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cahnSo for my birthday my sister gave me, among other things, the Villazon ROH Don Carlo, which except for the title role (taken by Rolando Villazón instead of Roberto Alagna) is the same in both staging and singers as the Met 2011 Don Carlo that I adore so much, so that I could have my own copy of Furlanetto, Poplavskaya, and Keenlyside, all of whom I thought were fantastic. They are fantastic here too and I am both happy I own this DVD (I really like to own my Own Copies of things) and happy that there exists a second recorded performance of these guys together because I am obsessed with them and would honestly watch every night of their performances if I could.
So, Villazon! I was not particularly looking forward to him, his frenetic energy not having made a whole lot of impact on me when I saw him in Traviata, and indeed, although he doesn't act Carlo with the extreme immaturity and daddy issues as in the Kaufmann/Hampson I saw, he makes a rather emo Carlo, one who acts very young; I think I preferred Alagna's slightly more mature-acted, somewhat less dramatically-emo Carlo, and Alagna/Keenlyside's Carlo/Rodrigo dynamic really spoke to me as a same-age-best-friends kind of dynamic, whereas Villazon/Keenlyside's Carlo/Rodrigo relationship was a little more as Rodrigo subordinate to a younger Carlo (though with all that super love and devotion there). But what I didn't expect was to be so impressed by Villazon's musicianship as compared to Alagna's --
I was watching "Dio che nell'alma infondere," as one does, and they were halfway through and I realized that I was bracing myself for Villazon and Keenlyside not doing the cutoffs together or not singing their lines quite together, and they were actually pretty much hitting them straight on! I realized then that Alagna and Keenlyside must not have quite gotten those, and that was what I was responding to. (I mean, they do fine. It's pretty subtle and I thought I was going crazy at first. See Villazon/Keenlyside vs. Alagna/Keenlyside) Also, as a result of Alagna/Keenlyside being my first Carlo/Rodrigo, I had no idea that "Dio che nell'alma infondere" and their repeats are supposed to be PIANO -- Alagna hits that thing super hard! (Keenlyside, poor guy, is trying to do at least the repeat as piano, and Alagna is just bulldozing straight through.)
It's also true that occasionally Villazon's high notes in this go kind of crazy -- this was apparently during the period he was having some issues with his voice; I don't remember anything like this being a problem when I saw his Traviata. When he sings "Io m'abbandono a te" with Keenlyside and it's supposed to be a major third up... it's... not.
There are some tiny differences in the staging in the ROH , like, they are all facing away from the audience for the end of the auto-da-fe (which makes no sense, no wonder they changed it for the Met) and Keenlyside doesn't have the swords and hat he's lugging around in the Met (tbh I love when he tries to resign his sword to Furlanetto in the Met version and Philip won't take it, which interplay isn't in the ROH at all). Keenlyside's ROH interpretation also doesn't have Rodrigo having an explicitly slashy disappointed moment when Carlo reveals he's in love with Elisabetta, but, I mean, his ROH Rodrigo so obviously adores his Carlo, after Carlo gives him the letters they embrace and Rodrigo kisses Carlo's hair, which, So Many Feelings -- and in the ROH (though not in the Met, and I think this is proper because it works better for the ROH Rodrigo/Carlo relationship than the Met best-friends relationship, where Alagna and Keenlyside are both standing) Keenlyside ends "Per me giunto" on one knee in front of Villazon, touching his hair and half-embracing him, which, also, have I mentioned, All The Feelings EVER AHHHH THIS OPERA ahem.
Keenlyside sings his death aria mostly half-kneeling in ROH as opposed to lying-on-the-ground (no, seriously, is there anything he can't do?) in the Met, but in both he acts it so brilliantly and, I mean, he totally sells it as Rodrigo mortally wounded but he can't just lie down and die just yet because he has to say important things like Don't Forget Me and Save Flanders, and dying sucks and is hard and actually kind of awful, but at the same time he is happy in his heart because he's saved his Carlo's life (this is all in the music, but still how does he manage to do both?? Even Hampson only really just picked the one) and it breaks my heart Every Single Time I watch either one. (You know where the "Dio che nell'alma infondere" theme comes back in? It's so obvious when I listen to it, and yet I've never yet managed to notice it when watching Keenlyside because I'm so busy being completely heartbroken.)
One of the unfortunate differences (for the ROH) between the Met and ROH is that the Met has much better videography, and, I mean, if I'm noticing then it must be pretty obvious. The Met videography has a good sense of all the important things going on in a scene and what things need to be focused on -- for example, in the auto-da-fe while Carlo and Filippo are having their standoff, Rodrigo isn't singing but it's actually really important for us to have some idea of what Rodrigo is doing/thinking at this point, otherwise the scene loses a lot of its meaning. In my opinion, anyway :) And in the Met, we see a good deal of Rodrigo's reactions, whereas in the ROH video we don't see nearly as much of it. Or, in Restate, in both ROH and Met versions, when Rodrigo cries out, "La pace e dei sepolcri!" it's played as Filippo stepping menacingly towards Rodrigo, and it's a really powerful moment. The Met videographer shows Filippo's movement, but the ROH videographer chooses to close-up on Furlanetto, which, I mean, isn't the worst choice in the world, but it loses the whole momentum of that menacing moment. Anyway, I think it's almost entirely due to the videography that when I watched the Met I was riveted, and when I watched the ROH it was great but not quite to that level of omg-must-watch-entire-thing-NOW (except, of course, for everything with Rodrigo :D )
So, Villazon! I was not particularly looking forward to him, his frenetic energy not having made a whole lot of impact on me when I saw him in Traviata, and indeed, although he doesn't act Carlo with the extreme immaturity and daddy issues as in the Kaufmann/Hampson I saw, he makes a rather emo Carlo, one who acts very young; I think I preferred Alagna's slightly more mature-acted, somewhat less dramatically-emo Carlo, and Alagna/Keenlyside's Carlo/Rodrigo dynamic really spoke to me as a same-age-best-friends kind of dynamic, whereas Villazon/Keenlyside's Carlo/Rodrigo relationship was a little more as Rodrigo subordinate to a younger Carlo (though with all that super love and devotion there). But what I didn't expect was to be so impressed by Villazon's musicianship as compared to Alagna's --
I was watching "Dio che nell'alma infondere," as one does, and they were halfway through and I realized that I was bracing myself for Villazon and Keenlyside not doing the cutoffs together or not singing their lines quite together, and they were actually pretty much hitting them straight on! I realized then that Alagna and Keenlyside must not have quite gotten those, and that was what I was responding to. (I mean, they do fine. It's pretty subtle and I thought I was going crazy at first. See Villazon/Keenlyside vs. Alagna/Keenlyside) Also, as a result of Alagna/Keenlyside being my first Carlo/Rodrigo, I had no idea that "Dio che nell'alma infondere" and their repeats are supposed to be PIANO -- Alagna hits that thing super hard! (Keenlyside, poor guy, is trying to do at least the repeat as piano, and Alagna is just bulldozing straight through.)
It's also true that occasionally Villazon's high notes in this go kind of crazy -- this was apparently during the period he was having some issues with his voice; I don't remember anything like this being a problem when I saw his Traviata. When he sings "Io m'abbandono a te" with Keenlyside and it's supposed to be a major third up... it's... not.
There are some tiny differences in the staging in the ROH , like, they are all facing away from the audience for the end of the auto-da-fe (which makes no sense, no wonder they changed it for the Met) and Keenlyside doesn't have the swords and hat he's lugging around in the Met (tbh I love when he tries to resign his sword to Furlanetto in the Met version and Philip won't take it, which interplay isn't in the ROH at all). Keenlyside's ROH interpretation also doesn't have Rodrigo having an explicitly slashy disappointed moment when Carlo reveals he's in love with Elisabetta, but, I mean, his ROH Rodrigo so obviously adores his Carlo, after Carlo gives him the letters they embrace and Rodrigo kisses Carlo's hair, which, So Many Feelings -- and in the ROH (though not in the Met, and I think this is proper because it works better for the ROH Rodrigo/Carlo relationship than the Met best-friends relationship, where Alagna and Keenlyside are both standing) Keenlyside ends "Per me giunto" on one knee in front of Villazon, touching his hair and half-embracing him, which, also, have I mentioned, All The Feelings EVER AHHHH THIS OPERA ahem.
Keenlyside sings his death aria mostly half-kneeling in ROH as opposed to lying-on-the-ground (no, seriously, is there anything he can't do?) in the Met, but in both he acts it so brilliantly and, I mean, he totally sells it as Rodrigo mortally wounded but he can't just lie down and die just yet because he has to say important things like Don't Forget Me and Save Flanders, and dying sucks and is hard and actually kind of awful, but at the same time he is happy in his heart because he's saved his Carlo's life (this is all in the music, but still how does he manage to do both?? Even Hampson only really just picked the one) and it breaks my heart Every Single Time I watch either one. (You know where the "Dio che nell'alma infondere" theme comes back in? It's so obvious when I listen to it, and yet I've never yet managed to notice it when watching Keenlyside because I'm so busy being completely heartbroken.)
One of the unfortunate differences (for the ROH) between the Met and ROH is that the Met has much better videography, and, I mean, if I'm noticing then it must be pretty obvious. The Met videography has a good sense of all the important things going on in a scene and what things need to be focused on -- for example, in the auto-da-fe while Carlo and Filippo are having their standoff, Rodrigo isn't singing but it's actually really important for us to have some idea of what Rodrigo is doing/thinking at this point, otherwise the scene loses a lot of its meaning. In my opinion, anyway :) And in the Met, we see a good deal of Rodrigo's reactions, whereas in the ROH video we don't see nearly as much of it. Or, in Restate, in both ROH and Met versions, when Rodrigo cries out, "La pace e dei sepolcri!" it's played as Filippo stepping menacingly towards Rodrigo, and it's a really powerful moment. The Met videographer shows Filippo's movement, but the ROH videographer chooses to close-up on Furlanetto, which, I mean, isn't the worst choice in the world, but it loses the whole momentum of that menacing moment. Anyway, I think it's almost entirely due to the videography that when I watched the Met I was riveted, and when I watched the ROH it was great but not quite to that level of omg-must-watch-entire-thing-NOW (except, of course, for everything with Rodrigo :D )
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Date: 2018-08-06 05:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-08-06 07:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-08-08 01:24 am (UTC)I don't remember now what I didn't like about Alagna, but I think I like Villazón better. I remember Alagna not being entirely convincing to me, though at this point I don't remember why. I definitely like Villazón better than Kaufmann -- Kaufmann strikes me as a better actor, and he's younger and prettier, but I don't like his interpretation, so. A melancholy Carlo, as Villazón does, works fine for me. I wouldn't call Villazón's performance emo -- I'd call Kaufmann more emo, actually.
Keenlyside is still very good and still not my Rodrigo at all. He just gives me this feeling of "error, does not compute, this is not the character who's supposed to be here." (Especially after seeing Hampson.) I liked him in the death scene, though. I liked how he gazed out into space deliriously on the repeat of "Io morrò" when there are the twiddly high flutes of imminent death. And I appreciated the face touch on "sospetti tu di me?" (and of course the hair kiss). Oh, and I like how dangerous he seems during the trio with Eboli.
I continue to love Poplavskaya -- she's so queenly, and a great actress both with her face and in her body language.
Furlanetto, still amazing. He's so good at being terrible. He has this body language and slow menacing movements that makes him seem like a crocodile or basilisk or something. Him cuddling unconscious Elisabeth during the quartet was really creepy. And then he made me feel sorry for him anyway a couple minutes later when he reached out for her and she ignored him. Just so good. It especially impresses me because I saw a bit of a backstage interview with him from the Met Don Carlos and none of that body language is his. He was just completely genial and relaxed and good-humored, and his own natural body language is completely different from Philip's. He's my favorite of this cast.
I don't know if this was different at the Met or if I just didn't notice before, but in the ROH there was a closeup on the condemned heretics during the auto-da-fe when the priest is demanding that they confess and repent, and they're all gagged, as well as having their hands tied. They couldn't confess even if they wanted to. Like, an auto-da-fe is already horrible and terrifying, but that was especially chilling somehow.
I agree with you about the videography! There were a frustrating number of closeups on one person when it would have been better to see how the other person was reacting or the larger stage picture. And the subtitle translation was repeatedly not good, which annoyed me. Having a good and thoughtful translation is important!
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Date: 2018-08-09 04:26 am (UTC)I do like Alagna's acting quite a lot, but I definitely liked Villazon better simply because his musicality was so much better! Not just the timing (although that is a major plus) and in general just being inside the music better; he also just shapes the Italian so much better that it's actually noticeable to me even though I don't really speak Italian. (I think Alagna is better in French? At least I didn't notice this being a thing when I watched his Faust, although I did still think he wasn't inside the music as much as, say, Terfel.) Oh, yes, I would agree that Kaufmann's Carlo is definitely more emo, and adds a large dose of immaturity and a boatload of daddy issues! I did think Villazon's Carlo was more emo than Alagna's, but in a way that made me feel he was playing it as just slightly younger rather than natively more emotional or immature.
ahaha, yes, I'm afraid I have been indelibly imprinted by Keenlyside. Even so, after discussing it with you, I did think his soldier-like interpretation came off very oddly in the scene where he's supposed to be flirting with Eboli -- it didn't quite compute for me either, at least there. And he was set apart from everyone else in the Filippo-Eboli-Elisabetta quartet, which I'm sure was intentional but also came off a little strange to me. But I think he has crazy actor chemistry with Furlanetto (Restate gives me all kinds of chills even though I totally get it if it's not how it plays out in your headcanon because it too is very soldierly -- which is actually maybe part of it too, because it hits all of my loyalty buttons) and I *loved* his death scene, I am just such a sucker for anything that shows that love and dedication to Carlo :)
POPLAVSKAYA AND FURLANETTO YES THEY ARE SO GOOD! not that I feel super strongly about this or anything :) Poplavskaya also seriously impresses me for how she is so exuberant in the first act and then tamps all of that down into melancholy and queenliness. So good! And Furlanetto is so amazing! I agree, he's my favorite too, and he's definitely imprinted me for Filippo. And ohhhh, yes, I forgot to talk about this in the post, but I really really love that very bit in the quartet that you point out, where he's cuddling the unconscious Elisabetta and then she wakes up and flinches away from him, and he reaches out for her a little later but can't quite bring himself to do it where she can see -- it's like, this Filippo can only show her affection when she can't actually see him do so, which makes me feel so sad for him even though he totally does it to himself :( Huh, I didn't think about that body language thing, but now that you say so I can see that, even when he comes out for bows he's, like, a normal human being, not with this very menacing body language!
there was a closeup on the condemned heretics during the auto-da-fe when the priest is demanding that they confess and repent, and they're all gagged, as well as having their hands tied. They couldn't confess even if they wanted to.
Whoa. I didn't notice that. (I tend not to look really close at the auto-da-fe.) I... that's really frightening.
Hee, I have so far been very much unimpressed by any anyone's translations (I can't remember the Salzburg (Hampson) translations; were they any better?) -- the Met in general also seems very hit-and-miss to me, at least for any opera where I actually vaguely have a grasp on what it's supposed to say :)
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Date: 2018-08-14 03:19 am (UTC)I love Simon, but I imprinted on Milnes as a kid :D Simon's Rodrigo is wonderfully gay, though.
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Date: 2018-08-17 10:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-09-04 06:29 am (UTC)I also note your comment on Villazon's musicality vs Alagna's; possibly this is due to Alagna's tendency to scene-steal somewhat? IDK, to me the man seems to be very intent on Doing His Own Thing, which means the folks in scene with him need to kind of keep up with him/sing around him -- as you say, he is there hitting everything super hard and Keenlyside is, you know, trying to sing around him a bit, whereas Villazon seems a lot more present in the scene and singing with Simon?
Re piano, I will say that Hampson/Kaufmann make that aspect of the repeats, and the co-ordinating of their lines in the duet, extremely clear, at least to my ear. And when I was re-watching your links (again for purely academic purposes, such hardship) I came across Bryn Terfel's version of That Duet with Sergej Larin, with absolutely gorgeous piano repeats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDD-l4iN2AE <3
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Date: 2018-09-06 04:06 am (UTC)well, this is mostly my thought on it, I apparently am a HUGE sucker for all these things -- kneeling as part of a loyalty-centric relationship appears to be a Thing for me? :)
but I did want to second your approval for the Met videography, which I went back and reviewed for purely academic purposes
Oh, do you have access to this?? (or are you watching all the clip links I gave you, haha) Because I also went back and reviewed, um, most of the Rodrigo parts for, yes, purely academic purposes, and I have SO MANY FEELINGS, again, about Rodrigo and about Keenlyside as Rodrigo, that being, it's amazing to me that playing the same part with the same staging and choreography and mostly the same actors and only Carlo different, he's managed to make his rendition of Rodrigo subtly but noticeably different based on the way the Carlos are different -- with Alagna, it presents as much more a relationship of equals-best-friends, not as much kneeling (ha) and more Rodrigo roughhousing with him, and it also presents to me really like that Rodrigo is desperately and romantically in love with Carlo and knows from that first scene on that there's nothing he can do about it (and, okay, the videographer(s) clearly also ship it); when Alagna!Carlo asks him about being the King's intimate friend (! this opera is SO SLASHY) he's really upset and angry that Carlo can suspect him! (He also kisses Carlo's hair in that one, although this is the one place the camera draws back a bit so it's not as obvious :) ) With Villazon, it's much more that Rodrigo just loves him a Lot, Villazon!Rodrigo is his Prince and he'd do anything for him, and I don't get the sense he thinks about it so much -- he might well love him romantically, probably does, but he's sublimated it all into loyalty. He's hurt, more so than angry, when Villazon!Carlo suspects him, as is appropriate for that character <3
(Met!SK!Rodrigo also seems to me in general a bit more more emotional and rougher, with slightly less control of his emotions -- he hits the floor hard when he knows he's failed with Filippo in Restate, for instance, whereas ROH!SK!Rodrigo stops himself.)
possibly this is due to Alagna's tendency to scene-steal somewhat? IDK, to me the man seems to be very intent on Doing His Own Thing, which means the folks in scene with him need to kind of keep up with him/sing around him -- as you say, he is there hitting everything super hard and Keenlyside is, you know, trying to sing around him a bit, whereas Villazon seems a lot more present in the scene and singing with Simon?
Yes YES this is it absolutely! And this is so important to me -- I really like people who do good ensemble work, and Villazon and Keenlyside both sing with each other so well, as you've noted! And Alagna, yes! -- Keenlyside is kind of having to try to match with him rather than them doing it together, and it shows. Which is also why I think he would be terrible at Mozart, because in Verdi you can kind of get away with it (...kind of) but Mozart is so transparent that it's really noticeable if you're expecting the orchestra and other singers to follow you instead of singing together with them. (And I agree with you about Hampson and Kaufmann, both of whom are also excellent artists.)
Ohhhh, Terfel and Larin are so good! Thank you for linking <3
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Date: 2018-09-08 03:26 pm (UTC)I love Keenlyside’s roughhousing; he is such a physical stage actor! And maybe it was the hair kissing, but I definitely agree his Rodrigo plays as entirely smitten with Alagna’s Carlo, and more generally emotional. The kneeling!! I love the layers to Keenlyside’s performances, and I am actually quite keen to see how Alagna fares when I get around to watching his Carlo again (ahem). I mean, I imprinted on Hampson’s Rodrigo, but Keenlyside’s definitely has also won my heart <3
Heh, the fluffy-haired tenor is adorable and gifted, but he is a bit of a self-focused scene-stealer ;) I;’m glad it’s not just me!
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Date: 2018-09-10 08:25 pm (UTC)THE KNEELING I KNOW <33333 It just speaks so hard to alllll that lovely loyalty kink I have for Rodrigo, which I didn't even realize until now (...I definitely should have) but which is definitely one of my hot-button Things. <333333 Which Keenlyside/Villazon does for me a little more than Hampson/Kaufmann, I must confess, though the latter definitely has so many fascinating daddy issues that the former doesn't. (And Hampson's interpretation in general, I agree, more fits my mental conception of Rodrigo than Keenlyside's -- but I love them both so, so much.)