Three artists preparing a new production of this classic at the Metropolitan Opera discuss what makes it so difficult yet satisfying.There are operas that are challenging for their sheer technical demands — the density of Berg’s “Lulu” or the heroic immensity of Wagner epics. And then there are those that seem simple but are actually some of the most difficult.In that second category fall Mozart’s three collaborations with the librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte — “Le Nozze di Figaro,” “Don Giovanni” and “Così Fan Tutte” — works of slippery psychology, frank humanity and, crucially, crystalline construction that punishes any mistake onstage or in the orchestra pit.Particularly tough to stage is “Don Giovanni,” which returns to the Metropolitan Opera in a new production on May 5, with Peter Mattei in the title role. Its score runs nearly three hours with major events at the beginning and end — Giovanni murders the father of a woman he nearly rapes, then later is dragged to hell — but little in between other than characters repeating mistakes, as if in loops of unhealthy habits.Without the hand of a confident director, the story rapidly sags. And, in true operatic fashion, its telling is equally dependent on a conductor’s momentum, and actorly, complex expression from the singers. When all the pieces fall into place, “Don Giovanni” unfurls with a sublime, graceful beauty that a casual listener might find straightforward, even light.But, the conductor Nathalie Stutzmann said, “the simpler this opera sounds, the more difficult it is to create.” As she prepares to open the Met’s new “Don Giovanni,” she and two other members of its team — Ivo van Hove, the director, and Ying Fang, a leading Mozart soprano who stars as Zerlina — discussed the work’s challenges and gifts. Here are edited excerpts from those conversations.Ivo van Hove“This man has been idolized as a libertine — his mission is “Viva la libertà” — but his own freedom, not the freedom of other people,” said van Hove.Vincent Tullo for The New York TimesI’ve seen some famous productions. There was Peter Brook in 1984, with Peter Mattei; it was a minimalist staging but very powerful. I’ve seen Michael Haneke’s in Paris, and that was modern, with Don Giovanni as the C.E.O. of a big firm. And I’ve seen another one in Salzburg by my idol, Patrice Chéreau, whose work I used to see in Paris all the time when I was young, with my little car and no money, driving back after the show was over.A challenge is that it’s very long. The first act is sharp as a knife, and the second is almost repeating the things we have seen, but developing them deeper. And that’s where it gets even more challenging — there are these buffa parts, that even those huge directors that I’ve seen fail at. They get lost in there. If you start to do comedy, it doesn’t work; then it’s about nothing. You have to deepen the emotions, not play it light or funny, which is not really what it is anyway.My starting point was something that people often forget: The original title was “Il Dissoluto Punito, Ossia il Don Giovanni” [“The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni”]. When I saw this title, a lot of doors opened. Mozart had a clear point of view on the character. I had always found it a bit difficult to accept that Donna Anna is a little bit in love with him while she’s raped in the first scene, and then a few minutes later he kills, without any reason, her father. This man has been idolized as a libertine — his mission is “Viva la libertà” — but his own freedom, not the freedom of other people. “Don Giovanni” became for me suddenly a very contemporary opera.When I studied the score and the text, I discovered that it talks about power structures in our society: Don Giovanni, servants like Leporello, but also the farmers’ community in Masetto. Don Giovanni seduces Masetto’s fiancée, Zerlina, with the promise of a fabulous future of riches and a house, and all these things. Then there’s the sexual, emotional dominance of Donna Elvira; these power structures are about control at the detriment of others, and Don Giovanni is at the top while the others resist him.And the libretto is so well written, the characters are all complex and ambivalent individuals. They are a bit like Ingmar Bergman characters: neither good nor bad, just human. So, all of this becomes almost like a description of the times we live in.The ending can be very difficult, but I wanted Don Giovanni to go to hell, and burn in hell forever. What we show is something you don’t expect. But he, as a person, is a problem that has to be dealt with. And with this ending, now that he is dealt with, everybody can move on with their lives. They have closure. It is actually a conventional, happy ending. But I think that is necessary: You see them taking up daily life, as if they were starting again.Nathalie Stutzmann“My idea is to make it really alive, and very much about the story,” Stutzmann said.Vincent Tullo for The New York TimesMozart is a kind of doctor for any singer or musician’s playing: Every note that is not right, every dynamic, every articulation, every balance is hearable immediately. Everything that you can cover in later Romantic music — you can hide much more in Wagner — you can’t with Mozart.This orchestration in “Don Giovanni” is so precise. I’ve never seen in Mozart so many fortepiano dynamics; it’s abrupt and a permanent change of color. Which is interesting, but also tiring and very hard to play for three hours. You can never relax. It is a nonstop race — a race that goes to the abyss at the end.The arc of it is already in the first measure of the overture. Those notes are the abyss; you have them again at the end. So you have to build the overture so that people understand. Then there is everything in between.There is the party, which is a virtuoso moment for the orchestra and singers. A lot is connected to the words, the phrasing, but you cannot do that if you are singing every note égal. You don’t have time. So, you have to respect the appoggio [breath support] of the language, and you have to be super strict with the rhythm. When it’s not precise, it’s like a sugar crash. But when it is, it works like a Swiss clock.I’ll never forget a phrase that I read in a book: Mozart said, one of the most difficult, important and crucial things to realize in playing my music is simply the right tempo. In this opera, it’s one key for me. The phrasing seems simple, but the realization is incredibly difficult. The pulse needs to be organic, and one thing needs to be related to the next.There are many places where we need to make a connection; for me that is the recitativo. My idea is to make it really alive, and very much about the story. I also include the pianoforte instrument in the arias, sometimes, for joyful moments — like the kisses of Zerlina, a little bit in the spirit of Mozart, what he would do.What I try to achieve is less of a gap between the recitativo moments and the arias. Typically at this time, the story was told by the recitativo, and the aria described the feeling. But in this opera, the recitativo has so many stories, while the arias are also telling them. It’s a very modern opera in that respect.Ying Fang“To interpret this, you have to be faithful to what Mozart has already written,” Fang said.Vincent Tullo for The New York TimesWhen you sing the music right, Mozart is like medicine, a balm for the voice. It’s indescribably beautiful, and just so genius. But it can be deceptive. It sounds very simple and effortless, but it takes a lot of hard work to achieve that.You have to have perfect legato, and perfect breath control, to get through a lot of long phrases. Mozart also writes runs with crazy coloratura, as well as some dramatic moments. To do all that requires secure technique. It’s very different from verismo, or Verdi. Clarity and purity: When you’re singing Mozart’s music, you have to use particular muscles to be flexible yet keep the purity of the tone. This is all a testament of healthy, and good, technique.Mostly in the recitatives, Zerlina gets more dramatic. In the scene right before “Batti, batti,” when she goes back to Masetto after almost being seduced by Don Giovanni, she displays her capability in dealing with Masetto, saying: “What, you don’t believe me? Then kill me. Please, let’s just make peace.” It’s completely human, and so relatable. That’s another thing about these roles; you can see yourself, and you know you could be that person.But to interpret this, you have to be faithful to what Mozart has already written. He is a great vocal composer; a lot of things are already written into the score, stressed in how the language is expressed. If you follow that, the emotions speak for themselves. So, the interpretation has to be a little more strict, but it should seem effortless.The hard work to do that is in the preparation. You’ve got to know other people’s lines, and be aware and listen to whatever is happening around you. Once you know all that, everything is clear, and you can stop thinking too much and just enjoy being in your character. Then, the beauty of it is just so satisfying. It really is one of the greatest joys. More

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The ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ actor responds to the backlash over his star-studded ‘Imagine’ video, insisting he and his celebrity pals didn’t mean to offend anyone.
Apr 11, 2020
AceShowbiz – “Fifty Shades of Grey” star Jamie Dornan has jumped to the defence of his pal Kristen Wiig, after she was slammed for putting together a cringeworthy viral video featuring celebrities singing along to John Lennon’s “Imagine”.
Wiig and “Wonder Woman” star Gal Gadot came up with the plan to help lift the spirits of people on lockdown, but the idea fell flat and led to fans and critics alike taking aim at the actresses for being out of touch.
Dornan, who was among the stars who appeared in the video, has now defended the project, insisting people should understand Gadot and his friend were simply trying to do a good thing.
“Kristen and I did a movie together last summer… and we got on brilliantly,” Jamie told the “Tea With Me” podcast. “I would do anything for her – that’s how highly I think of her. I was the biggest fan of her before anyway.”
“Kristen texted, ‘Gal and I are trying to organise this thing to lift spirits,’ so I was like, ‘Of course I’ll do it.’ Then she texted days later saying, ‘Sorry’… Not being on social media, I wasn’t aware of the reaction – but was made aware by mates.”
Jamie, who revealed he shot his segment from his toilet, has a good idea why so many people were upset by the video, adding, “I’ll tell you what the problem was: I literally did mine in the toilet of my house. Quite clearly, some people had escaped to their second home.”
“There’s too much acreage in the background, too many beautiful trees swaying in the background, clearly in front of an ocean, that sort of craic.”

Many viewers criticised the stars in the video for trying to seem sincere about the coronavirus pandemic and the plight of the world as a whole while singing in the gardens of their palatial mansions and at home in their luxury pads.

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LONDON — A popular Iranian rapper has been detained in Turkey and faces deportation to Iran after the Turkish police acted on an Interpol red notice to detain him, friends of the rapper and Turkish news media reported.Amir Hussein Maqsoodlo, better known as Amir Tataloo, was detained at an immigration office in the Fatih district of Istanbul, according to a music producer who was with him. He is being held at a detention facility for undocumented immigrants in eastern Istanbul near one of the city’s airports.Mr. Tataloo, 31, has been one of Iran’s most prominent rappers for the past decade. At one point several years ago he had some four million followers on Instagram.But Iranian clerics have long insisted that rap music is the devil’s work, and censure the lifestyle of rappers and the wearing of tattoos. Mr. Tataloo has had numerous run-ins with the authorities over his music; his hard-partying lifestyle; his outspoken attitude; and the tattoos he flaunts.He spent four months in Evin prison in Iran two years ago, and has frequently been detained for short periods over his tattoos, according to the music producer, known as MarG Lotfabadi, who was with him when he was detained in Istanbul.Yet even the strait-laced Iranian government has used Mr. Tataloo’s popularity to record a nationalistic video vaunting Iran’s military effort in the Persian Gulf in 2017. Standing on the Damavand, a frigate in the Caspian Sea, Mr. Tataloo sang that “an armed Persian Gulf” is Iran’s “absolute right.” He has also been allowed to travel abroad to play concerts.Mr. Tataloo has always been hard to pin down, said Nahid Siamdoust, a lecturer at Yale University and author of a book on political music in Iran.In his early career, she said, he was known for making bold political and social statements that were well received by music fans opposed to the government. But in the mid-2010s, he started recording tracks with nationalistic messages, including the one set on the Iranian frigate.During the 2017 presidential race, he even supported Ebrahim Raisi, the most hard-line and conservative candidate, appearing in a photo opportunity with him, tattoos showing.Mr. Tataloo’s millions of fans were never sure whether he genuinely supported the government or was simply pretending to do so to get permits to perform, Ms. Siamdoust said. “He became a real trickster figure,” she said.After Mr. Tataloo left Iran in 2018, he began openly criticizing the government, once insulting a revered religious figure. That switch could be what has angered the government, Ms. Siamdoust said.“He was on the inside and then he made very insulting comments against the whole establishment,” she said. “One of his newest music videos pictures himself in an Iranian court arguing his case for why he’s never going back.”Mr. Lotfabadi said Mr. Tataloo was not political, but rather an artist who spoke freely. He said he was asked at the last minute to play songs on the frigate and went along, only later realizing he had been used.“He has never supported the government,” he said. “They don’t like him because he is speaking very openly about society.”Turkish media reported that Mr. Tataloo was wanted in Iran for drug-related offenses. But Mr. Lotfabadi said the police had not mentioned that when they detained the performer on Tuesday, saying only that a red notice had been issued by Interpol.He said Mr. Tataloo did not espouse violence, and had spoken out against the slaughtering of animals. Many of his tattoos are of animals, Mr. Lotfabadi said, and others were of his mother, and of his heroes Bruce Lee and the Argentine soccer player Diego Maradona.Mr. Tataloo entered Turkey last summer and had applied for temporary residency in Istanbul, as many in the growing community of exiled Iranians have done. He is scheduled to play a concert in East London on Feb. 9, and already has a British visa organized, Mr. Lotfabadi said.Turkey is a popular spot for some Iranian hip-hop musicians, where they organize concerts, usually selling out. But Turkey is not necessarily a hospitable place for rappers.Turkish rappers have come under the scrutiny of the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which says that some have encouraged drug use with their music. Some Turkish rappers have been detained in jail for weeks at a time.The rapper Ezhel, a rising star of Turkish hip-hop, was jailed last year, accused of promoting marijuana use in his songs. After a month in prison, Ezhel, whose real name is Omer Sercan Ipekcioglu, was acquitted of one charge and sentenced on another.People on Persian-language social media have compared Mr. Tataloo’s case with that of Ruhollah Zam, a critic of Iran’s government who disappeared from Iraq last year and ended up back in Iran.Under pressure to curb immigration to Europe, Turkey runs a strict regime of deporting undocumented immigrants, but many foreigners, including refugees and exiles from neighboring Muslim countries, are granted temporary residence permits.Alex Marshall contributed reporting from London. More

Hear a pick from each of the band’s first 10 albums.R.E.M., from left: Bill Berry, Michael Stipe, Mike Mills and Peter Buck.Paul Natkin/Getty ImagesDear listeners,Last week R.E.M. was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, an event that sparked a lot of FOMO from me, your guest newsletter writer (the band briefly reunited in New York; I was out of town) and text conversations with my fellow R.E.M. devotees. (Does this fandom have a name? The Sleepyheads?)My friend Kris Chen sent over this query from a fan account: “Imagine that R.E.M. were going to reunite but only to play in your kitchen and only one song. Which song?” He selected “Fall on Me” from “Lifes Rich Pageant,” the band’s 1986 album, which is my favorite despite its lack of an apostrophe. I gave it some real thought and came back with “These Days.” I was amused when I realized those two songs are neighbors on the LP. And then I was struck by my own consistency: I quoted from it in my high school yearbook in 1995.So: R.E.M. One of the greatest bands of all time (this is not debatable). But I am willing to argue over the group’s best deep cuts. It has 15 studio albums, so let’s set some rules: I am going to limit myself only to records recorded with the band’s original lineup (Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe), before Berry’s departure from the group after a brain aneurysm. That’s 10 LPs, “Murmur” from 1983 up through “New Adventures in Hi-Fi” in 1996. And I didn’t let myself look at the band’s own picks for its members’ 40 favorites until I finished!The only thing to fear is fearlessness,CarynListen along while you read.1. “Pilgrimage”Chiming guitars, cheery Beach Boys-y backing vocals, lyrics I could never quite decipher: This is the R.E.M. I would have first fallen for, had I heard its 1983 debut, “Murmur,” when it arrived.▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTubeWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

Inspired by art and artifacts, the English songwriter moves beyond pop on her fourth album.Corinne Bailey Rae dynamites her own musical past and embraces a larger historical one on her new album, “Black Rainbows.”With her self-titled 2006 debut, Bailey Rae established herself as an agile, airy-voiced pop songwriter; it reached No. 1 in her home country, Britain. Her big hit single, “Put Your Records On,” cheerfully but unmistakably called for celebrating a Black heritage.Bailey Rae hasn’t rushed her albums. Her second one, “The Sea” in 2010, dealt with her grief — at 29 — at the sudden death of her first husband, the saxophonist Jason Rae; the songs reflected on time, love and sorrow. For her 2016 album, “The Heart Speaks in Whispers,” she followed record-company advice to return to polished pop-soul love songs. By then she had married S.J. Brown, who has co-produced “Black Rainbows” with her.On “Black Rainbows,” Bailey Rae boldly jettisons both pop structures and R&B smoothness to consider the scars and triumphs of Black culture. “We long to arc our arm through history,” she sings in “A Spell, a Prayer,” the album’s opening song. “To unpick every thread of pain.”The songs on “Black Rainbows” flaunt extremes: noise and delicacy, longing and rage. In some, Bailey Rae reclaims her distant punk-rock past, when she was in a band called Helen. Others summon retro elegance, toy with electronics and move through multiple transformations. In the album’s genre-bending title song, Bailey Rae repeats the words “black rainbows” over a mechanical beat; her voice gets multiplied into a choir as a labyrinthine, jazz-fusion chord progression gradually unfurls, brimming with saxophone squeals.The album has a conceptual framework. Most of its songs are inspired by artifacts Bailey Rae saw at the Stony Island Arts Bank in Chicago, a former bank building that now holds a huge repository of African and African-diaspora materials gathered by the artist Theaster Gates: art, books, magazines, music and what the arts bank calls “negrobilia,” everyday objects that perpetuated Black stereotypes. For Bailey Rae, the collection summoned thoughts about slavery, spirituality, beauty, survival, hope and freedom.The cover of Bailey Rae’s fourth album, “Black Rainbows.”Thirty Tigers, via Associated PressAn ashtray in the shape of a Black child with an open mouth was a touchstone for “Erasure,” a pounding, screeching, distorted rocker about the exploitation of enslaved children; Bailey Rae blurts, “They took credit for your labor!” and “They put out lit cigarettes down your sweet throat!” Another, more ebullient rock stomp, “New York City Transit Queen” — with Bailey Rae overdubbed into a hand-clapping cheerleading squad — commemorates a cheesecake photograph of the teenager who was named “Miss New York Transit” in 1957.That song is followed by a different take on Black beauty: “He Will Follow You With His Eyes.” Bailey recites what sounds like old advertising copy — “Soft hair that invites his caress/Attract! Arouse! Tantalize!” — over a nostalgic bolero. But partway through the track, she casts off the cosmetics, with an electronic warp to the production and a scornful bite in her voice, as she sings about flaunting, “My black hair kinking/My black skin gleaming.”While Bailey Rae allows herself to shout on “Black Rainbows,” she doesn’t abandon the graceful nuance of her pop past. In the shimmering, billowing “Red Horse,” she envisions romance, marriage and family with a man who “came riding in/in the thunderstorm,” cooing, “You’re the one that I, I’ve been waiting for.”Bailey Rae shared a Grammy Award — album of the year — as a vocalist on Herbie Hancock’s 2007 Joni Mitchell tribute, “River: The Joni Letters,” and she welcomes Mitchell’s influence with the leaping, asymmetrical melody lines and enigmatic imagery of “Peach Velvet Sky,” which has Brown on piano accompanying Bailey Rae in an unadorned duet.“Black Rainbows” is one songwriter’s leap into artistic freedom, unconcerned with genre expectations or radio formats. It’s also one more sign that songwriters are strongest when they heed instincts rather than expectations.Corinne Bailey Rae“Black Rainbows”(Thirty Tigers) More