Monday 23 July 2012

Review - Antonacci sets Berlioz ablaze at the Proms

 

Berlioz: The Trojans

Bryan Hymel tenor (Aeneas)
Fabio Capitanucci baritone, (Coroebus)
Anna Caterina Antonacci soprano (Cassandra)
Eva Maria Westbroek soprano (Dido)
Royal Opera Chorus
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Sir Antonio Pappano conductor 

Royal Albert Hall, London, 22 July 2012
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Anna Caterina Antonacci as Cassandra (2003)
Berlioz described his opera The Trojans as "Virgil Shakespeareanised".  So the plot is based on Virgil's 1st century BCE poem Aeneid in which Aeneas escapes Troy as it is captured by the Greeks and goes on to found Rome after an extended dalliance at Carthage with its Queen Dido.  However the Shakespearean influence comes when Berlioz added elements drawn from his beloved Shakespeare such as Hector's ghost (modelled on Hamlet's father's ghost) and the interpolation of two comic Trojan sentries to undercut the pitiless tragedy of the final act.
Aeneas carrying his father (c.520 BCE)
   

From this text Berlioz composed a 4 hour, 5 act opera focused on the sack of Troy (Acts 1-2) and the story of Dido and Aeneas at Carthage (Acts 3-5).  In the grand French manner, the opera encompasses massive chorus scenes, extended wordless ballet sections and the formal requirements of the opera of the time (arias, duets etc).   Berlioz seems to have been ambivalent about Aeneas' character and so greatly expands the role of Cassandra in Acts 1-2 who leads the drama, foretelling doom as the Trojans party and welcome the Greek's wooden horse into the city walls.  Cassandra acts therefore as a counter-weight to Dido in Acts 3-5.

Bryan Hymel as Aeneas at Covent Garden (2011)
The recent Proms appearances of Antonio Pappano and his Royal Opera House forces have been clear highlights among the musical cavalcade this biggest of musical festivals offers.  And last night's Prom was again memorable.  Delivering opera in an un-staged format at the Proms lost more than usual in the extended ballet scenes.  That said, the Royal Opera House orchestra, liberated from the dark opera pit, played with verve and beauty, and the chorus were tremendously dramatic.  It is the music that benefits from these evenings, and while we all know that some opera obsessives seem to like anything but music, for the rest these Proms are true luxury occasions.

Anna Caterina Antonacci launched the evening in blistering fashion with a Cassandra of enormous  passion and depth of characterisation.  Her range of tone and emotion were riveting - a great performance.  Bryn Hymel's Aeneas may not have conveyed much inner turmoil but was comfortably equal to the tremendous vocal demands of this gruelling part.  Eva Maria Westbroek took Dido on a powerful dramatic journey from her initial satisfaction at founding her new city, to the depths of despair as Aeneas cruelly deserts her.

Apologists for this opera tell its story as one of initial incomprehension, being routinely cut and performed in two separate halves, then finally emerging into the light in the landmark 1957 Covent Garden performance of the work in its entirety.  Personally, I wonder if Berlioz might have ultimately cut a solid half an hour of the 4 hour work, with Acts 3 and 4 in particular dragging.  Berlioz's music is a unique and marvellous thing - luminous one moment, spitting fire the next, the thrills are frequent.  But in Act 4, Dido and Aeneas really want to sing a love duet, but are cruelly delayed for a solid 10 minutes while a quintet and septet are worked through.  An excess of musical formality just gets in the way.  

Peter O'Byrne