Here and Back Again in NYC - Day 10 (part 1) - Werther

Hey you all! Ah I just finished reading my Fifty Shades trilogy and I must say I really liked what I read! I'm feeling very book orphaned now that I finished and since the movie trailer (HOLY SHIT IT'S SO HOT, click here if you dare and watch it) came out today you won't be surprised if I start reading the series all over again soon. There are some parts that are over sweetened but the story is involving and the sex is real great! My AMAZING voice coach gave me a book called Fifty Shades of Mr. Darcy for my birthday which is a crossover of Fifty Shades of Gray and Pride and Prejudice, it’s a satire and I cannot wait to start reading it tonight! I also downloaded the first season of Mad Man which I’m excited to start watching!

Remember there was one day missing from my New York City adventures? Here it goes then!

It is always like this, when we near the end of a trip like this we start wanting to do a gazzilion things all at the same time. That is why mum and I were up extra early that morning and after our breakfast, we hit the streets. We went to several stores buying all in our way (Brazilians are very much like that, we have no sense of proportion). We went to this trendy sunglasses store, ah, the name escapes me, ah, I know! Sunglass Hut (or something) on Fifth Avenue. Don’t worry I wasn’t about to throw a couple of hundred dollars into sunglasses, I mean, I got mine at Forever 21 for like $10 and they are great! We were actually there because my cousin’s sunglasses broke and my uncle asked us to take them there to get them fixed. And I can say without a shadow of a doubt that that was the very worst service I ever got in a store. I would hop from attendant to attendant trying to get someone to help me and they would either ignore me or just try and shove to another attendant. My patience was coming to an end because I had a ticket to see Werther at 1 and the hour was nearing. Bottom line, we didn’t get anything solved and that store is the worst, I’m serious, the worst!

that's my mommy, ain't he the cutest? 

Well I got in a cab and rushed to the Met. Man, why am I ALWAYS rushing to that godforsaken place? Why can’t I just be early for once? I always arrive at the nick of time! Anyway, I did get there a good 15 minutes prior to curtain and I thought I might try my luck yet again with the student ticket thing since my seat pretty much sucked balls. And I think I’m starting to understand this whole thing, it depends ENTIRELY upon the good will of the person in the booth. Because as soon as I saw the sour face of the attendant I knew I wouldn’t be getting shit. Well, I had a ticket, a $30 Family Circle side ticket, but a ticket nonetheless, in a bit I was in!

As I headed towards my seat, which was oddly near to the stage but far too high I started regretting the decision of buying this ticket. It was the nearest seat to the stage up in the family circle so I actually had to lean forward a lot to see the stage. I also had to make a choice, to either read the surtitles or watch the opera, I could not do both. Anyway, I was just happy to be there so sod it! A very cool couple sat next to me and we chatted for a little bit before it began.

THE fabulous view!

Oh dude, Werther, it’s Massenet, only one of my favorite composers, my favorite French composer, I was in the clouds as soon as those first notes rang. Again, I loved the story telling in the beginning and the good thing about this seat was that I could actually see facial expressions! I could see them extremely well! The back of the stage was blocked to me but in the front part, not a single facial expression was missed. So it was really like watching a whole new thing, I already had a very good notion of how the production worked but now I could actually see all their faces twist and twitch!

Kudos yet again to those kids playing Charlotte’s siblings, they were simply incredible. Such sincere, playful and truthful acting you would think they were not acting at all! This makes me wish I could have seen my good friend Melanie perform in the children’s chorus. But anyway it was really great to be able to actually see with my own eyes the first time Werther sets his eyes on Charlotte. And we’re talking Jonas Kaufmann here so you people know that he absolutely rocked the singing and the acting part of Werther. I feel so lucky that I was able to actually see this amazing production live, twice! I’ll never tire of saying that because I’m truly humbled and extremely grateful that I was lucky enough to be there.

As the plot moves along I’m able to see the ball scene upclose which was such a lovely amazing surprise to me and quickly became one of my favorite scenes from this production. Even though it’s like 3 minutes long, it’s extremely romantic and gives me goose pups. Because when they arrive at the garden after the ball they are already smitten with each other. But to have that ball scene you get to see their firsts, like the first dance, the first time they look in each others eyes, their first conversation alone, it’s inspired. Gosh I’m getting way too overly excited about this. Sorry guys, you people have to remember I’m a hopeless romantic even though I put on the ice queen façade. 

You cannot help but fall for Jonas’ Werther, now I could see the amount of adoration his eyes carry for Charlotte. Although I felt again that Koch was a tad cold to MY taste. As everyone knows I’m a bit too fiery sometimes and expect characters to match that warmth. I did purchase the original Goethe “Die Leiden des jungen Werther” last Sunday. I was lucky enough to find it in a local bookstore here in my hometown and I was a sight to see squirming like an idiot because of my discovery and buying it regardless of the fact that I cannot read German. I find it it’s always good to have the origins and the originals of my favorite works (although my Pushin’s Eugene Onegin is in English but Russian is a step too far, right?). Anyhow back to Koch’s (Charlotte’s) coldness, maybe I found it frustrating because it contrasted SO much with Kaufmann’s (Werther’s) ardor.

The garden scene was so great and it was real wonderful to see the facial expressions! One day I’ll have enough money to get myself on a seat in which I can see the facial expressions, sit up straight, read the surtitles and have full view of the stage. Or at least be relevant enough to be given such a seat!

As act one finishes the couple next to me is cuddling and exchanging loving words and I’m surprised that I don’t feel the annoyance I normally do in this kind of situation. I felt actually really happy for them, they were very nice and looked very cute together. Maybe it was the opera. And in that little interval I find out that the lady is actually Brazilian, what are the freaking odds??

Act two of Werther, not my favorite part of the day. I started getting very irritated with Charlotte’s coldness and lack of compassion for this dude who was crawling at her feet! Sophie’s aria however was LOVELY. I’m so dead serious when I say that Lisette has one of the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard! Geez, what a gift, and paired with such great acting as well as the fact that she is SUPER sweet she just totally wins me over.

I had such an amazing time at intermission. I was joined by my good, good opera buddies Harry and Kim and we talked about opera all the way and it was awesome. Gosh, I LOVE it that I have them and we can discuss stuff at the same level without me having to explain stuff. We can just talk and exchange so much in such a small period of time! Anyways, as per usual intermission flew by and we were back for DRAMA, DRAMA, DRAMA!

Act three of Werther, my favorite act! I must admit that Sophie Koch purred her soul out in this, she was INCREDIBLE. She has such a beautiful full, rich, velvety voice that fills the Met and melts your insides. It’s very contrasting with her portrayal of cold Charlotte. Although in this act she was much more emotional, kind of desperate because she thought Werther was going to kill himself. Her sister arrives and she finishes us off with “Va laisse couler me larmes” and I know that’s only the beginning of angst festival but the poor woman next to me does not as she weeps and weeps. The whole opera became even sadder because of her reaction to it, she cried most of the time. And I totally do not judge her, the first time I saw this I also cried the entire final acts. Sophie leaves and DAM, DAM, DAM, DAAAAM, Werther arrives.

I was so grateful that they remained mostly downstage for this act because then I could see the angst filled expressions of both of them. It was so FREAKING intense I was almost throwing myself off that seat in order to get a better view! At the end of that too impossibly good for words “Pourquoi me réveiller” that opera house almost came apart. I love this part because this aria prepares you for the passionate, desperate part when for brief moments Charlotte gives in. No need to say he’s all over her, and just a fun fact, they TOTALLY toned it down for the HD. They were so all over each other when I saw it, just like the kiss at the end of Eugene Onegin, they REALLY had it going ‘off camera’.

Then act four was the most frustrating thing that EVER happened to me. Why? Because I could see naught! That little square that was Werther’s room was far to upstage plus the structure blocked my view from above! Meaning I did not see anything really of this whole part. Very, very sad. I could hear it though and that was pretty awesome. And I could also see the lady who was sitting next to me fall apart. She was full on SOBBING, it was so sad, I felt really bad for her. But I also did shed a tear for our Werther.

bows from my crappy seat

At bows the audience was wild and the whole cast was just in awe of the whole response. I sat there talking to the lady for quite a while after the curtain fell and she was telling me how she knew opera could be sad but not SO sad. Then I met Kim and we headed down to the stage door so she could get her stuff signed.

Harry, Kim and me after the opera

DUDE, that stage door was PACKED! I’m talking about 60 people making loads of noise and pushing and pushing. I was really very shocked, I had never seen the stage door like this before. I made a silent prayer thanking my Scots friend Mike for making me wait for 2 hours in the freezing cold at opening night because there was no way I could have exchanged 3 words with Jonas Kaufmann in this crazy gathering.

When Jonas came out loads of people clapped and I just stayed behind waiting for Kim as she ventured to try and get a pic and autograph (she succeeded btw). I felt really bad for Jonas actually, he had to scream several times “I swear I will sign everything and take pictures but please STOP PUSHING!” that is really fucked up. Some people have no respect.

I got this pic from Lisette's twitter but it really does not do justice to what happened, here people are actually giving her room to breathe, something Jonas did not get

After the crowd cleared I was tempted to go talk to him but decided against it at the end.

I’m gonna stop here because I really wanna post this today and if I went on and told you about Fledermaus I wouldn’t be able to. I’ll post last day in NYC part 2 soon! Thanks for reading and cheers!

Samson et Dalila - It's on YouTube

EDIT/ I forgot two very important things. First, this video in particular has no subtitles, so if you can't understand French I can recommend this wonderful website called Opera Folio. There you can find translations to English, Spanish, Italian, German and French to a LOT of opera's librettos. Second, if you like me, like to keep coming back to these videos and watching them 3275802598 times I'd download the Freemake Video Downloader. It's quite wonderful to have this, you can download anything from YouTube and almost any other video you find online. You can also only download the mp3 of the video and have the audios to put on your Ipod, which is what I do, most of my audios are from YouTube videos.   

I decided to create a little something fun for the blog. I’m calling it “It's on YouTube”. I’m basically going to suggest something I’ve watched via YouTube that I really liked every week. Because it’s thanks to YouTube (also) that I feel in love with opera.

So the first opera I’m going to suggest is Camille Saint-Saens’s most famous opera, Samson et Dalila. I’ve watched this opera for the very first time just this week and feel in love with it.

This production in particular is rather special, we have Placido Domingo as Samson commemorating his 30^th anniversary of performances at the Met. And that was like 15 years ago, in 1998! It’s odd seeing these dates because I was a little devil of 8 at that time who couldn’t even in my wildest dreams imagine of becoming an opera singer. Life is crazy, you know. Anyways so we get a pretty cool interview with Placido before the opera begins. He talks about these 30 years at the Met and how his career and voice have developed and about young talent. Plus, after curtain call the Met pays a fantastic homage to Placido, with gifts and speeches. It’s really hard not to cry watching this, it’s rather beautiful, Placido himself cries.

In this production we also have the exquisite Olga Borodina as Dalila. I don’t think there’s anybody else nowadays who can hold a candle to her Dalila. She has a certain spice to her person that I love, and she brings it all on to the table in her performances. I guess I have a thing for Slavic singers, they have a velvety quality to their voices that I just love. But at the same time that there is velvet there’s also point and loads of projection and that for me I think is the perfect combination. If you want to check some of Borodina’s more recent works I’d suggest seeing her in Adriana Lecouvreur as the Principessa at the ROH and in Aida as Amneris at the Met.  

The story is based on the biblical tale that most of us know. Samson frees the Hebrews from slavery with his incredible strength and they take over the city. But along comes Dalila, who at the beginning you think is really smitten with him. But no, she’s really quite a vengeful thing whose sole purpose is to see Samson defeated. But poor Samson totally falls for her and that’s his damnation. I’m not going to expand much because I think you guys should see the opera for yourselves.

What I liked in this production, apart from the fantastic singing for course, was the use of color. We have the Hebrews wearing grays, whites and blues, very simple cut clothing. Of course they are slaves so they don’t have much luxury at hand. But I feel like these colors represent their religion and most importantly Samson’s chastity. Now, I say that because in Samson’s first encounter with Dalila the scenery takes different colors, a great navy blue takes the sky and all the women in hot oranges, pinks and reds. But not as RED as what we have for the Philistines, who have enslaved the Hebrews. They are actually ALL red, head to toe. What the colors are trying to show is that there’s a connection between Dalila and the Philistines but also that her hot colors go against everything Samson believes. She represents sex and carnal sin, that is irresistible, after all, Samson is only human.

I just noticed this, she has the hands print of the Philistines on her dress, Samson is freaking blind!

As we continue the opera in act 2 we are taken to a location that also hints the reds from the Philistines but with Dalila’s hot pink gown we can see seduction is going to take place. But then at act 3 she chooses a vibrant green color to contrast with all the red of the Philistines, as if saying we were together in this but I’m so not one of you.

Another amazing thing in this production is Borodina’s acting. Really, at first I was very confused. In her first scene she’s so convincing that she’s really in love with Samson I totally feel for it. There is only ONE moment on act one where she gives a rather scary evil look when Samson isn’t looking that made me think again. Then at act two the mask really comes off and she reveals her true purposes with such hate and determination it almost doesn’t seem like it’s the same person. And when Samson comes along she’s completely different. Because I think she’s not acting as if someone who is pretending to be in love, I think she approaches this as someone who is REALLY in love. To show how persuasive and fantastic actress Dalila is. Her rendition of “Mon Coeur S’ouvre Á Ta Voix” is so convincing and heartfelt that I think he could fool just about anybody. And damn her, because she wins us over with her beautiful music, voice and gestures, at least she totally won me over!

Well, go watch it people, it’s golden! Cheers!

Werther Perfection!

EDIT/ SoI'm gonna have to edit the post (I'm not taking anything out, I'm just adding) because more videos have appeared, and again I've had a freak out, so everything that's underlined has been added today, the 4th of May ;) HA if you thought this post was huge before you ain't seen nothing yet hahaha

So here I am again, I was planning on talking about Giulio Cesare in Egitto but decided otherwise. So I decided to make somewhat a sort of fangirl kind of post. First let me tell you guys something really exciting that happened last week that I forgot to mention in my last post. So, last Monday there was a broadcast of Giulio Cesare in the Met and in intermission there was trivia and as soon as William Berger said “Operas that end with fire” I screamed DON GIOVANNI, and immediately set out to send my answer to William. Just to get everyone on the same page, William Berger is creative content producer for the Met Opera, and he’s the commentator at the broadcasts via radio/internet. Well after the interview he started reading the answers and BAM, HE SAID MY NAME! At that I let out a big scream that resulted in my cousin being mad at me because my other cousin was asleep (yes, I’m living currently in an apartment without walls with my two cousins, currently sleeping at the not so comfy couch) and all I could say was “Oh my GOOOOOOOD he said my name, he said my name, my name was pronounced at the Metropolitan Opera and I haven’t even gone there yet!”. Well, William said that he was glad that I was listening all the way from Brasil and oh God I felt like a million bucks! Me and my bff rejoiced like two retarded teenagers!

Roberto Alagna and Vesselina Kasarova at curtain call of Werther at the Wiener Staatsoper

 Well anyways, speaking of freaking out, here’s the second and main thing I wanted to talk about. I had a total white shirt freak out, I mean, this opera isn’t really white shirt, but Vesselina is like the queen of white shirts, so… Let’s get down to it, last Friday the Vesselina Kasarova fans learned that she was going in as Charlotte in Werther the next day because Elina Garancia got sick. Of course we were all so happy but also I couldn’t help but feel a bit sad because I love this opera, it was after all the first live opera that moved me tears, and I wouldn’t be able to see it. And the tenor playing Werther was Roberto Alagna and he’s just magnificent doing the French repertoire, well, I was kinda upset. UNTIL, an ANGEL simply posted almost the entire thing online, let’s say ¼ of the whole opera was up on YouTube on Sunday evening and I was freaking out. 

So I decided to comment on these videos, let’s start from the beginning. First video is only of Roberto Alagna singing his first aria “Je ne sais si je veille ou si je rêve encore!/ O nature, pleine de grace”. I had never seen him as Werther, and let me tell you, I was very pleased with what I saw. He has that melancholic feel that I think is essential for this character, but during this aria he really looked like a somehow troubled soul (maybe a VERY light version of Onegin) finding peace in a rather simple place. And he’s sounding amazing!

So the videos on the bottom are the new ones which were filmed in on 30^th. It’s basically the same scene, although we get like maybe two minutes more footage from the beggining and the end of the scene than the previous one. But as I always say, it’s a different day, it’s a different performance. Starting from the fact that since it’s a different person filming, the person chose to give us some bigger picture shots, and you can notice that Charlotte appears and Werther sees her, and she watches over him as he sings Oh Nature. Which for me gives the aria a completely different meaning, is he singing “O nature, pleine de grâce, reine du temps et de l'espace daigne accueillir celui qui passe et ta salue, humble mortel!”, as if now he sees it  because he might have just fallen in love at first sight and you perceive everything differently when you fall in love (I’m getting waaay off track here). Something that might not be but, might just as well be, was that I think Roberto looked at someone in the eye in the audience when he sang “Mère éternellement jeune, adorable et purê”. And how sweet was it that after he finished the aria he turned to look for Charlotte, but she was already hiding with her sister behind tree, seeming to wait for the perfected moment to reveal themselves. It’s adorable the way she takes the tray from her sister so maybe she might get closer to him. This video has left me on the edge of my seat yearning for a continuation! I do hope there is one; I wouldn’t mind editing this post again to post it, just saying…  

This first video was posted on Sunday, now this one was posted today. Just back from the party Werther and Charlotte have a romantic moment, they fall in love and it is super sweet! Seeing this it’s kind of hard to believe that Vesselina just walked into this production, true that she’s already done this opera with Roberto at the Met, but it was a million years ago! Excuse me while I died when Roberto sang: Rêve! Extase! Bonheur! Je donnerais ma vie pour garder à jamais ces yeux, ce front charmant, cette bouche adorable, étonnée et ravie. Sans que nul à son tour les contemple un moment! Le céleste sourire! oh! Charlotte! Je vous aime... et je vous admire! (Dream! Ecstasy! Happiness! I would give my life to look at those eyes, that enchanting face, that adorable mouth, surprised and delighted. Without anyone to turn contemplates a moment! The heavenly smile! oh! Charlotte! I love you ... and I admire you!).

One other thing I love about this is how they manage to keep their characters fresh, even though they are dramatic characters, at this point they are young and somehow naïve and that is what comes through to me, Werther finally finding what he was looking for and Charlotte hardly believing that what she was looking for was Werther and almost giving up to it.

This video is also almost the same as the one from the 27^th but we also get a little bit of footage in the beginning and we get to see the scene until the end of the first act. So we discover our lovers making out before the scene begins, you go girl! It’s amazing how they were already so well together on the 27^th, great chemistry and the voices melted so well with one another, and now it seems as if they have even more chemistry! The way Roberto is looking at Vesselina while she talks about the children is so romantic, it’s like he’s mesmerized with her, and he shows already Werther loves everything about her, which is so important to the story! And interestingly enough at this very moment you can see that Charlotte is also troubled soul, she’s “burdened” with taking care of and being a mother to a lot of children while the ghost of her mother looms over her, meaning Werther and Charlotte are perfect for one another, they are those kind of couples that complete each other, you know? But this is noticeable because of the way the performers are putting across their parts in actions, in intonation, in their choice of dynamic, this is truly a treat. It’s probably the best Werther I’ve ever watched, I was never really able to grasp these two characters, but after this I’m several steps closer to getting them.

And it’s nice that we get to see the end of the act, with Charlotte having almost surrendered to the moment but her dad’s voice kind of awakens her from the dream. This is one of those “what if” moments: What if her father hadn’t called her? Would she have run away? Done something she might regret? We will never know though. But the end was just amazing, as Charlotte confesses that she’s actually engaged to be married you see all the light be extinguished from Werther’s eyes, it just vanishes.

We go the second act, Charlotte has married Albert and Werther left, he comes back. He mourns Charlotte’s marriage and says how much he wished that he was the one who had married Charlotte that he alone would be the one to make her happy. It’s such a sad, sad melodramatic moment, and something I noticed in these videos is how expressive Roberto Alagna’s eyes are, you can see the pain and sadness in his eyes, it’s quite amazing. Another thing, these videos are of amazing quality, this kind of technology hasn’t gotten to Brasil yet haha. Albert arrives and talks to Werther as to how he knows Charlotte is really in love with him and that even though he forgives Werther for that.

Let me say something, Albert has got to be the character I most hate in this opera, if it weren’t for him, if he didn’t exist, Charlotte and Werther would have lived happily ever after. Of course then there would not be an interesting plot to the story, but I’m always rooting for things to end up well in stories and am always frustrated that in opera they usually don’t. Then Werther sings how he’s wound has heeled and he’s not suffering anymore, it’s interesting how we know that that’s a lie and that the melody he sings and the music behind it tell a completely different story. The music shows off his suffering even though his words say otherwise, in other words, Massenet you are a genius and I love you!

Next up from the beginning of Werther's entrance just like before he gets a wonderful aria lamenting his and Charlotte’s fate. Again Alagna is sounding so amazing in this, truly heart breaking aria and a heart breaking rendition of it. Albert arrives and I think this time he really acts and sounds like a true villain, I’d be scared to be married to a man like that, I’d actually be scared to sit next to a man like that, he’s scary.

The scene continues with Charlotte’s annoying sister singing about flowers and happiness and Werther looking more and more grim, she tries to cheer him up but to no avail. Albert tells Werther he should see what’s right in his face and that he should try and look for happiness in someone who is free and holding flowers (aka annoying Sophie). They leave and Charlotte walks in and is surprised to see Werther there and tells him she can’t be with him since she’s married. First Vesselina is sporting a sort of cold worried tone, but as the scene progresses her mask starts to fall and you can see that she aches to be with Werther and it hurts her so much that she actually can’t. She pleads to him to give her peace, his presence shows her what she can never have and that haunts her, this scene is so very deep, you see Werther kind of giving up and consenting that her happiness is the most important thing for him. But Charlotte can’t be without him forever, so she tells him to come back at Christmas.

Compared to what’s coming next this is light stuff, but even in this brief scene there is so much feeling going on and both performers were able to express them. This was really a treat! Charlotte leaves and Werther gets to sing an amazing lament, again, Alagna is heavenly in this, just fantastic. After he has teared his soul apart singing Sophie comes asking him to go to the ball with her, he can’t even respond to her properly, he says he’s going away forever and leaves. Charlotte sees her sister crying and Sophie tells her Werther has left for good and Charlotte is distraught. This is noticed by her husband that finishes off the act saying “Il l'aime!”. The guy who is playing Albert is making him seem almost cruel, his expressions are very severe and in this case even hate, I don’t really like that sort of interpretation of Albert, it makes him even less likeable than he normally is.

In this one we skip Sophie’s part and go straight to Werther reuniting with Charlotte. So absurdly painful to watch how he’s so devoted to her and how she wants him but can’t. After he recalls their moments together she says the painful “Albert m'aime, et je suis sa femme! ” (Albert loves me and I’m his wife) to what Werther responds “Albert vous aime! Qui ne vous aimerait?” (Albert loves you? And who wouldn’t love you?), that just stings mon coeur, you know? And her telling him to leave, her face when she says “Partez! Partez!” is so sad, she’s afraid she won’t be able to do with him being around. And how devastated he is at hearing she wants him to leave, this time this encounter is even more tense than on the 27^th, if that’s even possible, because it was pretty tense already. After she leaves Werther starts thinking about the idea of putting an end to his life in a light delusional way, and at the end when he says “Père, appelle moi!” he’s really asking to die. After he leaves we see Albert sort of dragging Charlotte by the arm, which is quite alarming and makes his villain cap fit even better. It’s interesting how this moment is dreadful for the characters but the music is upbeat and cheerful, another great musical contrast Massenet gives us.

Third act, next video right from the beginning of the act, Charlotte is so hopelessly in love with Werther, you see pain in Vesselina’s eyes, it’s absolutely heart breaking. He has been sending her letters that she’s read again and again, while she talks about the letters it’s interesting to see how in Vesselina’s acting Charlotte forgets her life and for a few moments is transported to something/somewhere her and Werther are together and happy, she smiles at the letters and is back to herself saying she should destroy them, but can’t. Then she starts reading one of the letters and you gotta hold on tight not to cry, he’s alone and miserable and she’s even more miserable because he’s miserable and because she knows she can help him, but really she can’t. So much drama, I love it! Vesselina is, by the way, sounding absolutely divine, her unique voice color is sounding clear and so, so fitted for this role, really, a perfect fit. His last letter is alarming, he says that if he doesn’t show on Christmas, she’ll never see him again, Charlotte is worried, the fear of him being gone from this earth is so touchable in her voice, it’s not a desperate tone, it’s something much deeper and scary.

Next video is when Werther actually shows up, the orchestral music composed for this bit when Charlotte sees him is absolutely gorgeous, poignant and moving. They start recalling their sweet moments together and it’s such bittersweet music and acting, what I love about this production is that they actually touch and reach out for each other. Most productions I’ve watched Charlotte was either cold to him (in her gestures) or too afraid to reach out to him, which kind of annoys me. Because I feel that a lot of her strive is the fact that he is so close you can taste it, and she actually does (by hugging him or kissing him) but at the end she can’t give into him. It’s much harder to give up to something you’ve experienced and loved than something you are too afraid of even getting close to. Just saying, that’s just my opinion. Then I die, “Pourquoi me réveiller, ô souffle du printemps?” oh my God, it’s such a heartfelt song, just like Charlotte’s “Va! laisse couler mes larmes” it’s a short yet powerful aria that destroys me from the inside out, this whole opera is really so much suffering one can take and I have a bad habit of growing too found of the characters, so I suffer along. Roberto sang majestically, really, just, amazing, he gets a big, big ovation at the end of this aria, well deserved I must add!

Third act and Werther shows up in Charlotte’s house, you see that she’s quite relieved to see him there after his dreadful promise. He says how much he didn’t really want to come back, but there wasn’t a day he didn’t think about her and helas he came back to see her. Again they have a little heaven of a moment when they recall their moments together, they seem to relax and the BAM "Pourquoi me réveiller, ô souffle du printemps?”. The beginning of this song feels like melted butter, me being the butter. (ps; funny enough the moment Roberto finished the aria and everybody cheered at the same second my dad screamed “GOAL!”, his team made a goal, and now there are fireworks and for me they are all for Roberto)

Fortunately the next video is the continuation of this scene, Werther sees that Charlotte is moved and has his confirmation that she indeed still loves him. This scene is crazy good, and is so fantastically executed, flames of hope seem to gleam from Alagna’s eyes and something like crazy bliss and gilt shine in Kasarova’s. As they sing together, Werther pleading for her to give in and Charlotte trying to hold on to her values, there’s an insane exchange going on between the performers, again , it’s hard to believe she had just walked into the production. Such chemistry it is really crazy, as he tells her he loves her, she begs for mercy and they finally end up having a rather hot kiss on the floor (YES THEY KISS, already a victory compared to some productions I’ve seen). That’s what I’m talking about, it’s much harder to walk out of a kiss like that than of a half kiss done with regret, it makes Charlotte’s struggle even more painful, I think.

But she does come to her senses and climbs the stairs in order to get away, normally after her “Adieu! adieu! pour la dernière fois!” she actually leaves, but Werther follows her up the stairs and says to her the painful “Mais non... c'est impossible! Ecoute-moi! Ma voix te rappelle! Reviens! Tu me seras sacrée! Reviens! Reviens!” she looks at him with pain tear filled eyes and kisses him goodbye and runs away. It is so heart breaking when he actually starts weeping and it is then that Werther decides that if he can’t have Charlotte he’d rather die.

Now for the continuation of the scene, again, I didn’t think this could get more intense, well it did. The way they work together is amazing and their movements are not the same as the last time and you think “Oh my God, they are really planning their actions in the moment” which in one side is super risky but when it works out, and it did, it’s extremely organic and makes their performance utterly believable, not that they weren’t, but this makes it so human, raw, touchable and relatable. (oh here I go again, shut up Isabela). Their struggle ended in a kiss and the well deserved little ovation it got, they managed to perfectly lead us to this moment when Charlotte truly looses it and really proves right for her to say next “C'est vous, vous! que je fuis l'âme désespérée!”. And oh my world, how heart breaking it is when he’s asking for her to come back and she extends her hand toward him and they embrace in the most desperate way, as if they couldn’t live without each other and then she leaves again.

Last clip Werther has shot himself and Charlotte has gone after him only to find him covered in his own blood dying. Charlotte is desperate and tries to call for help but he just tells her that all the help he needs is in her “Vois! je n'ai pas besoin d'autre aide que la tienne!” at this Vesselina makes a crying face that is heart throbbing, everything about this scene is actually heart throbbing, she is holding him and it’s so beautiful you almost forget he’s dying. She’s so tender to her caresses toward him it seems as if they’ll live forever together (hopeless romantic that I am!). Then they profess their love for one another (Werther: “je meurs en te disant que je t'adore!” Charlotte: “Et moi, Werther, et moi je t'aime!”) and I almost die, she finally confesses she’s loved him ever since the beginning and I’m on the floor with depression, it’s so sad! And then she tells him she’s going to give him the kiss he so much craved for and wow, do they kiss or what! They do have a lot of orchestral heartfelt music to kiss to and they do, at these moments my heart totally skips a beat and again I sort of forget he’s drenched with blood at death’s door. As they sing “oublions tout!” (forget everything), such a sweet moment, we hear the children sing the Christmas song and are thrown back into reality, Werther is dying. PS; I’m re watching this for like the 7^th time and I’m crying for the 7^th time.

Werther asks Charlotte not to cry, and they embrace ever so gently and lovingly at the sound of the children and Sophie’s singing, it’s too much to take I tell you, this opera is just so depressing! At this point Charlotte is beyond desperate while Werther has quietly accepted his fate and is ready, as he dies I cry like a retarded human being and oh man, the suffering in Vesselina’s eyes is making me cry even more, he dies and  Charlotte cries out for him to no avail. She climbs off the bed and meets her husband hatred filled gaze, as she gets down to her knees probably to beg for his forgiveness he turns his back on her with a disgusted look. The end, Werther dies and so do I.

One thing really gets to me about this ending, ok, to be a tragedy at least one of the lovers must die, but I feel I would like this ending a lot more if Charlotte also killed herself. She’s gonna spend the rest of her life with the ghost of that moment and of what could have been had she run away with Werther looming over her, she should have the right to put an end to her misery too, and maybe to be with Werther in another place. That’s what I think anyways. God, this has been wonderful but somehow slightly depressing haha

Another lovely picture of the curtain call, yay, Werher is actually alive so they can be together! Shut up Isabela!

Ah, and be sure to watch the curtain call, a well deserved ovation for our heroes, I’ve posted in Vesselina’s facebook fan page. Well I guess this is it, what a HUGE post! But every time I write about Vesselina it’s normally a gigantic post. Peace everyone!

Sadly enough there was no video of the ending that must have been a real gem, well who knows? Maybe it will show up :) Only final words, BRAVI to Roberto Alagna and to Vesselina Kasarova that literally killed it in their roles and made us all cry! And also a huge THANK YOU to our dear camera people (Orin13MS, MaPatROB and operara100)who were kind enough to share these videos with the world!

PS: The struggle I just went through to put these videos together in a pretty way was ridiculous!

The first live opera that moved me to tears

This week was sort of overwhelming and full full of studying languages for me. Plus of course my own personal version of Don Giovanni in my life, thank God I’m kind of not talking to him anymore. But you know these real life Don Giovannis they are so charming and hard to resist, but I will not succumb and become Donna Elvira (even though I love her), I will thrive LOL.

 

Picture I took from my seat


Anyways I decided to talk about the first live opera that moved me to tears, ‘cause the first actual opera that moved me to tears was Manon, but then I was sitting in the comfort of my home sobbing not in an actual theatre. But surprisingly so the opera I’m talking about is also Massenet’s, it’s Werther. You know when I saw Manon, I was dazzled by her, so I bought the book “Manon Lescaut” and wow, Massenet was really nice to Manon, because the girl suffers a LOT in the book, and in the opera she only suffers a lot in act 5! But then I figured out where he deposited all the suffering Manon went through, on poor Werther’s back!

So let’s start from the beginning, I saw this production of Werther here in São Paulo at the São Pedro Theatre. Here in São Paulo, which is the biggest city in the country and third biggest city in the world, we only have two opera theatres, the “Theatro Municipal” which was closed for 7 years for renovations and only about 2 years ago reopened and the “Theatro São Pedro”, both of them are organs of the government, meaning that they depend a lot on politicians and political interests. And just to make things clear, politics here in Brasil are as filthy as Don Giovanni’s reputation.

With that being said it’s an act of heroism being able to put up an opera around here with such sponsors. And let me tell you, the guys in São Pedro are real heroes; they put up a beautiful production. The sets were simple, with black and white fabrics hanging from the ceiling and some really beautiful furniture (I particularly loved a little piano they had in Charlotte’s house). The costumes were so very well picked; they did an adaptation for the 60’s, so the girls had flawless hairdos and pretty dresses.

Here is the cast and production list:

Luiz Fernando Malheiro - Conductor and Musical Direction

André Heller-Lopes - Scene Director

Renato Theobaldo and Roberto Rolnik - Scenery Conception

Fábio Retti – Lighting Design

Marcelo Marques –Costume Design

Fernando Portari (tenor) – Werther

Luisa Francesconi (mezzo-soprano) – Charlotte

Gabriella Pace (soprano) – Sophie

Murilo Neves (bass) – Le Bailli

Vinícius Atique (baritone) – Albert

Thiago Soares (tenor) – Schmidt

Max Costa (baritone) – Johann

Vanessa Portugal (actress) – Kätchen

André Dallan (actor) – Brühlmans



Fernando Portari and Luisa Francesconi

(picture taken from UOL)

 

But it wasn’t the sets or the costumes that moved to tears (kind of obvious). This was my first time watching Werther, before I’d only heard the famous "Va! laisse couler mes larmes" (Go! And let my tears run), Charlotte’s moving aria in the third act, before. From the very beginning I knew I’d seen a real opera gem on the stage, Fernando Portari who was playing Werther, was absolute perfection! His grasp on the character of Werther was so good, he appeared so melancholic in the beginning but as soon as he sees Charlotte it turns into pure romance. Their little heaven of happiness in the first act was inspiring, but then so brutally cut off by Charlotte’s duty. From the second act on it’s pure anticipation (I get like this because I don’t read the story prior to watching anything, I want the opera to tell me story, so sometimes I get overly excited about the plot and what’s about to happen) are they gonna end up together? Is there gonna be an affair? A KISS? The anticipation just kept building itself up for me and that was much thanks to the brilliant lead couple and the masterfully well conducted music.

On the third act I bursting with anticipation, I started crying at "Va! laisse couler mes larmes" and kind of didn’t stop until the end of the opera. When Werther and Charlotte almost end up together going all “Let’s go, leave it all behind, let’s be happy, I love you!” my tears were of utter happiness but then she tells him to go away and he’s distraught and it was played so well you could feel his pain and hers for having to give him up.

The fourth act for me was spend sobbing in my cardigan and sometimes laying my head on eighter one of my friend’s shoulders. This adaptation they had another actor on a chair turned to the stage so we couldn’t see him, and then he shoots himself just as Charlotte arrives and we find out that that’s Werther. But instead of a dying Werther talking to her we see the actor who plays him in medieval clothes and very pale, already a ghost and then they have their heart breaking duet! It was a lot for me to assimilate, it was very overwhelming, both performers really gave it all they could possibly give which made it an even more amazing experience. That was very clear because both of them at curtain looked absolutely drained. It was really amazing.

And not to mention that just like in the Renée Fleming Concert the front role seats were empty and we sat right in the front role, again. So it was really an up-close experience with Werther, and the guys playing the trumpets were actually laughing at my crying during the opera, yes I could see them and they could see me.