Tchaikovsky's Maid of Orleans in Boston - Odyssey Opera

Kate Aldrich (mezzosoprano)

Photo: Kathy Wittman

Aaron Keebaugh / Boston Classical Review  

http://bostonclassicalreview.com/2017/09/odyssey-opera-provides-vivid-advocacy-for-tchaikovskys-maid-of-orleans/

Type “Joan of Arc” into Google and you’ll call up a plethora of art works, operas, oratorios, and films dedicated to the French soldier and Catholic Saint. It’s easy to understand why hers is such a compelling story. Her strength in the face of adversity has earned her an enduring place among feminists, spiritual leaders, and military historians. Mark Twain called her  “the most extraordinary person the human race has ever produced.” This season, Odyssey Opera will explore rarely heard works that tell of the life and times of Joan of Arc. The festival began in grand fashion Saturday night at Jordan Hall, where Gil Rose led the company in a concert performance of Tchaikovsky’s The Maid of Orleans.  Tchaikovsky’s version of Joan’s story was the first of his operas to be staged outside of Russia. The historical narrative, big choruses, ballet sequences, and spiritual purity of the hero mixed French grand opera traditions and Wagnerian drama. Yet the work is not without its weaknesses. Tchaikovsky crafted the libretto from Friedrich Schiller’s Die Jungfrau von Orléans and biographical sketches of Joan’s life. Characters are not as rounded as one finds in the composer’s more popular Eugene Onegin and Queen of Spades, and plot points seem to turn on ideas that are not fully explored. Tchaikovsky’s Joan is driven by a spiritual vision in her fight to restore the throne of France during the Hundred Years’ War. She leads the French to victory, and the people and king marvel at her gifts of foresight. But Joan is brought down by her own father, Thibaut, who believes that she is doing the work of the devil. And, rather fickly, the people believe him with little question. But the opera’s greatest weakness is the brief love affair between Joan and Lionel, a Burgundian knight who fights for England. After meeting in battle in Act 3, the two became enraptured with one another. But in the next Act, Lionel is killed off, resulting in a character and subplot that come off as forced and unnecessary.  Problems with the libretto aside, it is Tchaikovsky’s music that makes this opera into an involving drama.The Maid of Orleans has a lush and attractive score, and Saturday’s performance–4-1/2 hours with two intervals–was consistently excellent, with many of the soloists making their Odyssey Opera debuts. As Joan, Kate Aldrich sang with a rich voice that found the spiritual innocence of the character. Her “Lord of the Skies” sounded with prayerful radiance, and her most famous aria from the opera, “Farewell, beloved hills and meadows,” was dark and melting. In the brief role of Lionel, Aleksey Bogdanov found the bold strength of the battle-worn character. His love duet with Joan in Act 3 was achingly beautiful and made the most of their flash-in-the pan romance. Kevin Thompson’s powerful and penetrating baritone brought out the righteous conviction of Joan’s father, Thibaut. He had a convincing partner in Raymond, who hopes to marry Joan. In that role, Yeghishe Manucharyan sang with a soaring and fluent tenor voice. The French king Charles VII is driven nearly to depression over his losses in battle, and Kevin Ray’s smooth-toned tenor effectively captured the character’s dilemma. Another standout was David Kravitz, who sang with a full, smoky baritone as Charles’ knight, Dunois. Erica Petrocelli sang vibrantly as Charles’ beloved Agnès Sorel. Filling out the cast were Mikhail Svetlov and David Salsbery Fry, who sang capably in the roles of the Cardinal and a peasant respectively. The Odyssey Opera Chorus, prepared by William Cutter, conveyed the power and precision of the work’s many choruses. The women sounded graceful as a choir of angels who deliver visions to Joan, and the tenors provided moments of solace as soldiers and peasants. But the heroes of this performance were the members of the Odyssey Opera orchestra. Gil Rose wrung the energy from every page of the score, and the musicians answered with resonant playing in the overture, thundering power in the opening to Act 3, and rustic verve in the Act 2 ballet scenes. Great performances such as this one remind listeners that one doesn’t always need costumes and props to tell a vivid story. The music, when expertly played and sung, is enough. 

Tancredi - Opera Boston

Fotos: Ewa Podles, Amanda Forsyth,
Crédito: Clive Grainger

Lloyd Schwartz (The Phoenix)

La directora Kristine Mcyintyre situó Tancredi, este poco realista romance medieval, durante el tiempo de la guerra civil española, agregando nada mas que confusión ( ¿Quien estaba de que lado? ¿Quienes eran los partidarios del régimen y quienes los fascistas?), y durante la brillante y colorida partitura de Rossini, fuimos forzados a observar los sombríos tonos cafés, negros y grises de la escenografía de Carol Bailey, que consistió en una enorme pared falsa de ladrillos al fondo, con un trapo de lona colgando y algo que pareció ser el lado de una pirámide, además de unos vestuarios sin gracia. La estrella de Tancredi fue la contralto de coloratura polaca Ewa Podles. El exiliado guerrero es uno de sus papeles más representativos, y su voz de tres octavos, aun es capaz de emitir admirables trinos y giros en los registros altos y bajos. Su famosa aria de inicio “Di tanti palpiti” ocasionó una gran ovación. También demostró que puede actuar. Opera Boston utilizó la versión revisada de Rossini con el final tragico, en el que Tancredi muere peleando por el honor de la mujer de la cual esta convencido que lo traicionó. Sin embargo, el final con la versión feliz de Rossini, tampoco hubiera tenido mucho sentido, ya que mucha de su original música se balancea hacia los dos lados. Aun así, Podles hizo que la muerte de Trancredi fuera completamente dolorosa. Amenaide, la heroína de Tancredi fue interpretada por la soprano Amanda Forsythe, cuya energía escénica reestableció algo de la determinación del personaje expresada en la obra de Voltaire, y que desapareció en el acartonado libreto de Gaetano Rossi. Su brillante y transparente tono y su flexibilidad vocal se complementaron bien con Podles. Su exigente aria de la prisión, en el segundo acto, fue también un punto alto de la función. Hubo interpretaciones muy profesionales como la del tenor Yeghishe Manucharyan en el exigente y más bien ingrato papel de Argirio; de Victoria Avetisvan como Isaura, y del barítono Dong Won Kim como el villano. La elegante y vivaz conducción de Gil Rose tuvo brío y mucho más color que las escenografías. Pero fueron Podles y Forsthe quienes en realidad encendieron este Tancredi.

ENGLISH VERSION

Photo: Ewa Podles, Amanda Forsyth, Yeghishe Manucharyan
Credit : Clive Grainger

Lloyd Schwartz (The Phoenix)

Director Kristine McIntyre situated Tancredi, this essentially unrealistic mediæval romance during the Spanish Civil War, adding nothing but confusion (Who’s on which side? Who are the loyalists and who the fascists?), and so during Rossini’s sparkling, colorful score we were forced to look at the dreary browns, blacks, and grays of Carol Bailey’s set — a massive faux brick back wall from which a huge canvas rag was hanging and something that looked like the side of a pyramid — and ultra-drab costumes. The star of Tancredi was Polish coloratura contralto Ewa Podles. The exiled warrior is one of her signature roles, and her three-octave voice. She’s still capable of breathtaking trills and roulades at the highest and lowest registers. Her famous opening aria, “Di tanti palpiti,” brought down the house. She can also act. Opera Boston used Rossini’s revised tragic ending, in which Tancredi dies battling for the honor of the woman he’s convinced has betrayed him. Rossini’s original happy ending doesn’t make much sense either, and much of his inventive music swings both ways. Still, Podles made Tancredi’s death richly poignant. The heroine of Tancredi, Amenaide, was soprano Amanda Forsythe, whose stage energy restored some of the feistiness of the character in the Voltaire play that’s lost in Gaetano Rossi’s stilted libretto. Her bright limpid tone and vocal flexibility were a good match for Podles. Amenaide’s demanding second-act prison aria was another high point. There were professional performances by tenor Yeghishe Manucharyan in the demanding and rather ungrateful role of Argirio, Victoria Avetisyan as Isaura, and Korean baritone Dong Won Kim as the villain. Gil Rose’s stylish and lively conducting had panache and a lot more color than the set. But it was Podles and Forsythe who ignited Tancredi.