Arabella Transmission Transcript
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Hello. I’m bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green. Welcome to today’s transmission of Arabella, Ricard Strauss’s classic opera that tests the boundaries of love and fidelity. And it all unfolds in the atmospheric sets of 19th century Vienna. Created by the late legendary director Otto Schenk. Strauss composed some of the greatest roles for soprano voice in the operatic repertoire, and many great Strauss sopranos such as Renée Fleming and Kiri Te Kanawa consider Arabella among their favorites. The role demands both a psychologically nuanced interpretation and glorious outpouring of sound. Today, soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen brings her rich voice and captivating presence to the title role of the young noblewoman.
In the opera the aristocratic Arabella is pushed by her financially struggling parents to marry into wealth but she can’t help longing for true love. When she meets Mandryka, the rugged but wealthy outdoorsman played by bass-baritone Tomasz Konieczny, she believes she’s found both. Soprano Louise Alder is Arabella’s loving sister Zdenka, who, to save her parents money, passes in society for a young man, creating complications of operatic proportions.
Maestro Nicolas Carter is ready to go to the pit. Here is Arabella.
INTERVIEW: Green w/ Rachel Willis-Sørensen
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Rachel!
RACHEL WILLIS-SØRENSEN: Hi, Speedo.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Hello, hello.
RACHEL WILLIS-SØRENSEN: How’re you doing?
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: I’m good, I’m good, I’m good. And brava on a beautiful Act One. I understand Arabella is a role debut for you.
RACHEL WILLIS-SØRENSEN: Yeah. No pressure to do it this way, am I right? (Laughs)
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: I know, she’s just an intriguing character. What is your take on her?
RACHEL WILLIS-SØRENSEN: Well, first of all, I thought that it was kind of anti-feminist.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Mm-hmm.
RACHEL WILLIS-SØRENSEN: But then upon deeper reflection, I realized it’s so much about mutual respect.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Mm-hmm.
RACHEL WILLIS-SØRENSEN: And she demands to be respected by Mandryka and doesn’t like any of the other suiters because Mandryka’s the only one who offers her equal footing in the relationship. So, actually, she’s kind of a feminist icon.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Okay. What is it like to learn Strauss’s famously complex music?
RACHEL WILLIS-SØRENSEN: Super hard.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: (Laughs) And all of those words by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, like, you’re speaking forever. So, like, talk to me about how that is.
RACHEL WILLIS-SØRENSEN: Well, I mean, I think it’s easier to learn the language than to work on phonemes.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah.
RACHEL WILLIS-SØRENSEN: I think it’s better. And, luckily, I speak German so --
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah.
RACHEL WILLIS-SØRENSEN: That’s one of the most invigorating and fun parts for me, I would say, is the language. Trying to make it very easy to understand is an extra challenge but I definitely love that part of this.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah, I can see that. I’ve heard that you got to meet the late Otto Schenk.
RACHEL WILLIS-SØRENSEN: I did, I did. Actually, I told him the day before he passed away that I was doing this and then I heard that he passed away. It’s so – so sad.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Did he give you any insights on this opera?
RACHEL WILLIS-SØRENSEN: Yeah, absolutely. Because I was still in the phase where I didn’t really understand the character, and he said, no, absolutely not. Arabella is so firm in her convictions of choosing the right person or no one –
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah.
RACHEL WILLIS-SØRENSEN: And actually what an example she is to all women on dating apps around the world today.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: (Laughs) And what are your thoughts on this gorgeous production he created?
RACHEL WILLIS-SØRENSEN: I mean, it’s sounding it’s so nostalgic, it’s old Vienna, it’s like, it couldn’t be better. Somehow we can, however, see very modern themes through this – this completely realistic storytelling.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: This is true. And so you’re an acclaimed Strauss singer, as I know very well.
RACHEL WILLIS-SØRENSEN: Thank you.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Otto, what do you especially love about the way he writes for your soprano?
RACHEL WILLIS-SØRENSEN: Well, I mean, there’s these soaring lines and it has a lot of pianissimi above the staff but not – but also some big moments where bloom open. And you have to – you have to sing in all ranges and all dynamic levels. But I think somehow it’s just written very lyrically, so it feels – it’s a gift to sing Strauss I have to say.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: You’ve been singing major roles at the Met for more than ten years but today marks your first HD cinema transmission. Mm-hmm. How does it feel to know your performance today is being seen all over the world?
RACHEL WILLIS-SØRENSEN: I’m trying not to think about it too much, although thank you so much for coming.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah. (Laughs)
RACHEL WILLIS-SØRENSEN: I think we’re going to do the best job we can to show them what it’s like to come to the Met and experience it, rather than tailoring the experience toward the, uh, audience abroad. I think we do the best show –
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Well, Rachel, it’s time for you to rest up for Act Two.
RACHEL WILLIS-SØRENSEN: Thank you. Yeah. I have a lot left to sing.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Thank you for speaking with me.
RACHEL WILLIS-SØRENSEN: Thank you so much, Speedo. See you.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: See you.
READ: Green throw to The Music of Arabella with Nicolas Carter
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Our conductor today, Nicolas Carter, at just 40-years old, has already launched a major operatic conducting career with memorable successes leading the Met performances of Brett Dean’s Hamlet and Britten’s Peter Grimes. We sat down recently with the Australian maestro to hear his thoughts on Strauss’s Arabella.
ROLL-IN B: The Music of Arabella with Nicolas Carter
NICHOLAS CARTER: So one of Strauss's great collaborators was Hugo von Hoffmannsthal. They collaborated on, of course, Rosenkavalier, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Ariadne auf Naxos, and the final collaboration was on Arabella. And following his scandalous operas like Salome and Elektra–where he really pushed the boundaries of harmony to its absolute extremes, you know, floating around the edges of dissonance–there came a time when he decided to sort of step back from that, step back from the brink, and look for inspiration in the world of Vienna, a hundred years earlier. And that direction found its inspiration in the music of Mozart, a simplicity of melody. But at the same time, he was able to keep his very virtuosic capacity to harmonize in a very, sort of modern way in this very, almost sort of classical sound world.
The opera starts with a great deal of drama with the mother Adelaide and the tarot card reader, Zdenka, trying to work out what fate has in store for them. There's so much anxiety and so much tension in the music for the first sort of 10 minutes or so, and then when Arabella comes on stage, we sort of get this beautiful serene calmness–F Major played by the oboe–this beautiful, very, very simple melody.
It's kind of hard to imagine that it's the same composer that wrote Elektra and Salome. Very, very simple, very serene, very beautiful and poetic, and somewhat innocent; something so noble about her personality comes to the fore as well.
So one of the most famous moments of the first act is the duet between Zdenka and Arabella, “Aber der Richtige”. She's got all these suitors, following her and wanting her attention but, she is just unsure about them all. She says, “Yeah, yeah, they're all fine, they're okay, but I haven't found the right one, der Richtige.” And in the beautiful duet, it's a very, very beautiful, again, quite simple melody. It's based on a Southern Slovenian folk tune, Strauss says; I'm not entirely sure if that's actually true or not. But it does have something very simple, almost like a Slavic lullaby, to it.
Strauss was one of the great orchestrators of all time, and the way that he uses the orchestra in Arabella is really extraordinary. Also, he highlights many instruments that would perhaps not necessarily be considered solo instruments to shine through at certain moments. Famously in the aria at the end of Act I “Mein Elemer!”, which is the aria where Arabella considers her own fate and says, “Well, I still haven't found this right magical man that I'm sure is out there destined for me. And maybe this guy Elemer is the person that I'm going to have to marry, even though I'm not quite sure about him.” And so this aria starts very unsure of itself on harmonically very unstable footing. And then this very fascinating viola solo comes out, which is almost as if she's sort of exploring the depths of her own psyche, or her own personality.
MILAN MILISAVLJEVIĆ: This is more of an inner monologue, so I kind of find that you want to keep that in mind as far as what kind of mood you want to present and, I think the viola elucidates what's going on, It's more about adding something to what the main character is thinking or feeling, kind of like something about their subconscious. And I think the viola is a really interesting choice for that because traditionally people think of it as having more of a melancholy kind of sound, a darker kind of sound, than the violin, and I think Strauss was really going for that. But here it's to kind of follow the singer and interlace with their voice and kind of clarify further what they're thinking and feeling.
NICHOLAS CARTER: In Act II, we're transported into the glorious world of Belle Époch Vienna and the glorious world of Strauss waltzes.
The music that he writes is just unbelievably effervescent and unbelievably virtuosic and the way that he weaves these beautiful waltz melodies in and out of the drama that's happening on stage is just pretty extraordinary.
Arabella is a great one to conduct because the orchestra is so expressive; there's so many things going on all at once. It's unbelievably virtuosic. The great challenge when conducting it is to give a sense of calm, because there are so many things going on, all at once. There's so much drama and it requires such pep and verve to the tempo to keep things going, and can tend to sort of gravitate upwards, dynamically, and what I often said to the orchestra during the rehearsals is consider everything you're playing is a counter melody, so it's very, very important, but it's also got something a little bit, sort of, by-the-by about it rather than sort of really gripping onto the sound, which then creates this sort of this hard color. What we need is this beautiful aura around the sound, this sort of Straussian, Viennese aura.
INTERVIEW: Green w/ John Sellars
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: That was an invaluable Strauss primer from Maestro Carter. This production of Arabella is one of 16 by director Otto Schenk. That’s more than even Franco Zeffirelli created for the company. Starting with his debut in 1968 with Puccini’s Tosca, Schenk was a force behind memorable memorable stagings of Offenbach’s Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Wagner’s Tannhauser, Dvorak’s Rusalka and, of course, Wagner’s Ring Cycle, among others.
Joining me now to discuss Schenk’s production of Arabella is the Met’s head of production, John Sellars. Hello, Mr. John.
JOHN SELLARS: Hi, how are you?
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: I’m good, I’m good.
JOHN SELLARS: Good.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: As the general of this army of a stage crew, what is involved in the set change taking place in front of us?
JOHN SELLARS: Oh, well, so, Arabella is three acts.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah.
JOHN SELLARS: Each act is a different location.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Okay.
JOHN SELLARS: And Otto took advantage of our stage machinery in order to set the stage and allow us to efficiently get from one act to the other. So, for example, Act One is set on the main stage. And you can see the lifts that are built into the stage floor are raised up a foot.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Mm-hmm.
JOHN SELLARS: And we’ve got an apron deck in front of the lifts to create a little bit further run out there.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Okay.
JOHN SELLARS: Act One is set on the main stage, it clears. In just a moment, the lifts will sink and we’re going to bring out Act Two, which is set on the stage left side. And it’s on our stage left wagon. It’s going to ride out onto the main stage and it’s going to stay raised up that foot so it matches the apron deck. And then upstage in the back, we’re going to lower Lifts 4, 5, 6 and 7 four feet to create the illusion that there’s a ballroom behind the main lobby.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah.
JOHN SELLARS: So, that’s – and then we’ll repeat that, uh, between two and three because Act Three is set on the stage right wagon.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah.
JOHN SELLARS: So, we’ll drive Act Two off to the left and we’ll drive Act Three on from there.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: So, for all the puzzle that was out there, this is – this is a heaven, right, am I right?
JOHN SELLARS: Yeah, a little bit, a little bit, yeah.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: This is kind of epic old-school production that, you know, they just don’t do anymore. How would you describe Schenk’s approach to Arabella?
JOHN SELLARS: Well, from a scenery construction point of view –
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah.
JOHN SELLARS: -- which is sort of my expertise, it’s, uh, traditional old-school wings with flats and, uh, jacks. Uh, some of the hardware is typical from, uh, the early 20th century. It dates back that far.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: I mean, I’ve literally seen homes in Vienna that look like some of these sets. Yeah.
JOHN SELLARS: Yeah, well, it’s – it’s human scale realistic interiors.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah. I love it.
JOHN SELLARS: Which is a lot different than what we’re having to deal with these days, which has got – you know, there’s a lot more technology involved.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Indeed. How do you compare a show like this technically to more recent productions, as you were just talking about?
JOHN SELLARS: Well, it’s certainly, uh, a little more straightforward.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah.
JOHN SELLARS: More, uh – less complex.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah.
JOHN SELLARS: I mean, while we’re using our stage machinery, there is some automation involved but there’s not sort of the production automation involved that has, what we call, push-me-pull-yous where we’re moving things around on stage with motors.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah.
JOHN SELLARS: And there’s not projections and some of that kind of complication.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah. I see, I see. It’s an incredible operation. Toi toi toi for the rest of the change of Act Two – into Act Two.
JOHN SELLARS: Right. Thank you.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Thanks so much, Mr. John. What an honor.
JOHN SELLARS: Yeah, you bet.
READ: Green Neubauer… / Johnson / Throw to break
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: The Met’s Live in HD series is made possible thanks to its founding sponsor, the Neubauer Family Foundation. Digital support is provided by the Bloomberg Philanthropies. The Met Live in HD series is in partnership with Rolex. Today’s performance of Arabella will also be heard later this season over the Robert K. Johnson Foundation Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network. We’ll be back after a break.
INTERVIEW: Green w/ Karen Cargill & Brindley Sherratt
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Welcome back. In just a few minutes, we’ll get back to the performance. But first I’m joined by mezzo soprano Karen Cargill and bass Brindley Sherratt – Brindley Sherratt, who play Aribella’s aristocratic but financially anxious parents. Hello, hello, hello. How are you guys doing?
BRINDLEY SHERRATT: Good, thank you.
KAREN CARGILL: Good, yeah.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: You are both acting and singing up a storm.
BRINDLEY SHERRATT: Yeah, yeah, cool.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: In Arabella, you play parents who force their daughter to pass as a boy to protect the family’s finances. It seems pretty extreme. (Laughs) What are your thoughts on this particular family dynamic? Karen?
KAREN CARGILL: I guess – well, for my character, she’s a little cheeky.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah?
KAREN CARGILL: She likes the money. She wants to stop him from gambling so she’ll do anything that she needs to do. And, you know, it’s – it’s a good ploy, right? They only want one daughter that they can marry off and make some money.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah.
KAREN CARGILL: So, it’s a –– it’s a good ploy. She’s – yeah.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Brindley?
BRINDLEY SHERRATT: Yeah, I mean, I – I feel that things are pretty dark when we – when I come on, you know, there’s no money left, I’ve gambled it away, which is not great, and things got really desperate. And I try and play that so that when Mandryka comes on, that he is the answer to all this. Um, but, yeah, it’s an interesting family dynamic.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: You both have sung at the Met a lot over the years.
BRINDLEY SHERRATT: Yeah. Yeah.
KAREN CARGILL: Yeah.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: But neither of you has sung Strauss here –
BRINDLEY SHERRATT: No.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: — until Arabella, right?
BRINDLEY SHERRATT: No.
KAREN CARGILL: Yeah, absolutely.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Tell us a little about singing Strauss and what his score brings out in your voices. Brindley?
BRINDLEY SHERRATT: Yeah, I mean, I think – I mean, there’s a lot of text.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah.
BRINDLEY SHERRATT: A lot of text. We have a lot of speaking. We keep finding ourselves longing for a melody or something longer than a quarter note to sing. Um, but actually I quite like it – I quite like speaking text. I find it – you know, once you’ve learned it, it’s great.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah. Arabella is the final collaboration of Strauss and his great librettist Hugo von Hofmannsthal. How would you describe the spirit of this opera, Karen?
KAREN CARGILL: I think it’s grand opera and exactly what we expect. You know, and particularly in this production, I mean, it’s so lush and gorgeous, the score is spectacular. Um, and the – the tunes that everyone knows, I mean, it’s – it’s spectacular, it’s really fantastic.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Brindley, do you have any thoughts on this?
BRINDLEY SHERRATT: Yeah, I mean, it’s just a privilege to walk on something so grand.
KAREN CARGILL: Yeah.
BRINDLEY SHERRATT: For us as singers these days to walk on such a grand set in this house is – is fantastic.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: I’m so impressed with your maestro today, Nicolas Carter.
BRINDLEY SHERRATT: Yeah, yeah.
KAREN CARGILL: Yeah.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Tell us about working with him on this opera. Brindley?
BRINDLEY SHERRATT: He’s, um, extremely talented. He has an amazing ear. He doesn’t miss anything but he – and he’s incredibly curious to watch. Um, but he also has a great sense of humor. You know, he takes the work seriously but he doesn’t take himself too seriously or us, in fact.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: That’s great.
KAREN CARGILL: No. That’s very true. And he understands singers. And he understands what we want to bring to the character vocally and dramatically, and you can’t ask for any better than that.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah, it’s essential.
BRINDLEY SHERRATT: Yeah.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Brindley, you made your Met debut ten years ago in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress.
BRINDLEY SHERRATT: Yeah.
RACHEL WILLIS-SØRENSEN: And, Karen, you debuted here a few years before in Wagner’s Ring Cycle. When you look back at your careers, what are your favorite memories. I would like to hear from you first, Karen.
KAREN CARGILL: Oh, my goodness. I mean, my debut here, I definitely think that’s one of those things you can’t – you just can’t put it into words.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Especially in The Ring.
KAREN CARGILL: In The Ring Cycle, right?
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah.
KAREN CARGILL: So, I’m singing Waltraute too, which was extraordinary. Um, but also doing Trojans with Susan Graham was one of the high points for me. It was such a spectacular production and a really happy time. So, yeah.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: And you?
BRINDLEY SHERRATT: Yeah, I just love singing on this stage in this theatre. I mean, it’s – it’s bigger than anywhere else we sing but it’s – it’s great to sing here. I find it really, really –
KAREN CARGILL: Yeah.
BRINDLEY SHERRATT: – as long as you stay bright and light, whatever, it works really well. It’s a joy to walk on stage. You really – it makes your heart pump a bit but that’s good.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Brindley, Karen, many thanks to you both for speaking with me today.
BRINDLEY SHERRATT: Thanks, Ryan.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: See you.
BRINDLEY SHERRATT: Cheers, thank you.
KAREN CARGILL: Thanks so much.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Danke.
INTERVIEW: Green w/ Louise Alder
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: And now I get to speak to Zdenka / Zdenko. Soprano Louise Alder. Hello, Louise.
LOUISE ALDER: Hello.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: (Laughs) Wow, I love this wig. Holy moly.
LOUISE ALDER: I know, we call it the Princess Di. It’s very, very good.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: I like it. Congratulations on making your Met debut.
LOUISE ALDER: Thank you so much.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yes. How has the experience been so far?
LOUISE ALDER: It’s been wonderful. I mean, New York City is such an incredible place. And the Met as a – as an extraordinary building upholding this amazing thing that we get to do, opera, at the highest, highest echelons. It’s wonderful.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: What’s something you didn’t expect about singing on this stage?
LOUISE ALDER: I think that you look out and you think – you know, especially as a Brit who works almost exclusively in Europe –
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah.
LOUISE ALDER: — in smaller houses, you think, oh, my goodness, it’s so big. But the acoustic is very friendly.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah.
LOUISE ALDER: And, um, you can really do such amazing things with dynamics and – and make, I hope, interesting choices that still fly out into the – into the hall.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Speaking of interesting choices, in opera there are many pants roles. But this one is different since you – your character’s only pretending to be a boy some of the time. What’s your acting secret switching back and forth between Zdenka and Zdenko?
LOUISE ALDER: I think I’ve been added an extra, element for me that I’m pregnant.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Oh, congratulations.
LOUISE ALDER: Thank you very much. So, the costume team have done an absolutely amazing job at hiding, well, we hope. So switching back and forth has been quite hard but a great challenge.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah. Your soprano voice blends so beautifully with Rachel Willis-Sørensen’s. Does that come naturally?
LOUISE ALDER: Rachel and I have done Rosenkavalier together.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Oh, okay.
LOUISE ALDER: So, we’ve done Strauss before but not – not in this way. Arabella is a very different piece to – to Rosenkavalier.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah.
LOUISE ALDER: Um, so it’s – it’s just a pleasure. I understand her musically and I love listening to her voice. So, I’m glad that it blends well.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah. Is this one of your favorite roles?
LOUISE ALDER: It’s certainly up there. The opera is extremely hard to learn and to get into, and I think Zdenka as a role is quite difficult. Because, as you say, it’s a mix. She’s very mixed up.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah, yeah.
LOUISE ALDER: So, she’s having a hard time.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: If you had your choice, what roles would you like to be singing in the future on the stage of the Met?
LOUISE ALDER: Oh, my goodness, what a question. You can’t ask me that. (Laughs)
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: (Laughs) Okay, okay, well, if you think of a couple, we’ll come back to it. A lot of the repertory you sing is by Mozart, Handel and other composers who were writing centuries before Strauss. What similarities do you see between that music and Strauss’s writing in Arabella?
LOUISE ALDER: Oh, my goodness. I mean, the – the lyrical writing for the voice has to be one – especially for sopranos. I’m sorry, all the lower voices on stage with us tonight. But he really knew how to write for soprano.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: (Laughs) Tell us about working with Maestro Carter. What insight has he shared about your character and Strauss’s score?
LOUISE ALDER: I think that Nick is amazing at getting right to the center of the – the piece, the emotions and the character through – through the words, through the text. His German is perfect and he’s so clear. As Brindley said, he’s so, so clear that it’s just been a joy to work with him and find this piece with him.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Louise, what a superb debut. Thank you for speaking with me.
LOUISE ALDER: Thank you for having me.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Ciao. (Laughs)
READ: Green throw to Act 2
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: At the end of the previous act, Mandryka has given Arabella’s father financial hope. And in the next act, Arabella and Mandryka finally meet. But this is not a simple fairytale of love at first sight. Here is the Act Two of Arabella.
READ: Green PSA / Fundraising / Throw to tape
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: What a stunning end to the act. We have been fortunate today to bear witness to some of Ricard Strauss’s most extraordinary writing for both the soprano voice and for the orchestra. To hear a singer like Rachel Willis-Sørensen supported by the great Met players with the sublime score is an unforgettable artistic experience.
But as remarkable as Arabella is on cinema screens, I’ve got to tell you it’s even more impressive here at the opera house. Nothing compares to the awesome singers soaring over the orchestra live in the auditorium. So, please come to the Met or visit your local opera company.
Today’s Otto Schenk production of Arabella is a testament to the enduring power of opera and how the Met can present such works in a way that’s fresh and compelling for our contemporary audience. But providing classic productions of poignant works and sharing them with a global audience in movie theatres is expensive and ticket sales cover just a fraction of the cost. We need opera-lovers like you to help make up the difference.
So if you’re able, I ask you please to consider making a contribution to the Met. To make a donation you can visit us at metopera.org/donate. You can also text HDLIVE to 44321 to make a contribution, or call us at 212-362-0068. Thank you for your support.
The Met’s Live in HD Cinema season is in full swing. Here’s a look at what’s coming up.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: So much to look forward to this season. The Met’s Live in HD series is made possible thanks to its founding sponsor the Neubauer Family Foundation. Digital support is provided by Bloomberg Philanthropies. The Met Live in HD series is in partnership with Rolex. We’ll be back after a break.
READ: Green throw to Andrea Chénier clip
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Welcome back. On December 13th, the Met will present our next live cinema transmission. It’s Giordano’s verismo potboiler, Andrea Chénier, led by the Met’s newly appointed principal guest conductor, Daniele Rustioni and starring tenor Piotr Beczała in the title role of the French Revolution Era poet opposite star soprano Sonya Yoncheva. The final dress rehearsal was yesterday and we have a clip of Piotr singing an expert from Chénier’s Act one “Improvviso.”
ROLL-IN D
INTERVIEW: Green w/ Maestro Daniele Rustioni
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: I’m joined now by the Met’s new principal guest conductor who is leading the forces in Andrea Chénier, Daniele Rustioni. Hello, Maestro.
DANIELE RUSTIONI: Hello. Thank you.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: So, what did you think of Piotr’s performance in the dress rehearsal yesterday?
DANIELE RUSTIONI: It’s glorious, it’s great. And, I mean, it’s crazy to think that this opera, Andrea Chénier, it’s part really of the Met history. I consumed, in my youth, the VHS at home of the production of the 1993, and Pavarotti was singing. But before, it was Corelli singing here and all the great tenors of the history of music sung that role here at the Met.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Well, he’s just one of them. Yeah.
DANIELE RUSTIONI: Of course.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah.
DANIELE RUSTIONI: And, uh, for me, being part of the family in an official capacity now –
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yes.
DANIELE RUSTIONI: – for me, it’s a really great moment. And also the production is glorious, it’s incredible, the Nicolas Joël production here, and everything that happens in (indiscernible) and everything that Giordano wrote in the score you can see on stage.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah. Literally acted out, yeah.
DANIELE RUSTIONI: And the costumes, the light and everything is really like, the golden age of opera, what we saw.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah.
DANIELE RUSTIONI: And so it’s really a special production, very close to my heart.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Okay. In addition to Piotr in the title role, you have Sonya Yoncheva as an aristocratic woman who is willing to die with her – with him at the guillotine. What has it been like working with these two Met favorites and what do they bring to their roles?
DANIELE RUSTIONI: Well, Sonya has a big, big, big soul and big heart and this is very important. Because one thing is singer – singer-musician, singer, but she’s complete artist.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah.
DANIELE RUSTIONI: And so is Piotr of course. But I think it’s very important to bring on stage, uh, something really of your experience, of your human experience.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Life experiences, yeah.
DANIELE RUSTIONI: Life experience. And just a lot of that. And, of course, to sing that very dramatic role is very important.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah.
DANIELE RUSTIONI: I think “La Mamma Morta,” it’s her moment in the third act – it’s really full of sorrow and hope and we can really see – we can hear in her voice, which is very challenging, of course they are, but we can see in her eyes, even when she’s not singing. Because music is continuous even in the silence. Now, that’s the magic on stage of the opera.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Speaking of the drama, like, you know, what makes up for – what makes a verismo opera a verismo opera? Like –
DANIELE RUSTIONI: Yeah, yeah, it’s a good question. Uh, of course, a verismo opera is very descriptive –
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yes.
DANIELE RUSTIONI: – of a situation. In this case, the French Revolution time. And thanks also to this production, it’s really quite obvious now what is happening and it’s a joy to bring this to the audience. But stylistic-wise, I think singing and making strong accents on every words in Italian, in this case, the use of the libretto and the espressioni on every single word is really underlined by all the verismo great composers. And we have to always have in mind that this opera was premiered at the same year La Bohème was premiered and, uh, and it was premiered in La Scala. It has a lot of history. It’s maybe one of the most famous verismo operas together with Cavalleria and Pagliacci.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: I didn’t mean to interrupt you but, you know, this cinema transmission of Giordano’s Andrea Chénier is on December 13th. And, Maestro, we can’t wait to see you and hear the orchestra and see you on the Met stage. Thank you.
DANIELE RUSTIONI: I can’t wait to be there. Thank you so much.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Ciao, Maestro.
DANIELE RUSTIONI: Ciao, caro, ciao.
INTERVIEW : Green w/ Tomas Konieczny
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: And now I get to speak with our Mandryka, my fellow bass-baritone Tomas Konieczny. Hello, Tomas.
TOMAS KONIECZNY: Hi, Ryan.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: It’s good to be here with you, man. Good, good, good. For an artist who has sung the greatest German bass-baritone roles from the Dutchman to Wotan, where does the role of Mandryka fit in the pantheon?
TOMAS KONIECZNY: So, the role of Mandryka is very difficult, as you probably know.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yes.
TOMAS KONIECZNY: There are high and there are low notes to sing and there are long parts and it’s not so effectful as, for example, Jochanaan in Salome but I love to sing this part.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah.
TOMAS KONIECZNY: I sang this part the first time in Vienna in 2011. It was (indiscernible).
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: 15 years almost, yeah.
TOMAS KONIECZNY: Yes, yes, yes, yes. And I can remember I needed to learn this part about 100 hours with the pianist. So, it was really, really a very difficult part for me to learn. I love to sing this part.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah.
TOMAS KONIECZNY: This part is, of course, very difficult and – and have many problems, technical problems. But it’s also, from the other side, very interesting – from the, from the character.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: But it doesn’t seem so easy. I mean, playing Mandryka, you have to shift from adoration to murderous jealousy on a dime.
TOMAS KONIECZNY: Yeah, yeah. And he’s easy man. He’s a man from country. So, I have to play somehow mix about aristocrat and then the man from the country. So, it’s probably very American.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah. (Laughs) Is Mandryka the most emotionally volatile character in your repertoire?
TOMAS KONIECZNY: No, no, not really. So, the most emotional character is definitely Wotan, Walküre and Wotan. It’s the most emotional part for me and also of my love part. So, I sung Wotan in Walküre in 21 different productions.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: 21 different productions?
TOMAS KONIECZNY: 21 different productions.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Holy moly.
TOMAS KONIECZNY: So, like a veteran, you know?
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah. To say the least, yeah.
TOMAS KONIECZNY: Yeah. So, you know, I would like to greet very much my home country, if it’s possible.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Yeah.
TOMAS KONIECZNY: So, for everybody in Łódź in my home country, they hear this evening today in the Philharmonic and so I’m very happy to greet you. And, of course, I would like to invite you and everybody to my Baltic Operatic Festival on the Polish coast in July.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: You’ll be back in cinemas in March as Kurwenal in the production of Tristan und Isolde, and I’ll be on stage with you as König Marke, yeah? And can you tell us a little bit about what you enjoy most about the role of Kurwenal?
TOMAS KONIECZNY: Kurwenal is a very emotional part and he’s a friend of Tristan. He’s really, really, really friend. So, he tries to support Tristan in the whole third act. I can remember one performance with Peter Seiffert, it was so emotional of him and so big energy that I was completely broken after the performance. He sings not so much but – yeah.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: But his parts matter. Tomas, thank you for speaking with me and toi toi toi for Act Three.
TOMAS KONIECZNY: Thank you very much.
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: Danke, brother.
READ: Green throw to Act III
RYAN SPEEDO GREEN: With the last act ending in turmoil, Strauss has us on the edge of our seats as to what’s to come. All I can say is that there are some surprises in store. Here is the unpredictable conclusion of Arabella.