Does a musician’s personality matter to us?

I love the "defiantly mode"

Well- said!!!

Everybody: I agree he has a wonderful voice and great musical talent and also seems like a very nice person. But let's be realistic: he is really just a stranger, a singer doing his work. We do not know him from Adam and he doesn't know us.

Well , Caro.... do you have even an bad hair day ?

That all is really different stuff ....

( About your example with the children and fire, you removed urgently - I know it with the little kitten and La Gioconda. And I ´d rescue the kitten in this case, because Mona Lisa don´t feel something anymore . )

SJuli wrote:

Pilarddcc wrote:

My boyfriend is always laughing at me, he thinks I am obssesed or insane

Just like my family!
My mom scorned me just today, she thinks it's abnormal for a young mother of two children to travel to the other end of Europe for a concert. (I still don't get it what does the number of one's children do with it, as long as I don't drag them with myself... they are absolutely able to function without me for 2 days!)

I think if you have a passion so strong for the beauty for anything , say music, art, nature, cusine etc., have a mean to travel thousand miles to enjoy them I don't think it is crazy or abnormal action to go after!! For some people it may look crazy but I don't want to sit around and wait PhJ comes to my town for concert which will never happen (I live in Hawaii) so I go to Europe once a year to attend PhJ's concerts as many as possible. I met many of his wonderful fans from all over the corner of Europe and I admire them very much for taking time out of busy daily lives to come all the way to his concert. PhJ knows that and he and his ensemble members all appreciate the fans. We are not fanatic nor stalking PhJ, we are ardent admirers for his singing and his extraordinary warm personality. I met a 17 years old Gothic girl last summer who saved her allowance and came all the way to Bad Kissingen, slept on the park bench and took first train back to her home !! My heart and arms goes to someone like her. If I had known PhJ when I was 17, I did the same. She is fortunate girl to be exposed to the great singing of PhJ at such an early stage of her life and go after for with such a dedication!!

Divine Maria Callas came to Seattle, USA where I used to live in 1970 for her last World Concert Tour. I was 9 month pregnant with my first child and I gave up going to the concert. 40 years later, I still regret it. So I don't want to live my life regretting ever again that I didn't make the best effort to go to PhJ's concerts 5000 miles away. there is no direct flight from Hawaii to Europe but Hawaii is a cultural tomb as far as Baroque music is concerned. So don't ever feel guilty for going to PhJ's concert and spend two or three month in Europe. His music opened so many other doors for me, nurturing friendship, learning European way of life and many other aspect of life otherwise I never knew. It is a joy of my life to watch him challenging, growing and becoming to be a great countertenor of my time. I wish him the best of health and greater success in his career every day. It is not an obsession, it is a joy and pleasure you have. don't let anyone bother you. It is your one and only life you live the way you want to live.

SKNinHawaii,
so it was you last year in Meldorf in the cathedral? Will you be back this year?

SKNinHawaii,

welcome to the forum and thank you for your nice post!
For most Europeans it seems to be a dream living in Hawaii (I hope it is for you!) especially when we are suffering from this winter...
But one of the disadvantages is obviously the long and difficult way to see PhJ!!!
I've been in the concert at Bad Kissingen and I saw the Gothic girl as well and I was impressed by both sides: the girl, who looked so completely different from the other audience but shared the same love to Philippes music like all the others, and Philippe, who had no problems at all to pose with her for a photo although for sure he doesn't have too much people from this style in his concerts....

Some of my friends also think that I overact concerning Philippe and his music - but as you said:
it is a joy and pleasure I have, it is my one and only life and I live it the way I want to live, as long as I don't offend anyone.
And I will travel to Amsterdam (only 1 hour flight!) for a concert in a few days!
Enjoy the music!

Duffy wrote:

SKNinHawaii,
so it was you last year in Meldorf in the cathedral? Will you be back this year?

Dear Duffy,

Thank you so....... much for your quick responce !! Yes I was at Meldorf . I wish I have introduced myself to you then. Oh, well next time. I am planning to come to fall 2013 for the PhJ/Venice Baroque Orchestra Tour. I hope to see you then for sure. Meantime I enjoy your post !!

Nenuphar: T hank you so much for your welcome !! So you were at Bad Kissingen !! Remembered The Gothic girl!! My friend and I wanted to take her to our hotel but she was so humble and stayed up in the park on the bench. The night became very cold and she did not sleep at all, she wrote me. We had warm tea at the cafe and parted. What a wonderful experience she made that summer. As we were waiting in line to talk to PhJ, I told her that I have no heart asking PhJ for autograph after some 200 autographs he did. She said that "I am too not going to ask him his autograph. His singing was great enough !!" What a sweet girl she was. When my turn came, I told PhJ that it was the last concert on my trip, can you imagine he stood up and came around the table and hugged me !! How kind and thoughtful of him. It was worth traveling 5000 miles to listen his "Nisi dominus" three times. it was memorable summer. Next time let us introduce to each other. I am only one? Japanese, amongst all the Europeans so you can easily spot me, I hope. Yoko, the harpsicordist of Artserse is japanese and we enjoy talking Japanese whenever we
meet.

karenpat wrote:

I think Philippe is determined to exterminate myths around the castrati to people whose only knowledge is based on the Farinelli film. I can see how it can get tiring trying to defend yourself against journalists etc who fall into that category.

On the subject of musician's personalities in general, I wrote a blog post about that a while back, concerning David Daniels. It upset me a little at the time, but as you can see I took another post to apologize..

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Dear Karenoat: I think musicians personality has definite effect on his/her art in general. I feel great artist is a great human being. You cannot separate them. It certainly reflect on the output of the artists therefore some moves our hearts and some doesn't. As for the sexual preference of the artist, I don't hear, see or feel difference unless the singer over-emphasize his preference. I never liked Daniels and I saw "Enchanted Island" at Met in Cinema, and I still did not like him. I understood why since I read your last post about him. It really does not matter what you are. When he is not comfortable as a human being and has to make a point that he is a gay, he is obcessed and it reflects on his art, I feel.

Scholl, on the other hand is considered and being respected as a great artist but I was not impressed by him when I met him. I think he is overshasowed by PhJ's natural warmth and sincerity next to him. Later I changed my opinion about Scholl a little when I heard his radio DJ. he was much more personable and shared his vast knowledge of music generously. First impression is very important, though. It takes a long time to correct bad first impression you give.

So my conclusion is, great human being is a great artist. PhJ's wonderful personality has played large role in his tremendous success I believe. After all who wants to work with unpleasant, egocentric artist who lack basic common sense and sincere personality. We all know that PhJ is an exceptional. I respect his parent who brought him up to be such a level-headed,
kind and sincere young man.
Dear karenpat: PhJ's gallant and patient effort to enlighten the ignorant(dumb)
journalist is admirable. It is pains-taking I am sure, but here is no one more creditable than PhJ to do that. I don't understand those journalist who was assigned to interview him does not prepare his/her knowledge and understanding about what his/her questions. All they need to do is to look up in a Wikipedia or read few pages of Patrick Barbier's book "Histoire Des Castrats". Although through my experience, those producers of the program wants to make the interview more sensational and appealing to the mass. I have no patience
like PhJ. We really have to admire him.

Dear [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]



Your post is very encouraging, if you come from Hawaii I can do 1000 km to see Philippe! He is worth of it. Yesterday I saw him in Madrid and I also have the opportunity to talk a little to him and he was as charm as always, smiling, thanking everybody and being so generous as usual.

When I feel a little relaxed I promise I will post a whole review in the forum, it was an unforgettable concert!

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Pilarddcc wrote:

Dear [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]



Your post is very encouraging, if you come from Hawaii I can do 1000 km to see Philippe! He is worth of it. Yesterday I saw him in Madrid and I also have the opportunity to talk a little to him and he was as charm as always, smiling, thanking everybody and being so generous as usual.

When I feel a little relaxed I promise I will post a whole review in the forum, it was an unforgettable concert!

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Dear Pilarddcc, : Thank you for your comment. I miss not being in Europe and going to PhJ's concerts. I traveled with Eu rail-Pass pushing and pulling my big luggage up and down the train and I lost 15Kg during my trip !! I couldn't get on a train from Strasbourg to Baden-Bade, Dortmund to Paris, caught in snow storm in Frankfurt, missed flight to Reykjavik, etc. but it was an exciting trips to attend PhJ's concerts. Looking back my two trips, they were like dreams but they were real. I met many wonderful people, made many new friends during my two trips, 2010 & 2011. I plan to go back 2013. PhJ was always warm, sincere and kind. He is an extraordinary artist in every way. I feel very blessed to have encountered with his music and be able to watch him grow to be the greatest countertenor of our time. I don't know the distance between Honolulu to the European continent but it is worth making the trip to hear PhJ. He was in US last fall but actually it is easier to follow his concerts on train in Europe so i didn't go to his Apollo's fire tours.

Dear SKNinHawaii,

I agree with you about artists and their personality and I feel in Philippe's case this has contributed to his being loved and followed in so many places. It is easier when one is in Europe, but even in the US he made a point of giving me almost a half hour( when I saw him in Niobe. I was the only one!!!!So lucky!!!He is extremely charismatic and he has a way of listening to what you say. He is charming, kind and gorgeous. What is not to love? True, we do not know him intimately but I believe his personality comes through at every moment of interaction with fans, children,friends. He is open and fun. I have also met other artists (Daniels, Pushee, Minter) and I understand Mr Scholl is also very nice. But no one holds a candle to Felipe!

Dear Tuffy942: I am so happy that you had some time with PJ personally at Boston ?
He is truly a remarkable young man and he is so humble. This I firmly believe that
he is surrounded by the great people including his parents, voice teacher, friends and colleagues to keep him on the right track.

Dear SKNinHawaii,

Thank you for your good wishes , although I get very nervous in the beginning! Once I met his mom and I confused every french word, tenses, I am sure the good lady thought,"who is this crazy person that comes to admire my son" because at that point I was speaking in tongues!! I cannot even remember without dying!!!!! But thank God a good friend was with me to show me the way to sanity!!!
I read an article not too long ago about why it is that french parents seem to bring up their children so wisely. After the example of Felipe I have to agree!!!
Hugs!

Dear Tuffy: Who doesn't get flustered when we meet Philippe face to face ??? Adrenalin pumping inside of our heart which keep us young and energetic to go afterwhat we think beautiful and precious !! We are so lucky to have come in touch with Philippe in our lifetime .

Well, a tip for meeting PJ if one tends to get very nervous: the first two times I met him I did not speak, or almost not at all. This ensures that one does not talk nonsense. But I was not embarrassed because of "him" – why should I? He is just a normal, good looking and uncommonly sane young man. I found the situation to meet a person as a fan and ask them for an autograph simply excruciatingly embarrassing. I had never done anything of the sort before, and thought it crazy on principle. It somehow means that one thinks the person is special, especially important, valuable, right? As if anyone was more important than anyone else. This is in contradiction with how I see the world and human beings.
Probably it was exactly that I found that PJ treats everyone he meets as if that person was exactly as important as himself that made it possible for me to change my attitude about "fandom".

In any case, yes, the personality of an artist does matter to me. If it did not seem that PJ is a very nice person, I certainly would not have developped into something that could be called a "fan" (I still dislike this word). It would be very unpleasant for me to admire an artist for his work, but think he is an arrogant something. I would not want to publicly support such a person. But with PJ, who always behaves correctly and is so nice and empathetic, there is nothing that would be embarrassing.

Astarto You explained this admirer (better than fan) phenomenon great!

Astarto wrote:

In any case, yes, the personality of an artist does matter to me. If it did not seem that PJ is a very nice person, I certainly would not have developped into something that could be called a "fan" (I still dislike this word). It would be very unpleasant for me to admire an artist for his work, but think he is an arrogant something. I would not want to publicly support such a person. But with PJ, who always behaves correctly and is so nice and empathetic, there is nothing that would be embarrassing.

absolutely right - I fully agree with you!

Astarto: I too fully agree with you. Artist's personality and his art are inseparable. I would not publicly support the artist I do not respect. PJ is exceptional artist and a young man of highest caliber as we all know.

Another hands up for Astarto. For people who are not "professional fans" and unused to this autograph thing the artist's personality is very important. His empathy makes us feel much more comfortable with him and as you say, he does come across as a normal (gorgeous) polite young man. He is a joy to meet!!!

Astarto: I could not agree more. This autograph thing always bothered me, and I certainly did not want to go at first. He is just a man, come on. He probably snoars like a pig, doesn't pick up after himself and can never find anything even if it's right in front of him. Why get an autograph? We have that at home!

But I found the solution: Like with any artist I have been fortunate to see and hear live, I just walked up to him and said thank you for a wonderful recital, it was great. Because that is all what I wanted to do, really.

Err, thank you for your very kind comments, Pilarddcc, Nenuphar, SKinHawaii, tuffy 942 and carolineleiden.

Yup, carolineleiden, it is just natural to want to thank an artist for what one just experienced, that´s how I define it also. And if someone thinks that a person does not have severe weaknesses - be it a man or a woman, you´ll admit - that always is a warning sign. The person must have something with their perception distorted. Nobody is perfect, that´s certain. (But really I hope PhJ does not snore - it might ruin his voice!)

calolineleiden: I think wanting the artist's autograph differ in every fans. I myself wanted PJ's for the first few times for a sweet memory that I really met PJ on my trip. This was strictly for my family to share. After seeing PJ's devotion to please fans and seeing him interconnect with fans (sometimes looked tiring), some self-absorbed fans taking much too much time talking to PJ,(I just heard that in Leiptiz a woman was selling sighned CD to fans and had a nerve to ask PJ to autograph 15 CDs ) I decided I am not going and I don't need PJ's autograph. I don't know if this is European custom but I never seen in Tokyo nor US when I used to go to the concerts of the World class artists. They are pretty much guarded and Japanese fans accept it the way it is so it was an eye opening experience for me to see the interaction of PJ with the fans. Bartoli, Vivica Genaux didn't autograph at any of their concerts. I didn't feel less close to them but I must say I did not feel closer to them either. It was just a great concerts that all. So PJ's case. interactions with fans and admirers are very very special and we will never forget those moments. It is a special privilege PJ is offering to us and we shouldn't take it lightly, because I just don't think many other artists do that. In any case those who meet PJ once in a life time his autograph and close contact are precious memory and I hope PJ does it because of that reason.

Dear SKNinHawaii,

This point that you made about what a privilege PJ offers us by staying well beyond his concerts to have that 1 to 1 contact is exactly why he elicits so much emotion. So many times he has had to make his people wait until he is finished with his fans. Not having done this autograph thing ever I had no idea about other artists. Thank you for pointing this out!!! He is generous with his time and we should all be considerate and very grateful for this SWWEEEEETTTT moment he gives us.

I agree with SKNinHawaii and Tuffy. He is very generous with his time and we should be grateful and respectful for that, it's very uncommon!

tuffy 942 & Pilarddcc:

Thank you for your comment on my post. My friend whom I travel to PJ's concerts told me how incredibly kind and warm PJ is, before I met him for the first time. He was beyond my imagination and expectation !! What I found out myself is that he is so sincere to all the fans and treat everyone the same. Even those who talks too much too long and disgusting the waiting fans!! As I experienced with other artists and VIPs, many of them are shaking hands, talking with you but their mind is elsewhere therefore their eyes looking at somewhere else. I caught many times those insincere personality in politicians, a bit famous people. As I said few times before, PJ is truly a remarkable artist with most sincere personality and we all know every bit of his great quality comes through his singing which we love so much.

SKNinHawaii,
PJ said in an interview that he was conscious of the fact that some fans ask for an autograph to get a little contact and that it was OK for him. I think he likes to hear
something "straight from the horse's mouth" after the concert. It is nice to see how surprised he reacts when you say "I just wanted to say thank you!"
He should refuse to give 15 autographs to one person as the purpose of such collection is quite clear, we all can find them in EBay. But PJ never does. So why don't we comment on that in case we should be near in the queue? There are limits, and for us it is easier to make it clear, when someone takes advantage of his "doux" character. Why not take a little care for him that way? I make a mental note to do it...I'm curious to see what will happen.

Duffy,
oh, I think that is an excellent idea! We are a large group that consists of quite intelligent and nice, grown up people. It is easy for us to give feedback about the behaviour of other people during autograph sessions etc., because our number makes us strong. So if one of us says something like that a person is taking advantage of PJ´s gentle character, and we know that others will support us, I think we have much more power than we realize. We are in a better position there even than PJ himself is. The feedback of many is a force to be reckoned with. So I for one will support you if you do that, or do it myself!

The same goes for YouTube etc. of course. If each of us gives thumbs down at least a few times, that is a lot of feedback, and very efficient. (Of course most listeners will be too lazy to do that, but not we.)

Please, there is a queue to defend Philippe CDS dealers signed?
I am the third Duffy, Astarto et moi!
There's nothing I like better to form a queue for anything from Philippe!

Duffy, Rosamunda, Astarto: I am not sure this woman is a PJ fan/Autographed CD dealer or just plain CD dealer. In either case it is very tough for PJ to refuse when all of sudden this woman standing in front of him !! It is not his nature to say no even if this rude behavior is out of line !! Apparently he said "Oh, no, no" but he relented. Oh he must felt so bad inside not having a choice to refuse her in such a circumstance ! So what can we do to help him from the agony ?? I wish PJ's German Manager/Promoter to spot this kind of person in line ahead of the time and talk to him/her that it is management policy, sort of, and tell him/her NO. This way embarrassing situation be avoided ahead of the time. I know this is wishful thinking. Posting to PJ's fan-site to refrain such a behavior does not help because this type of fans/dealer has no shame, no consideration nor respect for PJ or other fans. I wish I can write a "Notice" No dealers. No more than one autograph per fan !! and put on a stand by the autographing line. Do you ladies have any good ideas?

SKNinHawaii,
I think it is just the same question we all have to answer in our daily life every day: Let wrong things happen or react if you have the feeling there has to be put an end to them! In case I'll see something like that in future, I'll simply ask the person concerned, if she/he thinks it is OK to take an advantage of his politeness that way. That person will feel quite uncomfortably to be "dissed" in public.

Duffy: Thank you for your strong stance on this and your brave intention. I won't be there till 2013 to be with you to support you so meantime it you see any those fans in the future, please do act what you believe.

Topic: Some people in the autographing line...!

I agree: Some people want to much autographs !!!
I could see that in Bad Kissingen, Stuttgart and Freiburg.

One solution might be:
Big sign or "Roll-Up Display-"
A large headline on the sign: Autograph session
English text with icons (!!!) + a picture of Philippe Jaroussky

( Info for the french and german managers !!! — RollUp: Costs only 110.- €,
practical and handy, including cloth bag, weight 2.7 kg, including the printing!!!,
85 x 200 cm )

Text...:
— — — Please, only two autographs for every person
— — — (> Please, no photographs)
— — — (> 100 postcards with autograph are available
> give a donation to Association IRIS?)


In addition, some bodyguards ???
Saskia — pretty bodyguard with charm, serious, good enforcement
If that does not help — I call you:
SKNinHawaii — with your skills ...... !
Duffy — Pilarddcc — Rosamunda — tuffy942 — and more... for each country a good group.

Yes, I agree. He is very generous with pictures and autographs! A good soul.
And yes: More than two autographs are too much!!!
Please more respect!

Saskia: Your idea and suggestion made my day !! I will be so happy to be an official bodyguard of PhJ and charm away any men who has armloads of CDs!! if PhJ ever allow such a thing !! I saw him at Nuremberg concert 2010. He must be a dealer. Also did you notice owner/operator of the CD shop at the concert halls ask PhJ to autograph many many CDs to sell at the shops. I guess PhJ have no choice in the matter. Although I heard Bartoli is very generous with the fans and PhJ learned from her to have good artist/fan contact. I saw busload of Bartoli fans in two cities in Germany. She earned that over the years with her art and personality. Her concerts are so....... energetic, exciting and fun. PhJ has great example. So being kind and generous to the fans has certainly helps artist's career rise. PhJ's generosity has no intention behind. He is just a wonderful, humble person.

SKNinHawaii,
but to me there is a difference, the CD-store surely left the price as it was before, but to get some autographs and later on sell them in EBay is another pair of shoes.

Duffy: I understand the difference. But why CD shop asking PJ to autograph more
when he already sold so many CDs to the fans and they are in line to have the CD autographed. Isn't thankful enough to have sold so many CD and refrain from asking more CD to be autographed by PJ to sell them later at the store?? that is my
puzzle, I can't understand. When poor PJ autographing at least 200 fans and he is looking at the scene right there!!

SKNinHawaii,
you are right. But we have to consider that all those CD's brought him perhaps one of the months of his sabbatical! It is a tough job after all...

Duffy: All I can say is Yai, Yai, Yai !! Poor Philippe.......

Duffy, SkNinHawaii,

I think poor Philippe would have to sell an awful lot of CDs to pay for his sabbatical!! The financial aspect of classical music is quite a fascinating subject. Some classical artists, Roberto Alagna (who else?) amongst others, have been remarkably frank about how much or how little they earn from their recordings. The sale of 20,000 CDs - considered to be a respectable sale for a classical CD - will net the artist roughly €5000 which is far less than an individual concert fee. The only way for an artist to make any money on recordings is to tie in a concert tour with the release of a CD. The days when an exclusive recording contract with Decca or EMI was a passport to riches via royalties are well and truly over. I guess artists still record for a variety of reasons which have nothing to do with money - either for "complete-ism" ("Gotta record all the Vivaldi operas!") or the wish to leave something permanent behind after a career is over.

A.

Artemis,
that is really interesting, I think 20.000 items of one CD int the classical genre is already considered as a very great success. And the production with an orchestra is very expensive I know. So, I'm willing to rise his account balance, if he'd only come !
Let's make a collection and book him.

Duffy,

Seconded! I'm more than happy to help bankroll him ...

Another interesting aspect of this is the cost of staged operas - despite the gi-normous cost of staging an opera, comparatively little of that gi-normous cost ends up in the pockets of the singers. Philippe be-wigged and in 18th century costume as Ruggiero (OMG, I've just had a vision of him - I think I'll have to lie down!) will be earning considerably less than Philippe in a penguin suit up on the concert platform. Opera singers need recitals to supplement their income. When Philippe appears in a staged opera, he is probably taking a pay cut - so he must be doing it for love and/or prestige. Also, some (but not all) artists pay their own expenses ...

A.

Artemis:

Thank you for your informative post. I have been afraid to the fact but actually I never
had the actual figure of how much classical musician is earning. I was in a project of construction and huge amount of money involved in the project has to be distributed with many people involved. So come down to individual take, it ends up to small even a famous architect. Staging an opera performance is similar to my experience. it sounds. I hope principal cast is treated well and Philippe never have to worry about the money aspect. I hope he is well paid for the concert appearances.

This topic about classical musicians income is very interesting. I've never thought that they earn so little with the cd's, it's a shame! An opera is such an expensive show and I'm sure that they didn't get a good salary but selling CD's should be a better business for them, since doing the record itself is quite cheap...the intermediary gets the good part!

Artemis,
I think the costs were the true reason for not bringing "Caravaggio " to the TCE in a staged version, not any plans concerning the theatre itself. They didn't want to take the risk of such a modern and perhaps very avantgardistic project there, I fear. Not even with such a star as PJ is. Think of the reactions to "Opium" in France, they wanted him to stay in the baroque genre, did he sing the Dalbavie sonnets there? I'm not sure. I expect the music of Mme Giraud to be quite "hard stuff" in parts.
After all we both will have a benefit of the concert version: He'll be paid a bit more and I'ill see him in a swallow-tailed coat...perhaps he will even wear his own this time !

It's a pity, I would love to see him as Caravaggio in a staged opera...I've only been in one real staged opera before and I enjoyed so much. However I think that you're right, it must cost a fortune to do an opera and the risks with contemporary music are to high!! I don't expect to like Mme Giraud stuff, so keeping my expectations low maybe I would be happly surprised. Nevertheless, seeing Philippe live worths the trip [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Philippe said to me he hoped a staging of the opera Caravaggio in 2 years but there will surely still many difficulties to overcome

Duffy,

Alas, I fear you may be right about the real reason for the cancellation of "Caravaggio". I look forward to your report on the concert version. Hee, hee, it's true - whenever Philou appears "en frac" he somehow always manages to look as though he has borrowed it from his dad!

Pilar (and others),

For lovers of staged opera, I think the production of "Artaserse" at the end of the year will be staged. Countertenors will also be taking the female rôles (à la Sant' Alessio) - so I guess Maxie Cencic will be called upon to don a frock again!

A.

Artemis:

Thanks for the information. In fact, it would be great to attend Artaserse in Autumm...

"Caravaggio" should be an really very uncommon and quite modern staged opera, with the huge projections of the pictures by C. on stage and Philippe was supposed to have a lot to act .

Alas, alas, I agree with Duffy .

But we ´ll have " Giulio Cesare" in Mai and August and " Artaserse" in November and December as two (!!!) fully staged (!!!) operas- that happens also not every day .... let us hope the best also for "Caravaggio"!

Well, if the Artaserse project is a done deal in November, dear Janochka, I hope I am not too late to plan to go,......fully staged!!! And you!
I know with all the success in Boston in Niobe they barely covered costs.Between contributors, donations, sponsorships and tickets for the public they carry the monumental economic burden ...Would I could have millions for this cause! But we have our contribution as enthusiastic ticket buyers, CD buyers, I always buy 2 or 3 same CDs to give to friends ,,,, or any one I love.
I wish I could help and NOT by knitting scarves. I feel his sabbatical he has planned for a while and it is so well deserved; I believe he is extremely organized, so he must be ok.
No I am going mad trying to com up with a small, tasteful,exquisite souvenir from my country. Easily packed. Couple of books, el bestiario de haendel. My devotion while I fall and pant at his feet. But actually I 'd give him the world