Turandot in London

I've just seen a fantastic Turandot at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. It chased away all my London blues. Both singers and orchestra under the baton of Dan Ettinger were very convincing.

Christine Goerke was a fabulous Turandot. It is a tricky role because not only is it very demanding technically but the story demands that Turandot be a ruthless 'ice maiden', scared of intimacy for most of the Opera only to declare herself for love at the end.  Christine Goerke did a wonderful job today of suggesting vulnerability while still espousing violence.

Ping, Pang and Pong  performing acrobatics at the same time as singing (how do they do it?) and tenor Alexandrs Antonenko was a strong Calaf.

I was sitting high in the gods but heard every word of both lead singers. Such extraordinary voices.

Turandot performers take a bow.

La Traviata in London

La Traviata was on at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden last night, so that's what I saw.

The house has all the trimmings you expect with the names 'royal' and 'opera'; a wonderful red curtain which lifts to the sides like an old fashioned granny-curtain, very fancy lights by the dozen, and great acoustics. It is a pleasure to experience.

Lights in the Royal Opera House

Alfredo was sung by tenor Atalla Ayan and he was perhaps the strongest of the cast. The production was thoughtful and even the curtain became an actor for the evening. It was so gently raised for the third act we knew we were in for tears.

I was sitting next to a young artist, Suzanne Forrest, from Scotland. She is having a show of her work here in London and races back to Scotland for a show there next week. We found we had a lot in common and the company of she and her partner really added to my enjoyment of the evening. Her art is worth a look ... you can find it here.

Der fliegende Holländer - the movie

Pieczonka as Senta (ROH website)

The newest Royal Opera House Covent Garden version of  Der fliegende Holländer didn't get rave reviews in London but luckily I didn't read them before I saw the movie version in Sydney yesterday because, despite Der fliegende Holländer not being my favourite Wagner opera, I loved this production. The lead singers, Bryn Terfel, Adrianne Pieczonk, Michael Koenig and even the purportedly sick Peter Rose (Daland) sang their roles so convincingly that for once I was carried away by the story.

The only thing that rankled (not mentioned by the two UK reviews I read) was the drinking scene. The drunk sailors were not only bawdy but misogynistic (was this a comment on UK society?) After listening to the words of the sailors songs on the ship this felt particularly like a cultural mismatch. (I found a NZ version of the Dutchman last year similarly culturally unbalanced, with the sailors drunk in an antipodean way .... at least the Covent Garden sailors weren't vomiting everywhere.)

Perhaps the overwhelming misogyny of our times (two women are killed by partners or previous partners in Australia every week) has made me particularly sensitive. I couldn't help thinking as I listened to the sailor's song yesterday how wonderful men sound when they are praising women instead of belittling them.

Backstage at an opera rehearsal

Here is an excellent look at what goes on in opera rehearsal rooms - in this case rehearsing Eugene Onegin at the Royal Opera at Covent Garden. Did you ever imagine that there are so many people needed at rehearsals?