29 April 2016
Obertura de La muerte de Tasso (Garcia)
Danza no 1 de La vida breve (Falla)
Orgía de Danzas fantásticas (Turina)
Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla
Obertura de La muerte de Tasso (Garcia)
Danza no 1 de La vida breve (Falla)
Orgía de Danzas fantásticas (Turina)
Tiento del primer tono y Batalla Imperial (C. Halffter)
Carmina Burana (Orff)
Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España
Escolanía de Los Palacios
Leonor Bonilla (Soprano solo)
Beñat Egiarte (Tenor solo)
Carlos Daza (Baritone solo)
30 April 2016
'Freudig begrüssen wir' from Tannhäuser (Wagner)
Excepts from Carmen (Bizet)
'Vilja Lied' from Die lustige Witwe (Lehár)
Coro di zingari from Il Trovatore (Verdi)
Te Deum from Tosca (Puccini)
Abridged version of act three from Götterdämmerung (Wagner, arranged by P. Halffter)
'Va, pensiero, sull'ali dorate' from Nabucco (Verdi)
'Heil! Heil! Der Gnade Wunder Heil!' from Tannhäuser (Wagner)
Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla
Coro de la Asociación de Amigos del Teatro de la Maestranza de Sevilla
María José Montiel (Mezzo-soprano solo)
Mariola Cantarero (Soprano solo)
Juan Pons (Baritone solo)
Pedro Halffter (Music Director)
María José Montiel (Mezzo-soprano solo)
Mariola Cantarero (Soprano solo)
Juan Pons (Baritone solo)
Pedro Halffter (Music Director)
Year 2016 marks the celebration of two significant cultural institutes in Spain. Teatro Real Madrid begins its three year-long bicentenary programme, and Teatro de la Maestranza of Seville celebrates its silver jubilee with two special concerts in consecutive evenings. The opera building in Seville is relatively recent with a circular auditorium to ensure a reasonable sightline of the stage from every seat in the house. A rather resonate acoustic that could hear echo from the balcony at where I sat on the first balcony. Though no bars served refreshments at the foyer and only a shop selling opera records and past house programmes. The theatre is also the city major performing art venue and gives a season programme with a mixture of genre from zarzuelas to symphonic concerts.
First evening of the celebration featured the national orchestra and choir. The programme consisted an anthology of orchestral works by four Spanish composers spanning from the 18th century to modern time before interval, then Carmina Burana by the combined force. Garcia's overture from his opera 'La muerte de Tasso' was heavily late Beethovenian in style and retained the slow (adagio) then fast (presto) tempo structure. A sophisticated imitation I reckon by composition, but the orchestra was probably still adjusting to the hall acoustic and had moments of sight reading like playing. Falla's interlude and Spanish dance still bear the late romantic feature of a tragic opening, and not too different from the general European musical language of the time. The orchestral playing again dragged and need to dance more. Perhaps it would benefit if Pedro Halffter conducts without a long baton and less rigid in phrasing the music for these sort of repertoire.
I felt Turina's Orgía de Danzas fantásticas was the only work on programme had a distinctive musical character with Andalusian influence. A wild, passionate and muscular opening followed by intimate woodwind solos and light hearted dance passages. Though phrasing was still questionable and sometimes too much rubato that not forming the right shape. Tiento del primer tono y Batalla Imperial by Cristóbal Halffter was a debatable choice to represent contemporary Spanish symphonic works. It was more interesting to hear the harmonic progression of the opening based on tientos by Cabezón. The fanfare like Batalla Imperial was a technique showcase for the brass section but for me musically the repetitive texture not inspiring.
Later the orchestra was more together and responsive joined by the chorus and soloists in Carmina Burana. It seems more rehearsal time was spent on polishing playing than items in the first half. The choir surprised me by maintaining good intonation throughout and the massed voices blended very well together with minimal vibrato. Not only produce a wall of sound and good rhythmic precision, it also had the differentiation in vocal colour and body weight between parts. Diction was generally good and one could understand the sung text easily. Despite the tempo was slightly on the board side, Pedro Halffter maintained a good momentum to allow space for the music to breath. Again I felt he could conduct without the baton so the music playing could flow more to avoid over indication, particular in 'Veris leta facies'. Beautiful timbre from the baritone soloist Carlos Daza with the desired richness in vocal colour and being healthy. He sang without strains nor barking out the demanding vocal range even sometimes underweight in volume. Leonor Bonilla was comfortable with the tessitura of her part and a flexible voice being secure along the wide vocal range. Diction was not always clear though probably because she was more focused on getting the notes right. Unfortunately the tenor Beñat Egiarte collapsed after singing the first half of roasted swan song, who looked pale since the beginning of the concert. The incident did not overshadow rest of the performance and a standing ovation was given at the end for this superlative performance of Carl Orff's best known choral work.
The second evening performance finally featured the the opera house own orchestra and chorus. A predominant German, Italian and French works formed the programme but surprisingly no zarzuela or bel canto works. The entrance song from Wagner's Tannhäuser made a masculine and jubilant opening. It confirmed that the musicians more used to the hall acoustic than their colleague from Madrid. The produced sound was thicker and more confident with the playing, particularly the strings. María José Montiel's Carmen was a full blooded affair in terms of her presence and the richness of her voice as mezzo. Though sometimes her rubato dragged the music so much that lost direction and the shape of line. Her French diction mostly muddled and sometimes difficult to understand the words she was singing. In contrast, Mariola Cantarero was slightly underweight in volume but a more pleasant voice with the right timbre in Lehar. Her phrasing of the music was natural and a flexible voice to sing the coloratura with ease. The choir gave a wall of sound in the anvil chorus from Trovatore and the vibrato among the soprano section was acceptable that still produced a clear melodic line. Rousing choral moments continued with the te deum scene from Tosca. Renowned baritone Juan Pons still could sing capably as Scarpia despite showing signs of age in terms of physical mobility and took some effort to sustain the breathing.
Halffter own bridged version of the final act from Wagner's Götterdämmerung dominated the second half. The arrangement was a sample of leitmotifs: the hunting motive, rheinmaiden, Siegfried horn calls, the song of woodbird, Siegfried's funeral match and immolation scene. A large battery of brass instruments dominating the centre stage made a visual impact and the sound filled the hall acoustic very well. The orchestral playing had a good start but soon coordination problems emerged. Strings dragged the tempo several times, brass was not always with intonation and lacked confident in some entries. Generally the band would need more experience with phrasing and also to locate the character in Wagner's works than only a mere rendition. Atmospherically the piece was also solemn and produced a sense of heaviness for the supposed celebration. It was no surprise that a more enthusiastic receptions were given after chorus of Hebrew slaves from Verdi's Nabucco and the rousing finale from Wagner's Tannhäuser, which marked the closing. The gala was bold on dramatic repertoire but next time the organiser should include some lyrical works for contrast, or simply too rich for one evening.
First evening of the celebration featured the national orchestra and choir. The programme consisted an anthology of orchestral works by four Spanish composers spanning from the 18th century to modern time before interval, then Carmina Burana by the combined force. Garcia's overture from his opera 'La muerte de Tasso' was heavily late Beethovenian in style and retained the slow (adagio) then fast (presto) tempo structure. A sophisticated imitation I reckon by composition, but the orchestra was probably still adjusting to the hall acoustic and had moments of sight reading like playing. Falla's interlude and Spanish dance still bear the late romantic feature of a tragic opening, and not too different from the general European musical language of the time. The orchestral playing again dragged and need to dance more. Perhaps it would benefit if Pedro Halffter conducts without a long baton and less rigid in phrasing the music for these sort of repertoire.
I felt Turina's Orgía de Danzas fantásticas was the only work on programme had a distinctive musical character with Andalusian influence. A wild, passionate and muscular opening followed by intimate woodwind solos and light hearted dance passages. Though phrasing was still questionable and sometimes too much rubato that not forming the right shape. Tiento del primer tono y Batalla Imperial by Cristóbal Halffter was a debatable choice to represent contemporary Spanish symphonic works. It was more interesting to hear the harmonic progression of the opening based on tientos by Cabezón. The fanfare like Batalla Imperial was a technique showcase for the brass section but for me musically the repetitive texture not inspiring.
Later the orchestra was more together and responsive joined by the chorus and soloists in Carmina Burana. It seems more rehearsal time was spent on polishing playing than items in the first half. The choir surprised me by maintaining good intonation throughout and the massed voices blended very well together with minimal vibrato. Not only produce a wall of sound and good rhythmic precision, it also had the differentiation in vocal colour and body weight between parts. Diction was generally good and one could understand the sung text easily. Despite the tempo was slightly on the board side, Pedro Halffter maintained a good momentum to allow space for the music to breath. Again I felt he could conduct without the baton so the music playing could flow more to avoid over indication, particular in 'Veris leta facies'. Beautiful timbre from the baritone soloist Carlos Daza with the desired richness in vocal colour and being healthy. He sang without strains nor barking out the demanding vocal range even sometimes underweight in volume. Leonor Bonilla was comfortable with the tessitura of her part and a flexible voice being secure along the wide vocal range. Diction was not always clear though probably because she was more focused on getting the notes right. Unfortunately the tenor Beñat Egiarte collapsed after singing the first half of roasted swan song, who looked pale since the beginning of the concert. The incident did not overshadow rest of the performance and a standing ovation was given at the end for this superlative performance of Carl Orff's best known choral work.
The second evening performance finally featured the the opera house own orchestra and chorus. A predominant German, Italian and French works formed the programme but surprisingly no zarzuela or bel canto works. The entrance song from Wagner's Tannhäuser made a masculine and jubilant opening. It confirmed that the musicians more used to the hall acoustic than their colleague from Madrid. The produced sound was thicker and more confident with the playing, particularly the strings. María José Montiel's Carmen was a full blooded affair in terms of her presence and the richness of her voice as mezzo. Though sometimes her rubato dragged the music so much that lost direction and the shape of line. Her French diction mostly muddled and sometimes difficult to understand the words she was singing. In contrast, Mariola Cantarero was slightly underweight in volume but a more pleasant voice with the right timbre in Lehar. Her phrasing of the music was natural and a flexible voice to sing the coloratura with ease. The choir gave a wall of sound in the anvil chorus from Trovatore and the vibrato among the soprano section was acceptable that still produced a clear melodic line. Rousing choral moments continued with the te deum scene from Tosca. Renowned baritone Juan Pons still could sing capably as Scarpia despite showing signs of age in terms of physical mobility and took some effort to sustain the breathing.
Halffter own bridged version of the final act from Wagner's Götterdämmerung dominated the second half. The arrangement was a sample of leitmotifs: the hunting motive, rheinmaiden, Siegfried horn calls, the song of woodbird, Siegfried's funeral match and immolation scene. A large battery of brass instruments dominating the centre stage made a visual impact and the sound filled the hall acoustic very well. The orchestral playing had a good start but soon coordination problems emerged. Strings dragged the tempo several times, brass was not always with intonation and lacked confident in some entries. Generally the band would need more experience with phrasing and also to locate the character in Wagner's works than only a mere rendition. Atmospherically the piece was also solemn and produced a sense of heaviness for the supposed celebration. It was no surprise that a more enthusiastic receptions were given after chorus of Hebrew slaves from Verdi's Nabucco and the rousing finale from Wagner's Tannhäuser, which marked the closing. The gala was bold on dramatic repertoire but next time the organiser should include some lyrical works for contrast, or simply too rich for one evening.
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