I was in attendance last night, an excellent seat in the Amphitheatre. Including the Dress Rehearsal, this was my fourth time, but the chap sitting next to me was on his fifth performance - having flown in from Switzerland especially. I wouldn't bet against him being there on Saturday, either, bearing flowers...yes, I have discovered the Bringer of Flowers!.
And, as I said to Plácido afterwards, as one does, it's growing on me. I am still of the view that without such a wonderful performer in the title role it would probably fall a bit flat. There are longeurs; there are passages which are necessary to move the drama on but have no intrinsic value, and are not redeemed by wonderful music in the way that the Big Three* composers would do. There are passages that drag - notably the exchange between Roxanna and Monsieur Le Quiche. And seeing it so many times in such a short period it's easy to find bits that seem less well performed than on previous occasions - what springs most to mind is the chorus of the Gazzas at the Siege of Arras which somehow seemed less testosterone-driven than on previous occasions. But I am still unsure whether I would recognise any excerpts out of context - so it will be interesting to hear the second part of the New York Metropolitan Opera Gala broadcast on Sunday to hear Roberto Alagna sing something from Cyrano de Bergerac - conducted by Plácido Domingo!
And I remain to be convinced that the first half is at all remarkable. The Siege of Arras is good, with some almost memorable music.
But what makes the whole thing worthwhile, is the Final Act, which, as I remarked to Plácido, is wonderful. He agreed. And I suppose, in order to have the impact of the final act it is necessary to have the previous acts. The Final Act is wonderful partly because of the poignancy of the story, especially in its dignified melancholy understatedness and partly because of the sensitive convincing portrayal by all principals.
And yet this is opera. What is opera without music? Yet I am struggling to remember any of the music for the final act, except the Nuns' Chorus. And there's a wonderful passage where the piano is playing with the orchestra. But the overall effect, of reducing me to tears...again...would not be achieved without the music. Sondra Radvanovsky said at the Insight Evening - and her husband repeated to a blogger - that it is like film music; and I suppose when you see a film with proper music you don't necessarily come away humming the tunes, but the music is vital for conveying the mood of the film.
There was a change of cast, with Anthony Michaels-Moore substituting for an indisposed Roman Trekel. I see he was also indisposed last week, and Carmelo Corrado Caruso stepped in for De Guiche, with a (very) distant relation of mine covering Raguenea - I was not at that performance.
It's interesting to see a different portrayal of a fairly minor role. Trekel's portrayal is an arrogant cocksure man, whereas Michaels-Moore is more vulnerable, of someone who is all bravado but inside is a bit lost. Vocally I prefer Trekel, but M-M was more than satisfactory. Indeed, the cast is vocally strong right across-the board. And Sondra Radvanovsky sounded better than on previous outings. I don't think I'd ever go to hear her in recital, nor go to an opera especially for her, but perhaps her presence would be weighed in as a plus factor. Although I find Raymond Very to be perfectly adequate I can't say I have warmed to him. The opera is unusual in having two tenors as Love Rivals and that is deliberately to assist the suspension of belief that Roxanna could not distinguish the voices of Cyrano and Christian. And it suddenly hit me - wouldn't be ace to have Rolando in that role, or even in just an excerpt, the Balcony Scene!
And then there was Plácido. I'm not sure that I can really add anything to what I have previously written, except that I especially noticed his exquisitely placed piano/pianissimo notes; also, the opening declamation sounded especially bright and clarion-like. I have commented previously that he seemed to take a while to warm up on previous occasions, and I didn't notice that last night. On the other hand there was one bar where I could swear that his voice sounded under strain. But, you know, just one bar, in a relatively long role. I am being hyper-picky here!
The man to my left had got his ticket at late notice. He wasn't that much taken with the first act, and in the pause, I commented that people have made the mistake of leaving at the interval, but it gets so much better after that. It did not entirely surprise me that he did not reappear after the interval, and the chap to his left found it highly amusing that I had specifically warned him not to make that mistake!
* Verdi, Wagner and Puccini, IMO
