Intermezzo

Linda di Chamounix opens Royal Opera House season

Linda di Chamounix - Royal Opera House, 7 September 2009

The preposterous plotting and cardboard characters of Linda di Chamounix might explain why the Royal Opera House haven't exposed us to Donizetti's alpine tale of imperilled virginity before. It's easier to swallow in concert though. And the reduction in the lederhosen bill must be a bonus.

It wasn't even fashionably 'semi-staged'. Recorded over two nights (the second is 14 September) for release on the Opera Rara label, the priority was the sound. So the cast were nailed to the floor, scores permanently at the ready. Only Alessandro Corbelli, as Linda's amiably lecherous pursuer the Marquis, made his entrances in character or chanced any facial expression - and in the only comic role, he had a pretty good excuse. The major drama of the evening was a pause while Mark Elder stooped to gather a cascade of cards that slipped from the score of Eglise Gutiérrez (swaddled in a frock not built for bending) on her entrance. Yes it really was that exciting.

So this time it really was all about the music - over three hours of it, so I’m guessing we got the uncut version. The ROH orchestra didn’t sound at their best liberated from the pit, and with vibrato limited to the top string, some suspect intonation was exposed. But Mark Elder’s pacing was sprightly and his dynamics attentive to vocal needs.

The only really well-known aria in this opera is Linda’s O luce di quest'anima. It’s the first thing she sings and it’s devilishily tough, even more so from a cold start. Eglise Gutiérrez was no swooning heroine, but a woman with a job to do and a recording to make. Her veiled tone and accurate but thin top notes spelled caution (though they weren’t weak enough to merit the isolated and very rude outbreaks of hissing from the stalls - is this where the loggione visit when their natural habitat is poisoned by the management?). Linda’s madness as she believes herself alone and ruined was hard to deduce from Gutiérrez’s tightly-controlled depiction. Perhaps her corset was too tight. She didn’t reach out and touch in the way a full-fledged dramatic performance might, but I bet she’ll sound impressive on the CD.

*UPDATE* - listen to the live O luce recording - and more - on the iPlayer here - it starts at 1:12 (thanks Hariclea for the tip!)

Stephen Costello’s presence and charisma and his bright, ringing tenor bode well for his full debut in Gianni Schicchi later in the season, and he could be forgiven for tiring a little towards the end.  Ludovic Tézier played Linda's father in a very attractive voice, big, rich and steady, but he wasn’t particularly expressive, or particularly Italianate for that matter.

Alessandro Corbelli was perhaps predictably a cut above the rest of the cast with his immaculate patter, but Marianna Pizzolato in the trouser role of Pierotto was a surprise hit too with her warm, characterful singing.  Elizabeth Sikora, Luciano Botelho and Balint Szabó gave quality support - I've been to a few of these Opera Rara recording/performances now, and top to bottom this must rank amongst the finest.

So, not a vintage start to the season, but really not bad either.

Interview with Mark Elder

Interview with Stephen Costello

Interview with Alessandro Corbelli

 

 

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Royal Opera House 2009/10 season - all the details

Here first! - a full list of all the Royal Opera House's main stage productions for the 2009/10 season.

The 2009/10 Covent Garden season opens with neither bang nor whimper but with a credit-crunching concert performance on 7 September (repeated on 14 September). Makes a change from last year's Sun readers' special I suppose.

The opera in question is Donizetti's Linda di Chamounix, and the conductor is bel canto genius Mark Elder. The cast includes potential Next Big Things Stephen Costello, Eglise Gutierrez and Luciano Botelho, plus the incomparable Alessandro Corbelli, the first of several welcome appearances this season.

The first staged opera of the season is Nicholas Hytner's lego-loving Don Carlo, with - OMG!- Jonas Kaufmann !!! in the title role. John Tomlinson joins him as the Grand Inquisitor, and the rest of the cast is lifted straight from the first run - Marina Poplavskaya, Simon Keenlyside, fans' favourite Ferruccio Furlanetto, Sonia Ganassi and Pumeza Matshikiza.The conductor is Semyon Bychkov.

This season's contribution to the 2013 Wagnerversary is a new Christof Loy production of Tristan und Isolde. Antonio Pappano conducts Ben Heppner, Nina Stemme, Matti Salminen, Michael Volle and Sophie Koch.

Neigh! Francesco Zambello's ghastly Carmen returns in October, with the latest Covent Garden favourite Elina Garanca back for the title role, fighting off Roberto Alagna, Ildebrando d'Arcangelo, and a farmyard full of furry friends. Bertrand de Billy conducts. It's resuscitated again in June 2010 with a distinctly 'B' cast.

October also sees one of Richard Jones's more subtle and effective efforts back on stage - and attractively cast. The shouldn't-work-but-it-does double bill of Ravel's L'Heure Espagnole (Christine Rice, Yann Beuron, Christopher Maltman, Andrew Shore and Bonaventura Bottone) and Puccini's Gianni Schicchi (Thomas Allen, Maria Bengtsson and Stephen Costello) is conducted by Pappano.

Francesco Zambello steps into Tchaikovsky's The Slippers in November. The new production will be conducted by Alexander Polianichko and features some serious talent fresh from the Mariinsky - Olga Guryakova, Vsevolod Grivnov, Larissa Diadkova, Vladimir Matorin and Maxim Mikhailov.

John Schlesinger's elderly Der Rosenkavalier is dusted off in December. Kirill Petrenko conducts and the cast includes Soile Isokoski, Sophie Koch, Thomas Allen and Lucy Crowe.

Littering the December and January schedules is the inevitable La Bohème. This time Andris Nelsons conducts most of the double-cast performances, which begin with Piotr Beczala and Hibla Gerzmava and end with not a few tbc's.

Robert Lepage's intermittently effective Rake's Progress returns in January 2010. Ingo Metzmacher, Toby Spence (a Tom Rakewell tdf), Kate Royal, Kyle Ketelsen and Stephanie Blythe promise much on the musical side.

Female conductor alert! Top Lisboan Julia Jones wields the baton over Jonathan Miller's Cosi fan Tutte in January. The cast includes Charles Castronovo and Sally Matthews.

A new Richard Jones production of Prokofiev's The Gambler in February is conducted by Pappano, with a cast including Roberto Sacca, Angela Denoke, John Tomlinson and Jurgita Adamonyte.

Plácido Domingo's first appearance of the season is as a tenor. Graham Vick's acclaimed production of Handel's Tamerlano (recorded in Madrid and available on DVD con Plácido) makes its first visit to Covent Garden in March with Christianne Stoijn, Sara Mingardo and Christine Schäfer. Baroque specialist Ivor Bolton conducts.

Bill Bryden's family-friendly The Cunning Little Vixen returns in March with Emma Matthews, Christopher Maltman and Emma Bell, though the presence of Charles Mackerras on the podium has to be the main draw.

Caurier and Leiser's lovely Il Turco in Italia is back in April, with Maurizio Benini conducting, and Aleksandra Kursak, Colin Lee, Alessandro Corbelli, Thomas Allen and Ildebrando d'Arcangelo in the cast.

Aida is subjected to the David McVicar magic in April. His new production is conducted by Nicola Luisotti and features Micaela Carosi, Marcelo Alvarez and Luciana D'Intino. Bare naked elephants?

The last of the Big Three, Richard Eyre's subtly intelligent La Traviata, makes its annual appearance in May and July. This time her name's in the programme - Our first Lady of the Camellias is the fabulous former Netrebko sub Ermonela Jaho. Joining her in her long-awaited return to Covent Garden in May are Saimir Pirgu and Dmitri Hvorostovsky. July's 'B' Violetta is Angela Gheorghiu, who makes do with James Valenti and Zeljko Lucic. Yves Abel conducts.

Laurent Pelly's now-legendary La Fille du Régiment returns in May with the unbeatable original cast of Juan Diego Flórez, Natalie Dessay, Alessandro Corbelli and Felicity Palmer back in place. Bruno Campanella conducts.

What would tempt Sir Colin Davis back into the pit? How about David McVicar's Le Nozze di Figaro? Erwin Schrott, Camilla Tilling, Maruisz Kwiecen. Annette Dasch, Soile Isokoski and Christine Schäfer head the strong cast.

Antonio Pappano conducts Laurent Pelly's new Manon, coming to Covent Garden in June with the announced cast including Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón. Anyone fancy a bet?

In one of those rare operatic fairy stories, June sees a baritone with less than a year's experience thrust into a leading role at Covent Garden. Yes, it's Plácido Domingo again, and this time he's Simon Boccanegra. Antonio Pappano conducts a strong cast including Marina Poplavskaya, Ferruccio Furlanetto and Joseph Calleja. It's the 1991 Elijah Moshinsky production by the way, not the Ian Judge one seen last year.

The season ends in July 2010 with the first revival of David McVicar's controversial Salome. Angela Denoke takes the central role, with Johan Reuter as Jokanaan. Hartmut Haenchen conducts.

No link yet, but more details expected on the Royal Opera House website sometime next week.

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*******UPDATE 22/4*******

The Royal Opera House's press releases are now available on their website. Go here for the summary, here for the opera details and here for the ballet.

La Fille du regiment battles through at Holland Park

La Fille du Régiment  - Opera Holland Park, 4 June 2008

Opera Holland Park - now with wings for added protection. As you can just about see on the right of the pic above, this year's canopy improvements include side panels - in case we ever get any sun? They were no barrier to the small tweety birds that rocketed over the orchestra's heads from time to time. But, seated at the side, I was grateful to be shielded from a chilly breeze. 

It doesn't seem that long since La Fille was entertaining us at Covent Garden. William Kerley's production for OHP is necessarily less ambitious and less reliant on extraneous visual jokes. Stripped back to the direct humour of the music and libretto, it's an altogether less slapstick proposition.  With a vaguely period setting that made sensible use of the natural backdrop of Holland House, and set elements cunningly concealed in giant wooden triangles (above), to be whipped out at the appropriate moment, the plight of Marie is clearly placed at the centre of the action.

Hye-Youn Lee was a great find for the title role. Petite and spunky, she rattled effortlessly through the coloratura in a clear girlish tone. Accuracy seemed to be her main goal, and she could do with a bit more light and shade in the voice, but she at least had a surer grip of the French language than most other cast members.

Luciano Botelho could body-double for Juan Diego Flórez, and he has the same attractive ring to his voice. He did make the role of Tonio sound like the hard work it undoubtedly is, with a couple of his high C's in Ah! Mes amis shooting wide, but I wondered if this was simply nerves. (Perhaps he just needed a beer or two?)

Graeme Broadbent didn't seem sure whether he was George Clooney or Basil Fawlty, but he sang Sulpice with heart and conviction. Sarah Pring's Marquise de Birkenfeld was maybe a little too sympathetically drawn - more pompousness at the start would have made her revelation more affecting - but she sang attractively. But some of the best singing of the night came from the chorus, especially the men of the regiment, rousing and immaculately schooled.

The orchestra, under Robert Dean, played with tremendous verve and enthusiasm. Not everyone could keep up with the cracking pace, and there were a few ensemble issues from time to time, but they didn't reallly cloud the performance. That was left to the Holland Park peacocks, who joined the performance at start of Act II and lingered with Wagnerian persistence. May I suggest the OHP management check out the toy catalogues?

 

 

Off her head - English Touring Opera's Anna Bolena

Anna Bolena - English Touring Opera, Hackney Empire, 13 March 2008

Who goes to the opera? English Touring Opera certainly attract a more varied audience than the Royal Opera House does, including the local couple sat next to me who normally visit Hackney Empire 'just for the panto' but thought they'd give opera a try. It's a superb venue for opera on this scale, with great acoustics and sightlines -- and they allow you to take drinks in, always a bonus.

Tonight's show, Donizetti's Anna Bolena, was the first of English Touring Opera's spring season. It was an ambitious choice. Although the story, a dolled-up liberty-taking version of Anne Boleyn's last days, is well-known, Donizetti's opera is not. I don't think it's been performed in London for years -- I've certainly never seen it. And being Donizetti, it requires awe-inspiringly hawt singing skillz to grapple with the gymnastic vocal lines.

And it got some fantastic vocal performances. The audience favourite was Luciano Botelho, playing Riccardo (Lord Percy), Anna's fictional lost love who returns from exile only to fall into King Henry's trap implicating the pair of them in false accusations of adultery. He threw himself into the part with a winning verve, pinging off multiple top notes with JDF-style ease in his appealing light, lamby tones. He could be forgiven for tiring a little at the end after such a spectacular display.

In some ways the most strongly drawn relationship in the production was the one between Riccardo and his best mate (also Anne's brother) Rochefort, played to great effect by the gritty bass baritone Jonathan Pugsley.

Julie Unwin rose to the daunting challenge of the title role with a golden tone and terrific technique. She concentrated hard on the nailing the vocal acrobatics, which may have inhibited her acting a bit, but ensured she was pretty much spot on throughout. No doubt she will loosen up as the tour progresses. Her final mad scene was much less cautiously played, convincing without going over the top.

Julia Riley shone just as brightly as Jane Seymour, here an unwitting pawn in Anne's downfall. Her singing was lustrous, and her sheer spunk energised every scene she was in, a great advantage in this largely static production.

ETO productions don't run to large budgets or complicated sets, but the two-level scaffold framework with its sliding panels of tapestry-like screens was enough to evoke something of a Tudor atmosphere while providing essential places for conspirators to lurk and plot.

The lush velvet costumes provided further period flavour, though a golden codpiece opportunity was overlooked in favour of kitting all the men out in puffy hose. And there were plenty of heaving bosoms for the ladies -- uncoincidentally just like Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson in The Other Boleyn Girl posters currently plastered all over London.

If there were a couple of elements of the production I didn't quite follow - mainly the addition of the (non-singing) Mary Tudor and Cranmer, this reflects my lack of historical knowledge as much as anything else.