opera....what else?
So I've noticed that I havn't had much to say apparently, though make no mistake, that does not mean that there is nothing to be said. ha.
So today's chat will be about a recent operatic experience. Ok, so monday night I went The MET and attended the NY premiere of Tchaikovsky's Mazeppa. Ok, for anyone interested here is the link for the full story:
http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/discover/stories/synopsis.aspx?id=131
Ok, so basically an overview: The story deals with Mazeppa, ruler of Ukraine and political involvement w/ the Tsar Peter and such, it's all very Russian, you understand. So in typical Tchiakovsky form the music is wonderful and while the majority of the opera there is absolutely nothing to dance about, Tchaikovsky manages to throw a ballet/russian dance sequence in the first Act. Of course, you can also hear motifs from The Nutcracker Suites if you are paying attention at all.
The basic story of the opera involves Mazeppa and a young girl Maria wanting to be married, which of course Maria's father Kochubei and mother Lyubov disapprove of because for one, that makes Mazeppa a dirty old man, and two Mazeppa is Maria's godfather (in case the dirty old man wasn't dirty enough). Oh and let us not forget of course young Andrei, Maria's best friend since childhood who of course confesses his harboring love for her only to find out that she'd rather be with Mazeppa. So Mazeppa asks Maria to choose between himself and her family and of course she stupidly chooses Mazeppa. So once friends Kochubei and Mazeppa are now enemies. Kochubei decides to scheme against Mazeppa and tell the Tsar Peter that Mazeppa secretly wants to befriend the Swedes in order to overthrow the Tsar. The Tsar however, does not believe them and consequently Kochubei is of course thrown in jail. Mazeppa now has charge of him and decides to have him executed. Lyubov tries to appeal in secret to Maria who is blinded by lust apparently to snap out of it and appeal to her husband Mazeppa to spare her father, Kochubei's life. They are of course too late and Kochubei is beheaded. This was where this opera is considered gruesome for it is actually done and his head goes rolling right towards Maria who catches it and of course goes mad from that moment until the end of the opera. In the third act Mazeppa is no longer in a seat of power and is trying to flee the Russians, in doing so encounters Andrei who foolishly tries to avenge his beloved Maria since her insanity is the fault of Mazeppa. Mazeppa does not however, fight fairly since Andrei only has a sword, he of course shoots him. At the end, in true form, our soprano Maria comes back to have the last word, as she sings and acts crazy, still carrying around the head of her father and various other body parts apparently. She fails to recognize Mazeppa and he ends up leaving her behind (what a nice husband). She then encounters Andrei and while she never seems to truly recognize him in her stupor of craziness, she does however comfort him in his death.
It was an interesting story albeit a long one, by the time the bows ended it was well after midnight, 4 hours of Russian misery is a lot but I enjoyed it for the most part. I am not however thrilled with the voices out there however. The only one that I truly enjoyed was Lyubov, the mother. She had a fantastic voice, full of energy and power and emotion. The soprano was ok but technically she just wasn't quite there for me, though she sounded better in the third act then she did in the first. Mazeppa at times, was so quiet I couldn't even hear him. This blows my mind for singers should be able to fill the hall at the Met for goodness sakes or why else are you there! Andrei was ok but apparently he was sick for by the third act they actually had his understudy finish the role which is disappointing for that was his big moment. The understudy was ok but again, his sound was very muted, for a tenor he had a very small voice. The costumes were very authenic having been made by a company in Russia. The sets were also enjoyable aside from the decapitated heads as background in some scenes etc
Personally, I'll stick to learning Lucia di Lammermoor, she's a different kind of crazy.
So today's chat will be about a recent operatic experience. Ok, so monday night I went The MET and attended the NY premiere of Tchaikovsky's Mazeppa. Ok, for anyone interested here is the link for the full story:
http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/discover/stories/synopsis.aspx?id=131
Ok, so basically an overview: The story deals with Mazeppa, ruler of Ukraine and political involvement w/ the Tsar Peter and such, it's all very Russian, you understand. So in typical Tchiakovsky form the music is wonderful and while the majority of the opera there is absolutely nothing to dance about, Tchaikovsky manages to throw a ballet/russian dance sequence in the first Act. Of course, you can also hear motifs from The Nutcracker Suites if you are paying attention at all.
The basic story of the opera involves Mazeppa and a young girl Maria wanting to be married, which of course Maria's father Kochubei and mother Lyubov disapprove of because for one, that makes Mazeppa a dirty old man, and two Mazeppa is Maria's godfather (in case the dirty old man wasn't dirty enough). Oh and let us not forget of course young Andrei, Maria's best friend since childhood who of course confesses his harboring love for her only to find out that she'd rather be with Mazeppa. So Mazeppa asks Maria to choose between himself and her family and of course she stupidly chooses Mazeppa. So once friends Kochubei and Mazeppa are now enemies. Kochubei decides to scheme against Mazeppa and tell the Tsar Peter that Mazeppa secretly wants to befriend the Swedes in order to overthrow the Tsar. The Tsar however, does not believe them and consequently Kochubei is of course thrown in jail. Mazeppa now has charge of him and decides to have him executed. Lyubov tries to appeal in secret to Maria who is blinded by lust apparently to snap out of it and appeal to her husband Mazeppa to spare her father, Kochubei's life. They are of course too late and Kochubei is beheaded. This was where this opera is considered gruesome for it is actually done and his head goes rolling right towards Maria who catches it and of course goes mad from that moment until the end of the opera. In the third act Mazeppa is no longer in a seat of power and is trying to flee the Russians, in doing so encounters Andrei who foolishly tries to avenge his beloved Maria since her insanity is the fault of Mazeppa. Mazeppa does not however, fight fairly since Andrei only has a sword, he of course shoots him. At the end, in true form, our soprano Maria comes back to have the last word, as she sings and acts crazy, still carrying around the head of her father and various other body parts apparently. She fails to recognize Mazeppa and he ends up leaving her behind (what a nice husband). She then encounters Andrei and while she never seems to truly recognize him in her stupor of craziness, she does however comfort him in his death.
It was an interesting story albeit a long one, by the time the bows ended it was well after midnight, 4 hours of Russian misery is a lot but I enjoyed it for the most part. I am not however thrilled with the voices out there however. The only one that I truly enjoyed was Lyubov, the mother. She had a fantastic voice, full of energy and power and emotion. The soprano was ok but technically she just wasn't quite there for me, though she sounded better in the third act then she did in the first. Mazeppa at times, was so quiet I couldn't even hear him. This blows my mind for singers should be able to fill the hall at the Met for goodness sakes or why else are you there! Andrei was ok but apparently he was sick for by the third act they actually had his understudy finish the role which is disappointing for that was his big moment. The understudy was ok but again, his sound was very muted, for a tenor he had a very small voice. The costumes were very authenic having been made by a company in Russia. The sets were also enjoyable aside from the decapitated heads as background in some scenes etc
Personally, I'll stick to learning Lucia di Lammermoor, she's a different kind of crazy.