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Dramatic tunes and notes
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The Hindu
VIRTUOSITY: Mats Carlsson and Michael Engstrom. Photo: V. Ganesan
Related
Music lovers had a rare t=
reat
recently... an evening of opera with tenor Mats Carlsson and pianist Michael
Engstrom
History was =
made when
Chennai's music aficionados were treated to ‘An Evening at the Opera'=
at
Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall, thanks to efforts of The Madras Se=
va
Sadan and the Embassy of Sweden.
Audiences of=
Western
classical music have not had the chance to listen to live performances of g=
reat
operas in the city. The closest Chennai-ites have come to the opera is when
they heard the popular late Victorian Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, and
musicals such as ‘Fiddler on the Roof' and ‘Joseph and his Coat=
of
Many Colours' with their often spectacular staging.
So, when ten=
or Mats
Carlsson and pianist Michael Engstrom -- both from Sweden – took the
stage, magic was woven by 'the shimmering Nordic timbre' and the masterly p=
iano
accompaniment.
After studie=
s at the
Royal College of Music and the University College of Opera in Stockholm,
Carlsson, a recipient of several prestigious scholarships, made his debut in
2005 and has since then sung with all the major orchestras in Sweden. He has
appeared in opera concerts in Sweden, Japan and the U.S.
Michael Engs=
trom
studied at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm and also mastered Lied
interpretation in London, New York, and Germany. He has toured Europe, North
America, China, Japan and Australia. He now works as a freelance pianist and
accompanist.
Popular numbers
That evening=
, the
first two songs, ‘Jag langter dig' and ‘Skogen sover' were by
Swedish composer, Hugo Alfven. Although not operatic arias, they served to
introduce to the audience to the warm richness of the tenor and the sympath=
etic
accompaniment of the pianist. After ‘Sommarnatt' by the Danish compos=
er
Mogens Schrader and ‘Tonerna' by Carl Sjoberg, the audience was prese=
nted
with two charming melodies, ‘Allerseelan' and ‘Zueignung' by
Richard Strauss.
Carlsson was=
now given
a break, when the virtuosity of the freelance pianist Engstrom captured the
audience as he played two pieces, ‘Till rosorn' and ‘Lawn-tenni=
s'
from ‘Frosoblomster' (When I walk alone in the dark woods) by the Swe=
dish
composer, music-critic and poet Wilhelm Peterson-Berger. All this music was
from the early to mid 20th century.
Time now for=
the
operatic arias. (As Carlsson took his position on stage, ramrod straight, f=
eet
slightly apart, in a definitive stance, he threw his shoulders back, expand=
ing
his already wide chest; he would hit a high A fortissimo, hold it and drop =
an
octave to a pianissimo, holding it with the same ease and aplomb -- would
Chennai singers learn a lesson?)
Vivid and dr=
amatically
true, ‘Carmen,' one of the greatest and most popular of all French
operas, was the last work of the 19th century French composer, Georges Bize=
t.
The story is about Carmen, a gypsy, and her lover who stabs her to death wh=
en
she leaves him for a bull-fighter. The ringing voice together with the dulc=
et
tone of the piano made the aria ‘La fleur que tu m'avais jetee' (The
flower that you had thrown to me) come alive. Next was the Italian composer
Gaetano Donizetti's ‘Una fortiva lagrima.'
Among the wo=
rks of
Giacomo Puccini-- of ‘La Boheme' and ‘Madama Butterfly' fame --=
the
programme showcased the most popular and outstanding aria each from two fam=
ous
operas, ‘Turandot' and ‘Tosca,' ‘Nessun dorma' from the
former and ‘A lucevan le stalle' from the latter, the performance of =
both
drawing wild applause. Indeed, Carlsson's beauty of tone and perfection of =
phrasing
has helped establish him as one of Sweden's most sought-after tenors.
Bernstein pieces
The duo clos=
ed the
evening with Abba's ‘Anthem' from ‘Chess' and ‘Maria' and
‘Balcony Scene' from ‘West Side Story', the most successful wor=
k of
the American conductor, composer and pianist Leonard Bernstein. Then came a
standing ovation from the audience, who asked for more. And more they did g=
et!
The exuberant ‘Nor jag for mig' was followed by ‘La Donna e Mob=
ile'
from Verdi's ‘Rigoletto.'
Did the audi=
ence miss
the stunning sets of an opera? No. Did they miss the opulent orchestra? No.=
But it was so
authentically ‘An Evening at the Opera' that made one think, “S=
o!
This is why they go the opera in the West…”