Opera Review: They Can't Dance

Les Arts Florissants revives Rameau's Platée.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Les Arts Florissants. That's William Christie in the lower right.
Photo by Guy Vivien © 2013 Erato Records.

On Wednesday night, William Christie's period performance ensemble Les Arts Florissants returned to Lincoln Center. The occasion: a  concert performance of Platée, the astonishing comédie lyrique by Jean-Philippe Rameau that marks the birth of comic opera in France. The year was 1745.

Written for the comic sensibilities of the court of Louis XV, the comedy in Platée is both hilarious and somewhat repellent. It is the story of the god Jupiter, who dallies with the hideously ugly swamp-dwelling nymph Platée in order to convince his jealous wife Juno that he is actually faithful. In the end, Platée is spurned and outraged, laughed at by the assembled cast and chorus.

Opera Review: As the Walls Close In, a King is Made

Les Arts Florissants bring David et Jonathas to BAM.

by Paul J. Pelkonen

Jonathan (Ana Quintans, left) and David (Pascal Charbonneau)
greet the Israelites in a scene from David et Jonathas. 
Photo by Julieta Cervantes © 2013 BAM/Les Arts Florissants.

In 1979, the period performance group Les Arts Florissants took their name from an opera by French baroque composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier. This week at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the ensemble, under the baton of its founder William Christie, presented another Charpentier gem, the biblical drama David et Jonathas. Written in 1688 and designed to be played in alternating acts with Saul (a play written by a French Jesuit) this is an example of tragedie-biblique, where a sacred story is treated in the style of early French opera.

Opera Review: Down With the Ship (Slight Return)

The Met unveils The Enchanted Island
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Marooned: The cast of The Enchanted Island. L.-R.: Plácido Domingo (Neptune, with trident), 
David Daniels (Prospero), Luca Pisaroni (Caliban), Joyce Di Donato (Sycorax).
Photo by Ken Howard © 2012 The Metropolitan Opera.

In recent weeks, there have been a number of articles and commentary (on this blog and elsewhere) as to whether the Metropolitan Opera should have mounted The Enchanted Island. Upon seeing Peter Gelb and Jeremy Sams' baroque mash-up on January 4, the verdict is that this is an aural feast and spectacular entertainment. But the flaw in this "Baroque Fantasy," is the creative team's decision to ignore Shakespeare's earthy sense of humor.

Opera Review: Here Comes the Sun King

Les Arts Florissants revive Atys at BAM.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Ed Lyon as Atys (kneeling) mourns the death of Sangaride (Emanuelle de Negri, foreground)
as Cybéle (Anna Reinhold) looks on. Photo by Stephanie Bamberger courtesy Brooklyn Academy of Music.

The Brooklyn Academy of Music opened their 2011 season with the welcome return of Les Arts Florissants, the period performance troupe specializing in French opera of the 1700s. The program: a revival of Atys, the wildly successful fourth opera of Jean-Baptiste Lully, court composer to Louis XIV.

Opera Review: No Bunnies, Just Talent

Les Arts Florissants at Alice Tully Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Less is more: Les Arts Florissants music director William Christie.

As part of their 2010 BAM appearance, Les Arts Florissants staged Henry Purcell's The Fairy Queen with elaborate costumes, sets, and bunny suits. For 2011, the French period ensemble offered two performances at Alice Tully Hall, as part of the TullyScope Festival designed to highlight the versatility of Lincoln Center's mid-sized concert hall.

Opera Review: Swing Time: The Met does Così

Nathan Gunn and Isabel Leonard share an intimate moment in Così fan tutte
Photo by Marty Sohl © 2010 Metropolitan Opera

Written in 1790, Così fan tutte is the third, and most troublesome child from the creative marriage of Mozart and librettist Lorenzo da Ponte. The story of two soldiers who decide to test the fidelity of their fiancées in order to win a bar bet is not great comic material. The opera's strength is in the emotional performance of its leads, as they go through the "school for lovers" and come out transformed at the work's end. In fact, Così struggled for a century to find its place in the repertory, but with a cast of fine singers, it grows wings and uplifts its audience.

As Ferrando, Pavol Breslik displayed a lyric tenor with a sweet delivery and the ability to float his high notes. Nathan Gunn is a characterful, intelligent baritone and a Mozart regular at the Met. As Gugliemo, one of those rich baritone parts that Mozart wrote so well, Mr. Gunn displayed a wide range of emotions, from amorous seducer to jealous boyfriend as the plot developed. In the key role of Don Alfonso, William Shimell sang with a smallish baritone, commenting philisophically on the events that his wager set in motion. All three men blended well together in their Act I scenes together, and are good comedians.


As their lovers (and targets) Miah Persson made the strongest impression in the role of Fiordiligi. This is the character in the opera whose presence owes to most the the opera seria tradition. She puts up real resistance to Ferrando, producing melting tone and dramatic depth to the key moment when she succumbs to his charms. As her sister Dorabella, mezzo Isabel Leonard has a pleasing instrument. Her Act II duet with Mr. Gunn had warmth and charm, and she was a perfect match for Ms. Persson in the many unision lines sung by the sisters in the first act.

Ever since this production opened in 1996, (making a household name out of Cecilia Bartoli) Cosí at the Met has been anchored by Despina, the sisters' maid. Here, the role was taken by Australian mezzo-soprano Danielle die Niesi. The role of Despina requires more than just pretty singing: it is a bustling comic part with multiple costume chages and much slapstick humor. Ms. die Niesi made the most of the role's comic opportunities, working with and against her employers to maneuver them into romantic misunderstanding.

William Christie made his house debut on the podium. Taking the opera's overture at a brisk pace, Mr. Christie led a rapid-fire performance of the Mozart comedy, allowing the winds and brass to blend with the six voices onstage and drawing transparent textures from the orchestra. His performance made the cavernous theater seem like a much smaller venue, one more appropriate to this intimate comic masterpiece.

Opera Review: The Bunnies Run Amuck

The Fairy Queen at BAM.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

A mask from The Fairy Queen. Image © Brooklyn Academy of Music.

It's quite an amazing experience to see a 400-year old four-hour opera and to not want to walk out of the theater afterwards. Thursday night saw the U.S. premiere of Les Arts Florissants' staging of Henry Purcell's legendary semi-opera The Fairy Queen. At its conclusion, company director William Christie paused in the middle of his bows, and led orchestra and audience in a reprise of the opera's final chorus. It was a glorious, inclusive way to end one of the finest operas of this spring season.

A "semi-opera" that borrows heavily from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the show alternates between spoken performance of the libretto (by a fine cast of Shakespearean actors) and a series of spectacular masques which comment on and interpret the action. This tradition of separating emotional reaction from narrative drive would form the root of opera seria and the influence of Purcell's work on the later operas of Handel is unmistakeable.

Jonathan Kent's staging of the work was aided by an unforgettable series of visuals: the giant spider that wrapped Titania in its webs, Apollo (Andrew Davies) descending on a golden winged horse from the flies. The entire production was set in a sort of library or study, with walls that slid in and out and a removable ceiling and floor. As the mind-bending masques began, a lake, a Monet haystack and even the Garden of Eden appeared. The comic business of the Mechanicals and the masques themselves were part high-flying Cirque de Soleil, part classic British holiday pantomime.



Nick Bottom and his band of mechanicals were the maintenance crew for Theseus' manor house--with Flute the bellows-mender (Robert Burt) operating the vacuum cleaner. They were played by a fine crew of actors, led by Desmond Barrit as Bottom. Their Pyramus and Thisbe was staged in classic, ribald Shakespearean fashion, with minimal cuts to the comedy. The four lovers were played by appealing young actors, with emphasis placed on the interchangeable nature of Lysander (Nicholas Shaw) and Demetrius (Gwilym Lee) as a cause of their romantic conflict. Finbar Lynch and Amanda Harris dueled as Oberon and Titania, and the shirtless Jotham Amman as a kinetic Puck.

William Christie led his crack period ensemble in a crisp performance, his ensemble's trademark clarity to the fore. Purcell's work requires both orchestra and singers to find their own place with respect to Shakespeare's play. The audience was treated to exceptional singing, with the company's key vocalists switching costumes and merrily taking on multiple roles. Ed Lyon (Adam in the final masque) Andrew Davies as as Phoebus Apollo (who sang his role in mid-air) and bass Andrew Foster-Williams were all exceptional. But the performance of Emanuelle de Negri brought down the house in her scene as the Plaint, whose aria stopped the ribaldry dead and brought down the house.
On his horse: Phoebus makes his descent in The Fairy Queen.
Photo © 2009 Les Arts Florissants