New Work: LovePlay I

Check out my new Male Nude.  I hope you like it.

New Work: Love's Filtre

With Love's Filtre I seek to capture the moment prior to Isolde giving Tristan the love potion.  Both are unaware of Brangaene's deception and substitution of Love for Death.

Wagner's Tristan und Isolde is one of those defining compositions which changed the course of culture and musical history.  It's infamous, unresolved 'Tristan Chord' said to open the way for the direction of Western Music during the Twentieth Century.

You can listen to the music that inspired this image, here at youtube sung by the great Kirsten Flagstad conducted by Wilhelm Furtwangler.

Image of the Day

Paul Cadmus - Playground, 1948

Paul Cadmus has been a steady influence over many artists, including myself.  His clean sense of line, his characterisation and social commentary combine to successfully define a style called Magical Realism.  

I've always loved his almost sinister, barely contained eroticism of the urban and suburban working class from the 30's onwards.  His faces are particularly poignant and in equal measure disturbing and amusing.

Happy Birthday Astrid Varnay (25 April 1918 – 4 September 2006)

Astrid Varnay - Brunnhilde

One of the most instantly recognisable voices in twentieth century opera would belong to Astrid Varnay.  This American dramatic soprano had a career that spanned over 45 years in roles like Brunnhilde, Salome and Elektra, through to Aida and Lady Macbeth.

Astrid Varnay - Venus

She was the leading Wagnerian soprano at the Met and in Gernany in particular through the 40's and through to the lates 60's, emerging later in her career singing mezzo-soprano roles of which Klytemnestra and Herodias she was most famous for.  She sang for the final time in 1995.

Astrid Varnay - Klytemnestra

The first time I had ever heard or seen her was as Klytemnestra in the Gotz Friedrich film of Elektra, when I was a young teenager, follwed by Herodias from the same director.  She left quite an impression in my mind.

Now I listen to her recordings frequently, especially her Brunnhilde, Isolde and Ortud.  I am continually amazed by her strength and evenness of voice and power through her entire range.  She left behind many live recordings in most of her signature roles, many of them in excellent sound.  This audio is from the final moments of the Immolation Scene from Gotterdammerung.

Happy Birthday Astrid Varnay, your recorded legacy will provide a benchmark and inspiration for dramatic sopranos for many years to come.

Image of the Day

I've recently discovered  the treasures hidden in the Metropolitan Opera archives, which are available online.  There is information on every performance since it's first performance back on October 22, 1883, together with some wonderful pictures, reviews and audio/visual elements if they exist.  There is information being added daily so the collection is getting larger and more exhaustive all the time.  If you are a lover of Operatic history then check it out.

New Work: Together in Time

In celebration of the fact it's now the weekend, I've finished a new work and added it to the Male Nudes Gallery.

I hope you like it and have a great weekend. 

Image of the Day

From the Met archives.  I've always absolutely adored this image of Renata Tebaldi, my favourite soprano.

Happy Birthday Anja Silja, (April 17, 1940 - )

  Vibrant and everlasting German Soprano Anja Silja turns 72 today.  This is rare footage of her Brunnhilde from Osaka in 1967, conducted by Thomas Schippers, Wotan is Theo Adam.  While not a natural Brunnhilde voice, her battle cry is actually rather good.

Anja Silja as Salome 

I first heard her final scene from Salome many years ago and her silver, almost vibrato-less voice captures the Judaean Princess' impetousness perfectly.  Her natural physical beauty, helped immensely when her voice lost it's sheen, not to mention her marriages to Wieland Wagner and Andre Cluytens.  

She since reinvented herself more a a singing character actress with a vast repertoire (everything from Rosina and the Queen of the Night when she was still in her teens through to Madame de Croissy in Dialogue of the Carmelites) and I believe she was still performing at the age of 70.  She has even tried her hand at directing opera, her debut being Lohengrin in Brussels, 1990.  

Happy birthday Anja Silja, you brought vibrancy and glamour to late 20th Century opera.

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Set design for Act 2 of Richard Wagner's Siegfried by Gunther Schneider-Siemssen.

Review: WASO Classics Series, Beethoven's Fifth

Fireworks was the theme for Paul Daniel’s return to the podium in the West Australian Symphony Orchestra’s Classics Series, and fireworks we got in spades.

Opening with Handel’s ever popular Music for the Royal Fireworks, the night was off to a brilliant start.  As one would expect, the emphasis was on the brass, woodwinds and percussion, strings being mostly relegated to doubling with the woodwinds, giving them body. 

In the Ouverture the brass section proved almost overwhelming, accompanied by some beautifully timed and equally emphatic snare drums.  This was no sedate, traditional reading but a lively account. 

The Bourree and La Paix movements highlighted perfectly the tight ensemble that is the WASO woodwind section, they were a beautiful contrast to the outer movements of brass and percussive baroque bombast.

La Rejouissance, as always, proved to be an audience favourite, eliciting applause, and rightly so.  The final Menuet I & II were beautifully crafted and brought the suite to a wonderful close.

Daniels seems to have somehow reconciled a classical sized orchestra with the paired down baroque ensemble sound so popular now with complete success.  The elements of rawness one has come to enjoy from an ‘original instrument’ performance were nicely balanced with the full, lush sound that only a modern symphony orchestra can give. 

American violinist Kurt Nikkanen was soloist in the local premiere of Thomas Ades Violin Concerto ‘Concentric Paths’.  This dark, modern work was given a virtuoso performance by Nikkanen. 

The work is divided into three movements, ‘Rings’ being the first and shortest.  It’s incredibly high solo line was mesmerizing and set the scene for the rest of the work.

‘Paths’ the second movement and the longer of the three, is a dark mysterious place filled with harsh dissonances and violent chords.  The orchestration in this movement is remarkable (did I see a hammer used in the percussion?) in the way Ades employs the lower brass together with the solo violin and sets them against each other ‘which overlap and clash, sometimes violently, in their motion towards resolution’.  As Daniels and Nikkonen advised in their introduction it evoke a dark ‘club-like atmosphere’.  There is also a lyrical line to this movement as well, melancholic, which made me think of Vaughan Williams.

The final movement, ‘Rounds’ gave a sense of completion perfectly fitting the concept of circular motion.  It is a brief, tense piece and ends like the first movement began, with high tessitura for the solo violin and ending with a bang.

Kurt Nikkonen showed why he was one of the world’s leading exponents of this technically and emotionally demanding piece.  It was an incredible performance and was testament to why composer, Thomas Ades has been described as the ‘promising new voice of British music’.

In a slight program change, Colin Matthews’ orchestration of Debussy’s Preludes, Book II, no12: Feux d’artifice was performed before the interval.  This wonderfully orchestrated version of one of Debussy’s more enigmatic works was superb in its percussive, orientalist flavour.  Master orchestrator and Debussy contemporary, Maurice Ravel, would have been envious.

The second half of the program was given to Beethoven’s Symphony No5 in C minor, Opus 67.  Conductor Paul Daniel set a blistering pace from the opening bars, which continued through all four movements. 

It was a dramatic reading, though unsentimental due to the fast tempo adopted by Daniel.  This approach did not allow much contrast between the softer secondary theme of the first movement or its more famous counterpart that opens the work.

This feeling continued through to the Andante, which I thought was rushed and continued through to the scherzo third movement.  The sense of mystery evoked in the beginning of the scherzo was glossed over at this pace and there was little tension leading into the bridge to the brilliant blaze of brass that heralds the beginning of the fourth movement. 

The rapid tempo left nowhere to go in the build up to the finale, little light and shade in interpretation and was disappointing in light of Maestro Daniel’s vision of the 7^th heard to exhilarating effect last year.

It is testament to the skill and unity of the orchestra that they held it all together at such a speed.  In this sense it was truly inspiring, no shabby ensemble work here, just brilliant musicianship. 

I’d like to finish with a hearty congratulations to WASO in proving they are the best orchestra in the country by winning the APRA award for Performance of the Year for it’s performance of James Ledger’s Two Memorials performed in November last year at the Perth Concert Hall. Now the nation knows what I’ve been saying all along.

Happy Birthday Montserrat Caballe, 12th April 1933 -

When it comes to operatic diva's, few can ever surpass the talent of Montserrat Caballe.  With a career that has spanned around 60 years, her immense vocal versatility and repertoire has few peers.  I once read that her voice is like a combination of Tebaldi and Callas, the vocal beauty of the former combined with the range and agility of the latter.

When it came to choosing image and video for this post I have to confess it was extremely difficult.  Do I highlight her awesome Bel Canto repertoire (Norma), her delicious Wagnerian/Straussian voice (Salome), or the more visceral portrayal of  Versismo heroines (Tosca)?  Hard to choose really as she was at home in all three.

  

Her amazing legacy of recordings, which spans many genres, is testament to her incredible popularity and talent, who could ever forget her duet with Freddie Mercury - Barcelona?  I leave you however with this incredibly rare final scene from Strauss' Salome.  If you can stand the average sound quality I implore you to watch it and then seek out the second part.

Happy birthday Montserrat Caballe.  I thank you for enriching my life with your sublime voice, you were a great influence on my early love of opera, still are, and I return time after time to your amazing recorded vocal jewels.  I wish you many more years to come, you are a living operatic treasure.

As always, if you wish to learn more, head to Wikipedia.

Aivale Cole

For those of you who know my musical tastes and obsessions, you may have come to realise I am somewhat hard to please when it comes to live performances.  

I have, however, over the past few years been watching a certain soprano very closely, waiting for her true talent to be unleashed after her years of careful nurturing and planning, and developed a wonderful friendship in the process. 

That soprano is New Zealand born Aivale Cole.  

Possessed of a rich lyric soprano voice with a wide, even range, she has relocated to London with her young family and is living her dream.  Her website is now live and I encourage you to go check it out.  You can hear Aivale in audio excerpts and share in her inspiring journey.

And if you happen to be in London on Saturday, 12th May, go see her in performance in "A Night of Song & Opera" at St Gabriel's Church, Plimlico, together with Australian mezzo Miriam Sharrad, accompanied by Catherine Norton.  

Do yourself a favour and go see her while you can still afford her tickets.  

Having seen her as both Aida and Cio-Cio San, I can guarantee you will not be disappointed.

www.aivale.com

Image of the Day

I am speechless.  I am without speech...

Image of the Day

No wonder I am gay with childhood role models like this... I can't help but wonder if this is shot before or after the censors made him wear two pairs of tights!

New Work: The Return of the King

It's been a very productive long-weekend, a shame it has to come to an end.  I've just completed The Return of the King and it's been added to the Fantasy/Mythology gallery.

Part homage to the great biblical epics I watched over Easters past and part homage to the beautiful statues of Egyptian deities striding forth, this image is a paean to the mysticism and sense of spirituality this weekend holds for me.

Happy Birthday Franco Corelli (8 April 1921 – 29 October 2003)

Possessed with one of the most thrilling tenor voices ever and matinee idol looks, Franco Corelli was an ever popular star world-wide.  He was well known for his partnerships with the great soprano's of his day, Maria Callas and Renata Tebaldi, but especially for that with Birgit Nilsson. 

I seem to recall he had a nickname, Golden Thighs (well, it's Italian equivalent), due to his popularity with the ladies while singing roles that demand a bit of male leg, such as Radames, Pollione, Calaf or anything in tights.

As a teenager I thought his voice amazing, his ringing top tones and golden tones were only ever let down by poor diction, especially in French, and his ingratiating lisp.

That said, you will never get me to surrender his recordings of Radames or Cavaradossi, Andrea Chenier or Calaf, they are simply too beautiful.  Just listen to the dimenuendo on the high B-flat at the end of Celeste Aida to know what I mean, no one even comes close to singing like this.

Happy Birthday Franco Corelli!

New Work: Nabucco

I've added a new self-portrait to the Fantasy/Mythology gallery.

Based on the biblical figure, Nebuchadnezzar, or as he's called by Verdi, Nabucco, this is mostly an exercise in chiarascuro.

In other news this weekend I reached another milestone of 150 followers for my Male Nudes Gallery!  Thanks everyone, it's great to know that people enjoy my work.

Have a great long weekend!

Happy Birthday Herbert von Karajan

The first Classical LP I ever owned was Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic.
  
Deutsche Grammophon's 1960's recording of Beethoven's 9th Symphony with Gundula Janowitz, Hilde Rossel-Madchen, Waldemar Kmentt, and Walter Berry as soloists.

After hearing goodness knows how many versions over the years I always come back to this one.  We are fortunate enough in that it was filmed as part of the complete cycle

His operatic recordings are also for me a constant source of admiration, and the diversity of his repertoire inspiring, a somewhat controversial and colourful Titan of his musical age and for those to come.

Here is a clip of part of the final movement, fortunately with the same cast as above.  Janowitz is simply radiant, there is simply no other.  A finer cast of soloists you won't find and in my mind preferable to his later Beethoven Symphony cycles.

Happy birthday Maestro Karajan, my lifelong appreciation of music would not be the same without you.

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Konstantin Vasiliev -Valkyrie an Etude - 1969