Aida revived at the Royal Opera, with distractions

I went to the latest revival of Aida at the Royal Opera last night. Act 1 got off to a rocky start as Carlo Ventre was finding his place on the large set and stage. Celeste Aida ended in thunder, rather than tenderness as the love aria demanded. Olga Borodina returned to this production as the bold and vengeful Amneris - great voice with clarity. Liudmyla Monastyrska was the not-so-last-minute cast change to replace the pregnant Micaela Carosi as Aida. She was not bad - slightly on the uncertain side in Act 1 but gradually gained strength.
Act 2 had probably too much going on. While David McVicar's production delivered the "grand opera" feel - the thumping, slapping and lashing of the dancers coupled with blood and nakedness meant one finds it hard to focus on the music. Though visually stunning. And I was not sure why there weren't any singing slaves: the chorus members were "priests" and the actors and acrobats were "slaves" with their mouths shut. So the slave's chorus parts were sung by the priests. Not convinced by such economy.

Acts 3 and 4 were quite well done. Possibly because there was less stage direction and distractions, but also all solo singers settled down quite well by now. Fabio Luisi took firm control in the pit.

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Hearing the Berlin Philharmonic at the Philharmonie

Those of us London-centric folks easily forget there are great concert halls in other parts of the world. I remember as a young kid buying DG LPs with von Karajan on the front cover conducting the Berlin Philharmonic. So as my first visit to the city, a visit to the Philharmonie to listen to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra was a must. Ivan Fisher started the evening's concert with Haydn Symphony 88. A light and delightful work. As I'd expected, the acoustic of the hall was amazing - probably a good 2.5 second of reverberation - and much more generous than the Royal Festival Hall in London. The strings sounded sweet and the timpani came through clearly with definition. The audience was then treated to Béla Bartók's Seven Pieces for Choir and Chamber Orchestra: the Berlin Phil reduced in size occupying only half of the stage while the Netherlands Youth Choir took the other half. These young performers (all female) sang in Hungarian from memory - not easy at all - and rea...

Will the swish looking Princi become the hottest thing on Wardour St?

This site on Wardour Street in Soho had seen many bars and restaurants come and go. The latest occupant is Princi, an up market Italian bakery brought to London by Alan Yau (of Hakkasan, Yauatcha fame). Natural stones, polished brass and water reflections dominate. The long communal tables ( de rigeur for any Soho eatery), leather upholstered chairs and perfect lighting make this a stylish choice for a slice of cake (made from organic "00" flour) and a caffé machiato from the Italian barista (yes he is, I talked to him in Italian). They seem to have an alcohol licence - so perfect for an early evening spritz , or a late evening caffé correto . The downside is that this is a self-service joint. While everything is stylishly done, all eating implements are disposable. So never mind the side plate.

Fidelio at the Royal Opera

Fidelio comes around to the Royal Opera only once in a while. With Lise Davidsen as Leonore, there was much to look forward to. The overture sounded firm at the beginning, but there were minor ensemble issues - the strings just didn't sound tight enough. Lise Davidsen was phenomenal. From the "fake" flirting with Marzelline (sung by Amanda Forsythe), "man to man" talk with Meister Rocco (sung by Georg Zeppenfeld) to the true Leonore in emotional turmoil - whe tackled them all with gusto. Her stature and firm voice also added further conviction to the role, but never too forthright to be forced. We were lured in the a sense of security with the naturalistic stage set reminicent of Figaro in Act I. That was all knocked back with Act II - Florestan was on a stone island surrounded by a non-descript chorus sitting down in front of a doorway - all starkly lit. The stage set bore no relation to the scenerary to Act I. Set and costume designer Rainer Sellmaier ...

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