Other Links
Editorial Board
- UK Editors
- Roger Jones and John Quinn
Editors for The Americas - Bruce Hodges and Jonathan Spencer Jones
European Editors - Bettina Mara and Jens F Laurson
Consulting Editor - Bill Kenny
Assistant Webmaster -Stan Metzger
Founder - Len Mullenger
Google Site Search
SEEN AND HEARD UK OPERA REVIEW
Donizetti,
Lucrezia Borgia:
(sung in English). Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of
English National Opera/Paul Daniel. London Coliseum
31.1.2011 (CC)
Lucrezia Borgia - Claire Rutter
Gennaro - Michael Fabiano
Alfonso d’Este - Alastair Miles
Maffio Orsini - Elizabeth DeShong
Livoretto - Tyler Clarke
Vitellozzo - Johnathan Stoughton
Petrucci - Gerard Collett
Gazella - James Gower
Rustighello - Richard Roberts
Gubetta - Matthew Hargreaves
A Voice - Michael Burke
Director - Mike Figgis
Set Designer - Es Devlin
Costume Designer - Brigitte Reiffenstuel
Lighting Designer - Peter Mumford
Translation - Paul Daniel
English National Opera is doing sterling work for the cause of Donizetti. Jim
Pritchard reported on
The Elixir of Love in 2010,
while I wrote on Lucia de Lammermoor in
2010 and
2009. The 2009 Lucia was conducted by Paul Daniel, whose
conducting on that occasion impressed, as it did, mostly, for the present
Borgia. The orchestra was tight and focussed, and Daniel’s tempi were
well-chosen. He accompanied his singers with great sensitivity, while on a
larger scale giving the ongoing drama both direction and momentum. An off-stage
band was perfectly integrated into the on-stage action.
The unconventional met the conventional in Mike Figgis’ new production of
Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia. The goings-on on stage were pretty
conventional - but the second the screen dropped from above to portray events
around and prior to the action of the opera itself, anything went, and often
what went were clothes. Figgis is known for Leaving Las Vegas and
Internal Affairs, although he has a background in theatre, music and the
visual arts. The evening begins with a film, an introduction to the Borgia
dynasty: Pope Alexander VI (Lucrezia’s father), Cesare (her brother) and
Lucrezia herself (as a teenager). Figgis himself has referred to this film as a
sort of “Meet the Borgias”. The film also follows the courtesans’ preparations
for a bacchanalian Borgia orgy, just so we see what sort of dysfunctional family
we’re dealing with here.
There are three more films inserted into Donizetti’s ongoing score. The second,
“Calderon”, occurs between the Prologue and Act 1 Scene 1 and centres on
Cesare’s obsession with Lucrezia; the third is immediately post-interval and
shows Lucrezia about to marry her third husband – she needs to prove her virgin
status, however, and this despite being three months pregnant. Finally, the
fourth film is a “recreation of two famous paintings of the period”. It is all
done with an expert eye and each film grips in its own way. Figgis’ intent was
to give “the opera some historical context and also function as the memory of
the central character of the opera, Lucrezia Borgia”. As such he succeeds, often
beautifully. Indeed, it is the beauty of the film-making that survives in the
memory, rather than any more controversial aspects.
Figgis’ way with the stage itself, too, is remarkable, made reality through Es
Devlin’s sets and Peter Mumford’s lighting. At one point, a red carpet, lit to
make the red as lurid as possible, almost blinds the eye and looks like a great,
bloody gash in the stage. The deliberate darkness that surrounds characters
seems to reflect the darkness of the characters and the story itself.
After the first film, therefore, the opera’s Prologue (set a quarter of a
century later) might seem rather tame, given the musical vocabulary at
Donizetti’s disposal. But once the eyes and ears adjusted, one became aware of
the lovely, light soprano of Claire Rutter. Throughout, Rutter was most
impressive vocally, tackling Donizetti’s demanding writing with real agility
(she also has the ability to deliver a near-perfect trill). Rutter really came
into her own in the final stages of the opera, when everything comes into focus,
plot-wise, and tragedy rears its head as her son Gennaro (taken from her at
birth) dies in her arms. The part of Gennaro was sung with aplomb and verve by
Michael Fabiano, a young singer with a notable future ahead of him. Some
bleatiness to his voice was noticeable later in the opera, possibly due to
nerves and this could be ironed out later in the run. Fabiano has stage
presence, though. Mezzo Elizabeth DeShong was making her ENO debut here as
Maffio Orsini and did so in remarkably confident style.
Great to see and hear the wonderful bass of
Alastair Miles, an ENO favourite, here in the part of Alfonso d’Este, still
magnificently resonant of voice and with wonderful stage presence born of huge
experience. The smaller parts were all more than adequately taken. The chorus,
dressed in black acted as a sort of Greek Chorus, or, as in Act 1, a great,
black accusing mass. It was a most effective technique, for the chorus gained
real dramatic strength in this way.
Whether the contrast between the films and the generally conventional staging
(with its fair share of stand and deliver arias) was successful has divided
critical opinion. Personally, I found the opposition between the two remarkably
stimulating, with the visuals adding to rather than detracting from Donizetti’s
score. This is not an easy night at the opera, but it is a rewarding one.
This is also the first collaboration between ENO and Sky 3D. On February 23rd,
the first live opera in 3D will be broadcast as a “quadcast” (live on Sky Arts
2, Sky 3D and into selected cinemas in 3D around the UK alongside a behind the
scenes channel controlled by Mike Figgis himself). Groundbreaking stuff, to be
sure.
Colin Clarke
I remain unsure of the translation (by Paul Daniel
himself). Rhymes are often forced (sometimes almost laughably so)