SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

SEEN AND HEARD UK OPERA  REVIEW
 

Gounod, Roméo et Juliette:  Soloists, chorus and orchestra of The Royal Opera. Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. 26.10.2010 (JPr)

Piotr Beczala  (Roméo) and Nino Machaidze (Juliette)

Picture © The Royal Opera / Bill Cooper

 

What do you get if you mix two people from Georgia, 1 Mexican, 1 Pole, 1 Frenchman, 1 Ukrainian, 1 person from China, 1 Israeli and 5 British people? You’d probably be right in thinking it is an English Premier League football squad but it is also the latest ‘triumph’ of the Royal Opera’s casting department.

 

Nicolas Joël’s production of Roméo et Juliette was first seen at Covent Garden in 1994 and has – with apparently good reason – only been revived once since then as a star-vehicle for Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu in 2000. It should have been the perfect antidote to a rather dismal production of Faust – perhaps Gounod’s only other popular opera – recently staged at English National Opera. Ultimately though the evening passed pleasantly enough it will leave no lasting impression on those seeing it … and some might indeed be longing for one of ENO’s Atom bombs.

Though his was my first Gounod Roméo et Juliette I found myself more fascinated by reading about his life in the – more than usually interesting – programme book, than by the opera itself. I hadn’t realised the French composer was so famed for his oratorios, had spent so time in England (indeed he was the first conductor of what is now the Royal Choral Society) and was deemed, by his peers, as being too Wagnerian. It is probably no coincidence that Roméo et Juliette begins with the same chord as Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer.

Despite Shakespeare’s story of his star-crossed lovers being a familiar one, it was a surprise how many of the audience were to be seen reading the synopsis in the programme. Indeed Gounod’s librettists are mostly faithful to the ultimate tragedy of this fated pair apart from the liberties taken with Mercutio’s ‘Queen Mab’ speech; then there is the introduction of Stéphano, Romeo’s page - who is given a fey Act II aria and is the catalyst of the ensuing cataclysmic brawl - and finally, Juliet wakes-up before Romeo expires.

Nicolas Joël’s production is distinctly old-fashioned with Carlo Tommasi’s designs consisting of just a few monoliths which with a bit of ‘dressing’ can be manoeuvred to represent the relevant parts of the Capulets’ residence or Frère Laurent’s cell. Dimly-lit throughout by Bruno Boyer it becomes more interesting when it evokes the Cathedral setting for the wedding and the crypt scene … but I wondered why it was Siena Cathedral we saw and not Verona’s. Add to this medieval renaissance costumes of the most classically-kitsch kind, mostly pastel colours and russet browns, as well as, stock stand-and-deliver gestures and a static chorus that just sang as if it was taking part in a Tableau vivant: it was clear that personenregie was being totally ignored and we were back with opera as it was performed in the early twentieth century.

These sets and costumes reminded me of Ezio Frigerio’s designs for the much-love production of the Romeo and Juliet by Rudolf Nureyev. I was even more reminded of this by the chic doublet and hose that Romeo first appears in that was something I could imagine Nureyev having worn … and this was abetted by Piotr Beczala often striking a pose on stage with arm outstretched as though he was just about to leap off the ground and begin his solo.

 

Beczala is a tenor that clearly the Royal Opera wishes to promote and I have always enjoyed his performances since seeing him first in the title role of Faust at Covent Garden. His Romeo was sung in a thoroughly competent, beautifully-controlled way but overall it was, just a touch, dull and insipid, something that may be more Gounod’s fault than Beczala’s. Performances of these types of bel canto roles by the great tenors of an earlier generation, such as Nicolai Gedda and Alfredo Kraus, could often seem mannered and bland too. His Act II romance Ah! lève-toi, soliel! was elegantly phrased, although throughout the evening I expected brighter top notes from him that he never quite delivered.

The best of the rest of the cast were Alfie Boe’s steely Tybalt, a stern Frère Laurent, over-cast with the bass voice of a world-class Wotan, Vitalij Kowaljow, and the gravitas the tall, dominant figure of Darren Jeffrey brought to Capulet. Stéphane Degout (Mercutio) and Ketevan Kemoklidze (Stéphano) sang well enough but seemed unnecessary imports, though Degout, the French baritone, unsurprisingly was the only singer really at ease with the French language of the libretto.

Nino Machaidze, who has sung Juliette with Piotr Beczala at Salzburg, gives no evidence to counter the argument that the coloratura soprano is an endangered species. Far from acting the virginal Juliette, she flung herself around the stage like Violetta in La traviata and although she has all the notes are at her disposal, there is too much effort behind their production and consequently her tone is a bit too strident and harsh. She had enough effective moments - most notably in the Act IV aria when she takes the potion she is given to simulate death - that given the right roles she might have a reasonable career ahead of her.

Fortunately in the pit it was clear that Daniel Oren fully believed in the ecstatic grandeur of Gounod’s sweeping, luminous melodies. Not only that but he also drew out from the Royal Opera House orchestra - that was on top form - some delicate daubs of colour worthy of a French Impressionist painter. The Royal Opera Chorus was on their usual top form and this I now take for granted.

Sadly, though there are bigger draws to come, the Royal Opera’s new season appears to have got off to a sluggish start, ticket sales-wise. After many empty seats with the operas early in September, there were a number of unsold tickets for this performance, particularly in the most expensive, and lucrative, parts of the house. It is clear that since money is tight punters are taking more care with how they spend it and this rarely-performed opera, with it cast of unknowns, isn’t that attractive to the Royal Opera’s usual clientele.

Jim Pritchard