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Opera

Carnevale di Venezia

December 29, 2021

Throughout the early to mid Eighteenth Century, Venice, Italy was considered to be one of the most exciting, alluring, and culturally diverse cities throughout Europe. The grandeur attracted a multitude of intellects, artists, musicians, travelers, foreigners, merchants, traders, prostitutes, tourists, nobility, and clergy alike, (Hanning, pp.263-264). Venice was a city filled with excitement and adventure.

What Ospedale means exactly? Ospedale (literally “hospital”) should be seen in a broader perspective than we use the word. It can mean hospital, but it also is “sanitarium,” “orphanage,” or any number of institutions of that era.

The Ospedale della Pietà was one of four such homes in Venice. The Pietà took in mostly girls, and by Vivaldi’s time had become well known for the quality of the musical education. The girls of the Pietà became such accomplished musicians that by Vivaldi’s time the institution had developed a reputation as one of the best music school in Europe. In XVIII century Italy, however, there occurred a veritable explosion of musical activity in these ospedali, orphanages-turned-conservatories. This was especially true in Venice and Naples.

In Venice as early as the XIV century there were already four functioning ospedali: the Ospedale dei Mendicanti (originally for lepers and later beggars), once visited by Goethe who wrote of it, “I never imagined such voices could exist,” the Ospedaletto di SS. Giovanni e Paulo – a poorhouse and orphanage, and the Conservatorio degl’ Incurabili as the name implies. Finally there was the extraordinary Ospedale della Pietà. The Pietà Hospital had been founded in 1346. It was an institution for orphaned or illegitimate girls, foundlings and the female children of poor families. Already in the 17 th century this ospedale had achieved fame for its work with disadvantaged girls, especially for their singing and instrumental musicianship.

Vivaldi`s connection with the Pieta began in 1703 and lasted nearly forty years until 1740. In 1704 he was named Maestro di Violino di Choro. He also was in charge of of purchasing musical instruments.. He later became a violin teacher, Master of Concerts and resident composer. He was required to compose two masses per year – for Easter and the Feast of the Visitation, two Vesper services a year and two new motets each month among other things. Vivaldi worked daily with girls, writing and performing music for their special needs, choral and instrumental works. The girls were divided into two categories: the figlie di comun or commoners who received a general education and the figlie di coro or choristers and musicians who received an exactin musical training in solfeggio, singing and instrumental technique. Vivaldi supervised the teaching and served as concert master and composer. The reputation of the Pieta surpassed anything in Europe and drew visitors from all over Europe. Even Pope Pius IV came to hear the girls play and sing. The putte did not travel and were not allowed to perform outside the ospedale.

Ever since the Renaissance, Italy became a Mecca for students and musicians who would make the long pilgrimage to Italy to absorb the spirit and culture found there. In later centuries the trek continued until modern times. Mozart, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Liszt were but a few of the many great musicians who drew inspiration from all that sunny Italy had to offer. Yet it seems the miracle of the 18th century ospedale and the Pieta was never to flower again.

Cantates et Petits Macarons

December 28, 2021

CANTATAS AND LITTLE MACAROONS

„On a quiet summer afternoon, with the living room door half open, through the doorway comes a smell of perfume, mu ed laughter from the courtesans and the sweet sounds of the violin virtuoso…”
There is a generous buffet, gently decorated with a Croquembouche – a pyramid of cream put s stunned with candied fruit, sugared violets from Toulouse, a sprig of dill sprinkled with tinted icing sugar, nutmeg spiced pastilles, almond dragees from Verdun and mounds of delicately flavoured macaroons.

is is a place where you can read, play billiards or backgammon and listen to the newest cantatas, that tell of the deeds of the gods and of idyllic landscapes with shepherds and shepherdesses. e cantatas provide the perfect excuse to talk about love, to tell short stories and simple tales o en ending with a plain moral: „We watch pleasure ́s departure, just as we are trying to learn about it” (LN Clérembault La Muse de l’Opera). In that way Mirtil and Amaryllis from Le berger fedèle („Faithful Shepherd” by JP Rameau) triumph over Diana’s murderous rage with the purity of his love, and the great sacrifice becomes a covenant, that breaks the curse of Arcadia.

These cantatas, just like the short salon operas, are composed of symphonic ariettas and recitatives. ey are as exquisite as the delicate avoured desserts pictured above. It could be said that with the works of Clérambault, Montéclair and Rameau, the French Cantata reached a kind of apogee, pushing the limits of its theatricality and becoming increasingly more operatic. On one hand, these composers borrow the varied pace, exuberance and quick modulations from the Italian style. In the first story, „ e Faithful Shepherd” by JP Rameau, Mirtil „sighs and moans all the time” – an effect achieved with a tearful chromatic line in the basso continuo, obtaining amazing and protagonising minor harmonies. On the other hand, they expand the instrumental parts, using trumpets, horns, violins and even timpani, which far from being a mere accompaniment to the story also set the scene. In Clérembault’s La Muse de l’Opéra there are numerous descriptions of the context of the scenes such as the Tempest (Tempest), Sommeil (Dream) and the Prélude infernal (Prelude for hell). ere are several scenic images: „terrible floods” literally presented by the billows, contrasting with morning bird songs played on the ute or the shepherd’s bagpipe mimicked by the buzzing bass viola. JP De Montéclair’s great orchestration creates an amazing dialogue between the martial trumpet and the joyful bagpipe in Le Retour de la Paix.

François Couperin, less engaged with cantata writing than his contemporaries (his vocal secular works uses a sti „serious aria – light aria” structure) is one of the most important chamber music composers of the French Baroque, in which he reaches an artistic peak with Le Gouts Reunis ( e combined tastes). As if he were a master alchemist, and using his music as a sort of philosophers’stone, he combines the French and Italian style, represented by J.B. Lully and A. Corelli, in a perfect mix. L’Apothéose de Corelli (Apotheosis of Corelli) is built as a big Italian sonata in seven parts. At the beginning of each part, a description of the piece is written, allowing the listener to follow the story and enjoy the adventures of our hero, Corelli himself.

The titles read as follows:

  • «  Corelli at the feet of Parnassus asks the Muses to take care of him. » (Grave)
  • «  Corelli, fascinated by his welcome on Parnassus, expresses his joy. He moves on with his companions. » (Joyful)
  • «  Corelli drinks from the spring of Hippocrene, and his company moves on. » (Moderately)
  • «  Corelli is full of enthusiasm, caused by the waters of Hippocrene. » (Lively)
  • «  Corelli, exhausted by all his enthusiasm, falls asleep; his troupe plays a gentle lullaby. »
  • «   The Muses wake Corelli up, leading him to Apollo. » (Lively)
  • «  Corelli’s gratefulness. » (Cheerfully)Marin Marais was one of the first to introduce trio compositions, typically used by the Italians, into France. His famous Sonnerie de Sainte Geneviève du Mont de Paris (Bells of St. Genevieve in the Hills of Paris) is an amazing example of virtuosity on the viola da gamba. All of it is achieved by a very simple material – three tones that imitate bells and a never ending passacaglia, that allow the viola da gamba, a French instrument, to engage in a competition with the Italian violin, and win?…At the royal court, salons, theaters, and churches the Italian style remained fashionable; it was the pinch of salt that enhanced the aroma of cloves and macaroons, but only when tamed, and re ned to the gentleness and depth of the French delicacy. François Couperin said „Let us pronounce Sonada and Cantada (instead of sonata and cantata) as we already pronounce ballada and serenada. No matter what the recipe, each of these works portrayed in the CD is an invitation to celebrate the combined favours (Goûts Réunis), a tiercake made of layers and favours, that makes us succumb to the pleasures of the feast.

Macaroons (recipe)

<< Grind half a pound of fresh, blanched almonds, washed and well dried, when rubbed sprinkle them with a few drops of orange blossom water and one sugar, in order not to turn almonds into oil, then remove them from the mortar and beat well in a stoneware bowl with half a pound of sugar, add four eggwhites, beat them neatly with sugar and almonds; put button size macaroons on paper; bake on a low heat; when they are baked and in a beautiful color, serve it in that form. In order to frost them, if somebody likes, put one sugar through a sieve on a plate, add lemon juice and a bit of eggwhite, whip them together with a spatula until it becomes white; cover macaroons with it and put them into the stove for a moment in order to dry the frosting >>

Enemies in Love

November 27, 2021

Love, jealousy, war, complex network of intrigues, religious conflict in the background, and additionally a whole galaxy of special effects. Sounds like a description of an action movie? Yes, but it could successfully correspond to a large number of Händel and Vivaldi operas! Almost all their operas are based on history or myth. From murderers to monarchs and heroes, historic moments and famous faces have inspired operas throughout the centuries.

Both Handel and Vivaldi were focusing in their operas on the heroic characters, bipolar emotions and intrigues. Good example is Tamerlano who has plenty to say about jealousy. Tormented by this feeling sings bristling with fury aria, A dispetto d’un volto ingrato, which literally sparkles with the desire for revenge (in the original cast sung by castrato – Andrea Pacini). Thinking about love however, the most difficult is to face rejection. This was the fate of lover of the title queen Partenope – Arsace, who ends second act of the opera with his brilliant aria Furibondo spira il vento. Also Bertarido, tragic hero of Rodelinda (1725), singing a few songs later the legendary Dove sei must face the topic of death and loss. Melancholy of the king, that has been found to be dead, is mixed with longing for his beloved, and the sense of emptiness is perfectly captured by a wide, wistful phrase.

Among genius Italian opera composers we certainly admire Antonio Vivaldi. Even though we associate his name mostly with numbers of instrumental concertos, especially those written for violin, Vivaldi was mainly a significant opera composer. In the letter he wrote to his protector in Ferrara on 2nd January 1737 he mentioned about 94 operas he composed. Among them marvelous Il Giustino, Il Farnace, Il Tigrane.

With Enemies in Love, we want to present stories of the ancient heroes, where dramaturgy of our spectacle is inviting the audience to the mythical world, full of spells, magic, battles, and love affaires. Together with powerful and picturesque instrumental music of Vivaldi, we are proposing a new way of communication with our public, aiming to truly touch their souls, and speak deeply to their emotions. „Dramaturgy, tempo, and climax of the show are some of the essential elements of our productions.” That’s why we take care of the set up on stage, liberty of expression – reinforcing the passionate moments in music to give the public feeling of continuity, and feeling of one big line of the show from it’s start to the end.

The 3 Countertenors

October 29, 2021

Works of Haendel, Porpora, Ariosti, Vinci…

In baroque Europe, the castrati held an extraordinary position as the first “stars” in the history of music. Almost all of them were Italian and trained in the conservatories of Naples, they dedicated themselves to the operatic career or to the service of the most prestigious princely chapels, including the Vatican and the Royal Chapel of Versailles, often combining both jobs.

In many opera productions or sacred oratorios, from Vienna to London, the castrati systematically held the title role (and in Rome all the female roles) and several other important roles, creating a real competition on the stage: it was then an escalation of virtuosity and emotion between the singers, of which the audience was the referee with their requests for encores and magnificent gifts offered to the most adored singers. The opera was also regularly supplemented with “suitcase” arias that the most sought-after castrates brought with them to shine.

What if three of the best singers of our time were also part of this competition of virtuosity? Here come Valer Sabadus (born in Arad, Romania in 1986) who made his French debut at the Royal Opera, Filippo Mineccia (born in Florence in 1981), a regular in Versailles, and finally the youngest, Samuel Mariño (born in Caracas). Virtuoso arias, love duets and combative trios parade under the pen of the masters Handel, Ariosti, Bononcini, Vinci, Gasparini who made the castrati triumph. Up to each and everyone to decide who is their winner!

PROGRAMME

Attilio Ariosti (1666 – 1729)
Il Vespasiano : Ouverture

Johann Adolf Hasse (1699 – 1783)
La spartana generosa : “Sagace è la mano”

Georg Friedrich Haendel (1685 – 1759)
Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno : “Lascia la spina, cogli la rosa”

Carl Heinrich Graun (1704 – 1759)
Cleopatra e Cesare : “Tra le procelle assorto”

Georg Friedrich Haendel
Berenice, Regina d’Egitto : “Se il mio amor fu il tuo delitto”

Nicola Antonio Porpora (1686 – 1768)
Polifemo : “La gioia immortal che alletta”

Georg Friedrich Haendel
Solomon : “Arrival of the Queen of Sheba”
Serse : “Crude furie degli orridi abissi”

Nicola Antonio Porpora
Polifemo : “Alto Giove”

Leonardo Vinci (1690 – 1730)
Artaserse : “Vo solcando un mar crudele”

Nicola Antonio Porpora
Germanico in Germania : “Temi lo sdegno mio, perfido traditore”

Giulietta e Romeo

August 27, 2021

In November 1805, Napoleon occupied Vienna. He heard Girolamo Crescentini sing and decided that he wanted the castrato for his own court. In the words of Madame de Rémusat, whose husband proposed the arrangement to Crescentini on the French Emperor’s behalf:
By engaging Marchesi, Catalani, Crescentini, etc., Paris would soon possess the finest possible school of music. There is a very good company in Vienna just now, who may perhaps come to us as trophies of our conquest. I wish it may be so, for Italian music is all the fashion, and it would be a good opportunity for calling it French music.

Crescentini moved to Paris in 1806. Napoleon’s valet Constant writes:

I saw Crescentini make his début in Paris as Romeo in Roméo et Juliette. He came preceded by an immense reputation as the first singer of Italy. This fame he completely justified, in spite of all the obstacles he had to overcome, for I can well recollect the many hard things that were said of him before he appeared. According to certain wiseacres he was a bellower, devoid of taste or refinement, having no method, an executants of silly roulades, a cold, unintelligent actor, &c. When going upon the stage he was aware how ill-inclined were his judges to show him any signs of favour. Yet he was not in the least embarrassed, but his majestic bearing came as an agreeable surprise to those who expected to see an ungainly boor. A murmur of approval greeted him, with such electrical effect upon himself that in the very first act the whole house was with him. Gestures full of grace and dignity, absolute mastery of the art of acting, a mobile face, expressing with amazing truth all the varying shades of passion and despair – all these rare and precious equipments did but deepen the magic of this great artist’s entrancing voice, the charm of which was inconceivable, at any rate for such as had never yet heard him. With each exciting scene the audience grew more and more enthusiastic. In the third act, however, the delight of the audience became positively frantic. It was in this act, played almost entirely by Crescentini, that this admirable singer touched the souls of his hearers by his movingly pathetic presentment of love and despair, as expressed in delicious melody. The Emperor was charmed, and caused a handsome fee to be paid to Crescentini, while expressing in most flattering terms the great pleasure it had been to hear him.

Napoleon, who was said to be moved to tears by Crescentini’s performance of Romeo’s prayer, conferred upon the singer the Order of the Iron Crown. This did not go down well with Parisians. Napoleon commented on the episode when he was in exile on St. Helena.
‘In conformity with my system of amalgamating all kinds of merit, and of rendering one and the same reward universal, I had an idea of presenting the cross of the legion of honour to Talma; but I refrained from doing this, in consideration of our capricious manners and absurd prejudices. I wished to make a first experiment in an affair that was out of date and unimportant, and I accordingly gave the iron crown to Crescentini

MIKA in Versailles

February 19, 2021

MIKA’s critically acclaimed performance, A L’Opera Royal De Versailles, will be released as a live album today. Broadcast on French national TV two weeks ago, the performance was celebrated by viewers and critics alike.

The live album captures the creative evolution of the singer-songwriter, as he combines both his classical background and pop career, performing his greatest hits, and a few surprise covers, at this exquisite and intimate performance. The release comes after the pop singer, who was born in Beirut, received the Lebanese Order of Merit in January for his I Love Beirut benefit. Held on September 19, the show raised money and support for Red Cross Lebanon and Save The Children Lebanon to support those impacted by the city’s tragic explosion on August 4, which killed 73 people and injured 3,000. 

The show, recorded on December 16 and televised on France 5 on February 5, provides a different perspective on the international pop star. For the performance, MIKA was invited by the sumptuous Royal Opera of Versailles and accompanied by the Symphony Orchestra of the Royal Opera of Versaille, conducted by Stefan Plewniak. Throughout the production, MIKA was joined onstage by prestigious guests such as the “Gospel for 100,” pianist Vincent Bidal, cellist Gautier Capuçon, classical guitarist Thibaut Garcia and countertenor Jakub Józef Orliński.

The live performance was hailed by Le Parisien as sublime. About the performance, MIKA himself has said, “I wanted to show that I am the product of the meeting between the classical and pop worlds.” Claire Chazal of Passage des Arts described the production as “A unique and bewitching moment, a classical performance.”

MIKA rose to fame with the pop hit “Grace Kelly,” which topped the UK singles chart in 2007. Since then he has gone on to release four studio albums with the most recent being 2019’s My Name is Michael Holbrook.

Mendelssohn Violin Concerto

February 15, 2018

NOR59 Orchestra

The FeelHarmony Orchestra

Stefan Plewniak – violin solo & conductor

 

Mendelssohn – Italian Symphony no 4 op 90

Italian Symphony, byname of Symphony No. 4 in A Major, Op. 90, orchestral work by Felix Mendelssohn, so named because it was intended to evoke the sights and sounds of Italy. Its final movement, which is among the most strongly dramatic music the composer ever wrote, even uses the rhythms of Neapolitan dances. The symphony premiered in London on March 13, 1833.

In 1830–31 Mendelssohn, barely into his twenties, toured Italy. He had gone south from Germany to enjoy the climate and the art, both of which he apparently found satisfactory. The region’s music, however, was a different story, as Mendelssohn vented in letters to friends and relatives: “I have not heard a single note worth remembering.” The orchestras in Rome, he reported, were “unbelievably bad,” and “[i]n Naples, the music is most inferior.” Despite these negative reactions, or perhaps in hopes of erasing them, Mendelssohn began his Italian Symphony while still on tour. The piece was completed in the fall of 1832, on a commission from the Philharmonic Society of London, and the composer himself conducted its premiere. The work was a tremendous success, and Mendelssohn described it as “the jolliest piece I have so far written…and the most mature thing I have ever done.”

Despite the audible delights of the piece, the Italian Symphony was not easy in the making. Even its creator admitted that it had brought him “some of the bitterest moments” that he had ever experienced. Most of those trying times seem to have been spent with an editor’s pen in hand, looking for ways to make the piece better. In 1834, over a year after the work’s public premiere, Mendelssohn began extensive revisions on the second, third, and fourth movements. The following year he reworked the first movement, and he was sufficiently satisfied with the result to allow another London performance in 1838. Yet Mendelssohn still withheld the composition from publication and refused to permit its performance in Germany. He continued tinkering with it until he died in 1847. Four years after Mendelssohn’s death, Czech pianist Ignaz Moscheles, who had been one of Mendelssohn’s teachers and had conducted the 1838 London performance, edited an “official” edition that finally appeared in print.

Musicologists have offered many interpretations of the Italian Symphony. For example, the extroverted opening movement might call to mind a lively urban scene, perhaps of Venice. The reverent second movement likely represents Rome during Holy Week, for Mendelssohn’s letters reveal that he was impressed by the religious processions he witnessed. The third movement, a graceful minuet distantly reminiscent of Mozart, is suggestive of an elegant Florentine Renaissance palace. Neither these nor any other interpretations of the first three movements are definitive, however. By contrast, the fourth, and final, movement needs no speculation. It depicts without a doubt a rural scene in southern Italy, for it blends two lively folk dance styles: the saltarello and the tarantella. The dances, different in rhythmic structure, are alike in general character. Both are wild and swirling, abundantly energetic (bordering on frenetic), and unquestionably Italian. In the symphony’s uninhibited finale, Mendelssohn, so deeply displeased with Italian concert music, showed his favorable reaction to the country’s folk music. He also demonstrated that Italian regional music styles could be used to great effect in an orchestral composition.

Betsy Schwarm

Mendelssohn – Violin Concerto op 64

“I should like to write a violin concerto for you next winter. One in E minor runs through my head, the beginning of which gives me no peace,” Mendelssohn wrote to his colleague, Ferdinand David, in 1838. Friends since childhood, David was selected by the composer in 1835 to serve as concertmaster of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, where Mendelssohn was principal conductor. Mendelssohn put the concerto on the backburner for several years, knocking around ideas and seeking advice from David on the technical demands and possibilities. He completed the concerto in 1844 and it was premiered by David the following year.

For classical violinists, it is impossible not to encounter Mendelssohn’s E minor violin concerto. It is one of the first “mature” Romantic concertos students learn and has been a staple of concert programs and discographies for nearly two centuries. Mendelssohn’s structural choices more or less align with those of previous composers; but his few changes, combined with an embrace of the violin’s virtuosic possibilities, helped make this work emblematic of Romantic era virtuosity and expression. First, he does away with the long orchestral intro: the soloist introduces the iconic theme after a measure and a half of orchestral murmuring. Second, all movements are connected through the use of attacca: little to no stopping between movements. And lastly, Mendelssohn wrote out the first movement’s cadenza and placed it early, at the end of the development section, extending the dramatic tension and setting up a recapitulation that is familiar yet unpredictable.

The Allegro molto appassionato is the soloist’s show. The orchestra does have a moment to shine after the soloist’s first entrance, but the thematic developments are driven by the violin’s memorable motives and fiery technique. In the Andante, the main theme is memorable and passionate, making full use of the violin’s lyrical strengths. The third movement, Allegretto non troppo—Allegro molto vivace, begins with a solemn introduction that makes the transition to the finale an exciting jolt to the system. The main theme is joyful and sparkling through its E major setting, the use of spiccato, and ascending and descending scalar runs. The fierce energy is maintained through the nearly nonstop forward motion of the solo part; lyrical sections serve as recharging stations for the return to technical gymnastics that bring the work to a thrilling conclusion.

A. Kori Hill

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