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Met Opera Live -  Massenet, Thaïs: Metropolitan Opera’s HD transmission live to the Barbican Cinema, London. 20.12.2008 (JPr)


The 2008/9 series of opera live from the Met continued with Thaïs,  a Massenet opera in three acts with  a libretto by Louis Gallet based on the novel of the same name by Anatole France. It is not as frequently performed as the same composer’s Manon and Werther which  on this, my first acquaintance with Thaïs through this broadcast, seem to be  vastly superior works. Ever since Mary Garden performed the work for the first time in 1907 at the Manhattan Opera House to make what one critic described as ‘the greatest entrance in the history of theatre’ many opera divas have tried and failed to give lasting popularity to the work. Here, sweeping down the huge circular staircase we saw Renée Fleming for whom these performances have been specifically staged after the opera’s 30 year absence from the Met stage.

The title role is extremely difficult and Massenet composed it for the voice of his muse, the American soprano Sybil Sanderson. He wrote nasty laughter, low lows and high highs up to D for the character and when Sanderson first performed it in Paris on 16 March 1894 there was an infamous ‘wardrobe malfunction’ exposing one of  her breasts at the end of Act I. Whether this was an intentional or not the incident gave the opera a lurid reputation which marginalised it in the repertory.

In 4th century Alexandria,  a devout monk Athanaël wanders in from the desert and attempts to convert Thaïs, a courtesan and devotee of Venus, to Christianity. He discovers, too late, that he has succumbed to her charms and lost his faith. This is the opera’s fairly simple story which takes over three and a half hours (including two intervals) to tell.

Massenet himself was inspired by Wagner though it is difficult to detect  this from a score that combines religious fervour with kitsch oriental melodies, ending up something like a more spiritual and serious version of The Desert Song. Thaïs’ lasting influence is the affect it must have had on Richard Strauss when he composed Salome as these two works share a lot of common features -  notably religious eroticism and a seductive song and dance for the leading female character. If truth be told the opera is possibly most famous these days for the Meditation for violin, an entr'acte played before a closed curtain between the scenes of Act II and now often performed as a stand alone concert piece.

There was no ‘malfunction’ during this performance showcasing Renée Fleming,  one of the few sopranos with the glamour and vocal allure to carry the role off in 2008 -. The production was by John Cox and was put on originally in 2002 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Fleming’s co-star then as now was baritone Thomas Hampson.

I had not expected to like Hampson but warmed to him. The feature of these Met broadcasts are the backstage interviews and after Act II,  Hampson revealed with a smile on his face that he enjoyed playing ‘Guys with serious dilemma, complex very unpleasant people’ and Athanaël is certainly one of those; Hampson considered him a ‘fundamentalist’. His tone and expression changed little at first and becauseThaïs sings of his eyes being ‘full of fire’  I wish he had shown some of that. However as the opera progressed,  the  more eloquent his baritone became and the more his torment seemed  painfully realistic.

I expected to love Fleming but became an increasing annoyance to me and made me question what the point of a ‘showcase’ like this is.  In essence,  she was giving a concert performance surrounded by the others involved in a staged opera. Her sole purpose seemed to be  to showcase herself in a series of gowns specially created for her for these performances by Christian Lacroix. These included an elaborate gold and red affair for her first appearance and a stiff, almost sculptured Victorian frock for her death scene. Worst of all was an off-the-shoulder number for her trek across the desert which wouldn’t have been out of place on the concert platform. Despite the fact that  her character is singing how her ‘flesh bleeds’ not a spot of blood or dirt was to be seen anywhere and her hair and make-up were pristine. To my mind, this sort of ‘star vehicle’ approach sets opera back nearly fifty years as an art form.

It must be admitted however that Fleming seemed to be in wonderful voice; at her best in Act II with her Mirror Aria (‘Dis-moi que je suis belle’) which was very moving. Throughout the whole evening she went through her wild swings of mood and melody effortlessly, pianissimos were floated gloriously and her maniacal laughter was a wonder. Fleming seems to suggest though, that when Thaïs is contemplating eternal life,  the greatest advantage for her will be that her beauty will not fade and there is little or  nothing  particularly spiritual about her conversion. Indeed she revealed, when talking about her character,  that Thais’ main concern was  the ‘Timeless problem – youth fades’.

A high point of the evening was the oasis scene at the start of Act III when the two principal characters sit side by side to sing their impassioned duet ‘Baigne d’eau mes mains’ . Here, Fleming produced a long, quiet high A as she disappeared in the monastery.

As Nicias who pays lots of money for Thaïs’ services,  the tenor, Michael Schade, has a thankless Herod-like role which he performed with considerable presence. As Palémon, the leader of the Cenobite monks,  Alain Vernhes also performed with grave conviction. Alyson Cambridge and Ginger Costa-Jackson were extremely attractive as Nicias’ servants.

Jesús López-Cobos’s reading of the score, never spoilt anything though he seemed a bit overly attentive to the needs of his singers, speeding up or slowing as they wanted and not as Massenet perhaps require. The composer’s oriental colours remained intact and López-Cobos’s brought out the deep emotions underpinning the frequent scenes between Thaïs and Athanaël. The Meditation with its familiar plaintive melody was played beautifully by the Met orchestra’s concert master David Chan , but did the performance really have to stop after this to give him an ovation?  The solo curtain call he got should have been enough.

As for John Cox‘s production,  I really wondered how much of his original intentions remained. It was a combination of some stylised desert settings and some early twentieth century updating which  seems to be the only way these days that directors feel they can portray decadence. Nicias’ house looked like the lobby of some grand hotel and although there is no dance for Thaïs the end of Act I, she kisses  the bound Athanaël, another  reminder of  Salome.

The burning of the courtesan’s house is a pathetic mix of red glow and smoke machine and it is hard to know what was happening at the end,  as Thaïs is seen sitting preparing for death on what seemed to be a well-decorated altar surrounded by candles. Fleming, Hampson, the other main characters and the chorus seem to have been given little stage direction at all. Basically all they knew was how to enter and exit and where to stand and sing.

Gary Halvorson is an experienced TV director but mostly, he just pointed the camera at the singer performing at any one time. The set was very noisy too, something  which  should have been recognised and some adjustments made; there was just too much squeaking and creaking that distracted from the music. Plácido Domingo – of all people – hosted the broadcast and seemed very uncomfortable with or without an autocue. Of all the things I could hear him do,  never did I ever expect to hear him say things  like ‘Learn more about Renée’s costumes after this intermission’.

Finally, I have to ask why the Met needs the interminable time the scene changes took here . Is  it because historic union practises mean that the set has  to be still so labour-intensive with dozens of people pushing and pulling away,  with no sign of any modern stage machinery in evidence anywhere?  An unintentional  funny moment – though not quite as startling as Sybil Sanderson’s apocryphal wardrobe incident - occurred  when one stagehand was caught unawares on camera and heard to utter a very choice expletive!

Jim Pritchard

The Barbican Met Opera Live series continues on 10th January with Puccini’s La Rondine: for further details visit www.barbican.org.uk/film or check the listings of your local cinemas.

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