Like all Cilea’s works, Adriana Lecouvreur
exists only on the fringes of the operatic repertoire. Dramatically
speaking it’s a load of old hokum, but it is chock-full
of tunes to die for. Covent Garden’s only previous production
had been in 1906, but in 2010 they brought in a new one from
David McVicar and showered it with stars. Having done the rounds
in cinemas, the results now arrive on DVD. They’re worth
a wait of 104 years.
I was lucky enough to be in the theatre on the night this production
was filmed. The sense of anticipation in the audience was febrile
and in the end it turned out to be a red-letter night in the
Royal Opera’s recent history. How could it fail to be
when they pulled out the stops to procure possibly the finest
lyric soprano and tenor in the world today? Unless you have
a decent Adriana there is no point in even starting with this
piece, and Angela Gheorghiu is an inspired piece of casting
for the heroine. Apparently, mounting the piece at Covent Garden
was her idea, and she personally requested McVicar as the director.
Every inch the diva in real life, she loves playing the fragile,
wounded heroine, the actress who wowed the Comédie
Française with her stage presence but was unlucky
in real life. If anything, this role suits Gheorghiu even better
than that of Tosca, the other great diva of the stage. While
her Tosca can sometimes be self-conscious or held back, she
loves ascending the heights for Adriana. The voice is in fantastic
shape here too: rich and bloomy with a pearly edge that really
sets it off. She sounds imperious yet humble in her first act
aria, Io son l’umile ancella, commanding the stage
with supreme confidence lifting every phrase and achieving a
gorgeous quality of luxury in her top notes. Poveri fiori
in the final act is shot through with vulnerability and loss
without losing the beauty of tone. Throughout she acts most
convincingly - not something you’ll hear said of her very
often! - especially in her Act 3 monologue where she denounces
the Princess, her rival.
Next to her is the most thrilling tenor we have today, Jonas
Kaufmann. There is an excitement about his voice and stage presence
that is infectious, and it’s hard not to get swept up
in the experience of watching him. His first entry in Act 1
is exhilarating as he strides onto the stage singing the heroine’s
name, and then goes into a thrilling account of La dolcissima
effighe. Every phrase is endowed phrase with dark beauty.
He does the music the great honour of taking it seriously! Kaufmann’s
voice has a low-lying, baritonal quality that gives everything
he sings an extra element of sensuousness, a real audio treat
for the listener. He is as capable of sounding thrilling (Il
russo Mencikoff) as he is of sounding jaded and weary (L’anima
ha stanca). The real highlights of the set are the pair’s
duets. The lovely Act 4 duet where Maurizio proposes marriage
is gently communicative, almost apologetic, while their Act
2 duet catches fire in a way that lifted me out of my seat in
the theatre and felt just as good on the screen. Listen, by
the way, to the astonishing diminuendo that Kaufmann
achieves on the final note of Act 4: pure class.
As the Princess, Olga Borodina chews up the scenery, singing
with a voice so commanding that it takes you aback when you
first hear her. She is a thrilling villainess, inhabiting every
nasty bone of this character but so exciting to watch and listen
to that she never loses the audience’s interest. In total
contrast is the hugely sympathetic Michonnet of Alessandro Corbelli,
warm and humane, singing with wounded beauty throughout and
evoking a marvellous sense of quiet loss in his unreturned love
for Adriana. The lesser roles are all well taken and the actors
in the Comédie Française have a crackling
sense of spontaneity to their ensembles.
McVicar’s production is another treat, this time for the
eyes, and sets the production squarely in its period (early
18th century France) but with the clever twist of
placing a replica wooden theatre at the heart of the stage action.
We see the theatre rotated at various angles in each scene:
in the third act we see the proscenium front-on and the stage
makes a perfect venue for the ballet at the prince’s party.
Angled slightly, it forms the entrance for the Act 2 shenanigans
at the house of La Duclos. Viewed from the side it provides
the backstage area of the Comédie Française,
allowing us to see Adriana as she delivers her monologue. It’s
very effectively used in the final scene where we see it from
behind, stripped bare to reflect the forlorn and loveless state
of Adriana’s life. As she dies her former colleagues draw
near on the stage to take their farewell of her. As a motif
it unifies the action brilliantly, as well as forming some meta-theatrical
comment on the characters’ grasp of the relationship between
real life and make-believe. The costume designs are outstandingly
well observed and sumptuously beautiful. The whiff of greasepaint
hangs over the whole event. We also get a delectable ballet
for the Judgement of Paris in the third act.
The orchestra play brilliantly and the balance against the singers
is captured in excellent surround sound. Mark Elder’s
conducting is clear and precise, moulding each phrase with love,
be it the jollity of the opening scene or, most effectively,
the anaemic prelude to Act 4, which feels only a few steps away
from that of La Traviata. The bonus feature, by the way,
is of very high quality, featuring highly informative interviews
with Gheorghiu, Kaufmann, Elder and McVicar, as well as designer
Charles Edwards. It gives lots of insights into the process
behind putting the production together.
All told, then, this set is an absolute winner. It even supersedes
Levine’s Sony CDs as an overall first choice for this
opera in any format. It’s brilliantly sung and acted,
and it looks fantastic too. I loved it, not only because it
brought back memories of a great evening, but because it shows
off two stars at the peak of their form. It will provide any
open-minded listener with 2½ hours of unalloyed operatic
pleasure. Go ahead and treat yourself.
Simon Thompson
Adriana Lecouvreur - Angela Gheorghiu (soprano) 
[2 DVDs: 150:00]