November 10, 2008

Le Nozze di Figaro ( November 21. 8PM)


Le Nozze di Figaro, Anonymus Watercolour, 19 th Century


The Marriage of Figaro, W. A. MOZART

(Opera in Italian Language with Spanish subtitles )

The start of a new humanism

Le nozze di Figaro is a four acts “commedia per la musica”, based in “The marriage of Figaro” from french writer Beaumarchais. The opera was composed by W. A. Mozart with libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was performed for the first time in Vienna, on May 1. 1786 under the direction of his composer. Considered the first musical comedy of the history, its plot takes place in Seville (Spain) and takes the continuity of the characters Almaviva, Figaro and Rosina, key rolls from "The Barber of Seville".

Dr. José María "Pepe" Kokubu, an specialist in Mozart and author of "Mozart and Gardel. The music of the words", will give an illustrative introduction in avant to the function at the European Club.
With musical examples, Mr. Kokubu will show how in 1786, (two years before the French Revolution and ten years after the American Revolution and the establishment of the Virreynato del Rio de la Plata ) Mozart manages to overcome the dualism that characterized the musical theater of his time , achieving a perfect union between the sacred and the profane, the tragic and the comic, the noble and the popular.

At the conclusion of the talk , there will be a cantabile surprise !

We love Opera !(Friday, November 21. 8 pm.)
Teatro Avenida, Av. De Mayo 1222, Buenos Aires.
Tickets $ 30 .- Over-Paradiso
Illustrative talk: Friday November 21, 6 pm.
At European Club, Av. Corrientes 327 Floor 21

Contribution: Non Members $ 10 .-
CE Members : Free Access.

We need you to confirm your attendance because places are limited.

RSVP: Beatriz Acosta (beatrizacosta@lycos.com)

More Infos : http://vamosalaopera.blogspot.com/

(The European Club does not reserve or sell tickets to the opera. Tickets must be purchased at the Theater or by www.plateanet.com)

November 07, 2008

New Performance of Cecilia on November 22 th

It was a pity, but we couldn’t enjoyed this wonderful opera !
The soprano was ill and we have to get home. I was lucky to get the news first and make a call to all my friends who wanted to go.

At least we have enjoyed a fabolous introduction and private show with the soprano, the tenor and the director on Friday 17. October at Claridge Hotel with Mr. Varacalli Costas as Moderator.
Mr. Varacalli Costas made a comprehensive explanation about the genesis and nature of Lucinio Refice’ Works and times. He also related to the most trascendental part of the musical piece.
Claridge Hotel has developped a cultural schedule to make its elegant spaces more convivial and notorious. They have offered us a cocktail at the Tudor Room.
We thank Lady Adelaida Negri, Mr. Miguel Gerardi ( tenor), Mr. Giorgio Paganini ( Director) who made a representation of an act at piano. I also thank to Mr. Martin Diaz, in charge of Cultural Activities at Claridge for his kindness and cordiality.

For the people who want to enjoy a musical show of Cecilia, there will be a performance at Buenos Aires Cathedral, on Saturday. November 22 th at 7 pm, with Lady Adelaida Negri and free of charge.

October 08, 2008

Cocktail at Claridge Hotel



Members of Club Europeo who attend, the Casa de la Opera's Performance of CECILIA
are special guests for a Cocktail at Claridge Hotel, where the soprano and the other singers will offer an exclusive show with Mr. Varacalli Costas as Moderator.Info : beatrizacosta@lycos.com

October 06, 2008

Coming Soon ! Cecilia, Lucinio Refice at Teatro Avenida


(October 24.)

With the Patronage of the Italian Cultural Institute, the Opera House led by the soprano Adelaide Negri, will present an spectacular and historical recreation of the pagan Rome, the persecution of Christians and the martyrdom of a young patrician, Cecilia, in the second century of our era. Cecilia was later revered by the Catholic and Orthodox Churches as Patron of Music.
The opera premiered in 1934 at Teatro Colón was composed and directed by its author, the priest Lucinio REFICE.
Sublime melodies and memorable choruses will be delighful for the sensitive viewer.

Vamos a la Opera!
Cecilia, Lucinio REFICE

Date, time and Place : Friday, October 24., 8 PM.
Teatro Avenida - Avenida de Mayo 1222. Buenos Aires.

Tickets: The European Club members will enjoy a special discount paying just $ 35 .- for a PLATEA TICKET.
In order to access this benefit, you ought to pay the ticket at European Club Secretariat.
Deadline : October 17.-
After that date discounts may be accepted as the result of final surplus quotas.

Contact: Beatriz Acosta ( beatrizacosta@lycos.com)

More Infos : http://vamosalaopera.blogspot.com/

Próxima Opera : Cecilia de Lucinio Refice en el Teatro Avenida



(24 de octubre)

Con el auspicio del Istituto Italiano de Cultura, la Casa de la Opera dirigida por la Soprano Adelaida Negri, presentará una espectacular recreación histórica de la Roma pagana, la persecusión a los cristianos y el martirio de la joven patricia, Cecilia, en el siglo II de nuestra era, posteriormente venerada por las Iglesias Católicas y Ortodoxa como Patrona de la Música.
La ópera estrenada en 1934 en el Teatro Colón fue compuesta y dirigida por su autor , el sacerdote Lucinio Refice.
Melodías sublimes y coros impactantes serán inolvidables para el espectador sensible.

Vamos a la Opera !
Cecilia, de Lucinio Refice

Fecha, horario y lugar : Viernes 24 de octubre, 20. 30 hs.
Teatro Avenida – Avenida de Mayo 1222. CABA.

Entradas : Los socios del Club Europeo gozarán de un descuento especial abonando $ 35.- por una localidad de Platea.
A los efectos de acceder a este beneficio se ruega abonar la entrada en la Secretaría del Club Europeo antes del día 17 de octubre.
Con posterioridad a esa fecha los descuentos podrán ser admitidos conforme el definitivo sobrante de cupos.

Contacto : Beatriz Acosta (beatrizacosta@lycos.com)

Más información : http://vamosalaopera.blogspot.com/

Opera, Glamour and Nudity at MET

(MET Opera New York )

I want to share with you this artikel of New York Times.
I don’t agree with all of it, but I think some of those opinions are important to understand our showbusiness.
I think the writer has forget historical issues and Literature’s affairs :

1. Opera is not only a vocal art form.
2. Opera has been Theatre since its beginnings, only in 17. Century it has been considered a vocal show.
3. Phisically characters : To perform a “vera Violeta” it should be a sexy one, because La Traviatta is the story of a beautiful woman, who lost her way….
( I strongly recommend you La Traviatta’s performance with Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón)


Thanks to Luis Spallarossa who sent me the news !


From New York Time on line,
Take It Off, Brünnhilde: On Opera and Nudity


By ANTHONY TOMMASINI
Published: September 17, 2008
Correction Appended

It had to happen. Nudity is coming to opera.

In recent years, with all the talk from general managers, stage directors and go-for-broke singers about making opera as dramatically visceral an art form as theater, film and modern dance, traditional boundaries of decorum have been broken. Opera productions have increasingly showcased risk-taking and good-looking singers in bold, sexy and explicit productions.

How explicit? On Tuesday the soprano Karita Mattila returns to the Metropolitan Opera to portray the title character in Strauss’s “Salome,” a revival of the modern-dress Jürgen Flimm production created for Ms. Mattila and introduced at the Met in 2004.

Ms. Mattila’s emotionally intense, vocally molten and psychologically exposed portrayal four years ago made her seem born to this daunting role. And yes, during her uninhibited and kinetically choreographed performance of the “Dance of the Seven Veils,” she shed item after item of a Marlene Dietrich-like white tuxedo costume until, in an exultant — and brief — final flourish, she twirled around half-crazed and totally naked. Expect the same this time.

On Sept. 7, for the Los Angeles Opera’s American premiere production of Howard Shore’s new opera “The Fly,” the young Canadian bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch bared all. During the crucial final scene in the first act of the opera — based mostly on the 1986 David Cronenberg film and directed by Mr. Cronenberg — the scientist Seth Brundle impulsively decides to use himself as a guinea pig in his invention, which molecularly breaks down a human body and transports it through space. Mr. Okulitch stripped naked, climbed into one brightly lighted telepod, closed the door, and moments later emerged from another telepod, facing the audience with his arms spread, looking transformed, a moment of radiant self-benediction. (There are two more performances, on Saturday and Sept. 27.)

It could be argued that since opera is theater, anything goes. Opera buffs have seen plenty of alluring sopranos in skimpy dresses and handsome bare-chested baritones. Is actual nakedness, if the dramatic situation justifies it, such a big leap?

Maybe not. Still, if opera ventures increasingly down this path, it will have to grapple with the same questions of relevance, gimmickiness and sensationalism that have dogged theater, film and dance.

Dance has broken this barrier the most boldly, which makes sense, since its instrument is the human body in all its beauty and expressivity. Yet choreographers have to be careful not to use naked dancers to inject an easy jolt of eroticism into a mediocre piece.

Nudity in theater has provoked a more contentious debate. There is no question that in many plays explicit nude scenes have been used to compensate for shallow writing or simply to lure people into seats. But when nudity seems called for and natural, it can lend disarming humanity to a drama.

There was, for example, Richard Greenberg’s “Take Me Out,” at the Public Theater in 2002, about a superstar baseball player who reveals that he is gay. The play could not have explored how the interpersonal dynamics of baseball’s locker-room culture are shaken by the star’s announcement without showing the players in the clubhouse showers.

But nudity in the theater can seem the most profound when the characters involved are vulnerable and unglamorous. A crucial, emotionally overpowering moment in Margaret Edson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Wit,” first produced in 1995, comes when the actress playing the middle-aged main character, who is dying of cancer, exposes her gaunt, naked body.

Already in previews at the Broadhurst Theater on Broadway is Peter Shaffer’s “Equus,” a new production from London of the 1973 play. Naturally, fans of the young Daniel Radcliffe will be enticed by the chance to see him, our adorable Harry Potter, in the buff. But nudity is essential to this wrenching scene. A young boy and a young girl, nervous, insecure and full of confused attractions, strip in a stable and approach each other. When the deeply troubled boy cannot get aroused in full view of the horse he worships, he angrily chases the girl away and viciously blinds the horses with a hoof pick.

Though this may be a minority point of view, to me it seems easier to make nudity seem natural in the theater than on film. In a movie, what you see is completely controlled by the director. In sex scenes, the director teases you with glimpses of flesh, letting you see just so much and not more, or sometimes making you see more than you want too. But the viewer cannot help feeling manipulated.

There has been nudity in opera, of course, but mostly involving extras, supernumeraries or dancers. In 1998 the New York City Opera presented the choreographer and director Martha Clarke’s staging of Gluck’s “Orfeo ed Euridice,” a co-production with the English National Opera. During the blissful scene when Orfeo enters the Elysian Fields, an ensemble of captivating dancers appeared in all their naked splendor, portraying the heroes and heroines who inhabit this heavenly realm. But it is another matter to ask opera singers in leading roles to disrobe onstage, artists who, after all, have much else to do.

Here is where opera may soon court trouble if things get too cavalierly explicit. First and foremost, opera is a vocal art form. Never underestimate the visceral dramatic impact of fine singing. A great voice can be very sexy. Listen to Birgit Nilsson’s recording of “Salome.” For sheer sensual power, it’s hard to match Nilsson’s incandescent singing.

The question of exposing flesh in opera to make up for subpar music hovered over “The Fly.” At both its world premiere this summer in Paris and its recent production in Los Angeles, critics found Mr. Shore’s music ponderous and undistinguished. But most reviewers praised cast members for giving their all to the production, especially Mr. Okulitch, a sensitive singer and dynamic actor with a warm and appealing if modest-size voice. That he also has a handsome physique takes nothing away from the courage it took to strip bare for the telepod scene. If only the music had matched the moment. Still, the dramatic situation absolutely called for Brundle to be naked, and Mr. Okulitch complied.

But with Ms. Mattila in “Salome,” we have one of the major sopranos of our time singing an indisputably and persistently shocking early-20th-century opera. Going back to the story’s New Testament source, you could argue the text implies that to get her way with Herod, Salome indeed removed all her of veils. This was clearly Mr. Flimm’s idea, and his glamorous star was game. As I commented at the time, Ms. Mattila’s nudity may have taken less courage to bring off than the psychological nakedness she revealed in her mesmerizing portrayal.

On the other hand, one thing opera buffs have always valued about their beloved art form is that so many excellent opera singers look like everyday people, like us. There is no reason that Rodolfo and Mimi have to look like supermodels. They need only convey that they are beautiful to each other. The music, if sung with tenderness and passion, does the rest.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: September 19, 2008
A music column on Thursday about nudity in opera, including Karita Mattila’s nude appearance in Richard Strauss’s “Salome,” misidentified the source of the story on which the opera is based. It is the New Testament, not the Hebrew Bible.