Edita Gruberova at Liceu in Barcelona - 21.04.2009

......Again, it was a great night. By now you must have been bored as every time I get back from a concert I say the same thing. But what can I do? It IS great. I see that person in tapings and tv shows for several years and all of a sudden I can see her or him on stage. And not on any stage. Famous stages around the world. I gives me such a great feeling. Usually I don’t have words enough to describe it.
......After the group I accompanied in Barcelona for Easter Holiday left, I stayed in the city. This concert was something of last minute. It was a very nice surprise that I managed to get a ticket. A very good one. For 53 euro I had a seat on the third floor. Very good visibility. Edita Gruberova got on stage after the Liceu Chamber Orchestra performed the first ouverture. Dressed in a red dress she immediately captured the attention of the audience. Almost standing ovations even before she got to sing something. People here in Barcelona love her. She made her debut more than 30 years ago and she here for almost all the seasons.
This was the program. Mainly Mozart, as you can see.

Orquestra de l'Acadèmia del Gran Teatre del Liceu

Conductor Sebastian Weigle

Part I

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Obertura de Lucio Silla

«Ach ich fühl's», de Die Zauberflöte (ària de Pamina, acte II)

Domenico Cimarosa

Obertura d'Il matrimonio segreto

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

«Welcher Kummer herrscht in meiner Seele»,

de Die Entführung aus dem Serail (ària de Konstanze, acte II)

«Martern aller Arten», de Die Entführung aus dem Serail (ària de Konstanze, acte II)

Part II

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Obertura de Le nozze di Figaro «E Susanna non vien...Dovo sono», de Le nozze di Figaro (recitatiu i ària de la comtessa, acte III)

Felix Mendelsohn

Das Märchen von der schönen Melusine, op. 32

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

«In quali eccessi...Mi tradi», de Don Giovanni (recitatiu i ària de Donna Elvira, acte II)

«Crudele....Non mi dir», de Don Giovanni (recitatiu i ària de Donna Anna, acte II)

Encore

"Deh vieni non tardar…" de Le nozze di Figaro (recitatiu i ària de Susanna, acte IV)

"Oh smania… Oh furie" de Idomeneo (recitatiu i ària de Elettra, acte III)

......I won’t judge her voice as I’m not qualified to do this. She impresses me every time I listen to her. After such a long career she still has that “something” in her voice. The way she does that pianissimos… I have no idea how she does that. High notes in pianissimo, this is really taught. Well, that’s why she’s famous.
......As I said, people really love her. Standing ovations after each part of the show. Then 2 encores one after another because the crowd kept cheering. She came back on stage several times alone and with the conductor. At some point the conductor took away the concertmaster and the entire orchestra left the stage. So do you think that was all? No. we kept applauding. She came back. On empty stage, almost with no lights. People brought flowers, took pictures, and thanked her. The lights were turned on again. Some courageous ones asked her something in German and she replied. This exact scene repeated three times. When I saw that I left my seat on the third floor and rushed downstairs. Just in time for her coming back on stage for the fourth time after the orchestra left. So I got to see her very, very close. It was funny, lights on, lights off then again lights on. She had some good fans in the hall. They managed keeping the applauding alive for about 15-20 minutes after the orchestra and most of the audience left.
......The backstage door is very close to the main entrance. The conductor came after one hour or so. He talked to some people there and then he left on his bike.
......Edita made us wait more than an hour. I guess there were many people wanting to talk to her up there in her cabin. But she eventually came out. She kindly signed the program and smiled when I said thank you.
......Then she walked away on Rambla, just like any other person would do after attending the opera. Good job Mrs Gruberova. You made my night. And I’ll go see you in November, in Budapest. I want to listen to her singing Casta Diva.

......What a great night at the Grand Teatre de Liceu!


Liceu is on La Rambla. Photo taken during the day

Inside Liceu
The main staircase




Inside the operahouse. I took the pictures from the third floor.









During the intermission I got to the parkette. Such a beautiful hall.











And 2 panoramic views

Here she is. Live on stage.

















As I said, he has a lot of fans in Barcelona. One of them threw a lot of flowers on stage. it was beautiful.
The orchestra left but the people kept cheering.

I rushed downstairs. just in time for the fourth round of applauses.






And she comes again


The poster outside the operahouse
And Opera Liceu, by night

The conductor and his bicycle

So thank you for the great evening. And autograph on the program and a kind smile from Edita are memories I'll always cherish.

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