Capitole de Toulouse, 02/07/2017
Meyerbeer : Le Prophète
Chœurs et Maîtrise du Capitole
Orchestre national du Capitole
Claus Peter Flor
There are some operas one has always known bits of, but never seen, and think never to see, because the piece is demanding, expensive to stage, and perhaps not altogether fashionable. Meyerbeer's Le Prophète is definitely one such - other than a couple of arias, and the ballet music, I've only heard it in the mid-70s Lewis recording, and didn't think too much of it, despite the presence of Marilyn Horne. However, finding it on the roster in Toulouse on suitable dates, this was one of those opportunities not to be missed, whatever concerns I may have had about the feasibility of the staging or casting.
Blissfully, my concerns proved completely unnecessary. If you're going to take on a French grand opéra, it needs to be done, preferably, well, and at the very least whole-heartedly, nothing else will do, and that was exactly what we got from the Capitole. It doesn't negate the weaknesses of the work, but it does make them palatable, and allows the strengths to shine all the more brightly.
The first two acts are slow going. Although there are some interesting passages - and rather a lot of very interesting orchestration - the whole lacks impetus. It lurches from number to number, without much drive to propel things forward, and the tone is bordering on the operetta. Oberthal is certainly a comic role, a regular moustache-twirling seducer, but I would have liked to have heard it sung with more firmness of tone than Leonardo Estévez gave us this afternoon.
Although the principal characters are introduced during these two acts, it's also not really under their true colours. Jean, with his Vision aria, comes the closest to what he is to become, but Fidès reveals little of the considerable range, both vocally and emotionally, that she will encompass later, while Berthe is a twitteringly insignificant lyric coloratura, again, giving little indication of what is to come. What did emerge from the first two acts was a solid trio of Anabaptists, particularly Mikeldi Atxalandabaso's Jonas, and the outstanding choral contribution, richly coloured, expressive, and with vividly clear French. The standard of French in general, it has to be said, was exceptional, for a cast of soloists consisting of two Americans, two Russians and three Spaniards.
From the third act onwards, however, the drama notched up several degrees, and the intensity of performance with it. This wasn't a complete version of Le Prophète, it was (judiciously) shorn of probably close to an hour of music, but the ballet was left in, excellently devised by Pierluigi Vanelli, in a modern style (that reminded me of Matthew Bourne's Highland Fling), part pastiche and part cabaret, beginning, brilliantly, with four dancers appearing in the famous Perrot/Pugni Pas de quatre (created four years before Le Prophète) pose.
The setting was simple and clear, costumes were predominantly of the period of creation (1849), but the Anabaptists tended to appear in 17th Century costume (think Frans Hals and his prosperous Dutch burghers), yet the contrast did not shock. Stefano Vizioli accepts the piece as it is, incongruities and all, delivering a legible vision without clumsiness and which, like the ballet, sometimes pokes fun at the situation, and sometimes treats it with complete seriousness. In this way Oberthal is wheeled on stage in typical equestrian pose, on the back of a statue of a rearing horse, but the chorus in the final scene stumbles around not because they are drunk (as Jean's drinking song permits us to presume) but because they are dying of starvation and plague, as their ghoulish costume shows. Also, in an age when cheese-paring is the order of the day in most opera houses, the Capitole went seriously to town with this production, and the coronation scene truly was the spectacle Meyerbeer intended it to be. They just need to fix that final explosion, right at the end of the opera, it came across rather feebly.
After Berthe's charming but unmemorable first act appearance, it's easy to dismiss the character, even with her more significant later contribution. However, Sofia Fomina gave a beautiful performance, a touchingly broken doll, with a lovely, shiningly clear voice and effortless ornamentation. Kate Aldrich struggled more with her part as Fidès. Originally written for Pauline Viardot and her exceptional capacities, the role has a two-and-a-quarter octave range, from a top B (optional C) down to a cavernous low G flat. It also covers just about every type of singing imaginable, from long, smooth legato lines to show-stopping coloratura.
The upper part of the voice is no problem for Aldrich, nor is the agility, but she lacks heft in the lower third of the range, and it's only Meyerbeer's careful orchestration - and the conductor's equally careful observation of the same - that allowed her to be heard when she had to drop into the contralto range. Also, it has to be said that from where I was sitting, there seemed to be little effort to age her with make-up, and she looked rather young and glamorous to be anyone's mother, let alone John Osborn's.
Osborn was a revelation to me. Like most of Meyerbeer's tenor roles, Jean is notoriously demanding, as much so as Fidès, wanting a light quality of timbre that nevertheless has the carrying power almost of a helden. Meyerbeer had had Adolphe Nourrit in mind, though he died young, before the creation, and Nourrit, like Viardot, was possessed of exceptional means, the like of which we don't really hear these days, not just because such voices are rare but also because singing techniques have changed. Osborn intelligently manages the mix between chest and head voices, a difficult task many tenors cannot handle, and is not afraid to use a very wide and very expressive dynamic range, again, excellently supported by Claus Peter Flor and the orchestra, very careful never to cover the voice. The Act 3 Prayer and Triumphal Hymn were exemplary.
As mentioned earlier, if you're going to stage this kind of opera, best to do it properly, and this was done properly. Judging from the presence of cameras in the auditorium, it has been filmed, at least for television (probably FR3 Culturebox) if not for DVD. With a first-rate Jean and Berthe, a (mostly) vocally and dramatically very good (if too young-looking) Fidès, a superb chorus and a generally fine production, this is a worthy revival of an opera that is perhaps not a forgotten masterpiece, but certainly deserving of the occasional outing, especially in a performance of this quality.
[Next : 22nd July]
Chœurs et Maîtrise du Capitole
Orchestre national du Capitole
Claus Peter Flor
There are some operas one has always known bits of, but never seen, and think never to see, because the piece is demanding, expensive to stage, and perhaps not altogether fashionable. Meyerbeer's Le Prophète is definitely one such - other than a couple of arias, and the ballet music, I've only heard it in the mid-70s Lewis recording, and didn't think too much of it, despite the presence of Marilyn Horne. However, finding it on the roster in Toulouse on suitable dates, this was one of those opportunities not to be missed, whatever concerns I may have had about the feasibility of the staging or casting.
Blissfully, my concerns proved completely unnecessary. If you're going to take on a French grand opéra, it needs to be done, preferably, well, and at the very least whole-heartedly, nothing else will do, and that was exactly what we got from the Capitole. It doesn't negate the weaknesses of the work, but it does make them palatable, and allows the strengths to shine all the more brightly.
The first two acts are slow going. Although there are some interesting passages - and rather a lot of very interesting orchestration - the whole lacks impetus. It lurches from number to number, without much drive to propel things forward, and the tone is bordering on the operetta. Oberthal is certainly a comic role, a regular moustache-twirling seducer, but I would have liked to have heard it sung with more firmness of tone than Leonardo Estévez gave us this afternoon.
Although the principal characters are introduced during these two acts, it's also not really under their true colours. Jean, with his Vision aria, comes the closest to what he is to become, but Fidès reveals little of the considerable range, both vocally and emotionally, that she will encompass later, while Berthe is a twitteringly insignificant lyric coloratura, again, giving little indication of what is to come. What did emerge from the first two acts was a solid trio of Anabaptists, particularly Mikeldi Atxalandabaso's Jonas, and the outstanding choral contribution, richly coloured, expressive, and with vividly clear French. The standard of French in general, it has to be said, was exceptional, for a cast of soloists consisting of two Americans, two Russians and three Spaniards.
From the third act onwards, however, the drama notched up several degrees, and the intensity of performance with it. This wasn't a complete version of Le Prophète, it was (judiciously) shorn of probably close to an hour of music, but the ballet was left in, excellently devised by Pierluigi Vanelli, in a modern style (that reminded me of Matthew Bourne's Highland Fling), part pastiche and part cabaret, beginning, brilliantly, with four dancers appearing in the famous Perrot/Pugni Pas de quatre (created four years before Le Prophète) pose.
The setting was simple and clear, costumes were predominantly of the period of creation (1849), but the Anabaptists tended to appear in 17th Century costume (think Frans Hals and his prosperous Dutch burghers), yet the contrast did not shock. Stefano Vizioli accepts the piece as it is, incongruities and all, delivering a legible vision without clumsiness and which, like the ballet, sometimes pokes fun at the situation, and sometimes treats it with complete seriousness. In this way Oberthal is wheeled on stage in typical equestrian pose, on the back of a statue of a rearing horse, but the chorus in the final scene stumbles around not because they are drunk (as Jean's drinking song permits us to presume) but because they are dying of starvation and plague, as their ghoulish costume shows. Also, in an age when cheese-paring is the order of the day in most opera houses, the Capitole went seriously to town with this production, and the coronation scene truly was the spectacle Meyerbeer intended it to be. They just need to fix that final explosion, right at the end of the opera, it came across rather feebly.
 |
| Coronation Scene, Act IV, Le Prophète Capitole de Toulouse (© Patrice Nin, 2017) |
After Berthe's charming but unmemorable first act appearance, it's easy to dismiss the character, even with her more significant later contribution. However, Sofia Fomina gave a beautiful performance, a touchingly broken doll, with a lovely, shiningly clear voice and effortless ornamentation. Kate Aldrich struggled more with her part as Fidès. Originally written for Pauline Viardot and her exceptional capacities, the role has a two-and-a-quarter octave range, from a top B (optional C) down to a cavernous low G flat. It also covers just about every type of singing imaginable, from long, smooth legato lines to show-stopping coloratura.
The upper part of the voice is no problem for Aldrich, nor is the agility, but she lacks heft in the lower third of the range, and it's only Meyerbeer's careful orchestration - and the conductor's equally careful observation of the same - that allowed her to be heard when she had to drop into the contralto range. Also, it has to be said that from where I was sitting, there seemed to be little effort to age her with make-up, and she looked rather young and glamorous to be anyone's mother, let alone John Osborn's.
Osborn was a revelation to me. Like most of Meyerbeer's tenor roles, Jean is notoriously demanding, as much so as Fidès, wanting a light quality of timbre that nevertheless has the carrying power almost of a helden. Meyerbeer had had Adolphe Nourrit in mind, though he died young, before the creation, and Nourrit, like Viardot, was possessed of exceptional means, the like of which we don't really hear these days, not just because such voices are rare but also because singing techniques have changed. Osborn intelligently manages the mix between chest and head voices, a difficult task many tenors cannot handle, and is not afraid to use a very wide and very expressive dynamic range, again, excellently supported by Claus Peter Flor and the orchestra, very careful never to cover the voice. The Act 3 Prayer and Triumphal Hymn were exemplary.
As mentioned earlier, if you're going to stage this kind of opera, best to do it properly, and this was done properly. Judging from the presence of cameras in the auditorium, it has been filmed, at least for television (probably FR3 Culturebox) if not for DVD. With a first-rate Jean and Berthe, a (mostly) vocally and dramatically very good (if too young-looking) Fidès, a superb chorus and a generally fine production, this is a worthy revival of an opera that is perhaps not a forgotten masterpiece, but certainly deserving of the occasional outing, especially in a performance of this quality.
[Next : 22nd July]