Chengdu report

From Mr. Yu (crossposted at Tigers on the Road)

We left Lijiang for Chengdu on a late afternoon flight. While we waited in the airport, a bunch of high school kids from the city of Chongqing became curious about our kids. They soon approached them to start a cordial conversation and of course a photo session. They even wrote down Mr. Yu's phone number with which they would contact our kids again once we get to Chongqing on July 4.
The flight took only 1 hour and 10 minutes. We were greeted by the local guide whose name is Lily. Half an hour later we checked into the Minhang Hotel which is located right in the busy business area of Chengdu where Chinese department stores, restaurants and fast-food eateries like McDonald, KFC, and Pizza Hut are plentiful. I think there are at least three McDonalds within 5 blocks of the hotel.
On June 30, we first visited the International Studies Office of Sichuan University which has a student enrollment of more than 70000. They have about 450 international students from over 40 countries including USA and Canada. The monthly expenses including tuition, room and board would be about $400.00. Next our students sat in a level 2 Chinese class held for some college students from New York. Some of our kids became very encouraged because they could understand much of the contents.

Then we were taken to meet with some Chinese airplane engineers who were studying English at the university. They were engaged in a heated discussion for about an hour until it was time for us to go for lunch. In the afternoon we visited the Jinsha Museam which helps pushing Chengdu's history back to 3000 years ago. Other than the new technology used in this museum, the tour was boring. Then we were taken to tour the replica of Old Town Chengdu called the Broad & Narrow Back Alleys which are like any other reconstructed old towns in China we have visited. For dinner we had the famous Sichuan Hot Pot.
Over the course of this night, some kids spent their accumulated energy (there had been much physical activity as of late) running around in the hallway. A gymnastics meet was believed to have been held in one of the guest rooms. Complaints from other innocent travelers were delivered to the hotel management. So a curfew had to be declared to request all kids be in their rooms by 10:45 each night.
On July 1, we visited Chengdu Panda Breeding Center in the morning. Our kids were excited to finally meet with cute pandas face to face. Four students spent 1000 yuan each to hold a baby panda when posing for pictures. The price used to be 100 yuan but since the 2008 earthquake destroyed another panda facility 100 miles away. Of course this charge is categorized as a donation so each of the paying kids received a certificate commending their goodwill and generosity.

For lunch we went to a Buddhist Temple to feast on a Buddhist vegetarian banquet. It was very delicious. In the afternoon we toured the Wuhou Shrine dedicated to the Chief Counsul to Liu Bei in the Three Kingdoms Era. Around this temple there is another ancient street or a newly remodeled street in ancient styles called Jingling Avenue. It was said to be very crowded. In the evening we watched a live show featuring rapid face masks changing, acrobatics, dances, and other performances. They kids all enjoyed the show. This was evident in their elevated level of excitement when checking back into the hotel.
The weather in Chengdu has been nice. It was a bit humid occasionally. Other than that it has been tolerable.
The next two days will be free days. Some kids have made up their mind to sleep in late. They have been advised not to spend all their time and money in the western style eateries.

Cesare Siepi

Today we are going to see paintings by Titian that he did for his patrons, Carlos V and Felipe II.
Thinking of the Hapsburges makes me immediately start humming arias from the Verdi opera "Don Carlo" which I had not remembered for years! I used to live with B. who was a lyric baritone, pursuing a career in performing art song and opera (when we ended our relationship, many many years ago, I gave him all my opera records...). Over the years, B. performed in a number of regional productions, sometimes taking the bass parts because there aren't that many true bass voices out there. Some time in the mid-eighties, he sang in the chorus of a San Jose production of Verdi's opera Don Carlo, starring one of his favorite singers, the "basso" Cesare Siepi. I just learned that Siepi died last year at the age of 87. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to see him perform, in an opera that gave him the opportunity to show the amazing qualities of his voice and technique of "basso cantante."

As is often the case in operas, the plot has little to do with actual history. Here, the Emperor Don Carlo sings a melancholy song about how his young wife never really loved him: "Ella giamai m'amó" (she never loved me). This performance by Cesare Siepi from 1970, reveals the lovely qualities of his voice, echoed by the cello.


This recording, made 15 years later in 1985 (when Siepi was 72!), which was about the time I heard him sing, highlights the beauty of the strings (sadly,the sound is out of sync with the image). His interpretation is poignant and dignified.



Another favorite part of the opera is the famous "friendship duet" between tenor and baritone voices, with its introductory dialogue, here sung by Sherrill Milnes and Plácido Domingo.


For comparison, here is anolder recording with tenor Jon Vickers and the fabulous Tito Gobbi.


And in other roles, here we have Siepi on stage as Don Giovanni, singing one of Mozart's most lovely songs "Deh, vieni alla finestra."

And in "Le Nozze di Figaro" as Figaro, singing the recitative and aria "Aprite un po gli occhi."


Opera fans seem to like to argue: Who was the best? here is a "cage match" pitting some of the most famous bass/baritone voices against each other in Don Giovanni's "Champagne" aria:

Nine great Don Giovannis sing the famous Champagne aria. Only one will emerge victorious...

In chronological order:
1. Ezio Pinza, cond. Bruno Walter 1942 (live)
2. Tito Gobbi, cond. Wilhelm Furtwängler, 1950 (live)
3. Cesare Siepi, cond. Wilhelm Furtwängler, 1954
4. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, cond. Ferenc Fricsay, 1959
5. Nicolai Ghiaurov, cond. Carlo Maria Giulini, 1970 (live)
6. Samuel Ramey, cond. Herbert von Karajan, 1987 (live)
7. Thomas Hampson, cond. Nikolaus Harnoncourt, 1989
8. Håkan Hagegård, cond. Arnold Östman, 1990
9. Bo Skovhus, cond. Michael Halasz, 2000

"Dramatic rage"

Here is the great Marilyn Horne in a San Francisco Opera production of Vivaldi's Orlando Furioso from 1989. I was fortunate enough to see her perform this role, shortly before this recording was made. I remember how she planted her feet as she sang. She is 57 in this video. What an amazing talent! For comparison, you can hear her sing the same aria in 1978 at a faster tempo in this Venetian production. Marilyn Horne was successfully treated for pancreatic cancer in 2003, and continues to teach and promote the art-song repertoire and the art of the recital among young singers.



Sorge l'irato nembo

e la fatal tempesta
col sussurrar dell'onde
e s'agita, e confonde
e cielo, e mar.

Ma fugge in un baleno

l'orrida nube infesta,
e placido, e sereno
il cielo appar.

For her encore, the divine Ms. Horne will sing "C is for Cookie"

Pauline Viardot

Pauline Viardot was the daughter of the most famous tenor in Paris, Manuel García. Her sister, María Malibran, was a huge opera star, who died at the age of 28 after a fall from a horse. Pauline, whose piano teacher was none other than Franz Liszt, was told by her mother that she was to sing instead of becoming a concert pianist, so she did. She became one of the most famous opera singers of the 19th century, moving Charles Dickens to tears. She married young, a man twenty years older than she was, who managed her career in her opera roles. After meeting Ivan Turgenev in Moscow, she was loved by him for the rest of her life. She was close friends with Georges Sand, Chopin, and other artists and musicians. Her husband and Turgenev both died the same year, and she lived until 1910, having become a teacher, passing down the method of her father. Marilyn Horne is among the many singers who continue to study the García method.

Horne was the narrator of Pauline's story for the concert "Pauline Viardot and Friends" at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco. My mother and I went, and were thrilled. We both have great memories of having seen Marilyn Horne sing in Orlando Furioso by Vivaldi. The singers? Fredericka von Stade (I got to see her with Kiri Te Kanawa in the Marriage of Figaro!) Vladimir Chernov, Melody Moore. He was so expressive, with such a warm tone (reminding me a little of Tito Gobbi in some moments, but not quite as metallic). He had such interpretive expressiveness, especially in the Russian songs Viardot composed.
Moore was absolutely fabulous, inspiring prolonged ovations and sincere exclamations of praise from the veteran singers.

Viardot was a composer, whose work has been overlooked, but who is enjoying a revival now, in part due to efforts such as this. Here is Cecilia Bartolli singing Viardot's Havannaise (habañera), and a live performance: 

The inner juke-box, now with YouTube

I spent six years living with a lyric baritone so I listened to a lot of opera and art song. YouTube is great, because now I can see some of the artists I used to just hear. Here's a sampler:

Tito Schippa, he of the voce bianca; he doesn't have the volume or ringing tones of other famous tenors, but he had such control.


Cesare Siepi, a real basso profundo, singing in the role of Don Giovanni. I saw him perform in Don Carlo when he was over 70 years old, and he still sounded incredible.


And here is a very young up-and-coming tenor, who will probably go on to have a big career, Stephen Costelloe, performing in one of those great Verdi oom paa paa crowd-pleasing roles. What a lovely voice, and he hits some amazing high notes at the end.

Le Nozze di Figaro

Tomorrow, as a birthday gift for two friends, I am taking them to see The Marriage of Figaro at the Minnesota Opera. the performance has received good reviews. I used to live with a singer who performed the role of Figaro in an English language production of this opera in the Bay Area years ago, so I've seen the opera rehearsed and performed many times, and I never tire of it. I'm taking my daughter as well; she has already seen a few operas, and enjoyed them. My mother took me to the opera in San Francisco as a child, often standing room, and I have very fond memories of those times spent with her.

Here's a clip with Ileana Cotrubas as Susana, Kiri Te Kanawa as the Countess, and Frederika Von Stade as Cherubino (an ideal cast).


Here's Ruggiero Raimondi as Count Almaviva:


and here is the amazing finale. The count's "Contessa, perdono" never fails to give me goosebumps.


I was also fortunate enough to see a production in Paris with Kiri Te Kanawa, many many years ago, when I was a poor student (I think it was 1975) living in Paris with a different boyfriend, not a singer. It was her Paris Opera debut, and opera fans were eager to here this rising young soprano.

We stood in a huge line for hours in front of the Garnier Opera House, waiting for the rush tickets to go on sale. As this was France, as soon as the ticket windows opened, the previously orderly line quickly became a mob as people tried to get in front. By the time we arrived, the only tickets left were "san visibilite" up in the nose bleed boxes (you were seated at the back of narrow boxes on the upper level and couldn't see the stage), but we took them.
The night of the opera, we were in awe of the Opera House itself, the elegant crowd (look! there's Susan Sontag coming down the stairs!), and the glorious performances. During the first intermission, we ran into an acquaintance, who informed us that there were extra seats in a center balcony box where he was seated with an older gentleman who had season tickets. He invited us to join them, and we were then able to enjoy the rest of the opera from the very best seats in the house. Kiri Te Kanawa was glorious in the role of the Countess, and the notoriously difficult French crowd was effusive in its applause. I'll never forget that experience.

Una voce poco fa X 2

Last time I tried to embed a YouTube video, it broke my blog! I've been frustrated with the new version of Blogger because I haven't been able to post YouTube videos or embed them; I get an html error message, but I haven't been able to figure out how to close the tags they said were open. After some scouting around I hope I have come up with the way to close the open html tags. Yes! It works!
So, here is my childhood vocal idol, Victoria de los Angeles
singing "Una voce poco fa" with her warm, lovely voice
"
And Maria Callas singing the same aria, with her incredible technical virtuosity andn charisma.