Intermezzo

La boheme is back

La bohème - Royal Opera House, 17 December 2012

When Rodolfo sounds more consumptive than Mimì, you’ve got a problem. Post-surgery, Rolando Villazón has had his ups and downs, but he was singing much better in Salzburg this summer than he could manage last night in the 999th revival of John Copley's La bohème. The notes were (mostly) there; the volume wasn’t. Despite Mark Elder’s considerate restraint, the orchestra often washed over him, and he bottled a few key phrases, not to mention their money notes. I can only hope for Rolando’s sake it was just an off night, perhaps a touch of the respiratory lurgy that seemed to afflict half the audience.

Fidelio at the Royal Opera House - Nina Stemme puts her pants on

Fidelio - Royal Opera House, 29 March 2011 (first night)

Nina Stemme is the Hilary Swank of opera. She nailed the manly look; she even nailed the speaking voice for Leonore's first words. If it hadn't been for the giveaway Scandi accent, I'd never have guessed. The illusion evaporated only when she began to sing. This was her first stage appearance in the role of Leonore, which fits her dark, gleaming soprano like a glove.

Adriana Lecouvreur at the Royal Opera House

Adriana Lecouvreur - Royal Opera House, 18 November 2010 (first night)

Perhaps it's true what they say about Angela Gheorghiu. At any rate, someone seems to have sucked the blood out of this money-no-object new production. Sure it's professionally crafted, ideally cast and skilfully performed, but then so is Paint Never Dries. 

Maria di Rohan at the Royal Festival Hall

Maria di Rohan - OAE / Elder - Royal Festival Hall, 7 November 2009

Mark Elder and the OAE spent the week before this concert performance rehearsing and recording Maria di Rohan for the Opera Rara label. The consequent polish and confidence perhaps flattered the work - you rarely hear bel canto played this stylishly in the opera house, let alone on period instruments – but still, it’s remarkably light on cliché and a cut above the usual second-division bel canto potboiler.

Donizetti’s first version of the score, as played here, omits a certain amount of frou-frou the composer added for later performances in Paris and generally taken up since. The result is a propulsive drama that never sits back on its arias for too long, but at the expense of any light relief. There are no pretty tunes, no showpiece cabalettas. A charming almost throwaway duet taken from the second version and presented as a final petit-four demonstrated Donizetti’s later additions were perhaps a little more than a sweet-toothed concession to French taste.

It was cannily cast and sung with finesse, though without that final degree of dramatic conviction that might have turned a thoroughly enjoyable performance into an electrifying one.

Krassimira Stoyanova’s dark, agile soprano negotiated the lines readily enough, but it wasn’t until the second half that she really seemed to engage with the character of Maria, the apex of the opera’s love triangle. Jose Bros brought clarity, a bright nasal tone and seemingly limitless volume to her forbidden crush, Riccardo. But again, nothing really leapt off the page until the second half. Christopher Purves as her honourable husband Enrico had the expressive edge, but some kind of vocal health problem meant his most heroic act of the evening was simply making it to the end. The supporting cast were excellent all round, with Loic Felix as Armando di Gondi particularly impressive.

 

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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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Gotterdammerung in Manchester - the final score

Götterdämmerung - Hallé Orchestra / Elder - Bridgewater Hall Manchester, 9-10 May 2009

Sir Mark Elder conductor    Katarina Dalayman Brünnhilde    Attila Jun Hagen    Peter Coleman-Wright Gunther    Susan Bickley Waltraute    Yvonne Howard Second Norn    Katherine Broderick Woglinde    Leah-Marian Jones Flosshilde    Lars Cleveman Siegfried    Andrew Shore Alberich    Nancy Gustafson Gutrune    Ceri Williams First Norn    Miranda Keys Third Norn    Madeleine Shaw Wellgunde    Hallé Choir    Gentlemen of the BBC Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Chorus Royal Opera House Chorus and Royal Opera House Extra Chorus

The first half of the Hallé's concert Götterdämmerung was very good, but the second, performed on the following day, was extraordinary. It's tempting to view the weekend as one big show with a twenty hour interval, but in reality there was a different sort of electricity in Sunday night's air.

Though after a dismally dull afternoon's football at Old Trafford (even Sir Alex agreed), just the pre-show harp tuning was a comparative thrill.

I think a change of seat helped. I took in the Saturday performance from the circle on the first level - a great view, and, anecdotally, the best sound. But on Sunday in the front stalls the visceral rush from the massed musical forces was overwhelming, even though the unraked seating offered an over-long opportunity to contemplate the array of baldy heads between myself and the shoes of Mark Elder.

And the singers seemed on even better form. Katarina Dalayman's Brünnhilde (a recent Met success too) displays a rare combination of strength, sensitivity and intelligence. So what if she wasn't quite technically flawless. She could hardly have been more moving, especially in the tragic resignation of her final scene. Her noble and magnificent presence dominated both evenings.

Lars Cleveman projected far more convincingly on his second outing (according to a commenter on my earlier post he had a throat problem on Saturday). He offers a different sort of Siegfried to the usual - expressive, understated, sympathetic. How nice not to be shouted at. I'm not sure how it would work on stage, but the beauty of a concert performance is that it doesn't matter.

Attila Jun, Peter Coleman-Wright and the great Andrew Shore made a terrific trio of villains. And how well Jun's dark, thuggish Hagen was complemented by the massed Gibichung chorus (there must have been at least 150 of them) resonating around the hall. Nothing like strength in numbers, and a peculiarity of the acoustic made it seem as if the sound was coming from every direction, like some epic hi-fi demonstration. 

Was this the orchestral highlight? Or was it perhaps the rippling majesty of the Rhine journey interlude? Or the preludes, measured masterpieces each? I think Mark Elder can be excused for lavishing the most attention on the most exposed parts of the work, where splendid detailing was apparent throughout. 

More difficult to pardon was his pre-concert dig at "ghastly, modern productions" - enthusiastically received but hardly constructive. Unless of course his next Royal Opera House engagement - a concert performance of Linda di Chamounix - should be basketed with this Götterdämmerung as a statement of intent. Should be popular with the purse-string pullers at least.

But I digress - it takes nothing away from a magnificent performance that was received with an immediate and lengthy standing ovation all round, and rightly so.

To be broadcast on Radio 3 on 8 and 9 June - and not to be missed.

*UPDATE* - check out the Hallé Choir's Facebook wall for audience comments and more.

 

standing ovation:

 

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