I’m just back from Uruguay and I’m getting prepared for the Baden-Baden concert on the 29th. There’s just about a month left before the new album is released, and I’m quite pleased with the result also thanks to all the people who recorded it with me in the amazing studio of the ORF: Maestro Daniele Rustioni, the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, the chorus of the Staatsoper, Rinat Shaham, Kate Lindsey, Sorin Coliban, and Erich Hofmann, who produced the album.
Since my family and most of my friends can’t be in Barcelona, I didn’t know how to make them have a peek at this Faust we’re doing here, but then, lo and behold!, as if he’d been reading my mind, a friend of mine sent me a link of this video of me singing Le veau d’or – thanks to whoever put that on YouTube! :-)
As I already said, Faust in Barcelona is an abridged, concert version of the opera, due to cuts to the budget at the Liceu, but we’re trying to do our best to make it as enjoyable as possible both for the audience and four ourselves, despite the lack of action on stage.
The cast is wonderful: I’m working with great artists and friends such as Krassimira Stoyanova (who goes mad at me when I tell her she sings like a goddess… But she really does!), Ludovic Tézier, whom I’ve been friends with for about fourteen years, and Piotr Beczala, with whom I always enjoy sharing the stage. And Karine Deshayes has been a pleasant surprise, too, she has a wonderful, musical voice. It’s such a pleasure both to sing with them and to listen to all of them, it’s like attending a masterclass! Every phrase, every musical note is like a precious gift they’re giving to everyone… It makes me wish this Faust run lasted for months, not just to be a part of it, but to continue listening to them!
Maestro Pierre Vallet had a tricky task: abridging an opera is never easy, whatever the reason for doing so is. The “instigator” is the global financial crisis that has also hit theatres – but he gracefully and masterfully accomplished a difficult mission, I wouldn’t have wanted to be in his shoes. Similarly to what we experienced in Valencia a few months ago, financial difficulties make theatres, orchestras, artists feel so bad, but they also make us react: to go on, to do even better than what we can do in thriving times, to sort of start over again and grow up. It is a challenge. It may sound trite, but bringing joy to people through music even in a difficult moment in history, even if it may sound superficial, it is still a way to try and move on.
That’s what crosses my mind when I sing this aria, Le veau d’or. I think of those who caused all this, who crashed the world’s economy, who made many people lose their jobs, lose everything they had. They’re still there, those people, ruling the world – while the everyman struggles to go on with his life. That thought makes me so angry, you just have no idea.
Anyway, as soon as I learnt it was going to be a concert version rather than a staged production, I knew I was going to do something to try and make it less static, or at least to make my character more “real” – Méphistophèles wearing white tie and tails wouldn’t be so credible, would he? So I thought of the long, devilish leather jacket I was wearing for Faust in Vienna, the buttonhole red flower, the feather, a bottle, a parchment, and… Voilà Méphisto! :-)
The crew at the Liceu has been very collaborative on this, and I’d like to thank them, they’re great people and professionals. Also, I’d like to thank everyone at the Wiener Staatsoper and Dominique Meyer for letting me borrow the leather coat, it was kind and generous of them to help out; last but not least, thanks to Andre Comploi and to Christian from the costume department for their kindness and friendship. Thank you guys!!.
It was a WONDERFUL night last night in Köln — the show was sold out, we sang for three hours and people enjoyed it very much… about 200 people waited for us at stage door after the show, thank you so much everyone! Danke schön!!. :-)
Thanks to everyone at the Kölner Philharmonie, to the orchestra and the chorus, to the musicians who played tango with me and to the amazing Maestro Claudio Vandelli who did a magnificent job, grande Maestro!.
(below: mi princesa Iara, Anna, silly old me, my Mum and my Dad :-))
Hello! As I already mentioned on Facebook and Twitter, my official website will be down for a while for servers maintenance; in the meantime, its url will redirect to this blog straight away, as this runs separately on Tumblr, so, to recap, you’ll find me (and can leave messages, if you wish) on this blog, on Facebook and on Twitter. :-)
Then I’ll be off to Salzburg to rehearse Don Giovanni for the Festspiele. To get into character (Leporello) I went to the hair stylist’s with a pic of David Byrne and… I’m not going to tell you what looked like when I got out of there, it’s a surprise! ;-)
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