Somewhat like their Vienna
set, this Domingo box set gathers together three very attractive
performances featuring the great tenor, as first among equals.
These are traditional productions that have a lot going for
them.
Any French Grand Opera is a rarity nowadays, so if you’re going
to do one you might as well do it properly. Thankfully, that’s
exactly what this 1988 production of L’Africaine from
San Francisco does. Lotfi Mansouri’s staging is grandly traditional,
embracing the period and style and satisfying the most conservative
elements of its audience. Don’t expect groundbreaking insights,
but that’s not really what you go to this genre for, is it?
The Council Scene of the first act is pleasingly ostentatious,
the deck of the ship for Act 3 is impressive, and the scene
before the Indian temple is quietly grand. The same is true
for the costumes, though the hoop dresses given to the European
ladies suggest more 19th than 16th century.
The story of Vasco da Gama’s discovery of the sea route to India,
and the Indian Queen who falls in love with him - confusingly
referred to in the title as the African Girl
- is clunky and all over the place dramatically. It’s not helped
by the fact that Meyerbeer died before the first performance
so he didn’t have a chance to revise it or slim it down. The
music, too, is rather twee in places, at times succumbing to
the worst excesses of 19th Century Orientalism. However,
there are some very attractive moments, most famously the great
tenor aria, O Paradis. There are also some great duets
and a diverting Liebestod for the heroine in the final
scene. Domingo himself is on cracking form here, and the production
might as well have been built around him. He embraces the part
of Vasco with no embarrassment about its deficiencies. In doing
so he turns him into an exciting, if rather unattractive, hero.
He sings O Paradis with fervent passion and brings
the house down in doing so, but his duets with Selika in the
Fourth Act are just as exciting. Shirley Verrett gets off to
a rather unsteady start as Selika, making heavy weather of her
exotic Act 2 aria, Sur mes genoux. That sad, her interpretation
grows in stature and she sings beautifully in the scenes where
she renounces Vasco for the sake of Ines. Her husky voice is
good at conveying the otherness of the Indian Queen, but I couldn’t
shake off a feeling that she was ever-so-slightly past it by
the time this was recorded. Not so Ruth Ann Swenson, whose purity
and fullness contrasts her well with Verrett, singing two wonderful
arias at opposite ends of the opera. Justino Díaz is a little
more troubled, though. Despite some excellent singing of the
sea shanty of Act 3, it is rather too apparent that his best
days were behind him by 1988. Still, it’s good to have a successful
DVD of L’Africaine, and you’re unlikely to see another
coming along any time soon. If you want to explore then you
can buy this one with confidence.
The same is true for this lovely Gioconda. This ultra-conservative
production is in true stand-and-deliver style, with painted
flats and whimsical costumes. It allows the story to be told
clearly and directly and it isn’t ashamed to take this opera
for the blood-and-thunder melodrama it is. Eva Marton, whose
voice has always come across more successfully on live than
on studio recordings, here sounds fantastic. The big voice is
shaded down to evoke Gioconda’s vulnerability. She plays a most
convincing victim, while exuding just enough sex appeal to make
it obvious why Barnaba is interested in her. Domingo is at the
top of his game here, obviously much younger and more vigorous
than on his 2002 studio recording for EMI. Cielo e Mar
will knock your socks off, but the rest of the role also benefits
from the sheer virility of his singing, almost making
Enzo an attractive and believable character. Manuguerra’s Barnaba
is sly and malevolent, though less impressive than Rydl’s imperious
Alvise. Only Semtschuk’s Laura is a little anonymous, but this
won’t detract from your enjoyment of a very successful production.
Fischer manages to draw a beautifully warm sound from the Vienna
strings and the sense of a great occasion is well captured.
Back to San Francisco for Samson, and here the production
is, if anything, even more lavish than for L’Africaine.
The stage sets are reminiscent of a Hollywood Biblical epic,
and Nicolas Joel pulls out all the stops (literally!) for the
final scene in the temple of Dagon, which collapses most convincingly.
Domingo sings well in the first two acts, but rises to a thrilling
climax in the prison scene before pulling the house down at
the end. Verrett is a convincing temptress and uses her wiles
effectively, sounding much better than she did in L’Africaine.
The whole mood of the production changes when she appears in
Act 1 and Mon coeur s’ouvre is the centrepiece of a
commanding performance. Wolfgang Brendel is an equally commanding
High Priest, though he has to suffer a range of ever more ridiculous
costumes. However, with singing of such quality you can even
forgive the enormous bouffant under which Domingo has to sing
the first two acts. The choral singing, very important in this
opera, is also very impressive and my only criticism is that
the stereo sound is rather boxy and makes it difficult to pick
up inner details of the texture. If you want a solidly traditional
production, complete with idols and writhing temple dancers,
then you’ll find a lot to enjoy here.
So, to finish where I started, Arthaus have again gathered a
trilogy of Domingo performances that showcase the great tenor
at his best. They also succeed in averting the danger of a one-man-show.
These are great ensemble performances of highly enjoyable operas
and the price is very good value too. This is a set to indulge
in.
Simon Thompson
Recording details
Giacomo MEYERBEER (1791-1864)
L’Africaine
Sélika – Shirley Verrett (mezzo)
Vasco da Gama - Plácido Domingo (tenor)
Inès – Ruth Ann Swenson (soprano)
Nélusko – Justino Díaz (baritone)
Chorus, Ballet and Orchestra of the San Francisco Opera/Maurizio
Arena
Stage production: Lotfi Mansouri
rec. live, San Francisco Opera House, 1988
Region Code: 0; Aspect Ratio 4:3; LPCM Stereo [2 DVDs: 194:00]
Amilcare PONCHIELLI (1834-1886)
La Gioconda
La Gioconda – Eva Marton (soprano)
Enzo – Plácido Domingo (tenor)
Barnaba – Matteo Manuguerra (baritone)
Laura – Ludmila Semtschuk (mezzo)
Alvise – Kurt Rydl (bass)
La Cieca – Margarita Lilowa (contralto)
Chorus, Ballet and Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera/Adam
Fischer
Stage Production by Filippo Sanjust
rec. live, Vienna State Opera, 1986
Region Code: 0; Aspect Ratio 4:3; LPCM Stereo [169:00]
Camille SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1921)
Samson et Dalila
Samson – Plácido Domingo (tenor)
Dalila – Shirley Verrett (mezzo)
High Priest of Dagon – Wolfgang Brendel (bass)
Chorus and Orchestra of the San Francisco Opera/Julius Rudel
Stage production by Nicolas Joel
rec. live, San Francisco Opera House, 1981
Region Code: 2 & 5; Aspect Ratio 4:3; LPCM Stereo [111:00]
ARTHAUS MUSIK 
107511
[4 DVDs: 474:00]