Marc Minkowski's Musiciens
du Louvre-Grenoble is one of the most
exciting early-music ensembles performing
opera today. Specializing in the French
baroque repertoire (such as Rameau and
Lully) as well as Handel operas and
oratorios, Minkowski records these works
regularly and performs them around the
world. First recording Platée
in 1988 for Erato, Minkowski recently
returned to this work, performing it
in a lavishly staged version in 2002.
This DVD was filmed during the Parisian
performances at the Palais Garnier.
In the prologue (more
than 20 minutes), a group of gods decides
to "Formons un spectacle nouveau", or
create a new form of theatre. While
on a drinking binge, they promise to
"wage a never-ending battle against
absurdity! We'll spare neither mortals
nor gods!" The comedy follows, as Platée,
a frog (written for a tenor; a rarity
in this type of French opera), sung
by Paul Agnew, is so terribly ugly that
the Gods ridicule her. They set up an
elaborate practical joke to make Platée
believe that Jupiter is in love with
her and wants to marry her. Alas, this
is nothing but a joke, and just before
the nuptials, Juno arrives to stop the
wedding; of course it was all planned
as such, though Juno didn't realize
that the bride-to-be was a frog. Humiliated,
Platée returns to her swamp,
disappointed.
Musically, this is
one of Rameau's finest lyric works,
filled with the signature riffs and
melodic inventions that make him the
premier composer of French Baroque operas.
The lively orchestral interludes alone
stand as some of the finest works of
the period. This is foot-tapping music,
containing the kind of melodies one
hums after hearing them.
From the very first
notes of the music, one can hear Minkowski's
precise, rich, lively approach to the
music. His musicians are among the best
currently performing this music, and
both their playing and the sound are
exemplary. With ideal presence, never
too distant, never too loud, the music
melds with the voices perfectly at all
times.
And what voices! Obviously,
almost fifteen years after recording
this music on disc, Minkowski has chosen
a new generation of singers. Laurent
Naouri is Cithéron, and he opens
the march. His voice is powerful and
intense, and his stage presence is riveting.
His voice espouses perfectly the roundness
of Rameau's melodies, which range from
pure singing to a sung recitative style
that is part of the charm of his operas.
Paul Agnew is simply
outstanding as Platée. With his
ridiculous frog costume, his total immersion
in the part - to the point that all
his movements and expressions make one
think of a frog - his performance goes
far beyond his singing. Agnew acts as
well as he sings, and performs this
role flawlessly in difficult circumstances
(one can imagine the amount of time
necessary to prepare for this performance,
with his complex costume and make-up.)
Agnew brings incredible humour to this
role, in his movements, his facial expressions,
his gestures, and also in his diction,
which is excellent for a non-French
singer.
The few female roles
in this opera have very limited parts,
making this essentially a masculine
work - at least a work where masculine
voices resound. Nevertheless, the female
singers are all, during their brief
appearances, quite good. Mireille Delunsch
is especially radiant in her appearance
as La Folie in the second act, and the
audience responds by giving her a long
round of applause. But in the end, it
is Platée, and Paul Agnew, who
carry this work from the beginning to
the end. (Almost the beginning, because
Platée does not appear in the
prologue.)
The staging of this
opera is fairly typical of modern performances,
with incongruities abounding, and an
interesting choice of sets and choreography.
The costumes are as bizarre as possible,
especially those for Platée and
her band of nymphs. Many animals are
present in this work, and the costumes
are farcical and fantastic, giving this
production a marvellously light and
fanciful tone. The actual filming and
camera work is top-notch, and this video
recording won a FIPA d'Argent award
in 2003, for the original televised
version.
Naturally, as with
most DVDs, Platée does not include
a libretto; you have the choice of sub-titles
in five languages. But if you have Minkowski's
earlier Erato recording, it contains
a facsimile of the original French libretto,
with English and German translations.
If you read French, this facsimile puts
you much more in the spirit of the original
work than any plain text version could.
It's hard to find fault
with this disc. Musically and dramatically
it is near-perfect, and the sheer pleasure
that the singers all exude throughout
is contagious. At the end, as the choir
sings "Chantons Platée, egayons
nous, Chantons le pouvoir de ses charmes,"
I couldn't help wishing that this opera
went on a few hours more.
Kirk McElhearn
Les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble/Marc Minkowski
TDK
DV-OPPLT [150 mins]