Dialogues des Carmélites - Royal Opera House 7th June 2014

I remember with utter clarity the very first time I heard a snippet of music from this opera.  It was way back in the mists of time (around 1992/3) when I was just starting to really explore opera and classical music in earnest. So I'd buy one of those magazines with a free CD featuring snippets of classical music and just listen. Some of the tracks I already knew, some I didn't like and some I really enjoyed wanted to know more about - it was a really good way of exploring music on the cheap!  Lo and behold one day a track from Carmelites blasted from the speakers and it stopped me in my tracks.  What the hell was this?  Singing nuns getting their heads chopped off?  Baldly stated it sounds bizarre but what I had stumbled across was the Salve Regina, perhaps the most famous 'piece' of the opera and its utterly devastating conclusion.  I didn't know the opera at all but it was love at first listen.  Unfortunately I never got a chance to see a live performance....until now.

And I have to say that it was worth the very long wait.  Much has already been said about this production by Robert Carsen. This is not a new production by any means, having originated in 1997 and has been travelling around the various opera houses since then.  Still, better late than never.  I've only seen two Carsen productions before and neither was a completely satisfactory experience.  Most recent was the Falstaff which I saw live at ROH.  An updating to the 1950's there seemed to be more surface than substance and the final act didn't really work.  His Zurich Tosca (seen on DVD) was also a 1950's based production, although this one taking its cue from film noir and Hitchock themes.  This had the novel idea of removing religion from the opera all together - the first act taking place in a theatre and not a church.  There were some good moments but this was mainly due to the performers and not to the concept. So I was still a little bit wary of what was to come.

In Carmelites, Carsen quite wisely lets the story and the music do the talking.  While the costumes evoke the period of the story, the stage is mostly bare.  Carsen uses the very evocative and clever lighting (designed by Jean Kalman) to great effect.  Combined with the use of the chorus and actors who fill the stage when required this is a simple tale, simply told.  There were no real jarring moments in terms of production although the finale has divided opinion.  As the nuns are gathered to meet their fate they indulge in some gentle almost tai chi like movements before falling gently to the ground one by one.  I think it would have been just as effective to have them stand utterly still but by this time I had tears in my eyes and I couldn't see anyway.

Its very hard to highlight individual performances as this is very much an ensemble - no diva turns here!  Of note to me was the cameo of Thomas Allen as the Marquis de la Force, surely now in the winter of his career...but what a winter.  Richly characterised as always, he made the most of this small role and was warmly applauded at the end for his efforts.  Yann Beuron as his son made a good impression but this opera is not really about the men.  Sally Matthews as Blanche, the novitiate nun who is pretty much afraid of everything, was outstanding as was Anna Prohaska as the perky Sister Constance.  I'm a big fan of Sophie Koch (especially in French opera) and I wasn't disappointed here.  Another standout was Deborah Polaski as the aged and dying Mother Prioress.  She really threw herself into the agonies of the dying nun and you can imagine poor Blanche being terrified.  If Emma Bell was less notable than the rest of the cast, it was only because she had little enough time to establish her character.  Quite honestly there was no weak link in the cast.

So what was it all about?  I suppose on the surface it was about a group of nuns who succumbed to the zeal of the French Revolution.  Others have said it is about the transference of faith - that the faith shown by Constance and the other nuns is somehow transferred to Blanche, enabling her to return to the nuns and die with them. For me personally, it was about overcoming fear, or rather overcoming the fear of fear and thus being able to move on.

In many ways, I had a very similar experience with this opera as I did when I saw Parsifal for the first time and I approached it in much the same way.  This opera is a journey and you have to slow down and let the composer take you on that journey and not want to rush ahead - the conclusion is all the more devastating for the slow pace in getting there.

I have only one criticism and that is a technical one.  The sounds of the guillotine, while still devastating, were greatly over-amplified in the theatre -  at least in the lower amphitheatre where I was sitting.  It just brought a slightly false-note to an otherwise perfect night at the opera.  I'll  leave you with that devastating final scene.

Toute mon âme est là! - Werther Met HD Broadcast

After reading so many reviews and blogs and tweets about the current run of Werther at the Met Opera, needless to say I was practically champing at the bit to experience this production, if not live, then probably the next best thing.  The fact that Werther is portrayed by the 'tenor du jour' Jonas Kaufmann only added to the anticipation.  I'll try not to let this blog post descend into 'fan girl' gushing but its going to be hard!  As it happens, this was also to be my very first experience of a Met HD broadcast in the cinema which was also an intriguing prospect, so I'll expand a bit more about that aspect of my experience.

My cinema of choice was the Curzon in Mayfair, a little gem with only two screens and a world away from the large multi-screen cinemas more commonly found.  Seating just over 300 in total, the auditorium was ample without being oversized, with comfortable seats, attentive staff and a nice line in Prosecco, Chardonnay and Merlot which you could sip at your seats - very civilised indeed!  The auditorium was about three-quarters full as a guess - not bad for a 5pm start I thought.  My fellow opera fans were slightly more 'mature' than I...which is quite something given that I'm not exactly a spring chicken myself!

My once concern before the broadcast started, was the thought of the possibly overwhelming volume levels.  Don't get me wrong, I don't mind my opera loud when it needs to be, but this is Werther, and something a little more subtle is required, rather than the normal volume at cinemas which tend to rattle the walls!  Luckily my doubts about the quality of the picture and volume were soon put to one side - I couldn't really fault either, apart from a couple of little 'glitches' in the stream, but they only last for a couple of seconds.

So, to the opera itself.

I don't really have a big history with Werther.  I know the most famous tenor aria of course, but I've never seen a live performance before.  I have seen the DVD of the 2010 Paris production, also coincidentally starring Jonas Kaufmann and Sophie Koch as his Charlotte. I enjoyed the performances of both very much but the actual direction of this DVD I find annoying in the extreme.  Unfortunately the director shows us shots of the singers waiting in the wings, the back of the conductor and the orchestra and more or less kills the mood that the singers are working so hard to establish.  Bizarre.

Luckily this new production by Sir Richard Eyre was filmed in a pretty straightforward way for the broadcast.  Close-ups were more or less on-cue and appropriate, the singers always totally in character, the larger picture also lovingly detailed.  The production itself was in the traditional mould but none the worse for that.  There were a lot of projections - this seems to be a 'thing' now and I think that directors are still getting the hang of how to use and more importantly how much to use!  My recent Don Giovanni at ROH, used them a little too frequently I thought.  Here they were used sparingly but effectively, especially when they eased transition from one scene to another, the house and garden of Charlotte and her family, magically transforming into a ballroom where Charlotte and Werther dance and fall in love.  I would be interested to know how effective the projections were in the theatre as opposed to the broadcast - they certainly seemed impressive on the big screen.

This was the last performance in this particular run of Werther and I think it probably showed in the performances.  Rarely was there a moment when any of the cast were not totally committed and in character - a difficult feat to pull off when the camera is constantly on you.  And yet I believed in all of the characters - even the annoying ones!

This opera is a slow burner - there is a lot of scene-setting in Acts 1 and 2 and Sophie Koch as Charlotte paced her performance accordingly, only allowing us a glimpse into her changing emotions in Act 3 and then the ultimately tragic consequences in Act 4.  She is a believable warm presence as Charlotte, with a voice to match and an utterly convincing actress in this part.  David Bizic as her husband Albert was new to me and his voice was smooth and darkly coloured. But this is not an especially grateful singing role for a baritone, with few opportunities to shine.  Lisette Oropesa has a bright-voiced winning soprano and in the role of Sophie she is sweet without being saccharine, suggesting hidden depths and empathy with her sister's plight.

But let's face facts here - Werther is all about the tenor.  And when the tenor is Jonas Kaufmann you can be sure you are in for an emotional roller coaster ride.  The voice of course is wonderful, perhaps darker and more burnished than before, which is unusual itself when this role has traditionally been sung by the likes of Alfredo Kraus, Nicolai Gedda and more recently Roberto Alagna.  Kaufmann makes it work though, his darker tones suggesting a more brooding presence from the start. But its not just the voice - wonderful as that was - its the full commitment to the role that impresses.

The final act is a master-class in acting from both singers as Werther commits suicide (quite graphically here) and Charlotte arrives too late to save him - but not too late to comfort him and finally admit her love.  There were moments here when I was quite literally holding my breath.  And, strange as it sounds, there were also moments when I actually forgot that they were singing and everything was just the drama being played out. That for me is the ultimate in operatic acting.

So for me, my first Met Live HD experience was a thrilling one and one I'm definitely going to repeat at some stage.  No it can't replace the special thrill of being in the opera house and hearing singers live, but when that's just not possible then this is the next best thing.