Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, Sunday 29 June 2008
Cast (in order of appearance)
Don Carlo, Infante of Spain...............Rolando Villazon
Tebaldo, page.............................Pumeza Matshikiza*
Elisabeth de Valois.......................Marina Poplavskaya
Countess of Aremberg......................Elizabeth Woods
Monk/Charles V............................Robert Lloyd
Rodrigo, Marquis of Posa..................Simon Keenlyside
Philip II of Spain........................Ferruccio Furlanetto
Princess Eboli............................Sonia Ganassi
Priest Inquisitor.........................Alexander d'Andrea#
Flemish Deputies..........................Jacques Imbrailo*
Krzysztof Szumani*
Kostas Smoriginas*
Daniel Gryce
Darren Jeffrey
Vuyani Mlinde*
Voice from Heaven.........................Anita Watson*
Grand Inquisitor..........................Eric Halfvarson
( [*] - participants in the Jette Parker young artists programme.
# 'Priest Inquisitor' - extra character added to the auto-da-fe scene)
Chorus and orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent GardenChorus master Renato Balsadonna
This was a triumph for Antonio Pappano as conductor; he has such a rapportwith the orchestra and singers, conjuring the most exquisite sounds fromthe orchestra, and commnunicating every nuance of this complex score. Itis the five-act Italian version which Verdi prepared for Modena in 1886i.e. the version most usually performed.
I'll begin by saying a few words about the look of the production - it'swhat may be called a 'traditional' production, set in 16th. century Spain,with a rather minimalist, though effective, set, and costumes of theperiod- mainly black, for men and women, though Simon Keenlyside as Posalooked very elegant and glamorous in grey, which set him off from theother grandees.
The Fontainebleau scene is set in a wintry landscape -
interestingly, theproducer had the idea of Elisabeth (Marina Poplavskaya) coming on with thehunters, and laughing and running about- then she is relaxed with Carlo(Rolando Villazon) until the announcement which shatters their dreams ismade.
Then a chair is brought on for her and she is crowned and draped ina brocade coronation robe, making her visibly into an icon who is foreverunreachable for Carlo. She never again has the natural, relaxed movementsthat she had before she becomes Queen.
There was an announcement before the performamce that Poplavskaya had notfully recovered from her indisposition, and 'craved our indulgence'. Sheneedn't have bothered! She acquitted herself more than creditably, withbeautiful soaring high notes in "Tu che le vanita".
Villazon appeared tohave recovered from the vocal difficulties that were reported from earlierperformances (I gather he was even booed at one performance! Can'tunderstand why....) and in the Fontainebleau scene he and Poplavskaya werevery convincing as the young couple - the whole thing redolent withsadness, of course, since we know what is going to happen to them....sothat there was an aura of sadness about their ecstatic declarations oflove, Pappano's conducting emphasising this musical sub-text.
The performance moves from the Fontainebleau scene to Act II without abreak, as the walls of the Escorial close round Carlo, who remains at thefront of the stage as the others leave. At one side of the stage is alarge tomb commemmorating the Emperor Charles V - he(and/or the Monk) issung authoritatively by veteran Robert Lloyd, who was also a notable KingPhilip in his day. ( I saw him as PhiliP in the 1980s).I've already intimated that Simon Keenlyside looked elegant and glamorous,and I thought very well of his portrayal of Posa. The only thing thatworried me slightly is that he sounded much more involved and committed inhis first scene with Carlos than he did in the scene with the King, wherehe seemed to be holding back slightly, whereas I felt he should havebrought more passion to this, since the liberation of Flanders is Posa'sleading idea.....but in fact, this is more the case in Schiller's play,which is structured in a way as to make the confrontation between Philipand Posa the pivotal scene.
In fact Schiller's play is really the tragedyof Philip and Posa, whereas Verdi's opera is the tragedy of Carlos andElisabeth. (I was going to say, 'merely' the tragedy of Carlos andElisabeth, as if this were somehow less important - but I meant that theconfrontation between Philip and Posa is not a merely personal matter).The Death Scene was really intensely moving.
I don't of course mean that the Philip/Posa scene wasn't immenselyimpressive, it's one of the strongest scenes in the opera, and FerruccioFurlanetto is such an imposing King! One could really believe that thiswas the first time he'd felt able to open his heart and reveal hisall-too-human side.....which was very well hidden during the scene inwhich Elisabeth bids farewell to the Countess, whom Philip has justdismissed - Philip sits at the side of the stage, ostentatiously readingstate papers, as Elisabeth grieves.(Again an example of Pappano's skill asa conductor, as he emphasises the plangent tones of the orchestralunderpinning to Elisabeth's Romanza. She gets both verses). Furlanettodoesn't just possess the requisite sonorous bass voice, he has a realgrasp of the characterisation of this complex character, so when it cameto "Ella giammai m'amo", it was overwhelming. And the orchestralintroduction with the cello was so heartrendingly beautiful I almostdidn't want him to start singing and break the spell!
I see I have jumped ahead to this without saying anything about SoniaGanassis Princess Eboli I like the dark timbre of her voice, and sheplayed the role in a flirtatious way, which makes one realise why KingPhilip finds her attractive, even if Carlo doesn't! And I really loved theway she sang "O don fatale" - not actually one of my favourite arias, ifthe truth be told, as it's really just a feat of vocal pyrotechnics forthe mezzo. But Ganassi did actually manage to convey the emotions of awoman stricken with grief and remorse, understanding too late what herrevenge has brought about.
A few words about the auto-da-fe scene - you will have noticed that thereis an extra character, the "Priest Inquisitor", who harangues the victimsas they are led to the stake, listing the various heresies for which theyhave been condemmed (e.g. they think that 'bread is only bread' they don'tbelieve in the Doctrine of Transubstatiation, apparently....). There is noprecedent for this in Verdi's score, of course, and most of us found itrather - well, puzzling, if not downright annoying. The only explanationwe could think of was that it was supposed to represent the 'authenticity'of an actual auto-da-fe - that is, most members of the crowd wouldn't havebeen able to read, so they needed to be told what the heretics were beingcondemned for.(They refused to repent, by the way). It did seem anunnecessary intrusion into the scene, though.
I want also to draw attention to the scene between Philip and the GrandInquisitor, surely one of the most spine-chilling scenes in allopera....Eric Halfvarson is an experienced Grand Inquisitor, and conveyedvery well the character of a man totally devoid of human feelings - unlikePhilip, who has a human side, as we have just heard.......
To sum up (not before time, perhaps!) - another triumph for Antonio Pappano. As far as the singers were concerned, the outstanding voices werethose of Furlanetto and Keenlyside, whose lyric baritone is ideal for the role of Posa.
***************************************************************Dr. Jane Susanna ENNIS
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