Beethoven: Fidelio
Metropolitan Opera, New York
December 22, 2000
Terrific singing highlighted the Metropolitan Opera’ s interesting new production of Beethoven’s Fidelio. Soprano Karita Matilla as Leonore/Fidelio sounded ravishing and looked the part of a woman masquerading as a young man. Her voice is one of the most beautiful one hears today, and her production is impressive in every part of her range from low to high. The quality of her voice is more lyric than dramatic, but she had plenty of voice for the role. Her coloratura facility made this highly demanding music sound easy, and there was no difficulty hearing her over the orchestra in any part of her range. Her hair had been cut short for the role, and and she completed the masculine illusion by wearing minimal make-up. She gets the award for soprano fitness, as well, having to scale a ladder from the top of the Met’s very high stage down to the floor in the prison scene.
Tenor Roland Wagenführer as Leonora’s imprisoned husband, Florestan, did much lovely singing, though his voice sounded lighter than one is used to in this role, and his top had a hint of strain, as if he were a little nervous. He may well have been, given that this was his first performance of this role at the Metropolitan.
Soprano Hei Kyung Hong sang and acted perfectly as Marzelline, the young woman who is in love with the attractive young man, Fidelio. Beethoven’s music is never easy for a singer to negotiate, even in this “light” role, but she made it seem easy to sing. Her tone was lustrous, and she was a natural as a carefree, beautiful young woman early in the opera and also convincing as the betrayed and heartbroken woman at the end of the opera when Fidelio was revealed to all as Leonora. This superb singer is more than ready to take on heavier, more demanding assignments at the Met. She has proven, in performances of Mimi and Handel’s Cleopatra, that she is one of the Met’s greatest treasures and it is time to let her shine in worthy roles. Is there a Violetta in her future, Mr. Volpe?
Bass Rene Pape has an absolutely beautiful voice which is a pleasure to listen to in any role he sings. He didn’t disappoint as Rocco, Marzelline’s father, though on stage he did not appear to be much older than than his daughter. Baritone Sergei Leiferkus was excellent as the evil prison governor, Don Pizarro. His voice is not conventionally beautiful, but it carries and is just the right quality for the operatic bad-guy, and he clearly relishes playing the role. Bass James Morris was luxury casting in the small role of Don Fernando, the Minister of State whose good timing enables the happy ending. Tenor Matthew Polenzani sang well in the role of Jacquino, the poor young man who is sweet on Marzelline but must play second fiddle to the man-woman Fidelio. He communicated effectively an emotion beyond the obvious jealousy of a rival — an inarticulate distrust of and unease being around this androgynous young man. His lyric voice has an attractive tone and carried easily in the house.
The production by Jürgen Flimm, with sets by Robert Israel and costumes by Florence von Gerkan, is set in an indeterminate contemporary time and place. The set uses the huge space of the Metropolitan Opera stage effectively, with the cells in the prison scenes on three levels going to the top of the stage. The second act underground prison cell scene was especially effective (if lit far too dimly to see much of Florestan’s singing), with a huge ladder running from the bottom to top of the stage, down which Leonore and Rocco must descend, and up which Rocco must climb.
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra under James Levine sounded marvelous as usual, and the men of the chorus sang impressively in the demanding first act men’s chorus music.
—Margaret Harrison
Berlioz: L’Enfance du Christ
Santa Fe Symphony and Chorus
Santa Fe, New Mexico
December 17, 2000
Before any other part of this trilogy was written, Berlioz wrote The Shepherds’ Chorus of Part II as a joke. He wanted to fool the critics of his day into thinking it was a piece written in 1679, and he succeeded in convincing all but one. Later, he continued to write both the words and the music to complete this piece in a style quite different from his Requiem or Te Deum, but somewhat allied to that of his Damnation of Faust.
In L’Enfance du Christ there are no huge choruses and the orchestration is anything but massive. It is a meditation on the Nativity in all its simplicity, utilizing a style that portrays the human frailty of the characters involved.
The piece opens with a sung narrative, and tenor Patrick Marques established himself as a clarion-toned first-class interpreter of this type of music.
Wilbur Pauley, as Herod, has a rather dry voice which he used to good effect in portraying the character. A fine vocal actor, he gave the audience a picture of this self-aggrandizing monarch and, as his voice warmed up, his low notes increased in resonance.
Loren A. Jacobson was effective in the small part of Polydorus, while tenor Patrick Gibson acquitted himself well as the Centurion. The latter singer, a conductor in his own right, also translated the libretto and wrote the program notes.
As the voice of Marie, Janice Hall’s silver-toned soprano flooded the hall with its beauty. Though this role is low for a soprano, this did not seem to bother her in the least. Her lustrous, soaring tones expressively described the plight of the Virgin Mother travelling through the desert, while her smooth legato and impeccable French were a joy to hear.
Brad Alexander, the baritone who sang Joseph, is a far less experienced artist, and his voice did not seem to project as well as it should have in this all-purpose hall, although it blended well with Ms. Hall’s in the exquisite duets for Marie and Joseph.
Ms. Hall and Mr. Alexander were able to convey the drama of the piece as the Hebrew family arrives at Sais, desperately needing food, water, and a place to rest. As the father of the Ishmaelite family, Louis Lebherz used his resonant bass to portray the welcome reassurance offered the Holy Family in his home.
Linda Raney’s amateur chorus acquitted itself well in their most difficult unaccompanied passages, showing that they had worked hard on this piece. The high harmonies among the women’s voices were especially enchanting.
The Santa Fe Symphony is not a full-time organization, and because of this, its tonal quality cannot be compared to major orchestras. It is, however, a fine group of professional musicians who play with accuracy and attention to detail. Steven Smith, who is assistant conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, also does an excellent job in Santa Fe. This performance marked the New Mexico premiere of this great work.
—Maria Nockin
