Intermezzo

Pappano's TV Ring

Rolando Villazón gave us The Genius of Verdi on BBC4 on Friday night.

Next week it's Wagner's turn, as Tony Pappano flits around Europe for the self-explanatory Pappano's Essential Ring Cycle at 7.30.

Don Carlo, Royal Opera House dreamteam style

Don Carlo - Royal Opera House, 4 May 2013

Jonas Kaufmann wasn't ill; Anja Harteros turned up. Given that she'd marked half her lines at the general rehearsal earlier in the week (every singer's prerogative of course, but rare here) I had wondered. If success is defined as exceeding expectations, then the opening night of this third revival was a winner even before a note was sung.

Sir Tony slams "don't care" cancellers

Antonio Pappano had a fierce word or three for singers who pull out of productions at today's Royal Opera House press conference. Reuters reports:

"It happens a lot," he told reporters, referring to cancellations. "It happens more and more. There's something about this generation of singers, that they are weaker in their bodies or don't care.

"I don't know what it is, but it's something that is very very frustrating for me personally."

Asked afterwards to expand on his remarks, he explained it was partly a health issue, with common colds tending to last longer than, say, 10 years ago.

"You can imagine singers. That's a real problem. And there's so much travelling involved now with good singing. I think that people are overbooked, they're over-committed, too many new things, the stress on them and the amount of PR."

"I mean (for Spanish tenor Placido) Domingo to cancel, (he) would have to be on his death bed. It's just a different generation.

"It's taken much more lightly today, the idea of contract, the idea of a commitment. It's true."

He called on opera stars to take longer rest periods between roles to cut down on the risk of illness and exhaustion.

Sir Tony scoops up ISM award

The Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM) today awarded its 2012 Distinguished Musician award to Sir Antonio Pappano in recognition of his outstanding contribution to musical life in the UK.  He joins a roster of some of the greatest names in music - previous recipients have included Dame Janet Baker, Pierre Boulez, Jacqueline du Pre, Sir William Walton, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Colin Davis and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies.

Suzi Digby OBE, President of the Incorporated Society of Musicians, said: ‘In offering Sir Antonio Pappano its Distinguished Musician Award for 2012, the ISM is acknowledging the immense contribution he has made and continues to make to the UK’s musical life.”

In the ISM's press release Sir Tony said: “When I perused the list of previous ISM Award recipients I gulped! To be included in such an illustrious pantheon is an honour. The Society does crucial work to keep classical music alive, well and relevant in this country, especially for young people, so I am very proud indeed to be associated with it” - sentiments he reiterated when he was presented with the treble clef-shaped award earlier this evening at the Royal Opera House.

He did have one question though: "Is there a bass-shaped one for bad musicians as well?"

Pappano says bollocks to the Met

More good tidings on what has turned out to be a heavy news day. Tony Pappano has definitively crushed the hopes of New Yorkers and reassured audiences at home.

Pappano said rumours he was set to replace James Levine at the helm of the Metropolitan Opera were "complete bollocks" reports Charlotte Higgins in today's Guardian.

52 bus gets a new conductor

Not all 52 buses end up at Victoria Station.

Antonio Pappano shares his Roman transport tips (and restaurant recs) with the Financial Times.

Curse of The Ring strikes Pappano - again

Five years almost to the day since his last Wagner-related injury, Antonio Pappano has once more been struck down by the Curse of The Ring.

The Royal Opera House report the maestro is suffering from "acute tendonitis in his right elbow" - aka tennis elbow - following a string of heavy-duty engagements including Otello, Les Troyens, several concerts with his Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, and of course The Ring. This means he has to pull out of the ROH revival of The Minotaur in the new year, to be replaced by Ryan Wigglesworth.

Coincidentally, Franz Welser-Möst recently suffered a similar affliction. He's now back on his podium. Perhaps they could get together and share tips? 

Then again, perhaps not.

Die Walkure I . Oops.

Die Walküre - Royal Opera House, 26 September 2012

Is unintentional humour the most authentic element of any modern Ring production? After all, 19th century Bayreuth audiences split their corsets guffawing at the sadly literal ‘special effects’ sanctioned by Wagner himself. Brünnhilde’s entrance in Wednesday’s Die Walküre continued the tradition.

Das Rheingold I - the journey begins

Das Rheingold - Royal Opera House, 24 September 2012

What a way to open the season. The Covent Garden Ring is back, reworked and repolished by its original director. Five years after its last showing, Keith Warner has scaled down some of the clutter and arcane symbolism in favour of a more character-driven approach. There are still suitcases that won’t open, ropes that won’t untie, tittersomely inept transformations and a resolutely-ignored dead giant on the patio. But the fumbles are fewer, and less distracting in the face of uniformly superb acting (and slightly less uniform singing).

Otello, eventually

Otello - Royal Opera House, 18 and 21 July 2012

The gentlemen of the Royal Opera House orchestra made the earth move for me more times than I can remember this week.  I couldn't see much from my stage-side seat. But I could certainly feel the massive opening drum roll thundering out beneath me, rattling my innards with its seismic power. Good job I hadn't eaten first.

Les Troyens, Royal Opera House - with photos

Les Troyens - Royal Opera House, 25 June 2012 (first night)

Covent Garden’s new production of this difficult opera falls short of an unblemished triumph, with a tendency to emphasise the work’s inherent weaknesses. But some high-quality singing and a couple of stunning coups de théâtre did much to compensate for a shortage of musical and visual coherence rooted in the score itself.

Thought it would be bigger than that

*SIR* Antonio Pappano poses with the small but perfectly formed medal he received from Prince Charles at his Investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace yesterday.

Who's Pappano's #1 fan?

It's his mom! As the little shrine in her Connecticut home proves. As she prepared to travel to London for Sir Antonio's investiture ceremony, she spoke to the local paper about his Bridgeport roots.

Figaro's back

Le nozze di Figaro - Royal Opera House, 14 February 2012 

Oops. David McVicar's finest production isn't as bulletproof as it once seemed. This time round, coarse revival direction and subpar casting have diminished its subtlety and psychological insight.

Pappano draws back curtain on future seasons

Król Roger, Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, Guillaume Tell, Manon Lescaut, Andrea Chénier and Cavalleria Rusticana / Pagliacci are a few of the operas we can expect to see at Covent Garden in future seasons.

The impeccable source? Sir Antonio Pappano, who clearly surprised interviewer Tom Service on Radio 3 by answering the standard upcoming productions question with actual names. You can listen to the full interview, which includes a tirade against 'petulant' singers who don't turn up, on the iPlayer.

Musica inglese

The Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia welcomed their Musical Director back last week with a jolly good bit of Elgar.

Personally I think he should be worried how well the orchestra play without him.....

Arise Sir Tony!

Congratulations to Classic Brit Antonio Pappano, who has been knighted in the New Year Honours List for services to Music.

Die Meistersinger at the Royal Opera House - with photos

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg - Royal Opera House, 19 December 2011 (first night)

The scene above is the most imaginative one in a production that otherwise sticks doggedly to the letter of the text.  As midsummer madness or Wahn grips the Nuremburgers at the end of Act II, the featureless walls are suddenly pocked with openings. Bodies froth out from high, low, and even above the stage. The boundaries are breached; the city can no longer contain the human activity within. It's subtler than it looks.

Il trittico at the Royal Opera House

Il trittico - Royal Opera House, 14 September 2011

How do you handle a death in the family? Try to blot it out in sex without love (Giorgetta in Il tabarro)? Seek solace in religion without faith (Suor Angelica)? Or do you just treat it as a business opportunity, money without scruples (Gianni Schicchi)?

Pappano takes a budget cut

The Royal Opera House's 2010 accounts are out. (A bit tardy, but that's accounts for you).

And just look who's saving the ROH a few quid. While CEO Tony Hall continues to extract over £390,000 a year for a job that leaves him enough time to chair an Olympics committee and float around the House of Lords, Tony Pappano has taken a pay cut.