Leoncavallo- Zazà Opera Rara, Ermonela Jaho

Opera Rara brought  Ruggero Leoncaallo's Zazà to the Barbican, London .With Ermonela Jaho in the star role, and the forces of the BBC SO and BBC Singers, plus good cast, this was a high profile occasion: Opera Rara does things in style. Hopefully, there'll be a reecording. Zazà deserves it.

Claire Seymour has reviewed this Opera Rara  Zazà for Opera Today in detail. "Charismatic charm, vivacious insouciance, fervent passion, dejected self-pity, blazing anger and stoic selflessness: Zazà – a chanteuse raised from the backstreets to the bright lights – is a walking compendium of emotions.  Ruggero Leoncavallo’s eponymous opera lives by its heroine.

The much loved Ermonela Jaho (who is coming back to the Royal Opera House next year as Suor Angelica, had "incredible commitment and vocal allure.  She ran the emotional gamut from predatory sensuality to euphoric happiness to anguished sorrow, utterly convincing us and drawing us into her tragic journey.  The lower-lying passages may sometimes have made less impact, and occasionally Jaho strayed sharp at the top, but who cares when one is enveloped by surging, supple lyrical outpourings that are by turns glossily luxurious and exquisitely delicate."

Charismatic charm, vivacious insouciance, fervent passion, dejected self-pity, blazing anger and stoic selflessness: Zazà - a chanteuse raised from the backstreets to the bright lights - is a walking compendium of emotions. Ruggero Leoncavallo’s eponymous opera lives by its heroine. Tackling this exhausting, and perilous, role at the Barbican Hall, Argentinian soprano Ermonela Jaho gave an absolutely fabulous performance, her range, warmth and total commitment ensuring that the hooker’s heart of gold shone winningly. - See more at: http://www.operatoday.com/content/2015/11/leoncavallo_zaz.php#sthash.x53YZrhX.dpuf

Charismatic charm, vivacious insouciance, fervent passion, dejected self-pity, blazing anger and stoic selflessness: Zazà - a chanteuse raised from the backstreets to the bright lights - is a walking compendium of emotions. Ruggero Leoncavallo’s eponymous opera lives by its heroine. Tackling this exhausting, and perilous, role at the Barbican Hall, Argentinian soprano Ermonela Jaho gave an absolutely fabulous performance, her range, warmth and total commitment ensuring that the hooker’s heart of gold shone winningly. - See more at: http://www.operatoday.com/content/2015/11/leoncavallo_zaz.php#sthash.x53YZrhX.dpuf

Charismatic charm, vivacious insouciance, fervent passion, dejected self-pity, blazing anger and stoic selflessness: Zazà - a chanteuse raised from the backstreets to the bright lights - is a walking compendium of emotions. Ruggero Leoncavallo’s eponymous opera lives by its heroine. Tackling this exhausting, and perilous, role at the Barbican Hall, Argentinian soprano Ermonela Jaho gave an absolutely fabulous performance, her range, warmth and total commitment ensuring that the hooker’s heart of gold shone winningly. - See more at: http://www.operatoday.com/content/2015/11/leoncavallo_zaz.php#sthash.x53YZrhX.dpuf

Charismatic charm, vivacious insouciance, fervent passion, dejected self-pity, blazing anger and stoic selflessness: Zazà - a chanteuse raised from the backstreets to the bright lights - is a walking compendium of emotions. Ruggero Leoncavallo’s eponymous opera lives by its heroine. Tackling this exhausting, and perilous, role at the Barbican Hall, Argentinian soprano Ermonela Jaho gave an absolutely fabulous performance, her range, warmth and total commitment ensuring that the hooker’s heart of gold shone winningly. - See more at: http://www.operatoday.com/content/2015/11/leoncavallo_zaz.php#sthash.x53YZrhX.dpuf

Charismatic charm, vivacious insouciance, fervent passion, dejected self-pity, blazing anger and stoic selflessness: Zazà - a chanteuse raised from the backstreets to the bright lights - is a walking compendium of emotions. Ruggero Leoncavallo’s eponymous opera lives by its heroine. Tackling this exhausting, and perilous, role at the Barbican Hall, Argentinian soprano Ermonela Jaho gave an absolutely fabulous performance, her range, warmth and total commitment ensuring that the hooker’s heart of gold shone winningly. - See more at: http://www.operatoday.com/content/2015/11/leoncavallo_zaz.php#sthash.x53YZrhX.dpuf

Charismatic charm, vivacious insouciance, fervent passion, dejected self-pity, blazing anger and stoic selflessness: Zazà - a chanteuse raised from the backstreets to the bright lights - is a walking compendium of emotions. Ruggero Leoncavallo’s eponymous opera lives by its heroine. Tackling this exhausting, and perilous, role at the Barbican Hall, Argentinian soprano Ermonela Jaho gave an absolutely fabulous performance, her range, warmth and total commitment ensuring that the hooker’s heart of gold shone winningly. - See more at: http://www.operatoday.com/content/2015/11/leoncavallo_zaz.php#sthash.x53YZrhX.dpuf

Kristine Opolais - exclusive interview !

An exclusive interview with Kristine Opolais in Latinos Post by David Salazar : very well written, very personal and interesting hints for the future. Read it in full HERE.

On singing Cio Cio San whichs she sang at the MET on Friday, replacing Patricia Racette
"The story for me is about the baby," she explained. "Every normal woman that is a mother will do everything for your baby to make sure he is happy. Every mother understands that the baby is only happy being with his or her mother. Every single time I play it is so terrible. I am fighting with myself not to cry because I am very emotional...."She lost all of her hope and love, but for her the most important loss is her child. She cannot live without the child, that is why she is killing herself."

When Opolais sang Cio Cio San at her Royal Opera House role debut, my friends and I were overwhelmed - we didn't know that she was nearly 5 months pregnant at the time (my review is here) . "Now it is hard from the very beginning. The entire first act brings me to tears because I know where it is headed. The mNow ieeting with Pinkerton is a tragedy. I don't see the illusion of love anymore," she revealed. "Yesterday I sent my manager a message saying, 'Not too much Butterfly in my future.' He was shocked and said, 'You're a spinto soprano. What are you going to sing?' I told him that it was just too hard Especially for me who gives 100 percent in rehearsal and 200 percent in every performance. I have to fight with myself not to cry while I am onstage." 

Plus, lots more on role interpretation. Pure vocalism is never enough!

Please also read my interview with Ermonela Jaho, a Royal Opera House favorite. Both of them specialize in similar roles, but Jaho sings more frequently in France and Italy. Like Opolais, she  believes in emotional engagement with what she sings and brings out the intense tragedy that lies behind the surface prettiness in the characters.

Manon's Des Grieux - Matthew Polenzani

Tonight at the Royal Opera House, Jules Massenet Manon, in its first revival, with the divine Ermonela Jaho as Manon asnd Matthew Polenzani as the Chevalier des Grieux. Together they sang the parts in this same production in Milan in 2012. He sang it with Anna Netrebko when the ROH toured Japan in 2010.

"Even though he has done the part several times, each new run is unique because dynamics change with different casts. “Anna and Ermonela are both fabulously beautiful, but they have different personalities and different voices. And this time, I’m also singing with Ailyn Pérez in the last few performances in this run. I’ve worked with her before, too, so I know her sentiments about Manon. It’s good to make changes with different singers at different times, it keeps things interesting. A director can’t just tell a singer ’in bar 52, walk stage left’. You need to be able to work with each other so it feels natural”.

“I gravitate towards Massenet. Des Grieux is good to sing because he touches a lot of things that are important to me in my life. He’s an honest guy, and he’s moved by his heart. I was just talking to Christian Rath, Pelly’s associate director, about how Des Grieux’s feelings work. Soon after they meet he calls her ‘Enchanteresse’. He’s no longer master of himself. Then, in the seminary, he wants to place God between himself and the world, but goes off with Manon when she turns up. He calls her “Sphinx etonnant… que je t’aime et te hais”. He’s not taking responsibility for himself, he lets himself be manipulated because he won’t own up to what happens. A part of me understands that youthfulness, yet as a father myself, although my sons are much younger, I can understand how his father feels. The Comte wants what’s best for his son, and what’s good for the family, but sons are headstrong”. 


Read the full interview with Matthew Polenzani in Opera Today.
Read my interview with Ermonela Jaho HERE
Read my interview with Laurent Pelly HERE
Read my review of the London premiere HERE.

Ermonela Jaho Magda, La Rondine ROH

Ermonela Jaho, who sang the wonderful Suor Angelica at the Royal Opera House, returns to sing Magda in Puccini's La Rondine. 

"Magda knows that she can’t be the kind of woman Ruggero needs. So she tells the truth. In those moments, you can see Ruggero’s face change with disappointment and shock. He is losing his dream, too. But he is young, he might have a different future. So she sings tenderly, like a mother soothing a child. ‘Quando sarai guarito, te ne ricorderai. Ti ritorni alla casa tua serena, io reprendo il mio volo e la mia pena”......

"Magda a truly noble soul. She is strong because she could make that choice. She will be empty, a long, slow sadness in her life, but she also knows that Ruggero will be happy. That is the proof of her love. She doesn’t have a physical death, she doesn’t have a catharsis. But her pain makes her stronger and more mature.”

“Every time I sing this role, even in rehearsal, it takes a lot out of me. I need to be totally honest with my emotions. When I sing those last lines, I feel my heart and vocal cords pulling. If we are human beings, it’s impossible to become detached. Puccini closes the opera with pianissimo, but for me that is not a beautiful sound. It is the sound of Magda’s heart screaming from deep inside her soul.”

Read the full interview here in Opera Today