After Cavalleria-Pagliacci (or vice versa!) Here is still a classic end of the Italian opera at La Scala-800. Introduced by an extensive presentation by Professor Michael Girardi (not to be confused with Enrico Girardi, eye ...) an authority on the subject, in the usual appointment Before the first of 9 last year. In fact - I am sadistic, perhaps, in this exhortation - but before entering the theater to enjoy (or curse) the show, everyone should read - even better: study - an analysis like this (see pp. 37 et seq ) drawn up by its Girardi, years ago, La Fenice . Certainly, from reading this analysis as you would a concrete idea (Even better if you throw even a glance at the score) what is the 'original , so you can then appreciate or criticize the performance - and stage musical - with a minimum knowledge of the facts and not on the basis of more or less impromptu and visceral sensations. Otherwise, its better not to rise while decent, but visceral sensations in absolute judgments of conviction or that sanctification. (I am not speaking here of opinions - one way or another - for various reasons interested ).
Cast announced for months and months and - regularly - piece by piece on the eve of the first . There is still a whole month of winter, so I expect other victims (one already announced for Britten, but I bet you will save Francesconi ) But I'm Mozart, Puccini, Gounod, Verdi and Rossini, would not trust even in spring and summer: the inside Piermarini drafts must be increasingly sbifide.
The first of 15 - kept strictly secret, like every other replica, the spread radio-tele-web (guilty conscience, as the inversion Pag-Cav, dear Lissner ?) - Seems to have been recently passed the second tradition: between mockery, rather than disputes, director, and some noisy claims buh for the poor Kapellmeister . By certain defined, in practice, a choirmaster in while others have already elevated to the rank of prophet (it may be because of his origin from biblical sites, smile! ) Home mixed that - again according to the news - it was repeated in the second (which recovers Dyka ) and third, in which nothing had emerged from the beautiful Jonas . Yesterday? Instead, as well. The gallery seemed to me divided between the center-right (thunderous applause and bravo! unrestricted educational) and left (second floor, in particular, from which they rained heavy buh the main protagonists, the director also excluded). That the gallery has become a mirror of the country's political , divided into factions and extremists on both sides?
Yesterday evening performance Meir Omer Wellber frankly I thought that was commendable, perhaps because the fourth round of the harmony with the orchestra and performers could be improved. Sometimes I personally find excessive noise (not the bells, as reported by someone with previous performances) but fortunately never to cover the song, for the one direction than the rest of the score, so far from stigmatizing, nor by Buarì. Of course, from here to see the Messiah in Omer there and runs much of the rest, having 30 years, we can only improve still, unless they fall victim to the syndrome of early fame.
Zeljko Lucic Scarpia is an indecent in terms of acting, but this is almost certainly attributable to the director (see below). Conversely, the sounds that came out of his mouth, but not enchanting, I have seemed at least decent and he's not worthy of the portion of buh arrivatigli along with applause. Impressive la sua entrata nel primo atto ed abbastanza efficace anche la sua prestazione nel secondo, forse con qualche eccesso di declamato/gridato. Per me, comunque, dovrebbe citare il regista per procurato danno di immagine .
Oksana Dyka , come già di recente in Pagliacci , ha mostrato doti naturali notevoli accompagnate da una certa immaturità. Paradigmatico il suo Vissi d'arte (unica aria su cui il pubblico è intervenuto, col loggione diviso fra brava! e buh ) in cui ha sfoggiato gran chiarezza di suono, accompagnata da una certa monotonia nell'espressione (e da un singhiozzino anticipato, the Lord Ah ) In short, a decent performance from this 33 year old, to me worthy of encouragement.
The star-reviving Jonas now know it, in every way: out loud, a true giant in mezzo-forte and piano, or throat or head. The scene is the only one to give a damn (again: for better or for worse) the director: he's always him, Werther, Jose, Mario, all made with the same stencil. At the end of the mix for him bravo! and buh : in this case (for me) quite appropriate in proportion to their positive and negative qualities described above (smile!)
Spoletta of the Bravo Luca Casalin , at least as performance / difficulty.
Renato Girolami was the Sacristan, the director has stubbornly ridiculed. Enough to be his vocal performance.
A fair Angelotti was Deyan VATCHKOV while Davide Pelissero and parsley Ernesto Panariello they are earned the loaf, dressed as Sciarrone and prisons. From praise also for the provision of "shepherd" Barbara Massaro .
On its usual standard of the choir Casoni, complemented by white voices, well that made the climax of the Te Deum , despite the director.
is precisely the staging: the fact that the MET and Munich had already forewarned us not detract from the feeling of true pain you feel watching this buffoonery. Unfortunately, in addition to suffer the contingencies of the season, Tosca must have some strange and mysterious power: is indigestible to many people. She was the idiosyncrasy of the famous Mahler for this work (not for Puccini , attention) he described it, at first and maybe only play a masterful job sloppy, that any apprentice shoemaker was able to write ... and therefore never directly and consistently in his life.
Here Luc Bondy must be done to influence opinion by Mahler, and then decided - its goodness - to rewrite Tosca. Interesting and instructive as you listen to this in his interview , where the director explains his approach. Around 1 ': 10 "Our stated candidly that the booklet (about the murder of Scarpia) is stupid and then he (the genius!) We had to get their hands, showing Tosca threatening to jump from the window (apperò!) Shortly after (1 ': 43 ") to justify its brutality, Bondy shoots' authentic carrion, saying Sardou was often at odds with Puccini choices about the book, and just as we talk about the final seconds. This is a resounding false: there were indeed differences between Sardou and librettists of Puccini, but always sided with the composer, playwright, librettist and convinced her to follow him. The conclusion of the act is even-even, but just the smallest details, such as describes Sardou, it portrays her as Bondy! And the same goes for the final third, where Puccini imposed to comply with the drama of Sardou (Tosca throws herself from the glacis) to his librettists, determined to make a ridiculous tristaniana Liebestod. Still, 2 ': 02 "Luc says the white" is not original! , "and then" is nothing original or special, it is only a work . "And then claim the right to do litter (?) In short, parody and desecration high absolute principle. A 2 ': 45 "papers you are then in an argument without rhyme or reason, saying that Puccini is not Berg (but he played well the scene torture, our genius?) and Schönberg was an admirer of Puccini, but there was always rivalry between them (sic) Then, his kindness, he acknowledges that Tosca (with Salome) is the top work , is very good, but this is not enough (?) Well, I was either drunk, or is completely out of Melonera.
Question: But if you go to work not genius, my dear Luc, why do not you limit yourself to just ignore it, as did the wise Gustav? Occupied else, such as chocolates, instead of relentlessly on a subject that you despise. This was soundly challenged directing at the MET in 2009, then to Monaco in 2010 it was said, by the nostalgic Zeffirelli. But Buarì is still nothing here we would like severe punishments and fines for perpetrators of such atrocities. How Bracardi cried? In jail!
our In Milan - which demonstrated a good dose of cowardice (read: not having the courage of their choice) - has watered down or eliminated more details irreverent (who has not seen the live MET and the performances of Monaco, or has lost the dissemination of art , large documents can be found on youtube testifying to decide on the verge of provocation made by the Swiss director) believing it to get away with cheap (or thinking that the Italian public is made by bigoted troglodytes, not smart enough to understand a genius like him). In practice, its mix + parody has taken away the desecration desecration. So you guess what's left ...
His main victim, as a representation of the characters, it is the poor Scarpia , which is not really a supporting actor insignificant, but none the wedge that supports the entire structural work time. In the first act, in church, at the end of Te Deum, Scarpia of the Bondy evita (come faceva al MET) di palpeggiare la statua della Madonna (forse perché qui siamo a Milano, a duecento metri dalla Madunina ) ma le si avvicina fin quasi a baciarla sulla bocca! Sarebbe questo il modo di rappresentare la sua perversa personalità, il suo abietto uso della Religione e della Politica per soddisfare la sua concupiscenza ( Tosca, mi fai dimenticare Iddio )?
Nella scena iniziale del secondo atto, avevamo visto (al MET e a Monaco) Scarpia farsi pompinare non da una, ma da tre puttane, regolarmente pagate in contanti dallo Spinelli … ops, dallo Sciarrone di turno. Alla Scala il blowjob è censurato (c'è paura del mite Tettamanzi, per caso?) ma il risultato non cambia. Bondy – da svizzero, pur zurighese – dovrebbe conoscere un po' di italiano; altrimenti, chieda al primo che passa per la strada di spiegargli cosa canta Scarpia, in modo da farsi un'idea di quale pasta sia fatto il barone siculo al servizio dei borboni appaltato dal Vaticano . Ha più forte sapore la conquista vïolenta che il mellifluo consenso . Che è la splendida, fulminante e concisa rappresentazione dell'originale di Sardou : Une femme qui se donne, la belle affaire ... Rassas J'en suis de celles-là! ... Mais ta colère et à ton Mépris humilier ... ta résistance à briser tordre et à dans mes bras! ... Pardieu, c'est la Saveur de la chose, et ta me Resignation gâterait la fête! ... These words, Luc Bondy, who can not speak French, has read? He has no idea what tell the personality of shoes? Evidently not: he, as he candidly admitted in the interview the rest of the above, the book (and music?) Work that must organize, do not care, being stupid.
Scarpia again: I of sighs e di lattiginose albe lunari poco mi appago. Non so trarre accordi di chitarra, né oroscopo di fiori, né far l'occhio di pesce, o tubar come tortora! Bramo. La cosa bramata perseguo, me ne sazio e via la getto, vòlto a nuova esca . Ora, cosa vediamo noi in tutta la scena della tortura? Uno Scarpia che fa il cascamorto con Tosca, che le fa precisamente l' occhio di pesce e che comicamente tuba come tortora . Roba da matti… anzi, da Berlusconi , con il terzo piano di (quello che dovrebbe essere) Palazzo Farnese ridotto a scantinato da bunga-bunga , vomitevole.
As Floria , Bondy has weakened, in Milan, the characters of schizoid, neurotic, vain and vulgar and stupid as well that had saddled the MET. It remains to the nonsense of scarring to the painting of Mary Magdalene (by the way, sorry, but someone has always required that the left boob to the wind? Ronconi, Carsen and Bondy now so we represent it) and remains the final seconds absurd: after stabbing Scarpia in the balls (the book, you know, it's stupid, and requires a single stab wound to the heart) gives it another stab, precisely on the only shot of meals provided in the score, right in the heart (or the brute would act as an end Amfortas in Parsifal ) and shortly after, two other stabbings (the last two hands, hair-raising) on \u200b\u200bthe words die, die, die ! Then he makes to jump out the window (in fact, about the stupidity of the book of Bondy ...!) And then has second thoughts and lies exhausted, dazed but happy on the sofa, with a fan to dry the sweat dell'Attavanti (?)
And to think that Puccini's Tosca in composing has put all his creativity and his fastidiousness, coming to write in detail how this sheet:
Bondy of which is highly slams his balls, like the rest ... The third act is even distorted in its original drama. I do not speak of the chess match between Mario and the jailer, the stuff of vaudeville. No, Bondy is that the two main characters behave as if they were aware that the impending execution is just real and not simulated: already the scene is always shrouded in total darkness (the fantastic sunrise on Rome must stupid thing, of course) and then pellets and Mario who throws the pass, the two singing the Trionfal as if they were at the funeral ... well, we are in total reversal of the emotional situation constructed by the book (and the original of Sardou), which deprives the final dramatic twist not determined by the simulation sentence. And, consistent with the stupidity of its director, Bondy Tosca brings along a scale, with studied composure and is slowly disappearing in a tower. Painful.
And what about the scenes Peduzzi ? But why continue (no indeed, we continue !) To pay for his sets are always the same? To be alone at La Scala in recent years: Tristan, Carmen, House of the dead, Tosca, all the same! Walls of industrial archeology, gloomy and depressing. St. Andrew's, Palazzo Farnese, Castel Sant'Angelo: there is no difference between a baroque basilica, a quasi-Renaissance palace and a castle home adriana, the worst of all is reduced more dirty subway stations in the Bronx.
As for the costumes of Canonero , are at least vaguely plausible, and that is all to his credit.
no more, except the finding that the season - which began with Wagner's so-so and continued with the diptych What-what - I do not think you're taking a great time with this Tosca, passable on the music front but depressing on that stage. And we wait now Death already impoverished ... the leading man.
___
Wandering around Tosca.
on changing clothes.
Someone has - quite wrongly - outraged at the fact that the dress worn in the third act of Tosca in this edition is noticeably different from what the singer wears in the second. Why wrong? Because it is rather natural and I would say almost a duty (and in fact almost all the products we offer as well). In fact the person who made the drama of Victorien Sardou (which inspired Illica-Giacosa libretto for the opera) can be misled, as in the final interview Sardou between Scarpia and Tosca was not at the Palazzo Farnese and in the middle a party in honor of the queen, but in Castel Sant'Angelo, in the apartment of Scarpia, a stone's throw from the prison where he is detained and three by Mario platform on which will be shot. Tosca was brought there after the dramatic night-night in the house of the beloved (Act III), during which she revealed the hiding place of Angelotti, who then committed suicide. As you (probably) still gli abiti da cerimonia che indossava precedentemente (atto II) a Palazzo Farnese, a meno di ipotizzare un suo passaggio da casa a cambiarsi, prima di andare da Mario, cosa peraltro inverosimile, data la fretta che Tosca ha di cogliere in flagrante i supposti trescanti (e poi è tutto sommato ininfluente sulla questione dibattuta qui). Dopo aver ucciso Scarpia (fine atto IV) Tosca si reca immediatamente alla prigione di Mario (inizio atto V) e quindi non può certo avere un abito diverso da quello indossato nei tre (o come minimo due) atti precedenti. Si noti che Tosca non fa cenno alcuno a Mario di eventuali preparativi da lei fatti in vista della fuga (non ne avrebbe avuto materialmente la possibilità): si limita a dire che loro hanno da 4 a 7 hours margin (before you find the beat the living him) to leave the state and they will not have trouble reaching Civitavecchia, having the carriage that Scarpia has (or better said that he had ...) available to them.
But we know that the libretto of the opera that includes the interview, followed dall'accoltellamento, between Tosca and Scarpia takes place precisely at the Palazzo Farnese, on the upper floor on which the party is over for the Queen , which Tosca was the singing star. So Tosca, before the third act of the opera must necessarily move (about 1 km) from Palazzo Farnese in Castel Sant'Angelo. Once lì, cosa racconta a Mario? Cito dal libretto: (mostrando la borsa) io già raccolsi oro e gioielli… una vettura è pronta . Questa frase, del tutto assente in Sardou (vettura a parte) e inventata di sana pianta dai librettisti di Puccini, ci dice senza la minima ombra di dubbio che Tosca, dopo aver abbandonato Palazzo Farnese e prima di recarsi a Castel Sant'Angelo, è passata da casa, a recuperare oro e gioielli (non poteva di certo averne portato con sé una borsa piena a Palazzo Farnese, quando l'ultima cosa che poteva immaginare era la brutta piega che avrebbe preso la serata!) e procurarsi una carrozza. E quindi non può non aver reasonably be taken advantage of this pause for changing clothes, taking off the (probably bulky, uncomfortable and look) of the royal ceremony, to wear one most suitable for the upcoming trip (which is actually a full-fledged flight).
The request for clemency to the queen
About inaccuracies (a total amateur like me can enjoy a world to take us nicely in some chestnut authorities ...) in also interesting and in-depth written by prof. Giulio Paduano published on the theater program, it is argued that the omnipotence of Scarpia is an innovative feature of the situation than opera Sardou (...) in Sardou's position is subordinate Scarpia (...) All this horizon is in the works of Puccini cleared to make way for an uncontested right to life and death, about which no premium nor the power of the Queen, is so named: Tosca she can get a pardon for Mario, but Scarpia has the power to ensure it gets too late . In short, trying to convince us that Paduano Illica Puccini-Giacosa-are more convincing than Sardou, bringing us an example that shows just the opposite ...! Here's why.
In Sardou drama of Tosca, as we know, Castel Sant'Angelo, almost dawn. While having a car available (such as guarantees him) Tosca should: leave the castle, go to the Palazzo Farnese (and so far are just a few minutes), but then become open, literally throw him out of bed the queen (!?) To convince sign the grace and return to the castle in time to block the execution. Frankly a mission impossible , as the poor must be held immediately, convinced of the futility of his efforts in the words of Scarpia notified that the grace comes with at least an hour late. Perhaps quantitatively exaggerated, but very plausible in substance, as Scarpia could hang Mario, held nearby, within a few minutes.
Italian libretto in hand, things are so much different and much less plausible because although Scarpia Tosca tries to dissuade saying that Mario is just an hour's life, it is true that Tosca is within a few meters from the Queen (second and third floor of the same Palazzo Farnese), and the queen is probably still awake, or you are just getting ready to retire after the party, and most importantly, if persuaded by Tosca, Scarpia could even call on the spot to order him not to initiate hanging, or even to immediately return there Cavaradossi in the flesh. And for that matter - in contrast to the drama of Sardou - Scarpia has Cavaradossi beside him (the offender is on his way to Castel Sant'Angelo) and could therefore do not execute in a few minutes. Therefore, the time-factor, cited by Baron to desist Tosca, here is very weak on this point is to be flawless in terms of Sardou plausibility and realism, much less the librettists of Puccini.
The third act, before and after
Also on the program notes for this edition of Tosca, there is an interesting article of Pier Giuseppe Gillio , containing unpublished documents concerning the first version of the third act of the libretto, by Luigi Illica, with the resulting actions by Giuseppe Giacosa. Version which was largely cut and changed drastically to reach the final.
the caption Illica had spread to present the beginning of the (largely expunged in the final) contain a detailed description of the tolling bell that is heard after the song of the shepherd (that was missing in this original version). It can occur on the Puccini score as you have kept faith, however, while expanding and then the extension. Illica writes: farther away, in the far background, from San Pietro Montorio is the faint sound of a bell calling to morning . In fact, the church is located south of Castle San'Angelo, about 1,500 m as the crow flies. In Puccini score marks indicating that sound distant and a sequence of 3, then 4, then 5 minimum (we are in 4 / 4), separated by a half rest. The SI is known under the natural line of the treble clef. Illica continues: immediately after a short interval, you answered the little bell of the convent of S. Onofrio, in the middle bottom, right . Indeed Sant'Onofrio is located about 500m south-west Castel Sant'Angelo, then right to right, looking from the castle. Puccini indicates far less marked and the sound as a succession of quarter notes (small bell!) Of natural RE, interspersed with quarter rest. The first five strokes alternate-overlap with those of San Pietro Montorio. Still Illica: then, alone again, and at a faster rate, the bell of the Church de 'Miracoli, near, left, beats morning. Here Illica takes a certain freedom, as the church and left (north-east is the castle) but not really close (it is approximately 1,000 m away). Puccini indicates near and marks sound as three sets of 3, 4, 5 consecutive quarter notes ( Faster!) separated by a quarter rest. As you can see, a musical representation absolutely faithful to the description of the librettist, then expunged by the description given to the press.
Puccini then extends to the presence of the bells to call in the first air Mario, also the great bell of St. Peter , MI listed as serious natural in minimum .
Of some interest is the schedule of events. In the final book Act III opens shortly after three in the morning, as can be inferred from the fact that it runs at 4 ( play 4 am , is written in the caption) and before the jailer warned Cavaradossi with the famous you have one hour . Illica Instead, in the original draft, postponed all of two hours (six hours play, read the booklet at the time of the original Mario, after the famous Latin hymn that mocked as Puccini triumphalist, case without mercy). I think that was right after all to remain faithful to Puccini times Sardou, anche per ragioni, come dire… astronomiche: non dimentichiamo che siamo al mattino del 18 giugno, praticamente al solstizio d'estate!
Di grande interesse anche la versione originaria dell'epilogo. Illica ne voleva fare un finale à la Lucia , o Linda , o Macbeth (così scriveva Eugenio Checchi nel 1897, come ci informa sempre l'articolo di Pier Giuseppe Gillio). In realtà a me pare che il modello più calzante fosse il wagneriano Liebestod . Tosca tesse le lodi dell'amato rivolgendosi a donne preganti ; poi chiude con questi versi, rivolti ad un immaginario gondolier : is not dead - you know. Sleep ... and tired. All away, all away! - The waves of trembling - Channels kiss - The old histories - ... The old glories - not singing gondoliers ... slowly, slowly ... - I want a great silence round about us - eternal silence with eternal love ... (And Tosca, with the corpse Mario in his lap, unmoving with his finger on his lips to silence the great act of gondoliers who sees it in his mind) . Stuff for nails! A monument to Puccini for having listened to Sardou, and defined 'is stuff like air overcoat.
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