2015 July 3rd: Adriana Lecouvreur in Paris

So off to the usual start of my travels, night bus to Gardermoen. Then off to Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. Something was off and that was me. It had just started that very day to be hot in Norway, but me I was dressed all in black. Stupid! Luckily I had my luggage with white clothes. And Paris was hot. Remember, I am Norwegian and in Norway we seldom gets days off over 26 grades Celsius, 28 is just amazing and over 30, that's almost never. So here in Paris it was well over 20 even when dark.

As a Norwegian and not the regular sun lover I was in need of a powerful sun lotion in the least. But first I had to come to Paris from Charles de Gaulle. I was buying a train ticket and then tried to find a bus. Yes, I should have known that a train ticket does not work for bus, but I was under the illusion that my ticket worked for all kinds of connections to Paris. Then rejected by the buses, I found that trains was not too hard to work out. The trains to Paris, was there, and those going in another direction was through another staircase. To Gare de Nord, then. So taxi to my hotel. 

My hotel in Montmartre. It is OK. Big, nice bed. Wonderful pillows. A TV, a little table with a chair. Bathroom with shower, WC and washing bin. The WC is crowded in with washing bin in front and shower cabinet on the left. No space at all had I been a big woman. Little space, easy to hurt oneself. But the problem is just when you need to use the toilet...

I loved Adriana Lecouvreur but I got my hot-temperature-headache during the opera and started feeling slightly sick. So no photos of the singers after performances, I just wanted to go straight to bed.

2015-07-03 Adriana Lecouvreur (Cilea),Opera National de Paris (Opera Bastille)

Adriana Lecouvreur = Angela Gheorghiu

Maurizio = Marcelo Alvarez

La Principessa di Bouillon = Luciana D’intino

Il Principe di Bouillon = Wojtek Smilek

L’Abate di Chazeuil = Raúl Giménez

Michonnet = Alessandro Corbelli

Quinault = Alexandre Duhamel

Poisson = Carlo Bosi

Daniel Oren, conductor 

Stage director - David McVicar

Sets - Charles Edwards

Costumes - Brigitte Reiffenstuel

Lighting - Adam Silverman

Choreography - Andrew George

Chorus master - José Luis Basso

It is wonderful and rare to see a truly traditional opera production but for Adriana it is so right.

Loved the production and did warm up to this opera rather quickly. I loved Alessandro Corbelli as Michonnet. He was so right for the role. He loves Adriana and he is the decent type of a fellow someone to trust interely. Raul Gimenez as L'Abate was also wonderful as this not so trustworthy man, not so much of a man of the Church as a man of the flesh. Wojtek Smilek as the Prince of Bouillon was impressive, too.

Angela Gheorghiu was not impressive as she started with "Io son l'umile ancella", mostly because I have heard the likes of Montserrat Caballe singing it, and with MC it is most impressive and impressionistic. The rest of the audience, however, went wild for Angela Gheorghiu. Luciana D'Intino was her rival the Princess of Bouillon and Luciana was great. Luciana has everything passion and La Voce and her voice can go through all and everything. Marcelo Alvarez was just the most adoringly, wonderful Maurizio. What a beautiful voice? He could use to loose some weight but NOT if it changes his voice because the Voice is Perfect. 

Daniel Oren conducted and the orchestra was just wonderful. Angela Gheorghiu became better and better. Luciana wins on power, Angela wins on sweetness. Marcelo Alvarez has it all! BRAVO tutti!

Took the Metro to Concorde and taxi from there to hotel. Maybe if I had not tried to walk to Bastille, 4.7 km, I would not have gotten my ill-fated headache. I think I got half way and the sense got to me and I took a taxi.