Showing posts with label Matthew Polenzani. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Matthew Polenzani. Show all posts

Tuesday, 26 January 2016

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ MetOpera: Live in HD: Les Pecheurs de Perles (The Pearl Fishers) at the Gate Cinema


Picture from the Huffington Post
Firstly, it should be said that this is an original production from the English National Opera (ENO) in London. Whilst sitting at the Gate cinema in Notting Hill, I noticed there was barely any mention of it, and although it may have seemed like a brand new revival for New York, it certainly wasn't for London audiences. On top of the so-called novelty was the performance of Bizet's Ceylon romantic opera, which hadn't been staged at the Metropolitan Opera for 100 years. In 1919, Enrico Caruso and Giuseppe De Luca sung as the two best friends who fell in love with the same Hindu priestess (Frieda Hempel), which was, sadly, only performed three times in the run.

Back in my mind I recalled some of my concerns I had about the ENO production I saw in 2014. Director Penny Woolcock, set designer Dick Bird and lightening designer Jen Schriever were here again to regal their 'traditional', silky, smooth Eastern pearl-diving village, with its aquatic, ocean shimmer. The French words, the romantic libretto, and steaming story line of secret lovers hiding behind society - ultimately taboo - is why many opera lovers adore the opera so much. Second to Carmen, Les Pecheurs de Perles is another operatic success composed by Bizet.
The chorus and soloists were dressed in autumn coloured sarongs and saris, and compared to the static London production there was more magnetism and energy from the performers here. Perhaps that was due to the pressures of HD Live: some performers chose to improvise their acting for the camera, for those close up shots.

As a cinema viewer, I was under the powers of Live in HD director, Matthew Diamond and his camera men who were directing my eyes away from any tetchy scene changes going on in the background, which the Met audience were privy to. (There were no laddish conversations going onbackstage like the ENO production. Phew!) Undoubtedly with a larger budget, the Met managed to get 59 Productions to coordinate their projection designs, which, with aeroplane machinery, allowed dancers and acrobats to swim in the air with animated bubbles following their tracks.

Diana Damrau sung as the pure and scared protector of the village Leïla - not allowed to give into temptation. Yet she had already fallen in love with Nadir (Matthew Polenzani) whose best friend, Zurga (Mariusz Kwiecien) was the leader of the town. He too is in love with Leïla. Both Zurga and Nadir promise to make friends and put their fight over Leïla behind them, yet Nadir doesn't abide. 
Picture by Ken Howard
Polenzani sung 'Je crois entrendre encore' with supreme confidence as the starry-eyed Nadir. There's a hopeful, wanderer's quality about his singing, which is, arguably, one of the most memorable parts of the entire production. Damrau's vocals displayed relative ease in the colouratura sections. She gave a convincing performance as the Hindu priestess lost to love's ways, though Damrau seemed to get carried away with too much delicate vibrato; I wasn't sure if she was simply showing off or deliberately singing like this to prove how fragile and naive her character was. With her partner, Polenzani, their voices blended with interesting colouring and phrasing, though, looking back, they didn't seem to make their clandestine relationship look especially romantic. I'd rather give the credit to the Met orchestra, maestro Gianandrea Noseda and Bizet for keeping the theatrical atmosphere sweet and dreamy.

The town is under the control of Zurga, performed by baritone Kwiecien. He's the good guy. He hands out money to the community and considers what is best for their livelihood. Yet, he loses out on the girl of his dreams and loses his best friend's loyalty on the way. Kwiecien's Zurga is like a captain - controlled, calm and subdued. With Polenzani, the best friend's duet is performed with panache and is another sparkling gem in the production. Standing on different ends of the stage, they sing 'Au fond du temple saint' walking slowly, closer and closer together, breaking the social boundaries that once separated them. 
Picture by Sara Krulwich
In the second half of the opera, Kwiecien and Damrau sung emphatically about love, but for different people. The dynamic is entirely different; kindness and innocence has been destroyed.  Zurga no longer respects his best friend for betraying him and he denounces Leïla, condemning both of them to death. With a cigarette, a clean washed shirt and swig of alcohol Kwiecien's Zurga tries to calm himself down, but is riled up by Leïla's presence, begging him to let Nadir live. Back at the Gate Cinema, it's an aggressive and scary sight. Damrau's singing is passionate, while Kwiecien is red in the face; jealous and angered, and, just, about, manages to sing his lines, clearly and fluidly.

In the pit, the Met Orchestra were tremendous, taking fine direction from conductor Noseda. Simultaneously the prelude was tender and powerful . Together they brought out the luscious lyricism of Bizet's gorgeous opera. I find it difficult to comment about the music in detail given that I was depending on the Gate Cinema's speakers. Overall, I can say it gets a thumbs up from me. Let's just hope the Metropolitan Opera doesn't wait another 100 years to show another performance of The Pearl Fishers.

For more information on this production at the Met Opera, please see http://www.metopera.org/Season/2015-16-Season/pecheurs-de-perles-bizet-tickets/ 

Click here to check out full showings and listening at the Picture House, Gate cinema.  

Click here for my review of the ENO's production of The Pearl Fishers, 2014 

Click here for my review of Live in HD production of Berg's Lulu, 2015 at Curzon Cinema, Chelsea

Click here for my review of Live in HD production of Othello, 2015  at Curzon Cinema, Chelsea
 


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Location: London, UK

Monday, 3 November 2014

REVIEW of Martin Kušej's IDOMENEO ★★★ Shark without enough bite


Sophie Bevan (Ilia) and Matthew Polenzani (Idomeneo) 
By Mary Grace Nguyen 
Mozart’s earlier opera Idomeneo first performed in 1781, 5 years prior to Le Nozze de Figaro, is regarded as one of his maturer operatic works, which is honey-soaked in mythology, and tales of rulership and fatherhood. Sea monsters, princesses and Greek soldiers permeate the opera’s sublime score; we find similar musical traces in some of his later works including Don Giovanni and Requiem. Unfortunately Austrian director Martin Kušej and his regietheatre (translated as 'director’s theatre' in German) production with Annette Murschetz’s minimalistic, rotating stage - set in no particular time or space - let the show down through its sheer lack of imagination and inability to inspire the audience.

 Yet Kušej would argue that despite being lumped with the regietheatre crowd, he works collaboratively with production teams and doesn’t understand what regietheatre means, anyway.

For a start there's no hint of a divine creature in this production, but that of a man. Kusej says, “... I don’t believe in gods. Religion, ideology — it’s all a fake.” So, we set off with a re-written story. Consider that the original is based on King Idomeneo’s vow to the god Neptune who must sacrifice the life of the first human he sets his eyes on to survive a sea storm; luckily he lives but, shamefully, his son Idamante is the victim. For Kušej's production religion is ditched for realpolitik and Idomeneo rationalises the killing of his son for the sake of his throne.
Father and son: Polenzani & Franco Fagioli (Idamante)
The semi-love triangle remains intact nonetheless, which shakes up these political tension between Idamante and Ilia, daughter of Idomeneo’s enemy. Elettra, the adamant Princess of Argos and Greek ally to the King, wants to rule Greece with Idamante as her betrothed husband, which adds more juice to the dramatic piece, and some hearty arias.

 These slight amendments by Kušej foreshadow many of the arbitrary and abstract concepts thrown onto the stage: red flags to symbolise rebellion; children dressed in white vests and shorts to represent a prosperous future; heaps of bloodied clothes to depict the number of war dead; and a giant shark (as oppose to a mythic sea monster) to signify a made-up sacrilegious cult. This somewhat modern and minimalistic take of the opera, with large rooms sliding through with things you wouldn't expect, is quite artsy.  In some scenes of act I and act II they were set amongst rain, which was audibly enhanced simultaneously by the ROH's orchestra and brilliant conducting of Marc Minkowski. 

Yet these gestures were often enigmatic and ambiguous. The audience were left trying to fill in the gaps as oppose to figuring out what the so-called regietheatre director Kušej was trying to say about the opera. It seemed that the cold moving stage didn’t move me nor engage my interest as much as I would have liked particularly for a score brimming with warmth and affection. 
Austrian director Martin Kušej
The French conductor Minkowski and the Royal Opera House orchestra were on top form splendidly enchanting the audience with Mozart’s spellbinding work. American Tenor Matthew Polenzani acted as a Tony Soprano version of Idomeneo; yet his dewy voice painted another story about the love for his son and his position as a feeling King that was vocally distant from a tyrant. Sophie Bevan sang expressively and beautifully as the moral captive presented in a white sexy Athenian dress. Malin Byström needed a bit of warming up before easing into her role however. ‘Tutte nel cor vi sento furie del cupo averno’ was promising enough, but her diction wasn’t always clear. She perfectly clashed with Bevan’s physical image dressed in a navy tight-fitted business suit with red killer heels to match.

Also making their debuts to Covent Garden, amongst Minkowski and Kušej, were Argentinian counter-tenor Franco Fagioli as Idamante and French tenor Stanislas de Barbeyrac as Arbac. Kušej decided against a mezzo-soprano for Fagioli; a voice I haven’t heard of before, which also took some time to get used to but soon realised was rather fruity and unique once acquainted with. He was wobbly when he first entered the stage, yet this was redeemed as he continued to remain consistent and impassioned throughout. Barbeyrac  didn’t make a large impression on me, but I can imagine his singing becoming perfect as the production goes on. Full praise goes to all of the chorus singers for working hard on the stage being pulled and tugged by gangsters that were plucked out of a Matrix film or rock band like Kiss, minus the wild make up.
When asked by Neil Fisher whether he was worried about how he would be received by London audiences, Kušej said: “I don’t care. You can’t imagine what I’ve already survived” Kušej has been booed at and ridiculed for his extreme productions, which he regrettably also had to face this evening: the opening night. A particular choice by the Royal Opera House was to implement a long ballet sequence at the end with no singing or words, which was ghastly to watch but lovely to listen to. Just before this took place, these words were projected on the curtain: ‘the souls of the people are cold. Rigid...’ and I couldn't help but think that there were a few frozen members of the audience in the amphitheatre. That’s for sure. 
The production is showing until 24th November. Please click here for more information.
I purchased my own ticket for this viewing.
References: 


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