Christoph Willibald Gluck's ARMIDE at LaScala, Tuesday, May 11th
daniel kessler
Last Tuesday night at LaScala--a mixture of spectacle and fantasy--will
remain one of the most memorable nights in 45 years of opera-going. It
was Christoph Willibald Gluck's ARMIDE--just the kind of production that
God himself would have mounted of an opera, if He had the money--taking a
leaf of Bernard Shaw's comment to William Randolph Hurst when Hurst asked
him what Shaw thought of San Simeon, Hurst's palatial digs built half way
between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Still, one couldn't help having this reaction to Pier Luigi Pizzi's
production of ARMIDE. God knows what it cost? However, after witnessing
the sheer spectacle of the pomp, the rococo splendor Pizzi had fashioned
for this Gluck masterpiece, I was won over--and what a cast? Anna
Caterina Antonacci as Armide, the Damascan princess, a role that has more
or less catapulted her onto the international scene back in December,
1996. Armide's air, "Ah, Si la liberte me doit etre ravie" was
especially touching. Ms. Antonacci did achieve the nobility of phrasing
that one expects from a Gluck heroine. American tenor, Paul Groves was
the Crusader warrior Renaud this time instead of Vinson Cole. Certainly
Groves had more of the 叢hysique du role' for the part than did Cole.
Frankly, I didn't care much for Groves's Ferrando in COSI at the Met but
in this piece, he excelled. Renaud's aria 善lus j'observe ces lieux'
seemed to hold no terrors for him. Still, a young Peter Schreier would
have been equally welcome. Violeta Urmana was LaHaine, another quality
voice that drew a big hand from the Milanese. Simon Kennlyside and
Norah Amsellem were others who shone in this cast with Muti keeping a
secure hand, never too rushed and drawing wonderful string playing from
the Scala orchestra. Bravo Maestro!
I always regretted not being on hand for the 50th postwar anniversary
opening of LaScala in December, 1996, to witness first hand Riccardo
Muti's stunning revival of Gluck's rarely performed opera but am glad
that it is back--which is unusual for Scala to repeat any production but
the exorbitant cost of this mounting must have played some role in it's
reappearance. The Gluck revival at Scala has been one of the most
important statements of Muti's career there, coming after his earlier
revival of IPHEGENIE EN TAURIDE and later ALCESTE for Scala. Gluck's
ARMIDE has certainly to be the 阻ewel in Muti's crown. Also, this
revival sparked an exhibition Pier Luigi Pizzi's long association with
Scala in the foyer, as shown in a special exhibition mounted
there.."Pizzi's 40 years at LaScala". It was interesting to stroll
through the exhibit at intermission time. Speaking of intermission, I did
run into Lofti Mansouri of San Francisco Opera and couldn't resist asking
him if he had plans to bring this production to San Francisco. He
laughed and said that it would be way beyond their budget.
I distinctly recall this production being reviewed rather sourly by some
in the UK newspapers on the occasion of that December, 1996 opening
night. The last time ARMIDE was seen in the UK was that Spitalfields
Festival performance in which Armide was made to appear as a Palestinian
terrorist. In addition, there were those who said that Pizzi's
production showed little faith in the work and drowned everything with
his excessive costumes and scenic effects as if to say, Gluck's ARMIDE is
a terrible opera and needs all the help it can get! I have to disagree
with that assessment.
True, I have never seen so many panniered skirts, trains, capes, helmets
festooned with feathers, equestrian statues, triumphal arches and
palaces. But it all worked. ARMIDE tends to shine in its delicate
divertisements, the gavotte gracieuse, those 僧erveilleux' or ornamental
pieces which so won the hearts of Parisian public of Gluck's day.
But this is 組rand tragedie lyrique'--it needs contriving with its many
divertisements and 僧erveilleux'. Still, ARMIDE is quite a good
opera--Gluck thought it his best! At the time of the composition of his
ARMIDE, Gluck had already worked his reforms and the drama flows quite
nicely.
Musically, while the work has no 舛he faro' or even a number of the equal
of 閃alheureuse Iphegenie', the level of inspiration is good. The
租ivertisement' seem particularly inspired where Gluck lavishes some of
his most beautiful music on the winds. It is a pity that Gluck's ARMIDE
has become a work more admired than performed. Toscanini thought much of
it and conducted it at the Met opening night, November 14th, 1910 with
Fremstad and Caruso. Berlioz and Wagner spoke highly of it. No other
ARMIDE by any composer every made the boards of the Met. Both musically
and dramatically, I certainly prefer it to Rossini's ARMIDA which I once
saw at the Fenice with Christina Deutekom.
Some 70 odd composers were attracted to the subject of the enchantress
ARMIDE--Lully, Haydn, Handel. Graun, Traetta, Scarlotti, Salieri,
Myslivecek, Cherubini, Vivaldi, Dvorak, all nearly forgotten. Gluck
wanted to impress his Parisian audiences, so he re-used Lully's Quinault
libretto of 92 years earlier, perhaps to establish his credentials as
a銑ullist'. It worked! The fickle Parisian audience adored it, with its
subtle references to both Lully and Rameau, yet the work also looks
forward with its flow of drama without being impeded by show stopping
arias of the kind that Handel love to write. ARMIDE remained on the
board of the Paris Opera and was last heard there in 1913.
One of the things that seemed to be brought home to me about the evening
was as follows:: You can't really cast a Verdi opera, such as AIDA these
days. However, you can cast Gluck's ARMIDE.
Pizzi's use of rich high Renaissance-Baroque colors was a visual marvel.
Armide and her two attendants, Phenice and Sidonie wore panniered gowns
with trains in color of a rich rose color, such as magenta with gold
trim. These colors were so, off-shade or 粗ducated' and exquisite that
they were hard to describe. No red-red, green-green, blue-blue here!
When the curtain rose, we saw three tableau in picture frames. Armide
was off to the left in her own baroque celestial observatory, peering
into the heavens with her long mounted telescope as projected through one
of three round windows. One was to assume that when not otherwise
occupied, Arimide was an amateur astronomer. Hidraot, Armide's uncle
arrived on a barque and remained pretty much stationary.
Ranaud's first appearance with one of his Knights, Artemidore were framed
in a circular window and were seen as mounted heroic equestrian statues
which were moved about by unseen Noh-theater-like figures clad in black.
They wore feathered helmuts festooned with many plumes and had long
trains which were manipulated by these unseen figures. When the statues
were rotated to give different perspectives, these mostly unseen
attendants had to scurry about to re-arrange the long trains which flared
up dramatically from time to time. This scene had a backdrop that was
very painterly--a cliff with a grotto passage through it and a gnarled
tree. One was reminded of paintings of Tiepolo or possibly Veronese.
When Renaud arrived at Armide's palace, he was seen way upstage in a
forest glade beside a castle. As he approached through a labyrinthine
maze of hedges, each hedge row rose behind him as he proceed down stage.
The effect was dazzling! All I can say is--they must have many, many
traps or stage machinery to allow these incredible effects at LaScala.
Throughout, any applauding of the scenery by the audience was shushed up
immediately by the indignant Loggonisti who would have none of what goes
on at the Met in such instances. Armide's magic palace was a silver
baroque affair which could be raised or lowered as needed for the
GOETTERDAEMMERUNG-like ending. No wonder Wagner admired this opera.
On might ask, does Antonacci have the power for the 疎ttacks' required in
this opera. The answer is 塑es'. Her voice has a nice richness in the
middle and the top is a bit 層hite' but not in a bad sense. A lot of the
music lies in that minefield to singers known as the passaggio. I am
inclined to speculate that Antonacci has probably improved and is more
secure in the role than when she first sang it in December, 1996.
Incidentally, she is quite a lovely woman and after the first scene, she
changed into another baroque costume that was more coral color then
magenta which was a shoulder-less affair with a train and much more
flattering to the 叢oitrine' for her seduction scene with Renaud.
For the most part, Riccardo Muti managed to skirt monotony yet giving the
piece requisite rhythmical thrust, showing that this is an opera that is
not just for music antiquearians. The idea that Gluck's operas are just
boring is wrong. How ironical to travel to Milan, the city where Gluck
received so much of his training, to see this sadly neglected
masterpiece.
True, Berlioz once said. "to play Gluck's heroines, it is not enough to
have genuine talent...nothing less than beauty and genius will do."
Well, we had that last Tuesday night at LaScala and Antonacci seemed to
possess that 僧arble' quality that Gluck's heroines seem to demand.
In summary, Gluck--the master of the simple melody made eloquent, by
employing the simplest means, can still through his music, create an
impression of sublimity.
Incidentally, Dean Peterson sang Hidraot but he was not listed in the
program and there was no
訴nsert' advising the audience of any indisposition. Unfortunately, the
role calls for top F-s and F-sharpes which Mr. Peterson does not possess.
Isn't it a pity that the French have to rely on foreigners to revive the
so-called French grand-operatic tradition?
C A S T
Armide Anna Caterina Antonacci
Renaud Paul Groves
La Haine Violeta Urmana
Ubalde Simon Keenlyside
Hidraot Dean Peterson
Artemidore Giuseppi Filianoti
Phenice Nora Amsellem
Sidonie Lotte Leitner
Le Chevalier Danois Juan Diego Florez
Aronte Marco Camastra
La Naiade Serena Farnocchia
Conductor Riccardo Muti
Mise en scene Pier Luigi Pizzi
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I purchased my seat in the orchestra [poltrona], Row "H" just off the
center aisle, two months before the performance when the ticket went on
sale through the LaScala telephone ordering system. The ticket was
charged to a credit card and came registered mail about a month before
the performance and cost $l84, which included the customary 20% booking
charge for use of that system which is run by a private company for
LaScala. This included an additional charge for the 叢rima'.
daniel kessler
connection to the newsgroups was faulty so I couldn't tell if I had
posted.
Sorry again for not having mentioned Spanish tenor Juan Diego Florez who
only had a brief role as the 'Chevalier Danois'. Nice French
diction and sound to his singing!