Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Così fan tutte
Royal Opera House, 2016
Semyon
Bychkov, Jan Philipp Gloger, Corinne Winters, Angela Brower, Daniel
Behle, Alessio Arduini, Johannes Martin Kränzle, Sabina Puértolas
Opus Arte - Blu-ray
Purely
in terms of the musical and singing performances, the Royal Opera
House's 2016 production of Così fan tutte is reasonably good, if not
quite exciting or revelatory. Semyon Bychkov conducts an elegant
account of the work, but it doesn't particularly fizz with those
energised moments of Mozartian brilliance. The singing performances are
fresh, bright and vibrant, but don't seem to be able to carry the
weightier considerations that are in the opera either. Jan Philipp Gloger's direction has an interesting concept that actually sets out to
bridge that gap rather well, providing plenty of visual interest in the
sets and situations, but somehow it still never quite coheres the way
you might like it.
Making Don Alfonso a theatre director
does take the work into a meta-theatrical direction, the opera even
opening with the director and the cast of his latest work taking their
bows at the start of this performance during the overture. The idea is
not just to be clever, but to consider the meaning of Mozart and
Da Ponte's opera in the context of art and artifice. It's not
real-life, it's an opera. That doesn't mean that it doesn't have a
serious point to make, but it can do it through music, theatre and,
although it might seem like a contradiction, and is less commonly seen
these days in this opera, it can be serious through comedy. As a
theatre director then, Don Alfonso uses a number of theatrical
situations to put love to the test and illustrate his point about
fidelity and constancy to the two unrealistically idealistic young
couples.
The Royal Opera House production tries to
address the issues of love and fidelity in the opera in a lighter and
more playful fashion without having to resort to that darker view of
male and female relationships and middle-class ideals that you will find
in some other productions (Michael Haneke and Christophe Honoré). It's true that some of the
ideas expressed in the opera might be considered rather out of step
with modern attitudes towards gender politics and political correctness,
but Mozart and Da Ponte's comedy is actually just as challenging of
prevailing attitudes. One need only look at their other two
collaborations to realise that the same principles are applied to Così
fan tutte. The theatricality and forced romanticism of the situations
in Gloger's production highlight the fact that Mozart and Da Ponte are
satirising such attitudes, regarding the notion of constancy and
fidelity as nothing more than an artificial bourgeois construct that
prevents us from following the true dictates of the human heart.
And
it's true. Don Alfonso and his rather more practical minded
co-conspirator from the serving classes Despina are actually correct.
Not so much in the idea that it's women who are inconstant (it's taken
for granted that men are fickle), but rather what Così fan tutte shows
us is that anyone can fall in love, the human heart can be easily swayed
and circumstances (or fate if you like) all have a part to play. It's
not about fidelity, it's about human nature, and when it comes to
exploring the wonder and the mysterious ways of the human heart, there's
no-one like Mozart for showing its infinite variety and capacity for
love. It might not always work out how we might like it, but in
contrast to the cynicism that you can find in some modern productions,
Mozart's music actually shows us that rather than leading to
disillusionment, he considers this to be something wonderful and
something to be celebrated.
Gloger's production then
captures both the artifice of romantic ideals where we don disguises and
play roles, but in each of the theatrical settings it also shows the
wonderful variety of circumstances in which love can work its magic and
catch us unawares, breaking down any preconceived ideals. It's a
production that is perfectly in tune with the playfulness of the idea
and the execution of the original, matching its cleverness, its richness
of mood and character. Mozart and Da Ponte tell us to keep an open
mind, and the same thing can be applied to this production. Every time
you come to a Mozart opera, you can experience and discover something
new about this wonderful work, and this one actually extends on some of
its themes rather brilliantly, if you have an open mind and no
preconceptions.
In execution however, it somehow doesn't
quite come together the way it should. It's perhaps the difficulty of
maintaining all those levels and trying to provide something for
everyone; trying to retain some amount of the familiar with a few new
ideas to challenge them. It's also down to the nature of the work
itself, which demands young, fresh singers, but expects them to have the
experience to maintain those various levels of superficiality and
sophistication. Corinne Winters, Angela Brower, Daniel Behle and Alessio Arduini however give engaging individual performances of equal
weight that permits them to interact well as a team. Sabina Puértolas is a lively irreverent Despina, and Johannes Martin Kränzle perfect as a
generous rather than a cynical Don Alfonso.
The
disconnect however appears to be more in the musical performance. Semyon Bychkov keeps the tone deceptively light, and it's this tone that
dominates without either connecting meaningfully or contrasting with
what is going on up on the stage. While Gloger's sets carry the sense of
game play and role play, each of the 'actors' playing their allotted
roles, it all feels a little detached and doesn't find a way to carry
through to the ambiguous feelings that linger with the revelations made
at a very confused resolution. There's an effort made to end on a
wistful note, but you never get the sense that there is anything serious
at stake here and no one really gets hurt. The ambiguity about Così
however is what keeps it fresh and keeps you thinking, and this
production does give you plenty to think about.
The
Blu-ray presentation of the production also gives it a new lease of
life, particularly in the High Resolution audio mixes of the musical
performance. The extras on the BD are scant, but the introduction
covers the all you need to know about the director's intentions for the
concept, the characters and the nature of the work itself.
Links: Royal Opera House YouTube
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Così fan tutte
Royal Opera House, 2016
Semyon Bychkov, Jan Philipp Gloger, Corinne Winters, Angela Brower, Daniel Behle, Alessio Arduini, Johannes Martin Kränzle, Sabina Puértolas
Cinema Season Live - 17 October 2016
Così fan tutte has never quite been treated with the same love and affection that is given to Mozart's other two collaborations with Lorenzo da Ponte, Le Nozze di Figaro or Don Giovanni. Perhaps it's because Così fan tutte is more overtly a comedy, but there are comic elements in all three operas. Perhaps the same weight of insight into human feelings and behaviour just isn't there or just gets lost amidst the farce, but that depends very much on the choices made in direction. In recent years for example, Michael Haneke and Christophe Honoré - both filmmakers - have explored the very dark side of human behaviour in Così fan tutte to a largely successful degree.
Perhaps all Haneke and Honoré really did with Così fan tutte was find a way to connect the audience to an emotional reality within the opera that the comic side doesn't achieve quite so well, but that raises the question about whether or not this betrays the true intent of the work. Like Le Nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni all sides of human behaviour are explored, and there are also dark and disturbing aspects that are there to be drawn upon in Così fan tutte. The answer would seen to lie in achieving a human balance between the comedy and the darkness and, if nothing else, this search to reveal the true worth of Mozart in Così fan tutte means that the work is always a fascinating challenge.
Jan Philipp Gloger's production for the Royal Opera House takes the challenge head-on by recognising that, perhaps even more than the other two Mozart/Da Ponte collaborations, art and artifice are at the heart of Così fan tutte and part of its very nature. Even if it's entirely in the spirit of the work, placing the emphasis on the artifice in the opera with an openly theatrical presentation is however a risky gamble as it tends to place even more distance between the situation and the truth behind it. The real test of whether the work can reveal its deeper human predicament lies more with the performers here, but despite truly great performances from an impressive young cast, the production does seem to work against them.
By using and emphasising theatrical devices as the basis for the production, Jan Philipp Gloger adheres to the comic principles that are at the heart of the work, and the means by which Mozart and Da Ponte make their case. The subtitle of Così fan tutte - A School for Lovers - tells you of this intent. The plot of the opera, like the opera itself, relies on the artifice of art to get its message across. Art is a means of arriving at a truth about inner sentiments that outside 'realism' might not be capable of reaching. Just as Mozart's music is a means of expressing those feelings in relation to love and fidelity in Così fan tutte, so too the use of theatre has the power to invent situations that put those feelings to the test.
The lesson that Don Alfonso has to impart to his students Ferrando and Guglielmo is not just that all women are by nature inconstant and unfaithful in their love, but rather that love is not some romantic ideal that we can choose to bend to our will. The heart has no master. The meaning and intent of this lesson is a serious one, but presenting it as a comedy does pose some problems that often tend to overshadow the truth of the work. Rather than play it straight with the two men donning stupid disguises as moustachioed Albanians that would fool no-one, there has to be some sort of complicity in going along with the game on the part of both men and their partners, Fiordiligi and Dorabella. It has to be seen as a role-play on some level that delivers the truth.
Gloger's idea of having Don Alfonso as a theatre director then has considerable merit, not least for the conceit of the two men dressing up and behaving out of character as they try and woo their respective fiancées into being unfaithful. As the theatrical sets and situations are levered into place, it is however clearly a high-level concept and not one could bear any realistic scrutiny. Suspension of disbelief is necessary, but at some level surely we must all realise when we go to the theatre or the opera that we are never watching realism on the stage, but just people acting. But acting for a good reason, which is to get to a deeper truth, and, let's not forget, to entertain. This production entertains and impresses and it even gets the all-important human message across through its art, but it does still feel a little too artificial.
It's through no fault of the singing or the musical performance. On every level this is an outstanding performance. While the characters are by no means interchangeable (other than for the necessities of the plot evidently), I often find that it's harder work to distinguish or perhaps care enough to consider what are the defining characteristics of the four main characters. They might not be as multifaceted and complex individuals as those in The Marriage of Figaro, but they can still have depth and personality. Genuine attention to the music and the arias show that this is the case and if it doesn't come across it not as much an issue with Mozart and Da Ponte's depiction but more likely with the direction or the singer's ability to bring something to their role. There is no issue at all with the singers here in the Royal Opera House production, but perhaps the direction doesn't do enough to highlight the contrasts and differences.
As far as singing and characterisation go the performances however are outstanding. Corinne Winters, Angela Brower, Daniel Behle and Alessio Arduini are just delightful as the confused lovers, each of them bearing equal weight, each of them meeting the challenges of the work, all of them bringing considerable youthful personality and sympathy to the roles in their individual arias, in their duets and ensembles. It's marvellous to see such a team interacting, working with each other in a way that illustrates all the points of the music and the drama. Sabina Puértolas too is one of the best Despinas I have seen, her singing performance impressive, bringing a lively fun personality and a sense of pleasure at mixing things up on the stage. The wonderfully versatile Johannes Martin Kränzle is comparatively rather restrained as Don Alfonso, but dressed in period costume as the 'director' (as Lorenzo da Ponte?), it was hard to really grasp his real nature here.
Musically too, there's a good performance here from the orchestra under Semyon Bychkov that keeps the tone deceptively light, but it's this tone that dominates without either connecting meaningfully or contrasting with what is going on up on the stage. While Gloger's sets carry the sense of game play and role play, each of the 'actors' playing their allotted roles, it all feels a little detached and doesn't find a way to carry through to the ambiguous feelings that linger with the revelations made at a very confused resolution. There's an effort made to end on a wistful note, but you never get the sense that there is anything serious at stake here and no one really gets hurt, which, for all the criticisms you could make about it, is not something you could say about Christophe Honoré's devastating conclusion in his production for Aix-en-Provence and Edinburgh.
Links: Royal Opera House
George Frideric Handel - Alcina
La Monnaie-De Munt, 2015
Christophe Rousset, Les Talens Lyriques, Pierre Audi, Sandrine Piau, Maite Beaumont, Angélique Noldus, Sabina Puértolas, Chloé Briot, Daniel Behle, Giovanni Fulanetto, Edouard Higuet
La Monnaie, Culturebox, RTBF - February 2015
There's long been a belief that Baroque opera can't possibly be put performed in the manner in which it was originally intended, and indeed, it hardly serves any useful pupose to attempt to recreate the theatrical conditions of 300 years ago. If you're going to attempt a more 'authentic' experience of Baroque opera beyond the now more common use of period instruments however, the location needs to be right. The Drottningholm Slottsteater near Stockholm is one of the few working Baroque theaters in the world and seen in that context it's necessary and doubtlessly instructive to see great works making use of the theatre's rope and pulley stage systems. I'm not convinced however that there's anything to be gained from putting on Baroque period-style productions elsewhere, and on the rare occasion I've seen it attempted, I haven't been terribly impressed.
Originally created for Drottningholm by Pierre Audi, the productions of Handel's Alcina and Tamerlano have been modified to allow them to be taken to Madrid, Amsterdam and to La Monnaie in Brussels this year, but still retaining the character and purpose of the original productions. The intention is to show how revolutionary these operas are as dramatic stage works and, up to a point, they do just that. On the surface, Alcina, one of Handel's operas derived from Ariosto's Renaissance work 'Orlando Furioso', isn't really much different in form from other opera seria works of this period. There are only a few characters and little real dramatic development beyond the usual love complication ones, resulting in a great deal of anguish and emotional turmoil for all concerned. There is however in Handel a different type of dramatic structure from the types we are familiar with, and that definitely comes through in this production. Up to a point.
The simple sets recede from the wing panels to a plain painted backdrop, creating the space and the perspective required, leaving the stage clear and fuctional. Within this, the period costumes designed by Patrick Kinmonth stand out and keep the eye drawn to the characters themselves, to the specific arrangement of people on the stage at any one time, and to the sentiments they are expressing. Audi's direction allows the emotional flow and expression of the music itself to determine the dramatic arc of the work, and when you've got Christophe Rousset directing Les Talens Lyriques in the pit, you'd be right to do just that. The rhythm, precision and with the extraordinary beauty of what Handel writes and the sound that can be derived from those period instruments is just breathtaking. When you have singers who can make something of those arrangements too, well, musically, this is as close to perfection as you can get.
And yet, it's still not enough. As beautiful as the music is, as wonderfully as it's performed and as beautiful as the stage production looks, it all becomes tiresome and visually repetitive over a three hour performance. Audi's intention is of course to prove that this is not the case, but - viewed on screen at least (admittedly not the intended or ideal way to view these productions) - it starts to drag by the middle of the second act. By that point we've obtained a good sense of where all the drama and the conflict lies. We are aware of Bradamante's mission to save Ruggiero from the spell that Alcina has cast upon him, and we are aware that Alcina's love is genuine. We also realise that, disguised as her brother Ricciardo, Bradamande has stirred up some other problems on the enchanted island, coming between Oronte and Morgana. There is however only so much back and forth switching of sentiments and partners that one can take before it all becomes terribly tedious and repetitive.
It is nontheless possible to sustain the viewers interest in other ways. As a magical opera, where the enchanted island is populated by the spirits of Alcina's former lovers who she has since abandoned and transformed into stones and trees, or at best into animals, there are opportunities to present some magical effects, or visual imagery, but that's not taken advantage of here in Pierre Audi's production. Occasionally, we see figures, ghosts with veils wrapped around their eyes, and we also have occasional interjections from Oberto, a young man with no memory of his past who is looking for his missing father, which helps bring a little variety and 'colour' to the otherwise predictable sequence of arias of love, betrayal and jealousy, but there's really not enough done to make any of this visually distinctive, much less magical.
There's nothing predictable or tedious about singing performances, or at least not in the principal roles. Maite Beaumont's Ruggiero is a little cool and not particularly distinctive, but it's sung well. You can forgive Ruggiero being a little cool as he is under a spell for most of the work, but you really need fire and depth of sentiment in Alcina and Bradamante. Sandrine Piau is a richly-voiced Alcina, variously commanding, fired up with rage, and hopelessly in love at different points. Piau is impressive on every register, reminding you that no matter what sentiment Alcina is feeling, she's always a sorceress and a woman and consequently very dangerous indeed. Angélique Noldus's Bradamante/Ricciardo is just as well characterised, her singing voice delightful and clearly well-trained for this repertoire. The ornamentation for her Act I 'È gelosia forza è d'amore' is superb, and she demonstrates great variety and colour elsewhere.
The other roles are also well-sung, and the performance of Les Talens Lyriques under Christophe Rousset is truly wondrous, but it's still not enough to sustain dramatic interest. There's not really enough depth in the drama of Alcina to give you a great deal to think about, work out or engage with. It's fairly rote opera seria material and even if Handel's treatment of it is just exquisite beyond words, it can still be long and tedious without some additional visual or mental stimulation. As a 300-year old work, far from its original historical context, it's surprising that Pierre Audi is unable or doesn't feel it necessary to use other means that would enable a modern audience to engage with its themes in a way that would not at the same time harm the beauty or the indisputable brilliance of this work.
La Monnaie's Alcina and Tamerlano can be viewed on-line for a limited period from the La Monnaie streaming service, or from the RTBF Belgian radio web-site. Links below. The next production from La Monnaie is Wolfgang Rihm's Jakob Lenz, available from 17 March to 6 April.
Links: La Monnaie, RTBF Musiq3
