Recordings Review: A Horse With No Name

John Nelson's new Les Troyens is a modern classic.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Can they all fit inside the horse? John Nelsons and his chorus, orchestra and soloists record Les Troyens.
Photo from the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg © 2018 Erato/WBC

Hector Berlioz' Les Troyens remains the composer's greatest achievement, although the composer never lived to see a complete performance of the work.  With serious problems of length, casting and staging, it was not until 1921 that Les Troyens was staged complete, as intended, in five acts in a long, single evening.  This live in concert recording by John Nelson and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg brings new life and vitality to this mammoth and misunderstood masterpiece.

Concert Review: Some Roads Lead to Rome

Sir John Eliot Gardiner brings old-style Berlioz to Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Photo courtesy Carnegie Hall.

Historically informed performance isn't always pretty. However, it is the specialty of Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique. Founded in 1989, the O.R.R.'s purpose is to play the masterpieces of the early 19th century on the instruments available at that time. On Sunday afternoon, they played the first of two concerts at Carnegie Hall this week, dedicated to that maverick among French composers, Hector Berlioz.

Opera Review: Troy, Troy Again

Bryan Hymel debuts, triumphs in Les Troyens.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Road to Rome: Bryan Hymel took over for Marcello Giordani in Les Troyens. 
Julie Boulliane looks on. Photo by Ken Howard © 2012 The Metropolitan Opera.

The night of a nor'easter is no time to go to the opera, let alone one that lasts five and a half hours. But the hardy souls sitting in the Metropolitan Opera house on Wednesday night for Berlioz' Les Troyens were rewarded. The reason: the Met debut of tenor Bryan Hymel, the Louisiana native who caught the attention of the opera world last year when he stepped in for Jonas Kaufmann in this opera at Covent Garden. Here, the singer was subbing for Marcello Giordani, who announced earlier this week that he'd a) dropped out of the show and b) removed the role of Enée from his repertory.

When the Trojan Breaks

Casting changes in Les Troyens, Comte Ory.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

A wanderer no more: Marcello Giordani has announced he will cancel the four remaining Troyens
appearances and remove the role of Enée from his repertory.
Photo by Cory Weaver © 2012 The Metropolitan Opera.

It's Saturday morning with the Christmas holiday right around the corner. And that means it's time to write about under-the-radar cast changes at the Metropolitan Opera.

According to a report published by our friends at parterre box (and sourced from the Met press office) Marcello Giordani has dropped out of the current revival of Les Troyens. The Italian tenor (whose other Berlioz operas at the Met have included the title roles in Benvenuto Cellini and La Damnation de Faust will "retire" the role of Enée from his repertory.

The exciting news: Mr. Giordani's replacement in this five-hour Berlioz-a-thon is tenor Bryan Hymel, a promising American tenor who just finished a Covent Garden run in Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable. The performances affected are Dec. 26 and 29, Jan. 1 and Jan. 5, which is the Live in HD broadcast of the opera.

Opera Review: A Horse of Different Colors

The Metropolitan Opera revives Les Troyens.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Pyre woman: Didon (Susan Graham) goes to her death in Act V of Les Troyens.
Photo by Cory Weaver © 2012 The Metropolitan Opera.

Hector Berlioz' Les Troyens is the most ambitious of 19th century French operas. Clocking in at five acts and five hours (counting intermissions) the opera has divided opinion since its premiere, when Paris' Theatre-Lyrique would only present the second half of the opera as Les Troyens à Carthage. The first half, La Prise de Troie was never performed in the composer's lifetime.

Metropolitan Opera Preview: Les Troyens

The Met brings back Berlioz' classical epic.
by Paul Pelkonen

The Trojan Horse in Act I of Les Troyens in the Met's production. That's Deborah Voigt at the left.
Photo by Marty Sohl © 2003 The Metropolitan Opera.

A snarky opera commentator might call this revival The Return of the Horse. The Met brings back Francesca Zambello's stunning production of Hector Berlioz' longest opera, a sweeping adaptation of Virgil's Aeneid. And yes it's over five hours long.

When it premiered in 1858, Berlioz' five-act tragédie-lyrique was split into two halves La prise de Troi ("The Sack of Troy") and Les Troyens a Carthage. ("The Trojans at Carthage.") The Theatre-Lyrique (now the Chatelet) in Paris opted to perform the second half, with heavy cuts. La Prise remained unperformed until 1890. The complete opera had to wait until 1921. The Met plays the whole five acts. The entire show clocks in at about five-and-a-half hours, depending on the conductor--in this case Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi.

Troyens is Berlioz' most ambitious work, using repeated melodies and themes to retell the story of Enee (Aeneas), his escape from the burning city of Troy. The second half follows the Trojans across the Mediterranean and recounts Enee's his disastrous love affair with Didon, (Dido) the Queen of Carthage.  Marcello Giordani armors up as Enee. Deborah Voigt takes off her Valkyrie wings to utter warnings as Cassandra. Susan Graham sings Didon, a role created in this production by the late Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. Fabio Luisi conducts.

Les Troyens opens December 13. Please note, start time for (most) evening performances is 6pm.

DVD Review: Uploading the Trojan Horse

Les Troyens from Valencia, with La Fura dels Baus.
by Paul Pelkonen.

The hockey-loving Trojans upload the Horse.
Picture by Tato Baeza.
© 2010 Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía/Unitel

The new DVD recording of Les Troyens, (conducted by Valery Gergiev and filmed at the gorgeous Calatrava-designed Palau des Artes Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain) is a performance that, like Berlioz' bipartite opera, splits squarely down the middle. Part of that is the return of Catalan theater troupe La Fura dels Baus, who apply some strange (but curiously literal) ideas to Berlioz's operatic version of the Aeneid.

Despite the onstage weirdness (which we'll get to in a minute) this is a compelling performance of the score, robustly conducted. Lance Ryan is a strong vocal presence as Énée, keeping his stamina up over five taxing acts. He looks remarkably like he did in Siegfried (staged at the same theater)  recycling his bad-boy dreadlocks and keeping up the bluff charm.

Daniele Barcellona is a compelling, if motherly Didon, appearing from the depths of a particle accelerator like a sweet-singing God particle. Elisabete Matos is a compelling Cassandre, undercut by being forced to produce soprano chest tones while her character is confined to a wheelchair. Gabriele Viviani is good as the second tenor Chorèbe. Danish bass Stephen Milling is a welcome presence as Didon's minister Narbal.