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Music
Gaetano Donizetti
Libretto
Eugene Scribe
after Paul-Henri Foucher's Dom
Sebastien de Portugal
Conductor
Mark Elder
Zayda
Vesselina
Kasarova
Dom
Sebastien
Giuseppe
Filianoti
Dom
Juam de Sylva
Alastair
Miles
Abayaldos
Simon Keenlyside
Camoens
Carmelo Corrado
Caruso
Dom
Henrique
Robert Gleadow
Dom
Antonio /
First Inquisitor
John Upperton
Second
Inquisitor
Lee Hickenbottom
Ben-Selim
Andrew Slater
Dom
Luis
Martyn Hill
Soldier
Nigel Cliffe
Third
Inquisitor
John Bernays
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Royal Opera House
10th - 13th September 2005 |
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The new
Season at the Royal Opera
House has begun in much the
same pattern as last year,
with two concert performances
of a rarely performed Italian
opera, in this year's case
Dom
Sebastien, Roi de Portugal
by Donizetti. The performances
are being recorded for release
on CD in February 2007.
It is not, however, the topicality
of Dom Sebastien's subject
matter, the story of a doomed
invasion by Christian forces
into Islamic territory, that
has prompted the inclusion
of this neglected opera in
the Royal Opera's repertory,
but a new critical edition
by Mary Ann Smart, Professor
of Music at Berkeley. Commissioned
by the Paris Opera, Dom Sebastien
premiered on 13 November 1843
in Paris and underwent several
structural changes between
this time and 1845, when it
moved to Vienna. Only a few
days before the Paris premiere
the theatre's director, Leon
Pillet, in conjunction with
the librettist Eugene Scribe,
persuaded Donizetti to make
a radical change by moving
a slow number for principals
and chorus, 'D'espoir de terreur',
from the culmination of Act
Three's finale to the same
position in Act Four, a decision
which Donizetti correctly
realised would ameliorate
the already impoverished third
act. When he revised the opera
for Vienna, however, Donizetti
composed a new largo concertanto
ensemble for Act Three, included
on loose leaves in the autograph
score. These loose leaves
have only recently come to
light, prompting Smart's new
critical edition. Pillet gave
his direction out of a desire
for greater dramatic opportunity.
Protracting Act Three ensured
that the funeral of the supposedly
deceased Dom Sebastien would
now provide the centre-piece,
with all the opportunities
for pomp, lavish costumes
and ceremony afforded by a
funeral scene. Pillet knew
his audience and that success
meant plenty of luxury and
magnificence on stage to satisfy
the Parisian taste for display
and exotic colouratura in
grand opera. The position
of 'D'espoir de terreur' at
the end of Act Four proved
a critical success and the
septet remains there in this
production.
A further change shaped by
French taste was the decision
to move Dom Sebastien's solo
aria, 'Seul sur la terre',
from the end of Act Two, to
Act Five in order to even
out the conventionally epic
mood required in a battle
scene and at the closure of
an act. Up until this point,
no other grand opera had closed
an act with a solo aria and
it was a mark of Donizetti's
individual style that he structured
it this way. In this production
by the Royal Opera, 'Seul
sur le terre' has been moved
back to its original position
at the end of Act Two, although
Giuseppe Filianoti as Dom
Sebastien struggled in the
closing minutes of Act Two
with the rigours the structure
imposed on his voice. He was,
perhaps, the wrong choice
for this production, with
a voice that lacked resonance
and projection when it had
the full force of the orchestra
and chorus behind it. Rarely
glancing at Mark Elder's precise
conducting, Filianoti seemed
to want to stand alone, to
the detriment of the whole
production.
That this production was in
concert ensured that Pillet's
reasons for moving the aria
to Act Five were no longer
an issue since the visual
element was lacking. Like
the fact that this an Italian
opera shaped by French tastes,
this is a production shaped
for ears rather than eyes,
hence the choice of mannered
and arch Vesselina Kasarova
for the role of Zayda. As
a mezzo-soprano, Kasarova
has a smoothly sublime voice,
but as an actress she is never
forgetful of herself for a
moment. That is to say, she
can sing - beautifully - but
she cannot act. The best performances
came from those who, despite
not wearing a costume and
having to move about the stage,
were still 'in character',
namely Simon Keenlyside as
Zayda's intended, Abayaldos.
Keenlyside deservedly won
the biggest round of applause
of the evening and was on
top form throughout. Next
to Keenlyside, Alastair Miles'
Dom Juan lacked charisma and
at times became exclamatory.
Two other performances deserve
particular mention and these
were both performers receiving
their break with this company.
Robert Gleadow as Dom Henrique
had an intense machismo that
promises much for his future
beyond the Jette Parker Young
Artists Programme. One would
particularly like to see him
under the direction of, say,
Richard Jones or Keith Warner,
in a modern production that
could coax out the darker
elements inherent in his style.
Carmelo Corrado Caruso was
the other singer making his
debut with the Royal Opera
in the role of the poet Camoens.
Replacing the baritone Renato
Bruson, who had to withdraw
at the rehearsal stage with
a throat infection, Caruso
gave his all to the performance
and worked intuitively with
Mark Elder and the cast on
stage beside him.
The question then, is whether
this is a just revival of
an unjustly neglected work?
Despite its mixed reception
in Paris, Dom Sebastien was
a hit in Vienna, staying in
rep from 1845 to 1872 at the
Hoftheatre. It is also known
for its influence on Mahler
and for its handling of the
ground between French and
Italian opera in the early
nineteenth century. The rhythmic
patterns, blended layering
of voice upon voice, and the
rising intensity to the music
are all hallmarks of the Italian
style, but the fluidity and
lighter melody of the arias
is dinstinctively French.
Certainly from the point of
the view of the early twenty-first
century, this handling of
the transition between French
and Italian style appears
skilful. The pacing is even,
which this production makes
more pronounced by the reliance
on Smart's new critical edition,
but it does not quite solve
the problem of the Act Five
finale, now lacking Sebastien's
'Seul sur le terre' and ending
with a duet between Dom Sebastien
and Zayda, before Camoens'
Bacarolle. Donizetti felt
that the conclusion of Dom
Sebastien was "a rat's tail"
and recommended that "after
the big duo in the fifth act,
one can leave." His instinct
for the dimensions of his
finale were right, and without
the visual clues provided
at the close of an act the
acoustic cues do not prove
significant enough to give
the ending its full force.
The biggest test of whether
this new edition has solved
the opera's structural problems
would be either a ballet to
the same score or a full production.
Laura
Keynes |
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