Joyce DiDonato

I've recently discovered Joyce DiDonato, an American mezzo and on her blog found this interesting plug for her soon-to-be-released CD, Diva, Divo.

Her blog is worth checking out, for some fascinating background into opera preparation and performance.

More on Cuénod

The Guardian has run a more extensive obituary of Hugues Cuénod, written by Alan Blyth, who died in 2007. It's common practice for newspapers to have obituaries prepared and it's good to see that The Guardian are not wasting the immense talents of Blyth. Also nice to see the addendum by John Amis, who some may remember from the BBC radio show, My Music.

Vale Hugues Cuénod

The extraordinary Swiss tenor, Hugues Cuénod, has died this week at the age of 108. One of the seemingly endless list of musicians who studied with Naida Boulanger, he also sang regularly at Glyndebourne. He sang in the premiere production of Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress in Venice and made his debut at the Met in his 80s - as the old emperor in Puccini's Turandot.

His recordings of the French chanson repertoire are few, but essential listening for anyone interested in song.

Here he is in Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffmann, at the age of 69:

Bach to rehearsals

Last night was my first rehearsal for the next Gloriana concert: Bach's magnificent Mass in B minor. The concert will be on Friday, November 26 at 8pm, at St Mary's Star of the Sea, West Melbourne. It promises to be a wonderful concert and I hope at least one of my readers will come.

It's a long sing, and for the tenors quite high, but last night reminded me of all the wonders contained in this amazing score. I think I'll need all the coming weeks' rehearsals to build up the stamina needed to last the distance.

While I have sung the work a couple of times at St John's Southgate, it has always been broken up into parts and spread over several weeks. The only time I have performed it as a whole was with Ensemble Gombert in 2000 for their weekend of Bach performances, timed to celebrate the 250th anniversary of his death if I recall correctly. The Mass opened the weekend festival on the Friday night, and was performed to a packed St Patrick's Cathedral; it was one of the high points in my choral-singing career.

Vale Dame Joan Sutherland

It was announced this morning that La Stupenda, Dame Joan Sutherland, has died. She was 83 and hadn't sung for about a decade, but it's a huge loss nonetheless.

The Collaborative Piano Blog has collated links to coverage here.

I saw her perform only a few times, but was lucky enough to see her Lucia, at the Palais of all places. Despite the size of the theatre her pianissimos could be hear at the back of the stalls - she was running around the stage in the mad-scene and producing this  extraordinary sound. A truly amazing tour de force. I have a few of her recordings, though not a lot as it is mostly repertoire I've never been a huge collector of. But today I'm overdosing by listening to ABC FM which is, quite rightly, devoting much of their airtime to reminiscences and recordings.

Picture linked to at Collaborative Piano Blog

Film, art and food

On Thursday I went along to the Forum (where I remember seeing Lawrence of Arabia in the early 60s) where the Melbourne International Film Festival was screening a fascinating film called Pianomania which follows a Viennese piano technician as he attempts to adjust pianos to the requirements of several different pianists. Full of humour it's a film I would recommend seeing.


On Friday I met P&B for lunch at Journal Canteen - I had delicious chicken involtini. The only downside was that while I was chewing on a soft piece of bread half a tooth broke off. A quick tongue inspection and glass of water showed that it wasn't sensitive (this has happened before, luckily with no tenderness each time) so I proceeded with my meal.

After lunch we went down to the NGV St Kilda Rd to see the European Masters exhibition; works from the Städel Museum in Frankfurt. It was an interesting show but without any major highlights, though it was nice to see the famous Tischbein portrait of Goethe in the Roman Campagna. 

Saturday was full of fun: shopping, singing, Stephen Fry. For VMcA's 40th birthday he had arranged a group of friends to sing Tallis' 40-part Spem in alium; We also got to sing through a 40-part piece V has been composing, all conducted by JO'D. A splendid afternoon tea was provided by some of the singers. After the performance most people were continuing the celebrations at a local pub, but a small group of us made our way into town to attend the evening's talk by Stephen Fry.

It was an extraordinary performance - for two hours he stood on the stage and spoke. Much of it was about his early life but his delivery was full of many side-tracks and anecdotes and the time passed very quickly and enjoyably.

On Sunday I visited LE to help her set up the new printer she has bought. It was mostly straighforward, but there were a couple of things which didn't work how I expected them to. Then in the evening I went to P&B's where I was given a most delicious meal of carrot soup followed by P's tasty roast chicken. We finished with some very nice cheeses. To celebrate one year of retirement I took a bottle of Morris' Durif from 2001 - it was delicious.

Busy week starts

Yesterday was P's birthday and, as he had the day off work, he, B and I went to Three Bags Full for lunch. B and I both had the very tasty house-cured salmon on corn and pea fritter and P had the hot cakes with poached fruit and ricotta. Afterwards we strolled down to Victoria Street where we checked out the new Aldi which just opened last week. We decided we can probably go there for much of our grocery shopping.

Back to Gloriana last night - the next concert is going to be great. We started with some glorious Brahms after which we moved on to Striggio's 40-part motet Ecce beatam lucem. This is an interesting piece but not nearly as much fun as Tallis' Spem in alium, also in 40 parts, which we rehearsed after the break. We will be performing Spem spread out around the audience in eight five-part choirs; who said surround sound was a new invention?

We finished last night's rehearsal with a run-through of Clytus Gottwald's transcription of Die zwei blauen Augen by Mahler (Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen). It actually works quite well, so I'm looking forward to Gottwald's arrangement of the Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde, which is also on the program.

Tonight it's a Gombert rehearsal, and again on Friday for the concert on Saturday. I'm also catching up with people on Wednesday and going to the doctor's on Thursday.

Rehearsals

So far this week I've had two rehearsals for Sunday's Bach cantata at St John's - Tuesday was a piano rehearsal, learning the notes and how it all fits together, then tonight we had our run-through with the orchestra. Graham always puts together a great collection of instrumentalists and this week's cantata, Bleib bei uns, denn es will Abend werden, uses the oboe da caccias (oboes da caccia?) owned by the church. Add an oboe and a bassoon for continuo and it's a wonderful reedy sound.

We only heard two of the soloists tonight, Robert Macfarlane, the tenor, and Nick ? a wonderful sounding bass who is also singing in the next Gombert concert. Sunday morning promises to be a most excellent performance.

Tomorrow afternoon we have a rehearsal for the Brumel Earthquake mass to be performed as part of the Ensemble Gombert concert the following Saturday. So I'm keeping myself out of mischief.

Et ecce terræ motus

As well as singing at St Peter's for Tenebrae on Good Friday night - Gesualdo, Victoria and Allegri - I've also landed a spot with Ensemble Gombert in the "Earthquake" Mass by Brumel. I have sung this work a few times with Gombert and Gloriana, though in quite different editions, and really love the piece. It's not easy and has some quite tricky rhythmic bits although this time I've landed a part with quite a bit of cantus firmus, which is less satisfying. But I do get to sing with some of Melbourne's best young singers - mostly tenors!

Last night was also NE's birthday and she had made a cake the ingredients of which included a whole jar of Nutella. It was delicious!

Lunchtime concert

Today I went up to Trinity Chapel to a performance of "An Avian Miscellany: A Parlour Songbook of Birds", a collection of songs about birds, by Peter Campbell. The songs, the texts of most of which were taken from a Mother Goose collection, were beautifully sung by Louisa Hunter-Bradley accompanied by Jonathan Bradley on the piano.

A good-sized audience heard a collection of well-considered songs, many displaying great humour. The thoughtful settings avoided the obvious and reflected the emotions of the texts beautifully. I'm glad I had a program as Hunter-Bradley's diction was variable, although her performances were delightful and displayed much thought.

There were many familiar faces in the audience - I sat with Stuart and MdeC was sitting opposite.

Upshaw + ACO = musical bliss

On Monday night DG came down from Castlemaine and we had quick meal in Degraves Street before heading off to Hamer Hall to hear Dawn Upshaw singing with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. 

She sang three songs written for her by the Argentinian Osvaldo Golijov which were very interesting and very enjoyable, the klezmer influence adding extra spice. Then the ACO played Mozart's Symphony No. 29 - it was a taut, crisp performance with natural horns and period oboes and very enjoyable.

After interval Upshaw returned for a set of folksong settings by Bartok, arranged for string orchestra by Richard Tognetti. These songs were completely different in mood from the Golijov, much sparer, but no less enjoyable. Tognetti's arrangements were stunning. Upshaw's control is truly amazing; she's a very generous performer, singing as part of the ensemble, not as a soloist, and makes a real connection with the audience.

Then the ACO played Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante, again in an exciting performance.

The night finished with Upshaw returning to sing Richard Strauss' Morgen, with Tognetti lyrically playing the solo. 

Strauss performed on gut strings, at A=430, and with two natural horns, what a thought!

The ACO is certainly one of our national treasures - it's been a couple of years since I've heard them and they've have only got better. I must try to get to more of their concerts this year.

More on Mum, and a concert

Mum had a visit last week from the aged care assessment people (or, rather, person) and she's going to organise a district nurse to come daily to administer her medications as this is one of the things she's been forgetting. There are a few other things to come as well including a rail by the front door, and probably one in the toilet as well.

On Wednesday I'm off to the doctor with Mum to get the results of the CAT scan.

Last Thursday B&P and I met and had a quick, but tasty, meal at Chillipadi in town (I had a tasty Nasi lemak) before making our way to Melba Hall for a free recital given by Rosamund Illing, with Dean Sky-Lucas on piano and Craig Hill on clarinet. The program was mixed, ranging from Purcell and Mozart to Poulenc and Obradors with some Strauss and Duparc on the way. The concert ended with Schubert's glorious Shepherd on the Rock.

It was a wonderful night; it was great to be able to relax in the knowledge that you were listening to a real artist at work (or should I say artists - Dean Sky Lucas' playing of what I know to be some extremely difficult accompaniments was accurate and sensitive). Illing's voice is well controlled with an amazing dynamic range, from whisper soft to full bore; she certainly had no problems filling Melba Hall. I think the French and Spanish songs were the best (though her coquettishness in the Obradors was just a little much), the Schubert not quite coming up to quite the same level for me. A very enjoyable evening.

Another milestone

My mother turned 95 on Monday. She's spending a couple of weeks in the country with my sister as my bro has had to pop into hospital for a minor procedure and won't be able to do her shopping or otherwise help out for a little while. I called today (after missing his call) and, while he's still in a some discomfort, everything seems to be going as expected.

I spoke to Mum on Monday and she sounds as if she's enjoying her little holiday; though she will certainly be glad to get back to her unit before too long.

Sunday was a bit weird as I didn't go to visit her. As it was very hot I went for a walk in Studley Park early before retiring to my cave for most of the day. B came round for pizza in the evening and we drank a quite reasonable cleanskin sparkling shiraz I had found at Coles on Saturday.

Rehearsals continue for concert one; and tomorrow, for those readers who read this blog at strange hours, there is a free lunchtime concert at Scots church in the city. We start at 1pm - don't be late.

More food talk

Sorry about the hiatus. Last week, after a very successful concert, I had lots of lovely time to myself plus a very nice meal at B's. DG joined us on Saturday morning at the farmers market at the children's farm after which B and I picked up Richard the station wagon (the lovely Phoebe being already booked) and set off for Brunswick.

We shopped at Mediterranean Wholesalers (some wonderful reggiano into the basket with all the other goodies) and Lamanna, for fruit and veg. P arrived back from BrisVegas on Saturday night and they all came around here for dinner on Sunday. I cooked the beef tagine again (thank you St Stephanie) and it was well received. As I only had one quince left I made an apple and quince crumble to finish with.

Last night was Gloriana rehearsal at Trinity chapel; our first run-through of the Durufle with organ went off surprisingly well, though we still have a lot of work to do on the rest of the program.

The other food-related Stephanie (she of Elegant Sufficiency) has kindly linked to this blog in her piece about her poached quince cake and said very nice things about my quince paste.

I still have an unwanted sofa sitting here, but all being well it will go out on Sunday night for the hard rubbish collection next week. Unless someone wants to take it off my hands ...

Flat profit

Rehearsals last night and this afternoon - last night with Graham and today with Marco and the orchestra (pity the poor tympanist). Overall everything seems to be going well; I suppose we'll find out in the morning.

But between both singing engagements I went to the Farmers Market with B (where I bought some yoghurt and feta) before catching the bus down to Elwood to act as moral support for the auction of D's flat. S&G were there as well as LH and DK (who I hadn't seen for ages) - in fact it was old home week really. We all stood around being the backdrop to the auction which went off very successfully - the flat brought $451,000!

Not surprisingly D is very happy (over the moon would be a better description). He had laid on a very tasty spread for lunch and others had brought French champagne, so it was a proper celebration.

Tonight D came around for dinner; I had made a vegetable soup/stew using up the rest of the chicken stock I made last weekend. We finished up with a slice each of some yummy chocolate cake D had brought to which I added the remaining slices of poached quince from last weekend.

Vale Régine Crespin

Régine Crespin, one of my most favourite sopranos, has died at the age of 80. She was truly a glorious singer and to my mind one of the greatest French singers of the twentieth century.

Not only did she excel in the French repertoire, including that of Poulenc, Ravel, Offenbach and Berlioz, she could knock your socks off in Wagner. She is a memorable Sieglinde on the landmark Solti Ring; the duet with James King at the end of act one of Die Walküre is breathtaking.

I will dig out my wonderful 3 CD EMI retrospective and remind myself of her gorgeous voice.

Bach down, on to Handel

This morning's B minor mass Credo went off very well. The soloists sang well, particularly the bass (well, really a baritone), though the alto was interesting too. The choruses were certainly better for me the second time through (we rehearse before the service) - it's always hard to get properly warmed up so early in the morning.

This afternoon SP came around to discuss details for his moving in next weekend. He's looking forward to it; he's currently staying in Carlton and after his sojourn here will be moving to Richmond.

Tonight was a delicious-as-usual roast pork dinner at P&B's while we watched the usual Sunday night fare.

This week is all work and singing. We rehearse with the orchestra tomorrow and record on Tuesday and Thursday. I'm really looking forward to it.

The last week has flown with rehearsals and work and German in the evenings and mostly work during the day.

The exception was Thursday, which I had off because I'm at work today (Saturday). I managed finally to catch up with DC - we've been trying for weeks but something kept going wrong. We strolled down to the Convent and had a pleasant lunch in the cafe. It was great to hear how he's enjoying his retirement - it gives me ideas.

This morning we shopped as usual and I came into town a little early to get a 1Gb compact flash card for the camera. I also popped into Discurio and found a DVD of Offenbach's La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein; it's from the Châtelet in Paris with Felicity Lott and Yann Beuron who I have in a very enjoyable Belle Hélène so I couldn't resist. Marc Minkowsky conducts. I hope I'm not disappointed.

Tomorrow we have an early start at St John's for the Credo of the B minor mass. I was a bit disappointed last night by the attitude of some of the young players in the orchestra who seemed mightly amused by the efforts of us in the choir. MvP was a bit scratchy too, but he's full of a nasty cold.

Lots to do

It's been a full week. On Monday we had a rehearsal for the Bach B minor mass at St John's; as Marco couldn't make it we had Graham L. It's a big sing (and we're only doing the Kyrie and Gloria) but very enjoyable. I've found that I remembered it quite well from the previous times I sang it.

Tuesday night I had off and entertained myself by making quince paste using a combination of my own and bought fruit. It turned out very nicely and has been given to selected friends who seem appreciative.

On Wednesday night P&B and DG and I went to dinner for DG's birthday. We went to the Terminus Hotel which we were alerted to by Abbotsford Blogger; the food was excellent, though I did find the 70s music slightly disturbing as I seemed to know every track.

Thursday evening I met up with members of my German class (including Dr D) at the Kino to see Das Leben der Anderen, a film about life in East Germany in the 1980s, concentrating on a writer who was being monitored by the STASI and the obsession of the STASI agent watching him. Fairly depressing, but ultimately quite moving. Having just read Anna Funder's Stasiland I found it very interesting to see another view of life in the eastern bloc before reunification.

Friday brought a rehearsal for a communion service on Saturday morning. We sang a recovered mass by Norman Kaye (written for the Canterbury Fellowship(?)) which was quite lovely. The service was, in the words of the woman priest officiating, not a "blessing of a same sex partnership". But if it wasn't that it certainly was a fair facsimile. The two involved restated the commitment they officially recorded last year in Inverness - and most of the congregation were dressed for a wedding. After that Tat and I had to rush off as we had three more hours of singing to look forward to at St John's rehearsing for this morning's Bach.

Last night AR came for dinner and at his request, to listen to Wagner and other associated music. We had a lovely time and I got to listen to some stuff I haven't heard for ages - great fun.

The B minor mass excerpts at this morning's service at St John's went off really well - this year's VCA orchestra is excellent and includes an outstanding oboist. The singers were mostly good, except for the bass who as well as inventing his own speed seemed to be singing from a score with different notes in. But I don't think any of the congregation noticed. The last chorus, Cum sancto spiritu, went like a rocket and I for one left the church on a buzz. A wonderful experience.