Favorites of 2023: Music
In my previous post I covered our year of French Baroque opera. In this sequel I'll list my other favorite live, streamed, and recorded musical performances of the past 12 months, ordered chronologically.
Live performances
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Liv Redpath (photo credit: Thomas Brunot; image source: Minnesota Opera) and Alex Rosen (image source: Askonas Holt)
A Baroque New Year's Eve at the Opera. Liv Redpath, soprano, Alex Rosen, bass, with American Bach Soloists conducted by Jeffrey Thomas. Herbst Theatre, San Francisco, 31 December 2022.
Our year of concertgoing began, fittingly enough, with American Bach Soloists' Baroque New Year's Eve at the Opera, which for us has become an annual tradition. The 2022 edition featured soprano Liv Redpath and bass Alex Rosen in a program of arias by Handel, Purcell, Rameau and Vivaldi. Both soloists were impressive: Rosen possesses a rich bass, and Redpath's extraordinary voice offers both a pure high soprano and a lovely lower register.
There were plenty of bravura fireworks, which both singers handled adeptly, but we especially enjoyed the more emotion-laden moments: Redpath's performance of "V'adoro, pupile" and "Se pietà" from Handel's Giulio Cesare, and "Felicissima quest'alma" from his Apollo e Dafne, as well as Rosen's singing of "Leave me, loathsome light" from Handel's Semele and "Puisque Pluton est inflexible" from Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie. A brilliant way to bring in the New Year; we're very much looking forward to this year's edition.
Update 7 November 2023: Rebecca Paller profiles Liv Redpath in the December 2023 issue of Opera magazine (p. 1552). Paller notes that this past summer Redpath made her debut at Glyndebourne as Tytania in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and in October stepped onstage at the Metropolitan Opera as Oscar in Verdi's Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball). She will appear as the heroine Pamina in the Met's production of Mozart's Magic Flute next month. Congratulations to Redpath, whose career seems to be taking off in a spectacular fashion. Her success is richly deserved. [1]
Joyce DiDonato. Image source: Joyce DiDonato: EDEN
Joyce DiDonato: EDEN, with Il Pomo d'Oro, Zefira Valova, violin and conductor. Presented by Cal Performances at Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley, 21 January 2023.
This concert began with Joyce DiDonato vocalizing the trumpet part of Charles Ives' The Unanswered Question from about six feet behind us (we were in the next to last row of the mezzanine). Hearing the resonance of her powerful voice from just a few feet away was an almost overwhelming experience.
By the end of the piece DiDonato had made her way to the stage, where she continued this deeply felt program on the theme of "the nourishing and healing of our world and our hearts" in the face of the ever-worsening climate crisis and the devastations of the COVID pandemic. Through musical selections on the theme of nature ranging from Monteverdi contemporaries Biagio Marini and Francesco Cavalli, through 18th century composers George Frederic Handel, Josef Mysliveček and Christoph Willibald Gluck, to 20th and 21st century songs written by Aaron Copland and Rachel Portman, DiDonato addressed our need for connection to the natural world.
If the seed packets handed out at the end of the concert seemed inadequate to the tasks we face, artists cannot solve global-scale crises but can only heighten our awareness, understanding, and empathy. In her program notes DiDonato herself pointed to Gene Scheer's words to Rachel Portman's "The First Morning of the World": "I am filled with nothing but questions." EDEN has been issued on CD, and interviews with DiDonato together with performances of musical selections are available as a YouTube playlist on her channel.
Le Concert Spirituel at St. James's Roman Catholic Church, Spanish Place, London, 6 June 2023. Photo credit: Matt Crossick/PA Wire
Handel: Solomon. Soloists with The English Concert and The Clarion Choir, Harry Bicket, conductor. Presented by Cal Performances at Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley, 5 March 2023.
Handel: Dettingen Te Deum and Coronation Anthems. Le Concert Spirituel, Hervé Niquet, conductor. Presented by Wigmore Hall at St. James's Roman Catholic Church Spanish Square, London, 6 June 2023.
It is undeniably thrilling to hear in person these pillars of the Monumental Baroque, which showcase the performance of massed choirs, blaring horns, piping winds and thundering timpani.
As anyone who has every heard the Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah can attest, Handel was a particular master of this style. The opening chorus of the Dettingen Te Deum, "We praise thee, O God," performed by Le Concert Spirituel:
In comparison to the massive choruses and huge orchestras that sometimes present these pieces, the musical forces in these performances were (relatively) modest in scale, but did not lack awe-inspiring power—nor, when it was called for, subtlety. To our surprise, the London concert was attended by the recently crowned King Charles III, adding to the sense of occasion.
Colin Balzer (Ruggiero) and Mireille Lebel (Alcina) in Francesca Caccini's Alcina. Photo credit: Kathy Wittman. Image source: BEMF.org
Francesca Caccini: La liberazione di Ruggiero dall'isola d'Alcina. Mireille Lebel (Alcina), Colin Balzer (Ruggiero), Cecilia Duarte (Melissa), and others. Presented by Boston Early Music Festival at New England Conservatory Jordan Hall, Boston, 10 June 2023.
From my original post, Music in London and Boston: "Francesca Caccini's Alcina (1625) is the first known opera composed by a woman. The story of Alcina is taken by librettist Ferdinando Saracinelli from Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso (1532), the same source used more than a century later for Handel's opera Alcina (1735). The knightly hero Ruggiero has been seduced by the beautiful sorceress Alcina into tarrying with her on her magic island in a haze of sensual pleasure. The sorceress Melissa, in male disguise, arrives and tries to recall Ruggiero to a sense of his martial duties. Ultimately Melissa prevails, and Alcina's enchantments of Ruggiero, and of her numerous former lovers who have been turned into the lush vegetation of her island, are broken."
An excerpt from Act II of the original 2018 BEMF production, in which Melissa brings Ruggiero to recommit to his knightly purpose:
Alcina offered a strong cast and benefited from longtime BEMF stage director Gilbert Blin's thoughtful staging, choreographer Melinda Sullivan's expressive movement, and designer Anna Watkins' effective costumes (particularly striking when the chorus, portraying the enchanted former lovers, was decked out with leaves and branches).
Honorable mention
Michael Spyres at Wigmore Hall, 21 May 2023. Image source: Conessi all'Opera
Michael Spyres: Tenore Assoluto, with Il Pomo d'Oro conducted by Francesco Corti. Wigmore Hall, London, 21 May 2023.
For many people this concert would have been the highlight of their year. As I wrote in Music in London and Boston: "Spyres' voice is astonishing. He calls himself a 'baritenor,' and indeed has a remarkably wide range; he also has the vocal flexibility to execute rapid coloratura passages. But this concert, in which Spyres sang one fiery vocal showpiece after another, was almost too much of a good thing. For me the highlight of the evening was Spyres' first encore, 'J'ai perdu mon Eurydice' (I have lost my Eurydice) from Christoph Willibald Gluck's Orphée et Eurydice (1774), his French-language adaptation of Orfeo ed Euridice (1762). For this listener Spyres' moving and lyrical performance of this aria provided a grateful respite from the spectacular fireworks that preceded it." The music Spyres performed at this concert has been released on his album Contra-Tenor.
From Lully's Persée, "Cessons de redouter la fortune cruelle":
Streamed and recorded performances
Philippe Jaroussky with Le Concert de la Loge at l'Abbaye de Royaumont. Image source: BEMF.org
Boston Early Music Festival 2022-23 virtual concert season. BEMF continues to make their concerts available via streaming, which is of inestimable benefit for those of us who don't live in the Boston area. Tickets cost about the same as a movie, and concerts are available for two weeks once they start streaming (generally, about two weeks after the concert date). Added bonuses are pre-concert talks and interviews with the artists. The 2022-23 season featured Philippe Jaroussky, Vox Luminis (both mentioned in my Favorites of 2022), chamber operas by Lully and Charpentier, Tallis Scholars, Bach Collegium Japan, Stile Antico, and many other accomplished artists.
The opening of Antonio Vivaldi's Nisi Dominus, performed by Philippe Jaroussky with Le Concert de la Loge, Julien Chauvin, director:
BEMF's 2023-24 virtual season has just begun, and is well worth exploring.
Soula Parassidis (Iphigénie) and Jesse Blumberg (Oreste) in a scene from Boston Baroque’s production of Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride (1779). Photo credit: Sam Brewer. Image source: the arts fuse
Christoph Willibald Gluck: Iphigénie en Tauride. Soula Parassidis (Iphigénie), Jesse Blumberg (Oreste), William Burden (Pylade), and others, with Boston Baroque conducted by Martin Pearlman.
There are multiple versions of the legends surrounding the Trojan War. Part of the tradition (depicted in Sophocles’ Electra, for example) is that on its way to Troy, the Greek fleet anchors in the harbor of Aulis. Agamemnon goes ashore and kills a deer in a sacred grove, offending the goddess Artemis, who then causes the Greek fleet to become becalmed. Only by the sacrifice of Agamemnon's daughter will the anger of Artemis be appeased and favorable winds enable the fleet to sail.
There's another version of the Iphigenia story, in which Artemis intervenes at the last moment and substitutes a deer for the sacrificial victim, who is transported to Tauride to serve as high priestess at a shrine to the goddess. This is the background of Nicolas-François Guillard's libretto for Gluck's opera. When Iphigénie's brother Oreste and his companion Pylade are shipwrecked on Tauride, neither sibling recognizes the other. And as high priestess, Iphigénie is called on to sacrifice one of the Greeks on the altar of Artemis.
Boston Baroque's spare, effective production made a virtue of its minimalism. The action took place in front of and around the musicians of the orchestra, and video projections supplied the scene- and mood-settings. The cast was uniformly excellent, with special honors to the three principals.
Iphigénie's Act II aria on learning of her brother's supposed death, "Ô malheureuse Iphigénie" (Oh, unhappy Iphigénie), performed by Soula Parassidis:
Boston Baroque's 2023-24 season is underway, and their live stream is pay what you can.
Left to right: Lenka Máčiková (Marquise Clarice), Kateřina Kněžíková (Vespetta), Jaroslav Březina (Patrizio), and Aleš Briscein (Count Orazio) in Act II of Giuseppe Scarlatti's Dove è amore è gelosia at the Baroque Theatre of Krumlov Castle. Image source: Lenka Máčiková
Giuseppe Scarlatti: Dove è amore è gelosia (Where there's love there's jealousy), libretto by Marco Coltellini. Soloists with the Schwarzenberg Court Orchestra conducted by Vojtěch Spurný. Baroque Theatre of Krumlov Castle, Czech Republic, filmed in September 2011, Opus Arte OA 1104 D.
Giuseppi Scarlatti, most probably the nephew of Domenico Scarlatti (although possibly his cousin), composed some 30 operas. Dove è amore è gelosia is a two-act comedy which features the love problems of an aristocratic couple (Marquise Clarice, a widow, and Count Orazio, her would-be second husband) and a servant couple (Vespetta, the Marquise's lady's maid, and Patrizio, Count Orazio's manservant). The Marquise finds the Count to be too jealous and possessive; Vespetta thinks Patrizio is taking her for granted. Both men are taught a lesson before all ends well.
From Act I, in the aria "Intendo la tua pena" the Marquise muses on her lonely situation as a young widow, but notes a woman's double bind. In the second verse she sings, "Trista è la vedovanza / In giovinetta età, / E se un piacer le avanza / Non è di libertà" (It is sad to be a widow / as a young woman / But when pleasure beckons / It means the end of freedom):
https://youtu.be/pPnftimj8dU?t=1669 [ends 29:54]
The opera was filmed in the same Baroque theatre in which it had its premiere on 24 July 1768. The occasion of the premiere was the wedding of Johann Nepomuk, eldest son of Prince Josef Adam of Schwarzenburg, to Maria Eleanora, Countess of Oettingen-Wallerstein. The premiere was a family affair: the Marquise was sung by the 21-year-old second daughter of Prince Josef, Maria Theresia; the Count by the Count of Salburg, a family friend; Vespetta by Giuseppe Scarlatti's second wife, the opera singer Antonia Lefebvre; and Patrizio by the opera's librettist, Marco Coltellini. It was conducted from the harpsichord by the composer himself.
Part of the attraction of the video of the opera is that it takes us behind the scenes (and beneath the stage) to show us Baroque stagecraft. Today the technical aspects of opera production are extremely sophisticated, thanks to computerization. Set changes can be automated, with motorized units moving into and out of place and hydraulic elevators quickly raising and lowering set pieces, props and actors. Projections can create ever-changing backdrops such as stormy seas, glowing sunsets, lush gardens or elaborate interiors. For changes in place, time of day, or mood, LED lighting instruments can be programmed to change color, focus on different spots, and vary beam widths on cue.
This production attempts to recreate the way the opera would have been staged in the 18th century. The singers perform and the orchestra plays by candlelight. Sets are painted flats on tracks, and backdrops are hung on pipes; both are changed in full view of the audience. Elevators and machines controlled by pulley systems and human muscle power bring singers or props up from below stage level (as seen in the video excerpt above). It's a fascinating glimpse of 18th-century stage practice, and the DVD includes an excellent bonus documentary on the restoration of the theater and the recreation of the opera's first performance.
You can see an 11-minute documentary on the history of the theatre and its restoration on YouTube; below I've embedded a three-minute short on the production of Scarlatti's opera. Both are well worth your time.
Posts in this series:
- Favorites of 2023: Our year of Byron
- Favorites of 2023: Our year of Agatha Christie
- Favorites of 2023: Movies and television
- Favorites of 2023: Our year of Alec Guinness
- Favorites of 2023: Music
- Favorites of 2023: Our year of French Baroque Opera
Review of Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream by Mark Pullinger from Bachtrack, 2 July 2023: "[Tim] Mead['s Oberon] was well-matched by Liv Redpath’s Tytania, silvery voiced, bright top notes hit dead centre."
Review of Verdi's Un Ballo en maschera by Keven W. Ng from Bachtrack, 1 November 2023: "The other outstanding performance of the evening comes from soprano Liv Redpath. . .Redpath brings a poised, rounded tone to the role [of Oscar]. She certainly has the coloratura chops for it, with brilliant staccati and a neat trill, but she impressed most in the ensembles, with a soaring radiance that many a Violetta would envy. She’s also a game performer, executing the manic choreography with ease." ^ Return
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