It has been a
couple weeks but I have still been able to view several great productions
during this time. I will make some brief
remarks about several of the performances I have watched.
ROH – Boris Godunov – This production I got to see on
the big screen in St. Louis. It starred
Bryn Terfel as Boris and was conducted by Tony Pappano. I am not that familiar with Boris. I have seen it several times and I have
enjoyed it. But it is usually long and
rather epic. As a result it has never
felt like it hung together well. The
individual scenes are terrific, but the transitions seemed troubled – to me –
and I am no expert. However, this
production at the Royal Opera House used Mussorgsky’s original version that
reduced the opera to a 2+ hour piece in 7 scenes. It was much more concise and for me it was a
completely different experience. No
longer was this an epic story of Mother Russia, but rather a work that focused
on the rise and fall of one troubled man.
It felt to me much more Shakespearean – reminding me of the great tragic
character of Macbeth as the guilt and pressures of his position started to
destroy this monarch. Terfel was simply
terrific. I have always liked him but he
is often better in some things than in others.
But as Boris in this version and this production he is simply
outstanding. I was riveted by his
performance. And the supporting cast was
also equally outstanding. Leading this
group is the magnificent John Tomlinson as the Old Monk. (Digression: A while ago I found a YouTube
video of “Siegfried” that starred Tomlinson as the Wanderer. And this performance for me was the most
outstanding performance of that role I have ever experienced – which is saying
something as I have seen James Morris live and consider him to be among the
best Wotan’s ever. But nothing compares
with the opening of act 3 in the ROH production which Tomlinson’s Wotan found
himself spinning on a world that he could no longer control. I can’t even describe it. It was simply amazing.) But I digress – in this Boris, Tomlinson’s
Old Monk was gorgeously sung and deftly acted.
It was a powerful performance. He
is easily one of my all time favorite artists.
Then there is the
rest of the cast – whose names flipped by way too fast for me to take
down. But they were excellent. From the young tenor with a beautiful voice
as the Young Dmitri, to a terrific character tenor giving us a magnificently
slimy Shuisky, to the drunk Monk in the bar who simply stole the scene from
everyone else during the tavern scene, to the terrifying fool whose
condemnation of Boris pushes him over the edge.
And then there is the outstanding chorus and orchestra. I would buy this DVD – it is a terrific
performance of a terrific production.
ROH – Lucia di Lammermoor – This production has
received quite a lot of press. In fact
the ROH sent a warning to all ticket holders warning them that this production
by Katie Mitchell would probably earn an X rating for violence if it were a
film. And after having seen it I
absolutely concur. This production does
not shy away from the extreme violence of the original story. On one hand this is actually refreshing. It was nice to see a Lucia that accepted and
presented the violence of the story which too often is only hinted at. On the
other hand, the violence was excessive to the point where I felt Mitchell
crossed the line. I found myself
(especially in the last scene) wondering if all that gore was really necessary
and in a couple cases I really don’t think it was.
So, to understand
this production one first needs to understand that the stage is split into two
different locations – we open up with the outside garden on one side and a
sitting room on the other; then Lucia’s bedroom and a bathroom; then Lucia’s
bedroom and the men’s smoking room, etc.
And there is continuous action in both sections of the set. For example, as poor Lucia is being forced to
sign the marriage contract in the smoking room surrounded by all the men (how
brilliantly intimidating), at the same time in Lucia’s bedroom Edgardo is
climbing through the window ready to crash the party. It mostly worked very well, though at times
it was almost too much action and was distracting from the music. And in the filmed version, of course, we can
only watch what the film director chooses to film. So this entire experience is probably quite
different live in the house.
But for most of
the opera I thought it worked well. It
was engaging and certainly interesting.
But there are moments which pushed the boundary and at the top of my
list is the very last scene that I felt simply did not work. First of all, it was the only time where I
felt that the action on the stage did not fit with the libretto. (Spoiler
alert) – The men enter and tell Edgardo that Lucia is dead, except here in
the this production she isn’t dead because she is in the bathroom in the
process of committing suicide by slitting her wrists in the bathtub. The drawn
out suicides of first Lucia and then Edgardo were simply too excessively
violent for me. I just had had enough of
all the blood by the end of the mad scene and it just got worse. Really, is all that much blood necessary? The other scene that at least came close to
crossing the line was the Wolf’s Glen scene, which I normally really like, but
the music and singing were almost rendered irrelevant as it took Lucia and her
maid Alisa the entire scene to dispatch Arturo – he did not die easily.
And that brings up
some other stuff. What is with the
bondage play? Whose idea was that – did
Lucia suggest to Arturo that “wouldn’t it be fun if you let me tie you up on
our wedding night – after the big confrontation with Edgardo?” I mean really? And then the murder takes so long and it is
drawn out. And would a poor ladies maid
really be willing to risk being hung in order to participate in the murder like
she did here? Ok, so she is loyal, but
really, how far does loyalty go? I
didn’t even feel that I understood the reason for the murder. In this production Lucia is in such full
control of her senses that the murder of Arturo seemed ridiculously illogical
and it is pre-mediated and it is violent. The usual approach is that Lucia
looses her mind sometime during the consummation and manages to kill Arturo all
by herself (which also, frankly, seems a bit far-fetched – unless he was so
drunk he fell asleep – well, it is opera, one should not over-think these
things I suppose.) Still, it seemed a bit just too excessive.
Nevertheless, I
found the production rather riveting. At times, I didn’t want to watch, but I
couldn’t help myself. Part of the idea
was to present a slightly older and more empowered Lucia. And in this I feel that Mitchell only
succeeded in part. The pre-meditation of
the murder of Arturo undermined this for me.
I also didn’t really get the doppelganger ghost for Lucia. I understood the mother’s ghost but not the
other one. She didn’t make any sense to
me, especially since Mitchell downplayed the “madness” and was trying to
present a more empowered Lucia, so then what’s up with the ghosts? On the other hand, I did like the depiction
of the Rev. Raimondo very much. I find
in many productions that he is almost insufferable and he is such a lousy
minister. Here he seems a little more
lost and struggling to react appropriately, which I preferred to the usual
Raimondo as accomplice or dupe for Enrico.
I also really appreciated that he was not dressed as a Catholic priest,
and that he did not do any Catholic gestures. The fact is that Raimondo is a
Presbyterian so Catholicizing him is inappropriate. But it seems like a lot of director don’t
understand that.
Rachel Lloyd was
absolutely stunning as Alisa. She has
little sing (but sang it all beautifully) but she was on stage a lot and had a
lot to do. She was terrific, even if I
feel that Alisa’s participation in the murder was a step too far to be
believable. I really liked the Normano
also. And I liked the way Mitchell used
him throughout the opera, even when his singing part was technically over.
The other
principals were outstanding. Diana
Damrau’s performance as Lucia was a tour de force; a truly amazing performance
in every way. Her mad scene was probably
the best I have ever heard. Such control
and delicacy! And her interaction with
the glass harmonica was simply stunning. The Edgardo of Charles Castronovo was
also outstanding. His was perhaps the
most unsympathetic Edgardo I can remember seeing. One had the sense that he wasn’t that much of
an improvement over Lucia’s miserable brother.
This Edgardo was self-absorbed and had a cruel streak. The Enrico of Ludovic Tezier was also very
well sung. I feel as though there was
something missing in his acting though, but maybe Mitchell had him tone down
the usual “villain” approach to the role.
This review has
wandered a bit. In short, I really liked
the production, but feel that it still needs work. And there is just too much gratuitous
violence and blood.
Vienna – Ballo – This Ballo is perhaps one of the
most traditional productions of this opera I have ever seen. The sets and costumes were sumptuous. The cast did little to no acting – stand and
sing was the order of the day, especially for the chorus. I found it all rather tedious as a spectacle.
I did however enjoy the singers, especially Dmitri Hvorostovsky as Renato and
Piotr Bezcala as Riccardo. I also liked
the Amelia quite a lot as well. But
maybe at this point with all the productions I have seen I am just finding
these traditional productions to be boring.
This one certainly was.
Paris – Iolanta/Nutcracker – These two works by
Tchaikovsky were premiered together originally and so Paris has paired them
again and the production is directed by Dmitri Tcherniakov. Now I know
Nutcracker very, very well, as I have played in the orchestra for many
performances. Iolanta I know not nearly
as well having only seen it once before in the HD broadcast with Anna Netrebko
and Beczala from the Met a year ago or so.
Still I was struck with the musical similarities of the respective
scores. They really do work well
together, though it makes for a long evening.
The production of Iolanta was really nice. It was a kind production. In other words, Iolanta is treated kindly by
everyone in the cast (even if her dad is a bit to protective.) I mention this only because in the Met
production there was a meanness that characterized how some of the cast related
to Iolanta. I liked this production
better, frankly.
Nutcracker began
immediately upon the conclusion of the opera – and I mean immediately. In fact the music of the overture was used
for quasi-curtain calls and applause for the singers who were replaced by their
dancing doubles. And we begin in the
same location with the same characters as the opera. And from there we fall
into a series of fantasies, some of which are rather terrifying. I found it all rather engaging, but at the
end of the day, I just did not understand what Nutcracker was supposed to be
about. It just seemed to drift far afield.
Now, I don’t mind that there was little resemblance to the original
story or even that act 2 had a number of surprising cuts. But I just never could figure out where we
were and what we were experiencing.
Still the performances were excellent.
Sonja Yoncheva as Iolanta was gorgeous in every way, especially vocally.
The King Rene was also outstanding. In fact all of the cast was very strong. And the dancing principals were wonderful –
especially the Iolanta double (Clara?) – who actually ends up with much more
stage time than the singing Iolanta.
It was really a
fascinating production and I am glad I saw it.
It would be worth watching again to see if I could pick up more hints
about what the director was trying to say.
No comments:
Post a Comment