Review: IDOMENEO at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, directed by James Levine.
By Neco Verbis © dibartolocritic –
The opera in Italian must be sung in perfect Italian. In this case, we speak of the’Idomeneo, “Drama for music in three acts” written by the abbot Giambattista Varesco and set to music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Amadeus was twenty-five years old when he wrote Idomeneo, which is not his first serious work ever, but the first in which there are elements of greater formal freedom than the work of Metastasian ideation.
The musical genius, therefore, wrote Idomeneo on a libretto in Italian, structured with a system typical of Italian opera seria, with its traditional alternation of arias and recitatives, even if enriched by the aforementioned elements. So today, in the world of globalization, when Idomeneo is sung, too In the USA, this small, immense one Italian language it must be respected in singing in all its breadth of openness in the vowels, in all the clarity of diction.
A type of Italianese, with words eaten and "T" that become "C" due to the Anglo-Saxon accent, therefore, does not give credit to the quality not only of the libretto, but of the entire work. Singing Mozart by mixing words is like singing Werther in French with a Spanish accent. You can't and shouldn't. Not even at Metropolitan Opera. Indeed, even more so in the overseas temple of the great Work. Unfortunately, however, this happened in the staging of Mozart's masterpiece a New York on March 6, 2017.
Musically speaking, then, the whole evening was marked by the slowness of the times, in the last act in particular, where the stage action, on the other hand, should have tightened even more; this perhaps in order to evoke the solemnity of moments more or less involving the divine. The choral inspiration, the ability to grasp the ensembles in the score, the fusion of colors and very refined orchestral sounds, however, still honored a great podium such as the M° James Levine, driving the grandiose Orchestra of the Met.
As mentioned earlier, in the Idomeneo many elements are extraneous to the tradition of Italian opera seria: choirs, dances and orchestral pieces have been inserted by the author. The choirs sometimes take an active role, as happens during the shipwrecked scene in the first act. Great, in fact, in addition to the orchestra, also the Choir of the Met, of good Italian diction, also supported by Levine's wrist.
Idomeneo overall, however, he is a tough nut to crack, even for greats like the American director. Relaxing and relaxing is not allowed, you cannot make it muffled and a living room, making it touch an Arcadia still far to come, definitely forbidden. So, the tension that underlies the whole work has gone a little’ lost, perhaps in search of that aerial perfection of genius, which however risks losing sight of its roots. And in an Opera like Idomeneo these roots are very strong, more than the aerial parts, like in a well planted tree. The flattering zeffiretti can only touch and gently shiver the leaves of the entire work, or there is a risk of making it sweetish.
We heard a mature Mozart from a mature Levine. A Mozart matured perhaps a little’ too much more in the symphonic than in the opera, not only in the eighteenth century. The tension that results in delay and complacency does not do justice to the composer's genius. A search for lyricism that is ahead of its time is in vain in the Idomeneo. Just as the fiction in Mozart is the fiction of the fiction. Knowing how to grasp this fundamental point is not for everyone. It may have been touched upon in the past, but it can also be lost over time…
Maturity does not necessarily mean perfection, but internalization and personalization, too. Therefore, the listener cannot always be reflected in something so filtered that it has become no longer universal but almost personal. The overall "Levine effect" at the Met was this, despite its undisputed grandeur.
The success of an Opera depends on many factors, but, also from the point of view of conducting, the human material available on stage does a great deal.
Therefore, as previously mentioned with regard to insufficient diction, voices were "lacking" in the direction of Maestro Levine in this Mozart evening in New York: their inadequacy also influenced the agogic yield; the need to accompany and support singers with a voice that is not particularly pregnant has slowed the Maestro not a little in being able to fully express all the Mozart that he knows and practices, even if he has splendidly grasped the mythological side of Mozart's opera; that mythology permeated with so much eighteenth century and genius as only Mozart, with a score of extraordinary timbre richness, was able to do.
What was noticed with regard to the direction of the singing was above all a lack of tension in general in the recitatives and concertati, but also in some solo parts. What was missing was that "squaring" of absolute rigor that Mozart must contain and imply, under the apparent musical playfulness, even in the dramatic parts.
The only voice that stood out above all was that of the gorgeous Nadine Sierra, Ilia. Characteristically determined and strong, compared to certain sweetened interpretations of the character, also far from the sweetness inherent in the singing of that wonderful Ileana Cotrubas, who preceded her in the same role in the same production in 1982, Nadine Sierra was the real "princess" of evening. Her voice is crystal clear, projected to perfection, a clear song, perfect phrasing, sweetness when needed, firmness when she is served, splendid even scenically, the only one with perfect diction.
L'Idamante, the beloved by Ilia and by Elettra, whose part was originally written for soprano castrato, now en travesti, by Alice Coote he did not possess a sufficiently robust vocality to sustain the part. Moreover, he was hampered by the aforementioned obvious difficulty in Italian pronunciation. But Coote, above all, had neither the vocal authority, nor the color, nor the projection suitable for the role.
The same goes for the’Electra by Elza van den Heever who demonstrated, if needed, how this character should not express himself more with facial expressions than with his voice: the Furies of the raw Avernus, perhaps, were in his eyes, but not in his voice, which did not have the extension and strength, also of character, which must distinguish the Elettra written by Mozart. Better in the cantabili, as in "My idol if backward", but a little too’ frayed even in the direction and unintelligible in the diction. Perhaps too "light" as a voice for an Elettra that requires a lot of strength and not a little grit, as well as elegance of emission and phrasing. To be honest, take care of the agility.
The overall result was that of having three sopranos on stage with a very, perhaps too similar voice, with the difference that the expertise of the very young Sierra outclassed the much more mature colleagues.
Also weak there’Arbace by Gregory Schmidt, with a voice that did not reflect the clarity and the chisel of the agility necessary for the role that was of a Nucci, the best Arbace ever heard, amazing at the time, much more than a baritone like yesterday and today, whatever people say. Instead the Schimdt has a weak voice, with a very unpleasant vibrato and above all lacking that authority that the confidant of the king must have, even vocally.
Lastly, lIdomeneo protagonist of Matthew Polenzani he demonstrated excellent scenic skills, but a voice not very convincing for one part, in which one inevitably compares him with the Pavarotti who preceded him in production. You never want to do it: these comparisons cannot stand, with anyone and it is not correct to make them, but in pectore, the voice of Polenzani is still insufficient to fill the Mozartian role, which requires chisel and not vibrato, much cleaner agility, high pitched and not softly uncertain tending to the stigbrate, in an attempt of sweetness of emission that the character does not require, on the contrary! Here, too, the roots of that immense tree that is the Idomeneo have been lost, particularly in the protagonist's well planting, even vocally, not just scenically.
With regard to the historical production by Jan-Pierre Ponnelle, taken from David Kneuss, there is only to continue to admire it, today as yesterday, in the perfection of the study of the positioning of the characters, almost like a figurative dance, in the careful and elegant choice of movements, even those of the masses.
And in those scene and with those costumes of an eighteenth century reinvented and sumptuous by Ponnelle himself, illuminated by lights by Gil Wechsler, the protagonists moved, in the end applauded by the public. Electra, Van den Heever, most of all, despite her sharp high notes, and whose ability in her agility evidently pleased the spectators more than in the other performers.
Neco Verbis © dibartolocritic
PHOTOS © Metropolitan Opera | Marti Sohl