End of term report! Royal Opera Season 2013-14

Wow!  What a season that was...and how quickly time has gone by.  Doesn't seem five minutes since I was compiling the 2012/13 highlights but here we are again.  For me this has been a very positive season at ROH where the highs have definitely outweighed the lows.  Of course live theatre isn't perfect but I really feel that this has been such a great season - great singers, interesting productions and a good mix of new experiences and revisiting old favourites.  Here's what I saw at ROH this season:

Turandot (rehearsal)
Le Nozze di Figaro (rehearsal and 1 performance)
Les Vepres Siciliennes (twice) New Production
Wozzeck
Parsifal (rehearsal) New Production
Carmen
Manon (rehearsal and 2 performances)
Don Giovanni New Production
Faust
Jonas Kaufmann - Wintereisse
La Traviata - twice
Dialogues des Carmelites (new to Royal Opera but I have classed this as a revival)
Tosca
Manon Lescaut - (rehearsal and 2 performances)  New Production
La Boheme - twice
Ariadne auf Naxos
Maria Stuarda  New Production
JPYA Summer Performance

Productions I missed this season in the main house were La Fille du Regiment and Die Frau ohne Schatten - which isn't bad going really.


Best New Production
Once again this was a really hard decision. I find new productions quite frustrating for the most part.  Quite often they are so nearly perfect (Manon Lescaut) but then something goes awry.  In other cases I am baffled and sometimes quite angry (Don Giovanni).  But in the end I have to make a decision and its probably not the one you think...

Yes, considering the Wagner-phobe I claim myself to be, Parsifal won me over to such an extent that even my love for tenors and Jonas Kaufmann couldn't sway me!  The combination of production and Wagner's music completely transformed my opinion. Not saying I love everything about Wagner (I don't) but for some reason this particular opera hits the spot.  Now, if ROH would only entice Mr Kaufmann to come sing it, I'd be an even happier woman!


Worst New Production.
Sigh.  For some reason this category is one of the easiest to judge although I have to say that on balance, the new productions this year were slightly less annoying than last seasons but there is a clear winner for me....

Yes, I'm afraid Kasper Holten's production of Don Giovanni left me less than impressed.  The combination of whirling set, constantly flashing lights and borderline misogynistic concept meant that although I wanted to like this production, I didn't.  At all.

Best Production Revival
Once again, spoilt for choice amongst the many commendable revivals.  Some great performances from singers enlivened even the most venerable and staid of productions.  Honourable mentions go to Faust, Manon and Ariadne auf Naxos.  But, the surprise winner is.....

La Boheme.  I know!  All the more surprising as this time last year I chose this opera (reluctantly) as my 'worst production revival'.  Well all I can say is, what a difference a year makes.  John Copley once again returned to breath new life into this veteran production, but it was the casting of Ermonela Jaho and Charles Castronovo which made all of the difference.  Subtle and believable actors, they instantly convinced as star-crossed lovers Mimi and Rodolfo.  And not only that, their musicality and willingness to live the drama on stage totally convinced. Mesmerising and magical.


Worst Production Revival
Once again this category was very hard to pick. Most of the revivals I have seen these season have had their  merits, be it in individual performances (Tosca) or the production itself (Nozze di Figaro).  But for better or worse the winner is....

Carmen. It wasn't bad.  But it wasn't really a stand out either.  Individual performances were okay but frankly this just seemed like another routine revival of an old warhorse.  The production now seems tired and lacking in verve.  Alagna was good but brought no special insights into Don Jose.  Next!

Best Male Singer Performance
Ah. Now I know what you think.  She's going to pick that tenor again.  You're right but quite frankly when you have a tenor who is currently performing at the very top of his game, then there is no choice.  The winner is....

Yes, its that man again.  Jonas Kaufmann.  Although as you may gather from the picture, I'm actually choosing him for his magnificent performance of Wintereisse, rather than his performance in Manon Lescaut. Not that his Des Grieux wasn't good - it was fantastic.  But it is rather his ability to totally entrance in lieder and then switch to full-blooded and passionate operatic singing that has me hooked.

Very honourable mentions go to Charles Castronovo, Gerald Finley and Bryn Terfel.


Best Female Singer Performance.
This has been the season of some very great and wonderful soprano singing.  I've encountered voices new to me and revisited some favourites.  Honourable mentions to Lise Lindstrom, Ailyn Perez, Joyce di Donato and Karita Mattila.  But my winner for this season is....

Wow!  Just wow!  I was almost left speechless by my first encounter with the Tosca of Sondra Radvanovsky.  Where has this soprano been all of my life?  Well not at ROH very often to be sure.  This voice is the real deal.  And her assumption of the role of diva of all diva's was just perfection.  Brava Sondra - please come back soon.

And finally...

Operatic Highlight of the Season.
I've had so many highlights this season that I really consider myself very lucky to live near London and have the opportunity to see and hear some wonderful opera.  There were many highlights for me, not least Manon Lescaut which was wonderful and frustrating at the same time. Mentions must also go to Ariadne auf Naxos, Faust and Turandot.  But my highlight of the season was....

Yes it was actually Dialogues des Carmelites.  I have waited so many years to see this opera but it was worth the wait.  Musically and dramatically satisfying and emotionally overwhelming.  Just wonderful.

So that's it for another season and I'm already missing the place already!  My next scheduled visit is in September to see Barbiere di Siviglia...here's a little taster of what lies ahead...

Dialogues des Carmélites - Royal Opera House 7th June 2014

I remember with utter clarity the very first time I heard a snippet of music from this opera.  It was way back in the mists of time (around 1992/3) when I was just starting to really explore opera and classical music in earnest. So I'd buy one of those magazines with a free CD featuring snippets of classical music and just listen. Some of the tracks I already knew, some I didn't like and some I really enjoyed wanted to know more about - it was a really good way of exploring music on the cheap!  Lo and behold one day a track from Carmelites blasted from the speakers and it stopped me in my tracks.  What the hell was this?  Singing nuns getting their heads chopped off?  Baldly stated it sounds bizarre but what I had stumbled across was the Salve Regina, perhaps the most famous 'piece' of the opera and its utterly devastating conclusion.  I didn't know the opera at all but it was love at first listen.  Unfortunately I never got a chance to see a live performance....until now.

And I have to say that it was worth the very long wait.  Much has already been said about this production by Robert Carsen. This is not a new production by any means, having originated in 1997 and has been travelling around the various opera houses since then.  Still, better late than never.  I've only seen two Carsen productions before and neither was a completely satisfactory experience.  Most recent was the Falstaff which I saw live at ROH.  An updating to the 1950's there seemed to be more surface than substance and the final act didn't really work.  His Zurich Tosca (seen on DVD) was also a 1950's based production, although this one taking its cue from film noir and Hitchock themes.  This had the novel idea of removing religion from the opera all together - the first act taking place in a theatre and not a church.  There were some good moments but this was mainly due to the performers and not to the concept. So I was still a little bit wary of what was to come.

In Carmelites, Carsen quite wisely lets the story and the music do the talking.  While the costumes evoke the period of the story, the stage is mostly bare.  Carsen uses the very evocative and clever lighting (designed by Jean Kalman) to great effect.  Combined with the use of the chorus and actors who fill the stage when required this is a simple tale, simply told.  There were no real jarring moments in terms of production although the finale has divided opinion.  As the nuns are gathered to meet their fate they indulge in some gentle almost tai chi like movements before falling gently to the ground one by one.  I think it would have been just as effective to have them stand utterly still but by this time I had tears in my eyes and I couldn't see anyway.

Its very hard to highlight individual performances as this is very much an ensemble - no diva turns here!  Of note to me was the cameo of Thomas Allen as the Marquis de la Force, surely now in the winter of his career...but what a winter.  Richly characterised as always, he made the most of this small role and was warmly applauded at the end for his efforts.  Yann Beuron as his son made a good impression but this opera is not really about the men.  Sally Matthews as Blanche, the novitiate nun who is pretty much afraid of everything, was outstanding as was Anna Prohaska as the perky Sister Constance.  I'm a big fan of Sophie Koch (especially in French opera) and I wasn't disappointed here.  Another standout was Deborah Polaski as the aged and dying Mother Prioress.  She really threw herself into the agonies of the dying nun and you can imagine poor Blanche being terrified.  If Emma Bell was less notable than the rest of the cast, it was only because she had little enough time to establish her character.  Quite honestly there was no weak link in the cast.

So what was it all about?  I suppose on the surface it was about a group of nuns who succumbed to the zeal of the French Revolution.  Others have said it is about the transference of faith - that the faith shown by Constance and the other nuns is somehow transferred to Blanche, enabling her to return to the nuns and die with them. For me personally, it was about overcoming fear, or rather overcoming the fear of fear and thus being able to move on.

In many ways, I had a very similar experience with this opera as I did when I saw Parsifal for the first time and I approached it in much the same way.  This opera is a journey and you have to slow down and let the composer take you on that journey and not want to rush ahead - the conclusion is all the more devastating for the slow pace in getting there.

I have only one criticism and that is a technical one.  The sounds of the guillotine, while still devastating, were greatly over-amplified in the theatre -  at least in the lower amphitheatre where I was sitting.  It just brought a slightly false-note to an otherwise perfect night at the opera.  I'll  leave you with that devastating final scene.