the performance and that the stranger was evidently similarly affected the experience became even more memorable because of the chat in the interval and at the end.

Because of being busy in the days before I had not read up on the subject of the Opera other than to look up what was meant by Bel Canto and only in the information provided at the relay that the role is regarded as one of the great challenges and where the recognised outstanding performances within my lifetime were by Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland. I am yet to find out how the performance of Sonya Yonheva is regarded by other professionals and Opera critics but I thought the way she projected the nature of her character through voice and acting was extraordinary, credible and sustained throughout and on a par with the handful of performances which I can hear and see in my head and will continue to do so over my remaining years, although I hope that in time the ROH will issue a DVD so that I can measure memory against the reality.

Before turning to the two other leads I must address the production and in particular the sets. The opera was created in the 1830’s about a Roman controlled Gaul between 50 and 100 BC and a battle between the religion of the Druids controlled by the virgin high priestess Norma who had urged the army championing at the bit to rise up against the Romans to hang fire. The first Act is set at night in a grove and later at her home. The darkened stage is covered by trees of crosses which are open to interpretation by the audience…symbolic of the importance of the religion and perhaps how the four worldwide influential religions of the past 2000 years, Judaism, Catholicism, Protestant and Muslim have all attempted to fuse religion into the government and laws of state, often persecuting and killing those who fail to maintain required standards, reject or oppose either the religion itself or its control of government and the law.

The second aspect of the production to mention that at the commencement of second Act the scene is set in the 21^st century home of Norma with a large screen TV showing the film Watership Down, a struggle with the lifestyle of Rabbits and the grave threat from humans out to destroy and take possession of their homeland. Thus we are provided with a geopolitical as well as human story across time in which at one level little has changed.

The major aspect of the story is the inherent conflict between the ideals of religious faith in which the priests or priestesses need to be virgins, pure and celibate and calling for their followers to aspire to their ideals and because of this those that fall are regarded as having committed the greater crime. The reality has always also been different with sexual passion and sexual need overcoming the scriptures and strictures, an issue which has governed my life although it was not until just before by sixth decade that I came to the truth on finding that my father had been a senior prior of the Catholic church who aged 28 had met my mother when she was aged 4 and was then groomed as a pupil teacher, trained as  a pianist and organist and house keeper and teacher, banished from her homeland  on becoming pregnant, never to return, but remaining devout to her faith through her long life which  ender  in her hundredth year.

In the Opera Norma has two children and a relationship in secret with an occupying Roman administrator Pollione, the Proconsul of Gaul. She has a housekeeper to care for the children and for those who may question how such secrecy would be possible and kept from Druids who would find the behaviour unacceptable then my own experience is  relevant,  because I was  kept locked away in  a bedroom whenever other members of the my  birth  mother’s homeland visited at the end of World War II, never acknowledged  by her as her son in public until she was 96 and entered residential care, effectively brought up by her sisters one of whom  would have adopted if she had not been prevented from marrying because of potentially treated abnormality until her admission to  hospital at the age of 93 and from  which she never recovered. When my birth mother commenced to practice as an unqualified teacher in England during World War II only single women could train and practice as teachers something which continued for a time after the war ended and certainly there would have no question of a single parent bring given a secured position however able, talented and committed she was to the profession.

There would have been no story, no Opera just on this alone. Pollione is not satisfied with a mistress and not only commence a relationship with another woman, but someone who is also a Virgin Priestess and the crucial moment in the Opera is when the priestess who knows nothing of Pollione’s doubling dealing confides her predicament to Norma.  Norma also in effect gives permission to the priestess, Adalgisa to have the affair, understandably because   she has and is doing so herself. The discovery is a great shock and at first Norma does everything she can to discourage Adalgisa from   progressing and presses Pollione to acknowledge her and his children prepared to break from her religion and roots when he recalled back to Rome.  The breakdown of the situation and crisis occurs when Pollione is discovered and captured when visiting her in the quarters for the Priestess and the Druids led by their chief, Norma’s father demands justice according to their law. And this involves the execution of Pollione and finding out who he was visiting.

Angry and revengeful the first reactions of Norma are to withdraw her objection to the army rising up against the Romans and to protect her children by placing the blame of Adalgisa. But then she realises Adalgisa is even more a victim of the behaviour of Pollione than she has been and admits she is the traitor to the religion and pleads to her father to care and protect their children. He finds this a great challenge going against everything he believes and governed his life but he brings peace to his she and Pollione meet their fate on a death pyre in the form of a burning cross.

The Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja has a magnificent voice and the close up through the cinema relay revealed his acting ability and that despite qualms when push came to shove he was prepared to sacrifice Norman and his children to satisfy his passion. While at one level Sonia Ganassi does not have the physical presence of the young virgin priestess she is playing she has the dramatic skill to convince an audience in close up and participated in some glorious duet singing with both leads although that of Yoncheva was incredible and the synergy between the three leads exceptional.

I was overwhelmed by the production (an added factor is that my father although born in Gibraltar was taken to Malta for his education and early training for the priesthood as the eldest son, and it can be assumed without being given a choice, as the family has a traced history of several centuries in Malta).Mu unexpected  companion for the evening also appeared overwhelmed and remained seated and it was only after the majority of others in the audience had left the theatre that we commenced to express our admiration floor what we had experienced,  She  expressed reservations about the pyre  being depicted as a  burning cross so I reminded that Druids had outfits  similar to past Orders in the Catholic Church  and the Klu Klux  Klan in the USA where the burning cross also became one of the symbols of white supremacy. It is also noteworthy that among all the praised lavished on the Opera on Twitter there was one critic of the number of crosses featured.

The Director of the production is Àlex Ollé (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈaɫəks uˈʎe]) (Barcelona, 1960) is one of the six artistic directors of La Fura dels Baus, one of the most innovative and prestigious theatre companies on the international scene, which was founded in 1979 and has been characterized from the start by the search for its own language in which public participation is key for developing the show. In collaboration with Carlus Padrissa, Ollé created and directed Mediterrani, mar olímpic, the epicentre of the opening ceremony of the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, an event that fascinated and left a mark on millions of viewers around the world.(Wikipedia) Valentino Carrasco was the associate Director and Alfonso Flores was responsible for the set.

I immediate to see further performance to find there a handful of the most expensive tickets for a performance on Saturday and the remaining two others sold out. Although I have a free first class ticket from Virgin Trains I decided against changing my plans and will await the DVD unless further performance of the production with the same lead singers is planned.  Because of the Cineworld monthly subscription the cost to me was £8.10