Bryn Terfel... Bad Boy?

It ain't necessarily so.  Bryn Terfel is, however, an extraordinarily chameleon-like performer, whose unmistakable timbre is used on his latest CD to evoke a remarkably diverse cast of unsavory characters. I treated myself to Terfel's Bad Boys CD in the holiday mood inspired by the unexpected chance to hear his Scarpia last month; I've been enjoying it as much as I had hoped.  What I had not expected was for listening to it to be a feel-good experience.  It is impossible for me to hear Terfel's Dulcamara brazenly charming Donizetti's rustici without doing a little dance step around the apartment.  "When the Night Wind Howls" from Ruddigore is simply a treat (and I think it would be even if I did not have a sentimental fondness for the piece, which I tried to make my father teach me by rote when I was about seven.)  Even in the portentous finale of Don Giovanni--sung by Terfel, Terfel, and Terfel, with the help of good sound engineering and great voice characterization--Leporello draws a chuckle.  In Terfel's hands, the Devil--whether from Gounod's Faust or Boito's Mefistofele--is a perfect charmer.

I don't mean to imply a lack of effective characterization in keeping the various villains distinct; in this I think Terfel succeeds remarkably well.  Moreover, I was quite impressed, on the whole, with the organization of this musically eclectic album (for complete track listing go here.) A few of the arias do inevitably wrest one into the world of the opera and then drop one unceremoniously out again.  "Tre sbirri, una carrozza, presto," purrs Terfel, and I'm in Sant'Andrea.  Iago's credo is another such piece for me.  I thought the tempo for "Ha! welch ein Augenblick!" fast--shouldn't Pizarro be luxuriating in sadistic pleasure?--but loved the smooth snarl Terfel brought to it.  A special treat is Anne Sofie von Otter (no less!) as Mrs. Lovett in "Epiphany" from Sweeney Todd.  I'm not really an enthusiast for Sweeney Todd (Really Shameful Confession?) but with their vivid and subtle and intensely human characterization, the scene comes across brilliantly.  I'd say I'm getting as much enjoyment out of the CD as those involved in its creation did, but the competition looks stiff:

Plácido Domingo: ad multos annos

I suspect that Plácido Domingo himself is one of very few people in the world who can keep track of his prodigious and prodigiously varied achievements. As the opera world dons party hats, figuratively speaking, for his seventieth birthday on Friday (I rather hope that literal party hats might be involved somewhere; there was at least a surprise party) I thought this would provide a good excuse for the post I've long felt I've owed him, anyway.  Plácido Domingo was one of the first figures in the world of opera I came to know: he's been Virgil to my Dante for much of the core operatic repertoire, and is primus inter pares among my Honorary Operatic Uncles. So, I'm putting on my own figurative party hat.

Zur Kunst die Lieb'

I could not be more thrilled by the rapturous and nearly universal acclaim with which Bryn Terfel's recent role debut as Hans Sachs has been greeted (photo: Catherine Ashmore for WNO.)  Just a few of the effusive reviews stem from Classical Source, the Wall Street Journal, and the Financial Times.  Intermezzo has not only a detailed review, but lots of pictures!)  Mr. Terfel is an honorable member of the group of opera singers who compose my Pantheon of Imaginary Uncles.  (Domingo heads the list, but there are others as well.)  Here is an irrelevant but winsome German interview.  You cannot fool anyone by singing Evil Baritones, Mr. Terfel; irrepressible likeability will out.

The Proms performance of Meistersinger will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 this Saturday, at 4:00 London time which means 11:00 a.m. for me.  It will then be available on demand for a week.  (Full details here.)  I'll be sorry to miss the Richard Jones production, but still, I will get to hear the avuncular Mr. Terfel sing, or channel, Hans Sachs.

Update: the debate about Wagner and anti-Semitism is apparently being formally (re-)taken up by historian and author Mark Berry (his really interesting music blog here; his impressive faculty page here; his book about politics and religion in the Ring here) and critic Barry Emslie, author of the recent Richard Wagner and the Centrality of Love.  Heavy but fascinating stuff; the discussion starts at The Wagner Journal online.  Hans Sachs, who surely can be enjoyed with a clear conscience and cheerful mood (quoth she, not unaware of potential for being shown error of her ways), here: