SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

SEEN AND INTERNATIONAL OPERA REVIEW

 

Berlioz, Les Troyens: Soloists, Mariinsky Orchestra, Chorus of the Mariinsky Theater, Andrei Petrenko, chorus master, Valery Gergiev, Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall, New York City, 9/10.3.2010 (GG)

 

Cast:

Ekaterina Gubanova – Cassandre

Ekaterina Semenchuk – Didon

Sergei Semishkur – Enée

Irina Mataeva – Ascagne, Ghost of Cassandre

Elena Vitman – Hécube

Alexei Markov – Chorèbe

Vadim Krevets – Panthée

Timur Abdikeyev – Priam, Second Soldier, Ghost of Hector (03/10/2010), Ghost of Priam, The God Mercury

Yury Alexeyev – Helenus

Yuri Vorobiev – Ghost of Hector (03/09/2010), Narbal

Alexander Nikitin – A Trojan Soldier, A Greek Soldier, Ghost of Chorèbe, First Soldier

Zlata Bulycheva – Anna

Daniil Shtoda – Iopas

Dimity Voropaev - Hays

Performances of this grand - in every respect - opera are infrequent enough for each one to be notable. The music alone fills up four hours, the vocal demands on the leads are considerable, and a staging requires the representation of the city of Troy as well as the stamina of the audience to make it through the evening. Valery Gergiev brought his extended Mariinsky Orchestra forces to Carnegie Hall for a strictly concert performance of the work, and he needed two nights to play through the entire thing. One advantage of this was that there was only one intermission, between Acts IV and V during the second night, and so unlike in the opera house the musical drama was continuous, which was a subtle but extremely important element of the concerts.

Gergiev seems the ideal conductor for Berlioz, intuitively sympathetic to the composer’s sense of energy, velocity and tenderness, and inherently suited to maintaining that keen edge where music flirts with losing control of itself. Gergiev’s performances can tantalize with the possibility that the music will not only fall to pieces but actually fly away. On these two nights the orchestra played with impeccable refinement and control without losing any sense of excitement. The sound was warm and full, with the brass more burnished and the woodwinds more colorful than I am used to hearing from this ensemble, and the playing was both powerful and light-footed. There was the sensation of running urgently across a body of water so as not to rest long enough on any footfall to sink, and the combination of power and forward movement was exciting.

This verve and life began with the opening bars and never waned. With the singers merely arrayed on stage, all the attention was drawn to the music, and the music was always gripping, especially the fanfares and marches. There are passages that would seem to make sense only in the opera house, where they exist to accompany stage actions like the Trojans bringing the Greeks’ ploy into the city. Heard as simply concert music under Gergiev’s direction all the incidental music was as interesting and enjoyable as the vocal stretches, even slightly more involving. Berlioz meant to convey action and drama through sound alone, without song, and was a master of it, and the Mariinsky performers gave as much respect and energy to these passages as well. It was always clear what was happening in the narrative. The opening night concluded after the end of the second act, but the passion and pleasure were so great that one would gladly have had the performance continue.

The chorus and soloists, however, probably appreciated the night off. The chorus was a powerhouse throughout, with a pleasant rough edge and singing lustily each night. The soloists were solid to excellent, well chosen for the concert setting. Gubanova and Semenchuk were the stars of the respective evenings, the former singing with power and urgency, her gorgeous, rich mezzo an ideal expression of the despair and frustration Cassandre experiences, the latter conveying real drama and passion, completely believable through all of Didon’s wild mood-swings. Semishkur was fervent and committed as Enée, and maintained the vibrancy of his voice throughout each taxing night. His sound is perhaps too light for this role in an actual opera production, but he was completely at home in the concert setting. The supporting players were solid, all with fine voices. As Chorèbe, Markov sang with a beautiful tone, but wavered back and forth between elegance and stiffness. Irina Mataeva was a little overwhelmed at times by the orchestral accompaniment but sounded great when heard; Alexander Nikitin was distinctive in his multiple, smaller roles; Zlata Bulycheva was impressively fine as Anna. One consistent problem with the singers was their odd, almost mumbled articulation of much of the French, neither normal speaking pronunciation nor, frankly, acceptable singing pronunciation. The exception was Dimitry Voropaev, whose long solo as Hyas was perhaps the musical highpoint of the entire production. His tenor voice had the exactly right timbre for singing French words and music, his poise, projection and musicality were exceptional. His phrasing would be especially notable, except that under Gergiev’s hands the musical phrasing from all instruments and voices was superb: musically logical, expressive, fluid, always bringing the ear to the next gripping moment.

George Grella