{"id":886,"date":"2015-11-17T23:31:10","date_gmt":"2015-11-17T22:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/atorod.pl\/?p=886"},"modified":"2018-11-20T19:24:57","modified_gmt":"2018-11-20T18:24:57","slug":"three-steps-into-madness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atorod.pl\/?p=886","title":{"rendered":"Three Steps into Madness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Frenzy, insanity or mental illness? The autumn season at the Welsh National Opera, arranged under the heading of \u2018Madness\u2019, has obliged us to reflect upon several forms of lunacy. Three compositions superficially divided by everything: a masterpiece of Baroque opera, the swansong of a master of classic bel canto<\/em> and a musical defying all attempts at categorization. Three extremely different characters: a knight possessed by jealousy; a girl caught up in religious and political intrigue, who loses her senses at the thought of her fianc\u00e9\u2019s supposed unfaithfulness; and a barber motivated by a psychopathic lust for revenge. But nonetheless, the idea \u2013 from a musical standpoint quite awkward \u2013 to combine H\u00e4ndel\u2019s Orlando<\/em>, Bellini\u2019s I Puritani<\/em> and Sondheim\u2019s Sweeney Todd<\/em> turned out to be considerably more coherent than in the case of last year\u2019s series \u2018Liberty or Death\u2019 series, in which Carmen<\/em> played the quite far-fetched role of a unifying force for two rarely-performed Rossini operas.<\/p>\n

This time, we decided to catch the WNO in Oxford: among other reasons, in order to \u2018check out\u2019 this ensemble in the difficult acoustic conditions of the New Theatre, about which I wrote in one of the October articles on this page. I was consumed with curiosity about how Annilese Miskimmon, the creator of an extraordinarily intelligent and precise staging of Jen\u016ffa<\/em> for the Scottish Opera, would handle the dramaturgically weak I Puritani.<\/em> I was a little (well, even very!) worried about Orlando<\/em> in the staging of Harry Fehr, who shifted the action of this dramma per musica<\/em> into the realities of an English hospital and the time just after the outbreak of World War II. I was looking forward to Sondheim\u2019s \u2018black operetta\u2019 \u2013 a musical at moments closer to Ravel, Prokofiev and Britten than the insipid music of big-budget Broadway productions. Frankly, I couldn\u2019t wait for this season, because production of Baroque operas in Poland is the exclusive domain of enthusiasts associated with the historical performance movement; Bellini is avoided by our theatre directors like fire; and if anyone aside from specialists and the more refined lovers of the musical \u0153uvre has heard of Sondheim, then it was only in the context of the film version of Sweeney<\/em> directed by Tim Burton.<\/p>\n

New Theatre Oxford turned out to be even more cramped and poorly adapted to presentations of music theatre works than we had originally thought. The hall, more capacious than Warsaw\u2019s\u00a0 Grand Theatre\u2013National Opera, literally merges into the stage; the audience is crowded into densely-packed rows, and there is no orchestra pit. The instrumentalists occupy the space left behind by seats removed from the front portion of the ground floor, separated from the audience by a low, temporary barrier. No wonder that in the first act of I Puritani,<\/em> the soloists and the orchestra were occupied, above all, with \u2018catching\u2019 the sound proportions. However, this went more smoothly than expected, for which enormous credit goes to Carlo Rizzi, who from the beginning took care not only of the work\u2019s big picture, but also of its meticulously-executed details, chief among them a beautiful, typically bel canto<\/em>-style rubato, shaped in ideal accord with the disposition of the individual singers. All the more importantly that Barry Banks, expected in the role of Arturo, was substituted at the last minute by the young Italian Alessandro Luciano, a singer gifted with a nice voice and decent technique, but clearly inexperienced and insecure in the murderously high notes that Bellini did not spare the lead tenor in this opera. Linda Richardson (Elvira), playing opposite him, came out decidedly better, though after listening to fragments of \u2018Vien diletto, \u00e8 in ciel la luna\u2019 in the rendition of the phenomenal Rosa Feola from the WNO trailer, I deeply regret having happened upon the other cast for this role. Richardson\u2019s interpretation \u2013 though correct and completely period-appropriate \u2013 was lacking in girlish lightness and the charming freedom of coloratura figures showcased by her predecessor. David Kempster took a long time to warm up in the role of Sir Riccardo, one basically inappropriate for this baritone, who reveals the fullness of his artistic values in the later Puccini and verismo repertoire. I am all the more pleased to report upon the superb debut of Wojtek Gierlach in the role of the good-hearted Sir Giorgio, singing with fluid phrasing and a soft, round color (in \u2018Suoni la tromba\u2019, he made a splendid duo with Kempster, who felt much more at home in this proto-Verdian duet). The minor deficiencies in the solo parts, however, faded into oblivion before the brilliant musical vision of Ricci, who strongly emphasized the dialogical character of I Puritani<\/em>, ensuring that the singers, orchestra and chorus (outstanding as usual) built a transparent narrative and did not try to drown each other out.<\/p>\n

\"I<\/a><\/p>\n

I Puritani.<\/em> Wojtek Gierlach (Sir Giorgio), Rosa Feola (Elvira), Sian Meinir (Enrichetta). Photo: Bill Cooper.<\/p>\n

Miskimmon based her staging on a surprising idea: she decided to take literally Elvira\u2019s complaint that three months of separation from her beloved are like \u2018tre secoli di sospiri e di tormenti\u2019. Similarly to Jen\u016ffa,<\/em> she shifted the action to the realities of Northern Ireland, judging from the costumes (stage design by Leslie Travers) in the 1970s, the time of Na Triobl\u00f3id\u00ed,<\/em> i.e. the infamous political and ethnic Troubles. The wedding preparations play out in parallel with the organization of the Orange Order demonstration in July \u2013 an annual Protestant parade in honour of William III\u2019s victory over the Jacobites. A sudden and stormy shift of the narrative to 1649 is the first sign of the heroine\u2019s psychological breakdown \u2013 the two time planes, each one with every \u2018i\u2019 dotted and every \u2018t\u2019 crossed as always with Miskimmon, continually merge into each other. The contemporary Elvira follows her 17th-century alter ego step by step. And here the first dissonance appears: the silent twin, after a suggestive first entrance, wanders aimlessly about the stage; instead of filling in the narrative, she just disturbs it. This is nothing, however, in comparison with the solution adopted in the finale: after the breathtaking scene in which the messenger arrives with news of the amnesty (the black-and-white character enters the Orange hall like something out of a dream), Miskimmon changes the ending and gives poor Arturo over to death at the hands of the Unionists. As a consequence, Arturo disappears from the final ensemble number. I would not have suspected that such a musical stage director would permit herself to do such obvious violence to Bellini\u2019s score \u2013 especially that her provocative vision, despite the aforementioned reservations, does actually hold together for most of the opera.<\/p>\n

The next day, my disappointment unexpectedly turned into admiration. Harry Fehr had done the impossible: he had set the action of the \u2018magical\u2019 Orlando<\/em> in a very concrete space and time, with all of the fantastic elements coming from the sickened mind of the protagonist, a heroic airman suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. The director does not modernize the narrative by force \u2013 everything takes place in the meticulously-reproduced scenery of a hospital from the 1930s (stage design by Yannis Thavoris, playing wonderfully with the Art Deco-style interior of the New Theatre). There is the mentally-ill Orlando and the physically-crippled Medoro. There are two female rivals: the aristocratic Angelica and the modest, straight-laced nurse Dorinda. The strings are pulled by the demonic Zoroastro \u2013 the medical director, a peculiar cross between Mesmer and Freud, an omnipotent doctor who sets himself the goal of healing the protagonist and sending him off to battle with the enemy of the homeland. The entire concept could have fallen flat if Fehr had not worked out every detail and paced every gesture with the individual phrases of the libretto. The static narrative suddenly picked up its pace; the improbable twists in the plot gained a psychological justification. A few scenes and theatrical ideas will remain in my long-term memory: the scene where Orlando is \u2018conditioned\u2019 with the aid of slides from the Duke and Duchess of Windsor\u2019s visit to Hitler in Berchtesgaden; Angelica\u2019s emerald-green gloves in the aria \u2018Verdi piante\u2019; the daring idea of supposedly destroying Dorinda\u2019s house as part of Orlando\u2019s shock therapy. If we add to this the phenomenal acting of all of the singers (as well as choristers in non-speaking roles), we obtain a stage vision, the coherence of which would be appreciated from beyond the grave even by the director of (at that time) His Majesty\u2019s Theatre in Haymarket, where Orlando<\/em> had its world premi\u00e8re.<\/p>\n

\"ORLAND_WNO,<\/a><\/p>\n

Orlando<\/em>. Lawrence Zazzo. Photo: Bill Cooper.<\/p>\n

I also will spare no compliments to the musicians. The WNO orchestra, prepared by Rinaldo Alessandrini, played in Oxford under the baton of Andrew Griffith. With a knowledge of style that not a few continental Baroque ensembles could envy it (despite the violette marine<\/em> originally used in Act III being replaced by \u2018ordinary\u2019 violas). I have already written about my doubts concerning the casting of Orlando and Medoro previously \u2013 on the occasion of the Polish premi\u00e8re of H\u00e4ndel\u2019s masterpiece. My doubts have remained, especially in reference to Robin Blaze, who was not able to breathe any life into the part of Medoro, scored for female alto. Lawrence Zazzo in the role of Orlando, however, made up for all of his vocal deficiencies with wonderful scenic gesture, creating a character of flesh and blood \u2013 at moments grotesque, at moments tragic, convincing in every respect. Rebecca Evans turned out to be the brightest star of the evening: a lofty, somewhat distant Angelica, but at key moments moving one to tears \u2013 above all, by virtue of flawless technique and feel for style. Nor can one remain indifferent to the vocal art of Fflur Wyn (Dorinda), one of the most versatile light sopranos among the soloists at WNO.<\/p>\n

It is no wonder, then, that after such experiences, I received the staging of Sweeney Todd<\/em> without any great emotion. In this case, James Brining\u2019s shifting of the action to the 1970s found no justification. The action moved quickly, images came and went as if in a kaleidoscope, but the drama of the mad barber \u2013 which is, after all, very firmly set in the realities of Victorian London \u2013 did lose credibility. Perhaps also on account of David Arnsperger, the German artist in the title role who was making his debut at the WNO, and who \u2013 to make things worse \u2013 sang in correct, but completely \u2018transparent\u2019, impersonal English. The strongest point in the cast turned out to be Scottish soprano Janis Kelly, who was sufficiently good as an actress, as well as vocally competent, to eclipse Sweeney in the role of Mrs. Lovett. There is also no way to overestimate the artistry of Paul Charles Clarke, who in an awesomely cavalier manner took on the role of Pirelli and parodied his own \u2013 otherwise splendid \u2013 technique of a lyric tenor accustomed to the Italian repertoire. I would prefer to assess the craftsmanship of the remaining soloists, especially Soraya Mari (Johanna) and Jamie Muscato (Anthony) in other conditions, without microport amplification of the singers. I shall again praise the superb work of the chorus and sensitive playing of the orchestra under the baton of James Holmes, but I cannot get rid of certain objections: since the WNO is raising Sondheim\u2019s \u0153uvre<\/em> to the rank of a full contemporary opera (and not without reason), why is it hesitant to perform it \u2018as God commanded\u2019 \u2013 without amplification, on the natural forces of perfectly-trained vocalists?<\/p>\n

\"SWEENEY<\/a><\/p>\n

Sweeney Todd.<\/em> David Arnsperger and Janis Kelly (Mrs. Lovett) and the chorus. Photo: Johan Persson.<\/p>\n

But now let us bring the matter back down to earth. We got three shows, sometimes controversial in terms of staging, but despite slight reservations superb from a musical standpoint. We happened upon them on tour, in immeasurably difficult acoustic conditions, in the final phases of their tour, when just plain human exhaustion could have been coming into play. I would wish for such premi\u00e8res at Polish opera houses. I would also wish everyone an equally friendly and objective audience.<\/p>\n

(Translated by Cara Thornton)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Frenzy, insanity or mental illness? The autumn season at the Welsh National Opera, arranged under the heading of \u2018Madness\u2019, has obliged us to reflect upon several forms of lunacy. Three compositions superficially divided by everything: a masterpiece of Baroque opera, the swansong of a master of classic bel canto and a musical defying all attempts … [Read more…]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,7],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-mangusta","4":"post-886","6":"format-standard","7":"category-posts-in-english","8":"category-wedrowki-operowe"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atorod.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atorod.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atorod.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atorod.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atorod.pl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=886"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/atorod.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3493,"href":"https:\/\/atorod.pl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886\/revisions\/3493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atorod.pl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atorod.pl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atorod.pl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}