The Best “Figaro”--so far.

Contessa perdono - The Marriage of Figaro

Jan Chalupecky

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro is one of the best known and best loved operas in the repertory, the result of the brilliant collaboration of Mozart and his librettist Lorenzo da Ponte. It is crammed with pithy humor, emotions that are universally felt and understood across cultures and some of the most beautiful music ever written in my opinion. The pacing of the action, in terms of theatrics, is near perfect—never a dull tedious moment.

Frantisek Zahrandnicek

This Figaro, presented Friday evening, February 3, 2012 at the Theater of the Estates in Prague, was the most enjoyable production that I have seen so far, bar none (and I've seen quite a few). Right from the opening notes of the Overture by conductor Jan Chalupecky you could tell that you were in for an auditory feast: crisp, clear, vibrant and pure Mozart. A moment of doubt crept in with Figaro's opening lines measuring the size of his marriage bed to see if would fit the room. The baritone, Frantisek Zahrandnicek, was not quite sharp and forceful enough, maybe a little off the beat. In fact, he was the weakest link, along with the mezo-soprano who played Cherubino, Stanislava Jirku, in an otherwise superbly cast production. Weak link doesn't mean poor quality singers, just not as WOW as the rest of the cast.  

Stanislava Jirku

The sopranos who sang the Countess Almaviva (Marie Fajtoka) and Suzanna (Jana Kacirkova) were pure ear candy—probably two of the finest interpretations of those roles I have so far listened to.

Marie Fajtoka

We had a box entirely to ourselves with an excellent view of the stage and total privacy. So, I surreptitiously (bad boy doing a no-no) tried a couple of videos. The audio quality doesn't do justice to the beautiful voices, but I put up a link to YouTube above anyway. And so the house prohibition against making recordings wins.

The baritone who played the Count Almaviva (the same Martin Barta I raved about in the role of Rigoletto recently) was extraordinary in the closing lines of the opera where he begs forgiveness (see YouTube clip) for his philandering transgressions and neglect of his unhappy wife, the Countess. Her notes of forgiveness along with her perfect delivery seemed celestially inspired—divine forgiveness shall we say.

Martin Barta

Jana Kacirkova

The SO and I were almost literally walking on air, cold as it was, on our way back home. Sharing a midnight snack we found ourselves burbling the usual adjectives and superlatives, which are becoming the norm after each performance. I jokingly said, biting into my peanut butter on toast, that we are beginning to sound like broken records. Perhaps it is my fate to be iconoclastic. 

private box with good view of stage

Persian Odyssey Postponed

For those of my readers who may have been following my Iran remembrance and reconstruction of 1978 I apologize for my lack of attention to it, but perhaps I can be forgiven since I'm on a kind of new odyssey of discovery and the pure pleasure of being in a place that suits me to a T. Just when I think that there couldn't possibly be any more to learn about Prague, I turn a new corner and there, right before my eyes, is something I hadn't seen or noticed before. To put it plainly I'm rather preoccupied with being here and now; no time to dredge up the past. Persia is history and will still be there when I have the time to dig back into my memory. Iran, however, is another matter.

Caution: political rant to follow

I will mention that I am quite concerned with all the sabre rattling and beating of drums for a war with Iran. Unfortunately, the impetus for the latest round of Iran bashing is coming from Israel, which appears to be champing at the bit to try and drag the United States into sharing an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities and inviting a serious blow up in the Middle East. All this on the unfounded hype that Iran is planning to build a nuclear weapon. If there were any evidence for it, it wouldn't be beyond comprehension considering the sanctions, scorn and hatred being heaped on the country and its leadership. Furthermore, the worst kept secret in the ME is that Iran's principal antagonist, Israel, is armed to the teeth with undeclared nuclear warheads and is not a signatory to the Non-proliferation Treaty, whereas Iran is.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

Common sense would indicate that Iran would take no advantage from even a first strike on Israel with a few paltry bombs. It would, and knows it, invite immediate massive retaliation not only from Israel but from the United States as well. If nothing else, my limited experience living in Iran, tells me that the Iranians are not suicidal. If they want to live under Islam that's their business. And even Islamists are happy to do business as usual selling their oil.  I need only mention Wahhabist Saudi Arabia, which is much more strict and fanatical than Iran would ever dream of being. I know, I once lived there, too. Worst experience of my life.

Instead of all the bullshit hysteria and paranoia polluting the media waves these days why not just get down to business instead of trying to regain the promised land. It's 2012 and there has been a lot of water under the bridge since then. Even Moses didn't get there, but Bebe and his crew seem to be trying it again.

My apologies in advance to friends of the Jewish faith who might take offense at this post.

Routines—can't live with 'em...or without 'em

Things are settling down after nearly a month living in Prague. Two more to go before returning to Japan and full retirement from the 9 to 5 workaday world. This three-month stay serves as a kind of transition phase between the routine of getting up early enough to shower and have breakfast before leaving home at 8:15 a.m. for work and the non-routine (new routine?) of getting up whenever: leisurely coffee in bed, exercise, bath, brunch around 11-ish, out for afternoon walking exercise, dinner in or out and entertainment in the evening—or not as the case might be.

local opera goers fill the auditorium

Good to exceptionally good shows seem to be becoming the norm. The most recent events we've attended have all been above reproach and beyond criticism. Last night we went to see the ballet Swan Lake.It's truly a memorable experience to have nothing negative to say, especially for a demanding perfectionist like me. I am very much impressed with the professionalism and artistry of the performers here in Prague. If the theaters here are not “world-class” it may very well be because they are more concerned with high quality performances for people who truly enjoy them—and not, God help us, for fans of “stars”. True theater, the real deal.

I'm allowed to occasionally dig into my bag of gripes (I have a low opinion of fans). A blog of only sweetness and light would be ultimately boring (just as this blog may be). I know, I'm incorrigible. Just write whatever pops into my head. (But you should see what I delete.) Swan Lake was just simply beautiful to watch and listen to. The grace and precision and apparent weightlessness of the dancers and the simple beauty of bodies trained to the peak of perfection; “in form and moving how express and admirable,” said old Will S. in one of his plays—Hamlet, I think it was. Well, he must have had dancers in mind.

poor choice of seats this time

Come to think of it I DO have one small criticism of the ballet. I got a stiff neck leaning out over the balcony in order to see the whole stage. Our seats were too much to the side and half the stage was obscured. But that has nothing to do with the wonderful dancers and orchestra; it has everything to do with my poor choice of seats this time. I have only my own arse to kick.

3 curtain calls

The audience was obviously delighted with the performance as we applauded and whistled and bravoed enthusiastically, yours truly included, for nearly 5 minutes and 3 curtain calls.