2199 Satyagraha the opera -2 the full text

Now to Satyagraha as the three disk audio set has been listen to twice. As as said in part one my thesis was that the music and voice will stand up without the visuals. This is proven. It is a haunting and unusual piece of music which as with all music one has to be in the right mood to enjoy unless one is a professional musician

The first act first scene has Gandhi arriving in South Africa wearing the suit of the day and holding his copy of the Gita and the music, the voice and the visuals attempts to communicate what he feels as much as what he thinks. The scene is a mythical battlefield the Kuru Field of Justice in which according to the verse sung by Ghandi all the rulers of the world are assembled with the main character Krishna representing God addressed by Arjuna who recognising friends and relatives among both the armies assembled is filled with compassion. Arjuna sings where in my judgement the focus is on the line With mind perplexed concerning right and wrong I ask you which is the better course? Krishna answers Be wise in matters of death and duty and then a line of basic Hinduism... For sure death to all that’s born, sure is birth to all that dies and for this, you have no cause to grieve. For me this is also core of Satyagraha and also fundamentalist Catholicism that you act, you commit because you need to because you believe it is right and important to do so irrespective of the consequence for you, and which you anticipate could be painful and terminal, but which you accept because it is for a great good which you also hope others will recognise and share but if they do not that does not lessen or alter the conviction or the purpose. Krishna also says brace yourself ready for the fight. So you will bring no evil on yourself. In fact the Christian pacifist rather than the direct actionist willingness accepts the evil of others on themselves in the same way that Christ accepted and absorbed the evil others. The pacifist stands their ground when challenged whatever the outcome while the direct actionist intervenes in a non violent way and which often provokes violent retaliation which is then absorbed.

The Chorus representing Krishna reprimands the feint hearted and declares “Give up this vile feint heartedness. Stand up chastier of your foes to which Gandhi responds “Hold pleasure and pain profit and loss, victory and defeat to be the same: then brace yourself ready for the fight. So will you bring no evil on yourself”

My understanding is that the scene is designed to represent the beginning of the transition for a new lawyer brought to a country help out in a case between two business families who becomes aware of the plight of the Indian population regarded with suspicion and hostility by the predominant white and indigenous black populations.

It was the Russian Writer Tolstoy who established the first collective farm rather than the Communists or the Chinese but as with all political and social movements they only work if they are collectives of independent and committed volunteers. Once they imposed on those who are unwilling or lack understanding or committed they are doomed to failure and become contradiction such as anarchist organisation! I am not sure if the second scene is mythical or real because it features Gandhi creating a collective farm for Indians in South Africa.

Gandhi: Between theory and practice, some talk as if they were two- making a separation and a difference between them, Yet wise men know that both can be gained in applying oneself whole heartedly to one. For the high estate attained by men of contemplative theory, the same state achieve the men of action. So act as the ancients of days old, performing works as spiritual exercise.

Soloists: Such a one is honourable who gives his mortal powers to worthy work not seeking gain. Do the allotted task for which one is fit, for work is more excellent than idleness and the body’s life proceeds not, lacking work. Such an earthly task do free from desire, you will perform a high task.

When the motives and the fruits of man’s actions are freed from desire, his works are burned clean from wisdom’s fire, the white fire of truth. When he casts off attachment to his deeds, a man embarks on his work ever content, on none dependent, With thought and giving up of all possessions, he cares for his bodily maintenance without excess; taking what chance may bring surmounting all dualities, the same in success and failure.

In the third and final scene of first act The Vow 1906 the British Government proposed a law which required the registration of all Indians and which then entitled the authorities to stop and search including entry into any household to establish that the individual possessed the registration and was not an illegal. The State of Arizona is proposing a similar system for Hispanics and I could see without the coalition a Tory government proposing similar as the Labour Identity card was intended to establish. In South Africa Gandhi through his newspaper and speeches encouraged the Indian Community to oppose the Black Act and the act closes with a Vow to oppose.

The world is not for the doubting man. For nothing on earth resembles wisdom’s power to purify and this a man find’s in time within himself. (I believe that the world will be a better place for more people if those in power doubt more the value of actions which attempt to control and affect others for their own good without first testing and assessing outcomes over periods appropriate for the proposed level and extent of change). (My experience is that in general the female, especially those who have relationships with men, particularly who also give birth to new life gain wisdom quicker than most of the male mind and inclinations).

I also have major reservations against the text: Whoever gives up a deed because it causes pain or because he shrinks from bodily pain, follows the way of darkness, knowing nothing of self surrender and which suggests that if the work in accord with the scripture then the surrender will lead to goodness. This has been used to justify the act of the terrorist suicide bomber. It ought to be morally wrong to knowingly cause any other human being harm unless except in individual, family and national self defence.

Chorus demands that These works of sacrifice must be done. They continue with the dangerous claim that sacrifice for the Gods leads to then sustaining you in return. There is a truism that you have to love to be able to be loved but when it comes to self sacrifice you should only do it because it is right and without any expectation or wish for a return on the investments of the action. It is best that you have no expectation just as while it is right to love without condition here should be no expectation of reciprocity on the part of any individual or individuals collectively.

The first scene of Act 2 commences in 1896 thus going back to the early of Gandhi in South Africa and is headed
Confrontation and Rescue: Mrs. Alexander:

The devilish folk, in them there is no purity, no morality, no truth. So they say the world has not a law nor order, nor a lord. And, thinking this, all those dark minded ones of little wit, embark on cruel and violent deeds, the curses of their kind. Maddened by pride and hypocrisy, not caring right up to death, they have no other aim than to satisfy their pleasure, convinced that is all. So speak fools.” So speaks today’s generation.
Chorus:
This I have gained today, this whim I’ll satisfy; this wealth is mine and much more too will be mine as time goes on. He was an enemy of mine, I’ve killed him, and many another I’ll kill. I’m master here. I take my pleasure as I will; I’m strong and happy and successful. I’m rich and of good family. Who else can match himself with me?

Scene 2 moves forward again to 1906 and is headed Indian Opinion: Kallenbach and Miss Schlesen:

With senses freed, the wise man should act, longing to bring about the welfare and coherence of the world. Therefore, perform unceasingly the works that must be done, for the man detached who labours on to the highest must win through. This is how the saints attained success. Moreover, you should embrace action for the upholding, the welfare of your own kind. Whatever the noblest does, that too will others do: the standard that he sets all the world will follow.

The second part of this scene is headed Kasturbai, Mrs. Naidoo and Parsi Rustomji:

Act as God does, for the sake of others: “In the three worlds there is nothing I need do, nor anything unattained that I need to gain, yet action is the element in which I move. If I were not tirelessly to busy Myself with works, then would men everywhere follow in my footsteps, sinking back. If I were not to do my work these worlds would fall to ruin and I would be a worker in confusion.”

The final scene iii moves forward two years 1908 and is headed Protest : Gandhi’s Prayer: The Lord said:

Let a man feel hatred for no being, let him be friendly, compassionate; done with thoughts of “I” and “mine,” the same in pleasure as in pain, long suffering.
His is self restrained, his purpose firm, let his mind and soul be steeped in Me, let him worship Me with love, then will I love him in return.

That man I love from whom the people do not shrink and who does not shrink from them, who is free from exaltation, fear, impatience, and excitement.

I love the man who has no expectation, is pure and skilled, indifferent, who has no worries and gives up all selfish enterprise, loyal-devoted to me.

I love the man who hates not nor exults, who mourns not nor desires, who puts away both pleasant and unpleasant things, who is loyal-devoted-and-devout.

I love the man who is the same to friend and foe, the same whether he be respected or despised, the same in heat and cold, in pleasure as in pain, who has put away attachment and remains unmoved by praise or blame, who is taciturn, content with whatever comes his way, having no home, of steady mind, but loyal-devoted-and-devout.

But as for those who reverence these deathless words of righteousness which I have just now spoken, putting their faith in them, making Me their goal my loving devotees, these I do love exceedingly.”

The second Interval is a welcome opportunity to absorb and reflect on my experience.

The third Act lasts the better part of one Hour and comprises two parts of one scene 1913 the New Castle March first with Kasturbai and Mrs. Naidoo. It features Martin Luther King on a pedestal address a crowd before him to the back stage and who we do not see. When the Act commences he homes into an opening in the corrugated iron surround at centre stage.
As the Act progresses the corrugated iron work is slowly slid back to reveal King on the pedestal bathed in light oblivious to the singing and the music and the action front stage.

In what for others is night, therein is the man of self-restraint wide awake, separate from passion and hate, self-possessed and drawing near to calm serenity. This is the athlete of the spirit, whose ground remains unmoved, whole soul stands firmly on it. This is the fixed, still state which sustains even at the time of death the athletes of the spirit, who even then set forth, some to return, some never to return. Outstanding is he whose soul views in the self same way comrades and enemies, loving all alike.

The second part is a Gandhi solo:

The Lord said, I have passed through many a birth and many have you. I know them all but you do not. Yet by my creative energy, I consort with Nature and come to be in time. Whenever the law of righteousness withers away and lawlessness arises, then do I generate myself on earth. I come into being age after age and take a visible shape and move a man with men for the protection of good, thrusting the evil back and setting virtue on her seat again.”

Gandhi knew these words and the other verses by heart, You do not have to do likewise to appreciate the way Philip Glass has created the music and integrated the verses.

The sets, the various huge Puppets the various acrobats on stilts or flying creature devices and the cellotape and fire are all visual devices which distract as well as entertain. There is an element of head banging body flinging hard rock in which the total being is thrust into the music so that individual identity is lost and merges with the experience of the moment. Thus it was for me with participation in non violence action when there was no fear and no pain and I felt myself part of a moment and a purpose

2188 Satyagraha, the Bhagavad Gita and Philip Glass (1)

Discovering only this week that Philip Glass’s opera Satyagraha was to be shown on Live HD cinema relay from the Metropolitan Opera House at the Cineworld Bolden on Saturday evening 19th November 2011 at 6pm, I was filled with excitement and apprehension in equal measure.

Philip Glass is regarded as one of the most important composers of the 20th century but also as a minimalist and I knew beforehand that the Opera is in Sanskrit which in itself is not a problem as most opera as are not sang in the English language. There are always excellent sub titles included although sometimes these can be intrusive to the visual appreciation.

In this instance the libretto does not tell a traditional story but uses lines from 700 verse Hindu scripture the Bhagavad Gita which are constantly repeated in what I discovered and can be describe as musical and visual scenes which have the form of a slow moving tableaux reflecting the inner calm and peace at what one is doing.

It was in 1959, when I was twenty years that I paid attention to the life and teachings of Mahatma Ghandi and purchased the UNESCO published edition of his life and work All Men are Brothers. In fact the day was 1st December and I wrote on an opening blank page. “This day shall be remembered annually as the day from which the way became clear. May the light always shine the way and may you always give courage, strength and humility to serve you until the end.”

I have not recorded when during that extraordinary period of 18 months that I managed to buy in England for twelve shilling and six pence one of the 1951 2000 limited edition first printing of Satyagraha by the Jivanji Dahyabhi Desai Navajivan Press in Ahmedabad.
The writings led not only to my participation in the civil disobedience movement but to adopting non violence as a form of protest but not the way of life contained in Satyagrapha although had I the confidence and the skills to support myself I would have joined a community espousing the principles..

It was during the six month voluntary prison sentence that I discussed with colleagues the idea of undertaking a reverse direction Jarrow type march which would commence from Trafalgar Square at the end of the Easter four day March from Aldermaston to Holy Loch in the South West of Scotland which was to become the home of the United States nuclear warhead Polaris Nuclear Missile submarine. The intention was as with the salt marches to gather a human tide of supporters as progress was made with the objective in this instance that the UK should unilaterally abandon the possession and potential use of weapons of mass human destruction.

Although the Direct Action Committee against Nuclear War sponsored the event which was also subsequently supported by the Lord Russell’s and Ralph Scheonman’s Committee of 100 I debated with Pat Arrowsmith by correspondence my naive belief that it was possible to translate the Gandhian experience into 1960’s Britain. She was right of course and although the six week march did attract support from the communities visited and a Daily Mail journalist was embedded, the general public did not join in numbers although the finale which I helped to organise as a field officer over the final four weeks was an spectacular events with thousands witnessing and world wide publicity, the primary purpose failed.

I stayed up until 2 am on Friday night working on a study of the transcript of the contributions from three important core participants to the Leveson Inquiry - The National Union of Journalists, the Guardian Newspapers and the group of 51 victims.

I rose and was back at my desk around 9 and after a short night of interrupted sleep wishing I had decided to work on and I was not sure what condition I would be in to attend the Opera relay. I ended the work around 3pm having completed a piece on the attempt by Associated Newspapers to constrain the role of the Assessors and impose on the Inquiry someone considered sympathetic to their cause and then the important contribution from Michele Stanistreet of the NUJ. I listened to the first part of Newcastle’s visit to Manchester City in the Premiership and then got myself ready deciding to get to the cinema before the traffic from the Stadium of Light joined in the road to the cinema from Cleadon Village en route to the A19 dual carriage road to the Tyne Tunnel.

As anticipated the car and cinema’s entrance were full of excited young children and teenagers going to the two films of the weekend, the two and three dimensional showings of a new film about Christmas and six screens given over to the opening weekend of the first part of the final part of the Twilight saga of vampires and werewolves. I think there were only two other films on in the evening because of the demand for the latter, an indication of the nature of the British Youth of today. I also anticipated that there would be plenty of seats available in the small theatre showing the relay and I was able to select a mid row seat on my own just below midway in the seating towards the screen.

There was time to purchase some liquorice and a carton of mushrooms from Asda and then relax in the upstairs lounge bar after checking the prices of ice creams, pop corn and drinks which continue in their astronomical rise in price. I had no intention of purchasing, just curious. A tube of Pringles Crisps rated £3 with special offers at supermarkets from time to time at £1. You could get a two scoop ice cream for £2.20 but promotions cost £4 to £5 and similarly the pop corn drinks seemed to range from £6.50 to £8,50 for combinations. All stuff which if you wished could be purchased from the adjacent supermarket at substantially less.

In the bar lounge I became concerned at the behaviour of who appeared to be a father with a eight to nine year old girl and a teenage elder brother. The girl waited on her own while the menfolk purchased a coffee and a bottle of Pepsi for themselves. The teenager proceeded to drink and pour in a glass more than three quarters of the bottle pretending to offer the girl the remainder from time to time. Eventually the father intervened and snatched the bottle from the teenager which he gave to the increasingly distressed girl. It was another insight into family behaviour without the presence of the girl‘s mother and I wondered which of the films they were going to see.

As the other twenty four people attending the relay sat behind me other than a couple who clung to one end of my row against the wall I was able to recognise the majority from my visit at the end of last season and wondered if they were prepared for such an usual operatic form. It was evident from the comments at end of the first act they were not. On reflection I should have been better prepared to have maximised by enjoyment

Whether because of its unusual nature or it is a new season innovation in addition to the written notes handed by a member of staff just before the performance commenced the main structure and content of the opera appeared on screens before the relay commenced. There are acts with the third lasting one hour and two other intervals which means a three hours over performance spread over four hours.

The first two acts each have three scenes, some from the life of Gandhi in South Africa and some fictitious although to describe them as scenes is inaccurate because a scene usually means a chronological sequence of words in voice and orchestral music. In this instance I suggest each scene is a slow moving tableaux, with the words verses from the Gita reflecting the stillness and inner peace required of the Satyagraha.

The set comprise a single circular structure of a corrugated wall, with apertures which open from time to time at different levels as well as a central floor level opening and central part can slide back to the wings. There are five four human components. Gandhi, a tenor played by Richard Croft who communicates the strength of purpose throughout, There are other eight soloists, a second tenor, two sopranos, two mezzo Sopranos, a baritone and two basses. The chorus also so functions as South Africans and Indians.

There is also a 12 person ensemble of aerialists, puppeteers and stilt walkers. The Puppets are huge sometime filling the stage. I was not convinced by the their role and wonder if the opera would have been better without them and that they were there to please an audience used to experiencing visual treats. There was one device which I thought meaningful and which I will comment more within sequence.

In addition windows remained open in during each act to reveal figures which influenced or who were influenced by Gandhi Act one Tolstoy with whom Gandhi corresponded, Rabindranath Tagore who shared in his work and Martin Luther King Jnr who is seen standing on a plinth addressing a crowds with his back to the audience and who was influence in his ideas and approaches by Gandhi.

The first Act first scene has Gandhi arriving in South Africa wearing the suit of the day and holding his copy of the Gita and the music, the voice and the visuals attempts to communicate what he feels as much as what he thinks. The scene is a mythical battlefield the Kuru Field of Justice in which according to the verse sung by Ghandi all the rulers of the world are assembled with the main character Krishna representing God addressed by Arjuna who recognising friends and relatives among both the armies assembled is filled with compassion.

Arjuna sings; With mind perplexed concerning right and wrong I ask you which is the better course? Krishna answers Be wise in matters of death and duty” and then a line of basic Hinduism... “For sure death to all that’s born, sure is birth to all that dies and for this, you have no cause to grieve.” For me this is also core of Satyagraha and also of the fundamentalist Catholicism that you act, you commit because you need to because you believe it is right and important to do so irrespective of the consequence for you, and which you anticipate could be painful and terminal, but which you accept because it is for a great good which you also hope others will recognise and share but if they do not that does not lessen or alter the conviction or the purpose.

Krishna also says “brace yourself ready for the fight. So you will bring no evil on yourself.” I suggest that in fact the pacifist practitioner of non violence action accepts the evil of others on themselves in the same way that Christ accepted and absorbed the evil others and forgave them. The pacifist stands their ground when challenged whatever the outcome while the direct actionist intervenes in a non violent way and which often provokes violent retaliation which is then absorbed.

The Chorus representing Krishna reprimands the feint hearted and declares “Give up this vile feint heartedness. Stand up chastier of your foes to which Gandhi responds “Hold pleasure and pain profit and loss, victory and defeat to be the same: then brace yourself ready for the fight. So will you bring no evil on yourself” it is only over the past two decades that I have understood the paradox of the duality.

My understanding is that the scene is designed to represent the beginning of the transition for a new lawyer brought to a country to help out in a case between two business families who becomes aware of the plight of the Indian population regarded with suspicion and hostility by the predominant white and indigenous black populations.

It was the Russian Writer Tolstoy who established the first collective farm rather than the Communists or the Chinese but as with all political and social movements the concept only works if they are collectives of independent and committed volunteers. Once they imposed on those who are unwilling or lack understanding or committed they are doomed to failure and become contradictions such as anarchist organisation! I am not sure if the second scene is mythical or real because it feature Gandhi creating a collective farm for Indians in South Africa.

Gandhi: Between theory and practice, some talk as if they were two- making a separation and a difference between them, Yet wise men know that both can be gained in applying oneself whole heartedly to one. For the high estate attained by men of contemplative theory, the same state achieve the men of action. So act as the ancients of days old, performing works as spiritual exercise.

Soloists: Such a one is honourable who gives his mortal powers to worthy work not seeking gain. Do the allotted task for which one is fit, for work is more excellent than idleness and the body’s life proceeds not, lacking work. Such an earthly task do free from desire, you will perform a high task.

When the motives and the fruits of man’s actions are freed from desire, his works are burned clean from wisdom’s fire, the white fire of truth. When he casts off attachment to his deeds, a man embarks on his work ever content, on none dependent, With thought and giving up of all possessions, he cares for his bodily maintenance without excess; taking what chance may bring surmounting all dualities, the same in success and failure.

This begins to sound like a commercial for contemporary conservatism, the value of work even if its unpaid and acceptance of your allotted palace in society. Ghandi’s starting point became feed others before you feed yourself and clothe others before you clothe yourself with the purpose of feeding and clothing everyone. He was not a supporter of passivity or acceptance of the status quo.

The verse also seems to assume that every individual is of the same value to society which is clearly not the case and is why human beings basically want to be regarded for their different contributions but fairly, just as working for survival individual and family is different from working on something which is intrinsically of value and meaning as is freedom from with freedom to.

We saw want happened in China when everyone was sent to collectives and the middle class eliminated or sent to work on the land. While the population stopped starving there was no progress in the economic and social advancement of the people just as in Russia huge sections of the population became slaves of the state, instead of slaves to estates where the owners were often benign, with no choice or opportunity to be and live differently and where those given choice and opportunity was not based on merit or assessed potential but on ones relationships to the Party and dictatorship administrations including military and police.
While I share with Gandhi that to take on the role as a teacher, a guide, an authority one must deny the animalistic passions and desires, the difficulties can never be underestimated or that this should become a prescription for the majority or everyone. It is a question of self enlightenment and understanding but which is only achieved through a long process of experience which should include experience within the world of human interactions and activities and well as separate from them. What I came to object to is one person persuading another to undertake an activity without seeking out the implications of that activity. I would say to staff I may ask you to go over the top after me but only after I have explained to you why and that both us of may not come back, or come back lifelong wounded. I was fortunate in reaching that conclusion early life during my experiences in the those two years of exclusive direct action involvement fifty years ago.

In the third and final scene of first act The Vow of 1906, the British Government proposed a law which required the registration of all Indians and which then entitled the authorities to stop and search including entry into any household to establish that the individual possessed the registration and was not an illegal. The State of Arizona is proposing a similar system for Hispanics and I could see without the coalition a Tory government proposing similar as the Labour Identity card was intended to establish. In South Africa Gandhi through his newspaper and speeches encouraged the Indian Community to oppose the Black Act and the Operatic first act closes with a Vow to oppose to new legislation.

The world is not for the doubting man. For nothing on earth resembles wisdom’s power to purify and this a man find’s in time within himself. (I believe that the world will be a better place for more people if those in power doubt more the value of actions which attempt to control and affect others for their own good without first testing and assessing outcomes over periods appropriate for the proposed level and extent of change). (My experience is that in general the female, especially those who have relationships with men, especially those who give birth to new life gain wisdom quicker than most of the male of mind and inclinations).

I also have major reservations against the text: Whoever gives up a deed because it causes pain or because he shrinks from bodily pain, follows the way of darkness, knowing nothing of self surrender and which suggests that if the work in accord with the scripture then the surrender will lead to goodness. This has been used to justify the act of the terrorist suicide bomber. It ought to be morally wrong to knowingly cause any other human being harm except in individual, family and national self defence.

Chorus demands that These works of sacrifice must be done. They continue with the dangerous claim that sacrifice for the Gods leads to them sustaining you in return. There is a truism that you have to love to be able to be loved but when it comes to self sacrifice you should only do it because it is right and without any expectation or wish for a return on the investments of the action. It is best that you have no expectation just as while it is right to love without condition there should be no expectation of reciprocity on the part of any individual or individuals collectively.

It was during the first Act that the participants commence to strip themselves of their earthly possession by putting a garment onto a dangling hanger which then rises which I thought was a good effect. The audience is prepared for the nature of artistic experience by watching and listening without the benefit of subtitling and on reflection I wonder if the experience would be better without the subtitling or much of the visuals as provided through an audio disk. I have checked an purchased the disks for £11.88 from Amazon post free within a two day delivery. I shall stop now to put on a late lunch at 3pm, a seasoned chop with cooked fresh carrots, onion and parsnip with left over tinned new potatoes, watch a recording of the X factor and then do some work on the Rush Bridger opening statement to Leveson on behalf of Guardian Newspapers. With tomorrow devoted to the live testimony of the first victims at the Leveson Inquiry I am not sure when I will be able to tackle the second and third Acts. And the background work of Philip Glass. It could be that I will have listened to the music and voice which is alas is not longer in my head and upon without which the writing is sterile.

2063 The second most tuneful opera 2011

I have now experienced two live relays and two recorded productions of Il Trovatore since the Christmas of 2009. I was in the mood of the Opera 18 months ago, on the day after that horrific car journey between Wallington and the Travel Lodge at and then found that I was without my mobile phone so I had returned to Wallington to collect this, parked the car at considerable expense by East Croydon station and then travelled to Victoria where I had lunch at the Cafe Rouge before experiencing the Sophie Calle exhibition at the White Chapel gallery after first collecting my theatre relay ticket from the Odeon. I thoroughly enjoyed the day before the performance although there was underlying anxiety about the weather conditions.

The 2009 performance was from the Gran Thatre Del Liceu Barcelona where the city football reached the final of the European football cup last night for the third time in four years. Afterwards on the Metropolitan Opera New York player I watched the 1988 production with Pavarotti and Dolora Zajick. On Saturday 30th of April I visited the Cineworld Bolden and was able to get one of the remaining seats for a live relay of the Opera from the Met and with Dolora Zajick repeating her 1988 role as the Gypsy mother of the two royal brothers.

I will begin with a confession that I quickly became tired and struggled not to go to sleep which affected my appreciation of the Met relay so my response may not as objective as it would normally be..

The Liceu production was comparatively simple which a fixed contemporary looking structure of ceiling high columns at either side between which performers enter and exist, and single backcloths designed to show that as a background to the story there is conflict and war between two noble houses in Southern Spain. When the separate houses are represented on stage they have their own backcloth and the soldiers wear blue or red neck scarves and shining red or blue gauntlets. The effect is that much more dramatic than the Metropolitan with its stairways and changes in structures, impressive as these always are. It is also fair to say that the war between the two aristocratic houses is minor significance in terms of the two big issues of the opera. I continue to feel the Liceu production remains the most visually effective. This time the Met used a revolving stage which substantial reduced scene change time between the four acts. However the overall effect was dark and added nothing to the overall performance.

The opera opens with the captain of the guard for the noble house of Aragon, a baritone, explaining that in the past, the story is set in the fifteen century, a gypsy woman was seen over the child son of the Count di Luna and chased away but the child then fell ill and the court believed that the woman had cast a spell so she was apprehended and told to remove the spell and when the condition of the child did not improved she was burnt at the stake in front of her daughter, who listened to her mother’s cry, daughter, avenge me. By coincidence I had watched a showing of the Wicker Man a few days after the Barcelona production has the most vivid and effective of the martyrdom’s at the end of the film in which the victim calls for the salvation to his God as be burned to death within a large wicker framework filled with animals and produce. In this story the pagan response of the gypsy was to have a profound effect on all the principal characters.

Her daughter Azucena was a young girl with a child of her own in her arms and seeing the horror of her mother’s death and the entreaty to take revenge, managed to enter the castle of the Count and steal one of the brothers, a child of similar age to her own, intending to throw it into the still burning pyre on which her mother had perished. However in her emotional condition she had mixed up the two babies and thrown her own child which was also burnt alive, bringing up the son of the Count as her own. However throughout the rest of her life she remains uncertain of what she did, except that she was responsible for the burning to death of a baby.

There are different views on this aspect of the story with some writing claming that the libretto was written with a view that knowing what she had done she would use her son one day against his House, although the Count dies and his other son the Count is not sure if it was his brothers bones in the ashes or the boy was raised by the gypsies. It was interesting to see Dolora reprise her role after two decades and as anticipated she never fails to provide a technically perfect performance with great emotional acting. As with the other production all four principal characters are given several opportunities to come to the fore and in this instance it was the performance of Dmitri Hvorostovsky as Count Di Luna which proved the great crowd pleaser.

Dmitri had starred earlier in the season as Don Carlo which I had intended to experience but missed. Born and trained in Russia he came to the fore after winning the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. A tall man with striking silver hair, once seen and heard he is not forgotten.

After this long singing soliloquy of a prologue accompanied by a chorus of the guard, then advise the audience that the opera is to begin.

Most writers admit the melodramatic story has its flaws and none more so that than what happens to the infant that lived and was raised by the gypsy woman, Manrico, who as soon as he is able to, despite a close relationship with his mother, leaves her to become a Troubadour, and somehow as well as a soldier who takes up the cause of a rival Noble House and becomes for the purposes of the opera, a leading if not leading assistant on behalf of the House against the Count di Luna. What is worse he has fought and sung his way into the heart of the Duchess Lenora, who the Count coverts with overwhelming passion. When the Count di Luna learns that the man is singing below the balcony of Leonora he orders his men to apprehend Manrico at the first opportunity.

Having been alerted to his presence one night the Duke approaches and suddenly finds Leonora in his arms who in the fog mistakes him for Manrico who also appears and the three are together on stage with musical as well as dramatic fireworks. In the stage directions the men fight a duel but this aspect is omitted in the versions of the opera I have seen.

The Act ends and with a brief musical introduction the next act begins with a gypsy encampment. The gypsies are working on sword making and the audience is treated to one of the well loved choruses in opera, The Anvil Chorus. The Act provides the opportunity to recount the past to her son so having had the perspective oft he Captain of the Guard we now have that of the daughter. She has been hiding in the land of the House of Biscay but came out to find her son and to nurse him back to health after finding him injured from the recent battle between the forces of Biscay and Aragon. Understandably the account of the past raises doubt about the parentage of Manrico and when he raises these Azucena pulls back and claims that she explained things badly because of her emotional state reliving the trauma.

It is his ‘mother’s’ turn to question Manrico because we learn that in the duel at the end of Act 1 he had got the better of the Count di Luna who had led the forces of Aragon in the recent battle. The gypsy woman wants to know why Manrico did not kill the Count when he had the opportunity and he explains that a voice from heaven prevented him doing so, thus suggesting a subconscious kinship link between the two.

A messenger arrives from the Prince of Biscay to order Manrico to take charge of the forces defending the city of Castellor and we also learn that Leonora believing him dead has entered a convent to take the veil.

The scene switches to the Count who has also heard that Leonora has entered the convent and he sets out to kidnap her before she takes the Holy Orders. However before he can implement his plan Marico arrives with greater forces and Leonora amazed that he is alive leaves the convent to join him and there is a moving end to this part of the opera before the only interval as the three express their feelings with the support of the chorus of nuns and military supporters.

At the end of the second act and commencement of the Interval Renée Fleming interviewed Sondra Radvanovsky who played Leonora and Marcelo Alvarez who played Manrico. The two have performed together several times before and enjoy the relationship. However what struck me is despite taking into account that people fall for each other for irrational reasons that most women given a choice between the two men involved would go for the Count, tall, handsome, wealthy and oozing personality whereas Manrico is overweight with a tinge of wetness about him and comparatively poor! Oh I am being so unfair.

Sondra was born and bred in the USA and is now in her early forties having been developed as a young artist by the Metropolitan I have little information except that she also performed with Alvarez in Don Carlo, He on the other hand has an extensive repertoire of 29 roles since commencing his professional career in leading roles in 1994, born in Argentina in 1962 and is highly regarded as a leading tenor.

Renée interviewed Dolora and Demitri after 15 minute break when you could sit in and watch someone doing some work on scenery or got for a natural break and in my case out to the car to eat a prepared prawn salad and drink a diet Pepsi.

The Third Act opens with the Count laying siege to Castellor where Manrico has taken Leonora with him. There is a commotion and the Count finds that the Captain of his guard has apprehended a gipsy woman who proclaims she is a wanderer looking for her lost son. She is recognised as the woman who took his brother and cast him to the flames and protesting her innocence she calls out to her son by name. Understandably the Count realises that he has double reason to hold the woman prisoner and to burn her at the stake when she has served her purpose.

While in the relay production the woman is played by a singer of similar years, in the Met film this was Krijick’s first role at the Met and she had to age herself by a grey wig and makeup. “Her voice had not matured to extent of the AIDA performance but is nevertheless magnificent” I wrote at the time. The emotion she coveys is extraordinary and marks her as one of the all time greats. “As with AIDA I hope she reprises her role in Il Trovatore in some relayed production in the future.” Well she did wow, and she was great along with Dmitri.

In Castellor Manrico and Leonora are about to be married when news comes of the capture of his mother and breaks off from the ceremony to try and rescue her. “I was not impressed by the performance of Marco Berti as Manrico, something shared by Jose M Irurzun who attended a number of performances to hear the performances of all the International singers taking the roles with in effect three different casts, although there was some cross overs. I also noted that other critics had felt that his singing and characterization has not lived up to expectations in others roles around the world.”

In the fourth act we learn that his attempt to save his mother failed and he has been captured and thrown into a cell in a prison tower with his mother. Leonora learns of his situation and puts into operation a desperate plan to save his life at the expense of her own. She carries with her a poison ring which indicates what is to take place when she offers herself to the Count in exchange for Marico.

She alerts Manrico of her presence by what has become one of the most familiar most familiar melodies in all of opera, the Miserere.

The plan works in that the Count agrees to free Manrico in exchange for Leonora but Manrico does no accept his release and works out the price Leonora appears to have paid, something he does not understand or forgive until the poison works quicker than anticipated and she dies in his arms. The Count is so angered at being duped that he orders the immediate execution of Manrico and too late he learns from Azucena that he has killed his long lost brother. Everyone loses. Before there is some moving sing from all four leads with Aucena’s cry, Mother you are avenged.

“In the relay Barcelona Leonora is played by Florenza Cedolins one of the outstanding new generation of Italian sopranos who first performed only in 1992 and four years later won the Pavarotti Vocal Competition with a prize which included singing Tosca with him in Philadelphia. She was invited to sing The Requiem Mass for Pope John Paul II. I thought her performance on the night was also exceptional and matching that of D’Intinio. For the Met Eva Marton sings Leonora. The Hungarian born singer only four year younger that myself was of matching maturity with Pavarotti when they and together in 1988 and brings her then musical and singing experience to the role. She possesses great power in her voice which led to singing Wagner which was her Met debut in 1976. She performed Il Trovatore at La Scala in 1978 ten years before the Met performance with Pavarotti. In later years she made Turandot a major role, retiring in 2008

Enrico Caruso stated at the turn of the last century that the opera required four the greatest voices of any generation to match the strength and brilliance of Verdi’s creation. This statement was repeated by Renée Fleming in her introduction.

The response of the full house audience at Bolden was mixed with the husband/companion of one woman to one side appearing irritated by the ending and departing as soon as the opera ended. The woman remained to enjoy ecstatic applause in the auditorium. There was a double curtain call restricted to the principals. In terms of good tunes the Opera is second only to Carmen.

2036 Opera in 3 D

Two weeks ago while quickly going through the Daily Telegraph I noticed an advertisement for the showing in 3 D of the Royal Opera House production of Bizet’s opera Carmen. Because it is a film there were several showings at the Cineworld and Odeon chains as well as some independent cinemas. I chose an evening performance at a Cineworld buying tickets on line only to learn that the seating would be allocated on a first come first served basis. In fact there were only a dozen others and we could spread ourselves out in space for over 100.

I hoped it was the same production I had previously seen at an Odeon relay last June during one of my visits to London. That production was remarkable because of the credibility of all four principals with Christine Price as Carmen extraordinary because of her ability to change her facial appearance and physical body according to the aspects of character she is portraying. She appears to be exceptionally private about her background in that apart from learning she was born and raised in Manchester, read physics at Balliol Oxford and then studied at the Royal Northern College of Music before joining Covent garden and progressing from playing parts to lead roles just in the past couple of years.

Bryan Hymel plays Don Jose and he is another brilliant comparative young singer, born and raised in New Orleans he won a competition at the age of 19 and then became the youngest grand finalist in the Metropolitan National Council Auditions aged 20. He is now 30.

Also impressive for her characterisation as well as singing performance was Maija Kovalevska as Micaela. Although she has performed as Mimi in the 2006 Metropolitan opera production of La Boheme I have no other information about her roles until participating in Carmen and its 3D filming.

The fourth first class performance was that of Aris Argiris in the role of the bull fighting Matador Escamilla. This was his debut role as a principal at the age of 35 with six performances at the Opera House last June, including the live relay.

The strength of the performances, the great music with non stop tunes with only brief in between bits, the exciting Spanish gypsy dancing and the spectacle of the Bullfight march makes the opera a visual treat but I wondered if the 3D effects would be off putting. I had been looking forward to seeing a show in 3D since experiencing the World Cup Final last summer and noting that while there was some opportunity to show off the perspectives within the theatre and on stage, the bringing things out into the auditorium was limited. I was not disappointed with the visual treats being restricted to the procession and the first act changing of the guard and shift ending of the cigarette factory girls. A feature of the Royal opera House production was the inclusion of a Choir school chorus who mimicked the changing of the guard, and another feature was the strength of the chorus in general. The sound of the film production was a little on the loud and took some initial adjusting but the overall impact was mind blowing and emotionally satisfying providing the best views and close ups. The cost was modest providing an wonderful inexpensive evening at a fraction of what attendance at the Opera House involves with seats in the £100-£900 price range although are a few restricted view or in the Gods for less.

I have known the music and story of Bizet’s Carmen since being taken by the aunties to a touring production in Croydon during my childhood. My next encounter with the brazen and raunchy Spanish gypsy was with the film Carmen Jones. A few years ago I made video’s of three short versions each 90 mins. I have a bought within the last decade CD but I cannot remember attending another live production until a Saturday in January 2010 when beforehand I also watched and listened to a download from the Metropolitan Opera New York, because up until lunchtime I was unsure if my cough would improve sufficiently to attend the relay at the Tyneside Picture theatre in Newcastle.

In the morning I watched the only video version on the Metropolitan Opera i player reading the available information beforehand. As with many works when the opera opened in Paris is was denounced by the majority of the critics and there was a move to end its run in the first week, but survived the attacks to complete 48 performances. The young composer then died a few months later aged 37 unaware that the opera was to be hailed a triumph when it was performed in Austria later in the year but after which only gradually became one of the most popular and best loved operas around the world.

The opera is set in Seville, Spain in 1830 where Michaela a village maiden comes to the city to find her fiancée Don Jose, a corporal working at the Guard House but is yet to come on shift. She is approached by the soldiers and runs away to turn later. Don Jose arrives with the change of guard whose ritual is imitated by street children, thus providing opportunity for talented youngsters from stage schools to appear in a major opera production. He is dedicated soldier eager to impress and be a credit to his mother who lives in the same village as Micaela. The couple appear to be well suited and devoted to each other.

Don Jose’s period of duty coincides with the emergence of women from the cigarette factory for smoking break where they are greeted by their admirers. Last to emerge is Carmen, a beautiful young gypsy woman with a reputation for taking lovers but discarding them as quickly if they do not live up to her expectations or if she finds someone who interests her more. She likes to be the centre of attention and reacts when Don Jose shows no interest in her. When they return to work Micaela arrives with a letter from the mother of Don Jose and before they part it is agreed that they will marry soon.

After she has left there are cries with the factory and Carmen and been fighting another worker. The officer of the watch arrests Carmen and places her in the custody of Don Jose while he writes a warrant for her to be conveyed to prison. Carmen makes a play for Don Jose, offering herself and he unties her hands so with the help of the other girls she is able to escape when the officer returns with the completed warrant, This is sufficient for Don Jose to be punished by being restricted to barracks. This ends the first act.

A month has passed when Act 2 opens and Carmen and her friends sing and dance at an Inn where the customers include the officer of Don Jose’s watch and he invites Carmen and her friends to go with him to the theatre. She is committed to Don Jose who she knows was released the previous day. The Bullfighters are in town and the most famous is Escamillo the Matador who flirts with Carmen after singing the famous Toreador(collective description for all classes of bullfighters) song. Carmen does not reject him outright saying he should not dream of being hers, with the caveat for the time being.

Then smugglers arrive trying to enlist Carmen and the other girls to participate in the selling of contraband they have smuggled from Gibraltar. Carmen rejects the offer startling everyone by saying she is love. I know something about smuggling and Gibraltar because when my birth and care mothers, their sisters and brothers were growing up before during and immediately after the First World War smuggling was practiced by almost the entire resident population of Gibraltar and the equal number of Spanish workers who crossed back and forth across border with Spain every day. Certainly one of the uncles was able to run about the rock in a chauffer driven car from the early gambling slot machines and the smuggling which he encouraged several of his sisters to participate in. Then it was citizens black economy more than hierarchical organised crime which came with the trade in illegal drugs in the last quarter of the 20th century.

The other aspect worth mentioning is that Spain was and remains, but to less extent, a country where Roman Catholicism is the religion of the overwhelming majority with pre war the then the peasant and lower middle class population practicing a simple and devout religion and where the Spanish practised a social code where unmarried women would not be left in the presence of males who were not relatives without a chaperon. Carmen would have been exceptional, even among Gypsy women.

Jose enters the opera again before the smugglers leave and they urge her to bring him along on the enterprise. Jose returns the gold coin she sent him while in custody and she orders fruit and wine to celebrate his releases and dances with her friends for him. All appears well until the retreat is sounded for the soldiers to return to barracks and Jose makes to go off. This is not what Carmen wants and alleges that Jose does not love her. He responds with the Flower song showing that he kept the flower which she also sent to him in jail. She begs him to leave the army and enjoy the freedom which experiences. Just when it looks that he will not desert his officer arrives in search of Carmen and Jose draws his sword but before they can fight the smugglers re-enter and disarm them and the officer is made a prisoner. Everyone including the Don Jose is forced to then flee or be imprisoned.

This is when the interval usually takes placed. The third Act is described as a wild and deserted rocky place where the smugglers are travelling with the contraband and Carmen has already tired of her latest lover because he is at heart a village lad. The gypsy women read the cards and then Carmen looks for her future and that of Don Jose and the cards foretell that they both will have premature death. The role of the girls is to charm the customs officers and they leave Jose to guard the contraband. This provides the opportunity for Micaela to reappear having followed in search of her fiancée and is determined to take Jose away from the influence of Carmen. Then Escamillo the Matador also arrives in search of Carmen and he tells Don Jose that the gypsy has become infatuated with a soldier, not realising that Jose was the man. Jose still jealous because of Carmen’s behaviour towards him challenges the bullfight, but the man resists until provoked further when he disarms the soldier, leaving him saying his trade is to kill bulls, not men. Don Jose starts to fight again but the Smugglers return and disarm Jose. The Bullfighter invites them to attend his next bullfight in Seville.

In the fourth Act the scene is outside the bullring on the opening day of the latest contest. This provides the opportunity for the full procession of the bullfighters and leading personalities of the town to march in procession, the cuidrilla. I have attended one Bullfight in Barcelona, leaving at half time because I seen enough of the ritual slaughter of the bulls. My prejudices were more than confirmed because the various levels of fighter are given every possible protection and bulls are medicated to ensure while they put up a performance they offer little risk as they ceremonial tortured to death. Their is no honour in the activity which is worse than fox hunting. There are three matadors who each fight two bulls and each has six assistants, two Picadores, men on padded horses who pick at the bulls with lancers, three Banderilleros who stick pointed sticks into the bull and the sword holder who hands the killing weapon to the Matador when the bull is ready for the kill. The group procession into the arena where they salute the presiding dignitaries who are accompanied by the social dignitaries of then town and visiting celebrities, friends and families of the bullfighters. The costumes are flamboyant. The so called fight has thee stages where the bull is tested by use of the cape by the Matador and his walking assistants. The second stage is those on horses and where until the 1930 when the padding was introduced more horses were killed by the bulls than the bulls themselves. The purpose is to disable the bull to reduce the danger in the final stage. At this stage the banderilleros each attempt to plant two of pointed sticks into the shoulders of the bull. There is a loss of blood from these attacks. Finally the matador enters With the sword hidden in the cape. The whole notion of red the flag to a bull is nonsense as bulls are colour blind and the use of red is to mask the flow of blood from the wounded bull.

The crowd then participate by signalling their approval or disapproval of the performance by waving of white handkerchiefs in which instance the Matador may be reward by one or two of the bulls ears and in some areas with the tail for an exceptional performance. Equally if the crowd like the bull they will call for its life to be saved in which instance it returns to its ranch to stud and does not participation in any further bullfight. This crowd participation is reminiscent of the Roman crowd and the gladiatorial contests.

There are bull fights where the bull is not physically injured and where the tem are dressed normally and where performs are aerobatic without the use of the cape. The men work as a teams without the status distinctions and compete for points against the other teams. There are variations in different countries, Portugal where is now illegal to kill the bull in an arena, France and in Latin America.

There was marked difference in how the procession was treated in the 1997 and 2010 Metropolitan productions. In 1997 the participants were in their full historical finery with the Picadores astride real horses whereas on Saturday the approach was to wear casual clothes, no horses and no visible instruments of torture and death. The emphasis was on raunchy sex instead and more on that in a moment. The procession provide the opportunity for a second appearance of the street children and everyone leaves the stage for the closing moments. In the 1997 production Carmen is transformed into a Spanish lady and consort of Escamillo. Before she enters the stadium she is told that Don Jose has also come to the city and her friends warn her to be on her guard. Carmen being Carmen and aware of what the cards foretold goes in search of her former lover to persuade him to let her go. She was born free and wishes to remain free. Don Jose pleads with her in one of the most moving solos in all opera. Carmen maintain her position and tell him to kill her or let her go. In his desperation, jealousy and hate he kills her but is then horrified by what he has done and he makes no attempt to flee before he is apprehended knowing his life has also ended.

The opera had been performed and recorded by all the great opera singers with in my life time Victoria de los Angeles, Maria Callas, Leontyne Price, Grace Bumbry Marilyne Horner, Jessye Norman and Angela Gheorghiu, together with Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, More recently the role of Don Jose has been made his own by Roberto Alagna until recently the husband of Angela Gheorghiu who made a recording together in 2003. In 1997 Angela played the part of Micaela and was to have returned to Met as Carmen in this year’s production with her husband in the role of Don Jose. They have now parted and Angela withdrew from the production as a consequence.

Because of my uncertainty the decision to watch the 1997 production did not reduced the impact of 2010 performance in the evening. Carmen was played in 1997 by Waltraud Meir the international German Soprano and mezzo soprano who although 46 at the time had a reputation as an actress performer and was very convincing as an experience woman with many previous lovers who could attract the attention of most men she encountered and confidently expected to remain in control of the relationship for as long as she wished. I once visited a tourist nightclub in Athens in Greece at which the female singer had perfected the art of getting all the men to focus on her irrespective of whether they were there with their partners and regardless of the feelings of the partners. She selected a victim to pretend to flirt and seduce and then discards leaving him looking foolish. Sitting at the same table was a well built mature German gentleman, with his equally formidable looking wife and the actress singer made a bee line to attract his interest as soon as she noted his indifference which from my perspective bordered on contempt and she tried to engage his attention more than once but she was ignored which only appeared to make her more determined.

Whereas in the 2010 production Carmen, Elina Garanca performed this role in very physical way, Meir’s performance was achieved by looks and gestures. Elina is a younger performer with a sexy voice as well as body, in part achieved from being a mezzo-soprano, born 1976 in Latvia.

Placido Domingo remains the most outstanding operatic performer of his generation from what I have experienced todate and this includes Pavarotti but not Carreras who I am yet to see in a full operatic role. It is the number and range of the roles undertaken that impresses together with his constant ability to communicate the deepest emotions and role credibility even when there is a mismatch between his actual age and that of the part. However in terms of Carmen, Roberto Alagna, born Paris of a Sicilian family takes the honours because he is more convincing as a young man from a Spanish village out of his depths when confronted by a woman such as Carmen. In part this was because of differences in the production with that of 1997 putting the emphasis Done Jose strutting confidently around in an impressive uniform whether as a soldier or Smuggler. Both were brilliant at communication their desperation at being reject by Carmen for Escamillo at the end. The role of Micaela is a difficult one because while a chaste girl from the village she has to cope with the advances of the soldiers at the city guard house and also be able to travel on her own in search of her fiancée all the way from Servile to Gibraltar in the days before public transport where travel would have been by donkey if not on foot. In 1997 the role was performed by Gheorghiu.

The other observation to be made that while Carmen is full of glorious music it does not have the same power as Il Travatore, or Butterfly for dramatic moments but continues to stand alongside Aida from those seen in relay with only Turandot lacking the overall impact of the others.

Having made these comparisons in the early part of 2010, the Royal Opera House production is superior to the Metropolitan in the homogeneity of the principals with the voices and physical appearances being so appropriate and the acting characterization of the highest order. I say this having only recently also seen the 2010 Metropolitan opera production again when it appears on Sky Arts channel.

The 3D confirmed my anticipation that would be become the medium by which elders like me could continue to experience the reality of live performances without the travelling discomforts or the excessive costs. The poor attendance could prove a discouragement to the cost of making programmes though.

1900 part three La Boheme at Convent Garden and Metropolitan Opera Houses

The day had commenced in sunshine but was cold and wet when left the cinema about 17.30 and I made the instant decision to see if there was a train to Wimbledon from the nearby station. A sign said platform 3 Wimbledon and Waterloo so I went to the ticket office where two assistants were explaining routes to someone before me. When I heard an announcement that a train was on its way I explained my interest and another window was opened, the ticket issued and the train reached the platform the same time as me, I have no sense of directions at times and was surprised when the train went to Norbiton and back to New Malden before reaching Wimbledon railway station which is close to the separate Underground station.

I have been to the Odeon Cinema before, by car, but I had no recollection of where the cinema is located in terms of the two stations and in fact I went in the opposite direction, After asking directions I passed a fast food restaurant and considered having some food there but thought it was better to reach the cinema first. I went into the small foyer entrance, inserted the credit card and obtained the ticket and then went to the Coal Grill next door and was allocated a seat opposite Morrison’s supermarket above which was the David LLoyd Gym which could be reached from the upper floor of cinema with customers working hard overlooking the small street market and me. I enjoyed a Whitebait starter followed by a quarter of a small chicken, some coleslaw and chips for £7.50 plus a very expensive diet coke.

I arrived in the theatre for the opera with less than 15 minutes to spare and at first it looked as if the audience would be sparse and in fact by the time performance got underway everyone was crowded into the area allocated as premium seats, which was larger than that at the Odeon’s attended in London, Mansfield and Kingston this year. I spent the first half uncomfortable sandwiched between a Canadian who knew of the Met Relay and who had been to the Royal Opera House when it was possible to pay only a few pounds to sit high up in the side seats. During the 20 minute interval I had a walkabout and then sat in a less expensive aisle seat towards the front and had an improved quality of experience. Hopefully there will be not such a crowd for the Met Hamlet relay on Saturday in Newcastle. The cinema also appears not to have adjusted to the opportunity to sell wine, chocolates crisps and nuts and one had to leave the main area of auditorium to go into the entrance concourse for ice creams and the usual cinema fare.

The main disappointment was that it was not a live relay but a film with interval. There was also a delayed start and one person was heard to complain during the interval that she had been told the start was delayed until 7.45 and had missed the greater part of the first act and which includes the well known Your tiny hand is frozen.

The opera is one of the most performed of all but overall is more lighted hearted with comic moments than Puccini’s other great work Madam Butterfly and the other grand works in general. It is the story of a group of four bohemians in Paris in 1870’s- a poet, a painter, a musician and a philosopher. It was the first live relay from the Met in 1977 with Luciano Pavarotti as Rodolfo the poet. In the Covent Garden production the part was played by Teodor Ilincai who just before Christmas 2009 was called upon to take over from the performing tenor at the interval who was overcome with a cold. The Romanian Tenor has a soft and gentle voice, appropriate for a starving poet in a cold Parisian Garrett whereas Pavarotti brings the tingles to the spine but is always the master performer and never a struggling bohemian. There is a similar contrast between the performances of Hibla Gerzmava at the Royal Opera House in 2010 and the already aging Renata Scotto in 1977. Hibla is Russian and her voice has been described as clear and focussed with power and she made an important contribution the production without dominating it so that the lasting impressions were made by Musetta (Inna Dukach) and Gabriele Viviani as Marcello the Painter.

By the time of the 1977 performance the Italian Renata was in her prime and she went on to Direct a number of operas including the Met which had become her established Opera House when she married and settled in the area with her family. She once had the experience of performing with Maria Callas in the audience and a few in the audience calling for Calls while Renata was singing. Intolerable behaviour even for the emotional and expressive Italians. This is difficult to understand for she had one on the finest of voices and was a good match for Pavarotti.

The plot is well known. Two of the bohemians debate whether to burn the current painting or writing for warmth. Their friends arrive celebrating that Schaunard, the musician, has earned money playing for an eccentric Englishman’s dying parrot. After he had played for three days he poisoned the parrot and celebrated with the purchase of fuel, food, wine and cigars.

The owner of the property calls for the rent and tricks him into going away without any money after they feign being shocked by his boasted exploits with a woman. They decide to go out and celebrate the good fortune at restaurant because it is Christmas Eve. Rodolfo stays behind to finish his writing but there is a knock at the door and it is Mimi whose candle has gone out and who has lost the key to her room. They immediately fall in love and both have great solos which at Convent garden attracted some applause but where Pavarotti and Scotto received justified prolonged cheering and applause ovations.

I turn away from writing to watch and listen to Pavarotti noting he difference in that at Wimbledon I did not give myself wholeheartedly to the performance which lacked any moment of being special or unique whereas with Pavarotti and indeed all the other members of the cast I am constantly stopping reading and writing because of the sounds even without watching or paying attention to the subtitles. The singing tells you all.

Later in the afternoon I watched a second Met relay production five years later in which Scotto plays the role Musetta and Rodolfo is played by Joseph Carreras and Mimi by Teresa Stratas who was a co winner of the Met’s auditions programme back in 1959 at the age of 21. Retiring in 1998 after a 36 year career based at the Met she appeared in 385 productions and 41 different roles. The two looked more like young lovers in 1982 and although Canadian born Teresa was 43 but retained slim features and a youthful figure. After retirement she has made only one public appearance, has undertaken voluntary work in Calcutta meeting Mother Teresa and to Rumania to work in an orphanage

The second act takes place within the cafe and features a large street scene with children, soldiers and lots of people thronging about and being entertained by Perpignol, a toy seller. Rodolfo introduces Mimi to his friends who include Colline, the philosopher but the main event is the arrival of
Musetta, presently the mistress of a wealthy but old man. She is the one time lover of Marcello who she does her best to attract his intention but he ignores her. Eventually she sends off the old man on a fool’s errand and decides to go off with Marcello and friends, leaving the old man to pay for both bills. The main interval is usually taken at this point.

It is after the interval that the Puccini’s story takes a twist. The location is outside as an Inn where Marcello is working on a commission accompanied by Musetta. They are happy in their own way but already Musetta is regretting the loss of freedom and hankers for the attentions of new men. To add perspective to the opera, it is dawn with the arrival of street sellers of milk and eggs, street sweepers and others into the town guarded by gate keepers and customs men. It is in the depth of Winter and continues to snow hard. Mimi arrives calling for Marcello as she and Rodolfo have quarrelled and she suspects he has gone to Marcello which is correct, She explains that Rodolfo has become very jealous and saying he wants to end their relationship. Mimi hides rather than leaves when Rodolfo comes out to join Marcello and hears him explain that he is still very much in love with her, but he is aware she is ill and he is so poor he cannot fund the doctors and medicine she requires. Mimi and Rodolfo are reunited and agree to stay together until the Spring which is the other way round from what would have been best for her. Musetta comes out and Marcello quarrels over her flirting behaviour.

There is a substantial jump in time to the fourth act where the bohemians are back together but Rodolfo and Marcello are finding it difficult to work having both parted from their true loves. The two others arrive share a little food but the meal is interrupted by the arrival of Musetta who has found Mimi in the street ill. She has been living with someone able to provide for her but her health has been damaged beyond medical help. She knows she is dying and wants to see Rodolfo before her end, he is delighted to see her as is Marcello, to see Musetta, but no one realises just how ill she is until she dies. There is some fine singing before Rodolfo learns she is dead and has not just fallen asleep. He calls out Mimi as the curtain falls.

I had an excellent and memorable day but the highlights were my visit to my former home in Erdington, to the atrium at the Bentalls’ shopping centre Kingston and the Film Shutter Island. The opera was something of a disappointment reinforced by then hearing the performances of Pavarotti and Scotto, of Stratas and Carreras

It was comparative early after the show but although it was not raining the atmosphere was wet on ground as I made the short way across the main road passed a still open supermarket until 11pm and into the railway station for Tram purchasing the require £2 ticket. I have used this Tram once before after attending a day at Wimbledon Tennis Courts and finding that there was a problem with the train to Sutton. I had then taken the tram to Beddington Lane for the train to Sutton and from there to Wallington. I had not paid attention to the route which continues to Croydon and New Addington. The route is an interesting one in that there are 15 stops, with between one and two minutes in between making the whole journey just over half an hour. The tram passes through Merton to Mitcham Junction and stops at the far end of the Purley Way Shopping centre close to the Ikea Store. There are several stops in Croydon with Reeves Corner where we would get off the 654 trolley bus as a family when I was a child and walk up Church Street, to the Market at Surrey Street and the wonderful Kennard’s departmental store. Reeves remains as a furniture store although the number of buildings has reduced. The tram then goes around the outskirts of the Centrale shopping complex where there is a stop before one by West Croydon Train station close to the bus station and then stops a few yards from the Travel Lodge before turning into George Street and the Tram Interchange outside of East Croydon Station, I was tempted to go over to the new Sainsbury’s Local which stays open until 11pm seven night a week and where the prices are even higher than the Waitrose. I made do with what I had in the room but which I cannot now remember.

On the Tuesday it was family visiting day and an enjoyable Roast beef lunch at £5.20 where it is possible load the plate with as much vegetables as you like. There is also a new development of unlimited diet, ordinary or max Pepsi or lemonade with ice for £2.05. I had three refills and did not need a coffee.

Having had such an excellent day on the Monday I did not anticipate Wednesday would prove an even better one. The original plan had been to visit central London for the Victoria and Albert Museum to view the new permanent exhibition of work from the Renaissance and or the Henry Moore retrospective at the Tate but the idea had developed that if the weather was good to take the bus back to Kingston and from there continue along the other side of the river to Ham, Petersham and Richmond one of the most beautiful areas of London and in the whole of the UK in terms of fine Houses, Greens, parkland and the river Thames.

I also decided to get an Oyster Card. This is the prepayment or pay as you go travel card or pass which covers all forms transport in greater London with extensions to other stations with barrier pass in and out systems. There are some financial advantages using the card against the usual cash price with the minimum single fare on the underground halves from £4 to £2, that on the Tram which can cover the journey from end to end reduced from £2 to £1.20 and with a reduction of about 10% on above ground Train Travel within. The cards can also be used as one day, week, monthly or quarterly Travel cards although there are no discounts a special card is required for the longer travel pass which has to be registered whereas the ordinary Oyster does not have to be registered and therefore can be used by more than one adult. There are 3200 special or other outlets where Oyster cards can be purchased or stopped up and there five special shops throughout central Croydon. It is possible to also purchase or add to registered cards online. Apart from the financial advantages there is the convenience of being able to travel without need to buy individual tickets or day passes. However there are potential problems as I was soon to find if one does not correctly log the pass at the correct in and out facilities at each travel outlet. That was for the day to come.

1862 Carmen and Carmen Jones

The pain of others, and of the self becomes more difficult to bear with each passing year. Some may appear to become hardened over time but this is usually a form of defence. This weekend I had the privilege of experiencing the last of this seasons’ three conversions of the Wallander books into a 90 min tale. It was the brilliant and very moving and written with a great empathy for human suffering and emotional pain.

I have known the music and story of Bizet’s Carmen since being taken by the aunties to a touring production in Croydon during my childhood. My next encounter with the brazen and raunchy Spanish gypsy was with the film Carmen Jones. A few years ago I made video’s of three short versions each 90 mins. I have a bought within the last decade CD but I cannot remember attending another live production until Saturday when beforehand I also watched and listened to a download from the Metropolitan Opera New York, because up until lunchtime I was unsure if my cough would improve sufficiently to attend the relay at the Tyneside Picture theatre in Newcastle.

Both the opera and the Wallander story are about pain, real pain, but experienced at a distance, experienced for pleasure and entertainment.

Then waking late after staying up even later and feeling relaxed and looking forward to the day and the week I switched on the radio while in the bathroom and heard a member of the Catholic order of the Silesians relaying reports that all their educational, hostels and relief centres in Haiti had been demolished and in particular the fate of the pupils in one establishment where the youngest were on the top floor, presumably for security reasons and oldest on lower so that when the building collapsed, some of the older are known to have got out but the majority with the teaching staff did not. The representative, I believe a priest, spoke in calm matter of fact way but there was no hiding the sorrow and the pain in his voice

I coughed a lot on Saturday morning uncertain whether to attend the performance or return the ticket. I tried to cough out, taking doses of the mixture at ten and then mid afternoon. I no longer had a runny nose which meant there was less mucous going to the chest. I worked upon a plan and got myself ready early afternoon cooking four chicken drumsticks and eating one with the second dose of Beechams’ All in One medication. I made up a tomato and basil soup for the flask and packed a carton of grapes. It was a day for a suit with the light mauve shirt which required cuff links and which took sometime to insert, a pair given by my aunt.

I then made my way to the car park close to the High Street and purchased thirty minutes of time going to the bank for some cash and then to Wilkinson’s for a packet of Murray mints and two packets of Polo mints. I could have obtained these from several other stores but I was also fast running out of plastic pockets for the lever arch files for my work and I wanted to check out the cost of those at the store. The pound land where charging £1 for 80 but these were of inferior quality to those acquired from Asda and Wilkinson and which in turn were cheaper than Staples. Bingo and Eureka, there was a special offer where instead of 95p 100, 200 were available for £1.30. Brilliant. I purchased a carton of ten and determined to return on Sunday for more, which I did, getting 20 and leaving half a dozen or so behind, as I rightly assessed what I had would fill the shelf where I store them.

I then travelled to the Hewarth Interchange travel centre car park, foregoing 20p on top of the charge of £1.80 for four hours which would take me past the charging period for the day. I enjoyed the soup and remembered to take with me a small bottle of water in addition to a supply of the mints, my gloves and scarf and a small telescopic umbrella noticing that I was not coughing as much as before, if at all.

The latest score from Stamford Bridge was that Sunderland were only losing 5.0, with four goals scored conceded in the first third of the game. Newcastle play on Monday night on Sky. Just as well the car radio remained to be fixed. Chelsea went on to score two more. England were losing badly at the cricket so that the series against South Africa would be drawn. The switch from Football to Opera this winter was proving a great decision. The judgement and wisdom of age.

I arrived at the Theatre just after five pm having had to produce my travel pass during the journey at a checking purge at Gateshead. One young passenger immediately owned up that he was travelling without a ticket and was sent off the train to see the Inspector. There was a similar gathering of ticket checkers at the Monument station exit.

There was a dozen people at the box office, going to cinema showings, collecting previously ordered tickets or hoping for last hour returns. I went to the toilet, found that the cafe restaurant on the second floor and the bar on the fourth were full with standing room only and made my way to the first floor where opposite the entrance to the Classic Circle there was a screen showing Newsreels. The Tyneside Theatre opened in 1937 as a Newsreel theatre. At the time there were about 40000 cinema seats in the greater Newcastle 40 theatres until the arrival of Daily Television broadcasting in the 1950’s. The news reel theatre had a feature programme of sport, educational and interest documentaries, including cartoons. In addition to the News there were usually four other films per programme, one on sport, a travelogue, on some household activity and a cartoon. Before TV the only way to see news was through the news reels which were also shown in between the main and second feature film in standard theatres. This was also at a time of the continuous performance. You could purchase a ticket at noon when the theatre opened and sit through to when the Queen was played at the closing watching the highlights of a football or cricket game over and over and over again. People also entered and left the shows in the standard theatres during a performance and as we went in early this was after the B picture had commenced but we did not always stay for the next showing. Because the standard theatres, the Odeon’s, the Grenada’s, The Gaumont’s and the smaller independent showed USA and British films it was left to some of the News Theatre to begin to show films produced by European countries, mainly France, Italy and some from Spain, and Ingmar Bergman. This is how the Tyneside Film Theatre developed.

As previously mentioned I had seen a production of Carmen live during my childhood with scenery painted backcloth. In 1954 Otto Preminger updated the story to Afro America with Harry Belafonte playing a recruit providing guard duty at a Parachute making factory during World War II. The film is based on an Oscar Hammerstein II 1943 musical using the music of Bizet. Carman, played by Dorothy Danbridge, works at the factory and gets into a fight with the co worker who has reported her for being late. Joe is told by a Sgt to convey Carmen to the authorities much to the dismay of his girl friend, Cindy Lou, who has come to factory to say she will marry him on his next leave.

The wanton Carmen sets out to seduce Joe to gain her freedom and her effort intensifies when he initially rejects her advances. He wakes after spending the night together when their vehicles ends up in a river to find a note from her saying sorry that she is not going to jail but she loves him. Joe is locked in the stockade for allowing his prisoner to escape and matters get worse when Cindy Lou leaves him in anger after arriving to find a rose from Carmen being delivered to him. Carmen gets work in a local night club to await for the release of Joe and in the film Pearl Bailey sings an exciting number Beat Out that Rhythm on a drum. Joe Adams plays Husky Miller a prize fighter who arrives at the club with his entourage, takes a fancy to Carmen and tries to buy her attention with gifts but she ignores his advances.

When Joe is released from prison and visits Carmen her response makes him feel his imprisonment has been worthwhile but he is then summoned away to attend flying school. Carmen is incensed and shows her disapproval by accepting an invitation from Joe‘s Sgt to go off with him. This anger’s Joe and he fights the Sgt. Realising he will get a long prison sentence for this and Joe flees to Chicago with Carmen where they rent a small room and Carmen goes in secret to seek money from the Boxer to enable her and Joe to survive. When Joe persists in wanting to know how she managed to obtain the groceries bought with the cash, she goes off again, to the Hotel suite of the fighter accompanied by friends. She uses cards to tell her fortune and this reveals her premature death. She responds to this news by indulging in an orgy of drink and sex portrayed only by inference given the era when the film was made.

Cindy Lou arrives in search of her fiancée and then Joe arrives and threatens to get into a fight with the Boxer. Carmen helps him to escape but she has become attached to the boxer. Joe finds her on the day of the big fight and pleads with her to return to him. She refuses and tells him to kill her or let her go. He strangles her in a moment of jealous a passion just as the police arrive to arrest him for desertion.

Preminger met considerable opposition to getting the funding for the project and eventually was forced to accept several constraints when it was realised he intended to follow the original story portraying a woman with no morals and without moralising about her behaviour. Preminger also had misgivings about the casting of Dorothy Danbridge who herself had doubts but was persuaded by the Director who then commenced to have an affair with her! Although Dorothy and Harry Belafonte both sang, Carmen Jones is an operatic musical and therefore their voices were dubbed by Marilyn Horne and Le Verne Hutcherson. The film had very mixed reviews with some feeling that the contemporary story was at odds with the music of grand opera, and others that too many compromises had been made to appease a still racist and segregated United States. I have the original Long Play record with titles such as Lift em up and Put em down, You talk just like my Maw. Dere’s a cafe in de corner! My CD version of the Opera has Regine Resnik as Carmen and Joan Sutherland as Micaela

Because of uncertainty about my ability to cope with the performance in theatre, on Saturday morning I watched the only video version on the Metropolitan Opera i player reading the available information beforehand. As with many works when the opera opened in Paris is was denounced by the majority of the critics and there was a move to end its run in the first week, but survived the attacks to complete 48 performances. The young composer then died a few months later aged 37 unaware that the opera was to be hailed a triumph when it was performed in Austria later in the year but after which only gradually became one of the most popular and best loved operas around the world.

The opera is set in Seville, Spain in 1830 where Michaela a village maiden comes to the city to find her fiancée Don Jose, a corporal working at the Guard House but is yet to come on shift. She is approached by the soldiers and runs away to turn later. Don Jose arrives with the change of guard whose ritual is imitated by street children, thus providing opportunity for talented youngsters from stage schools to appear in a major opera production. He is dedicated soldier eager to impress and be a credit to his mother who lives in the same village as Micaela. The couple appear to be well suited and devoted to each other.

Don Jose’s period of duty coincides with the emergence of women from the cigarette factory for smoking break where they are greeted by their admirers. Last to emerge is Carmen, a beautiful young gypsy woman with a reputation for taking lovers but discarding them as quickly if they do not live up to her expectations or if she finds someone who interests her more. She likes to be the centre of attention and reacts when Don Jose shows no interest in her. When they return to work Micaela arrives with a letter from the mother of Don Jose and before they part it is agreed that they will marry soon.

After she has left there are cries with the factory and Carmen and been fighting another worker who slashes her across the. The officer of the watch arrests Carmen and places her in the custody of Don Jose while he writes a warrant for her to be conveyed to prison. Carmen makes a play for Don Jose, offering herself and he unties her hands so with the help of the other girls she is able to escape when the officer returns with the completed warrant, This is sufficient for Don Jose to be punished by being restricted to barracks. This ends the first act.

A month has passed when Act 2 opens and Carmen and her friends sing and dance at an Inn where the customers include the officer of Don Jose’s watch and he invites Carmen and her friends to go with him to the theatre. She is committed to Don Jose who she knows was released the previous day. The Bullfighters are in town and the most famous is Escamillo the Matador who flirts with Carmen after singing the famous Toreador(collective description for all classes of bullfighters) song. Carmen does not reject him in the same way as the officer saying he should not dream of being hers, with the caveat for the time being.

Then smugglers arrive trying to enlist Carmen and the other girls to participate in the selling of contraband they have smuggled from Gibraltar. Carmen rejects the offer startling everyone by saying she is love. I know something about smuggling and Gibraltar because when my birth and care mothers, their sisters and brothers were growing up before during and immediately after the First World War smuggling was practiced by almost the entire resident population of Gibraltar and the equal number of Spanish workers who crossed back and forth across border with Spain every day. One of the uncles was able to run about the rock in a chauffer driven car from the early gambling slot machines and the smuggling which he encouraged several of his sisters to participate in. Then it was citizens black economy more than hierarchical organised crime which came with the trade in illegal drugs in the last quarter of the 20th century.

The other aspect worth mentioning is that Spain was and remains, but to less extent, a country where Roman Catholicism is the religion of the overwhelming majority with pre war the then the peasant and lower middle class population practicing a simple and devout religion and where the Spanish practised a social code where unmarried women would not be left in the presence of males who were not relatives without a chaperon. Carmen would have been exceptional, even among Gypsy women.

Jose enters the opera again before the smugglers leave and they urge her to bring him along on the enterprise. Jose returns the gold coin she sent him while in custody and she orders fruit and wine to celebrate his releases and dances with her friends for him. All appears well until the retreat is sounded for the soldiers to return to barracks and Jose makes to go off. This is not what Carmen wants and alleges that Jose does not love her. He respond with the Flower song showing that he kept the flower which she also sent to him in jail. She begs him to leave the army and enjoy the freedom she experiences. Just when it looks that he will not desert his officer arrives in search of Carmen and Jose draws his sword but before they can fight the smugglers re-enter and disarm them and the officer is made a prisoner. Everyone including the Don Jose is forced to then flee or be imprisoned.

This is when the interval usually takes place. I had felt the need to cough just as the performance commenced. I had bought a small glass of wine, although technically it was a plastic cup. and was able to take a series of sips and with water this cleared without making me feel uncomfortable or affecting the enjoyment of others, In fact I quickly noticed that others has a more disturbing problems although overall there was very little theatre. I was so pleased with my ability to cope with the first part that I bought a second glass of Merlot with a small tub of salted peanuts, remembering to use my Friend’s Card to gain a discount.

The third Act is described as a wild and deserted rocky place where the smugglers are travelling with the contraband and Carmen has already tired of her latest lover because he is at heart a village lad. The gypsy women read the cards and then Carmen looks for her future and that of Don Jose and the cards foretell that they both will have premature deaths. The role of the girls is to charm the customs officers and they leave Jose to guard the contraband. This provides the opportunity for Micaela to reappear having followed in search of her fiancée and is determined to take Jose away from the influence of Carmen. Then Escamillo the Toreador also arrives in search of Carmen and he tells Don Jose that the gypsy has become infatuated with a soldier, not realising that Jose was the man. Jose still jealous because of Carmen’s behaviour towards him challenges the bullfight, but the man resists until provoked further when he disarms the soldier, leaving him saying his trade is to kill bulls, not men. Don Jose starts to fight again but the Smugglers return and disarm Jose. The Bullfighter invites them to attend his next bullfight in Seville.

In the fourth Act the scene is outside the bullring on the opening day of the latest contest. This provides the opportunity for the full procession of the bullfighters and leading personalities of the town to march in procession-, the cuidrilla. I have attended one Bullfight in Barcelona, leaving at half time because I had seen enough of the ritual slaughter of the bulls. My prejudices were more than confirmed because the various levels of bullfighter are given every possible protection and bulls are medicated to ensure while they put up a performance they offer little risk as they are ceremonial tortured to death. Their is no honour in the activity which is worse than fox hunting. There are three matadors who each fight two bulls and each has six assistants, two Picadores, men on padded horses who pick at the bulls with lancers, three Banderilleros who push sharp pointed sticks into the bull and the sword holder who hands the killing weapon to the Matador when the bull is ready for the kill. The group procession into the arena where they salute the presiding dignitaries who are accompanied by the other social dignitaries of the town and visiting celebrities, friends and families of the bullfighters. The costumes are flamboyant. The so called fight has thee stages where the bull is tested by the use of the cape by the Matador and his walking assistants. The second stage is those on horses and where until the 1930 when the padding was introduced more horses were killed by the bulls than the bulls themselves. The purpose is to disable the bull to reduce the danger in the final stage. At this stage the banderilleros each attempt to plant two of pointed sticks into the shoulders of the bull. There is a loss of blood from these attacks. Finally the matador enters with the sword hidden in the cape. The whole notion of red the flag to a bull is nonsense as bulls are colour blind and the use of red is to mask the flow of blood from the wounded bull.

The crowd then participate by signalling their approval or disapproval of the performance by waving of white handkerchiefs in which instance the Matador may be reward by one or two of the bulls ears and in some areas with the tail for an exceptional performance. Equally if the crowd like the bull they will call for its life to be saved in which instance it returns to its ranch to stud and does not participation in any further bullfight. This crowd participation is reminiscent of the Roman crowd and the gladiatorial contests.

There are bull fights where the bull is not physically injured and where the team are dressed normally and who performs are acrobatics without the use of the cape. The men work as a team without the status distinctions and compete for points against the other teams. There are variations in different countries, Portugal where it is now illegal to kill the bull in an arena, France and in Latin America.

There was marked difference in how the procession was treated in the 1997 and 2010 Metropolitan productions. In 1997 the participants were in their full historical finery with the Picadores astride real horses whereas on Saturday the approach was to wear casual clothes, no horses and no visible instruments of torture and death. The emphasis was on raunchy sex instead and more on that in a moment. The procession provide the opportunity for a second appearance of the street children and everyone leaves the stage for the closing moments. In the 1997 production Carmen is transformed into a Spanish lady and consort of Escamillo. Before she enters the stadium she is told that Don Jose has also come to the city and her friends warn her to be on her guard. Carmen being Carmen and aware of what the cards foretold goes in search of her former lover to persuade him to let her go. She was born free and wishes to remain free. Don Jose pleads with her in one of the most moving solos in all opera. Carmen maintain her position and tell him to kill her or let her go. In his desperation, jealousy and hate he kills her but is then horrified by what he has done and he makes no attempt to flee before he is apprehended knowing his life has also ended.

The opera had been performed and recorded by all the great opera singers with in my life time Victoria de los Angeles, Maria Callas, Leontyne Price, Grace Bumbry Marilyne Horner, Jessye Norman and Angela Gheorghiu, together with Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, More recently the role of Don Jose has been made his own by Roberto Alagna until recently the husband of Angela Gheorghiu who made a recording together in 2003. In 1997 Angela played the part of Micaela and was to have returned to Met as Carmen in this year’s production with her husband in the role of Don Jose. They have now parted and Angela withdrew from the production as a consequence.

Because of my uncertainty the decision to watch the 1997 production did not reduced the impact of 2010 performance in the evening. Carmen was played in 1997 by Waltraud Meir the international German Soprano and mezzo soprano who although 46 at the time had a reputation as an actress performer and was very convincing as an experience woman with many previous lovers who could attract the attention of most men she encountered and confidently expected to remain in control of the relationship for as long as she wished. I once visited a tourist nightclub in Athens in Greece at which the female singer has perfected the art of getting all the men to focus on her irrespective of whether they were there with their partners and regardless of the feelings of the partners. She selected a victim to pretend to flirt and seduce and then discard leaving him looking foolish. Sitting at the same table was a well built mature German gentleman, with his equally formidable looking wife and the actress singer made a bee line to attract his interest as soon as she noted his indifference which from my perspective bordered on contempt and she tried to engage his attention more than once but she was ignored which only appeared to make her more determined.

Whereas in the 2010 production Carmen, Elina Garanca performed this role in very physical way, Meir’s performance was achieved by looks and gestures. Elina is a younger performer with a sexy voice as well as body, in part achieved from being a mezzo-soprano, born 1976 in Latvia.

Placido Domingo remains the most outstanding operatic performer of his generation from what I have experienced todate and this includes Pavarotti but not Carreras who I am yet to see in a full operatic role. It is the number and range of the roles undertaken that impresses together with his constant ability to communicate the deepest emotions and role credibility even when there is a mismatch between his actual age and that of the part. However in terms of Carmen, Roberto Alagna, born Paris of a Sicilian family takes the honours because he is more convincing as a young man from a Spanish village out of his depths when confronted by a woman such as Carmen. In part this was because of differences in the production with that of 1997 putting the emphasis Done Jose strutting confidently around in an impressive uniform whether as a soldier or Smuggler. Both were brilliant at communication their desperation at being reject by Carmen for Escamillo at the end. The role of Micaela is a difficult one because while a chaste girl from the village she has to cope with the advances of the soldiers at the city guard house and also be able to travel on her own in search of her fiancée all the way from Servile to Gibraltar in the days before public transport where travel would have been by donkey if not on foot. In 1997 the role was performed by Gheorghiu.

The other observation to be made that while Carmen is full of glorious music it does not have the same power as Il Travatore, Butterfly from dramatic moments but continues to stand alongside Aida from those seen in relay with only Turandot lacking the overall impact of the others.

Sitting next to me was a man of a similar generation who engaged in conversation, asking if this was my first experience and this led to talking about my other recent experiences including the disappointment over the contract not being taken up by Cineworld. He provided the information that Cineworld has taken out a new contract with Covent Garden which led to checking the Internet site on return. The only anxiety is the note tbc. This will compensate for the new Odeon at Metrocentre not indicating participation in the relays at this stage. The man had gone there to view Avator in 3D Imax. I had planned to follow this piece immediate with my reactions to the Wallander but on reflection Wallander merits separate consideration.