Halevy - La Juive / Shicoff, Stoyanova, Fink, Ivan, Zhang, Daniel, Monarcha, Sutej, Vienna Opera

Rating:
Summary: Good performances, boring staging, poor bonuses
Review: One of the most popular operas in Europe before World War II quickly became one of the least performed afterwards. "La Juive" was composed by Jacques Fromantel Halevy to give a certain tenor (Adolphe Nourrit) a good part as the lover. But the singer found the role of Eleazar, the Jewish merchant, more to his liking and asked for an aria to soften the character's affect on the audience. It is said that Nourrit even wrote the words to support his request. And so Halevy set to music the only song that remains popular from this work, "Rachel, quand du Seigneur." (Eleazar was said to be Caruso's favorite role and this selection his favorite aria.)


The libretto is by the incredibly prolific Eugene Scribe, whose plays were mocked by many and admired by many more. (Among the latter was Sarah Bernhardt, who was always on the look for a juicy part.) He was master of what is called "the well wrought play" and many a composer turned to him for texts.
Now you can judge the merits of this score on a Deutsche Grammophon DVD (00440 073 4001) in a 2003 production at the Wiener Staatsoper, conducted by Vjekoslav Sutej.


The leads are strong ones. Neil Shicoff throws voice and soul into the role of Eleazar, bringing down the house with his "Rachel" and in general giving a strong and believable performance of a man living in a town in which the citizenry would love nothing better than either drowning or burning him and his daughter. As Rachel, Krassimira Stoyanova sings beautifully but looks a little too old to be Shicoff's daughter, no matter how much they whiten his hair. As her suitor (Leopold, a member of the royal family posing as a Jew), Jiany Zhang sings well but hardly creates a character.


Walter Fink makes the Cardinal a basically good man bound to Eleazar more than he realizes. The end is practically that of "Il Trovatore," if I am not giving too much away.


Since the action takes place in 1414, the director opted for a setting that seems to be around 1900, with the Jewish characters dressed in black suits or dresses and the chorus in Tyrolean garb out of some forgotten operetta. In keeping with the "who cares what the text says" staging today, references to soldiers are addressed to no such characters on stage and so on.


The bare stage consists of a ramp that runs upward from audience's left to right, upon which is a table and chairs with up-ramp legs sawn off so their surfaces can be horizontal. That area represents the court and the streets (complete with table and chairs), while the lower downstage is first the outside of a church and then Eleazar's house. Pretty boring to watch all through a production that clocks in just short of 3 hours.


All of this is a shame, because the performances and the work are certainly of a fine enough quality to make me recommend this set. When else will you ever get to see this important opera? This will do until a more intelligent production comes along.


There is an hour-long documentary that is rambling and seems to be all about a 10-minute film that shows Shicoff singing "Rachel" in an actual synagogue. I stopped watching the documentary shortly after interviewer and interviewee could not resist the current trend to lace their conversation with words for which teachers today can suspend young students. What chance do the teachers have? This is not what opera should be about. The short film is vocally impressive but it seems merely an ego-trip for the tenor.





Rating:
Summary: Impresionante Judía
Review: Esta es una de las mejores grabaciones de una ópera, tanto en la calidad de los cantantes como del maravilloso sonido, especialmente en DTS. El escenario quizás es un poco parco, pero no importa, la grandiosidad de la obra y la excelencia de los intérpretes supera cualquier carencia, que en mi opinión no la hay ya que la escenografía es moderna y adecuada; en cuanto a la época en que transcurre la acción no tiene la menor importancia porque al fin y al cabo la música es lo importante. El gran bajo austriaco Walter Fink nos ofrece una impresionante voz y presencia escénica; me recuerda en su primera aria una grabación de hace muchos años del gran Ezio Pinza. Recomiendo de todo corazón esta ópera a los verdaderos amantes de la música operística. No quedarán defraudados. En cuanto a Neil Shicoff sólo tengo palabras de admiración y encanto sobre su voz y actuación. Sigue siendo uno de los grandes tenores de nuestros tiempos.