Monteverdi - L'Orfeo
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5 Customer Reviews Posted
- Opulent, Raggedy, Outdated
- When it was staged in 1975, Harnoncourt & Ponelle's production of Monteverdi's 1607 opera L'Orfeo was a revolutionary triumph of the "Early Music" movement, the harbinger of massive changes in the whole environment of classical music that have blessedly occurred since. I wasn't there for opening night, but I heard of the event and applauded vigorously. Nikolaus Harnoncourt has the stature of an Apostle in my musical pantheon. That said, it's painful to confess that I find the current re-released film of that production extremely hard to watch and hear. In comparison to the musically sublime performance by Tragicomedia, also on DVD, this costume-heavy staging seems melodramatic, busy, and incoherent in affect. The orchestra is raggedy in tuning and balance. The singing is uneven. The cinematographic is obtrusive. Judged by current standards, it's a three-star costly failure, and that's how I've reluctantly rated it.
First, the orchestra. Do I have to point out that the Baroque trumpets, cornetti, and recorders are not played at a standard comparable to normal orchestral instruments? That accusation was thrust in our faces - we who worked hard on resuscitating those instruments - often enough to make it painful to acknowledge that it was true. but even in 1975, there were recorderists and cornettists who could have given better accounts of their instruments than those in Harnoncourt's 'Monteverdi-Ensemble'. All the winds are prominent, and prominently out -of-tune. The rest of the orchestra sounds semi-pro at best by the standards of historical playing in 2008.
Then, the chorus. Huh? All those grandees in the balcony, singing lustily like aspirants to the Robert Shaw Chorale? L'Orfeo was essentially a chamber work, performed in a sala in Mantua, an expansion really of the madrigal form and intrinsically INTIMATE! It doesn't work well musically to treat it as halfway to Wagner.
And the soloists. Honestly, the shepherds steal the show. Those tenors have beautiful Italianate voices, and have at least teh rudiments of 'historically informed' vocal technique. The shepherds' duets are some of the most elegant music in L'Orfeo; the ensemble isn't exactly tight, but the sound is pleasurable. Mantuans, I assure you, were keen on pleasure. Trudeliese Schmidt is tuneful, if not expressive, as La Musica and La Speranza. Basso Hans Franzen is plenty profundo as Charonte, despite his over-the-top costume. The most serious problem is Orfeo, sung by Philippe Huttenlocher. Orfeo sings roughly half the music of the opera, and his emotions are what the whole thing is about. Huttenlocher first portrays Orfeo as a kind of jolly lout, straight from Die Meistersinger. He hams and grimaces distractingly. His voice is adequate and he has the notes, but he makes the trills and other embellishments sound dreadfully labored. Later, in Hades, he cranks up the embellishments way past his ability to sing them beautifully; it's the beauty of his singing that's supposed to drive the plot, after all.
Furthermore, the staging. Busy, busy, busy! So much going on in the background. So many visual distractions. How could Ponelle have imagined that people could concentrate on the music? And all the busy-ness is compounded to the Nth by the cinematography, which is as jumpy as a Police Academy film on TV with commercials. Camerawork on steroids! L'Orfeo is a tragedy, a work of "gravitas" and elegance, not a piece of Renaissance Faire burlesque.
Last, the interpretation. Is there one? Harnoncourt was certainly exploring the possibilities, and he can't be totally scorned for making some inchoate choices. The entrance of the Nymph who announces Eurydice's death, for instance, and the laments of the shepherds in both acts are musical catastrophes, blaring overstatements. Why, by the way, is that Nymph dressed as Sarah Palin without her glasses? She was Eurydice's bosom friend and companion, not a witch! The key word for any interpretation of Monteverdi and his contemporaries is AFFECT, and Harnoncourt never settles on a plausible, consistent affect for the music.
The bottom line is that this performance is outdated. - 2008-11-02, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Excelent Version of the Orfeo from Monteverdi
- This version is one of the best orfeos i've ever seen. The scenery and vestuary are gorgeous and the singers are fabulous. Fernando Arauza is marvelous.
- 2008-05-29, 1 of 1 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Wonderful Performance
- I also own the performance staged at the Liceu de Barcelona, and was able to compare it to Harnoncourt's version. What I like more about this last one (Harnoncourt) is the quality of the singers and that they are better actors, especially in the dramatic moments. The staging is impressive, although I like the Barcelona one better because it makes me feel that this is the way it was represented for the first time, during Monteverdi's life.
- 2007-04-17, 8 of 9 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Still the best of the lot
- The long-awaiting DVD of this production is out, and it is fabulous. As one could expect from DGG, the sound and visuals are first-rate. If you have to choose only one recording of this great opera, this is the one to get (I have them all, I think). The costumes are sets are terrific and authentic- probably better than authentic. One gets the feeling that one is there, along with the Duke and Duchess. Amazing playing, especially considering how early in the "early music revival" period this was made.
The box set with the other two extant Monteverdi operas is a good deal, as well, as they are also excellent. The work is timeless, fun, and profound. See this, in this version, and you'll be a fan for life. - 2007-04-05, 8 of 8 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- At last available on DVD. Well worth the wait.
- Monteverdi's L'Orfeo was first performed in 1607, which makes it one of the first operas ever written.
Staging such an antique work is a challenge, since the social environment in which it was first performed has long vanished, and our knowledge of it is imperfect, at best.
There are many temptations for a director of such a piece, including 'modern dress', high camp, or worst of all, he could treat it as a contemporary opera.
Fortunately, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle has fallen into none of these traps - he stages, in front of a modern audience, a formal masque-like performance, and transforms the chorus into the 17th century audience - a very clever trick which allows them to perform in the opera but also to react to its contents.
Singing styles are unorthodox, but I suspect authentic for the period.
And here's the strange thing - the music is remarkably modern, with none of the stilted rhythms of some later composers.
This is a superb production. Up until now, only available if you could find a second-hand VHS recording.
This review is based on viewing just such a recording, from my local library. I look forward to seeing and hearing it on DVD. - 2007-02-14, 10 of 11 people found this review helpful, Rated:
