Tout de ci, de là sur une seule page… une #startpage !

https://decidela.start.page

Bienvenue à bord !

Last night, I forgot to post these… #OperaLabInDaHouse Giulio Cesare, Handel @liceu (brilliant Sesto by Helen Chariston)

The link in the first post is 🆓, while this #medium one is for paying members only. Same #NoVisa — A Life in #India story, your choice!

https://medium.com/@gillesdenizot/novisa-a-life-in-india-6-f094ed3f92ac

#photography #Fotovorschlag 'Hätte ich doch ein Tele gehabt ...' Bayerische Staatsoper München

🆕 #NoVisa — A Life in India 6

It was in March 2012. Everyone at the KM Music Conservatory Chennai was buzzing as the final exams period was drawing nearer… #NoVisa — A Life in #India 6 © 2025 Gilles Denizot

https://gillesdenizot.space/2025/05/22/novisa-a-life-in-india-6/

"An opera that does not turn away from trauma but instead asks whether art can help us live with it, whether it can offer a space where the past can be confronted rather than erased."

https://operawire.com/stream-the-most-important-new-opera-of-the-year-for-free-editorial/

@tmalesys @liceu Indeed, she was great, but let’s keep watching the tenor Xabier Anduaga… a young Carreras, terrific! Here’s the full cast:

#OperaLabInDaHouse La Sonnambula, Bellini @liceu

«Palet va rebre classes de cant del mestre Paredes, tot i que aquest volia convertir-lo en baríton. Palet, convençut de la seva veu de tenor, va buscar altres oportunitats…»

#DéjàVu

Pierre Audi, visionary opera director and festival leader, dies at 67

https://moto-perpetuo.com/pierre-audi-dies-at-67/

Al número 131 de la rambla de Canaletes, on abans hi havia el Colmado Pelayo, va començar la història d’un dels grans tenors catalans: Josep Palet… #opera @liceu

https://beteve.cat/va-passar-aqui/josep-palet-tenor-colmado-liceu/

I'm not the world' biggest fan of opera, but this one is really good, especially as I'd never heard of it before I read 'The Rest is Noise':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA-LLi7YZZE&t=3908s

#opera #music #mussorgsky

The Overture to Tristan Und Isolde is the most erotic piece of music ever.
Do Not Discuss.

Sir Antonio Pappano: Wagner - Tristan und Isolde, 'Overture'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74qIpcKppOw

#ThrowbackThursday ♻️ A Life in #India 3

"There you go: means, motive, and opportunity.

Namaste."

https://gillesdenizot.medium.com/novisa-a-life-in-india-3-240733a4f6ba

#ThrowbackThursday ♻️ A Life in #India 2

A confrontation and the shadows it leaves. How one pushes another who, maybe, pushes too. Who shall win? There shall be no winners. No real ones, none in the long term.

https://gillesdenizot.medium.com/novisa-a-life-in-india-2012-01-i-49b62021fed7

#ThrowbackThursday ♻️ Allow me to begin this series with the first photograph I took in #India.

It was in November 2011, the monsoon was drenching the land (but I have always loved the monsoon, I had just arrived in #Chennai, how special it felt).

https://gillesdenizot.medium.com/novisa-a-life-in-india-2011-11-482412ef0ebe

La Stemme was received like a queen by the NY audience and boy, she delivered.
If the first part of the recital was beautiful (Elgar and Weill) and showed that the diva is very much in control, she brought the house down with the Wesendonck lieder and the Liebestod!
#diva

For English-speaking readers of this journal, the story 'Wanderings… Shady areas' is now available on my #Medium account (among many others).

https://gillesdenizot.medium.com/wanderings-shady-areas-b5b280ff37df

Read and share!

Here is another opera review, this time with a twist. I already know the results and have grouped them accordingly. In this case, it's those who have no business singing this and those who sing it perfectly. Make no mistake. Everyone here has a beautiful voice. But not every voice type can, or should, sing everything.

Let's start with those who should not sing this aria.

Louis Graveure E lucevan le stelle

youtube.com/watch?v=rH-B7ftmBX…

As I have said in other reviews, the story of Louis Graveure is quite amazing. He came to Clara Novello Davies unable to sing at all, with extreme congestion. Caruso's own doctor recommended him to her, knowing that she helped with breathing exercises. After years of study, he became a phenomenal baritone. However, at some point, he deliberately changed into a tenor. While he has a very powerful voice, I could hear him struggling several times. At the very least, his voice made noises that it shouldn't have and it detracted from the performance. He was far better off as a baritone, but he is still good when he sings less demanding tenor roles.

Puccini: Tosca / Act 3: "E lucevan le stelle" Léopold Simoneau

youtube.com/watch?v=xYOqImv1PI…

When I read this, I burst out laughing. Simoneau has the sweetest voice I have ever heard from anyone, and he has no chest voice, which is not a bad thing, but it doesn't work here. His Mozart pieces are lovely, though.

Tito Schipa - E lucevan le stelle (1913)

youtube.com/watch?v=UD6tQ6wpqk…

It is no secret that I consider Tito Schipa to be the best singer in the world. I adore his voice. But I am eternally grateful that he stopped singing such things within a few years after this recording, though there is one from 1915 and another from 1919. This, from 1913, is one of his earliest records. It's not that he couldn't sing the aria well. In fact, he sang it so well that the conductor, during one of his performances of it, begged him personally for an encore! It's that had he continued in these heavy roles, they would have completely destroyed his voice. Those who know his incredible mezza voce and general control know exactly what I mean.

Ferruccio Tagliavini ＂E lucevan le stelle＂ Tosca

youtube.com/watch?v=8RuKd4hld6…

Ferruccio Tagliavini had such a beautiful voice when younger that he could almost have equalled Schipa himself. But by this point, it was already changing, precisely due to singing roles such as this. Fortunately, he was able to adjust, but there is something to say for the phrase "you can never go home again". If you hear him in a lighter song, such as Una Furtiva Lagrima, in the 1940's and then in the late 1950's or 1960's, there is a huge difference. All the sweetness is gone in the later ones. Schipa's versions of it are beautiful from the 1920's straight to 1962, with only a few signs of age showing. As for this aria, Tagliavini does perform it well, but it's still a cautionary tale.

Now, we get to those who should be singing this sort of thing.

Enrico Caruso - E lucevan le stelle (Zonophone, April 19, 1903)

youtube.com/watch?v=rL6h90m2Ig…

This is from 1903, so his voice transformation (careful and deliberate, not damage) hadn't taken place yet. But his strength and depth is still evident. He can very easily handle this aria, emotionally, vocally, and most of all, physically. There is no strain in his voice at all, and it's a pleasure to listen to.

Beniamino Gigli E Lucevan Le Stelle Audio HQ

youtube.com/watch?v=D5HwI2hMiD…

Gigli was born to sing this sort of role. His rendition sent shivers down my spine. (For a similar experience, listen to his Nessun Dorma, which is incomparable.) Here, he sings even the quieter parts with a certain authority and firmness, yet with such control that it is amazing. When he does sing at full capacity, his emotions are completely in tune with the melody and character. He reaches all notes with ease. Whereas Graveure had some kind of feature in his voice, Gigli's slight changes are a hallmark of his and have been described by some as almost like sobbing. Here, though, they work to great effect to bring out the meaning of the words. Yes, I did research this one in translation.

#EnricoCaruso #BeniaminoGigli #FerruccioTagliavini #LeopoldSimoneau #LouisGraveure #opera #TitoSchipa #review