Rossini - Il Viaggio a Reims / Bayo, Bros, Merced, Rasmussen, Tarver, Cantarero, Dara, Cobos, Barcelona Opera

Rating:
Summary: Rossini's Glittering Showcase for Singers Nearly Pulled Off
Review: 'Il Viaggio a Reims' is an extremely difficult opera to produce, largely because it requires the services of ten world-class soloists as well as four other singers who can hold their own in the huge ensemble that closes the first part of the opera. It was Rossini's last Italian opera and was, in its time, strictly a pièce d'occasion (the coronation of France's King Charles X) that he did not expect ever to be staged again; indeed, knowing this he recycled most of the music for his later sparkling French comedy, 'Le Comte Ory.' The piece lay unproduced for almost 200 years before it was mounted at Pesaro, Italy (Rossini's birthplace and the site of the Rossinian Pesaro Festival) in 1984. That production was recorded by Deutsche Grammophon and made a huge splash in the operatic world at the time. (It is still available at Amazon.) It featured such star singers as Katia Ricciarelli, Samuel Ramey, Ruggero Raimondi, Lella Cuberli, Cecilia Gasdia, Lucia Valentini Terrani, Francisco Araiza, Edoardo Gimenez, Leo Nucci and Enzo Dara. And since the plot of the work is structured by Rossini primarily as a showpiece for reigning singing stars of his time, the story-line is weak and simply an opportunity to line up a string of arias, duets, and other ensembles, with no semblance of credibility or dramatic engagement. The plot, simply, is that a group of European nobility and gentry making their way to Reims for the coronation of the French king are stuck in a spa, called the Golden Lily, and cannot make the last leg of the trip because there are no horses and carriages to be hired. They turn their virtual imprisonment there into a house party, with plenty of opportunity for romantic intrigues and self-made entertainment (lots of singing, of course!). Thus, this long one-act opera (almost three hours, and here divided into two acts) is rather similar to the 'entertainment' so often provided in Act II of gala productions of 'Die Fledermaus.' As a result, one can say that a recorded or concert performance gives us most of the 'juice' of the piece without the distraction (or enhancement, if you prefer) of the silly plot. In this two DVD set, however, a performance mounted lavishly at Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu is presented, and I have to confess that the list of singers is, dare I say it, mostly competent and far from illustrious. Still, it makes its impact and in some spots is fully the musical equal of the Pesaro recording.

Amazon has not, at the date of this review, listed the ten main singers so I shall do so:

Corinna, a Roman improvising poetess: Elena de la Merced, soprano
La Marchesa Melibea, a Polish lady, widow of an Italian general: Paula Rasmussen, mezzo
La Contessa di Folleville, a young widow, very fashion-crazed: Mariola Cantarero, soprano
Madama Cortese, a Tyrolean lady, hostess of the Golden Lily: María Bayo, soprano
Il Cavaliere Belfiore, a young French officer, enamored of Folleville: Josep Bros, tenor
Conte di Libenskof, a Russian general, enamored of Melibea: Kenneth Tarver, tenor
Lord Sidney, an English colonel, in love with Corinna: Simón Orfila, bass
Don Profondo, a man of letters and an antiquarian: Nicola Ulivieri, bass
Barone di Trombonok, a German major and passionate music-lover: Enzo Dara, baritone (repeating his Pesaro rôle)
Don Alvaro, a Spanish grandee, also in love with Melibea: Àngel Òdena, baritone

There are several musical highlights in the opera that are given their due: Corinna's two arias ('Arpa gentil' and 'All'ombra almena') are done brilliantly by de la Merced, and she receives a rapturous reception from the sophisticated Liceu audience, who indeed withheld their applause rather pointedly at some other spots in the score. The 'Gran Pezzo Concertato a 14 Voci' that ends the first part of the opera is simply spectacular, both in terms of Rossini's wit and craft, and in the performance. Don Profondo's comic aria, 'Medaglie incomparabili' in which he imitates the accents (while singing Italian, of course) of all the nationalities represented, is hilariously done. Good as Ulivieri is here, though, I must say that Ruggero Raimondi, in the Pesaro CD, outshines him both vocally and as an actor. The duet, 'D'alma celeste, o Dio,' by Tarver and Rasmussen as Libenskof and Melibea, is meltingly beautiful. (Both these singers, by the way, are real finds, with immaculate fioriture and the ability to blend perfectly with each other.) Unfortunately, María Bayo, the only singer previously known to me besides Dara, has a beautiful voice and a beautiful aria, 'Di vaghi raggi adorno,' at the very beginning of the opera, but was having a bad night; some of her singing above the staff is woefully under pitch.

The big disappointment here was the grafting onto this simple (even simple-minded) plot a hugely inappropriate attempt to convey 'big thoughts' about world events. Stage director Sergi Belbel, who also wrote a sententious essay in the program booklet, sets the action around 1900 and although that makes for interesting costumes and sets it makes no sense of the plot. Further, when he has back-projections of stills showing Hitler, the Vietnam war and other similarly horrendous scenes during Corinna's last aria, it makes no sense at all in spite of Belbel's special pleading in his essay. Another problem is that the booklet synopsis is scanty and there is no libretto; if one is unfamiliar with the opera it really takes some detective work to figure out who is who in the cast of characters.

Jesús López Cobos, known to me from his long tenure at the Cincinnati Symphony and one of my favorite conductors, is in the pit for this production and one simply couldn't ask for more flexible, alert, vibrant pacing for this comic gem. He gets marvelous playing for the Liceu's orchestra.

One is likely never to see another production of this opera, largely because it is so rarely done and because 'Le Comte Ory,' which contains so much of the same music, is rather more popular. So if you, like I, have been intrigued by the 1984 recording and want to see a production, this one will most likely have to be it. I will admit, though, that I'm unlikely to view it very often, and much more likely (as I've done in preparing this review) to pull out the old DG recording from Pesaro.

Scott Morrison

Rating:
Summary: What opera's really all about
Review: As I watched Viaggio I couldn't help think of Strauss' Cappricio with its question,"Which is more important, words or music?" No question here. The plot is just an excuse for Rossini to pour out strand upon strand of enchanting melody. I won't give any more details since they are wonderfully covered in another review.

I was a little apprehensive about ordering this since it is a real showpiece for 14 top singers and I knew none of these singers. Well, if this is what the Teatre Liceu can put out for Rossini we are in good hands. These young singers give me hopes for the furure. Only one was having a slightly off night. The rest are a joy to hear and to watch. And the production does put some bones on the story.

If you enjoy bel canto this will be your cup of tea and you won't have to deal with some silly plot like Somamula or Puritani. Just one glorious number - solos, duets, trios, and finally a concertato for 14 (count them) solo voices. Only thing lacking is a mad scene. Thank God this was rescued from the dust bin of history and brought back to delight us all.

Rating:
Summary: Lovely to look at, not to hear
Review: I must respectfully disagree with the previous reviewers in that I found the singing mostly inept. There have been three other telecasts in Europe with better singers; see if you can track them down. Sound is excellent, production is beautiful, conducting very slack and some of the singing quite painful.