#nicole cabell

[mezzowatch]

Joyce Didonato as Romeo and Nicole Cabell as Giulietta in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi at San Francisco Opera, 2012

[palimadar]

Romeo mourning: Joyce DiDonato in I Capuleti e i Montecchi with Anna Netrebko, Nicole Cabell and Olga Kulchynska (Paris, Kansas City, Zürich)

[silverbrume]

I Capuleti e i Montecci

Having recently rewatched SF Opera's I Capuleti e i Montecci (Bellini), I was reminiscing about when I saw it live.

After I'd accepted a job in SF, one of the first things I did was look at SF Opera's webpage to see what operas were going to be performed once I arrived.  My eyes bugged out when I saw that DiDonato and Cabell would be starring together, and I immediately ordered a ticket online.  The ticket was mailed to my apartment in Michigan, and once it arrived, I carried it around in my backpack everywhere, so that I'd know where it was and I wouldn't lose it.  So the ticket went with me from Michigan, back to Boston when I visited my parents, and then with me to the West coast.  I eagerly anticipated my first live opera in SF with two of my favorite singers all through the stressful first months at my new job.

I couldn't believe I was actually going to see DiDonato and Cabell live.  I was convinced that one or both would get sick or cancel, but the opera's website said nothing of the sort every time I worriedly checked.  When the evening arrived, my seat was way up in the balcony--I was still a grad student when I'd ordered it, after all, and I hadn't joined the Bravo program.  I could barely make out the stage, because my eyesight isn't very good.  So I didn't see the Montecchi messenger enter, but as soon as he sang his first plaintive note, I felt my heart leap into my throat.  Joyce DiDonato's voice was even more thrilling in person than it had been in the live Met broadcasts or on her CDs.  I'd listened to her sing hundreds of times, and now, to hear her on the stage in front of me, pleading with the enemy in a situation that was going from bad to really terrible, was just heartbreaking.

She and Nicole Cabell sang the part of starcrossed lovers with enough power and emotion to wring tears from a stone.  The brassy boldness of DiDonato's mezzo and the liquid gold of Cabell's soprano flowed and melded with each other.  Their singing filled the theater to the brim, and I forgot how far I was from the stage.  A dream pairing of voices.

Their acting was also superb.  I could see the conflict in Giulietta as she was torn between love and duty to her family.  I cringed at the headstrong passion in Romeo as he tried to convince Giulietta to elope with him.  I ached at the divide between them as Romeo sang about only needing love to sustain them, while Giulietta tried to explain why she could not leave.  And though I knew it was coming from the moment the opera began, their death scene made me rail at the waste of two young lives, at the insufficiency of love in the face of hate.

[pixelatedbutterfly]

Seeing La Traviata tonight at SFO, and I can't get over how much Nicole Cabell looks like a young Gina Torres.

[verdiprati]

Connolly / Elgar broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 this week

BBC Radio 3 links for handy reference:

The Dream of Gerontius: Monday, April 21. The program starts at 2:00 p.m. London time and Gerontius apparently starts about 45 minutes in.

The Apostles: Thursday, April 24. The program starts at 2:00 p.m. London time and Apostles apparently starts about 20 minutes in.

Presumably both programs will be available for listening on iPlayer for a week following broadcast.

[goneril-and-regan]

What a curse for a woman is a timid man!

[thinkingwithoutlogic]

Prayer by Langston Hughes

I ask you this: Which way to go? I ask you this: Which sin to bear? Which crown to put  Upon my hair? I do not know, Lord God, I do not know.

[irreverencesavedtheoperastar]

Joyce and Nicole tear it up.

And joyce admits that flirting with the ladies tends to happen when getting into character. Oh, to be backstage...

[silverbrume]

Falling under Joyce and Nicole's spell anew.

[opera-woes]

When you listen to Nicole Cabell sing Summertime

It's so clear and beautiful, you're like:

But seriously. This beautiful woman is from America. And she sounds like she comes from some foreign planet that breeds the most beautiful people ever:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYsqxFpaVEY

[fyeahoperasingers]

Baritone Nathan Gunn and Soprano Nicole Cabell in Bizet's 'The Pearl Fishers.' Lyric Opera of Chicago, 2008.

Shut up, I need some eye candy.  It's been that kind of day.