Intermezzo

Andris Nelsons shows Birmingham his Wagner-power

CBSO / Nelsons / Irène Théorin - Symphony Hall Birmingham, 28 January 2009

Birmingham on a dull January afternoon earlier this week. Contrary to received wisdom it was both warmer and drier than London but despite that not exactly a cheering sight. Tucked away behind the tree at the back is Birmingham Symphony Hall.

One dodgy underpass later, et voilà:

The entrance is the mirrored bit on the right of the photo above. And inside - the world's longest programme queue:

The public areas may be a bit mall-like for comfort, but the hall itself is a mighty art deco spaceship of chrome and panelling. On the right and left of the organ are special acoustic chambers that are opened or closed depending on the music performed. For today's loud programme they were fully open:

It's the home of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, who recently appointed the phenomenal Andris Nelsons as their Music Director.  Nelsons is Bayreuth-bound this summer, and his first concert of 2009 with the CBSO promised a glimpse of his Wagnerian goodies.

The 2000+ hall was three quarters full - a pretty impressive achievement for a midweek afternoon. Mostly greysters, of course - who else has the time during the day? - though I did spot a few schoolboys and even an Ilan Volkov lookalike.

So Nelsons wasn't quite the youngest person in the house, but it was a close run thing. He began the show with a story. So overwhelming was his first operatic experience at the age of five that he wept and couldn't sleep all night. The opera was Tannhäuser, and he chose the Overture and Venusberg Music to open this concert.

Springing around the podium like a cat on bonfire night, his five year old self threatened to burst out from his tail suit, galvanising the orchestra to play with a passion and energy you just wouldn't believe was possible on a cold Birmingham afternoon. To say he's bonded with his orchestra would be the understatement of the century - these players were glued to his every glance.

But a great performance takes more than just enthusiasm, and his structuring was masterful. He conjured that sense of something beyond a self-contained concert piece, genuine 'bleeding chunks' hewn from a greater whole. It made me want to listen to the whole thing straight away.

Despite conducting from a pocket score that just would not stay open, he captured the essence of the Prelude from Tristan und Isolde, more introduction than summation, drifting with doomed inevitability into the Liebestod. Irène Théorin, majestic in shimmering black gown and bleached electro-Pob, sounded tentative, not quite in charge, and the orchestra supplied most of the rapture and poignancy.

But she convinced totally as Brünnhilde, with a scorching Immolation scene ending the second half's Götterdämmerung extracts. Nelsons amped up the power, and Théorin floated brightly and clearly over the orchestra, her top notes radiating brilliantly and thrillingly around the hall.

Worth the trip.

 

 

It's ov-ah:

 

Another dodgy underpass. In this one it's still Xmas:

 

six yards of fioriture and a top C pls

The Barbican has started selling tickets for the 2009-10 season. Top of the shopping list will be Cecilia Bartoli on 24 November 2009 and Juan Diego Flórez on 7 May 2010.

It sounds beyond bonkers to buy tickets for something nearly a year and a half away, but past experience suggests if you don't move soon on these two, you'll end up just another statistic in the returns queue.

Plenty of other stuff to look forward to without panic buying as well, including the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Vienna Phil, and the UK premiere of Hans Werner Henze's Phaedra from the Ensemble Modern.

Lying politician owns up - 35 years too late

Crossbench peer and former doctor Baroness Murphy has owned up to reporting a fictitious medical condition to the British Medical Journal way back in 1974. 

The condition - 'cello scrotum' - was claimed to result from contact between a cellist and his instrument.

Neither the Baroness - who has been "dining out" on the hoax for years - nor the BMJ - who think "it all adds to the gaiety of life" show any remorse for allowing the hoax to be pass uncorrected all this time.

Regular readers will know I am the first to titter at the flimsiest of schoolboy jokes, and the original claim is no exception (though, let's face it, if you substitute 'elbow' for 'scrotum', it's pretty lame).

But once she'd had her fun, Baroness Murphy should have owned up. Instead she allowed what was once a joke to turn into an outright lie, one that was perpetuated over 35 years and repeated time after time in medical circles. As she must have been well aware. How many cellists had sleepless nights as a result? How many beginners were discouraged from taking up the instrument?

Fortunately for Baroness Murphy and luckily for her ex-patients, she's ended up working in a place where sensitivity is a drawback and the ability to dissemble is prized.

Full story from the BBC here. The original letter is here.

 

Die tote Stadt dies a slow death at Covent Garden

Die tote Stadt - Royal Opera House, 27 January 2009

I'd been looking forward to this premiere. 90 years after it was written, 5 years after this particular production premiered in Salzburg (hay, even scenery-applauding San Francisco got there first), the Royal Opera House finally took the plunge and brought us Die tote Stadt for the very first time.

And though it wasn't a horrendous disaster - far from it - there were some major disappointments all round.

Firstly the production itself. Willy Decker's manic off-kilter dreamworld (rehearsal pics here) is immaculately realised. But  I saw this production in Vienna last year, and his bold surrealistic tableaux had far less impact the second time round. Once you know what to expect, the illusion of a waking dream where anything is possible starts to crumble. The images are still striking, but the whole is less convincing.

There were many good things about Ingo Metzmacher's conducting. The Royal Opera House orchestra were immaculately prepared, the sound light and translucent. The singers could be heard above the dense orchestration (not something that could be said about Philippe Auguin's Viennese efforts), details came across clearly, even quieter instruments like the celesta had room to breathe. Caesuras were brilliantly placed and literally breathtaking. The rare shards of modernism spiking the lush romanticism were shaped to shock.

But this music needs passion and abandon. It should teeter on the brink of over-the-topness. Without that, it sinks into slush with every tonal chord. And it seemed Ingo Metzmacher didn't believe in the music quite strongly enough to push that extra inch.

Not a charge you could level at Stephen Gould. Paul is on stage the whole time, mostly singing at the top of his range over a big orchestra. Not an easy part then, but he gave a committed and energetic performance, choppy at first, but vastly improved by the end.

And a big plus - he has an indefinable likeability that eludes most heldentenors. He's a big beefy guy with a voice to match - but  - it's big but time (heheh) - it's a voice that needs a sword in the hand to convince. For all its technical demands, Paul is a romantic role not a heroic one, and Stephen Gould never quite tugged on the heartstrings.

Nadja Michael, flinging her long limbs this way and that, certainly looked the glamorous part of Marie/Marietta, and in the comfortable centre of her range, her voice has the sort of steely power that removes limescale without scrubbing. But it's about as alluring as Harriet Harman however much her looks say otherwise - a less beguiling Glück, das mir verblieb is hard to imagine. Up top, where much of the role sits, she thins out and slips below the the note in a truly excruciating fashion, and for bonus ouch points, she has a couple of scarily blokey Amanda Lear notes at the bottom.

Step forward saviour of the evening, Gerald Finley, whose Frank/Fritz was quite perfect in every way. Noble as Frank, admirably deranged as Fritz, he provided a much-needed dose of humanity. And although Brigitta is not a large part, Kathleen Wilkinson made it her own with her endearingly fussy solicitude.

It was a surprise to see a near-full house - Covent Garden audiences are usually wary of anything new - but the muted applause said it all. An opportunity missed.

 

        

 

O my Wiener - around Vienna's opera house

Vienna is stuffed fatter than an apple strudel with opera and opera houses. The daddy is the Wiener Staatsoper, usually referred to - as if it's the only house in town - as the Vienna Opera House. It even has an operatic address - 2 Opera Ring (Opernring).

It sticks mostly to uncontroversial productions of core repertoire - the big Wagner, Verdi, Puccini, Mozart, etc - leaving lighter froth to the Volksoper, and the very old, very new or experimental productions to the Wiener Kammeroper and Theater an der Wien.

Musical standards are generally very high as the orchestra is the training ground and second job for members of the Vienna Philharmonic. Much turns on how much they like the conductor though. Productions vary in quality, tending towards the traditional - the tourist market is the financial backbone of the house. Criticism is sometimes (fairly) directed at the apparent skimping on rehearsals.

It's safest and cheapest to buy tickets in advance. Non-subscription sales start exactly one month before the date of each performance.  You can either book online directly from this date, or submit an advance request beforehand and allow the ticket office to allocate your seats (my preferred method for hot artists and new productions, which can sell out the instant they go online). If a production is sold out, you can go on a waiting list for returns - these don't reappear for direct online sale, so it's not worth re-checking the website as you might for Covent Garden.

Once you're in Vienna, resale tickets can be bought in person (at a premium) from the official ticket office and other agents, mostly in Opernring and Augustinerstrasse. They stick the actual tickets to the window, like the ads in your local newsagent, so you can see at a glance exactly what's available. Cheaper but riskier is to wait for individuals selling their unwanted tickets outside the opera house just before the performance.

Over 500 standing places are available at €3 - €4. Some of these are sold to subscribers at the start of the season, and the rest are only available in person on the day of performance - details are on the website.  The best standing places are at the rear of the central Parterre (the yellow box near the centre of the picture below), and these get snapped up first. The others are on upper levels and can have poor views. Subscriber standing places are sometimes resold at the ticket agencies mentioned above, with a hefty fee on top - but at least this avoids the queues for day places, which can stretch to several hours for a good place and a popular performance.

*****flip the page for more info and LOTS more photos****

Korn Porn

The nation's press celebrate the premiere of Korngold's Die Tote Stadt at the Royal Opera House tomorrow night with a veritable tidal wave of articles on the man and his music. Making up for lost time?

Neil Fisher in the Times and Jessica Duchen in the Independent contribute overviews of Korngold's career.

Norman Lebrecht provides the Evening Standard with his usual blend of fact, fiction and everything in between.

Ivan Hewett in the Daily Telegraph bravely finds the composer "endearing but somewhat self indulgent" - a criticism enraged Korngoldistas force him to defend in a second piece.

And there are interviews with all three principals online.

Classical Source talk to tenor Stephen Gould, who paid his early dues not with endless Taminos, but touring in Phantom of the Opera.

MusicOMH interview Nadja Michael, who will be wearing nearly the zack same frock she did for her last Covent Garden appearance, as Salome. Ooh, look, they've saved on the wig too.

2009 will be the Year Of Gerald Finley - Musical Criticism get the lowdown on his many activities this season. 

Finally there's always the Korngold Society and their comprehensive and regularly-updated website.

all rehearsal photos: Royal Opera House

Buggered Up Beggar's Opera

The Beggar's Opera - Royal Opera House Linbury Studio, 22 January 2009

After some harsh first night reviews for The Beggar's Opera, I was prepared for the worst. Some went so far as to say the ROH should have chosen a different arrangement of John Gay's 1729 words in place of Britten's. And it does seem the show's problems rest as much with the source material as with this new production by Justin Way. No surprise that it's one of Britten's least-performed works. But as the latest episode in the ROH's one-a-year slog through the entire Britten operatic opus, it had to be tackled sometime.

The question is why they stuck so reverentially to the original 1948 performing version. The issue is not the music itself. Britten's arrangements of the tunes (all that remains of the original 18th century songs) are spare and lively if not quite dripping with invention. They don't need changing in any way, and Christian Curnyn presented them ably enough from the pit.

The problems start when the music stops. There's just too much chat between songs.  Partly Gay's original, partly added in 1948 by the producer of the first performances, it dates and clutters the opera, adding little in dramatic or structural terms. The performers here didn't stand a chance, but even Ian McKellen would have had his work cut out with these lines. Savage pruning would have been perfectly justified. Or why not even a re-write? We accept the loosest of translations for foreign operas - why not do the same for an English one? That's why Brecht and Weill's more drastic reinvention of the original, Die Dreigroschenoper, works over and over again. They scrubbed the slate clean and created not just an arrangement or a German version, but a complete adaptation, one that speaks to the audiences of our day just as it did to theirs.

The production never quite clears the hurdles that the raw material imposes. With a mock-up of Covent Garden's main house seating on stage, the implication is that we the viewers are behind the velvet curtain, watching the 'audience'. It's adeptly done, but why?  Ditto the barely-signalled near-future setting, which, the fashion police will observe, is costumed more like 2004 (fake Juicy suits? pls...). It's striving for happeningness, but fundamentally it's straight alt.Opera, nothing more than a fresh coat of paint. Plenty of ideas but not enough discipline or focus.

At least the individual performers emerged with some credit - when they weren't chewing through ye olde dialogue anyway. The singers managed better with the speech than the one actor on stage, Sirena Tocco's omnipresent (why?) Beggar. Never was a name (it means 'siren touch' in Italian) less apt. Dressed for some obscure reason as a ROH usher she muttered her lines incomprehensibly and generally looked embarrassed to be there.

Tom Randle's suave Macheath was got up as that old Miami Vicer Roberto Alagna - given the original work's intention to puncture the egos of the 18th century's most prominent opera stars, I'm not certain this is entirely coincidental. Fortunately we were spared the accompanying Angelaness, though we did get a brothel full of assorted tarts in Soho's finest secks-wear.

Jeremy White as Peachum and Donald Maxwell as Lockit gave the dialogue some Chas'n'Dave gorblimey humour, and Susan Bickley made Mrs Peachum a convincing Walford matriarch - though it was odd to hear them revert to conservatory-trained RP for the singing. But it was Frances McCafferty's brief appearance as Mrs Trapes, a Beryl Cook-shaped Scot, that nearly stole the show. 

   

 

 

  

Streaming Hot

Yet another website seeks its fortune broadcasting classical music online.

www.classicaltv.com is to offer PPV operas from the Bolshoi, Mariinsky, Met, Zurich Opera, Paris Opera and others, according to BBC news. The price is a hefty $9.99, but there'll be some free stuff on the site as well. 

The site launches on 2 February with ENO's La Bohème, which is also broadcast live on Sky Arts TV. 

It joins a growing number of providers, including www.medici.tv, one of the few who provide a significant amount of free content. Medici's next free concert is tomorrow, 24 January, at 8pm (or 7pm UK), when Vladimir Jurowski conducts the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Hélène Grimaud live from Paris.

But halp! I hear you say, my cheap nasty laptop has dodgy sound and a rubbish picture, what's the point of watching a concert on that? Well, there are ways round that problem. You might try viewing through your TV, by connecting it to your puter. You will need a lead to join the two - an S-VHS (puter) to Scart (TV) with audio Y does the biz for me. There is further fiddling involved - if you don't know a geek, then Google is your friend. If your TV is as lousy as your computer, or the quality of the streaming is low, of course you're stuffed regardless. But it's worth a try.

Zurich - Opera House and more

Den Musen ein Heim, der Kunst eine Stätte (a home for the muses, a place for art) - the motto of Zürich Opera House, engraved above the entrance

Zürich has one of the teeniest of the main European opera houses - just 1100 seats. Musical and production standards are high, as are ticket prices, but even the cheapest seats (about £25) have reasonable sound and views.

Seats can be easily booked online, and few productions seem to sell out ages in advance. There are even a few seats left for Anna Netrebko in La Traviata in April at the time of writing.

The opera house is only about 20 minutes from the airport by taxi, or about double that by train (to Stadelhofen via the Hauptbahnhof), so it's possible to fly in on a Sunday morning, catch the matinee, and return to London on the 20.25 Swiss or 21.25 Easyjet after a swift supper. Booking well ahead, this can, astonishingly, be done all-in for less than a top price seat at Covent Garden. Who said Switzerland was expensive? 

More information and lots of photos over teh page................

Lucy Crowe wins Barbican Baroqueathon

Les Musiciens du Louvre / Minkowski - Barbican, 18 January 2009

Marc Minkowski brought his Musiciens du Louvre to the Barbican on Sunday night  to celebrate St Cecilia, patron saint of music and itchy underwear, in the form of choral works by three 2009 anniversarians. Handel set Dryden's Ode for St Cecilia's Day and Purcell a knockoff by Nicholas Brady. Haydn squeezes in on a technicality; his Missa Cellensis acquired the name Missa Sanctae Caeciliae some time after composition.

The Olympian scale endurance event sprawled over nearly four hours of Sunday evening - something the Barbican omitted to mention in advance, or even in the programme as they usually do. For baroque opera regulars, it was a breeze, but not everyone lasted the course. Purcell alone was enough to empty a few seats, and the press pack were amongst the late casualties who skipped the extended encore.

I'm generally not that keen on Purcell, but Hail Bright Cecilia shows him at his most inventive, with the 'warbling lute' , the 'am'rous flute' and all the other instruments descriptively scored. Minkowski's band played vibrantly - he's no historical authoritarian.

There was some immaculate solo singing, particularly from tenor Anders Dahlin - a true haute-contre - and the peaches and cream soprano of Lucy Crowe, fairy-like in a glittering duck egg blue mermaid gown. A couple of the soloists, countertenor David Bates and bass-baritone Neil Baker, were drawn from the choir, and their excellent performances were indicative of the high choral standard overall. The only complaint is that what seemed a deliberate attempt not to over-enunciate consonants made porridge of some of the text.

A haunting solo cello introduction set the tone for some fearless and spirited Handel. As with Purcell, the text inspires some vivid writing. Richard Croft relished the military insistence of the double, double, double beat in The trumpet's loud clangour. Lucy Crowe held the whole house in pindrop silence with the poised and plangent The soft complaining flute.

There was only time for the Kyrie and Gloria of Haydn's mass on the programme, though no doubt Minkowski would happily have given us the whole lot. Written just seven years after Handel's death, it seems a lifetime apart in its assured classicism, and Minkowski subtly but decisively switched gears to highlight this. There was not a hint of fatigue from him or from any of the performers.

Interrupting the applause to offer 'the best' of the remaining parts, he launched into a twenty minute chunk of the Credo. The stately and thinly-scored Et incarnatus est for tenor solo turned out to be Richard Croft's finest moment of the night.

The concert was recorded for broadcast on Radio 3 on 21 January - though with only 2 1/4 hours scheduled something will have to give.

**UPDATE** - the Haydn will be broadcast separately on Radio 3 Sat 24th Jan, at 7.45pm (thx Graeme at the BBC for that information).

And Lucy Crowe has a solo recital at Wigmore Hall on 22 February.

Lang Lang tickles ur ivories for £0

In conjunction with the Lang Lang mini-season at the Barbican in April, there are three *free* - yes **free** - Langular happenings at St Lukes.

The first two events are on 18 April. In the morning, Lang Lang leads a workshop for 100 pianists. In the afternoon, he teaches a masterclass for Guildhall students.

On 24 April, he's interviewed by LSO violinist David Alberman, and will, we are promised, reveal "what it's like to be a global musical phenomenon."

This conversation will also be streamed live over the internet on lso.co.uk/langlang.

Click the links above for ticket details and remember - they'll go fast.

Anna Netrebko beats Vladimir Putin in Russian election

Here's the painting that Anna Netrebko produced for a Russian charity auction. Entitled Celebrant, it's one of 28 contributed by various Russian slebs.

Before you gasp at her hitherto-concealed talents, it's worth pointing out that the organiser's website notes that, like Vladimir Putin's contribution, it was created 'in collaboration' with artist Nadezhda Anfalova.

You can vote for your favourite painting of the 28 here. La Netrebka - Анна Нетребко in Russian - is second from the bottom. The grey button on the bottom left places the vote and takes you to the results screen - where currently Anna is just edging out Putin in the poll.

Vote early! Vote now! Vote often!

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UPDATE - 19 January - Anna is soaring to victory with more than 50% of the votes cast so far! Vladimir Putin - for once on the wrong side of a rigged election - trails far behind in a miserable fourth place.

You can vote as often as you like providing you wipe your cookies or reboot between each vote. Again, the link is here.

Spring season at the Royal Opera House

The Royal Opera House's spring season starts in March. Booking is already open for Friends of the ROH; mere punters can join the online queues on 3 February.

First up is Bellini's version of the Romeo and Juliet story, I Capuleti e i Montecchi. I haven't seen this production, but it premiered in 1984, so I'm betting on more crinolines than underpants. The big draw is the casting of Anna Netrebko and Elina Garanca. The ROH have cunningly scheduled around la Netrebka's inevitable sick leave by placing performance dates at the beginning and end of March, with a big recovery break in between.

Netrebko and Garanca perform Crudel, d'onor ragioni in Vienna:

The fabulous Mark Elder conducts, and also opens one of his orchestral rehearsals to public scrutiny on 14 February - highly recommended.

The pairing of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas with Handel's Acis and Galatea is not just a celebration of both composers in their anniversary year - it's also the first ever co-production of the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet. Both are directed by Wayne McGregor - a bold choice, as music generally seems more an afterthought than a creative basis for his choreography. But we shall see. More ROH debutants in the cast, which includes Sarah Connolly, Lucy Crowe, Iestyn Davies and Danielle de Niese.

The Alagna circus rolls into town for Elijah Moshinsky's brutally trad production of Il trovatore.  Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Sondra Radvanovsky  provide the vocal backbone.  Opera's own Don Johnson is also interrogated 'In Conversation' for anyone lucky enough to snag a ticket. Will Mrs A come and cheer him along from the stalls? Unlike Anna Netrebko, she's far too grand for the cheap seats

More Moshinsky with his ancient but unfussy Lohengrin, conducted by Semyon Bychkov. Man-mountain Johan Botha shares the title role with the merely stout Simon O'Neill - both are worth catching. The reliable Petra Lang and Falk Struckmann are Ortrud and Telramund, but perhaps the most interesting casting is Edith Haller, barely out of music college but already a Bayreuth veteran. She replaces the previously-advertised Anne Schwanewilms as Elsa.

Last year's hay-strewn Laurent Pelly L'elisir d'amore is speedily revived, this time with Diana Damrau and Giuseppe Filianoti.

Finally, there's a special performance of Verdi's Requiem conducted by Pappano on 13 March - soloists are Barbara Frittoli, Olga Borodina, Piotr Beczala and Ildar Abdrazakov. Be warned tickets will go quickly for this one.

Berlin Philharmonic take a stand

Here's something I hadn't noticed before. Check out those three words tucked away at the bottom right hand corner of every page on the Berlin Philharmonic's web site.

It's a direct link to Netz gegen Nazis - Net against Nazis - an online project aimed at combating right-wing extremism. Initiated by die Zeit newspaper and supported by various partners in Germany including football organisations and TV channels, it offers advice on keeping the extremists' views out of everyday life - 'not to agitate but to inform'.

It's still some distance from Barenboim-style direct engagement with the issues of the day. But at least the Berlin Phil are leading the way for other orchestras to consider using their website for something more important than tickets and t-shirts.

Thomas Quasthoff's Creation at the Barbican

Die Schöpfung - Freiburger Barockorchester / Jacobs - Barbican, 10 January 2009

Despite some scrappy playing here and there, and some downright weird directorial interventions - tinkly salon-style fortepiano interludes, anyone? - the Freiburg Baroque's performance of Haydn's Creation under René Jacobs was rescued by its compelling warmth and joie de vivre. This was largely down to the star soloist, Thomas Quasthoff, whose choice of programme it was.

His voice may lack those dark treacly depths but he knows how to reach out and draw an audience in. Though the vocal parts here have names, the characterisation is embedded more in the text. Quasthoff delivered every word with consideration. The menagerie of of the sixth day was evinced with especial relish, ending with a truly subterranean worm buried deep beneath the stave. 

The other soloists couldn't match his exuberance, but they coped ably with their parts, and their restraint provided a fitting counterbalance. Julia Kleiter sang sweetly and clearly, even though the acreage of la Ceci-style embellishment prescribed by Jacobs threatened to overwhelm her resources at times. Maximilian Schmitt started brilliantly, and though he lost focus a bit towards the end, he sang with poise and clarity, and his straightforward sincerity was affecting.

The decision to split the RIAS-Kammerchor into two wings, sopranos and tenors to one side, altos and basses to the other, was not entirely successful from the perspective of those of us not sitting dead-centre in the hall. I was only a few seats away from the centre, but the balance was terrible, entirely weighted to the closest wing, so I can only imagine what the people at the very sides heard. The Barbican acoustics are not kind to such experiments.

But the choir lived up to their reputation as one of the best, with a fantastically well-drilled performance. And what a pleasure to hear the German sung by natives, so uniformly articulated that it could be followed easily without the programme to hand.

The orchestral machine was less well-oiled - intonation, ensemble, balance - all went out of the window at some point or other. But zippy pace and spunky playing enlivened Jacobs's rococo confection, and though I'm no fan of period performance for its own sake, here the details - the lively gut strings, the velvety wood flute, the peremptory rattle of the hard sticks on the timpani - lent such freshness and character that the niggles could be overlooked.

 

 

  

LPO miss Mark

London Philharmonic Orchestra / Mark Elder / Alice Coote / Paul Nilon - Wigmore Hall, 9 January 2009

What's the point of a conductor? This recital, so tempting on paper, proved that even with a chamber-sized ensemble, a stick-waver is not dispensable.

Thirteen members of the LPO squeezed on to the bijou Wigmore stage and attempted to steer themselves through the tricky waters of Wagner's Siegfried Idyll without a guide, and at a guess, without a lot of rehearsal.  There were numerous glaring slips of ensemble. Balance was non-existent, winds massively overweighted. Tempo or dynamics were cautiously unvarying - monotony spared us the otherwise inevitable chaos. The musicians looked relieved just to reach the end. I certainly was.

It was a different story when Mark Elder picked up the baton for Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde. There was even less room on the platform now, and musicians spilled out behind through the doorways. But at least they were playing together, more focussed yet paradoxically more relaxed. Even the intonation was for some reason more accurate.

But the Wigmore Hall acoustics are not kind to such massive forces, however closely reined. They treat every instrument and every voice democratically. To a string quartet, it's a miracle that magically makes them sing with one voice. For Paul Nilon and Alice Coote it was a disaster. Despite heroic efforts, they were frequently inaudible, not riding the band, but joining it.

Paul Nilon's ringing tenor was abandoned in every possible sense in the lurching waltz of the opening drinking song. The looped and intertwined instrumental lines sprang out with crystal clarity; the tenor sank slowly to the bottom of the glass.

Alice Coote fared a little better. At least the mezzo is allotted some of the more thinly-orchestrated passages, so she could shine through without force. She brought delicacy and exuberance in turn to Von der Schönheit, and with her unique gift for inhabiting even the silence, caught the disquieting change in atmosphere that occurs at the end of the song - without singing a note. Perhaps you had to be there. Nostalgia and yearning were joined in Der Abschied, her exquisitely poised farewell.

I suspect only age and infirmity prevented the capacity audience from rising to their feet at the end. I haven't heard many ovations that loud or prolonged at the Wigmore for a while. But while you couldn't fault the effort, or dispute the Wigmore audience's sentimental adoration of Coote and Elder (based on a history of solid performances) what this performance really proved is that if the performers don't fit the platform, the sound doesn't fit the hall. Oh, and a conductor is not a luxury.

Daniel Barenboim sticks it to the States

In between rehearsals for tomorrow's West-Eastern Divan Orchestra concerts at Berlin Staatsoper, Daniel Barenboim found time earlier today for a press conference, where he described the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as 'local' and criticised the US and Iran for sticking their noses in.

On a musical note, some rehearsal photos below.

Hanno Muller-Brachmann and Andras Schiff at Wigmore Hall

Hanno Müller-Brachmann / András Schiff - Wigmore Hall, 8 January 2008

Schubert Willkommen und Abschied; Versunken;
An Schwager Kronos; Meeres Stille; Prometheus
Mendelssohn Variations sérieuses in D minor Op. 54
Busoni 5 Goethe Lieder
Wolf 3 Michelangelo Lieder
Brahms Four Serious Songs

Encores: Schubert Der Musensohn   Brahms Wiegenlied

How do you fill the house for a Wigmore Hall debut by a little-known singer? Simple. Hanno Müller-Brachmann may not be a big name, but András Schiff doesn't share the stage with just any old singer. Result - a capacity crowd.

Some may have been aware of Müller-Brachmann from his frequent and highly-acclaimed appearances in his native Germany - though I suspect many were simply curious about this seeming unknown who nevertheless bears the Schiff stamp of approval.

But judging by some of the disparaging comments I heard in the interval, not to mention the number of glaringly empty seats for the second half, a fair few were disappointed. 

For like Fischer-Dieskau before him, Hanno Müller-Brachmann is not afraid to chop up a musical line or two in service of the text. The result, from a purely sonic perspective, can be forceful and disjointed. Not at all pretty.

Schubert suffered but Goethe gained from Müller-Brachmann's almost conversational delivery. The tunes were rendered unwhistleable but the diction was immaculate, each syllable precisely weighted, each word considered. Even the languorous line of Meeres Stille was translated into a deliberate and disturbing recitative. An Schwager Kronos galloped; Prometheus thundered. Schiff took something of a back seat, his usual tendency to pick out and accentuate inner voices nowhere apparent. Here his contribution was muted, faster passages often lightly smudged, cushioning the vocal line rather than framing it with precision.

The Busoni selection - more Goethe - showed a a genuine comic sensibility, without resort to any silly effects.

The second half's Wolf and Brahms displayed a few chinks in Müller-Brachmann's armour, with their greater demand for smoothness of line. A slight wavering on held notes and a dry tone lacking in true luxuriance were the main drawbacks, though his lowest bass notes were admirably rich and chocolatey.

The programme was put together by Schiff, and his immaculately-constructed reading of Mendelssohn’s Variations sérieuses punctuated the first half. A little something for those unconvinced by Müller-Brachmann.

Big voice - Big talent - Big a$$

India Knight has some harsh truths to share in today's Sunday Times on the subject of Fatties in Opera.

Jennifer Wilson as Turandot in Houston It seems she caught the heavyweight second cast of Turandot at the Royal Opera House (Jennifer Wilson, Johan Botha and Latonia Moore), not the slimline Iréne Theorin/José Cura/Svetla Vassileva option that the critics reviewed.

As a triumphant ex-fatty herself (with a successful diet book in the piggy bank) and moreover paying full whack (£180!) for her ticket, she was aggrieved at the mountains of flesh on display:

"Air India has sacked some of its cabin staff for being too fat. The company is brilliantly unapologetic about it, pointing out that the fatties had been told to eat a bit less, or else, and had been given time to mend their ways. They chose not to, so they were fired.

Johan Botha as Calaf at the Met I went to see Turandot at Covent Garden on Monday and was startled to find the three leads must have weighed 100 stone between them. They weren’t just opera fat; they were morbidly obese. Fair enough, you might think. I disagree.

I began to find myself intensely annoyed by being asked to believe in the devastating beauty of Turandot, who looked like an egg in a wig. There were some City types behind us. “I wouldn’t risk death for her,” one said, to wild guffaws from his friends.

Calaf, meanwhile, was the fattest opera singer I’ve ever seen, a sort of anatomical curiosity. The exquisite slave girl, Liu, must have been a size 26. I’ve been a size 24 myself, so I have some sympathy, but not much.

Opera is among the most visual of mediums – the whole point is the combination of music and spectacle. People can suspend disbelief only so far. As it happens, the amazingly fat man had an amazingly beautiful voice, as did the amazingly fat slave girl. But it wasn’t enough, especially at £180 a ticket (birthday present). The Royal Opera House should take a leaf out of Air India’s book; I don’t think it would have many complaints."

And why not? In a concert performance, or a recital, size is simply irrelevant. We go there to listen to musical expression by purely vocal means. But staged opera is different. It's sung drama. It needs dramatic credibility. That doesn't mean Netrebko/Villazón-skinny - we love our big-boned Wagnerians, and who could deny the gorgeousness of Eva-Maria Westbroek? It's just about staying on the right side of morbid obesity. You might think the health risk alone would encourage singers to watch their weight - but it seems not.  

What's on in London - January edition

As the London concert scene awakes from its festive slumber, evenings are once more full of Things To Go To. Here is a selection of what's happening in January

There are two premieres at the Royal Opera House. Willy Decker's much-travelled Die tote Stadt, which I caught last year in Vienna, opens on 27 January 2009. Still plenty of tickets left - be warned that the mise en abîme staging is largely performed in a kind of box upstage, and may not be fully visible from some side seats. 

This year's annual Britten production is The Beggar’s Opera, in the Linbury Studio from 20 January. The cast includes Tom Randle and Susan Bickley; Christian Curnyn conducts.  It's currently sold out, though as ever, seats may 'appear' later. Avoid side seats towards the front, where the sound is abysmal.

In an appealing ballet triple bill, the separated-at-birth Martha Wainwright and Zenaida Yanowsky return from 31 January for Kurt Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins. Mats Ek’s Carmen and Christopher Wheeldon’s frenetic DGV, set to Michael Nyman's music, complete an evening that should attract music lovers as well as ballet fans.

The English National Opera's January is yet another month of ballet, but Nicholas Hytner's enduring Magic Flute returns on 24 January with Roderick Williams as Papageno and Robert Lloyd as Sarastro.

The Barbican's year sets off to a cracking start. One of the early highlights is Haydn's Creation with Thomas Quasthoff and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra conducted by René Jacobs on 10 January.

Sir Colin Davis conducts the LSO in Verdi's Requiem on 11 and 14 January, with soloists Christine Brewer, Larissa Diadkova, Stuart Neill and John Relyea. (There's another opportunity to hear it at the Royal Opera House on 13 March, this time with Pappano conducting.)

Lock up your grannies on 17 January - the BBC Symphony Orchestra celebrate the genius of Stockhausen with a whole Stockhausen day - a 12 hour programme of films, talks and concerts.

On 27 and 29 January Valery Gergiev conducts the LSO in Stravinsky's Rite of Spring and Bartók's Duke Bluebeard's Castle, with Katarina Dalayman and Willard White. The double date suggests a recording is planned.

Gergiev cools his heels in London for a few more days to conduct the visiting Mariinsky Theatre in three performances from 30 January.  Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades,  Rubinstein's  The Demon and Smelkov's new The Brothers Karamazov are on the menu - here's a video of the latter, which premiered in Russia last year.

Over at the Royal Festival Hall, on 24 January Mark Elder conducts the LPO in a bill which includes a couple of intriguing rarities -  Martinu's The Frescoes of Piero della Francesca and Strauss's Symphonia domestica  - alongside Mendelssohn's more familiar Violin Concerto. Listen to the Martinu on the LPO's site.

On 27 January Rachel Podger joins the OAE in the Queen Elizabeth Hall for bill of Bach and Telemann. But skip that for the 10pm bargain Night Shift concert, which repeats some of the earlier programme and adds a few extras on top - tickets £8, drinks allowed, and a more laid-back atmosphere all round.

At Wigmore Hall, tomorrow, 9 January, Alice Coote and Paul Nilon tackle Mahler with Mark Elder. For spring, there's a focus on vocal music, and 11 January sees the first of a series of Sunday 4pm concerts featuring young British-based singers, all at a bargain £12 price. This one has Anna Grevelius, Anna Leese, Andrew Staples and Jacques Imbrailo. Emma Bell and Lucy Crowe appear later on in the series