A/V

I've been watching DVDs this week. Not buying them, but watching them.

La fille du régiment

My favourite so far, without a doubt. Patrizia Ciofi as Marie and Juan Diego Florez as Tonio. Apart from a few clips of the Covent Garden production which I watched on YouTube, half a dozen renditions of "Salut à la France" and of course the tenor's high Cs, I admit not having been hugely familiar with this opera. It's rather more beautiful than I think I expected, not just unendingly frivolous and fluffy. The update to WWII seems to work pretty well; it's unintrusive at least and thankfully comes without dark undertones. I'm already an avowed adorer of Patrizia Ciofi and yet her gorgeousness here took me by a little by surprise; it's an unusual voice, to be sure, but as I've said before, addictive. Her singing lesson is a riot — that sometimes rather white tone she has is well suited to singing atrociously flat, and she sounds absolutely appalling until suddenly, seemingly by accident, she hits a glorious note which eventually blossoms into cascading coloratura. And then there's Juan Diego — what could little me possibly add to all that's been said about him in this role, and in that aria? But he is adorable and magnificent. He encores "Pour mon âme", of course, and it's even better the second time. What's so charming is that the encore comes not from a need to show off or bask in applause, but from a truly humble, obliging spirit — this is what the audience dearly wants, and deserves, and so it's what they receive. Francesca Franci turns in a rather fabulous performance as the Marquise as well. Actually it's all pretty fantastic. And now the fact that next year I'll get to watch the cinema broadcast of the Met production, with Juan Diego again and Natalie, is even more exciting than it was. If that's possible.

Le nozze di Figaro
I've also seen the first half of the frankly odd Salzburg Figaro, part of the M22 Mozart marathon. It's Figaro as a drama. Conventional but hugely oversized sets which make the singers look like dolls in a dolls house, and an invented, mute, dancing "Cherubim" (who's dressed like Cherubino but with wings) who comes and messes invisibly with everybody's minds and movements. Cherubino (Christine Schäfer dressed like a Von Trapp child) is the outlet for the Countess' pent-up longings and Susanna's as well; he's kissed deeply by them both, and more besides. Susanna is Anna Netrebko at her most engaging and truly lovely; her darkish sound isn't necessarily what you'd always want from a Susanna but for this conception of the character, it's ideal. Dorothea Röschmann's Countess brings me closer to understanding Maury's passion for her than anything else I've heard her in has, her singing building in intensity until, by the time she's barring the door, she's thrillingly fierce and wonderful. She makes heartbreakingly clear the real sadness and isolation Rosina feels, something which has always upset me and endeared the Countess to me. It really isn't very long since she was being wooed by an apparently unswervingly devoted admirer and now that's all gone; the tricks she plays with Susanna aren't just a diversion, they're all she can think of doing in a hopeless attempt to win back her earlier bliss — and even at the finale, when she's theoretically one, it's blindindly obvious that nothing has changed for good and she'll be singing "Porgi, amor" again before she knows it. Anyway, that's just me getting sidetracked; the point is, even in a fun Figaro, a miserable Countess appeals to me in a cathartic sort of way, and Dorothea is devastating. One other pleasing point — Marie McLaughlin's Marcellina, cast here not as a comical old bat from whom Figaro should rightly run a mile from marrying, but instead as a rather soignée woman of a certain age not without her attractions. This is definitely not a Figaro for everybody but it's oddly compelling.

Agrippina
I shouldn't include this as I only managed about twenty minutes. The orchestra sounds quite good. Most of the singers are terrifyingly miscast. The male roles have all been assigned to tenors and basses ("for verisimilitude" blah blah blah) which sounds weird anyway but especially so when accompanied by period orchestra. Added to which, the men all sing as if they've wandered in from a neighbouring Puccini opera; and even in Puccini their pitch issues would probably still be troubling. Barbara Daniels sings the title role and is actually quite good — I'm impressed that she can be convincing in both Handel and as Minnie in Fanciulla (not that I've seen her in the latter). In the recits she's really rather fabulous; come the first aria, though, and she's alright, but a few little cracks show themselves, including an upper register which doesn't exactly exist. I gave up. And went on to...

La cenerentola
1982 Ponnelle film from La Scala. Frederica von Stade, to state the obvious, is radiant perfection as Angiolina. Her stepsisters are flamboyantly wicked. And I've been obliged to revise my opinion of Francisco Araiza a bit. I've only ever seen him as a gormless and wooden Tamino (on the film with the divine Lucia as Pamina) but as Don Ramiro I quite like him and he sounds quite glorious. (When did I become so enthusiastic about tenors?) It's a typical kind of Ponnelle film, deliberately stagey but still utilising the advantages which this medium has over a stage production — close-ups, characters singing directly to the camera and so on. As is also typical of Ponnelle, it's beautiful.

Die Zauberflöte
I was only able to see the first half before I had to go home. This one is from the Met, during the early nineties. Araiza again, gormless again. Luciana Serra a somewhat scary Queen. Kurt Moll godly as Sarastro. But the point of it all? Kathleen Battle as a transcendent Pamina. Totally sweet and charming, and in phenomenal voice. She brings tears to my eyes. I love her. End of story. I will try and watch the rest tomorrow.

[The key to all this free of charge viewing? Late shift in a classical music section with almost no customers. Without DVDs to watch I'd lose my mind.]