Senza Cheryl (io son morta)

As a gift to myself, I went to a third Il Trittico last night. Let me put that another way — I went to see Cheryl Barker a third time. An excursion which yielded a number of results.

A catastrophe. She cancelled. There was no Cheryl. Nicole Youl sang Giorgetta and Angelica, and Hye Seoung Kwon was Lauretta.

A supplementary catastrophe. This was the broadcast. I had somebody organised to capture it, so that I would have a record of Cheryl's triple triumph for all eternity. As it turned out, the somebody forgot to record it. Nevertheless, what a shame.

A silver lining. I don't respond well to cancellations. They upset me. But the experience did at least re-affirm and deepen my adoration of Cheryl, which is no bad thing. Absence makes the heart grow stronger, even if it does also break it a little.

A mystery. Who in the world is Carlo Barricelli and why has he been given the last two performances of Trittico and, as far as I can see, nothing else this season or next? He sang Luigi, Dennis O'Neill having finished his run with the previous performance. Out of nowhere, here was this swaggering, thoroughly Italianate voice, coupled with a far more convincing stage presence — why in the world wasn't he given more performances to sing? My first thought was: who is this guy? My second: he must be Italian, or he's at least studied there. My third: he's been listening to his predecessors, Corelli et al. I got home and looked him up — he's Italian-Australian and, yes, studied in Italy. With Corelli. Voilà.

A reassurance. It's hard to enjoy an understudy on her own merits when you're tearfully (yes, really) longing for the scheduled star. But, having missed her in Trovatore, at least now I know Nicole Youl will be very good in Ballo.

Just quietly. Hye-Seoung Kwon probably makes a tiny bit more sense as Lauretta. BUT I'd still rather have Cheryl in the role, because she's Cheryl.

Anticipation. I'm not risking — nor can I afford — another attempt to see Cheryl in Trittico. So now I wait until October 18th, when she sings Agnes in Isaac Nathan's Don John of Austria at Angel Place. After that, nothing until 2008 — but then, at least, there's Cheryl aplenty. 

Comments

[David]

Do not despair, the so-called "live" recording of Trittico that you missed was actually taped on a prior occassion when Chery Barker did sing, so if you can get hold of a recording it is in fact Ms Barker singing!!

[Sarah]

Interesting. Thankyou!

[David]

I went to see Il trittico for the second time last night for the last scheduled performance, only to see the glorious Cheryl Barker again. We were advised that due to her recent illness Ms Barker would not sing Giorgetta, but would sing Angelica and Lauretta. The crowd was very effusive and appreciative of the fact that at least we would see her in 2 of the 3 performances. I was amazed (not really) by the numbers of people in attendance that I talked to, or heard in conversation, who were there only to see Ms Barker sing.

She did not disappoint and in spite of been told to be sympathetic of her voice which we were told had suffered due to her recent laryngitis, she was superb. Anyone who sings that well after suffering laryngitis is to be marvelled at!!!!

By contrast Tabarro was disappointing having seen her do it a few weeks before. Nicole Youl by any standards is very good, but she pales when she stands the direct comparison to Cheryl Barker. She just does not measure up and particularly in the acting stakes and she lacked the sex appeal that Giorgetta needs to make the sparks fly with Luigi. She was quite dowdy and frumpy, but give her due, she sang well. I think we tend to overlook just how good an actress Cheryl Barker is!!

Next in October is the thrill of the unknown delight of seeing Alexnader Briger conduct the SSO in a staged performance of Isaac Nathan's John Doe of Austria with Cheryl Barker singing the role of Agnes. It is has been confirmed to me that the two staged performances will be recorded for commercial release on ABC classics!! Fantastic!!!

[HC]

I beg your pardon people, but the "so-called live" broadcasts are indeed very much live broadcasts. Every performance that is broadcast live has the two prior performances recorded. These two performances are balances - essentially microphone and mixing rehearsals for Classic FM. You can't just plonk a couple of mics around and get a quality result in one go; even with the ABC's expertise, microphone placement, etc. has to be finessed somewhat. Sound problems due to the set or blocking are inevitably discovered and need to be solved. This is why the announcements prior to these performances state that it is being recorded in preparation for future broadcast. They do not state that they will be broadcast, because they won't.

In the case of Trittico, the performances on 15 and 19 Sept were recorded in preparation for the broadcast on 23 Sept. The broadcast performance will be heard on several European radio stations this month, where you will most definitely hear Nicole Youl and Hye Seoung Kwon. There is one recording of Cheryl (15 Sept, the last performance where she was well enough to perform all three roles), which will never be heard, because the purpose of that particular recording was as a balance/rehearsal for the ABC, and was never intended to be made public.

[Sarah]

More interesting still. Thankyou.