I watched Farinelli: Il Castrato on video tonight. I was underwhelmed. Singing aside, I just didn't think it was a very good movie. The singing thing is interesting, though. Apparently they did clever things with computers and combined the voices of a soprano and a counter-tenor to try and create that unearthly hybrid kind of castrato sound. Of course we've no way of knowing how close they got, but let me say this: I think he must have sounded a little more interesting in order to stir up all the fuss he did. Oh well. The singing scenes were done quite well, though. Lots of Broschi (Riccardo, brother of Carlo aka Farinelli), unfortunately and very little Handel although the man himself kept turning up. Although when we did get to the Handel it was a little strange. Farinelli's quasi-girlfriend had stolen Rinaldo so they staged it. Except from all appearances it's staged as a one-man show: not only is there not a trace of another singer in any of the three excerpts, but Farinelli also takes 'Lascia ch'io pianga' which of course is sung by Almirena, not Rinaldo, correct? Never mind. Speaking of musical biopics, though, there's one I want to see much more than this: Bride of the Wind. It's about Alma Mahler, which is interesting enough, but my true reason: a cameo by Renée Fleming (with Jean-Yves Thibaudet in tow) as Frances Alda. A 'New Zealand's own' we can be proud of, unlike Geoff Sewell. I'm contemplating buying the DVD, really just in order to see that.
So as you might have guessed, yesterday's semi-epiphany is still going strong and I feel closer to understanding the appeal of Miss Renée. I've started being brave, and listening to things I expect most to dislike. Manon's Gavotte for instance. I know she's quite known for singing the role, but I've always been sure that she would be too heavy or something: it's such a big meaty kind of voice (which sounds awful but I know what I mean) and I thought it would surely just swamp something like this. Natalie Dessay, Patricia Petibon, Emma Fraser: they should sing it. Which is true, they should, and Natalie's version is still the best. But Renée's is nothing like I expected: it's clear and sweet and bright and lovely. And then there's the Mozart and Strauss, which I thought- even though it's her specialty- I wouldn't much like and have warmed to like you wouldn't believe. She's starting to remind me a lot of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, and in more ways than one. Less than six months ago, I liked Elisabeth in much the same way I liked Renée- in principle but not in practice. Then I heard her sing 'Come scoglio' which- like Renée's 'Dove sono' tonight I thought would be grating- and instead voilà, I was a fan. But apart from that there are other similarities: her expression, her interpretation and even sometimes the voice itself. Her Countess reminded me a lot of Elisabeth's, as do the two or three lieder I've heard. They don't sound the same, exactly, but there's some sort of resemblance nevertheless. And given the change which my feelings for Elisabeth's voice underwent, things are looking rosy for Renée. An even better sign? 'Or sai chi l'onore'. Even after all this, I was certain this would be no fun at all. It started, it's a live recording, it's too loud, the sound is terrible, she bursts into song and just for a moment I thought 'This is horrible'- but before I could reach for the mouse to turn the damn thing off I'd already totally changed my mind: it's absolutely wonderful. I've never- never, not by Isabel Rey, Edita Gruberova or Joan Sutherland, heard it sound better.
That's two Renée posts in a row now: apologies for my monotony. Maybe I should just devote a whole separate blog to the Renée odyssey and be done with it. After all, who knows- she's such a star these days it would probably get more traffic than this one. This is a joke, by the way, although actually, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea after all....
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