Bryn Terfel as Elvis/Dulcamara in L'elisir d'amore

[@sonjapapaglastras7729]

An Eurotrash disgrace??? I was there and it was amazing. It just shows Bryn's versitility. He was still a young man at this time and you can bet that he did enjoy doing this. Much better performance than would have been expected.

[@ricarda48]

Just fabulous! The singing, the acting, the staging 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

[@AndrewRiddles]

I love it! We need to make opera fun and accessible!

[@troldhaugen]

Opera is already fun and accessible, but these regietheater productions ruin the fun and make the operas confusing and hard to understand.

[@baritoper]

Bryn Terfel has a divine voice.He is always perfect and he will not over. FOREVER BRYN TERFEL

[@tehen162]

Absolutely wonderful. I love it. Terfel is a perfect Dulcamara.

[@KarmynTylerOfficial]

OMG!!!! I really DO like it!!!! I've seen it soooooooo many times "the old" way! Heck! I think it's fantastic!! and I LOOOOOOVE Bryn!!! His voice makes me melt!!!!!

[@elephantbarbiegirl]

What a hoot! Love it! Bryn makes a great "Elvis"

[@vivacecilia]

Genial regia!!!! Bryn is a very artist!!!! I love this version!

[@luizhenriquetrompczynski139]

Fantástico, criativo e brilhante . Inesquecível performance ..

[@dianashmiana]

I love it! Bryn absolutely does a great take-off of Elvis while singing the best Dulcamara one can imagine - with his great voice and acting!

[@CzarDodon]

I beg to differ, it is a masterpiece. Delightful touching, beautifully balanced between the Italian buffo tradition and something more melancholy...and full of splendid music. It's a sort of pastoral/romantic comic opera. Often, in performance it is not given its musical due, in the right hands it can work on a much deeper level than you would imagine. Don't dismiss it so easily.

[@SerbianSoprano]

Wow! This is SO Great! Thank yoy for posting this! Bryn if marvelous as always, and I LOVE this production!!!

[@LordoftheTrapdoors]

In this aria He prefer expression and acting to pure singing (He sings a bit too liberally and "verist style" for a belcanto aria). His voice is not always perfect (but I think this is a his personal choice, because when He want, he can sing perfectly -hear his Leporello in Abbado's Don Giovanni!-) And He is a very great actor too (Opera is not a concert or a cd, it must be primarily theatre!).

[@TitoAGoGO]

Bryn makes me all puffy down there! I can't wait to see him here in L.A. on the 20th!

[@philiplewis7252]

Absolutely immense! Bravissimo

[@marcusunlimited]

brilliant, great costuming ideas and Bryn made it amazing:)

[@Desideria7]

Meno male che non deve fare sesso durante l'aria con direttore d'oprchestra. Comunque grazie per il posting, ora sappiamo tutti che dal teatro di Amsterdam non si puo' aspettare niente di meritevole.

[@royarmjr]

He may not be the most good-looking face but he does have a wonderful voice. Sometimes staging directors are aware of their vision in directing, and they might think they can get away with murder if necessary, but remember, if there's money in the pocket and investors believe in projects, they are the ones who have to be thanked because we can still admire such great artists as Bryn Terfel! If they do their best, we can still enjoy their work. Don't you think so?

[@LeoImage]

This is not the most horrific example. The main thing is that such things are used to involve more and more people into the world of real music, so beautiful and full of emotions.

[@MrGratefulheart]

How disgraceful indeed! They look like they're having fun...

[@fideliosmum]

Can I get this on dvd?

[@brunogripp]

Easy to understand? In what sense can we understand this scene? Dulcamara is a medic, and Elvis was a pop singer. And in my entire life I've never seen a medic, even a charlatan, impersonating Elvis. If this is common in Netherlands, I beg your pardon. The régisseur was just trying to be funny, but there are far more inteligent ways to be funny, to name an European régisseur only: Laurent Pelly, he is not orthodox, but extremely coherent and funny.

[@PoloLoamsdown]

That was hilarious. This may have been said before, but if Bryn Terfel were any less talented, this could have been something of a disaster.

[@fredrenati7800]

Fine performance. Not my style as to the staging, however. Terfel must have listened to the Giuseppe Taddei video of many years ago. His manner, phrasing, and patter singing are just like the great Taddei. Watch Taddei on You Tube and you will see what I mean.

[@kandutery]

please, don´t erase this "trash". I love it!!!!

[@landscapetransformationwit6018]

Ha ha, I love a good disgrace. This is fantastic.

[@Germania72]

I don't care if it's "disgraceful"...He's my idol after this video...hahahaha! What a nice sense of humour!

[@Ankhsnammon]

I hate to see opera singers doing this...God! and they must make these horrific things for to sirvive! Damned times we live! Nina

[@sarita423]

I saw this. It was on Dutch TV iirc. I thought the production totally worked. Do you have any clips of Kwiecien as Belcore, especially doing his striptease while singing "Come Paride vezzoso"? Talk about hot! This was Terfel's first Dulcamara and according to the pre-perfmance documentary, he was rather amused by the production.

[@Matt75003]

This is more or less what Dulcamara would look like in Berlusconi's Italy.

[@ingriddoppler]

....couldn´t agree more with you!!!

[@Martinowor]

He takes it to the limit, but he sounds great, and it's totally in character -- I don't think the director was out of line at all --

[@msnicopanico]

You do know that this one is really, really quiet?? I bet this is opera that Chrissy would enjoy! ;)

[@ingriddoppler]

Call me oldfashion . I love Terfels voice but these modern stagings make me sick ~ a opera shouldn´t be converted into a " cirque"

[@Mooorhe]

@Luck1au Rubbish. He's great.

[@contatolirico]

The fact Elisir be a comic opera does not justify this ridiculous version. Nobody is talking about the vocal talents of Bryn. Yes, it's trash, diverts attention from the story. Visually it's ugly, is a blot on the career of a great singer. The opera is an old thing, has its rules. Who defends it, which makes a similar version. and be happy!

[@fernancuatro]

en dos palabras: im...presionante!!! bravo

[@kdkevs]

I think it's kind of funny. They are taking a risk. And Terfel makes it work as Elvis Dulcamara. Clearly Elvis in his later years!! I laughed out loud a few times. Thanks to Gabba02 for posting!!

[@troldhaugen]

This wasn't "taking a risk." It was incredibly cliche for regietheater opera.

[@CzarDodon]

Yes, the way some people go on you'd think that up until a few years ago operas were produced were exactly the same way as they day they were first performed. There have always been both technical developments and new interpretations, it's part of the wonder of it all.

[@troldhaugen]

They were ALWAYS performed in accordance with the music. That was because there were no directors, so the composers and librettists called the shots. Now directors force their interpretations on the singers, conductors and orchestra, so we get productions that ignore or contradict the music.

[@CzarDodon]

@@troldhaugen perhaps this point might sound a bit trite, but you do realise that the composers and librettists died quite some time ago. What exactly do you mean "in accordance with the music"? I'd like, by way of example, to invite you to investigate the "rearrangement" made by R Strauss of Mozart's Idomeneo, considered at the time to be unpalatable for a modern audience, this idea of a world of purity of intentions or lost authenticity is a total myth

[@troldhaugen]

@@CzarDodon Re: What exactly do you mean "in accordance with the music"? I'm not sure about this particular scene in this video, but usually this kind of regietheater negates the effects of the musical composition that the composer worked so hard to create. The music dictates the drama, often very specifically, even when the libretto was written before the music. It does so in the following ways: 1. Concretely, by imitation, such as the use of timpani to depict the thunder from Thor’s hammer in Das Rheingold. 2. Symbolically, by use of leitmotifs, as explained by this video: (kzbin.info/www/bejne/raekZmd6Z6ytaac ). Some leitmotifs concretely imitate, such as the rhythmic horse-like galloping of the Valkyries theme. Other leitmotifs somehow magically evoke what they represent, such as the way the majestic Valhalla leitmotif represents the majestic Valhalla in Das Rheingold. 3. Orchestral color to create musical synesthesia, such as the way the Forest Murmurs music of Siegfried evokes the feeling of a deep, dark, ancient forest. 4. Most importantly, musical synesthesia using sophisticated harmonic devices. A classic example is the harmonic tension of the Tristan and Isolde harmonic progression, which can be released only when the lovers consummate their love. When they are about to do so, the harmonic tension is almost released but is interrupted when Kurwenal intervenes with “Rette dich, Tristan!” The harmonic tension is finally released in the Liebestod. This is just one famous example, but such techniques are at work in every moment of opera music. Regietheater usually downplays, ignores, contradicts or negates these musical effects. It's like watching Star Wars with the cute Ewoks accompanied by the menacing Darth Vader's theme, or vice versa. This in itself is not a problem. However, some of my favorite operas are only available as Regietheater productions. Many operas have many modern, high-tech, lavish videos of Regietheter productions, but only old, cheesy, low-budget videos from the 60s and 70s for traditional productions. As a result, its not possible for anyone to enjoy the musical effects that the composers worked so hard to create. Fortunately, there are many good traditional productions of L'elisir d'amore, so I guess this Elvis video is harmless...so far. Re: ... the "rearrangement" made by R Strauss of Mozart's Idomeneo, considered at the time to be unpalatable for a modern audience, I haven't seen and heard Strauss's version, but from what I've read, he changed the music and libretto in such a way that there was no contradiction between the acting, the sets, the costumes, the libretto and the music. It didn't negate the effects of the music; it was in accordance with the music. Re: this idea of a world of purity of intentions or lost authenticity is a total myth. Not a myth at all. Every time I hear someone make the claim that the composer didn't have clear intentions, even when the claim is made by renowned experts on the composer, the claim turns out to be false. The composers were often very clear about their intentions. Even if they weren't, their music dictates the drama. Some composers composed multiple versions of their operas. When composers died before completing their operas, other composers took over, as in Turandot and Prince Igor. In all cases, the libretto, sets and costumes always were in accordance with the music. The lost authenticity is not a myth; it is real.

[@CzarDodon]

@@troldhaugen I'm sorry, but don't you see that your "in accordance with the music" is in actual fact a subjective interpretation; the points you cite are all related to Wagner in any case and are of little relevance with respect to Donizetti. This is in any case part of the nature of music and theatre, there is always an interpreter (singers/conductor/director/set designer/constme desigber) between the composer/librettist and the audience, each with a subjective vision (even the case during the composer's lifetime, they were not present to supervise every new production) . To hope for a preserved intention (tradition?) to be carried through such a filter of variables is unrealistic. As each participant is an artist (with or without inverted commas) the outcomes are infinite. Even if there were a right way to do it, but there isn't, it would be next to impossible to attain. We can only hope for a successful theatrical and/or musical experience. Remaining open to a variety of visions helps but does not guarantee the possibility of this happening. I'm quite sure that a performance of Donizetti's comic opera respecting the norms of early 19th Italian operatic performance (if it were possible) would be bewildering, to say the least, to a 21st century audience. Something needs to be done to bridge the gap, that something isn't always going to be acceptable.

[@troldhaugen]

@@CzarDodon My examples were all from Wagner because I copied them from another comment I made about Wagner. I can give you examples from various operas from various style periods from Baroque to Romantic, although I haven't thought about this in relation to Donizetti. A recent example that comes to mind is the way the Paris Opera's production of Rusalka contradicts the orchestral depictions of nature. Hunting horns in an indoor swimming pool? Why do we need to bridge the gap? I guess some people think that opera needs to be relevant to today, but I have no idea why they think that. Why do we have to force everything to tell us what we already know or what we want to to be told? Why not just let the music speak for itself?

[@HumanoidCarbonUnit]

Interesting. Not something I would pay to see but it sounds wonderful and it is very funny to watch. And heck if it means there are more opera fans in the world I'm cool with it.

[@marokt]

I think Donizetti would love this!

[@DeJeanology]

Calling Terfel kitch is quite a statement. :-) Music is about liberty and creativity, not about brainlessly copying others/scores. I love Willy Deville's cover of Hey Joe by Jimmy Hendrickx as well, although Hendrickx fans might find it kitch.

[@hreed3303]

Poor Elvis. What a shameful grave robbing effort.

[@cmorgan22]

I agree. I don't know why I like it either! I've see this opera so many times (especially with Pav as Nemorino and Dara as Dulcamara). I don't usually like stuff like this, but somehow it works! After all it IS a comedy and why not play it to the hilt? As always, the singing is what should predominate, and Terfel knows how to sing it and milk it for all it's worth. What fun. NY audiences would probably boo this production to death!

[@MasterIsh91]

To be fair, he has to do the production whatever the director's vision is. This is a fairly old recording and I doubt he had any say in the design. When you sing in operas it's a contractual obligation to follow the director and give your absolute best whatever your thoughts on the production/direction may be. Regardless of the appearance of this production, his singing is brilliant as always.

[@sonjapapaglastras7729]

Of course his singing was brilliant, he is a professional. I was present at this performance and I am sure Bryn enjoyed each minute of it.

[@eintopf3195]

А здорово получилось. И голос отличный...

[@100Singers]

What you see is the reason why great and good opera today is over and lost forever...

[@silviafederici4228]

Solidarietà a Bryn Terfel!

[@RickZwart]

@Luck1au ?

[@FotografoMuscle737]

Great Production! What's the problem to do something different above all if it's "musical" .... Amsterdam is the place for future ... Great!

[@CzarDodon]

I fully agree with you, I only saw this bit and it may not be the most genial solution in the world, but it works and is quite funny and it's a comic opera. But here there are a lot of old nostalgics who want laces and tights and dusty old boring productions and call anything unusual Eurotrash (which I find a bit racist) thank god someone is experimenting. As with all experiments not every one works. I find Terfel too heavyhanded here, he is very tierd by the end and his high notes are flat.

[@polylepis62]

Bryn ha una gran voce e un'ottima dizione. Certo, il regista dovrebbe cambiare mestiere...........

[@sop1119]

It is a bit jarring...but it really is kind of a creative idea. Considering that opera really was about entertainment, this isn't a terrible stretch. Opera doesn't need to be treated as sacred.

[@Sqid101]

"Eurotrash" is surely racist! I respect Terfel because he seems to be one of a few opera stars who keeps himself and the whole business in perspective. Sure, not every experiment succeeds and this may have failed, but without experiment there will be no progress and eventual terminal atrophication.

[@AmadeusJMB]

I could live without them having used the costumes.

[@coracleman]

very funny - Bryn makes a great Elvis - let's face it, he is lots slimmer! And he is not an overrated singer, he is the best. coraclewoman

[@Matt75003]

By which I mean,the whole thing is vulgar to a T and gloriously over the top. Yet it is all oddly touching, as it should be-Nemorino believes Dulcamara's claims, and he is proved right in the end. We must see through Dulcamara and at the same time understand Nemorino's childish admiration for him; this calls for a hint of magic on top of all the hype.

[@clairesoullier2669]

magnifique

[@valterlellissiqueira4024]

It couldn't be more kitsch! Shameful!

[@Yves_Ka]

That was the idea honey!

[@CzarDodon]

Perhaps because your Opera Houses are funded by rich donors so Opera is more their 'upper class comfort zone' rather than a participating or socially engaged art form. I remember a Lusia Miller set in fascist Italy at la Fenice which was not well recieved, Italy has never really accepted responsability for its fascist past and the production touched a rawnerve. What would happen at the Met with an Aida in Vietnam or Nabucco with the nationalities reversed?

[@francoroselli7154]

Bryn attore cantante strepitoso....

[@operaperu]

well, whats the problem here? if u want your doctor go to the Met then...

[@MegaLilou59]

remarquable !

[@skive_fl]

hahaha grandios. he's a great singer.

[@johnbreuerwielrenner]

Geweldige stem, intonatie

[@BassoCantante19]

0:23 Sick and tired of Terfel opening his mouth wide RIGOROUSLY ON ONLY ONE SIDE when he hits low notes. Just makes them sound horrible.

[@kubri1]

WUNDERBAR !!!!!!

[@CzarDodon]

Sanctity I'll leave to the priests and bible bashers, it's a very dangerous path to take with art or artists.

[@johankritzinger4206]

Kitschy, but performance is great.

[@GiuseppeSilipo]

lo trovo alquanto di cattivo gusto...

[@Tradairn]

OMG. How sad! Putting him in a stupid Elvis costume adds nothing to the story and doesn't even make sense. Why do opera stage directors keep insulting audiences' intelligence with this drivel?

[@qklq42]

It's just tasteless. You hav'nt to be an american to reject this. Hans NL

[@AmadeusJMB]

Vocally it's very nice....the costumes, etc. are outrageously annoying!

[@brendanemig]

i think it's funny... dulcimara is a con man... why not?

[@SadronAphaderuiondur]

LOL!!! Pretty funny this video. I don't think its Eurotrash: L'elisir d'amore is a comic opera, isn't it? So what's wrong on making a laughable version with a funny and talented singer joking and singing wonderfully dressed like The King?

[@qklq42]

In the netherlands is it possible that a half-crazy regisseur makes the setting of Parsifal in a house for fools in Romania at the time of the end of the communism !!! I would'n believe this, but I saw it with my own eyes in the Stadsschouwburg of Arnhem some years ago. It was abominable. I had to keep mij eyes thight during 3 hours! The Music with the Gelders Orkest under Lawrence van RENNES heavenly ! Hans NL

[@contatolirico]

Dulcamara is similar to Elvis? Elvis was a salesman? Elvis fooling people? Dulcamara, Casino, Elvis, the game. Nothing makes sense here.

[@Chivalryaintdead]

LOL WTF?

[@theonlygriffo]

That's just terrible.

[@raulpierri]

I prefer Erwin Schrott.

[@Ankhsnammon]

Horrible! Obscene! PURE TRASH! ankhsnammon