I watched the DVD of Friday night's concert on Saturday night and again today (while doing the ironing, I don't spend my entire Monday lazing around doing nothing!)
It was enjoyable and I am sure if I had been there I would have loved it. But I think I was right in judging it wasn't worth the bother of travelling, particularly as I assume hotel rooms would have been scarce and at inflated prices in anticipation of Germany v Spain last night (the best team won).
There were no lowlights in the entire concert, although in respect of the solo numbers by Rolando and Anna, I either didn't know them at all or barely know them. I didn't think the Wien, du Stadt meiner Träume worked very well (but that didn't stop the beeb showing a short excerpt at the beginning of Match of the Day, along with Amor, vida de me vida, the closest this concert got to being on British TV). I think in general, quite a few of the duos or trios gave the impression of being under-rehearsed!
I suppose the highlights included Winterstürme, of course. Interestingly, I have heard/seen Plácido sing this live three times this season, in the context of the opera; watching it, in concert on the TV, I was struck by how middle-aged he seems, compared to on stage when he seems like a young man barely out of adolescence.
I am torn as to which is my absolute highlight. It's a toss-up between:
E lui! Desso!...Dio, che nell'alma infondere, the baritone-tenor duet from Don Carlo;
or
Perhaps Love
Of course, YouTube is a pretty crappy way of hearing music.
I haven't found any substantive reviews on the 'net, but there again, I haven't been looking too hard - the weather's been too nice.
Update: Carlos has the entire concert (I think) pieced together from YouTube. Now that's what I call devotion :-)
