another tweet, ...

 

Speaking of Carmen, Darius was really good I thought. As well as the voice he's got such great stage presence & looks not too shabby either

 

 

 

 

oh and btw, thanks for hugging Darius on my behalf..much appreciated,

He was happy about it too. He said it was a shame some had to leave too early.

Hello everyone... how are you all today?

Another string to D's bow - he should be very proud of himself I know I'm biased, but his stage presence is amazing!! I didn't notice his nervousness at all - I thought he seemed very comfortable and I particularly liked the fight with Don Jose. I was a bit disappointed with the supposed bull-fight, I thought there would be much more action but we were right down the other end of the stage so we couldn't see much of that anyway!! The whole show was quite spectacular but I don't really know why there had to be so many on stage at any given time as I felt there was too much to take in - I suppose it was so that wherever you were sitting in the audience there were always players in view! Occasionally I couldn't even tell who was actually singing and although it was in English when more that one person was singing I could hardly understand a word!! I enjoyed it more than I thought I would but I'm afraid I find opera very 'corny' and unless D takes part in any more it hasn't tempted me to try another!! :)

Thanks for the pictures Meg - Darius makes a wonderful toreador :wub: :D

And thank you Meg for getting the VIP Lounge passes - it was lovely to see everyone and even though we didn't get much chance to really chat to D it was really nice of him to consider us important enough to be among his friends and family

Now I just can't wait to see him again......

 

Julie

There are only two events left - and one of those is too far to travel to and back in a day. I'm just lucky the other is very local to me.

Edited May 24, 201015 yr by megham

Let's hope we hear about more concerts soon. You never know.... I may make the Mercedes Benz concert yet!!! Well done to Nina for winning a 'meet and greet'!!!

Till the next time....

 

Julie

I couldn't miss his first classical concert if I could possibly get to it. I'm really sorry to miss the Ayr one, just too far by about 500 miles, and I'll regret missing seeing him sing 'Ae Fond Kiss' as I did love that from last years performance on Burn's Night - which I didn't see either.

Yes Thanks Meg!!!!!

It was a lovely evening i enjoyed vey much. Was my first time to Opera and i was surprised at how much i enjoyed it though i do agree it would have been bette rat a smaller venue so me could see peoples faces. Thought that helped a lot with the story and emotions in GWTW! Took the last 2 pics you posted Meg and put them on my Facebook page hope that was ok.

Wanted to come on earlier but it has taken me ages to figure out what my password was as ihave not been here for so long!

The Stage

 

 

Carmen

Published Monday 24 May 2010 at 11:22 by Edward Bhesania

You’ve got to hand it to impresario Raymond Gubbay and The O2 for thinking big. Transferring David Freeman’s in-the-round Carmen from the Royal Albert Hall to the O2 Arena means opera really can reach the masses.

 

Another popular touch sees Darius Campbell - recent Popstar to Operastar winner - in the role of the toreador Escamillo, for one-performance only.

But, unsurprisingly, the production is defined by the spectacle. Twelve dancers (four of them with flames) set the scene for Act 4’s lavish pre-bullfight procession - a festival of acrobats, stilt-walkers, more flame dancers and juggling unicyclists.

David Roger’s twisting serpentine stage dominates the arena, symbolising the temptress Carmen, but Cristina Nassif in the title-role fails to loom as large. This is mostly not her fault. With a stage of this scale and 360-degree aspect, it’s difficult for any individual to make a visual impression.

Perhaps this was why tens of people around me left before the interval. Or perhaps it was because the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra - miked, then mangled and spat out of a woefully inadequate speaker system - would have sounded less canned on a kitchen radio. A real misjudgement by the producers and an insult to the musicians.

John Hudson as the obsessed Don Jose matches Nassif’s capable Carmen (though his dialogue is often wooden), but Elizabeth Atherton is alone in coaxing her microphone into conveying something of the range of her vocal colour, not least in her Act 3 aria - in which, in a quiet coup de theatre, she is alone on the vast, semi-lit stage.

If opera is even remotely about the music, then this isn’t a fine ambassador. For vocal and orchestral impact, ENO’s current Tosca would be a much safer bet.

 

 

This review sounds as though they made it from the Friday night show. There's no where to put a response to the review that I could see. The sound was particularly bad on the Friday and the show itself was less together. Sunday the sound had improved and the actors seemed more at home on the stage. I feel Darius wasn't mentioned as he wasn't there. The baritone on Friday had a lovely voice but was not the best actor I've seen. Maybe I'd have thought differently if I could see him in closeup.

mm, odd to reference Darius..and not to state whihc performance they saw, I thought they meant sundays show, and I didnt see tens of poeple leaving..or think th esound etc was like described.

luckily our seats were great, the woman at ticketmaster said we would have a marvelous view of th estage, and we did, but to cater for every seat?? a big ask, I too hoped for more bull fighting, but was put in mind of GWTW..the way they chose to portray it .

 

we are tempted by the Benz concert, OH reckons MT and classical concerts is the way to go, he got bored with the opera.

its a case of getting there..sems the parking isnt cheap and they reccomend not to drive, so depends on the train service..and perhaps cheaper tickets, it seems pricey at present for the ramshackle pics I have seem of the concerts there, so many people, will ponder that one.

 

such a shame we didnt meet, and that we had ot leave so quickly, but glad you had a lovely time after the show, Darius is so thoughtful

Edited May 24, 201015 yr by prettyinpink

Quite a few left on Friday but they did have problems with sound in the first half.

 

 

Our friends who came with us really enjoyed the show but hated the seating, more leg room on an economy flight and to sit there squashed for 3 hours is a lot im sure some peeps left for that reason and not because they didnt like the show. In fact listening to peeps in the interval that was there only complaint.

Im likin the fake ponytail. Sory i missed it. Im glad every1 who went had a gud time :)

well Darius and pony tail..Im in heaven, I so liked that look in PS LOL even if i was alone in that.

Had a lovely day on Sunday. Can't move today, but it was so worth it. It was good to meet Meg, Nina and Pam and also Paul,(though very briefly) but our taxi was waiting at that point so we couldn't stay and chat. Glad you got your train Pam, I was so worried when we were stuck in all that traffic leaving The Arena that you weren't going to make it.I managed to pick up a copy of the Sunday Express at the station.

Thank you Meg for giving Darius my hug and the photos are lovely. I thoroughly enjoyed his performance and could hear every word. I don't think I'll ever really take to opera, although Meg suggested I give it another go in a different type of venue. Darius did himself proud and acted really well. As others have said he commanded the stage and looked brilliant in his toreador costume!! I'm glad I'd watched the DVD of Carmen before hand and knew what was happening because otherwise I think I would have struggled, even though it was in English I found it difficult to understand what they were singing. Our seats weren't too bad and we did have a clear view of 'the pit' area where a lot of the action took place, especially the bullfight at the end. Listening to conversations whilst in the long toilet queues, everybody I heard thought the performance generally was very good.

I'm certainly glad I managed to get to see Darius in his first opera, but much preferred GWTW. Sue

The Telegraph has rubbished him - not that I'm surprised. It's not as if we could answer by putting up some of the things he sang beautifully. The first line of 'Toreador' was shaky but I don't think he can be blamed for nerves on his first ever performance. I loved his singing in the fight scene particularly. He has a fine baritone range, particularly the higher end I think would be hard to beat. I just get the feeling that the media just want to put him down.

Lovely photos

 

I'm sorry I didn't see anyone to say hello to yesterday as we got held up in traffic and made it to our seats with 10 minutes to spare after a nightmare of a journey. After the show I thought I recognised Nina just as I was leaving but I wasn't sure if it was you. I enjoyed the performance and thought Darius sounded great even though the venue seemed slightly too large for the show, and it was lovely to see him so happy afterwards. Thanks again Meg for thinking of me with your phonecall yesterday.

I saw you but you were talking and having a photo taken, when I turned around again, you'd gone - which was such a shame. Next time we'll have to make sure we meet up.

The telelgraphs so called reporter Rupert Christianson made his mind up about this after the first episode of popstar to operstar when he crucified it then. He talked as if he expected bona fide opera singers after the first episode and he also picked out Rolando for being associated with it and not doing his career any good. He thinks it didnt bring people into opera but surely the arttitude of him and others would turn people off it.

The telelgraphs so called reporter Rupert Christianson made his mind up about this after the first episode of popstar to operstar when he crucified it then. He talked as if he expected bona fide opera singers after the first episode and he also picked out Rolando for being associated with it and not doing his career any good. He thinks it didnt bring people into opera but surely the arttitude of him and others would turn people off it.

 

Rupert Christainsen has certainly got an evil look about him!! lol!

 

Julie