Farinelli and the King

[alden]

Any of you who are in NYC or can get there, go see "Farinelli and the King" with Mark Rylance playing at the Belasco Theater on 44th. It is pure magic. I don't have the words to describe how great an actor Mr Rylance is, but he clearly the best working today and maybe one of the best ever.

The play written by his wife is lyrical and charming. It's a bit of Richard II, with the charm of Jean Giraudoux, the cheekiness of Noel Coward and the gorgeous music of Handel, What else can I do for you today?

I met Rylance and his wife last Spring. He is a tiny sparrow of a man but in character he is a Titan of presence.

Don't miss it.

Cheers

[Scot]

Brilliant in the TV adaptation of Hilary Mantel's "Wolf Hall". (Great novels too.)

[alden]

Just one of the arias written for Farinelli (a castratto) by Handel prominent in the play: "Lascia che io piangia." Here sung by a beautiful Russian soprano but interpreted in the play by a countertenor and to sublime effect.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSxWphOsghI

This is the countertenor who sings in the play, singing one of the Handel arias featured in the show" "Cara Sposa."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD8o0LivpnE

Cheers

PS Sonya Yoncheva is singing Tosca at the Met. Its supposed to be amazing. Tickets bought!

[couch]

Iestyn Davies is masterful. Good choice to have him do the voice.

And those are my two favorite Handel arias. Plausible candidates for top ten greatest melodies of all time. (Handel must have thought so too; he used the tune of Lascia chi'o pianga in two other music dramas before Rinaldo . . . . )

[alden]

Plausible candidates for top ten greatest melodies of all time.

Yes and here they are used to beautiful effect as Farinelli sings to the King and Queen. Iestyn Davies is on stage singing these arias as the voice of Farinelli.

Couch, you would love this play. Get down to the city and see it. It is a little Masterpiece and all the acting and singing is tremendous.

If you are at all interested in acting, you are seeing Rylance, an actor who can only be compared to someone like Michael Chekov, arguably the greatest actor of the last century. Its an acting Master class. You won't see anyone of this level on Broadway or anywhere else. There are a few great actors working today, but Rylance is in another league altogether.

I'm going to go see it again...

Cheers

PS Its just occurred to me, having freshly heard these arias sung by a countertenor live, that the recordings available on YT of even very great sopranos somehow miss the mark. Handel wrote these pieces for a male voice and the poignancy of them come through in that voice. The mystery of music never ceases to amaze and delight me.

[alden]

Another Handel treasure sung in the play: Ombra Mai Fi

This time sung by a tenor, one of my favorites, Franco Corelli

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fqtq5BmgTHc

and there is this guy who could hold a tune pretty well

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhBdQN8FHh4

and Tito Schifa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xogZlcBge8

And this sublime version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRkHYwaDhfE

Or on the trumpet by one of the absolute greatest: Maurice Andre

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uNGadZfTAw

[Man at C&A]

We are Rylance camp followers and witnessed his ethereal performance in Farinelli and the King in the candlelit intimacy of the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. It was literally breathtaking to see him flutter like a butterfly between a monarchs detached self-assurance and his infatuation with his castrato plaything. I can't ever recall seeing a actor so dominate a stage whilst inhabiting so little of it.

His performance in Jerusalem? Ye Gods that was a thing to behold.

[alden]

Man at C&A

His Twelfth Night and Richard III on Broadway is legendary.

You just never know what he is going to do...and neither does he The spontaneity of his work is what is unsurpassed. He galvanizes you in the moment, its hard to put into words. And its like no other actor I have ever seen.

Go see the play guys!

Cheers

[couch]

Saw it on Saturday. Indeed wonderful performances, including Simon Jones (Bridey in the 1981 Brideshead Revisited) as theatre manager John Rich. Lots of room for Rylance to improvise to splendid effect. I thought the script better entertainment than literature, but as a vehicle for Rylance and Davies it was superb. Very atmospheric staging; must have been quite a similar presentation to the Wanamaker.