s3x & violets

As befits a production which will journey to San Francisco and Vienna, David McVicar's new Adriana Lecouvreur is as conservative as David Cameron holding hands with Boris Johnson in a Margaret Thatcher t-shirt. The stage-within-a-stage set is revolutionary only in the sense that it turns round, though I suppose some might regard that as innovation.  Deprived by the pesky libretto of the opportunity to slip in one of his customary orgies, McVicar's only remotely adult tableau consists of a few actresses in eighteenth century underthings. Instead he gets down to the business of telling the story with minimal fannying around.

But of course the motor behind the resuscitation of this rarity is Angela Gheorghiu. The production has clearly been designed around her whims and abilities, and it's hard to view it as much more than a frame for her portrayal. She made a good start at today's dress rehearsal by actually turning up. Even if she cancels the whole run (still a possibility going on past form) I can at least say I've seen her Adriana.

While the rest of the cast sport period costume, Gheorghiu parades a dessert wagon of frothy frocks, seemingly designed by a five year old girl who weally weally wants to be a pwincess. Her diamonds (essential to the plot) are spectacular - could they be real? She sang beautifully, and her acting went way beyond her usual impersonation of herself. Maybe she can't float those top notes quite the way she used to, but in many ways this is shaping up to be the best thing she's ever done. So let's cross fingers she makes it to opening night.

There was something odd going on with Jonas Kaufmann at the curtain call. He exchanged words with Angela, looking angry and upset. I'm at a loss to understand what the problem, if any, was. He's at the absolute peak of his vocal abilities, and though he (perfectly permissibly) marked the odd line, he seemed at ease with the singing and the role - and with Angela. Perhaps he was just apologising for treading on her bunion, who knows. 

As for the rest, I'll wait till opening night (in a couple of days) to offer a judgement. 

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Comments

[Brian Lowery]

I can endure Adriana Lecouvreur, especially if it is a vehicle to display a beautiful prima dona, such as, Gheorghiu. Without the star in the title role, it is no more than a one tune opera, even though the tune is magnificent. It would be worth it to see Angela come floating in on that beautiful tune as she makes her long awaited entrance.

[Su Traditor]

I'm glad someone else picked up on that curtain-call frisson. I suspect he was telling her that they should have had a cast bow before she went off to lead Sir Mark onto the stage to join them. Curtain call orders and etiquette are posted before the General and she clearly hadn't bothered to read them and Jonas was probably bothered by this lack of attention to detail.

[Drel]

Gosh, this BETTER be released on DVD!!

[Nikolaus Vogel]

That was a quickie to New York. Welcome home!

[Vecchio John]

for whose benefit is the large prompt box, not normally seen these days? Or is this part of the theatrical concept?
Eagerly waiting for Thursday night.

[inter mezzo]

@Vecchio John I imagine the prompt box is for Ms Gheorghiu, who is getting to 'that age'.

[Miriam]

I loved it yesterday and am looking forward to seeing a performance later in the run. I don't agree with Brian that it is a "one tune opera", there are at least three good tunes in it, which is three more than some operas I can think of!

[KM]

@Su Traditor: I also thought that the exchange between JK & AG was about her getting Sir Mark on stage immediately after her solo bow. We'll see what happens on Thursday!

@Drel: The rehearsal was filmed so there may be a DVD in the pipeline.

@Vecchio John: The prompt box is "decorated" with a bust of Molière during Act 1 (thanks to Intermezzo for confirming - I thought it was Racine :-\)

[Manou]

Vecchio John - the prompt box should have been cunningly disguised as a pedestal for the bust of Molière, but you saw through it!

I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to the November 30 performance with Borodina - I was very underwhelmed by Schuster, who did serve as what the French call "repoussoir" to the lovely Angela.

[Jim]

At least Jonas and Angela seem willing to hold hands at the end. Can't be too bad between them.

[Jane Ennis]

I was given the ticket at the last minute by a friend to whom I'm eternally grateful, as it's not an opera I knew at all. It's true that it's more or less a vehicle for the soprano, and I can't imagine Angela G.really being the humble handmaid of the muse....but anyway, it was really interesting. There wasn't a synopsis, but the use of the various plot devices (i.e. letters going to the wrong person, the hero hiding his identity, lovers hiding from their spouses) meant that you can to a certain extent predict what's going to happen. These are also the plot devices of comedy, of course....
Uh...I rather liked Angela's dresses (especially the yellow outfit in Act II) - the contrast was that hers were beautiful whereas those of the Princesses de Bouillon were magnificent.

[Account Deleted]

I heard Ms.Gheorghiu was wonderful
yesterday and she produced moments of thrilling intensity,especially in the duet with Michaela Schuster.Fingers crossed for the opening night.

@Jim- you are right .This cannot be bad :)
http://www.angelagheorghiu.com/gallery/personal/1350/

[Steve W.]

I didn't attend the performance but did lug myself to the shop CD signing afterwards. The chatter in the queue was all Jonas and no Angela, he was warm, personable and charming, she was mute, distracted and with a rather fixed smile; they also had separate tables, which I thought odd. Conclusions though would be ungentlemanly!

Btw, Nino Machaidze in ROH R&J on Saturday was definitely mimicking that excited and cutesy little curtain call wave that Angela does to woop us all up into an appreciative frenzy... now that would be a cat fight!

[Laura]

Great to hear that Gheorghiu's doing well. I'm starting to regret that I planned my trip to London next month around the last night of Adriana Lecouvreur (sans Gheorghiu) and the first night of Tannhäuser. Let's hope she keeps it up (though I sort of expect that Blancas Gulin will end up doing a fair share of the Adrianas...)

[a mac]

"@Vecchio John I imagine the prompt box is for Ms Gheorghiu, who is getting to 'that age'. "

She ain't the only one - it took me a hour to work out what s3x was

[Su Traditor]

The rehearsal wasn't filmed, only small amounts for the BBC Breakfast News this morning which featured Angela.

[Opera Beginner]

I also thought the exchange between Jonas Kaufmann and Angela Gheorghiu was about the fact that before the singers had taken a first bow, Ms Gheorghiu went straight to the wings to bring the conductor out: he didn't seem to have been ready to come out so early. It's not an opera I've heard before but I would agree with some people sitting near me who described it as pleasant, inoffensive music with few melodies. One person also pointed out that one of the difficulties in staging this work is that Adriana is meant to declaim on stage while Michonnet sings about her acting skills, which McVicar has got around by having Ms Gheorghiu mime instead of speaking the reams of text. Clearly, the Kaufmann fan club was attending in force: I think he got more applause generally than Ms Gheorghiu. Noting some recent comments here about how his voice has darkened (after his Wigmore Hall recital), I would agree. He does seem to have a baritonal bottom to his voice. It's going to be a tough ticket to get, after the acres of empty seats for Niobe / Rigoletto / Romeo and Juliette.

[Manou]

Laura - if you have booked for the last night of Adriana (December 4) you are in luck as Gheorghiu IS slated to sing. However, she is a capricious diva....

Ángeles Blancas Gulín is only scheduled to sing at the November 27 performance - which is the only one offering hundreds of unsold tickets. All the AG performances are now sold out.

[Miriam]

December 4 is not the last night, perhaps Manou has not realised that the ROH website rather stupidly only displays the first 6 performances unless you click on "View all dates".

There are performances on the 7th (Gheorghiu and 10th (Blancas Gulin). I am going on the 7th as that was the most convenient date, but I would not have minded seeing Blancas Gulin, I have sen her at least once before and thought she was quite good.

[essar]

Danny won't be doing a "My violets smelled a bit funny", then...

[Laura]

Manou - the last night (December 10, slightly hidden on the ROH website) has Blancas Gulín scheduled, so unless a miracle happens I'm not going to see Gheorghiu. I'm really mainly going for Kaufmann (whom I haven't heard before), so as long as he sings I'll be happy.

[Manou]

Thank you all for enlightening me - I had never noticed this before. I did wonder why Blancas Gulín had been hauled in for just the one show.

Maybe she is hoping to do more than two performances...

[KM]

@Su Traditor: 3 cameras at Stalls level alone for "some bits for BBC breakfast" seems rather excessive. I sat near one of the cameras which filmed the entire performance.

[Drel]

@KM - that's very reassuring, I can only hope some sort of footage, especially of Adriana's main arias, do come out!!

[Nikolaus Vogel]

And re Moliere/Racine - Moliere is mentioned somewhere in the text, even though I think he may have been dead by the time of Adrienne Lecouvreur's time. She was idolized by Voltaire which is a generation later than both Moliere and Racine, though their plays were still the classics in the rep of the Comédie Française.

[inter mezzo]

The Comédie Française is known as Molière's theatre - the original company was based around his troupe. The foyer of the current theatre rather creepily displays the chair in which he died (I think one of the chairs McVicar uses may be intended to be a replica, but I'm not sure). It wouldn't surprise me if there really was a bust there in the 18th century.