The recent Opera Rara anthology of lesser known music by Offenbach
– “Entre nous” – has shown just how much of his music remains
both rarely performed in Britain and little attended to disc.
La Périchole is one of his best known and most frequently
recorded works. Even so professional performances in Britain are
relatively rare – most recently at the Buxton Festival in 2002
but not for some time before that. New recordings of what is surely
one of Offenbach’s masterpieces are therefore especially welcome,
even if this issue cannot be regarded as an unqualified success.
The
good things first. Despite a somewhat dry acoustic and crude
recording, there is very much the atmosphere here of a live
performance. Only a few lines of the spoken dialogue are here,
but some very audible edits make it clear that much more was
probably included in the original performance. Unfortunately
no details are included as to when or where this took place,
and it may not even have been fully staged. The otherwise
incomprehensible inclusion of a Tarzan-like call in the Act
1 Finale and what appear to be gunshots before the final scene
suggest that it was, but the nature of the performance is
perhaps not of enormous relevance in itself. What matters
is that the cast clearly work together as a very lively team
with only one significant weak link. Unfortunately that is
in the title role in which, surprisingly in view of her many
distinguished performances live and on record, the singing
of Maria Ewing can only be described as coarse and lacking
in charm. She seldom points phrases or relishes the language.
All too often she resorts to a very obvious manner which might
work with music hall or similar songs but does not in Offenbach.
Worst of all is her singing in “Ah! Quel diner”. This can
be extremely funny – think of Maggie Teyte – but just as drunks
in real life are tedious and embarrassing it is a mistake
for singers to go beyond a refined and controlled tipsiness
with the aim of increasing the effect of the song. This performance
shows very clearly that it does not; it merely results in
tedium and embarrassment. Not everything she does is like
this, but her singing is seldom idiomatic and shows little
sense of line.
Fortunately
the rest of the cast perform at a much higher level. Neil
Rosenhein sings attractively with good tone and a clear understanding
of the musical and dramatic point of each number. Gabriel
Bacquier is an experienced singer of Offenbach who makes much
of the words – a key requirement with this composer – even
if he does tend at times to broaden the humour more than is
necessary. The other roles are, in general, acceptably taken,
although all of the soloists have occasional moments of unsteadiness
which you would probably not have noticed in a live performance.
The orchestra and chorus are efficient without showing any
especial sympathy with the style of the work. This may be
due to the conductor, Marc Soustrot, who only rarely brings
out the alternate inherent elegance and the abandon of rhythms
or phrases.
To
find that you only have to listen to the rest of the second
CD, which consists of what was presumably the bulk of a concert
of extracts from Offenbach’s works sung by Jane Rhodes and
Georges Liccioni and conducted by Roberto Benzi. Even if there
are the inevitable imperfections of a live concert overall
this is singing and playing of a very high order which catches
precisely the character of each of the various numbers chosen.
Both singers make much of the words and are capable of a great
variety of tone and phrasing. This may not always be the most
beautiful singing imaginable but this is of no matter when
each item is so well pointed. I have listened to this recital
repeatedly with increasing enjoyment – especially to the extracts
from “Les Brigands” and “Barbe-Bleu”. Even if you agree with
me as to the defects of the performance of the main work -
and it is by no means unenjoyable - the set would be worth
buying just for the recital. And you may not agree with me
about Maria Ewing’s performance, in which case it becomes
a particularly worthwhile purchase.
John Sheppard
Recital by Jane Rhodes and Georges Liccioni
La Périchole
Complainte de l’Espagnol et de la jeune Indienne
[2:36]
Séguedille [2:36]
Air de la lettre [3:26]
“Et là, maintenant que nous sommes seuls”
[1:32]
“Ah! Que les homes sont bêtes” [2:47]
“On me proposait d’être infâme” [3:50]
“Tu n’es pas beau, tu n’es pas riche” [3:24]
Les Brigands
“Ecoutez, ecoutez! Voyes-vous, lâ-bas, j’entends
un bruit de bottes” [4:00]
La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein
“Ah, que j’aime les militaries” [3:38]
“Dites-lui qu’on l’a remarqué” [3:05]
“Voici le sabre de mon père” [3:04]
Barbe-Bleu
Légende [3:29]
Duo [2:34]
La Belle Hélène
“C’est le devoir de jeunes filles … Amours
divins” [4:43]
“Au Mont Ida” [4:18]
“Gloire .. O ciel, c’est l’homme à la pomme!”
[3:32]
“On me nomme Hélène la Blonde” [3:50]
“C’est le ciel qui m’envoie” [8:49]
La Vie Parisienne
“A Paris nous arrivons en masse” [0:22]
“Je suis Brésilien” [1:45]
“Nous venons, arrivons, de tout les pays
du monde” [2:38]
