2024-05-16 18:35:19
Based in 1883… Vocalists ‘Dream Stage’
Yannick Nézet-Séguin‘s first go to to Korea as baton
Vocal collaborations reminiscent of Oropesa are additionally spectacular.
Lotte Live performance Corridor, Seoul on the nineteenth and twentieth of subsequent month
“The Met Orchestra is at all times attentive to what’s occurring on stage and creates a way of change within the work. As a result of it’s the world’s greatest opera orchestra. “That is what makes this orchestra the most effective on this planet.” (Jannick Nézet-Séguin/Metropolitan Opera Music Director)
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (hereinafter known as the Met Orchestra), a member of New York’s Metropolitan Opera, generally known as the ‘dream stage’ for singers all over the world, is visiting Korea for the primary time.
Based in 1883, this orchestra, which has been skilled by legendary conductors reminiscent of Gustav Mahler, Arturo Toscanini, and Bruno Walter, will stage Bartok’s opera ‘Bluebeard’s Fort’ on June 19 on the Lotte Live performance Corridor in Seoul, and Mozart’s live performance on the twentieth. He performs dragon arias and Mahler’s Symphony No. 5. Canadian conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin (49), who has been the musical director of this orchestra and the Met since 2018, will take up the baton. Nézet-Séguin served as chief conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and is presently the music director of the Met and Philadelphia Orchestras, and is receiving probably the most consideration amongst North American conductors.
This efficiency additionally attracts consideration with its spectacular vocal collaborations. On the nineteenth, in Bartok’s ‘Bluebeard’s Fort’, Elina Garancha, who’s presently the preferred mezzo-soprano, will seem as the principle character, Judith. Latvian-born Garancha made her debut on the Metropolitan in 2008 as Rosina, the heroine of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, and since then she has traveled between the USA and Europe, the place she has conquered nearly each function by which a mezzo-soprano is featured. In 2003 she obtained the title ‘Court docket Singer’ of the Vienna State Opera in Austria.
‘Bluebeard’s Fort’ relies on Charles Perrault’s fairy story, by which the citadel’s proprietor kills his married wives one after one other. The function of Bluebeard can be performed by bass baritone Christian van Horn, who has carried out on the Met, LA Opera, San Francisco Opera, and Salzburg Competition. Previous to ‘Bluebeard’s Fort’ on the nineteenth, the Met Orchestra will play Wagner’s ‘The Wandering Dutchman’ overture and Debussy’s ‘Pelleisse et Mélisande’ suite within the first half of the efficiency.
Within the efficiency on the twentieth, Mozart live performance arias can be sung by soprano Lisette Oropesa. Mozart’s ‘I Will Go, However The place?’ and ‘To Berenice…’ ‘The Solar Rises’ and so on. Oropesa obtained the Metropolitan Opera’s Beverly Shields Artist Award in 2019 and is energetic in main opera homes in Europe and the USA.
Previous to this efficiency, conductor Nezé-Séguin and his collaborators despatched detailed solutions to Dong-A Ilbo’s e-mail questions concerning the intention of the efficiency. The next is a Q&A.
＜Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin＞
―What had been the necessary issues in deciding on the music for this efficiency?
“It was necessary for us to do what we do greatest. Bartok’s ‘Bluebeard’s Fort’ is a masterpiece of dramatic coloration and broad musical palette. The rationale Wagner’s ‘The Wandering Dutchman’ overture and Debussy’s ‘Pelleas et Mélisande’ had been included at the start of the efficiency was as a result of the 2 composers had an amazing affect on Bartok.
―Elina Garancha, the collaborator of this efficiency, carried out Bizet’s ‘Carmen’ collectively, which was additionally launched as a video. What do you concentrate on him?
“Garanza is definitely one of many biggest mezzo-sopranos of our time. He has shared the stage along with her on many events, together with a efficiency of Carmen in 2009, in addition to extra not too long ago on the Vienna Philharmonic’s summer time live shows at Vienna’s Schönbrunn Palace. The feminine protagonist of ‘Bluebeard’s Fort’ requires dramatic energy and wonderful management of sound, and that’s Garancha’s power.
―Inform us about Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, which you may be performing this time.
“The fourth motion, ‘Adagietto,’ is the core of this symphony. It has an beautiful melody from string devices, conveys Mahler’s Austrian environment, and tells the story like an opera.
―After visiting Korea with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2017 and acting at Lotte Live performance Corridor, you known as it ‘probably the most stunning live performance corridor on this planet.’
“I mentioned that initially due to the gorgeous sound. It sounds much like the ‘Philharmonie de Paris’ or Tokyo Suntory Corridor. However no nice corridor is full with no nice viewers. Korean audiences are particular.”
―How did you’re feeling once you first took cost of the Met in 2018?
“I mentioned to my household, ‘That is such an enormous deal for one individual,’ and to guide the Met is without doubt one of the biggest honors of my life. “The Met’s legacy, constructed over greater than 140 years, offers me that means as a musician.”
―You taught conducting abilities to Bradley Cooper, who performed Bernstein within the film ‘Maestro Bernstein’… .
“Instructing tips on how to conduct shouldn’t be new. He taught a number of conductors on the Curtis Institute of Music and the Montreal Metropolitan Orchestra. Bradley and I first met in 2015 and have develop into very shut since then over our ardour for music.”
＜Soprano Elina Garancha＞
―In Bartok’s opera ‘Bluebeard’s Fort’ to be carried out this time, the feminine protagonist Judith should navigate love and worry. Some students hyperlink this to gaslighting or ‘Stockholm syndrome’. How necessary is it to convey the character of Judith?
“Judith’s journey round Bluebeard’s Fort within the play is advanced and multi-layered. Interpretations of Judith can range tremendously, relying on how she falls in love with Bluebeard and but falls into nervousness and worry as she discovers the secrets and techniques hidden in his citadel. I interpret it as a journey guided by belief and curiosity, but in addition fraught with obsession and pressure. “We try to successfully specific her inside battle to make Judith a vivid character and specific it in a approach that the viewers can sympathize with.”
―She has been particularly beloved for her roles as Carmen in Bizet’s ‘Carmen’ and as Delilah in Saint-Saëns’s ‘Samson and Delilah.’ How is Judith from ‘Bluebeard’s Fort’ completely different from these folks?
“Delilana Carmen is usually portrayed as a seductive character who makes use of her appeal to realize her objectives. Judith, then again, is portrayed as a sympathetic lady who’s interested in Bluebeard due to her love and curiosity. However like Delilah or Carmen, Judith faces her personal conflicts and struggles along with her personal wishes or fears. Delilah is charming, Carmen is daring, Judith is emotional.”
―In 2022, he appeared with tenor Baek Seok-jong in ‘Samson and Delilah’ on the British Royal Opera.
“Baek Seok-jong is sort and prepared to assist different singers. “He was an amazing colleague who was skilled in his function but in addition listened to others’ concepts.”
―What’s your favourite function or what function would you wish to play?
“My favourite function is Amneris, the princess who’s jealous of Aida in Verdi’s ‘Aida.’ The function of Amneris is the function that made me resolve to develop into an opera singer. The function I wish to play sooner or later is Mrs. Quickley in Verdi’s ‘Falstaff’. I feel he would not essentially must be mature, he could possibly be portrayed as extra energetic or youthful. As well as, I wish to play the function of Azucena in Verdi’s ‘Il Trovatore’ or the function of Ortrude in Wagner’s ‘Lohengrin’.”
―My husband is conductor Karel Marc Chichon. Do you additionally discuss music at residence?
“Under no circumstances, hahaha! Speaking about music is taboo at residence. “At residence, we simply get pleasure from our roles as a pair and fogeys.”
＜Soprano Lisette Oropesa＞
―What ought to I take note of when singing Mozart’s arias?
“The simplicity of the songs we’ll sing this time clearly demonstrates Mozart’s genius. The better it appears to be like, the tougher it’s to sing. It’s because it’s simpler to listen to what a singer is missing. Singing Mozart requires lots of issues in your arsenal: emotional subtlety, phrasing, and extra. Nevertheless it all has to look pure. Like watching an amazing determine skater, it ought to make you assume, ‘Wow, that appears really easy, I feel I can do this!’”
―I heard that you just used to review the flute and performed Mozart’s concerto.
“Finding out the flute was an amazing assist in creating my love for Mozart’s music. It was simpler to like musical devices as a result of they’d no lyrics. However once I turned a singer, I began writing lyrics, which opened new doorways for me. However music, with or with out lyrics, transcends language and conveys one thing that everybody can perceive.”
―Your coloratura (a method much like a woodwind instrument) is so exact that it’s wonderful. Do you want each day follow?
“I follow nearly every single day. However it’s important to follow very effectively as a result of it’s important to save your voice.”
―Your mother and father are from Cuba and also you grew up in New Orleans with traces of French tradition. Did this background affect your musical development?
“Completely! My mother and father beloved music, so I grew up inspired to sing. I studied French as a result of I grew up in Louisiana, and I like French songs. “I like the colours that may be present in France, in addition to French poetry and composers.”
＜Bass-Baritone Christian Van Horn＞
―Bartok What’s necessary to the function of Bluebeard in ‘Bluebeard’s Fort’?
“The function of Bluebeard requires excessive parts. “It’s important to specific each very excessive and low notes, very loud notes and really mushy notes.”
―Is Bluebeard a villain or a warm-hearted individual?
“I feel Bluebeard needs to be ‘the dangerous man everybody loves.’ Though he’s outdated and drained, he picks up an attractive younger lady, and never simply because he’s wealthy. He’s a horny man. In the event you take heed to the music that expresses him, it isn’t all evil. He definitely doesn’t simply have a chilly coronary heart.”
―What do you assume is particular concerning the Met Orchestra?
“The Met Orchestra is used to respiration along with singers. You may instantly inform whether or not a specific singer is in fine condition or not, whether or not he’s depleted or relaxed, and replicate that in his efficiency. “That is attainable as a result of this orchestra has been working with the world’s biggest singers for over 100 years.”
Yoo Yun-jong, cultural reporter [email protected]
2024-05-16 18:35:19