French television viewers who tuned
in Tuesday night to France 2 to watch a live performance of Romeo
et Juliette from the summer festival in the lovely Southern French
town of Orange found themselves watching a different drama played out
on stage alongside the Shakespearean story. Instead of the Tuesday night
performance, viewers were shown a tape of the opening night performance
on Saturday night. There, while running offstage after Act III, Scene
One, superstar tenor Roberto Alagna can be seen to badly sprain his
ankle and had to finish the performance in obvious pain and nearly immobile.
Sharing the starring roles with his wife, Angela Gheorghiu, this most
famous operatic couple were compelled to improvise the staging of the
final two acts and, in spite of all, delivered a passionate and triumphant
performance.
The Festival Chorègies d'Orange,
presenting the second and final opera of the summer, in the impressive,
acoustically excellent 8,600 seat amphitheater from the Roman era, had
selected this opera to be broadcast on national television because of
the star power of its acclaimed, and reputedly difficult and demanding,
couple. But there was no sign of dilettante behavior this night and
the two stars, in top form, gave a performance that will remain long
in the memory (and likely on video and DVD). Gheorghiu was a commanding,
strongly sung Juliette and her voice soared along with the delicious
melodies of Gounod. Her always on-target singing and strong control
of the vocal line, while missing some of the fragility of the teenage
heroine, was a significant lyric achievement.
But the real laurels go to the suffering
Romeo who sang with such unrestrained passion and accuracy that it could
have been the performance of a lifetime. His affinity with the French
language - his birth language - and his effortless, golden tones reminded
this listener of other legendary interpreters of this repertory like
Alfredo Krause. Sensing that this was an 'occasion' he poured out his
feelings and sang with a superb vocal artistry that sometimes eludes
him on stage. The audience clearly appreciated his artistic commitment
and urgently felt performance and cheered lustily when he was carried
on to take his bows at the end.
This particular performance, likely
chosen by the TV people for the real-life human drama involved, will
add to the list of "show must go on" legends in opera and might mitigate
some of the bruised feelings of some opera lovers who have suffered
disappointing cancellations by these two. It is also a tribute to the
theatrical skills of the lovebirds, both of who gave compelling performances
despite having to toss out the weeks of careful rehearsals and just
make do on stage. It is also a measure of the magic that can be created
when a well-known masterpiece gets that added rush of adrenaline to
give it new meaning and immediacy.
It should not be forgotten that
there were others on stage that night. Acclaimed baritone Réne
Pape was the ultimate in luxury casting as Frëre Laurent and the
excellent Alain Vernhes was a sumptuous Capulet. The secondary roles,
including the fine Anna Steiger as Gertrude, were uniformly well sung.
Michel Plasson conducted his Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse and the
chorus of the Opera of Nice with excellent style and sensitivity to
the musical treasures in the score. The colorful costumes and the production,
by Nicholas JoÎl, were equal to the other world class productions
from Orange and, in sum, it was theater, and opera, at its best.
Frank Cadenhead
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