Italian opera dominates

Recent operatic activity has been strongly dominated by opera in Italian and composed by Italians. This is a Puccini year (150th anniversary of his birth), so it’s only natural that what is arguably his best work , “La Boheme”, should be staged. In fact the curious thing is the chosen venue: the Ciudad Cultural Konex, a converted factory. The small Teatro Roma (Avellaneda) billed its presentation of Bellini’s “Norma” as the “first complete performance of the original version”. And the Casa de la Opera, Adelaida Negri’s company, revived one of the less known Verdi operas, “I Masnadieri”, at the Avenida.
Horacio Pigozzi updated “La Boheme” and accepted the condition for his production: it uses the same scenery as the musical “Rent”, loosely based on it but with an AIDS-centered story. It worked in the first and fourth acts –the garret- but it was ludicrous in the second, the Café Momus, where the ambience was all wrong and there was no street, and in the third, where the illusion of a snowy morning outside a tavern wasn’t even suggested. And of course, if you take the libretto seriously –as I do- that third act happens at one of Paris’ barriers which existed in the 1840s between the city and the suburbs but were later eliminated: one good reason against updating, apart from historical references. I also disliked the Churba overalls that uniformly clad the crowd in the Momus scene, when thay are supposed to be citizens having fun in Christmas. (see picture)

Now to the good things. Pigozzi gave point and humor to the fooling around of the four Bohemians and the singers both sang and acted well. Tenor Carlos Duarte has a beautiful and powerful voice, although there were some fissures in the phrasing. Luis Gaeta was a perfect Marcello; my only cavil is that he looks too aged for the part, some makeup was in order. Both Walter Schwarz (Colline) and Fernando Grassi (Schaunard) were satisfactory, and Fernando’s father, Oscar Grassi, did the character parts of Benoit and Alcindoro with all the wisdom of long experience. Mariela Schemper was expressive as Mimí although she lacks some expansion in the high notes , and María Bugallo, a beautiful Musetta, was a touch too strident. Mario Perusso, an old hand at Puccini, was predictably good conducting a small (29 players) orchestra in the quite acceptable orchestral reduction of . The orchestra was located at extreme left on the stage, for there’s no pit. The choirs were correct enough. I was astonished at the acoustics of the venue, much better than I imagined.

“Norma” is indissolubly associated with the marvelous interpretation of Maria Callas, who gave us both superlative bel canto and enormous dramatic intensity. The Roma (Avellaneda) version tried for another approach, essentially lyrical, but I feel it goes against the grain of the piece. Anyway, this was only apparent in the title role, for Soledad de la Rosa sang very beautifully, with an immaculate register from top to bottom, but there was no inkling of drama in what she did, and for me there’s no Norma without powerful involvement. Juan Borja was precisely what the programme notes said he shouldn’t be as Pollione: a full voice of considerable volume and Verdian character; but he came to grief in the last scene, where his voice simply gave out. Cecilia Arola has a strange voice; she sounds like a rather harsh mezzosoprano but is capable of high soprano sounds and sings with true intonation, though she certainly isn’t the lyric soprano the programme claims Adalgisa should be. Marcos Nicastro was a capable and true Oroveso, Roxana Deviggiano a vibrato-ridden Clotilde and Gustavo Torella a good Flavio.
Sebatiano de Filippi is a well-oriented young conductor, with the right sense of phrasing, but the Orquesta Municipal de Avellaneda just won’t do; the intonation of the violins in particular is horrid most of the time. And the late arrival of a trumpet player forced the use of a deplorable organ in the First Part. The Choir was enthusiastic but faulty. The production by Alejandro Atías was terribly conventional and static.
“I Masnadieri” dates from 1847 , immediately after Verdi’a wonderful “Macbeth”. Based on Schiller’s “The Bandits” (“Die Rauber”) , Andrea Maffei produced a deplorable libretto full of absurdities, certainly far from the original. The composer isn’t always inspired, but there’s enough true Verdi to justify a revival every 30 years or so; and such was the case, for the opera, never seen at the Colón, was offered by the Argentino at the Coliseo in 1979 . The best thing in this revival was the very good work of the orchestra under Giorgio Paganini and the choir prepared by Ezequiel Fautario. The production by Eduardo Casullo was simple and direct, respecting the original ambience, and there were attractive costumes by Mariela Daga. The most interesting feature was the satellital images by Santiago Espeche, quite evocative.
Of the singers only Leopoldo López Linares as the baritone villain and Mario de Salvo as his imprisoned father were up to par. Adelaida Negri had as usual both a dramatic sense of phrasing and evident vocal limitations, and Eduardo Ayas has lost his timbre of yore; his singing now is effortful and arid. In the smaller parts Jorge Bellone (Rolla) was correct, Cristian de Marco dry as the pastor Moser and José Luis Galimidi rather poor as Arminio.

Para el Buenos Aires Herald

Our orchestras are playing well

    Our compatriots have, along with a pessimistic strain, a particular resilience that allows them to fight adversity. Events in recent months and years have sorely tried our orchestras, but on the evidence of their current playing, they are reacting positively. I can't refer to the Buenos Aires Philharmonic, for due to a recent illness I haven't been able to attend their interesting cycle of three concerts conducted by young international talents, but last week I witnessed two valuable sessions: the National Symphony (Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional) offered the mighty Second Symphony ("Resurrection") by Mahler conducted by our true specialist, Pedro Calderón; and the Colón Orchestra (Orquesta Estable del Colón) gave a concert that featured Beethoven's Choral Fantasia with our great senior lady of the piano, Pía Sebastiani.

            Calderón has long been a champion of Gustav Mahler and is certainly an admirable builder of sound. The conductor who tackles a symphony by this master needs two contradictory qualities: he must analyze painstakingly its complex structure and present it with clarity, but he also has to adapt to its enormous emotional contrasts and give us its everchanging moods, almost maniacally detailed in the score. In both counts Calderón is accomplished; now 75, he is in good physical shape and keeps tight control and concentration throughout. He knows the "Resurrection" inside out (I believe it's the third time he does it here) and is unerring in his choice of tempi. True, he has always played safe in the matter of pianissimi: he does them piano to prevent croaks from the winds, but on the other hand the sound comes out firm and satisfying, in always precise blocks. And the phrasing is expressive avoiding maudliness.

            The Mahler Second has been a favorite of mine since I discovered it with the Vox Klemperer recording in 1951, and the years have only confirmed my love for it: as the composer wished, his symphony is a universe that goes from the initial funeral march to the glorious affirmation of resurrection of the last movement, with soprano, contralto and mixed choir.

The  National Symphony has undergone a lot of frustration (and so has Calderón, its Principal Conductor) these last two years, as an obstinately unresponsive National Culture Secretariat led by José Nun has kept it paralyzed for months on end, but this year the clouds have lifted and it seems the organism will be able to carry out its artistic plans. Not all is well, of course: their  venue this season will be the main hall of the UBA Law College (Facultad de Derecho), notoriously bad in its over-resonant acoustics (although even so I have fond memories of my teenager forays to the Radio Nacional Orchestra concerts of the fifties  and sixties with eminent conductors). Concerts will be free because such is the age-old condition of that place, and not because of social reasons as we are told. The truth of the matter is that the house of the National Symphony for many years, the Auditorio de Belgrano, is off bounds because the Culture Secretariat either didn't pay its rental or cancelled the orchestra's concerts in recent years. And of course an orchestra that plays always for free is diminished in its projection. Add to it that there will be very few foreign guests , and not of the first rank, and also that programmes won't be as innovative as Calderón has accustomed us in other brilliant seasons, and you have what I hope is a transitional year to more important levels: better programming, a recuperated Auditorio and guest conductors and soloists according to the quality of our admirable National Symphony, so often mishandled by the Government.

Back to the "Resurrection".  Apart from minimal fluffs, the orchestra played very well, with many excellent solos and great discipline. The Coro Polifónico Nacional under Roberto Luvini gave us fine singing, from pianissimo to fortissimo; there are many splendid voices . The weak point was Lucila Ramos Mané, the plummy contralto: her register sounded bruised and her histrionics didn't help in such an intimate song as "Urlicht". Cecilia Layseca's soprano isn't ideally creamy for her music, but she was expressive and accurate.

I recently wrote about a concert conducted by Carlos Vieu, the new Principal Conductor of the Colón Orchestra. Only last December the organism protested in the streets, led by their then conductor, Stefan Lano. Now they seem in good communication with Vieu, who is careful in spotlighting the soloists and the orchestral groups when the end-of-concert bows come. Vieu showed again that he is the best Argentine conductor of his generation with very well-considered readings of such standards as Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet" and Dvorák's "New World Symphony". He also gave fine support to Pía Sebastiani in Beethoven's Fantasy.

The lady is now 83, but this is only statistics: she doesn't show her age either in her radiant appearance or in her firm, orthodox playing. Minor blemishes counted for very little. In fact I got much pleasure from her traversal of this strange work that starts with a big piano introduction, follows with a theme with variations (the tune has a family resemblance with the famous one from the Finale of the Choral Symphony) and ends with five minutes of mixed choir with six vocal soloists. She gave the score solidity and substance . The Colón Choir (Salvatore Caputo) was good, the soloists less so.       

 

For Buenos Aires Herald

Lavandera plays our composers; Vieu conducts Colón Orchestra

            Horacio Lavandera  is undoubtedly the most famous Argentine pianist of his generation. He was a teenager prodigy, playing arduous programmes at 15 with fantastic technical prowess. Now he is 24 and has been living in Spain for several years, but comes back to our country regularly. Many composers have written scores especially for him, revelling in his enormous speed  and uncanny accuracy.  I have often felt that his interpretative gifts aren't commensurate to his mechanical ones, but I have almost  always been stunned at his concerts by some astonishing feats. He has such facility that he often seems glib. And his self-control is impressive.

            His recent concerts have certainly been out of the ordinary. The Teatro Maipo is centenary this year and its owner, Lino Patalano (long-time manager of  Julio Bocca), to celebrate decided to do something outside that theatre's tradition: concerts of classical music. As is well-known, the Maipo's trajectory has been identified with that particular genre, the variety show ("revista"). Renovated in recent years, the theatre certainly looks good with its plush seats and tasteful decoration. Patalano's gamble was big and strange: he asked Lavandera to do four identical recitals on Mondays with purely Argentine programmes. The pianist has an important following, but it certainly isn't easy to attract our Europeanized concert audiences to a session of our music. Particularly at steep prices ($ 150 the best stalls ). 

            Lavandera dedicated the First Part to our great composers of the first 70 years of the twentieth century, and the Second to contemporaries. I felt he gave too much space to Alberto Ginastera; he was certainly our greatest composer, but he was well represented by his First Sonata; the other two works of his would have been profitably replaced by works from such composers as Guastavino, Gianneo and  García Morillo. Also, there was a marked emphasis on motoric, rhythmic scores, which allowed Lavandera to show off his privileged fingers but made for monotony and a sense of overkill. And it didn't help that the piano was rather metallic and to boot it was amplified.

            He didn't start well: Julián Aguirre's "Huella" and "Gato" lacked charm and singing quality. Alberto Williams's "Milonga del volatinero" fared better, and the Ginastera scores were mostly excellent, though I missed in the Sonata the required mystery in the second movement and an ecstatic quality in the slow one.

            With the contemporaries the problem was rather in the quality of the music; they all seemed grandsons of Ginastera and technical hurdles seemed to be there just for the sake of them. This was clearly apparent in Fabián Panisello's "Double etude No.6" and in Esteban Benzecry's "Toccata Newen". Apart from the poor humor of the titles, Gabriel Senanes' "Triciclo" had some appealing moments. Osvaldo Golijov's "Levante" sounded very crossover.  Three encores: I enjoyed a lot a tango by Eduardo Arolas, but a Piazzolla piece was also good; the ample melodic arch of Carlos Gardel's "Mi Buenos Aires querido" was less congenial for the player, always dazzling in the difficult bits of the Second Part.

            I missed Carlos Vieu's first concert with the Colón Orchestra, for it was Holy Week and I wasn't here. I caught up with the conductor in his second programme, which had no soloist; the venue was the Auditorio de Belgrano, whose good acoustics are a balm. As announced the programme was absurdly short; belatedly they added another work to have a reasonable playing time. I was told that the popular slant was due to its original character as a free concert, but someone decided otherwise, and tickets weren't cheap.

            There are other bad news, but I will stress first the good ones: Vieu, now 42, is our best conductor, and is getting very interesting results from the Colón Orchestra. The playing and conducting were throughout professional, in style and satisfying. However,  there are observations to be made otherwise:

a)     To those who read attentively it must have come as a shock that the orchestral roster adds to the permanent members no less than 19 players under contract. Horacio Sanguinetti, the Colón's Director, had said that there could be no operatic season because the Orchestra was incomplete; but it stands to reason that if he can contract players to do concerts, he can do the same with opera. So his rationale to cancel the season doesn't hold up. On the other hand, Mauricio Macri said in the February press conference that there would no longer be people under contract: wrong again.

b)     The Colón has had for many decades staff writers on music. Concerts have had programme notes by either Pola Suárez Urtubey or Julio Palacio . But now apparently they are no longer there, for the notes were written (very well) by that talented Renaissance man, Alberto Bellucci. I certainly don't object his presence as such, but I do feel that staff writers are needed and the Colón had very good ones.

c)      Finally, a programme with three well-known Overtures (from operas that haven't been staged since long ago, nor will they be in the next three years), a film-derived ballet suite and a tuneful Bizet suite, is of course fun to hear but lightweight. Overtures: Wagner's "The Mastersingers", Weber's "Der Freischuetz" and Verdi's "La Forza del Destino". Then, Nino Rota's  Suite from "La Strada" and finally Bizet's Second Suite from "L'Arlésienne".

 

For Buenos Aires Herald

 

Occident and Orient, an operatic counterpoint

            A rare circumstance occurred recently. It has been decades since our city was able to appreciate Chinese traditional opera, utterly different from our occidental brand. The visit of the Beijing Opera (we used to call it Peking) at the ND Ateneo prompts some musings and conclusions.

            It was simply billed as "Opera de Pekín" in the poor hand programme, which gave no detail of the pieces  to be seen or the singers and players; not even the artistic leaders of the company were listed.  As I remember, Buenos Aires has seen much bigger groups than this chamber outfit (seven singer-performers, 6 players)  and I strongly suspect that currently Beijing has grander shows to offer. My recollections of the Legend of the Monkey King, e.g., seen here several decades ago, are of a vast array of singers, acrobats and dancers.

            What we saw was four short pieces: the first was a comedy sketch between a lady and a gentleman marked by the subtlety of pantomimic gesture;  on the second another lady cajoles an old boatman into ferrying her over the river to meet her lover (again pantomime holds a large place); the third, rather austere, was made up of "arias" (so said the supertitles) of a warrior General; the final offering was the actions leading to the suicide of a General's concubine; the strange reasoning being that her death, liberating the man from his amorous desires, left him free to wage war.  The General wore such a grotesque mask and emitted such growling sounds that to Occidental sensibilities it smacked more of parody than of tragedy.

            And there lies the rub: the codes are so different that I can only give an impression, certainly not an informed criticism. So, there are cultural differences that are hard to bridge. Vocal production sounds nasal and harsh to us, and the constant twang of a small gong seems numbing and monotonous. Other aspects communicate better: the beauty of the clothes, the skill and charm of the gestures, the weight of immutable tradition giving us the age-old spirit of a great people. And the curiosity of hearing the timbres of the Chinese varieties of fiddles, mandolins, flutes, oboes and drums. The music sounds inexorable and seems based on repetition of patterns with pentatonic melody.

            A few days later I was on familiar ground with the new production of Rossini's "L'italiana in Algeri" opening the season of Buenos Aires Lírica (BAL) at the Avenida. Although I feel that a young company shouldn't repeat titles (this opera was seen on 2003) and there's plenty of little-known Rossini to choose from, the evening was quite pleasant and I went out with a smile. Pablo Maritano, a fresh new talent, produced. In one essential aspect I differ: even farce needs to be believable in a historic context, and the plain fact is that the updating to the 1920s doesn't work, for by then the Ottoman Empire didn't exist; it would have sufficed to give us a Belle Epoque ambience (the 1890s) to make matters much more logical. And Maritano at least once changes the libretto wholesale. Says the hand programme, referring to Isabella and Taddeo: "the ship in which they traveled wrecked in the Algerian coast"; not here, where a special stage design gives us a  pleasure boat of the 1920s being boarded by pirates abducting the Italians. But...it works. Maritano has genuine comedy ideas and the situations he concocts are  funny and don't go against the grain of the characters. E.g., the eunuchs' Turkish bath. I would only object that he makes the Bey's wife too ridiculous and the Bey not enough.

            Maritano is abetted by a splendid stage designer, Andrea Mercado, who has a sure aesthetic sense and a feeling for colour. I'm not so sure about the costumes designed by Sofía Di Nunzio, although she of course follows Maritano's instructions about the time of the action; I prefer a Mustafa in Oriental clothes and a less strident Isabella.

            There was a major blemish in the cast: Lindoro needs a beautiful voice with a very sure high extension, great agility and charm; Jaime Caicompai lacks such features and he is  also very unprepossessing as a stage figure. An occasional felicity of phrasing didn't compensate. The other Chilean in the cast was another matter: Evelyn Ramírez has a round even mezzosoprano voice with a full register, and as she sings, "here nonchalance is needed"; she provides it. But there was a greater star on stage: Hernán Iturralde was simply brilliant as Mustafa, worth the price of a seat all by himself: ideal acting and skilful handling of Rossinian roulades, perfect diction and timing, and a powerful voice. Fernando Santiago as Taddeo plays the fool convincingly and his vocal means are quite adequate. Jimena Semiz made her local debut (she hails from Mendoza) as Elvira, and if you accept the sad figure Maritano wants her to be, she did quite well (her high notes are firm and ride over the orchestra in the big concerted Finale to Act I). Gustavo Feulien sang fluently Haly's aria, and Florencia Machado was satisfactory as Zulma.

            Guillermo Brizzio conducted with care and style a rather good orchestra; there were blemishes but also some well-pointed phrasing. The Male Choir under Juan Casasbellas entered wholeheartedly in the spirit of fun . They and all concerned enjoyed themselves and so did the audience.

Para el Buenos Aires Herald

Attractive plans from concert organizations

            As has been the case for many decades, the Mozarteum Argentino remains the most solid  institution. Its two subscription series will take place at the Coliseo. Some of the items are of Olympian rank, and I will single out the truly exceptional programming of the Berliner Staatskapelle under Daniel Barenboim: the three last Bruckner symphonies coupled with three Schoenberg scores. Highly demanding and fascinating, these sessions show a comforting confidence in our audiences' maturity (apart from two subscription performances, the third one will be non-subscription). Dates: May 29 and 30, June 2.

            The season starts with recitals by talented pianist Sergio Tiempo (May 5 and 6) , and then follow (after Barenboim) the Vilnius Festival Orchestra (June 9 and 10) conducted by Krzysztof Penderecki, who will premiere two of his works. The brilliant American violinist Joshua Bell will be back on June 23 and 24). The Alban Berg Quartet will pay us an eighth and last visit on June 30 and July 1. The Orchestre Philharmonique de Liege under Pascal Rophé will accompany the admirable  mezzosoprano Susan Graham singing Berlioz in her first visit to our city; on their own the players will stress the scores of César Franck . Dates: August 25 and 26.

            The Hallé Orchestra visited us in preceding decades under Sir John Barbirolli and Stanislav Skrowacezweski; now they will come conducted by the talented Mark Elder (debut) in two eclectic though traditional programmes , where one item is the exception and intrigues me:  there's no such thing as the announced Debussy Orchestral Preludes. They will also accompany Polina Leschenko in two hoary piano concerti (Liszt and Grieg); the Russian artist will make her local debut. The concerts will take place on September 8 and 9.

            A most welcome return will be that of Hesperion XXI, that marvelous group of ancient music under Jordi Savall, featuring soprano Montserrat Figueras. Two programmes will certainly yield major surprises: "The Lost Paradises: Arabo-Andalusian, Jewish and Christian music from Old Hesperia to the discovery of the New World" on September 23 will be preceded  by "The Route of the New World: meeting of cultures of Old Iberia and the New World".

            The Jerusalem Festival Chamber Ensemble (debut) under pianist Elena Bashkirova (Barenboim's wife) will offer chamber music with clarinet, violin, cello and piano by Bartók, Brahms, Mozart and Hindemith on October 27 and 28. The season will end with a strange visit: Kodo (debut), Japanese percussion ensemble based on the "taiko", a traditional drum (November 4 and 5).

            Nuova Harmonia, also at the Coliseo, takes on this year a very welcome cosmopolitan slant, although it keeps having the support of the Italian Government. The Bamberg Symphony, led here by distinguished conductors in the past (Keilberth, Stein) will now have for this tour the local debut of Jonathan Nott (May 8). On May 13 we shall hear the Orchestra d'Archi Italiana (director and soloist, Mario Brunello). June will bring us (on the 5^th) the Ensemble Punto It (debut, quintet with piano).

            July will be very interesting, with the Accademia Bizantina under Ottavio Dantone, who leads from the harpsichord (on the 2^nd), and the admirable Youth Orchestra of the Americas paying us a return visit under Carlos Miguel Prieto with the brilliant Brazilian pianist Nelson Freire (on the 23^rd); on the prior visit the conductor was no less than Michael Tilson Thomas. August will renew the pleasure of the acquaintance with the Zukerman Chamber Players (a string quintet; on the 13^th) and as Nuova Harmonia accustoms to do (I don't agree), there will be a ballet session, this time with Eleonora Cassano, Cecilia Figaredo, Hernán Piquín and the Ballet Argentino under Julio Bocca (on August 20^th).

            September will provide sure pleasure with the best Argentine pianist of his generation: Nelson Goerner (on the 4^th). The first day of October will give us the Swiss Piano Trio, and there will be  a splendid final offering: the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra Moscow under Vladimir Fedoseyev (October 16).

            Festivales Musicales this year offers "Bach and the Twentieth Century". With well-chosen programming of valuable music, there will be less foreign artists than in other seasons, but I believe most concerts will be satisfying. April 15 will allow us to hear our best chamber choir, the Estudio Coral de Buenos Aires under Carlos López Puccio (Auditorio de Belgrano). May 5: Quinteto Filarmónico de Buenos Aires (Avenida). June 11: the debut of the Verdehr Trio from USA (violin, clarinet and piano; also Avenida).  In the first of several collaborations with the Colón, the B.A. Philharmonic will be conducted at the Coliseo by Franz-Paul Decker and his soloist in the Gershwin Concerto will be Horacio Lavandera (June 13). The young wonder of the piano will be back in a recital on July 4 (Auditorio). The Choir and the Orquesta Estable of the Colón under Carlos Vieu will offer a Villa-Lobos Bachianas and the always popular Orff  "Carmina Burana" (Auditorio).

            The Piano Duo Roggeri/Favre-Kahn will be heard at the Avenida on August 11. A major endeavour on September 23: Bach's St.John Passion under Mario Videla with local ensembles and distinguished vocal soloists. Videla and the Estudio Coral combine on October 7 at the Santo Domingo Convent. The season will end with a valuable combination of Poulenc's "Gloria" and Puccini's "Messa di Gloria" under the famous conductor Michel Corboz, with the Colón Choir and Orchestra  (November 12).   

 

For Buenos Aires Herald

EL CALVARIO DEL COLÓN

            Durante semanas después de la asunción del mando de Mauricio Macri en la Ciudad y de Horacio Sanguinetti en el Teatro Colón, cundió una ansiosa expectativa ante el pertinaz silencio y los continuos rumores que describían un Master Plan paralizado desde hacía meses . Cuando finalmente tuvo lugar la conferencia de prensa de Macri y Sanguinetti  (el 13 de febrero en ambiente de horno, la rotonda de ballet) fue terrible la noticia, si bien lógica: el Teatro reabrirá sólo en 2010.

            Ya desde la convocatoria a los periodistas las  cosas anduvieron mal: fuimos citados a las 18 por la entrada de Cerrito: la realidad fue que Macri empezó antes, a las 17,50, y la entrada fue por Tucumán. Puede parecer menor pero no lo es: muchos llegamos a la hora para encontrarnos con que Macri ya había terminado de hablar y tenía la palabra Sanguinetti. Charlas posteriores con asistentes que llegaron antes me reconstruyeron el negro panorama. 

            Al parecer Macri llegó a las 17,20 y lo llevaron a recorrer las obras (con casco) antes de sentarse a la mesa y empezar su alocución. Lo que se dijo fue complementado por una enorme carpeta con información somera sobre el Master Plan, la autarquía y el reordenamiento interno, y luego en gran detalle no sólo la temporada 2008, sino también (hasta con fechas) las de 2009, 2010 y 2011. Naturalmente los artistas sólo están apalabrados, pero de todos modos se trabajó mucho en estos meses para armar tanta programación. La calidad de la misma es otro cantar. Fuertemente conservadora, sólo es destacable el estreno de "Billy Budd" de Britten entre múltiples repeticiones de títulos trillados y alguna exhumación verista de Cilea ("L' Arlesiana") y Mascagni ("Isabeau").  En cuanto a artistas la renovación parece exigua, con muy pocas figuras de relevancia pese a la proclamación de Sanguinetti que el Colón debe volver a ser un gran teatro internacional. Mencionaría a Guleghina, Valayre y Graham. Son ignorados repertorios como el bel canto serio, el Barroco, la opereta, la ópera rusa.

            En 2008 la cuota de renovación procederá de la Opera de Cámara, con títulos como "Il mondo della luna" (Haydn) y "Le devin du village" (Rousseau), y el CETC nos hará conocer una humorada de Marta Lambertini ("Cenicientaaaa!"). El Ballet será de una rutina apabullante. La Filarmónica , nuevamente bajo el mando de Arturo Diemecke, en una programación menos valiosa que la de 2007 (eran entonces las ideas de Julio Palacio), sin embargo incluye interesantes homenajes a Vaughan Williams, Messiaen y Rimsky-Korsakov, y hay dos sesiones honrando a Franz-Paul Decker a 40 temporadas de su debut aquí. Conoceremos teatros como el 25 de Mayo en Villa Urquiza y el Bristol en Martínez. Y el Coliseo, descartado para ópera por Sanguinetti, albergará conciertos de la Filarmónica,  aunque la mayor parte será en el Opera.

            La Orquesta Estable será  dirigida sobre todo por Carlos Vieu en repertorio tradicional, y tendrá frecuente colaboración del Coro. Si usted quiere ver ópera "grande" tendrá que trasladarse a San Nicolás a ver "Manon Lescaut".

            Son éstas algunas consideraciones generales sobre la programación, pero resultan mucho menos importantes que las conclusiones que surgieron de la conferencia de prensa. Y a ellas voy.

            1) Apenas dos semanas antes de la conferencia, arreciaban las denuncias de irregularidades con respecto al Master Plan y a las numerosas empresas que intervienen en las licitaciones (se mencionaban sesenta). Sin embargo, Macri confirmó a Sonia Terreno al frente del equipo del Master Plan, y consideró que hay que pensar hacia el futuro sin detenerse en los errores del pasado. No se dieron a conocer los resultados de la auditoría  realizada a Terreno y sus colaboradores.  El Jefe de Gobierno se comprometió a que el Master Plan entregue el Teatro en funcionamiento para la temporada 2010. Consecuencia inmediata: ¿qué pasa con 2009, ya que Sanguinetti anuncia una temporada con títulos como "Lohengrin"? Recordemos que el Director del Colón aseguró que considera inadecuado al Coliseo por acústica e instalaciones y que sólo haría temporada en el propio Colón... Cuando asumió en Diciembre ya anunció 2009: ¿habrá sabido ya entonces que no contaría con el Colón? Y ahora que lo sabe, ¿en qué teatro (o teatros) hará la temporada? Porque si usa el Coliseo será patente la invalidez de la excusa para no hacer temporada en 2008.

            2) El otro motivo que había dado Sanguinetti para cancelar la temporada 2008 era que, debido a las intimaciones de jubilación enviadas por Telerman en las postrimerías de su mandato, los cuerpos estables quedaban incompletos y en consecuencia inoperantes. Pero hay aquí una verdad de Perogrullo: si a una orquesta le faltan veinte ejecutantes repartidos entre diversos sectores, no sólo no puede hacer ópera, tampoco conciertos, y sin embargo ya los hay programados para Marzo. ¿Cómo se entiende que además Macri diga taxativamente en la conferencia que no habrá más contratados, que todo será por concurso?

La realidad es que la situación tiene sólo dos soluciones: o contratar hasta que se hagan los concursos, o prolongar la estadía de los presuntamente exonerados por Telerman hasta que sean reemplazados. Pero en cualquiera de las dos opciones, se hubiera podido hacer la temporada operística.

            3) La realidad oculta parece ser otra: gastar menos en espectáculos durante 2008 porque habrá que cargar con una pesada herencia muy costosa : el Master Plan. He tenido acceso a un carpetón con todos los cruces de correspondencia de la Comisión de Seguimiento de la Legislatura con respecto al Master Plan y allí es inequívoco el reconocimiento que los 25 millones de dólares originales se han más que duplicado a la fecha. Si es cierto, como dijo Macri, que sólo el 30 % de la obra total está terminada, podrá colegirse que probablemente se gasten entre 60 y 70 millones de dólares más para finiquitarla. La temporada  hubiera costado unos 20 millones. Esto no fue admitido públicamente, pero es probablemente la verdadera razón, en vez de las muy endebles que dio Sanguinetti.

            4) La programación hasta 2011 contiene al menos un aspecto reconfortante: el Colón seguirá siendo un teatro de ópera (se presume con actividad complementaria de ballet y conciertos clásicos). Teniendo en cuenta que circularon ominosas versiones de convertirlo en un teatro multiuso con música popular, congresos y convenciones, es de esperar que no haya más trasgresiones que las que hubo en los períodos de Ibarra y Telerman. Por otra parte, sigue en pie el proyecto de un montacargas muy grande que permita el acceso de contenedores del mayor tamaño, lo cual agudiza el miedo de los técnicos del Colón ante la amenaza de tercerización que ello implica y la eliminación de la producción propia. Pero también es verdad que podría ocurrir en cambio un proceso de canje entre producciones extranjeras y las del Colón. Sin embargo, la gente del Teatro recuerda el traspié de Macri cuando en Julio pasado expresó que el Colón podría funcionar sólo con 700 personas; luego lo desmintió pero muchos no le creyeron. Y además recordaron su apoyo al tan controvertido ex Director General del Colón Pablo Batalla, que sigue siendo fuertemente resistido por la evidencia de sus acciones que derivaron en múltiples juicios contra el Teatro. Sin embargo, ésta es la persona nombrada por Macri Subsecretario de Gestión Cultural.  Macri, con todo,   no le permite injerencia directa a Batalla (por el momento Sanguinetti responde a Macri sin la intermediación de Batalla ni del Ministro Lombardi, de Cultura pero de Turismo...) porque está en proceso la Ley de Autarquía pedida por Sanguinetti y Macri está de acuerdo. Sin embargo, no se conoce el proyecto de ley, y todo depende de una buena redacción: debería darle suficiente dinero y horizonte en tiempo y forma para ser útil (la autarquía no es una panacea: vean lo que le pasó al Cervantes...).

            5) Queda ahora por saber cómo se actuará en forma inmediata para desatascar la parálisis que afecta al edificio del Colón, aunque Sanguinetti la niegue absurdamente.  La confirmación de Terreno tiene una sola cosa buena: ganar tiempo. En efecto, si se instalara un mejor equipo de trabajo, les tomaría varios meses estar bien empapados de la realidad. Macri mencionó la necesidad de un recálculo con respecto a las licitaciones faltantes y quedó implícita la formulación de un nuevo calendario que permita llegar a 2010 con el teatro operable. Pero en la conferencia admitió, ante un planteo del fotógrafo del Colón Máximo Parpagnoli (el más informado y articulado portavoz del personal), que sólo si hubiera cosas muy gruesas se recurriría a la Justicia. Y el texto en la carpeta dice: hasta 2006 hubo "excelentes resultados" y hay ahora "en ejecución" varias tareas importantes. Pero "en el 2007 comienza un proceso de constante desfinanciación".  No se mencionan las controversias con respecto a los montacargas o los textiles y presumiblemente se hará lo que decida Terreno sin tomar en cuenta las objeciones de críticos del Master Plan como Teresa Anchorena o Fabio Grementieri. Pero hasta los opositores admiten que ciertas tareas artesanales ya realizadas llegaron a buen puerto. Sólo cabe desear que la Comisión de Seguimiento, que incluye a tres personas del PRO, controle con exactitud al Master Plan en estos próximos meses, en coordinación constante con el Ejecutivo. Y que se eviten desatinos en lo que falta, puesto que se lograron parar en meses anteriores (como la rotura del muro histórico).  

            6) Un asunto sobre el cual se necesitan aclaraciones oficiales: la intervención del BID (Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo) en el Master Plan. El organismo internacional había ofrecido un préstamo contingente (50 % en préstamo blando y 50% puesto por el Gobierno) y poco antes de que venciese, el ofrecimiento finalmente se aceptó. Durante los primeros años del Master Plan se liberaron varios tramos del préstamo, pero en 2005, según trascendió, el disgusto del BID por el desvío del préstamo hacia otros usos hizo que se interrumpieran las remesas. Macri pareció mal informado al respecto y dio a entender que no se había usado ese préstamo; es muy distinto que el BID lo haya suspendido por los motivos apuntados.

            Lo mejor que puede esperarse para los próximos meses es que se reencauce el Master Plan y que se cumplan los modestos planes de conciertos, ballet y ópera de cámara. Algo de actividad es mejor que nada. Y después de todo, el Colón ha perdido posición relativa: hay más de veinte proyectos de ópera "no Colón" con orquesta en esta temporada dentro del área de influencia de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Es interesante pensar que si esta crisis hubiera ocurrido quince años atrás esto no hubiera sido así. No todo está perdido en nuestra cultura. Pero por supuesto, muy poco de esa actividad, con frecuencia valiosa y meritoria, tiene el gran nivel internacional al que debe aspirar una ciudad como la nuestra y que sólo el Colón puede dar. A mediano plazo, ojalá retornemos a esa tradición.

 

Para la Revista Cantabile de Marzo.

 

Opera institutions present their plans

            As you know, during recent years opera has gone much beyond the Colón, as several institutions were born and others became more active. This is a particular blessing in the current season, when the Colón remains closed and has relinquished the option of having operatic activity elsewhere (namely, the Coliseo). The opera lover  will find nevertheless a considerable quantity of options prepared by other outfits. At least twenty operas with orchestra will be on offer, probably more.

            The Avenida will remain the venue for two companies: Buenos Aires Lírica (BAL) and Juventus Lyrica.  A third company at the same theatre, the Casa de Opera led by Adelaida Negri, still hasn't announced its plans. But Fundamús, the birthchild of producer Eduardo Casullo, has; it will present this week Puccini's "La Boheme", though with a twist: the action is transplanted to our city .  Later in the year, we are promised a very interesting revival: Verdi's "I Masnadieri", based on Schiller's "The Bandits".

            BAL will keep to its accustomed five titles, each given five subscription performances. The price range for the season goes from $ 275 to $ 750 and new subscriptions are open until March 20 .

            One choice seems to me of special interest: Jacques Offenbach's "La Belle Hélene", a witty piece recounting the Helen of Troy story as farce, and the first operetta by this great specialist seen with orchestra after 32 years (the last was "La Vie Parisienne" in a Spanish translation; blessedly the new venture will be in French). June 6 will be the start of the run. With Mariana Rewerski, Carlos Ullán, Osvaldo Peroni, Walter Schwarz, Vanesa Mautner. Conductor (C ). Carlos Vieu. Producer (P): Peter Macfarlane (an interesting idea, for he has shown talent in musical comedies).

            I also welcome Verdi's "Attila", a strong work of his early period, although the Colón put it on 2001, with no less than Samuel Ramey. First performance on July 18, with Homero Pérez-Miranda, Mónica Ferracani, Omar Carrión, Arnaldo Quiroga. C: Javier Logioia Orbe; P: Marcelo Perusso.

            Mozart's "Don Giovanni", of course, is a permanent staple of the repertoire. Why not, e.g., "La finta giardiniera"? But the cast (although not yet revealed in all roles) seems rather good: the protagonist will be Gustavo Ahualli , an Argentine baritone working in the USA; Hernán Iturralde will sing Leporello and Ullán, Don Ottavio. Two ladies have been announced: Carla Filipcic Holm and Ana Laura Menéndez.  First night, November 7. C: Vieu. P: Rita de Letteriis, who had done a valuable job in Monteverdi's "L'incoronazione di Poppea".

            Last year there was an intense revival of Gluck's "Iphigénie en Tauride" done by the Compañía de las Luces under Marcelo Birman. Instead of such an immediate new production by another outfit, it would have been much more to the point to offer the same composer's "Iphigénie en Aulide", an important opera ripe indeed for revival (last time here: 1949, Colón). Principals: Cecilia Díaz, Luis Olivares, Alejandro Meerapfel. The conductor is Alejo Pérez. P, Rita Cosentino. First performance: September 12.

            I last mention Rossini's "L'Italiana in Algeri", although it starts the season, because I feel it's a bad choice. Such a young institution as BAL shouldn't repeat titles it has offered a few years ago. With so much Rossini waiting on the wings, I think that an occasion was missed. Following last year's BAL trend, two of the artists come from Chile: Evelyn Ramírez and Jaime Caicompai. Others: Iturralde, Fernando Santiago. C: Guillermo Brizzio. P: Pablo Maritano. First night on April 4.

            Juventus Lyrica's choices are also open to strictures: they are much too conservative. As in earlier years, they offer a shorter season: four titles (although one is a double bill) and four subscription performances of each (subscriptions were sold in October-November last); the price range  went from $ 280 to $ 520. This is their tenth season . Unfortunately they provide much less information than BAL: no casts.

            Gounod's "Roméo et Juliette" has had recent splendid stagings at the La Plata Argentino, and as that  season is accessible to our city in one hour by roadway, I include it in the opera lover's schedule. No need for a local revival, but there's an attenuating circumstance depending on the chosen cast: it tells a story of adolescent love , so  it certainly comes within the purpose of Juventus: to give chances to young singers. No conductor is announced. P, Ana d'Anna, who is the founder of Juventus. Dates: April 18, 20, 24 and 26.

            The double bill will combine Pergolesi's "La serva padrona" with Handel's "Acis and Galathea", in the Mozart orchestration (probably a premiere in that version; though in this case I prefer pure Handel such as was offered years ago by Les Arts Florissants under William Christie). "La serva padrona" will be duplicated this year by the Colón Chamber Opera. Andrés Gerszenzon will conduct and no producer is mentioned. June 20, 22, 26 and 28.

            Two extremely well-known pieces will have the added interest of being heard in the proper dramatic sequence: Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" and Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro". Both will be conduced by Antonio Russo; the producer for the first hasn't been announced, and D'Anna will stage the Mozart comedy. Dates: for "The Barber": August 29 and 31, September 4 and 6 ; for "Figaro": November 21, 23, 27 and 29.

 

Para el Buenos Aires Herald

The Colón through 2011: fragile planning

           I recently wrote an analysis of the controversial press conference conducted by the City Chief of Government, Mauricio Macri, and by the Teatro Colón's Director General, Horacio Sanguinetti. I promised then a complementary article on the announced activity of 2008 through 2011; this is it.

            I felt at the time that to prepare four years of planning in the two months that have elapsed since Sanguinetti's assumption felt like an improbable stunt; I also thought that it was quite unnecessary: the public wanted to know the details of 2008 and of course what would happen with the Master Plan, but there was no hurry in having the seasons of 2009, 2010 and 2011.   In the state of total uncertainty that the Colón is living through, you just can't take seriously the announcements, with their pretentions of exact dates to boot, and of course without any contracts made.

            2008: this is the only credible part. To no one's surprise, it confirmed that there will be no opera season, as Sanguinetti said even before he took the post. My article "The Colón in deep trouble" (Dec. 2, 2007) specified the alleged reasons, which have feet of clay and remain profoundly unconvincing. But I want to stress a common-sense point: if an incomplete orchestra (due to the dismissal of over-65-years-old personnel) can't play operas, it follows it can't do concerts either. There is a logical way to save the day : put under a limited contract the needed players to fulfill vacancies; but Macri incredibly ruled that out in the press conference! 

            Most of the concerts of the Colón Orchestra ("Orquesta Estable") will be led by its new Principal Conductor, Carlos Vieu, unfortunately with mostly uninteresting programs. This year without staged opera was ideal to offer valuable unknown complete operas in concert, thus mitigating the disappointment of opera goers. One good point: most concerts will be offered at the Auditorio de Belgrano, the only reasonable acoustics we  have for symphonic material now that the Colón is closed. I single out the following as valuable occasions: a Bruckner night (Vieu); an homage to octogenarian conductor Franz-Paul Decker, and  Mahler's Third (perhaps -for Stefan Lano hasn't accepted coming as an invited conductor).

            The Buenos Aires Philharmonic is welcoming back Arturo Diemecke as Principal Conductor, and he will carry the bulk of the decent programming, far indeed from the innovation and imagination of Julio Palacio's ideas last year . Homages will be paid to Messiaen, Rimsky-Korsakov, Vaughan Williams and Ginastera. Decker will do two concerts, and other foreign conductors will be Ken Jean, Rossen Milanov and Guenther Neuhold (all known here). Pianists Chun Wang, Peter Donohoe, Dimitri Vassilakis, Evgeny Mikhailov, Akiko Ebi and Muza Rubackyte, violinists Ilya Kaler and Shlomo Mintz and cellist Nathalie Clein (all heard here before except Kaler) are the foreign contingent of soloists. Premieres will be few and unimportant. Sanguinetti apparently approves of the Coliseo for concerts : the first four of the subscription series will happen there, though he rules out opera at that venue (many believe that the problem hasn't been mentioned officially: the Coliseo's rental price is considered stiff).

            The Ballet, under Guido De Benedetti, will have a very conservative season , mostly at the Opera, a new venue for our dancers. There will be six programmes and I'm afraid I find nothing attractive in them.  No foreign soloists are announced.  Paradoxically, the Colón Chamber Opera will give us almost the only items of some interest in staged performances, at a newly refurbished Teatro 25 de Mayo: Haydn's "Il mondo della luna", Purcell's "The Fairy Queen" (with the Colón Art Institute), Rousseau's "Le devin du village". The Center for Experimentation announces six activities; only two attract me: the Ensemble Nuove Forme Sonore in Nono and Berio, and the premiere of Lambertini's "Cenicientaaaaa!!!!!".

            2009: an opera season is announced; but the operative question hasn't been answered: where? Macri confirmed that the Colón will stay closed all year. And Sanguinetti refuses the only viable alternative, the Coliseo. But big operas are nevertheless programmed: "Aida", "Lohengrin", "Turandot", the premiere of Dvorák's "Rusalka"; of the rest I will only mention "Pelléas et Mélisande". The rest is standard, apart from Gandini's "La ciudad ausente".  Triple casts are announced to accomodate as many Argentine singers as possible; foreign artists are few : of special interest Sylvie Valayre, Francesca Patané and Herbert Lippert. Again the Colón Chamber Opera will probably be more interest, for it announces the early Mozart operas, such as "Lucio Silla" and "Mitridate". The Ballet season will be more abundant : nine shows; of special value two well-known but important pieces by Cranko: "Eugen Onieguin" and "Romeo and Juliet".

            2010: if it's true that we'll have the Colón back (many doubt it) there will be a big season there. I single out the premiere of Britten's "Billy Budd". Also, the revival of Cilea's "L'Arlesiana", "Parsifal", "Der Rosenkavalier", "Falstaff" and Tchaikovsky's "Eugen Onieguin" (the opera, not the ballet). Some stars are announced: Susan Graham, Maria Guleghina, Dolora Zajic, Anthony Michaels Moore, Norma Fantini.

            2011: a hackneyed season with run-of-the-mill titles except "Porgy and Bess" (but not, as it should be, with black singers: the style requires it), the revival of Mascagni's "Isabeau", Berg's "Lulu" and Bizet's "Les pecheurs de perles". José Cura will put on quite a show, singing, conducting and producing "Cav-Pag".

 

Para el Buenos Aires Herald

           

The Colón's sad situation

Last December 2 the HERALD published an article I wrote, "The Colón in deep trouble". Later that month Mauricio Macri as Chief of Government and Horacio Sanguinetti as the Theatre's General Director took their posts. The latter's assumption surprised many, for his published statements in the preceding weeks had caused a tsunami of protest in musical society and particularly in the Colón's personnel. Nevertheless he took charge in a closed ceremony. In it he confirmed that there would be no opera season in 2008.

There were some organizational changes: newly created Opera Direction (Salvatore Caputo, who will also keep his job as Chorus Director), one wonders why, in a year without a season- ; Dance Direction (Guido De Benedetti, an extremely conservative choreographer). I see no reason to change the old title, Ballet Director; added, and to my mind unnecessary Directions for Human Relations and for Marketing. Better received and more logical are the return of Arturo Diemecke as Artistic Director and Main Conductor of the Buenos Aires Philharmonic, and the naming of the very effective Eduardo Ihidoype (clarinettist of the Orchestra) as its Executive Director. Much resisted was the non-renewal of Stefan Lano's contract as Musical Director, although I felt that his post meant too much influence on artistic decisions which only pertain to the Artistic Director; but he was a distinguished Main Conductor of the Resident Orchestra (Orquesta Estable); in the latter job was named a talented Argentine conductor, Carlos Vieu. To the difficult job of Director of Studies went the capable pianist Irene Amerio. Deservedly two valuable persons kept their posts: Ana Massone as Director of the Superior Institute of Art and Carlos Calleja as Conductor of the Orquesta Académica. Omar Cyrulnik, a distinguished guitarist with no known relationship to the avantgarde, was curiously named as Director of the Center for Experimentation. A rather opaque figure was named as Technical Director, machinist Atilio Lazzari. And Macri's man at the Colón, Martín Boschet (with no antecedents for the job) was named Executive Director. Sanguinetti is his own Artistic Director.

Formally Sanguinetti depends on the City's Secretary of Cultural Management, Pablo Batalla, and on the Minister of Culture, Hernán Lombardi. But in fact he is reporting directly to Macri, for it is the intention of both to obtain the status of autarchy for the Colón from the Legislature. To be useful, that law will have to give the Colón's Director enough money and in proper time to execute his plans, and a horizon of at least three years. I do hope Batalla will have nothing to do with the Colón, for he was an extremely controversial General Director who provoked by his actions sundry legal actions against the Colón.

After those last weeks of December, official silence prevailed during January whilst there were persistent rumors about the paralyzation of the Master Plan of reforms. And opinions about irregularities appeared from PRO sources. A Macri-Sanguinetti press conference began to take shape, and it finally materialized on February 13. It was a gross disappointment in various essential aspects. Even in the formal aspect: journalists were cited at 6 p.m.on the Cerrito entrance: as they arrived they were directed to the Tucumán entrance and went down to the Ballet rehearsal rotunda, a true oven (it felt like 35 degrees). But the discomfort is minor compared to the gross discourtesy of starting early: by the time other reporters and myself arrived Macri had finished his brief speech and Sanguinetti was speaking; I reconstructed the missing minutes afterwards.

To say the least, what Macri had to say was startling:

a) He confirmed Sonia Terreno as head of the Master Plan and said that up to 2006 the MP had been excellently done. He took no notice of the numerous dissents and controversies of those years, and when the Colón photographer Máximo Parpagnoli –an articulate defender of the Theatre's patrimony- asked Macri to take a stand about the irregularities, the Chief of Government said that he would only go to court in very blatant circumstances, but that he preferred to look ahead. He had said earlier that in 2007 the necessary funding had gone consistently down (of course, Macri himself had asked Telerman to diminish the city's deficit, so both are responsible) and vouched that the theatre would be ready for reopening in 2010.

b) He also admitted that there will be probably be less personnel by 2010, for he thinks there are people who don't work or are troublemakers. Whilst it is quite probably true that the Colón has too many employees, any reduction must be done with very serious professional analysis. Many fear that Batalla's ideas have influenced Macri; behind this paring down project, they say, is the intention to eliminate those wonderful artisans that allow the Colón to be fully integrated in its productions, and to buy foreign productions that come in big containers. Hence the controversy about the building of a huge hoisting machine considered unnecessary by the Colón workers.

c) The Colón will still be closed in 2009; but Sanguinetti announces a season for that year, and with full-blown operas such as "Lohengrin": however, he doesn't accept the only viable alternative theatre, the Coliseo. Where, oh where, will the season take place?

The Press Department distributed folders with the details of 2008 to 2011. That will be the object of a separate article.

Para el Buenos Aires Herald

Conferencia de Prensa en el Teatro Colón

Algunas referencias a la conferencia de prensa ofrecida ayer por Mauricio Macri y Horacio Sanguinetti, con la presencia de Gabriela Michetti.

Ante todo, fue indecente lo que hicieron: la reunión fue citada a las 18 hs con entrada por Cerrito. Lo real: la entrada fue por Tucumán, y yo llegué a las 18,03 para enterarme de que habían empezado 17,50. Ya Macri había hablado, y estaba hablando Sanguinetti. En conversaciones posteriores con los asistentes al "horno" (la Rotonda del Ballet con 200 personas y 35 grados) rellené lo que no había oído. Al protestar yo por el extemporáneo inicio, me dijeron que la gente de Macri no se coordinó con la del Colón, que Macri llegó a las 17,20 y recorrió el teatro, y que habló antes de tiempo. ¿Nadie le mostró la gacetilla enviada a los críticos por el Colón? Porque no es un asunto menor, sobre todo con la tradición en la materia de esperar de 30 y 40 minutos después de la hora señalada para este tipo de reunión. ¿O, peor, se hizo a propósito? La reunión empezó a las 17,50 y terminó a las 18,30, tras cortarse abruptamente la sesión de preguntas, probablemente porque el asunto se le ponía espeso tras la exposición y pregunta de Parpagnoli que mencionó las mentiras del anterior equipo de gobierno y pidió un compromiso formal por parte de Macri para que se investiguen los hechos irregulares. (Gran aplauso a Parpagnoli). ¿Y qué contestó Macri? Que sólo si hubiera algo muy burdo se llevaría a la Justicia, y que él es de pensar hacia adelante, que no le interesa perder tiempo en las Cortes...

Tras declarar excelente la tarea del Master Plan hasta 2006, todo se atribuye al incumplimiento financiero en 2007. El mismo PRO denunció hace poco irregularidades en las 60 empresas que trabajaron en el Masterplan, como sobreprecios. Ahora parece desdecirse...

A otra pregunta con respecto a la cantidad del Colón, contestó (creo que sinceramente) que no sabe con cuánta gente se reinaugurará el Colón en 2010. Pero aseguró que hay gente que pone palos en la rueda y que traba el funcionamiento del Colón. Dijo cosas más plausibles: que quiere instaurar pronto un reglamento consensuado y especificar la llamada "carrera", que trataría de encontrarse una solución justa a los jubilables (curiosamente mencionó 152, la cifra que me llegó fue de 250). Pero que habrá un plan de racionalización no me cabe duda. O sea que se instala un período de incertidumbre para el personal. Una declaración de que no habrá más gente contratada, que sólo se harán concursos, causa muchos interrogantes. En efecto, y éste es el mayor disparate: si Sanguinetti en su momento levantó la temporada porque por las jubilaciones se encontraba con sus cuerpos estables desmantelados, ¿cómo se explica que pueda hacer conciertos? Porque si falta gente para la orquesta en el foso de ópera, también falta para el concierto... Hay una sola manera buena de arreglarlo, y es con contratos hasta que se hagan concursos.

Una extraña afirmación que contradice cuanto me había llegado al respecto fue cuando dijo que se había dejado caer el apoyo del BID ya antes de empezar la obra. A mí, y durante varios años, me contaron diversas fuentes que se había tomado el crédito del BID pocos meses antes de que expirara el plazo de oferta y se habían usado varios tramos, pero que en tiempos recientes el BID había retirado su apoyo porque varias cifras entregadas habían sido desviadas para otros propósitos. Asunto grave que parecería querer ser tapado. Uno se pregunta sobre qué arreglos hay detrás de escena para que Telerman y su gente (especialmente Fajre y Terreno) aparezcan tan libres de culpa en éste y en otros temas que tienen que ver con el Master Plan.

Sanguinetti miente cuando dice que el teatro no está paralizado. Me consta que lo está, lo recorrí días pasados.

No hubo la menor mención a la auditoría que se le está haciendo a Sonia Terreno y por la cual, según La Nación, ella no quiere hacer declaraciones. Pero ella y su equipo , sin embargo, han sido confirmados. ¿Podría afirmar Macri que no hubo irregularidades? No lo creo.

La intervención de Sanguinetti fue eufórica, citando grandes planes hacia el futuro y asegurando que él quiere volver a un Colón pleno como en su gran tradición. Terminada la reunión, los periodistas recibimos una amplia carpeta con la información completa de 2008, y parcial de 2009, 2010 y 2011. Pasé varias horas analizándola y saqué estas conclusiones:
1) Hay un disparate enorme: se anuncia una temporada operística 2009 cuando se sabe que el teatro no va a estar disponible. Pero cómo? No era, dixit Sanguinetti, que sólo en el Colón se pueden hacer las temporadas operísticas? No era inaceptable para el Director General que se utilizara el Coliseo? Y qué otro teatro hay que pueda usarse con un foso de 100? En suma, yo no le creo cuando me anuncia planes 2009. Si hay alternativas, que las explique.

2) En 2008 vamos a tener una Filarmónica dominada por Diemecke y con un homenaje a Decker. Hay algunos homenajes razonables, como los de Messiaen, Vaughan Williams, Ginastera y Rimsky-Korsakov. Sin el nivel de renovación del "año Palacio" (2007) , pero bastante aceptable. La Estable a su vez dará la mayoría de sus conciertos (de menor interés) dirigida por Carlos Vieu, y Lano vendrá para la Tercera de Mahler. El Ballet tiene una programación aburrida en extremo. Y sólo habrá ópera de cámara en el Teatro 25 de mayo.

3) Ya expresé el disparate de una temporada 2009 anunciada con obras de la envergadura de "Lohengrin" sin mención del teatro donde se representarán. Hay gran acento en los elencos argentinos, pese a la afirmación de volver al plano internacional. Tanto en ese año como en 2010 y 2011 hay profusión de repartos que despiertan dudas . Los artistas internacionales son pocos. Presumiblemente todo fue armado por Sanguinetti con Caputo, su nuevo Director de Opera. Dentro de una profusión de "Rigolettos", "Aidas", "Bohemes" y "Toscas", hay algunos aspectos de tímida renovación: "Isabeau" de Mascagni y "L´Arlesiana" de Cilea, "Rusalka" de Dvorak, "Los pescadores de perlas" de Bizet, "Billy Budd" de Britten; algún caso mal encarado, como un "Porgy and Bess" con elenco blanco (tiene que ser negro); algún disparate incomprensible, como contratar al régisseur Eric Vigié (sí, el de la malhadada "Traviata") como régisseur de "Falstaff"; contratos a 3 años de distancia de gente que ya tiene su carrera terminada, como Cassinelli; la notoria presencia de varios de los cantantes protestones durante recientes gestiones (Duarte, López Linares, Mirabelli); la ausencia de otros que fueron niños mimados de esas mismas gestiones (Bengolea, Mastrangelo); el retorno inesperado de Renán como régisseur (en "Carmen"). La gran escasez de figuras de primer rango, aunque unos pocos habrá (Susan Graham, la Guleghina, Michaels-Moore). La total ausencia del repertorio más contemporáneo (la máxima audacia será reponer "Lulu") y del repertorio barroco y del ruso. Total ausencia del bel canto serio.

4) Uno se pregunta (ya que toda esta gente está meramente apalabrada) cuál era la necesidad de anunciar hasta 2011 en este momento. Aparentemente , la idea es, "Ve,Macri, asumí hace dos meses y ya tengo todo programado!" Gran eficiencia...

5) Macri también se refirió a la autarquía por ley para el Colón y dio a entender que se le entregaría al Colón suficiente dinero para operar adecuadamente. Amén.

6) Ante una pregunta, Sanguinetti confesó no haber tomado contacto con la Fundación Teatro Colón en estos dos meses... En otro momento, afirmó que no hay cuerpo estable lírico, cuando lo estamos sufriendo desde 1973...

7) A destacar el ciclo de Mozart joven que hará la Opera de Cámara en 2009. Esto es ciertamente positivo.

8) Los planes de Debenedetti para el ballet en 2009 son muchos ballets trillados (unos cuantos en sus propias versiones o las de Belfiore) y como único respiro, dos buenos y conocidos ballets de Cranko.

9) Aumento en la cantidad de títulos (12 en 2009, 12 en 2010 y 13 en 2011) pero profusión de óperas trilladas , e incluso algunas repetidas dentro de ese mismo período ("Aida", "La Boheme", "L´elisir d´amore", "Tosca", "Carmen"). Tour de force de Cura en 2011: cantante, director de orquesta y régisseur en "Cav-Pag". Interesante visita: la Orquesta de La Scala con Barenboim.

Me temo que mucho de estos próximos años estará más cerca de la medianía que de las grandes épocas (incluso si la acotamos a la más reciente, el primer período de Renán). Eso, si se termina el Master Plan haciendo lo que realmente necesita el teatro, si el aspecto del personal está adecuadamente tratado, si...

Curso en el Club del Progreso.

"LAS ARTES VISUALES Y SONORAS EN LAS ÉPOCAS DE LOS LUISES XIII, XIV, XV Y XVI."

 

Panorama francés de los siglos XVII y XVIII.

 

Curso a dictarse en cuatro clases, los días martes 12 y 26 de febrero y 3 y 10 de marzo de 2008, a las 19 hs. por los Lic. Ma. Cristina V. de Bardin y Pablo Bardin, con proyección de imágenes y grabaciones musicales.

 

1)- EL SIGLO XVII:   Las cortes de Luis XIII y XIV.

El palacio del Louvre, los Inválidos, los palacios de Vaux-le-Vicomte y Versailles. Artistas        intervinientes: Le Vau, Hardouin-Mansart, Le  Notre, Le Brun. Pintores al margen de la corte : Poussin,  Mignard,  hnos. Le Nain,  Georges de la Tour.

  

2)-El « air de cour ». El « ballet de cour ». La regencia de Ma