This Brussels “Ballo in Maschera” was posted a couple weeks
ago and I think a couple folks may have posted that they started to watch it
but did not finish. So I was curious and
I watched the entire production. In
light of a certain conversation about another “Ballo” maybe folks are a bit
reticent but I have to say that on the whole I found it to be an interesting
performance and this production is nothing like that other production – there
was not a naked person in the whole opera!
Musically the performance is strong. The singers are, for the most part, singers I
am not familiar with – except for Kathleen Kim as Oscar, who I think we all
know from her multiple HD performances (including as Oscar). She was, as always, terrific, and, in my
view, was the strongest member of the cast.
The other really outstanding performance was Nichole Lemieux as
Ulrica. She has a strong voice with a
solid low register and a soaring top, and she is a great actress. She imbued
the character with a bit of arrogance that I found interesting and, frankly,
refreshing. Maria José Siri was a good
and sympathetic as the victimized Amelia and Stefano Secco as the dictator Gustavo
was also strong, though he came off as too nice a guy to be guilty of being
such a heinous oppressor. The Renato of
George Petean was very strong, and his acting was really top notch, I truly
could feel his pain and anguish in “Eri tu.”
I also really liked the more threatening and harsh presentation of the
Ribbing and Horn of Tijl Faveyt and Carlo Cigni – these guys were truly creepy
in this production. Carlo Rizzi
conducted – from memory without a score – and musically the performance was
very strong. He is a great
conductor. The chorus and the orchestra
also were outstanding. A special
shout-out to the English Horn and principal Cello for really gorgeous playing
in Ameilia’s two arias.
Now, I have to make an observation about this opera before
talking about the production. “Un Ballo
in Maschera” is principally about relationships. That is the primary focus of the plot – in my
opinion. There is this political
conspiracy within which the interpersonal conflict is set like a picture frame. But the primary focus is the interpersonal
issues: the forbidden love of Gustavo and Amelia and the betrayal of Renato by
his wife and best friend. Even the two
conspirators, we learn in Act 3, are driven to this conspiracy by personal
slights – confiscation of property and the murder (death) of a brother. None of it is really political in the same
way as is, for example, Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar.” In JC the conspiracy and the political issues
are the primary issue driving the plot.
There are, of course personal issues – the friendship and ultimate
betrayal of Brutus and even the petition to grant amnesty to Casca’s brother,
but they are all set within the context of the overriding political issue. Even Marc Antony is ultimately focused on
politics. He uses the personal to effect
the political failure of the conspiracy.
Now, why do I bring up this play?
There are obvious similarities of the plot, but the main difference is
the principal focus – politics and conspiracy in JC and interpersonal
relationships in “Ballo.” Thus it follows that Renato is no Brutus for he is
driven to join the conspiracy only by his own anger, hurt, jealousy and desire
of revenge (as are Horn and Ribbing BTW); and Gustavo himself is no Julius
Caesar. JC was a great general and a
brilliant politician. We get no sense
that Gustavo in this opera has any such abilities. In fact, one wonders how Gustavo has time to
rule a realm at all since he spends his time pursuing this illicit affair with
Amelia and going to see fortune-tellers.
His one and only official act is to write up the letter of appointment
to the ambassadorship to England for Renato, which itself is driven by personal
reasons – that is, to get Amelia out of Sweden.
Consequently, “Ballo” works if the director keeps the
primary focus on the inter-personal relationships and the conflicts within
them. “Ballo” does not work so well when
the conspiracy is elevated to the primary focus of the production. This is the problem with this
production. We start off with a
projection that suggests that Gustavo is ruler over a land in which there is
much oppression, misery, hunger and deprivation. When the curtain rises we discover that
Gustavo is some kind of Orwellian dictator and he presides over the realm as an
oppressive dictator. Also, there is no
individuality in this realm (probably not Sweden) as everyone is masked, and
everyone has numbers on their costumes (so how is it that Renato didn’t
recognize his wife’s number as it is clearly marked on her outfit?) Now as worthy as the focus may be the problem
is that this libretto simply won’t sustain it.
The director is constantly trying to pull us into the realm of “1984”
politics, but the personal stuff keeps getting in the way. I found those head mask things to be superfluous
and irrelevant and downright irritating and I am sure the singers hated them. Act 2, however, was truly creepy and the
conspirator’s entrance near the end of the act is the best and most effective scene
in the production. This was the moment when this production worked the
best. But then the interpersonal stuff
gets in the way again.
I have to say something about the ending, and I will try to
do so without giving very much of it away.
I have always found the ending to this opera to be rather
unsatisfying. The conspirators manage to
assassinate the King and then he forgives them and then everyone is sorry. Right!
There is a twist in this production that I found initially shocking and
disturbing, but in reflection I thought was effective, and made the ending much
more profound. I will not give it away
except to say that it is one of the great lessons of history that one dictator
is overthrown and the liberator then becomes the next dictator! And so, on the ground nothing ever changes.
I encourage you to watch this. It is thought-provoking and interesting. It is not offensive. It encouraged me to spend a fair amount of
time today pondering the connection between “Ballo” and “Julius Caesar” which
is a connection I would not have thought of were it not for watching this
production. Ultimately I think “Ballo”
is not one of Verdi’s best libretti.
This production in fact kind of reveals the holes in the plot. But the music is glorious. I finished Act 2 and wanted to go back and
watch it again because the music is so glorious. So, enjoy and see what you think.
http://www.lamonnaie.be/fr/mymm/related/event/431/media/2275/Un%20Ballo%20in%20maschera/
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