I guess the best show I've seen since I was back in UK has to be Don Carlo. I know that there are so many other shows that I've really liked when I first see it but looking back at all of them I think Don Carlo would be the only one that I'd have the most things to look back on.
Well it's not just about the show really I guess how the day goes and so on will affect your point of view to the show.
Originally Chris and I had planned to queue for the tickets for Don Carlo at the Royal Opera House that morning at 9am, but sadly enough I overslept and by the time I called Chris he told me the queue was too long and we'd not be able to get tickets (although the two incident didn't really link up cos Chris was there at 8 and the queue was already very long). Anyway, with a quick change of plan we've decided to see the live broadcast of it at Trafalgar Square for free instead. Well at first glance I thought it wasn't gonna be great I mean....watching opera outdoors really isn't my thing.
So we meeted at about 4 and managed to kill 2 hours before the show starts by hanging out at Pret and also a local record store. However, not being very helpful, the weather was getting worse and worse and it started pouring down rain. The strangest thing I've ever done in life is actually wearing a plastic bag, sitting on a plastic coushion, gazing at a big screen the size of a lorry, at Trafalgar Square whilst it's pouring down rain. It was miserable at first for I'm literally soaked and cold and Chris' programme has melted because of the rain. Plus the fact that the 2 ladies in front of me started holding the umbrella coincidentally blocking most of my view of the screen.
And so the show started for about 15 mins with me not knowing what's going on because of the stupid ladies in front of me. "This is going to be a disaster", I thought. Fortunately, the rain stopped half an hour later and Chris and I have decided to get off and wander off to some place else before our bum start rotting and fall off. We eventually managed to find a place near the cafe behind the benches where we can lean against a sloped wall. That's when we can finally be able to enjoy the opera.
Unfortunately I haven't got much to say about Act 1 and 2 besides the fact that the male duet is EXTREMELY awesome. Well it was a pity Chris and I wasn't able to do it before we left St. Paul's due to the fact that we both aren't ready for something this big. Anyway Act IV was my favourite out of all (probably becos I've got a hot chocolate to keep myself warm after 3 hours of freezing cold weather), mainly because it is all the big arias and big scenes in this Act was superbly performed. The remarkable moments include King Philip's big aria at the beginning; Eboli's aria after her confession, cursinng her beauty; and most of all, Rodrigo's death scene. Rodrigo's death scene was actually the most touching part of the performance. For some reason I was extremely convinced by the message he's delivering to his audience and I think it's a feast for both eyes and ears.
For the cast, Rolando Villazon starring as Don Carlos is an extraordinary tenor with this amazing voice. He's filled with such great passion and emotion during the first 3 Acts that it fascinates me as to how much energy he could put forth regardless of the numerous high notes and concentration he needs to give in the performance. Maria Poplavskaya starring as Elizabeth is (harshly speaking) a woman with a square face. Quoting from the friend of Chris, whose name I still couldn't remember, her facial expressions confined to only a small part of her face. Nevertheless she was very talented, pitying the fact that she didn't have much to sing except the big aria in Act 5. King Philip, played by Ferruccio Furlanetto, was the second best character in the opera, due to the fact that he has this amazing ringing voice that resonates with every fibers of people's heart. With an extremely strong voice, the duet he and the Grand Inquisitor (Eric Halfvarson) did in Act IV was definitely one of the greatest moments of the opera, when two old-aged bass(?) voice equally strong is fighting off each other resonating together. However, my favorite singer of the night has to be Simon Keenlyside playing the role of Rodrigo, Don Carlo's best friend. He has the most amazing energy and power that he succeeded in gaining the loudest cheer during curtain call, proofing how he managed to catch every single audience's heart. I am absolutely convinced by his performance as apart from being a good singer he's an exceptional actor as well. He has expressed clearly his love for Don Carlo in the most fascinating way that one would fall in love with the character straight away.
Apart from the raining, and the fact that it gets colder and colder towards the end of the evening that I'm actually freezing like hell before we get to spaghetti house for a quick supper, it truely is one fantastic evening I've ever had. Bravo.
