Once Upon a Time...

The subtitle of Rossini's opera "La Cenerentola" is "La Bontà in Trionfo", and "goodness" triumphed in every way last week at La Monnaie in Brussels in a wonderful performance with JL in the title role. It was a real fairy tale! I saw her in Paris and Zurich in this role and found her as charming and touching as ever - perhaps even more so as only now she has the perfect physique du rôle: a poor thing and mere slip of a girl in rags among the cinders with only some friendly mice as companions! "L'innocenza e la bontà" are the keywords for this part, and JL conveys these qualities with simplicity and perfect naturalness. There is nothing artificial or contrived in her impersonation, and she has this radiance, this sunshine in her voice and person which transcend drabness and misery. The reason why this is my favourite Rossini opera and why I prefer it over "Barbiere" and "Italiana" is that it is not only funny but has something for heart & soul as well. So, I found JL most moving in the more elegiac passages like the wonderful ballad "Una volta c'era un re" or the duet "Un soave non so che - una grazia, un certo incanto" - one of the most charming love duets of all opera! - or "Ah, sempre fra la cenere, sempre dovrò restar" or "compatite, perdonate". There would be much more to single out, but this would go beyond the scope of this blog and beyond my very limited eloquence (English being a foreign language for me after all!)! Let me only add that the quick not to say breakneck passages and the coloratura were as neat as you would expect from a seasoned belcantist, and the final rondo "Nacqui all'affanno - non più mesta" got the deserved ovation! To sum this up: I don't think I'll see & hear a better Cenerentola/Cinderella/Cendrillon/Aschenputtel in my lifetime. I certainly don't know ANYONE who is fit to hold a candle to our diva, and I envy those who shall see her in Atlanta. I am sure this will be a triumphant homecoming for her and say: "Ritorna Vincitor!"
(or rather: "Vincitrice"! in her case!)

Ping Pong

Have you been to All Hail Jennie! on Facebook? No? Well, you should. It's where I put sexy, yummy pictures of JeLa, in addition to videos of audio clips from live performances. Just click on that link to the right...Yes, that one...Join Facebook if you haven't already. I mean, even our dear Jennie has a Facebook page. What are you waiting for??? Once you're there, join All Hail Jennie! Only smart, sexy people join this group. If you're not smart or sexy, you'll become smart and/or sexy by simply joining All Hail Jennie! on Facebook. It's free and it's sexy. Did I mention it's on Facebook?

Werther

I listened to the broadcast and it brought back vivid memories of a thrilling performance at Brussels' La Monnaie last december. Indeed, I believe the recording was made on the very day I was there, as I remember seeing the van of the Belgian radio outside the theatre! JL gave a touching performance of a woman trapped in the bourgeois conventions of the 18th & 19th centuries: The director had emphasized the very narrow space her world comprised by the almost claustrophobic stage setting of a kind of doll's house, making of Charlotte a "desperate housewife" out of Ibsen! The huge christmas tree in the 3rd act dwarfed the humans and was more threatening than festive. Charlotte sang her heart-rending Letter Aria sitting on a stool in the corner - like a "cornered" or trapped animal, which made the last words "...il se brise" all the more poignant. I literally held my breath during this whole act, and when Charlotte cried out embracing her sister and bidding farewell to her, my heart missed a beat! In the 4th act Charlotte's desperation comes over most vividly, and her cries are agonizing. JL really makes you live through the agony and the pain with her! When she sobs "Tout est fini!" you really feel as if the world has come to its end! And I must say Ludovic Tézier as Werther died most movingly. The part was, of course, originally written for a tenor, but I am grateful to M. Massenet that he also wrote this alternative version. I admit I am biased, as I love the baritone voice and have never much cared for tenors (and baritones are in most cases much more handsome to boot!)! In short, it was an evening to remember and I can only join Paul in his wish for a dvd of this performance!

My Wish List

1. Kurt Weill cd.
2. Massenet's Werther on cd AND dvd (yes, I'm greedy).
3. Rossini's Semiramide full production in the US and recorded for dvd.

Is that asking too much? I didn't think so.

Werther, La Monnaie - December 2007!

During my daily blog searches for all that is Jennie, I found the following Brazilian blog that has her Charlotte in Brussels from last year. Those of you who were there know how great she was. Those of us who were not (myself included), enjoy! It's a role I'm dying to see her do live. Why Los Angeles Opera doesn't engage her is beyond me, but that's another story:

http://maisumadofalsario.blogspot.com/2008/09/2007-massenet-werther-kazushi-onotzier.html

Bad Fan!

I just read that Opera Rara’s Entre Nous cd has been nominated for a 2008 Gramophone Award for best recital disc. I sure hope it wins, although I’m embarrassed to say I do not own this disc set. Due to my current state of financial affairs, Opera Rara cds are too rich for my blood. And they are worth every stinking penny. I’m not just saying this because Jennie records with them. They are simply the best. And they always use great art historical paintings for their covers. Talk about simple marketing: great product, simple design, beautiful art and kick-ass music. Oh, and Jennifer Larmore on so many of their discs. Sweet.

So, not only can I not afford Entre Nous, I can’t afford Alessandro nell' Indie as well. (Carlo di Borgogna is my favorite Opera Rara/Jennie cd.) I’m a bad fan. To add insult to injury, I most likely will not be able to make it to Atlanta to hear her do Cenerentola in November. I think my Jennifer Larmore card needs to be revoked. But I’m grateful she’s recording so much and I hope Entre Nous wins. We’ll find out later this month. By that time perhaps I’ll be gainfully employed and I can stop my whining.

Utterly...

Been listening to Royal Mezzo and was hit up-side the head by one word: Utterly. She cries this on the first track, Barber’s Andromache’s Farewell. The line is “now the Gods have destroyed us utterly” (11:05). This one word totally blew me away. It’s meant to. It’s that good! So, this got me thinking of other words she sings and I end up obsessing about. Barber’s Sure on this Shining Night (from her My Native Land cd) has the line “all is healed, all is health”. I’m brought to tears when I hear this. A few years later she sings the same song on a cd tribute to Lotte Lehmann but this time changes the emphasis on the words “healed” and “health” and I’m blown away, yet again. I’m not sure which version I prefer, but lately the Lehmann cd seems to be winning. She and Barber seem to be a perfect fit and I’ve mentioned before how I’d love to hear her do Knoxville: Summer of 1915.

For now, I’m thrilled she had the keen intelligence to put Barber, Berlioz, Britten and Ravel on one kick-ass cd (Hello, second Grammy award?). I’ll get to the Britten piece at some point, because I think she has broken new Larmore ground here. Britten? Lamore? Who knew?

Oh, and come to think of it, listen to the line “come close, embrace me” (7:59) on Andromache’s Farewell. It’s utterly breathtaking.

All Hail Jennie

Katrin Schmidt-Berg said...
Great to have a blog to share thoughts about our favourite mezzo!I came to her through the fabulous recording of Handel's "Giulio Cesare" with René Jacobs which hit me like lightning! I had been an opera fan since my earliest childhood, but Baroque opera until then was just a boring string of repetitive da-capo arias for me(yawn, yawn!) This terrific recording changed all this! It made an epoch in my life and is my desert island disc! I was completely bowled over by Jennie's interpretation of the Roman hero: the majesty, the impetuosity, the ruthlessness, but also the playfulness, tenderness and vulnerability of this ambiguous character - and all traces of mathematical monotony of earlier Baroque music singing blown away in a vocal tornado! And the sheer beauty of the timbre is overwhelming: pure mousse chocolat, Nutella, crème caramel! She together with René Jacobs and the fabulous Concerto Koeln deliver a Handel on the rocks!I have been following her around now for about 14 years and seen her in all her major roles in Berlin, Paris, Edinburgh, New York, Brussels: her charming Rosina, her pert & perky Italiana, her touching Angelina, her forthright Hansel, her vulnerable and dignified Charlotte... - and hope she'll go on singing for a long time yet! and surprise us with more great portrayals! Her wonderful new cd "Royal Mezzo" hints at new possibilities opening up. I join the chorus: "All Hail Jennie, once and future Queen of Mezzos!
August 18, 2008 6:43 AM

How to Live Without a Diva...

New York City, circa March 1992, in the throws of a new and wonderful and wicked relationship, my then (and current) love thought it prudent to drag my sorry Long Island ass to the Met. If memory serves me correctly, that first opera was Verdi’s Rigoletto. I’ll say Ruth Ann Swenson was Gilda…I remember her in a sack toward the end…There were NO super-titles and remember thinking “just get through this”. I could have been watching anything. My second opera was Verdi’s Il Trovatore. The anvil chorus was great, but what happened before or after that was a mystery. Opera for me was a means to an end. I sit through 3 hours of hell, I get to have great sex when I get home. Thinking back, I’m mad at myself for having been a reverse opera snob. A few years went by and with the help of Mariella Devia and Luciana Serra, a good job to help pay for good seats, super-titles and a very patient boyfriend, I was well on my way to actually understanding what all the fuss was about. Around 1995 I was able to see my first Barbiere with Ms. Larmore in her Met debut. This sealed the deal for me. Opera was now sport and I had my MVP. But more on that later…

It’s now 2008. I had grown accustomed to hearing Ms. Larmore sing several times a year in NYC for nearly 10 years. We moved to Los Angeles in 2003 and in five years I’ve heard Jennie sing on only two occasions. So, when I know she is singing somewhere in the U.S. or abroad, I feel empty; left out of the ball game.

So, I rely on the internet and my great friends who are lucky enough to hear her. Sometimes a critic will actually describe in great detail a concert or opera or recital. Here’s one by Paul E. Robinson reviewing Jennie’s opening recital at the 2008 Festival Bel Canto in Canada:

http://www.scena.org/blog/2008/08/report-from-bel-canto-new-music.html

Paul - Los Angeles

Another Opera Blog...

I know...I feel the same way. But, since Jennifer Larmore turned me on to opera and I now have made many friends who also share my love for this mezzo, it seemed right to have a place for my humble thoughts and opinions. But also I hope everyone will share their feelings on an opera, concert, recording or anecdote relating to one of the greatest mezzo-sopranos of our time. Let's have fun and share the good feelings, as Jennifer would most likely have it! Thanks! Paul - Los Angeles