Cardiff Opera Singer of the World 2011

The Cardiff Singer of the World competition final was held on Sunday evening with a surprising result

Meeta Raval opened the evening programme withTimor di me? ... D'amor sull'ali rosee (Il trovatore) - Verdi;
Sola, perduta, abbandonata (Manon Lescaut) - Puccini and Beim Schlafengehen (Vier letzte Lieder No 3) - R Strauss

She attended Wells Cathedral School and was the first Head Girl Chorister in the country. She graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with a first class honours degree and was awarded a Diploma of Distinction by Royal Academy Opera. Meeta won the Dame Eva Turner Prize and the Royal Academy of Music Pavarotti Prize. She has participated in master classes with Dame Ann Murray and Mirella Freni, and completed her studies at the National Opera Studio in 2010.

Operatic roles include Contessa Le nozze di Figaro, Donna Anna Don Giovanni, Micaela Carmen, Magda La rondine, Mimì La bohème, Liù Turandot, The Witch Hänsel und Gretel and the title role Suor Angelica. Meeta's operatic debut at English National Opera was as First Flower Maiden Parsifal. On the concert stage, Meeta has sung the Bach Mass in B Minor and Johannes Passion; Brahms's Ein Deutsches Requiem; Bruckner's Te Deum; Dvořák's Stabat Mater; Strauss's Vier letzte Lieder and Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder. Broadcasts include Contessa in Discovering Figaro and Soprano in Janáček's Diary of One who Disappeared, both for BBC Radio 3, and Teresa Das Wundertheater by Henze for RAI. Future plans include Cio-Cio San Madam Butterfly for Mid Wales Opera in September. Meeta enjoys shopping, travel, cinema, dancing and all kinds of music. I rated her performance 4th of the 5 competitors on the night.


Previously she had sung
· Signore, ascolta! (Turandot) - Puccini
· La mamma morta (Andrea Chénier) - Giordano
· How can I sleep ... At the haunted end of the day (Troilus and Cressida) - Walton
· Mercè, dilette amiche (I vespri siciliani) - Verdi

I placed 5th Hye Jung Lee from South Korea who had impressed everyone in the semi final which she won by singing· I am the wife of Mao Tse-tung (Nixon in China) - John Adams but had to contribute other songs for the final.

· Tornami a vagheggiar (Alcina) - Handel
· A vos jeux, mes amis ... Partagez-vous mes fleurs! (Hamlet) - Thomas

Born in 1983 she graduated from Seoul National University in 2006, with teacher Hyun Ju Yun. She continued her studies at the Hochschule für Musik, Dresden with Ilse Hahn and Mannes College of Music, New York with Beth Roberts. She was the recipient of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Scholarship 2006-2008 and winner of Metropolitan Opera Council in Indiana District in 2010. Hye Jung won second prize at the 2008 Shizuoka International Opera Competition, third prize at the 58th ARD International Music Competition in 2009 and won the Career Bridges grant award in 2010. Hye Jung joined the Merola Opera Program at San Francisco Opera in 2010 and performed Giannetta L'elisir d'amore and scenes from Ariadne auf Naxos Zerbinetta and A Midsummer Night's Dream Tytania there the same year. Her repertoire includes Adele Die Fledermaus, Lauretta Gianni Schicchi, Ilia Idomeneo, Marie La fille du régiment, Zdenka Arabella, Nannetta Falstaff and Frasquita Carmen. She has also taken part in many concerts, including Mozart's C minor Mass, Bach's Weihnachts-Oratorium at Carnegie Hall and a UBS gala concert at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt. In July 2012, Hye Jung will perform Madame Mao Nixon in China with San Francisco Opera. I had wondered how China would react to this Opera so it is interesting that she is participating in this visit. In her spare time, she enjoys movies and yoga.

Of the three others I had expected Andrei Bonarenko, the Baritone from Ukraine and the only male singer in the final to win as he had the vote of the expert commentators for the BBC and had won the song competition final the night before. Born in 1987 he trained at the National Tchaikovsky Academy of Music in Kiev and the Kiev Conservatory. Since 2007 he has been a soloist in the Mariinsky Academy of Young Singers in St Petersburg. Awards include third prize at the 2006 International Rimsky-Korsakov vocal competition in St Petersburg, third prize at the International Maniuszko Competition and finalist in the 2010 Operalia competition. In 2009 he took part in the Salzburg Festival Young Singers' Project, working with Michael Schade and taking master classes with Christa Ludwig, Marjana Lipovšek and Thomas Quasthoff. In 2010 he sang Grigorio Roméo et Juliette with Yannik Nezet-Seguin and this year The Emperor Le Rossignol with Ivor Bolton. Andrei's current roles at the Mariinsky include Gugliemo Così fan tutte and Conte Il nozze di Figaro. Other repertoire includes Onegin Eugene Onegin, Silvio Pagliacci, Marullo Rigoletto, Robert Iolanta, Aeneas Dido and Aeneas, Papageno Die Zauberflöte and Belcore L'elisir d`amore. This year, in Vienna, Germany, Moscow, St Petersburg and at the Sydney Festival, he takes part in a new Michael Sturminger project, The Giacomo Variations, alongside John Malkovich. Future engagements include his Glyndebourne Touring Opera debut as Malatesta Don Pasquale in 2011 and Marcello La bohème at Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 2012. Andrei enjoys playing jazz saxophone.

· Rivolgete a lui lo sguardo (Così fan tutte) - Mozart
· O Carlo, ascolta ... Io morrò - (Don Carlo) - Verdi
· Fin ch'han del vino - (Don Giovanni) - Mozart
· Ya vas lyublyu (The Queen of Spades) - Tchaikovsky

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Song Prize Final repertoire

· In der Fremde (Op 39 No 1) - Schumann
· Intermezzo (Op 39 No 2) - Schumann
· Waldesgespräch (Op 39 No 3) - Schumann
· Die Stille (Op 39 No 4) - Schumann
· Autumn (Russia cast adrift No 1) - Georgy Sviridov
· Russia cast adrift (Russia cast adrift No 5) - Georgy Sviridov
· Simon, Peter ... Where are you? (Russia cast adrift No 6) - Georgy Sviridov
· O my homeland, o happy and eternal hour (Russia cast adrift No 12) - Georgy Sviridov

I wanted Mezzo-Soprano Olesya Petrova Mess to win because I enjoyed her voice and performances the most overall. Born 1982 in St Petersburg, she graduated from the Rimsky-Korsakov St Petersburg State Conservatoire in 2008 where she had studied with Professor Irina Bogacheva. She has been a soloist with the St Petersburg Conservatoire Opera Theatre since 2007. Olesya won second prize at the first International Galina Vishnevskaya competition in Moscow in 2006 and second prize in the XI11 International Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow in 2007. She has performed Lyubasha The Tsar's Bride for Perm Opera and Novosibirsk Opera and Amneris Aida in Bangkok. Oleysa's repertoire also includes Marfa Khovanshchina; Lel The Snow Maiden; Carmen Carmen; Olga Eugene Onegin; Countess Polina The Queen of Spades; Maddalena Rigoletto; Joan The Maid of Orleans and Ulrica Un ballo in maschera. Olesya's concert repertoire includes works by Bach, Pergolesi, Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi, Berlioz, Wagner, Mahler and Prokofiev. Artists Olesya has performed with include Valery Gergiev, Leo Kremer, Fabio Mastrangelo and Vladimir Fedoseev. She has given solo recitals in St Petersburg, Moscow and Ekaterinburg and has toured in Europe, the USA, South America, Korea, China and Japan. Future plans include Konchakovna Prince Igor in Zurich in 2012. In her spare time, Olesya enjoys the gym, cinema, reading and driving.

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2011: Final repertoire
· Nyet, bit' ne mozhet! (The Tsar's Bride) - Rimsky-Korsakov
· Re dell'abisso, affrettati (Un ballo in maschera) - Verdi
· Voi lo sapete, o mamma (Cavalleria rusticana) - Mascagni
· Habañera (Carmen) - Bizet

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2011: concert one repertoire
· Adieu, forêts (The Maid of Orleans) - Tchaikovsky
· Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix (Samson et Dalila) - Saint-Saëns
· Acerba voluttà (Adriana Lecouvreur) - Cilea

I was not surprised that the Joan Sutherland audience prize was awarded to the Moldovian singer Valentina Naforniţă
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Valentina Naforniţă was born in Glodeni, Republic of Moldova. She graduated from the Stefan Neaga Music College in Kishinev in 2006 and continued her training in Romania, at the voice department of the National University of Music in Bucharest, where she studied with sopranos Maria Slatinaru-Nistor and Eleonora Enăchescu. The latter is teaching her on the MA programme at present. In addition, she has taken master classes with soprano Mariana Nicolesco and conductor Christian Badea.Valentina has participated in numerous competitions. Recent prizes include the Orange Prize for Young Musicians, Romania in 2009 and the second prize in the Hariclea Darclée Voice Competition in 2010. She has appeared in concerts and recitals on the great music stages in Romania, including the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest, and has also collaborated with the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra. Roles performed at the Opera Studio of the university include Norina Don Pasquale, Adina L'elisir d'amore, Mimì La bohème and Lauretta Gianni Schicchi. In 2008 she performed in the chorus of the Romanian National Opera and later this year she will sing Norina Don Pasquale with them at the Bucharest National Opera House. Valentina enjoys reading, travelling, ballet dancing and swimming.

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Final repertoire
· Regnava nel silenzio (Lucia di Lammermoor) - Donizetti
· Song to the Moon (Rusalka) - Dvořák
· Je veux vivre (Roméo et Juliette) - Gounod

Earlier she had sung

· Egli non riede ancora ... Non so le tetre immagini (Il corsaro) - Verdi
· Glück das mir verlieb (Die tote Stadt) - Korngold
· Amour, ranime mon courage (Roméo et Juliette) - Gounod

A strong hint that there was to be a surprise came result came when Dame Kire Te Kenawa, the new Patron of the competition following the death of Dame Joan Sutherland said in interview with the Chairman of the Jury Panel that they would have to consider hard who to award the trophy and prize money after hearing all the performances. Valentina had been awarded the fifth place in the final although the semi final had gone to the Ukrainian. In addition to her technical ability and potential and her performance on the night the trump card is her looks, which one commentator described as Drop Dead Gorgeous, whatever that means. She can play riles such as Juliet and Carmen the seductive vamp with credibility.

Il Trovatore from the Met 2011

I have now experienced two live relays and two recorded productions of Il Trovatore since the Christmas of 2009. I was in the mood of the Opera 18 months ago, on the day after that horrific car journey between Wallington and the Travel Lodge at and then found that I was without my mobile phone so I had returned to Wallington to collect this, parked the car at considerable expense by East Croydon station and then travelled to Victoria where I had lunch at the Cafe Rouge before experiencing the Sophie Calle exhibition at the White Chapel gallery after first collecting my theatre relay ticket from the Odeon. I thoroughly enjoyed the day before the performance although there was underlying anxiety about the weather conditions.

The 2009 performance was from the Gran Thatre Del Liceu Barcelona where the city football reached the final of the European football cup last night for the third time in four years. Afterwards on the Metropolitan Opera New York player I watched the 1988 production with Pavarotti and Dolora Zajick. On Saturday 30th of April I visited the Cineworld Bolden and was able to get one of the remaining seats for a live relay of the Opera from the Met and with Dolora Zajick repeating her 1988 role as the Gypsy mother of the two royal brothers.

I will begin with a confession that I quickly became tired and struggled not to go to sleep which affected my appreciation of the Met relay so my response may not as objective as it would normally be..

The Liceu production was comparatively simple which a fixed contemporary looking structure of ceiling high columns at either side between which performers enter and exist, and single backcloths designed to show that as a background to the story there is conflict and war between two noble houses in Southern Spain. When the separate houses are represented on stage they have their own backcloth and the soldiers wear blue or red neck scarves and shining red or blue gauntlets. The effect is that much more dramatic than the Metropolitan with its stairways and changes in structures, impressive as these always are. It is also fair to say that the war between the two aristocratic houses is minor significance in terms of the two big issues of the opera. I continue to feel the Liceu production remains the most visually effective. This time the Met used a revolving stage which substantial reduced scene change time between the four acts. However the overall effect was dark and added nothing to the overall performance.

The opera opens with the captain of the guard for the noble house of Aragon, a baritone, explaining that in the past, the story is set in the fifteen century, a gypsy woman was seen over the child son of the Count di Luna and chased away but the child then fell ill and the court believed that the woman had cast a spell so she was apprehended and told to remove the spell and when the condition of the child did not improved she was burnt at the stake in front of her daughter, who listened to her mother’s cry, daughter, avenge me. By coincidence I had watched a showing of the Wicker Man a few days after the Barcelona production has the most vivid and effective of the martyrdom’s at the end of the film in which the victim calls for the salvation to his God as be burned to death within a large wicker framework filled with animals and produce. In this story the pagan response of the gypsy was to have a profound effect on all the principal characters.

Her daughter Azucena was a young girl with a child of her own in her arms and seeing the horror of her mother’s death and the entreaty to take revenge, managed to enter the castle of the Count and steal one of the brothers, a child of similar age to her own, intending to throw it into the still burning pyre on which her mother had perished. However in her emotional condition she had mixed up the two babies and thrown her own child which was also burnt alive, bringing up the son of the Count as her own. However throughout the rest of her life she remains uncertain of what she did, except that she was responsible for the burning to death of a baby.

There are different views on this aspect of the story with some writing claming that the libretto was written with a view that knowing what she had done she would use her son one day against his House, although the Count dies and his other son the Count is not sure if it was his brothers bones in the ashes or the boy was raised by the gypsies. It was interesting to see Dolora reprise her role after two decades and as anticipated she never fails to provide a technically perfect performance with great emotional acting. As with the other production all four principal characters are given several opportunities to come to the fore and in this instance it was the performance of Dmitri Hvorostovsky as Count Di Luna which proved the great crowd pleaser.

Dmitri had starred earlier in the season as Don Carlo which I had intended to experience but missed. Born and trained in Russia he came to the fore after winning the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. A tall man with striking silver hair, once seen and heard he is not forgotten.

After this long singing soliloquy of a prologue accompanied by a chorus of the guard, then advise the audience that the opera is to begin.

Most writers admit the melodramatic story has its flaws and none more so that than what happens to the infant that lived and was raised by the gypsy woman, Manrico, who as soon as he is able to, despite a close relationship with his mother, leaves her to become a Troubadour, and somehow as well as a soldier who takes up the cause of a rival Noble House and becomes for the purposes of the opera, a leading if not leading assistant on behalf of the House against the Count di Luna. What is worse he has fought and sung his way into the heart of the Duchess Lenora, who the Count coverts with overwhelming passion. When the Count di Luna learns that the man is singing below the balcony of Leonora he orders his men to apprehend Manrico at the first opportunity.

Having been alerted to his presence one night the Duke approaches and suddenly finds Leonora in his arms who in the fog mistakes him for Manrico who also appears and the three are together on stage with musical as well as dramatic fireworks. In the stage directions the men fight a duel but this aspect is omitted in the versions of the opera I have seen.

The Act ends and with a brief musical introduction the next act begins with a gypsy encampment. The gypsies are working on sword making and the audience is treated to one of the well loved choruses in opera, The Anvil Chorus. The Act provides the opportunity to recount the past to her son so having had the perspective oft he Captain of the Guard we now have that of the daughter. She has been hiding in the land of the House of Biscay but came out to find her son and to nurse him back to health after finding him injured from the recent battle between the forces of Biscay and Aragon. Understandably the account of the past raises doubt about the parentage of Manrico and when he raises these Azucena pulls back and claims that she explained things badly because of her emotional state reliving the trauma.

It is his ‘mother’s’ turn to question Manrico because we learn that in the duel at the end of Act 1 he had got the better of the Count di Luna who had led the forces of Aragon in the recent battle. The gypsy woman wants to know why Manrico did not kill the Count when he had the opportunity and he explains that a voice from heaven prevented him doing so, thus suggesting a subconscious kinship link between the two.

A messenger arrives from the Prince of Biscay to order Manrico to take charge of the forces defending the city of Castellor and we also learn that Leonora believing him dead has entered a convent to take the veil.

The scene switches to the Count who has also heard that Leonora has entered the convent and he sets out to kidnap her before she takes the Holy Orders. However before he can implement his plan Marico arrives with greater forces and Leonora amazed that he is alive leaves the convent to join him and there is a moving end to this part of the opera before the only interval as the three express their feelings with the support of the chorus of nuns and military supporters.

At the end of the second act and commencement of the Interval Renée Fleming interviewed Sondra Radvanovsky who played Leonora and Marcelo Alvarez who played Manrico. The two have performed together several times before and enjoy the relationship. However what struck me is despite taking into account that people fall for each other for irrational reasons that most women given a choice between the two men involved would go for the Count, tall, handsome, wealthy and oozing personality whereas Manrico is overweight with a tinge of wetness about him and comparatively poor! Oh I am being so unfair.

Sondra was born and bred in the USA and is now in her early forties having been developed as a young artist by the Metropolitan I have little information except that she also performed with Alvarez in Don Carlo, He on the other hand has an extensive repertoire of 29 roles since commencing his professional career in leading roles in 1994, born in Argentina in 1962 and is highly regarded as a leading tenor.

Renée interviewed Dolora and Demitri after 15 minute break when you could sit in and watch someone doing some work on scenery or got for a natural break and in my case out to the car to eat a prepared prawn salad and drink a diet Pepsi.

The Third Act opens with the Count laying siege to Castellor where Manrico has taken Leonora with him. There is a commotion and the Count finds that the Captain of his guard has apprehended a gipsy woman who proclaims she is a wanderer looking for her lost son. She is recognised as the woman who took his brother and cast him to the flames and protesting her innocence she calls out to her son by name. Understandably the Count realises that he has double reason to hold the woman prisoner and to burn her at the stake when she has served her purpose.

While in the relay production the woman is played by a singer of similar years, in the Met film this was Krijick’s first role at the Met and she had to age herself by a grey wig and makeup. “Her voice had not matured to extent of the AIDA performance but is nevertheless magnificent” I wrote at the time. The emotion she coveys is extraordinary and marks her as one of the all time greats. “As with AIDA I hope she reprises her role in Il Trovatore in some relayed production in the future.” Well she did wow, and she was great along with Dmitri.

In Castellor Manrico and Leonora are about to be married when news comes of the capture of his mother and breaks off from the ceremony to try and rescue her. “I was not impressed by the performance of Marco Berti as Manrico, something shared by Jose M Irurzun who attended a number of performances to hear the performances of all the International singers taking the roles with in effect three different casts, although there was some cross overs. I also noted that other critics had felt that his singing and characterization has not lived up to expectations in others roles around the world.”

In the fourth act we learn that his attempt to save his mother failed and he has been captured and thrown into a cell in a prison tower with his mother. Leonora learns of his situation and puts into operation a desperate plan to save his life at the expense of her own. She carries with her a poison ring which indicates what is to take place when she offers herself to the Count in exchange for Marico.

She alerts Manrico of her presence by what has become one of the most familiar most familiar melodies in all of opera, the Miserere.

The plan works in that the Count agrees to free Manrico in exchange for Leonora but Manrico does no accept his release and works out the price Leonora appears to have paid, something he does not understand or forgive until the poison works quicker than anticipated and she dies in his arms. The Count is so angered at being duped that he orders the immediate execution of Manrico and too late he learns from Azucena that he has killed his long lost brother. Everyone loses. Before there is some moving sing from all four leads with Aucena’s cry, Mother you are avenged.

“In the relay Barcelona Leonora is played by Florenza Cedolins one of the outstanding new generation of Italian sopranos who first performed only in 1992 and four years later won the Pavarotti Vocal Competition with a prize which included singing Tosca with him in Philadelphia. She was invited to sing The Requiem Mass for Pope John Paul II. I thought her performance on the night was also exceptional and matching that of D’Intinio. For the Met Eva Marton sings Leonora. The Hungarian born singer only four year younger that myself was of matching maturity with Pavarotti when they and together in 1988 and brings her then musical and singing experience to the role. She possesses great power in her voice which led to singing Wagner which was her Met debut in 1976. She performed Il Trovatore at La Scala in 1978 ten years before the Met performance with Pavarotti. In later years she made Turandot a major role, retiring in 2008

Enrico Caruso stated at the turn of the last century that the opera required four the greatest voices of any generation to match the strength and brilliance of Verdi’s creation. This statement was repeated by Renée Fleming in her introduction.

The response of the full house audience at Bolden was mixed with the husband/companion of one woman to one side appearing irritated by the ending and departing as soon as the opera ended. The woman remained to enjoy ecstatic applause in the auditorium. There was a double curtain call restricted to the principals. In terms of good tunes the Opera is second only to Carmen.

Carmen in 3 D March 2011

Two weeks ago while quickly going through the Daily Telegraph I noticed an advertisement for the showing in 3 D of the Royal Opera House production of Bizet’s opera Carmen. Because it is a film there were several showings at the Cineworld and Odeon chains as well as some independent cinemas. I chose an evening performance at a Cineworld buying tickets on line only to learn that the seating would be allocated on a first come first served basis. In fact there were only a dozen others and we could spread ourselves out in space for over 100.

I hoped it was the same production I had previously seen at an Odeon relay last June during one of my visits to London. That production was remarkable because of the credibility of all four principals with Christine Price as Carmen extraordinary because of her ability to change her facial appearance and physical body according to the aspects of character she is portraying. She appears to be exceptionally private about her background in that apart from learning she was born and raised in Manchester, read physics at Balliol Oxford and then studied at the Royal Northern College of Music before joining Covent garden and progressing from playing parts to lead roles just in the past couple of years.

Bryan Hymel plays Don Jose and he is another brilliant comparative young singer, born and raised in New Orleans he won a competition at the age of 19 and then became the youngest grand finalist in the Metropolitan National Council Auditions aged 20. He is now 30.

Also impressive for her characterisation as well as singing performance was Maija Kovalevska as Micaela. Although she has performed as Mimi in the 2006 Metropolitan opera production of La Boheme I have no other information about her roles until participating in Carmen and its 3D filming.

The fourth first class performance was that of Aris Argiris in the role of the bull fighting Matador Escamilla. This was his debut role as a principal at the age of 35 with six performances at the Opera House last June, including the live relay.

The strength of the performances, the great music with non stop tunes with only brief in between bits, the exciting Spanish gypsy dancing and the spectacle of the Bullfight march makes the opera a visual treat but I wondered if the 3D effects would be off putting. I had been looking forward to seeing a show in 3D since experiencing the World Cup Final last summer and noting that while there was some opportunity to show off the perspectives within the theatre and on stage, the bringing things out into the auditorium was limited. I was not disappointed with the visual treats being restricted to the procession and the first act changing of the guard and shift ending of the cigarette factory girls. A feature of the Royal opera House production was the inclusion of a Choir school chorus who mimicked the changing of the guard, and another feature was the strength of the chorus in general. The sound of the film production was a little on the loud and took some initial adjusting but the overall impact was mind blowing and emotionally satisfying providing the best views and close ups. The cost was modest providing an wonderful inexpensive evening at a fraction of what attendance at the Opera House involves with seats in the £100-£900 price range although are a few restricted view or in the Gods for less.

I have known the music and story of Bizet’s Carmen since being taken by the aunties to a touring production in Croydon during my childhood. My next encounter with the brazen and raunchy Spanish gypsy was with the film Carmen Jones. A few years ago I made video’s of three short versions each 90 mins. I have a bought within the last decade CD but I cannot remember attending another live production until a Saturday in January 2010 when beforehand I also watched and listened to a download from the Metropolitan Opera New York, because up until lunchtime I was unsure if my cough would improve sufficiently to attend the relay at the Tyneside Picture theatre in Newcastle.

In the morning I watched the only video version on the Metropolitan Opera i player reading the available information beforehand. As with many works when the opera opened in Paris is was denounced by the majority of the critics and there was a move to end its run in the first week, but survived the attacks to complete 48 performances. The young composer then died a few months later aged 37 unaware that the opera was to be hailed a triumph when it was performed in Austria later in the year but after which only gradually became one of the most popular and best loved operas around the world.

The opera is set in Seville, Spain in 1830 where Michaela a village maiden comes to the city to find her fiancée Don Jose, a corporal working at the Guard House but is yet to come on shift. She is approached by the soldiers and runs away to turn later. Don Jose arrives with the change of guard whose ritual is imitated by street children, thus providing opportunity for talented youngsters from stage schools to appear in a major opera production. He is dedicated soldier eager to impress and be a credit to his mother who lives in the same village as Micaela. The couple appear to be well suited and devoted to each other.

Don Jose’s period of duty coincides with the emergence of women from the cigarette factory for smoking break where they are greeted by their admirers. Last to emerge is Carmen, a beautiful young gypsy woman with a reputation for taking lovers but discarding them as quickly if they do not live up to her expectations or if she finds someone who interests her more. She likes to be the centre of attention and reacts when Don Jose shows no interest in her. When they return to work Micaela arrives with a letter from the mother of Don Jose and before they part it is agreed that they will marry soon.

After she has left there are cries with the factory and Carmen and been fighting another worker. The officer of the watch arrests Carmen and places her in the custody of Don Jose while he writes a warrant for her to be conveyed to prison. Carmen makes a play for Don Jose, offering herself and he unties her hands so with the help of the other girls she is able to escape when the officer returns with the completed warrant, This is sufficient for Don Jose to be punished by being restricted to barracks. This ends the first act.

A month has passed when Act 2 opens and Carmen and her friends sing and dance at an Inn where the customers include the officer of Don Jose’s watch and he invites Carmen and her friends to go with him to the theatre. She is committed to Don Jose who she knows was released the previous day. The Bullfighters are in town and the most famous is Escamillo the Matador who flirts with Carmen after singing the famous Toreador(collective description for all classes of bullfighters) song. Carmen does not reject him outright saying he should not dream of being hers, with the caveat for the time being.

Then smugglers arrive trying to enlist Carmen and the other girls to participate in the selling of contraband they have smuggled from Gibraltar. Carmen rejects the offer startling everyone by saying she is love. I know something about smuggling and Gibraltar because when my birth and care mothers, their sisters and brothers were growing up before during and immediately after the First World War smuggling was practiced by almost the entire resident population of Gibraltar and the equal number of Spanish workers who crossed back and forth across border with Spain every day. Certainly one of the uncles was able to run about the rock in a chauffer driven car from the early gambling slot machines and the smuggling which he encouraged several of his sisters to participate in. Then it was citizens black economy more than hierarchical organised crime which came with the trade in illegal drugs in the last quarter of the 20th century.

The other aspect worth mentioning is that Spain was and remains, but to less extent, a country where Roman Catholicism is the religion of the overwhelming majority with pre war the then the peasant and lower middle class population practicing a simple and devout religion and where the Spanish practised a social code where unmarried women would not be left in the presence of males who were not relatives without a chaperon. Carmen would have been exceptional, even among Gypsy women.

Jose enters the opera again before the smugglers leave and they urge her to bring him along on the enterprise. Jose returns the gold coin she sent him while in custody and she orders fruit and wine to celebrate his releases and dances with her friends for him. All appears well until the retreat is sounded for the soldiers to return to barracks and Jose makes to go off. This is not what Carmen wants and alleges that Jose does not love her. He responds with the Flower song showing that he kept the flower which she also sent to him in jail. She begs him to leave the army and enjoy the freedom which experiences. Just when it looks that he will not desert his officer arrives in search of Carmen and Jose draws his sword but before they can fight the smugglers re-enter and disarm them and the officer is made a prisoner. Everyone including the Don Jose is forced to then flee or be imprisoned.

This is when the interval usually takes placed. The third Act is described as a wild and deserted rocky place where the smugglers are travelling with the contraband and Carmen has already tired of her latest lover because he is at heart a village lad. The gypsy women read the cards and then Carmen looks for her future and that of Don Jose and the cards foretell that they both will have premature death. The role of the girls is to charm the customs officers and they leave Jose to guard the contraband. This provides the opportunity for Micaela to reappear having followed in search of her fiancée and is determined to take Jose away from the influence of Carmen. Then Escamillo the Matador also arrives in search of Carmen and he tells Don Jose that the gypsy has become infatuated with a soldier, not realising that Jose was the man. Jose still jealous because of Carmen’s behaviour towards him challenges the bullfight, but the man resists until provoked further when he disarms the soldier, leaving him saying his trade is to kill bulls, not men. Don Jose starts to fight again but the Smugglers return and disarm Jose. The Bullfighter invites them to attend his next bullfight in Seville.

In the fourth Act the scene is outside the bullring on the opening day of the latest contest. This provides the opportunity for the full procession of the bullfighters and leading personalities of the town to march in procession, the cuidrilla. I have attended one Bullfight in Barcelona, leaving at half time because I seen enough of the ritual slaughter of the bulls. My prejudices were more than confirmed because the various levels of fighter are given every possible protection and bulls are medicated to ensure while they put up a performance they offer little risk as they ceremonial tortured to death. Their is no honour in the activity which is worse than fox hunting. There are three matadors who each fight two bulls and each has six assistants, two Picadores, men on padded horses who pick at the bulls with lancers, three Banderilleros who stick pointed sticks into the bull and the sword holder who hands the killing weapon to the Matador when the bull is ready for the kill. The group procession into the arena where they salute the presiding dignitaries who are accompanied by the social dignitaries of then town and visiting celebrities, friends and families of the bullfighters. The costumes are flamboyant. The so called fight has thee stages where the bull is tested by use of the cape by the Matador and his walking assistants. The second stage is those on horses and where until the 1930 when the padding was introduced more horses were killed by the bulls than the bulls themselves. The purpose is to disable the bull to reduce the danger in the final stage. At this stage the banderilleros each attempt to plant two of pointed sticks into the shoulders of the bull. There is a loss of blood from these attacks. Finally the matador enters With the sword hidden in the cape. The whole notion of red the flag to a bull is nonsense as bulls are colour blind and the use of red is to mask the flow of blood from the wounded bull.

The crowd then participate by signalling their approval or disapproval of the performance by waving of white handkerchiefs in which instance the Matador may be reward by one or two of the bulls ears and in some areas with the tail for an exceptional performance. Equally if the crowd like the bull they will call for its life to be saved in which instance it returns to its ranch to stud and does not participation in any further bullfight. This crowd participation is reminiscent of the Roman crowd and the gladiatorial contests.

There are bull fights where the bull is not physically injured and where the tem are dressed normally and where performs are aerobatic without the use of the cape. The men work as a teams without the status distinctions and compete for points against the other teams. There are variations in different countries, Portugal where is now illegal to kill the bull in an arena, France and in Latin America.

There was marked difference in how the procession was treated in the 1997 and 2010 Metropolitan productions. In 1997 the participants were in their full historical finery with the Picadores astride real horses whereas on Saturday the approach was to wear casual clothes, no horses and no visible instruments of torture and death. The emphasis was on raunchy sex instead and more on that in a moment. The procession provide the opportunity for a second appearance of the street children and everyone leaves the stage for the closing moments. In the 1997 production Carmen is transformed into a Spanish lady and consort of Escamillo. Before she enters the stadium she is told that Don Jose has also come to the city and her friends warn her to be on her guard. Carmen being Carmen and aware of what the cards foretold goes in search of her former lover to persuade him to let her go. She was born free and wishes to remain free. Don Jose pleads with her in one of the most moving solos in all opera. Carmen maintain her position and tell him to kill her or let her go. In his desperation, jealousy and hate he kills her but is then horrified by what he has done and he makes no attempt to flee before he is apprehended knowing his life has also ended.

The opera had been performed and recorded by all the great opera singers with in my life time Victoria de los Angeles, Maria Callas, Leontyne Price, Grace Bumbry Marilyne Horner, Jessye Norman and Angela Gheorghiu, together with Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, More recently the role of Don Jose has been made his own by Roberto Alagna until recently the husband of Angela Gheorghiu who made a recording together in 2003. In 1997 Angela played the part of Micaela and was to have returned to Met as Carmen in this year’s production with her husband in the role of Don Jose. They have now parted and Angela withdrew from the production as a consequence.

Because of my uncertainty the decision to watch the 1997 production did not reduced the impact of 2010 performance in the evening. Carmen was played in 1997 by Waltraud Meir the international German Soprano and mezzo soprano who although 46 at the time had a reputation as an actress performer and was very convincing as an experience woman with many previous lovers who could attract the attention of most men she encountered and confidently expected to remain in control of the relationship for as long as she wished. I once visited a tourist nightclub in Athens in Greece at which the female singer had perfected the art of getting all the men to focus on her irrespective of whether they were there with their partners and regardless of the feelings of the partners. She selected a victim to pretend to flirt and seduce and then discards leaving him looking foolish. Sitting at the same table was a well built mature German gentleman, with his equally formidable looking wife and the actress singer made a bee line to attract his interest as soon as she noted his indifference which from my perspective bordered on contempt and she tried to engage his attention more than once but she was ignored which only appeared to make her more determined.

Whereas in the 2010 production Carmen, Elina Garanca performed this role in very physical way, Meir’s performance was achieved by looks and gestures. Elina is a younger performer with a sexy voice as well as body, in part achieved from being a mezzo-soprano, born 1976 in Latvia.

Placido Domingo remains the most outstanding operatic performer of his generation from what I have experienced todate and this includes Pavarotti but not Carreras who I am yet to see in a full operatic role. It is the number and range of the roles undertaken that impresses together with his constant ability to communicate the deepest emotions and role credibility even when there is a mismatch between his actual age and that of the part. However in terms of Carmen, Roberto Alagna, born Paris of a Sicilian family takes the honours because he is more convincing as a young man from a Spanish village out of his depths when confronted by a woman such as Carmen. In part this was because of differences in the production with that of 1997 putting the emphasis Done Jose strutting confidently around in an impressive uniform whether as a soldier or Smuggler. Both were brilliant at communication their desperation at being reject by Carmen for Escamillo at the end. The role of Micaela is a difficult one because while a chaste girl from the village she has to cope with the advances of the soldiers at the city guard house and also be able to travel on her own in search of her fiancée all the way from Servile to Gibraltar in the days before public transport where travel would have been by donkey if not on foot. In 1997 the role was performed by Gheorghiu.

The other observation to be made that while Carmen is full of glorious music it does not have the same power as Il Travatore, or Butterfly for dramatic moments but continues to stand alongside Aida from those seen in relay with only Turandot lacking the overall impact of the others.

Having made these comparisons in the early part of 2010, the Royal Opera House production is superior to the Metropolitan in the homogeneity of the principals with the voices and physical appearances being so appropriate and the acting characterization of the highest order. I say this having only recently also seen the 2010 Metropolitan opera production again when it appears on Sky Arts channel.

The 3D confirmed my anticipation that would be become the medium by which elders like me could continue to experience the reality of live performances without the travelling discomforts or the excessive costs. The poor attendance could prove a discouragement to the cost of making programmes though.

Madam Butterfly revisisted 2010 and 2011

I do not understand that I repeated my earlier review but I watched a film of the 2009 related in october 2010 and again in March 2011, two years after the first viewing.

It is about ten years since I have experienced opera live, making special visit to the Opera House in Leeds for a performance of the Magic Flute. I cannot say that cost has prevented or lack of opportunity as Opera North, based in Leeds, performs regularly at the Theatre Royal in Newcastle and by coincidence the summer programme arrived in the post on Friday for the Theatre, revealing that three works are to be performed in English in June with prices from £35-£50, although in fact none of works appeal.

For the past three months Cineworld cinemas has relayed performances from the Metropolitan Opera House of New York at six pm on a Saturday evening, and when I saw that there was to be a Performance of Madam Butterfly on the weekend of my three years and ten I decided to book a seat and attend without knowing what to expect from the relay although by coincidence I had seen a full performance of the opera on a satellite TV channel within the past year and switched on the radio earlier in the week as an established artist sang a few lines of “one fine Day” talk a little about the opera and her role in the led and sang a few lines more, it was an auspicious omen.

Although booking six weeks beforehand the available seat was in the first row of auditorium banking with four rows in front after a wide space on the same level. Although not ideal therefore there was plenty of room to stretch legs and with the relay in High Definition there was no strain from the proximity to the screen. All seats were sold.

Before talking about the performance I must mention the nature of the relay where there was a sound connection to the Opera House before visual so one could hear the arrival of the patrons with their combined chatter and orchestra tuning up and then with a couple minutes to we looked on to the stage with a small countdown clock to the lower right hand corner. This was repeated during then two intervals for their middle section of 15 mins, either side of which there were behind the scenes interviews and films related to the opera and others to come and in the planned season for next Winter of nine relays The performance time is about 145 minutes plus the two half an hour intervals.

The short interviews included Cio Cio Patricia Racette, Maria Zifchak as Suzuki, the maid, and Marcello Giordani as Pinkerton and the widow of Mr Minghella as well as excerpts from an interview with Anthony about the production. All this together with subtitles and close ups as well as full stage shots created a memorable theatrical experience to what was an emotionally overwhelming experience because of the depth of acting and singing, the like of which I have not previously encountered.

The Metropolitan Association of New York was formed in 1880 and has become the biggest classical music organisation in the USA with over 200 performances a year. The Present Opera House, created in 1966 has one of the biggest stages and an auditorium with 3800 seats and is one of twelve cultural organisations which form the Lincoln Arts centre for Performing art. Because of the height of the stage it is not possible to show sub title translations as in the practice of many establishments so the solutions has been to create a small screen version before each seat which can be switched on or off and is designed not disturb those in adjacent seats. In addition to English the titles are available in French, Spanish, Italian and German depending on the opera and performance language

Luciano Pavarotti achieved world fame singing at the Met along with Placido Domingo and Renee Flemming who hosted the evening telecast.

Since 1931 it has broadcast a performance live each week and on TV on a regular basis since 1977. In 2006 the Opera commenced the Satellite transmission of live opera four times a week and then HD quality performance to cinemas throughout the world including the UK, the Far East and Australia. Although each production costs $1 million dollars to transmit such as been the interest in the live TV showings that there are more seats sold for these than for live performances at the theatre and the income generated now adds to that of the Opera House. Basic ticket prices range for $10 dollars to $375 for the average performance although up to £650 for a long Wagner, There are handling charges and house maintenance charges to these. It is now possible to listen to radio broadcasts direct for the Met, there is one tonight available on the internet. It is also possible to take out an annual, six monthly or monthly subscription to be able see on line 150 previous productions going back half a century on an unlimited basis, or pay to see individual works, including some of those recently shown on HD.

A major development during my lifetime is the open stage on which the performers are secreted or appear during the second that the auditorium and stage is cast in total darkness. Gone is the solid fire safety “curtain” and swing across curtains. For Butterfly, as the orchestra played an overture, Minghella adopted blackness and then a young dancer/mime artist, representing Butterfly, the young Geisha girl, came down stairs from the back of the theatre to create the illusion of a hill with black clothed and veiled mime artists in attendance unravelling swathes of cloth from around her waist and also introducing the use of puppets, and in particular the use of a puppet to represent the subsequent three year old son of Cio Cio San.

The story of Butterfly is one of the best known of all Opera’s along with Bizet’s Carmen and which because of the Spanish setting was the first to which I was introduced by my birth mother who also introduced to Swan Lake, the Tchaikovsky Ballet.

Originally a short story by John Luther Long in 1898 it was made into a stage play by David Belasco It is understood the core events of the opera took place in Nagasaki in the early 1890’s. The original version of the opera was in two acts and opened at La Scala Milan in 1904. This was not a great success and Puccini re wrote as three acts and continued to make different versions, five in total with the last in 1907. It was first performed in England in 1905 and New York in 1906 in English.

Cio Cio San, is a fifteen year old innocent Japanese Geisha girl in the port city of Nagasaki who has been the older Lieutenant in the USA Navy on a visit, desires her but finds in order to have sexual relations he must agree to a marriage formally arranged by a local marriage broker and the American Consul. He hires a traditional Japanese house overlooking the harbour on a lease and agrees to participating in a wedding ceremony according to Japanese custom and which involves relatives and Geisha girl friends. The house is rented along with servants including a maid Suzuki, who Minghella has turned into the second important role, of even greater significance to Pinkerton.

Unlike the majority of the girls who understand the impact of being a Geisha on the rest of their lives, Suzuki comes from a wealthy family of standing who have fallen on hard time, and waiting in the wings is a young Japanese warrior of good birth wanting to marry her. The American Consul , the marriage broker and Pinkerton are all aware that the wedding ceremony is a façade to enable him to enjoy the experience of the young woman while he is in port, and that whatever he says or promises he has no intention of returning or establishing a permanent relationship. He admits his love em and leave him, a girl in every port, approach, the Consul who warns, from his knowledge of the girl that she is likely to put all her trust in him and take the marriage seriously. Pinkerton notes that the contract can be terminated by him at any time without notice or penalty. To appreciate the situation it is important to appreciate the cultural and language divide between the two, and the role of the Geisha in Japanese society at that time.

A major in ingredient to the first act is that Madam Butterfly as she has become is that in order to adapt and fit into her husband’s life she has gone to the local mission to become a Christian thus alienating herself for her uncle, the Bonze(Buddhist Monk) who is also one of her uncles and from her other relatives. This is where Suzuki quickly becomes her confident, mother figure and ally. Cio Cio San has had some education and on being told that she is as beautiful as a butterfly by Pinkerton she responds from knowledge that some men in the West collect Butterflies destroy Butterflies to which Pinkerton explains that they do pin them so as to stop them flying away.

Minghella has divided the second act into two parts, which the usual way the Opera is presented in order to achieve maximum dramatic effect. In the first part of the second act three years have passed and Butterfly has remained constant in love and expectation that what he said about returning was truthful and she spends time taking note of the arrivals in the port from her vantage point in the hillside. Suzuki is loyal but sceptical and tries to help her to be more realistic especially as their money begins to run out. The marriage broker brings the young warrior who wants to marry her despite the relationship she has had with the American. She sends them both away.

Pinkerton’s ship returns and she is full of expectations and commences to make preparations and the Consul arrives with a letter which queries whether Butterfly remembers him and which goes on to explain that he has married and American girl and therefore will not be in a position to see her. Such is her enthusiasm and expectation that the Consul is unable to explain this, especially when Butterfly introduces him to her son of three years. The consul goes off to inform Pinkerton that he has a mixed race looking son. The two women and the boy sit overlooking the harbour and roadway up the hill for the arrival of the husband, accompanied by the humming chorus. Earlier in the this second part Butterfly has sung one of the most famous if not the most famous, arias of belief and hope, One Fine day “Un Bel di”

In the second part, Butterfly goes to bed having waited up all night and Pinkerton, his wife and the Consul arrive early to speak to the maid in the absence to ask her to break the new to Butterfly. Although devastated and heartbroken for her mistress Suzuki agrees, but when the child is seen and the position changes again with the decision to take the boy with them because of the better life which can be provided. Pinkerton consumed with guilt at what he has done cannot cope with the situation and goes off leaving his wife and the Consul talking with Suzuki but before they can leave Butterfly arrives and immediately senses correctly what is going on. She agrees to hand over the child on condition that Pinkerton comes in person for him. As he approaches she commit suicide using the knife which her father used, “to die with honour.”

The approach of Mr Mingella (who Directed Truly Madly Deeply1990 and won an Oscar for The English Patient 1996, and he Talented Mr Ripley 1999, also Produced Iris 2001, The Quiet American 2005, Michael Clayton 2007 and The Reader in 2008) was to encourage the singers to emphasise the emotional and dramatic, and as a consequence to pare down the set to essentials sot hat the focus is on the singers. This approach meant that those of us watching on screen with the close ups were at an advantage and able to appreciate the emotional involvement and depth of the principal performances. Dwayne Croft, a baritone, has sung 3000 performances in twenty productions for the Met was convincing as the diplomat, attempting to ensure Pinkerton understood what he was doing and showing great compassion for the plight of Butterfly. As Pinkerton, the Sicilian born Marcello Giordiani also commanded and impressed for his ability to communicate his role as an irresponsible paedophile who is confronted with the reality of his behaviour and exposed as a coward. Over the past twenty years he has created a repertoire of 40 of the great operas and has performed in the leading opera Houses in the world and in the United States. In 1994 he developed vocal problems which imperilled his career until he re-established himself after retraining his voice. He has sung of 170 performance with the Met.

For me the second outstanding performance of the evening was that of Maria Zifchak, mezzo soprano, who is a winner of the Metropolitan Young Performer award which led to her appearing as Mrs Pinkerton in a previous production of the opera at the Met in 2001. She is known to have played Suzuki for at least the past five and is scheduled to do so again during the rest of this year at other Opera houses in he USA and again in 2010. She communicated brilliantly the role of a servant who becomes a confident, supporter and protector of Butterfly, devastated by the course of the events. The interaction between her performance and the extraordinary Patricia Racette, who has surely now given the most emotional performance of any in the title role. She explained in interview that she gave over her life emotionally to her roles cutting herself off from everyone and she is reportedly known for dismissing those who want to discuss her performances and opera in technical terms, by asking them he question but how does it make you feel. She also joked about the difficulty of playing a girl half an age, when in fact she is 43/44, but all her movements and facial expression were that of such a young woman. In 2002 she made public her sexual orientation, marrying fellow opera diva Beth Clayton in 2005.
There are two other aspects of this extraordinary experience which I need to mention. I had reservations about the use of a puppet for the three year old tried. This was a decision taken early on by Mr Minghella because the use of a child of such a young age has always created a distraction for the singers. The cinema watchers throughout her world were able to see that the puppet was manipulated by three veiled mine artists dressed in black and veiled but in close we could that the showed on their faces the emotions they were attempting to communicate through the puppet. I was won over.
The widow of Anthony Minghella was also interviewed and was invited on stage for the curtain call. Dressed in black herself she added to the emotion of the evening. The curtain call was as stunning as the rest of the production with the performance appearing down the slope looking steps and they moved off stage as suddenly and slowly Madam Butterfly herself appeared, replicating what had happened during the overture and audience in the theatre rose up from their seats to greet her. At the cinema there had been a magnificent stunned silence when the opera ended and everyone stayed in their seats to enjoy the curtain calls. I thought out silence and our awe was more fitting an immediate response to that of the applause and cheers at of he Opera House, although I also thought that having recovered composure with many taking a handkerchief to their faces it would have also been good if we two had give a clap and a cheer where Ms Racette came forward.

I have an inexpensive 2 CD record of the opera and a single Long Play record of Madam Butterfly as well as full recording of Puccini’s Turandot with Placido Domingo and the orchestra conducted by Herbert Von Karajan as well as a recording of Bizet Carmen, as well as compilations of arias ranging from a 2 CD edition of the recordings of Beniamino Gigli to the three tenors and Maria Callas, but I have never previously been moved by an individual work or performance as I was on Saturday evening. I understood why some individuals spend their whole lives trying to capture and then repeat such an experience. It has taken me as close 70 years as is possible and to have done so once is a blessing.

Hamlet

I begin with the Opera Hamlet, and then the sporting events of Sunday and other TV viewing, then give an update on the opening of the County Cricket season with Durham playing a relatively unknown MCC side in Abu Dhabi where the use of a pink ball is being tested in this day night match, having also listened to the announcement of how expenses are to be controlled in the next Parliament.

For some reason I assumed that Hamlet is a modern opera similar to work such as Peter Grimes and Salome. It was quickly evident that this was music in the grand opera style and at the interval I learnt that the previous performance in New York had been a century ago. It was not until using the Internet did I discover that the work was created nearly 150 years ago by the French composer Ambroise Thomas, with a libretto by Michel Carre and Jules Barber based on a French adaptation of Shakespeare’s play by Alexandre Dumas.

The Opera is long, three hours, with five acts and one interval of half an hour between acts two and three. My first reaction was of excitement as about 100 chorus lined up as the court of Queen Gertrude of Denmark being crowned again as the new wife of Claudius, the new King following the death of his brother and with Hamlet noticeably absent. The King and Queen leave to prepare for the wedding banquet and Hamlet and Orphelie sings a love duet and then her brother Laerte entrusts the care of his sister to Hamlet while he is away in Norway. They go to the banquet but he declines. His friends Horatio and Marcellus tell soldiers they have seen the ghost of dead King and they look for Hamlet to recount their experience direct.

Hamlet is advised of the appearance of his father on the ramparts who then appears to Hamlet and tells his son he was poisoned by his brother. He seeks vengeance but asks that his widow be spared. Hamlet swears to carry out his father’s wishes.

My initial excitement that this was not a modern opera but one in grand style with the kind of powerful chorus expected from the Met and its full orchestra. However at the opera developed I was reminded of my reaction to Simon Boccanegra which had all the trappings of grand opera including some sumptuous sets but lacked the Wow factor. I have decided that for me there has to be power and moving solos and interactions which engage as in other forms of theatre and in through film. This is a powerful work and the introductions to each act merit at much attention as the singing. For me I have to admit there was something lacking.

The major difference between the Shakespeare play and the Opera is the role allocated to Orphelie. In the second Act she expresses concern at the sudden indifference of Hamlet towards her and his mother presses the young woman be patient and not leave the court. The mother believes she can help although she and her husband subsequently conclude that Hamlet has become disturbed and not himself. Hamlet engages some players to perform a creation of his devising in which the King in murdered by poisoning so the brother can gain the crown. The play has the desired effect with the King angry, especially when Hamlet takes the Crown from him Before the assembled court..

The Third Act commences with Hamlet musing, to be or not to be, and catches the King seeking death from remorse about what he has done, believing he will be condemned to hell. Hamlet is shocked to find that his father’s adviser, who is also Orphelie’s father, was in on the plot and this further affects Hamlet’s attitude towards his betrothed. He tells Orphelie to get herself to the nunnery and accuses his mother of the crime. As she cannot set the ghost she believes her son has become mad and he honouring what his father has said does not attempt to harm her.

The fourth act is devoted to Orphelie’s growing disturbance before she kills herself. In the last act, which commences with the two grave diggers Hamlet is confronted by the brother of Orphelie when unaware she has killed herself. When he realises what has happened he blames the King and the girl’s father rather than himself and kills the King, then dying from his wounds after fighting with Laerte.

Simon Keenlyside is a very intense and introspective actor appropriate for the part but lacks the ability to engage the audience and gain their sympathy for his predicament. He behaves outrageously towards Orphelie only he is responsible for her death and is just as bad a person, as the man who murdered his father. Marlis Petersen who plays Orphelie was only advised she was taking the role, and not as understudy a couple of days before the performance and she continued to complete her then current production until two days before opening, coached about the role at a distance and limited opportunity to get to know the other principles, to rehearse with them and to find her way around the Opera House. She was impressive as is James Morris as Claudius.

I was impressed but did not come away with a memorable experience alongside those of Butterfly, Carmen, Aida, Il Travatore and La Traviata, or the Met Productions of La Boheme and Pagliacci seen and heard on the Met Player. There was a club like atmosphere with the auditorium with people talking to each other. There was a discussion about Cineworld disappointment and the recent commencement of showings from Convent Garden and Glynebourne. I advised about the Odeon development and someone mentioned that the full list of showings for next season ahd been announced with 11 productions and these were mentioned during the interval. The Film Theatre has also confirmed taking a contract. The new season opens with Wagner’s Das Rheingold October 9th and I shall also look forward to Verdi’s Don Carlo in December Il Travatore in April with Delora Zikick a year in April and Wagner’s Die Walkure in May. I have an open mind about Placido Domingo in Gluck’s Iphigenie en Tauride which I will want to find out more and also Puccini’s La Fancuilla Del West. I must sort out what is happening at Cineworld and Odeon’s over the rest of this year.

Today the chairman and interim chief executive of the new independent unit for the payment of MP salaries and their expenses announced their decisions, laid before Parliament with immediate effect for the new Parliament. The only media criticism appeared to be the decision to allow one connected person, not just relatives, to be employed and paid for from public funds. The approach seemed to be reasonable and the individual and combined other changes likely to discourage some good people from seeking election as well as discouraging those who had previously exploited the system. The big change is that there is no payment of allowances, only payment of expenses following submission of receipts. Everything will then be published on line with immediate effect. The new body will nor authorise new leaving Parliament resettlement grants which will have be sorted along with pay and pensions and for which the new body is responsible for setting. There also remains the issue of a compliance office which at the moment the Commons appears to be against because it would remove the present role of their present committee to a significant extent.

The main sporting event on Saturday and Sunday was the second Formula 1 race in Australia and what I saw it proved a much better race than the first although the main issue was when to pit to change from the practice tyres.

It was the decision of Jenson Button, who had started 4th , to pit when he did, and change to dry weather slick tyres despite the threat of rain which made his car faster than competitors and when Vettel for the second race in succession had to retire from his pole and leading position this let Jenson into the lead which he then did not look likely to lose. His team mate and former World Champion did not do as well and appeared put out by the success of his newly appointed team mate. He had started only in 11th and moved through the field well but when challenging Alonso for fourth he was involved with a collision with Red Bull Mark Webber and finished 6th. He blamed the team tactics. After two races Button is third and Hamilton fourth in the diver’s championship. Their team are now second in the constructors championship with Ferrari already showing the way with their two cars occupying the first two places in the race.

I enjoyed Lark Rise to Candleford more this Sunday than last where Laura had become preoccupied with the competing intentions of her former beau who has returned to the area, and her educated reporter fiancée. This week the future of teh post office was under threat but the community rallied around and the post mistress used her knowledge and connection to thwart the threat.

I have decided that there are three good performers and one outstanding in America has got talent this year, the outstanding is Crystal Bowersox who reminds strongly of Janice Joplin. She is a single mother and has a twin brother via her father who has been seen on camera but not in the audience so there is something of a backstory yet to be disclosed.

The greater part of Monday was spent listening to BBC Radio Wear’s commentary from Abu Dhabi where they were meeting an MCC team in a four day championship style event with teh twist of a afternoon and evening game under floodlights using the new pink ball considered better to see and better wearing that the white. The pitch was described as flat and the heat intense so whoever won the toss would have the chance of batting long and wearing out the fielding team. Durham won this important toss and ended the day 329 for three wickets with the magnificent Di Venuto starting when he left off last season and making 131 before being stumped. Coetzer who knows he will have to fight to keep his place in championship games was cautious but ended the day not out 123. Blenkenstein had looked promising bowled when 41 and Ian Blackwell started well with 13 when the day ended.

There were several ways to tune into commentary via the BBC sports, the ESPN Cricket information site and the Durham Club who also have a live comment chat line in operation for the first time. There were also long and interesting chats during the day with the Chairman of MCC, the Chairman of Durham, Geoff Boycott and Durham bowlers Mathew Claydon and Steve Harmison. It was disclosed that Abe Morkel the South African is to return for the 20 20 and hopefully redeem his first involvement two years ago. New Zealand big hitting batsman is likely to be the second overseas player but this has not been confirmed.

Sunderland, as expected failed miserably at Anfield where they have not scored a goal in the Premiership and usually lose. The result was 3.0 to home side. The gap between Sunderland and the third relegation spot is only 8 points with Hull having a game in hand so two losses and two wins to Hull could see the positions reversed. Newcastle tonight appeared determined to move towards guaranteeing their Premiership status next season before the end of Easter. Notts Forest in third place battle hard but their poor away form continued although they remain in third position. Notts Forest have to win all their remaining six games to finish with 88 points. Two wins from Newcastle’s remaining seven games and Notts Forest cannot catch them. Cardiff would have to win all seven games and Newcastle lose all their to end the season with the same number of points, but given even if this happened Newcastle would have lose their goal difference advantage of 29 to be forced into the playoffs. In fact the next home game on Easter Monday could see Newcastle’s return to the premiership, although if they win away on Saturday and Notts Forest lose, also away, they would become certainties with 86 points achieved and Forest only a possible 85. Monday’s game is also being televised.

1900 part three La Boheme at Convent Garden and Metropolitan Opera House

The day had commenced in sunshine but was cold and wet when left the cinema about 17.30 and I made the instant decision to see if there was a train to Wimbledon from the nearby station. A sign said platform 3 Wimbledon and Waterloo so I went to the ticket office where two assistants were explaining routes to someone before me. When I heard an announcement that a train was on its way I explained my interest and another window was opened, the ticket issued and the train reached the platform the same time as me, I have no sense of directions at times and was surprised when the train went to Norbiton and back to New Malden before reaching Wimbledon railway station which is close to the separate Underground station.

I have been to the Odeon Cinema before, by car, but I had no recollection of where the cinema is located in terms of the two stations and in fact I went in the opposite direction, After asking directions I passed a fast food restaurant and considered having some food there but thought it was better to reach the cinema first. I went into the small foyer entrance, inserted the credit card and obtained the ticket and then went to the Coal Grill next door and was allocated a seat opposite Morrison’s supermarket above which was the David LLoyd Gym which could be reached from the upper floor of cinema with customers working hard overlooking the small street market and me. I enjoyed a Whitebait starter followed by a quarter of a small chicken, some coleslaw and chips for £7.50 plus a very expensive diet coke.

I arrived in the theatre for the opera with less than 15 minutes to spare and at first it looked as if the audience would be sparse and in fact by the time performance got underway everyone was crowded into the area allocated as premium seats, which was larger than that at the Odeon’s attended in London, Mansfield and Kingston this year. I spent the first half uncomfortable sandwiched between a Canadian who knew of the Met Relay and who had been to the Royal Opera House when it was possible to pay only a few pounds to sit high up in the side seats. During the 20 minute interval I had a walkabout and then sat in a less expensive aisle seat towards the front and had an improved quality of experience. Hopefully there will be not such a crowd for the Met Hamlet relay on Saturday in Newcastle. The cinema also appears not to have adjusted to the opportunity to sell wine, chocolates crisps and nuts and one had to leave the main area of auditorium to go into the entrance concourse for ice creams and the usual cinema fare.

The main disappointment was that it was not a live relay but a film with interval. There was also a delayed start and one person was heard to complain during the interval that she had been told the start was delayed until 7.45 and had missed the greater part of the first act and which includes the well known Your tiny hand is frozen.

The opera is one of the most performed of all but overall is more lighted hearted with comic moments than Puccini’s other great work Madam Butterfly and the other grand works in general. It is the story of a group of four bohemians in Paris in 1870’s- a poet, a painter, a musician and a philosopher. It was the first live relay from the Met in 1977 with Luciano Pavarotti as Rodolfo the poet. In the Covent Garden production the part was played by Teodor Ilincai who just before Christmas 2009 was called upon to take over from the performing tenor at the interval who was overcome with a cold. The Romanian Tenor has a soft and gentle voice, appropriate for a starving poet in a cold Parisian Garrett whereas Pavarotti brings the tingles to the spine but is always the master performer and never a struggling bohemian. There is a similar contrast between the performances of Hibla Gerzmava at the Royal Opera House in 2010 and the already aging Renata Scotto in 1977. Hibla is Russian and her voice has been described as clear and focussed with power and she made an important contribution the production without dominating it so that the lasting impressions were made by Musetta (Inna Dukach) and Gabriele Viviani as Marcello the Painter.

By the time of the 1977 performance the Italian Renata was in her prime and she went on to Direct a number of operas including the Met which had become her established Opera House when she married and settled in the area with her family. She once had the experience of performing with Maria Callas in the audience and a few in the audience calling for Calls while Renata was singing. Intolerable behaviour even for the emotional and expressive Italians. This is difficult to understand for she had one on the finest of voices and was a good match for Pavarotti.

The plot is well known. Two of the bohemians debate whether to burn the current painting or writing for warmth. Their friends arrive celebrating that Schaunard, the musician, has earned money playing for an eccentric Englishman’s dying parrot. After he had played for three days he poisoned the parrot and celebrated with the purchase of fuel, food, wine and cigars.

The owner of the property calls for the rent and tricks him into going away without any money after they feign being shocked by his boasted exploits with a woman. They decide to go out and celebrate the good fortune at restaurant because it is Christmas Eve. Rodolfo stays behind to finish his writing but there is a knock at the door and it is Mimi whose candle has gone out and who has lost the key to her room. They immediately fall in love and both have great solos which at Convent garden attracted some applause but where Pavarotti and Scotto received justified prolonged cheering and applause ovations.

I turn away from writing to watch and listen to Pavarotti noting he difference in that at Wimbledon I did not give myself wholeheartedly to the performance which lacked any moment of being special or unique whereas with Pavarotti and indeed all the other members of the cast I am constantly stopping reading and writing because of the sounds even without watching or paying attention to the subtitles. The singing tells you all.

Later in the afternoon I watched a second Met relay production five years later in which Scotto plays the role Musetta and Rodolfo is played by Joseph Carreras and Mimi by Teresa Stratas who was a co winner of the Met’s auditions programme back in 1959 at the age of 21. Retiring in 1998 after a 36 year career based at the Met she appeared in 385 productions and 41 different roles. The two looked more like young lovers in 1982 and although Canadian born Teresa was 43 but retained slim features and a youthful figure. After retirement she has made only one public appearance, has undertaken voluntary work in Calcutta meeting Mother Teresa and to Rumania to work in an orphanage

The second act takes place within the cafe and features a large street scene with children, soldiers and lots of people thronging about and being entertained by Perpignol, a toy seller. Rodolfo introduces Mimi to his friends who include Colline, the philosopher but the main event is the arrival of
Musetta, presently the mistress of a wealthy but old man. She is the one time lover of Marcello who she does her best to attract his intention but he ignores her. Eventually she sends off the old man on a fool’s errand and decides to go off with Marcello and friends, leaving the old man to pay for both bills. The main interval is usually taken at this point.

It is after the interval that the Puccini’s story takes a twist. The location is outside as an Inn where Marcello is working on a commission accompanied by Musetta. They are happy in their own way but already Musetta is regretting the loss of freedom and hankers for the attentions of new men. To add perspective to the opera, it is dawn with the arrival of street sellers of milk and eggs, street sweepers and others into the town guarded by gate keepers and customs men. It is in the depth of Winter and continues to snow hard. Mimi arrives calling for Marcello as she and Rodolfo have quarrelled and she suspects he has gone to Marcello which is correct, She explains that Rodolfo has become very jealous and saying he wants to end their relationship. Mimi hides rather than leaves when Rodolfo comes out to join Marcello and hears him explain that he is still very much in love with her, but he is aware she is ill and he is so poor he cannot fund the doctors and medicine she requires. Mimi and Rodolfo are reunited and agree to stay together until the Spring which is the other way round from what would have been best for her. Musetta comes out and Marcello quarrels over her flirting behaviour.

There is a substantial jump in time to the fourth act where the bohemians are back together but Rodolfo and Marcello are finding it difficult to work having both parted from their true loves. The two others arrive share a little food but the meal is interrupted by the arrival of Musetta who has found Mimi in the street ill. She has been living with someone able to provide for her but her health has been damaged beyond medical help. She knows she is dying and wants to see Rodolfo before her end, he is delighted to see her as is Marcello, to see Musetta, but no one realises just how ill she is until she dies. There is some fine singing before Rodolfo learns she is dead and has not just fallen asleep. He calls out Mimi as the curtain falls.

I had an excellent and memorable day but the highlights were my visit to my former home in Erdington, to the atrium at the Bentalls’ shopping centre Kingston and the Film Shutter Island. The opera was something of a disappointment reinforced by then hearing the performances of Pavarotti and Scotto, of Stratas and Carreras

It was comparative early after the show but although it was not raining the atmosphere was wet on ground as I made the short way across the main road passed a still open supermarket until 11pm and into the railway station for Tram purchasing the require £2 ticket. I have used this Tram once before after attending a day at Wimbledon Tennis Courts and finding that there was a problem with the train to Sutton. I had then taken the tram to Beddington Lane for the train to Sutton and from there to Wallington. I had not paid attention to the route which continues to Croydon and New Addington. The route is an interesting one in that there are 15 stops, with between one and two minutes in between making the whole journey just over half an hour. The tram passes through Merton to Mitcham Junction and stops at the far end of the Purley Way Shopping centre close to the Ikea Store. There are several stops in Croydon with Reeves Corner where we would get off the 654 trolley bus as a family when I was a child and walk up Church Street, to the Market at Surrey Street and the wonderful Kennard’s departmental store. Reeves remains as a furniture store although the number of buildings has reduced. The tram then goes around the outskirts of the Centrale shopping complex where there is a stop before one by West Croydon Train station close to the bus station and then stops a few yards from the Travel Lodge before turning into George Street and the Tram Interchange outside of East Croydon Station, I was tempted to go over to the new Sainsbury’s Local which stays open until 11pm seven night a week and where the prices are even higher than the Waitrose. I made do with what I had in the room but which I cannot now remember.

On the Tuesday it was family visiting day and an enjoyable Roast beef lunch at £5.20 where it is possible load the plate with as much vegetables as you like. There is also a new development of unlimited diet, ordinary or max Pepsi or lemonade with ice for £2.05. I had three refills and did not need a coffee.

Having had such an excellent day on the Monday I did not anticipate Wednesday would prove an even better one. The original plan had been to visit central London for the Victoria and Albert Museum to view the new permanent exhibition of work from the Renaissance and or the Henry Moore retrospective at the Tate but the idea had developed that if the weather was good to take the bus back to Kingston and from there continue along the other side of the river to Ham, Petersham and Richmond one of the most beautiful areas of London and in the whole of the UK in terms of fine Houses, Greens, parkland and the river Thames.

I also decided to get an Oyster Card. This is the prepayment or pay as you go travel card or pass which covers all forms transport in greater London with extensions to other stations with barrier pass in and out systems. There are some financial advantages using the card against the usual cash price with the minimum single fare on the underground halves from £4 to £2, that on the Tram which can cover the journey from end to end reduced from £2 to £1.20 and with a reduction of about 10% on above ground Train Travel within. The cards can also be used as one day, week, monthly or quarterly Travel cards although there are no discounts a special card is required for the longer travel pass which has to be registered whereas the ordinary Oyster does not have to be registered and therefore can be used by more than one adult. There are 3200 special or other outlets where Oyster cards can be purchased or stopped up and there five special shops throughout central Croydon. It is possible to also purchase or add to registered cards online. Apart from the financial advantages there is the convenience of being able to travel without need to buy individual tickets or day passes. However there are potential problems as I was soon to find if one does not correctly log the pass at the correct in and out facilities at each travel outlet. That was for the day to come.

1878 Il Traviata and Larkrise on a quiet Sunday with roast chicken dinner

It is midday Sunday February 14th, Valentine’s Day and I am in the midst of three pieces of writing, cleaning the inside of the refrigerator and preparing a roast chicken dinner, recovering from the second late night into the early hours in succession followed by a reasonable amount of sleep which meant it was 11 am before I was able to get going again. I thought it was BAFTA night but this is next week and alas Invictus was not released in time to be included in the BAFTA nominations, a double disappointment having mistaken the British Film Critics Society for the Academy. This means that it will have to be an exceptional film next year to take the main awards away from the film. Instead there is my boyhood supporting Club of Crystal Palace at home to Aston Villa in the cup this evening followed by Dancing on Ice and Larkrise.

I am fulfilling the promise made to myself to commence an inventory of the work completed to date in my installation projection and this includes, completing unfinished sets and their relocation as the area of display shelving is full and therefore the balance of completed set work needed to be storage boxed. I have also taken a decision about trying to arrange fro the work to be curated after I lose self aware consciousness.

Two of the pieces of present writing are for future Blogs, Lost and Babylon 5 where a composite of episodes is planned. Yesterday I worked hard on the installation project and was rewarded by a brilliant performance of Angela Gheorghu, singing the main role in Verdi’s Opera based on the Alexander Dumas story of Camille. I now understand why she is held in such high regard as she rendered the best female performance in an opera I have experienced to-date. The role requires constant singing at the highest levels through all three Acts which she sustained in such manner that I was moved, spine tingling in admiration and wonder. It is also an opera similar to Il Travatore, in being full of memorable tunes

I have experienced five operas by Giuseppe Verdi over the past years- Aida and Nabucco Il Travatore and La Travolta, and Don Carlos.

In act one of La Traviata, Violetta Valery, a courtesan is holding a large and lavish party to celebrate her recovery from illness and she finds out that nobleman Alfredo loves her and has visited her house to enquire of welfare during the illness. When she meets Alfredo her first reactions are not positive but as he professes his interest she begins to speculate if this is the one person to whom she could give herself wholeheartedly. However her need to control her life, and for personal freedom, is such, that she hesitates. Her current protector, a baron, realises their situation is changing.

He is proved right as three months later when Act 2 opens, Violetta and Alfredo are living together outside of Paris in what is described as a peaceful country house. However in order to fund their life style Violetta has been selling everything available until Alfredo discovers the situation and goes off to see his father for money. Alfredo’s father visits Violetta to ask that she breaks off the relationship with his son because her reputation is threatening the marriage of his daughter. He becomes impressed with her and even more so when she agrees, reluctantly, to his request, and he scene ends with her in tears.

She accepts an invitation to a party in Paris and writes a note for Alfredo saying goodbye. He returns and she professes her love but still leaves to go to the party. The maid gives Alfredo the letter she has passed to her as she left the home and his father returns as he finishes reading. Father tries to console his son reminding of their family, but when Alfredo reads the party invitation he suspects that the wealthy former lover of Violetta is behind the initiative.

With echoes of Carmen the party host has arranged gypsies and bullfighters to appear and perform. Alfredo arrives at the party before Violetta and starts to gamble. His suspicions are accurate when Violetta arrives with her former protector and the two men gamble with Alfredo winning a lot of money. Fearing that the situation will lead to a duel Violetta sees Alfredo in private and begs him go away, but he challenges her to deny that the reason is because she still loves Baron and in fear of what could happen she lies and confirms his belief In rage at her response and the situation, Alfredo denounces her to the rest of the party which he assembles and they turn denounce him for his brutish and ungallant behaviour. They demand he leaves. His father who has been searching for the son arrives and learning what has happened denounces his own son, Violetta protests her love as the Act ends.

The Final act is a short one as the tuberculosis illness which had affected Violetta has returned. She receives a letter from Alfredo’s father advising that although his son did fight a duel with the Baron,, only the Baron sustained a slight injury. Moreover he has told his son why Violetta had behaved as she had and that he was sending his son to beg her forgiveness. No sooner does she receive the letter, Alfredo arrives in person and the lovers are reunited, but it is too late for a happy ending and Violetta knows that she has only has moments to live. The couple sing the famous “0 God to die so Young.” The father arrives full of remorse for his part in what has happened only to witness the death of Violetta. The curtain came down prolonged applause.

Larkrise had a timely story about a war Veteran who had lost a leg replaced by the traditional peg and who visited Candleford once a year or so, to beg for pennies and free drink and was provided food and a bed overnight by the Timmins. Daniel Parish, Laura’s Beau sets up his own paper in the town and decides to make a campaign about the way the UK treats its returning service men from active duty, and in this he is supported by Laura’s father as Daniel agrees to raises the underlying issues in an article which is sold to the Illustrated London News and attracts a post bag of support letters.

However they have second thoughts when Mrs Timmins discovers that the old soldier has a number of five pound notes with him. Confronted he explains that he had converted some of the pennies into notes over the years for when he was old or the begging failed. The story is a damning indictment of the approach taken by the public in Victorian times and in this day.

The lunch was enjoyable followed by salami rolls in the evening with banana and custard and a tea time snack of anchovies on dry crackers. Breakfast was cereal.

Lat afternoon there was an enjoyable cup between the club I supported as a boy and young man. Crystal Palace, now struggling in the championship and Aston Villa who this season are performing well close to the top four in the Premiership. Unfortunately the Villa managed to equalise twice so both clubs went into the next round draw when the winner will have an away tie at Reading or West Brom. Chelsea, the only top four club remaining have a home tie against Man City or Stoke.

I watched part of the Ice Dancing beforehand and later a film with gratuitous violence but a concept which interested and stayed to see how it will pan out. I went to bed at a reasonable hour 12.30 but then started to think on first waking after less than an hour and rose once more to check the writing before publication.