Gertsamtkunstwerk

Fedora

Another in my occasional alphabetical reviews of DVDs etc.

Written by Umberto Giordano who also wrote Andrea Chenier, I started this exercise thinking that Fedora is a worthy but forgettable barely second-rate work. Prior to last weekend, I had heard it once live, at Opera Holland Park and once when I first acquired the DVD.  Click image for details

There is another commercial version available which I do not currently own   but I will...!

In addition I have a 'private' recording from Liceu Barcelona from 1988 with Renata Scotto as Fedora, which is basically the same production as the New York Met, but with different costumes and the sets refurbished.  This has been converted to DVD from an obviously well-played VHS, and my gratitude to the person who did this is unbounded; however, commercial DVDs are better quality.

On the whole my comments are about the New York version, except where indicated. It would be nice to have a commercial DVD of the Barcelona one because I think Plácido is in better voice and hunkier, although I wouldn't exactly say he is unlikeable in the New York one!

Fedora at Holland Park

Which is where I was on Thursday evening, a beautiful night for a spot of' country house' opera in Inner London. Indeed, as I sat on the bus going along Bayswater Road I rather regretted that I had not walked; when I worked at Kensington Town Hall I occasionally walked through the parks to Hyde Park Corner on barmy summer evenings. I also regretted that walking from Hyde Park Corner to Holland Park would probably wipe me out for the week nowadays.

Fedora is most definitely a second-rate opera, which is not to say it is without merit. The music is pleasant throughout, the story is linear and moves along swiftly with plenty of opportunity for emotion. The production was traditional and simple. I suspect if it were an opera I knew well I would be a bit frustrated at the simplicity. And for blogging purposes, it's difficult to say anything insightful about a simple, traditional production.

It is written by Umberto Giordano, who also wrote Andrea Chenier, and in my view it isn't as strong, and certainly not as heart-stirringly emotive as Chenier. Synopsis and background. A tragic love story. Her fiancé is murdered; she befriends the murderer to seek revenge; he says he murdered fiancé because fiancé was cheating with his wife; they fall in love; she finds out that his brother has been executed as a result of her letter to the authorities; she takes poison and dies.

The orchestra - the City of London Sinfonia, under Brad Cohen, sounded perfectly fine to me. Obviously, a company like Holland Park is not going to get the stellar cast of the ROH or even ENO, but there is no shortage of good singers around.

Fedora was played by Yvonne Kenny. Unlike a certain blogger who is travelling all the way from New Zealand especially, I wouldn't call myself an Yvonne Kenny fan. On the downside I have to quote a seat-neighbour "coming to the end of her career"and "sings well in mezzo". On th epositive side, she gave a convincing and committed portrayal, and an intelligent musical interpretation. Overall she was good.

There was a strong cast in depth, notably Stephen Gadd (De Siriex), Catrin Johnsson (Dmitri) and Grant Doyle (Ciriilo) - two pleasing performances from Grant Doyle in the space of nine days speaks volumes to me.

However, and lets save the best for last. Forget all of the above. I'm not sure if there are any tickets left for remaining performances, but if there were and I wasn't totally skint, I'd be in the queue just to hear the tenor again.

Aldo di Toro. Remember that name, note it down. What a voice! I have heard some bloody good tenors so far this year - Calleja, Villazon, Domingo. To that list I have to add Di Toro. Mike had posted on rmo that he was a 'real find' and quoted the Standard's review that he was 'astonishing'.

For accuracy's sake I would argue that perhaps he requires a little more polish to be the entire finished article. But to be candid, with a voice like that, who cares about polish! What a voice! I have a 'thing' about tenors, which doesn't mean that I like all tenors. Far from it. But I would describe Aldo di toro as sweet, ardent, lyrical, musical, a ringing tone, squillo, and that certain 'something' indescribable which hits my T-spot. The guy can act, and while I wouldn't call him drop-dead gorgeous he's easy on the eye. I'm just purring at the thought of roles I would love to see him in. And hear him! All those wonderful Verdi/Puccini lyrico-spinto roles. Drool Drool! Some details here (scroll down) - he's Australian.

An opera is about more than arias, but, let's be honest, the most famous part of this opera is Amor ti vieta, which has been a showpiece for all the great tenors since Caruso. And tonight it was delivered with pasion and ardour

The Times

says a muscular, personable and entirely Italianate tenor in Aldo Di Toro... From the minute when Loris declares his love for the widow of the man he murdered, Di Toro is indefatigable.

Fabulous said the Guardian.

The Stage "his strong tone consistently impresses".

Bloomberg He has a firm, rounded and passionate sound, and brings all the lyric possibilities of the part to the fore.

Aldo Di Toro has a wonderfully natural, open sound throughout the range - a name to watch. says the Independent.

...a promising Australian tenor with the splendidly Italianate name of Aldo di Toro cut an elegant figure and sang with a firm line and sweet tone: I hope we hear more of him.

says The Telegraph. Great opening line, BTW, "BAD operas don't come much better than Fedora."

And MusicOMH

Andrea Chénier

Last night I gave you one of the most overrated operas in the repertory; tonight it's one of the most underrated.

Umberto Giordano's passionate and most successful opera is set immediately before and during the French Revolution. Andrea Chénier, an idealistic poet, falls in love with Maddalena di Coigny at a reception at her mother's sumptuous chateau. Gerard, formerly a servant in the Coigny household, and now a revolutionary, also loves Maddalena. Elevated to the revolutionary court, he seizes the opportunity to have his rival, Chénier, condemned to death. Ultimately moved by Maddalena's devotion and selflessness in trying to save Chénier, Gérard regrets his actions and tries to save Chénier, but it is too late. With Gérard's help, Maddalena takes the place of a condemned woman and joins Chénier in his cell. As the tumbril arrives, the lovers look forward to their death together.

It's loosely very loosely  based on a true story. The Met site has a fuller synopsis but fails entirely to capture the essence of the piece.

Details: Although from Covent Garden, this is a PAL-compatible NTSC DVD, a definite minus point. I prefer PAL discs for their better quality and for the fact that they often go 16:9; this is 4:3. Unfortunately it's market forces. Opera DVDs don�t shift the volume of Hollywood Blockbusters and it's often uneconomic to have two pressings, so we have to put up with the inferior NTSC, because they can't deal with PAL.

The packaging is only mediocre - it lists 31 chapters, which allows one to find individual arias, but doesn't say which character sings which aria. There is no cast list, so you have to rely on the blurb to find out the three main characters: Chénier - Plácido Domingo; Maddalena - Anna Tomowa-Sintow;  Gérard - Giorgio Zancanaro. The rest of the cast and characters are anyone's guess...

The weak point in the whole production is the lighting. In close-ups it often shines too brightly on the singers, especially as the camera pans in, making them appear pale and washed out at times. It also manages to make the Tricolour adorning the streets of Paris in Act 2 look like an Irish tricolour! I particularly don't like the attempt to emulate daylight in part of Act 2.

Grouses out of the way, it is splendid, and gets better with each watching! The sets are amongst the best I have seen, live or on video, and the costumes are great. I particularly like Andrea Ch�nier's, but you will have to watch it to understand what I mean.

Dramatically the main character is actually Gérard, whose character is the most complex,  and develops the most. This really is a fine performance from Giorgio Zancanaro, who I understand retired prematurely for health reasons. Anna Tomowa-Sintow is frustrating. At times she sounds sublime, at other times ordinary. Her acting is strange - it's sort of taught-learnt facial expressions, which, I suppose is better than the Sutherland-Pavarotti school of non-acting, but still not good enough. 

The star is, of course, Plácido Domingo, and I think that this is probably one of my favourite DVDs of him. He looks absolutely  gorgeous throughout - and totally stunning in the photo on the DVD case. The acting is convincing, he looks like he's feeling the part rather than just repeating rehearsed moves. And then there's the singing, which is him pretty much at his peak.

The First Act Party lays out the background to the French Revolution. The complacency, ignorance and sense of superiority of most of the aristocracy contrast with the revolutionary spirit of the two main men, and the naive compassion of Maddalena.  One look at Andrea Chénier sets my lust off, so I can quite identify with Maddalena, for whom it's clearly lust at first sight.

Musically, it's interesting. The orchestration is worth listening to eg the party music of Act 1, and Act 2's reign of terror wonderfully reflected in chaotic ominous music. None of the arias are 'whistle along in the shower' but the main role has a showstopper in each of four acts - marvellously delivered, it goes without saying...! Maddalena has a great show-stopper, La Mamma Morta in Act 3, which I have heard sung better than here, I have to say. And two duets stand out, near the end of Act 2, when they sing about the supreme hour of love, and the Act 4 Finale, Vicino a te, which is sung and acted so movingly, with gorgeous vocal lines and great orchestra.

I really like the libretto of this. It reads well in English, and, as far as I could tell,  this has a faithful translation from the Italian.

In no way is this a frivolous opera. It was filmed - and shown on TV - in May 1985 but I have no memory of seeing it. Perhaps, in an age before video-owning it was on a night I was out. Because I'm sure I would have watched it, and absolutely loved analysing the social and historical message. Maddalena tells how indebted she is to her servant Bersi who became a prostitute so that the two of them could survive. In my opinion, this was symptomatic of the malaise of the aristocracy - somehow there was more honour in allowing one's servant to be a prostitute on one's behalf than becoming one oneself. And the men are contemptuous of the courtesans, as if they are in that situation out of choice or enjoyment, failing to recognise their desperation.

A real tear-jerker is the scene where Madelon, an old woman who has already lost her son and a grandson in the war, offers her last grandson as a soldier. "The last child of my old blood. I shall die in a few days" The minimalist strings, enhance the portentious, doomed atmosphere.

In Act 3, G�rard is going to rape Maddalena. She decides to yield in order to save Ch�nier. Echoes of Tosca. G�rard changes his mind, because, unlike Scarpia, he is an honourable man. It must have been a terrible sacrifice for women back them, a guarantee of shame. I wouldn't hesitate now, if that was the price to save a life. And yet life was so cheap then. We are shocked at and mourn, every needless, violent, death. The mob were just baying for blood, watching the court sessions as a public spectacle, in between exchanging gossip and the price of food.

And, in the final act, the noble sacrifice, the act of love. Amazing, and not in vain, because in volunteering to die with Chénier, Maddalena saves the life of a young mother condemned to the guillotine.

It is an amazing piece of art, and I suppose the weakest part is the music, which is nice, but simply isn't memorable.