4 November 2013 at 10.17pm | 39 Comments
#ROHvepres Pappano's conducting is inspiring and energetic... Well done...!
— Lola Vicente (@gtltornt) November 4, 2013
#ROHVêpres ended really well. Lianna really warmed up to a nice climax. Hymel hero of the evening.
— Attila (@attilalondon) November 4, 2013
I think @erwinschrott should demand a sparkly ballgown & tiara for all of his roles!! Bravo! #ROHvepres
— Polly McCowen (@wadpol) November 4, 2013
Goose bumps and watery eyes so fabulous #Verdi #LesVêpresSiciliennes #ROH #Opera #Ballet #Love @RoyalOperaHouse
— Kerri Tanya (@KerriTanya) November 4, 2013
#ROHvepres A production worthy to celebrate 200 hundres years of Verdi Congratulations - From London O 2 centre
— Suhail Khan (@4sakhan) November 4, 2013
Awesome imagery in first aria of Act 3 - Montfort grabbing at tiny skull-masked Henri. Michael Volle superb! Stirring stuff... #ROHvepres
— Tess Ellison (@tess_ellison) November 4, 2013
#ROHvepres End of Act III executions. One way to slim down cast list for final third. Loving the skulls at Watford Palace.
— Alastair Kelly (@alastairkelly) November 4, 2013
#rohvepres from Beverwijk NL it was a wonderfull performance! Deeply touched.
— Cindy van der Lijn (@CindyvanderLijn) November 4, 2013
#ROHvepres Madrid Palafox Impressive 3rd act. Great Monfort: Tender father and cruel Governor. Good son Henry, and no words for the chorus
— Paco Escudero (@fpescudero) November 4, 2013
#ROHvepres Lianna Haroutounian knocked it out of the park tonight. Brava!
— SEBASTIAN PETIT (@CURZONPRODUCT) November 4, 2013
The only thing that could top tonight's HD screening of #ROHvepres would be to see it again live on Monday at ROH #ohthegreed
— Annette (@buglet2) November 4, 2013
What did you think of Les Vêpres siciliennes live in cinemas?
The next live ROH Cinema relay will be The Royal Ballet’s Nutcracker on 12 December. Find your nearest cinema
4 November 2013 at 10.17pm
This article has been categorised Opera and tagged by Stefan Herheim, cinema, Les Vêpres siciliennes, Production, relay, review, Social Media, twitter, your reaction
This article has 39 comments
The production doesn't quite work if I'm honest but still enjoyable non the less, loved the ballet interwoven through out. Well done ROH for giving us a little house atmosphere before hand this evening, all adds to the enjoyment. Very good cast with pap and the chorus on form as always. Great to get the relays locally thanks to ROH and the Carlton in Westgate on sea.
Just saw the film of this performance. Thought the production was childish, obvious and dumbed-down and really interfered with the enjoyment of the music. Had to close my eyes several times so that I wouldn't be irritated by all the nonsense going on onstage. I will NEVER go to an opera directed by this person. My deepest sympathy and respect goes to the wonderful singers who overcame this ridiculous staging to produce some wonderful opera.
What a great performance! Bravo for all the singers, especially Erwin Schrott, as well as the conductor, the choir and the orchestra. One can understand why this opera is not so often performed, you need a terrific cast and an extra choir etc. but it is so beautiful! Thank you immensely! Elisabetta from Trieste
GRANDI, GENIALI, FANTASTICI TUTTI :-) GRANDE EMOZIONE PER UNO SPETTACOLO INDIMENTICABILE .... GRAZIE GRAZIE,
From Madrid Kinépolis, wonderfull performance! (though Helene wasn't played by Marina Poplavskaya, as annouced in Kine's brochure). As wonderfull was ballet Don Quixote !!
The fact that 19 countries around the world are enjoying at the same time so much beauty, makes feel how Art, could links human beings. Thanks You
We had no surtitles last night until well into Act 2, at Guildford ODEON, until an audience member went out of the cinema to ask for them. She was told that the Royal Opera House had sent a letter saying that they should not be turned on! Is this true? Have also written to cinema. Otherwise wonderful.
Hi Pam,
Sorry about the technical issue you experienced. There was an internal communication error at Odeon whereby a note was sent by the chain's head office to all their sites asking for subtitles to be kept off for technical reasons.
We're working with Odeon to ensure this doesn't happen again. Apologies for your experience.
Chris
ROH Content Producer
Saw Vepres at Leatherhead thought it was superb.
Spettacolo memorabile ! grande regia, grandissimi cantanti (escludo solo il Danieli, assolutamente inadeguato). Ricordo benissimo l'edizione scaligera con Muti e ho scoperto un grande Pappano veramente all'altezza dell'arduo compito: ottima direzione, eccellente concertazione. Sarebbe molto bella rivedere lo stesso cast e la stesso spettacolo in Italia in lingua italiana: Verdi ne sarebbe sicuramente soddisfatto.
At first I wasn't quite sure about Herheim's vision, but I must say that in the end I was really convinced. Thought the final scene was really strong. Beautiful singing from most of the cast, strong acting. But the icing on the cake was the fabulous orchestra with Maestro Pappano at the helm. Sometimes I forgot about the singers (on purpose) and listened to the orchestra. Such great sound. Thanks to all of the cast.
And great that we had Dutch subtitles in the cinema in Beverwijk.
ecco grandi cantanti per un grande spettacolo! bravo pappano, ottima regia.
What a shame! This Opera is new to us and we enjoyed the singing, presentation and music enormously at the Odeon in Maidstone. The while evening spoilt for us and many others by NO SUB TITLES and no explanation from the Odeon as to why. Was this their fault or ROH.
Hi Andy and Rosemary,
Sorry to hear about this. As detailed in the reply to Pam:
Sorry about the technical issue you experienced. There was an internal communication error at Odeon whereby a note was sent by the chain's head office to all their sites asking for subtitles to be kept off for technical reasons.
We're working with Odeon to ensure this doesn't happen again.
Chris
ROH Content Producer
Magnifique spectacle. Bravissimo au ROH. Très belle représentation à Versailles (Le Cyrano) avec sous titres en français!
Je voudrais savoir pourquoi Stefan Herheim a fait jouer le bourreau par l'enfant? Shocking!
Wonderful costumes, stage sets but also interviewes of Pappano and introduction of the Director of Opera.
I was really into ROH while I's watching in Tournai (Belgium). Congratulations !
Me ha encantado, una excelente producción con imaginativo vestuario y un Procida genial!
Enjoyed the production but obviously not as much as some. Glad I only paid for a cinema ticket rather than a seat at ROH .Principals ok but why would big names bother to learn the role when it might not be performed again for decades. Chorus and dancers superb .My Cineworld did not show surtitles until audience member went out and told them. Also at times voice and vision was a little out of sync. Don't know whether this was a cinema fault or at ROH.
Hi Keith,
Sorry to hear that you didn't have subtitles.
The audio should have been in sync, or at least a consistent amount out rather than drifting - it is not possible to get it in sync across the whole auditorium as sound travels around a millisecond a foot, so anything over 40 feet from the screen will have the audio approximately one frame behind - this is usually preferable to audio in front of pictures at the front of the cinema, as we never in real life experience sound before pictures.
We transmit a test tape with a sync check (and various other tests, plus some sample music) twice during the day for the cinemas to check everything is OK. We have, in the distant past, had some problems with receivers if they drop the signal briefly going out of sync, but normally it goes quite a way out (1/2 a second or so).
Can you let me know which cinema you were at - we might be able to find out if there is anything we can do to help.
Regards,
Mark Thackeray
Broadcast Engineer, Royal Opera House
We saw this at Rivesaltes nr. Perpignan France it kept us mesmerized for whole performance brilliant and so grateful to be able to see it.
Could have done with some english subtitles as our french is not very good!
Bravo à tous c'était une performance magnifique , un cast de haut niveau . J'était particulièrement toucher par la voix et le jeu de Lianna Haroutounian , elle était particulièrement exeptionnel .
Merci à la Royal Opéra House .
Started slow, but from Act 3 really hotted up and was very dramatic. Some superb music. the production really didn't do much for me though.
A Deputation of very disgruntled viewers had to have a stand up row with manager ODEON
Maidenhead, Berkshire,MID PERFORMANCE, to get him to switch on the surtitles . This was after act 1 and well into act 2 .
Afterwards , many commented that their enjoyment completely ruined and they would not attend any more ROH live opera relays at Odeon cinemas ------Shame,that these folk are now lost to the art form .
In Kettering like others, we did not have sub-titles until Act 4 & 5, which meant that for the first 3 acts, while we knew the gist of the story, it was not as well understood as it might have been. Still don't undrstand whether it was the fault of the cinema or ROH?
So last 2 acts were superb!
Hi Noel,
Very sorry to hear this. The issue was the result of an internal communication error by Odeon whereby a note was sent by the chain's head office to all their sites asking for subtitles to be kept off for technical reasons.
We're working with Odeon to ensure this doesn't happen again. Apologies for your experience.
Chris
ROH Content Producer
The explanation about the "internal communication error" is incomplete, given the high prices charged for the relays. I presume the Odeon will be refunding their patrons, and that the ROH will be encouraging them to do so.
Outreach in the UK will fail if you transmit four hours of Italian with no translation. I suggest we draw this to the attention of the Arts Council.
Hi Geoff,
Sorry to hear that you were disappointed.
As stated in earlier responses, the technical fault was due to an error on the part of the cinema chain who mistakenly told their projectionists to turn off titles due to a difference in how signals for feed are processed between our relays and the Metropolitan Opera’s. We are working with the chain to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.
Though technical issues may have affected your experience on this occasion, we believe that our cinema relays offer great value for money and are cheaper than comparative offerings from other opera and ballet companies.
Thanks,
Chris
ROH Content Producer
I meant French, of course (not Italian), apologies.
"Great value for money" - thank you ROH for another meaningless marketeers phrase - rather depends on whether one gets what one paid for.
Let's hope "working with" (modern ROH seems to mean modern jargon) includes encouraging ticket holders to get refunds.
Hi Geoff,
To echo Chris, we are very sorry that you did not have subtitles.
Our subtitles are transmitted in a similar way to Freeview/Freesat - they are a separate component of the satellite stream (we are transmitting 1 video, 2 audio and 6 subtitle components in one continuous stream). We have to do it this way as we are providing subtitles in 6 languages simultaneously, so each cinema (all across Europe, and I believe some of the USA take a re-broadcast a few hours later) can receive the same satellite feed and select which language they wish to have subtitles in (or not have subtitles if they so wish) - the cinema relays would not be viable if we had to transmit a separate stream for each language. I have checked the stream and all subtitles were transmitted, but we are at the mercy of the cinemas to ensure that they are displayed.
Once again, sorry you had a disappointing evening.
Regards,
Mark Thackeray
Broadcast Engineer, Royal Opera House
Delighted that ROH live screenings are now available in Italy, and the Vepres Monday evening was a treat. For the future, I hope you will insist with your Italian distributor a) to screen in more than just one cinema in Rome, but miles outside the centre of town, and b) to publicize the screenings in advance and in the press. The cinema was practically empty, but this was hardly surprising under the circumstances. There would be much more interest if people actually knew about these screenings long enough in advance to attend them, as has been amply proven by the increasing popularity here (finally) of the Met HD transmissions. Also, as suggested above, a one-page resume in advance of the performance could be posted on your web page. Please continue, however--there is a public out there for such high-quality productions!
I've been reading about more and more issues with subtitles with Vepres and the recent Tosca shown in the US and I want to make sure there will be subtitles when Vepres shows in the US in December. Can I get some kind of confirmation of that please? Thank you.
Hi James,
Subtitle issues occurred in a small minority of cinemas but we've put in place safeguards to ensure that title issues don't occur again.
Thanks and I hope you enjoy the relay.
Chris
ROH Content Producer
Thank you, Chris!
A musical delight but a visual mess - I do not like to think what Verdi would have said of this travesty
THIS IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH. De3spite Maestro Pappano's words you showed why this opera is never performed. Second rate Verdi is no way to mark his bicentenary. A new Ballo or Forza might have been better. The musical standards of chorus and orchestra were good but the line up of second rate soloists was disappointing. A second rate soprano who can't even sing in tune and a tenor who studied at the school of fidget and was allowed to look such a mess on stage. Surely there are better than this in GB. Then the ridiculous production. This is the third Royal Opera broadcast I have seen all with stupid productions. If your directors are afraid of telling the stories of the operas they should work elsewhere. What all that theatre nonsense had to do with the plot God alone knows. I thought silly G&S type moves for the chorus had been dropped years ago. And then there was ring a ring of roses round the headsman's block for the lovers! Incidentally if we were in 19th Century Paris shouldn't that have been a guillotine? May I recommend that you shelve this farrago of a production and instead revive the gorgeous staging by the Royal Ballet of 'The Four Seasons' set to the music you cut from this opera. I could go on but life's too short. I had been looking forward to seeing Parsifal but your lack of standards has made me think twice.
Hi Folks ,
I do not agree with Jonathan Clift .
Jonathan , stop complaining : are you able to do it better ?
No??
Than stop complaining and blaiming and step away : if you do not like ROH Productions , do not go to to wacht them at all and stay Home .
I have to say I enyoj this Production very much :
- PAPPANO is GREAT : can you find a Conductor better than him ?!? I don't think so !!
- The CAST is the BEST you can get , able to sing these demanding Roles !! All of them were really gorgeous and I do not want to spend more words to express my opinion .
- The STAGE DIRECTION is great too : it is not possible to go to Opera to see Always the same things ! Finally there is a Guy able to say a new Word on Stage !!
CONGRATULATION to the ROH for this GREAT PRODUCTION : nothing was wrong , nothing could have been better .......Lianna HAROUTOUNIAN as Hélène is one of the best Verdi SOPRANO around with a gorgeous Instrument and a great Technique too and .... what an Actrees , Erwin SCHROTT as Procida is great too and what can I say about the Tenor , the Baryton .... ?!?
I can just say : THANKS to the ROH about this GREAT OPPORTUNITY and CONGRATULATION ................and apologizes about my english .....I'm just a poor german guy !!!
Hi to everybody and hope to see soon another wonderfull Production like LES VEPRES SICILIENNES !!!
TOM .
I loved it when Procida set fire to the French flag.
A wonderful performance. I just found that the finale is too static
Lianna's dress was polishing the floor of the stage nicely.
Great production, but some things didn't really work - the bloke in the dress, for example. And the conceit of the wedding sheet was over-used. But full of energy and very enjoyable.