RESCUED!

Opera Lafayette's production of Beethoven's Leonore (photo by Louis Forget)

Boy loves Girl, Girl loves Another Boy (sounds familiar?).  Wait, the Boy she loves is actually a Girl disguised as a Boy.  Of course, by now you've figured out that we're speaking of Beethoven's Fidelio. But we are not! We are speaking of the precursor to Fidelio which Beethoven wrote in 1804. How come we didn't know about this?

Opera Lafayette, on their too infrequent visits to New York City, is famed for unearthing treasures; but this treasure was missing something important. What's an opera without a tenor aria? Not that Beethoven didn't write one but in the process of revising an opera that didn't go over well with the French soldiers occupying Vienna at the time, much was lost.

Leave it to Artistic Director and Maestro Ryan Brown to engage the services of the renowned Will Crutchfield to work with Beethoven's sketches and recreate the aria. The scholarship involved in this project made for interesting reading in the program book; rather than reveal it, we prefer to urge you to attend the final performance Wednesday night at the Kaye Playhouse of Hunter College. You will be lucky, dear Reader, to snag a ticket and you will thank me.  (You are welcome!)

If you were reading my blog three years ago, you may have read about Opera Lafayette's production of Pierre Gavreaux's Leonore. If you have not, you can enter "Opera Lafayette" in the search bar and read about what might have been the inspiration for this telling of the same tale. If so it was a genius idea to utilize the same set and costumes and much of the same cast. We spoke with some of the singers and got the picture that learning the same role in German for these Francophiles was a challenge, one that they met successfully. The acting remained at the same fine quality.

There is plenty of spoken dialogue which often reminded us of a graphic novel like Maus by Art Spiegelman. The simplicity allowed us to focus on the themes and the music. 

As you probably know, the themes are those of overcoming oppression and the role of woman as rescuer. The titular character portrayed by the splendid soprano Nathalie Paulin has disguised herself (not very convincingly to our eye) as a man and secured a position as assistant to the jailer Rocco  (the fine bass-baritone Stephen Hegedus) who runs the prison where she believes her husband to be incarcerated.

Rocco's lively pixieish teenage daughter, portrayed by delightful soprano Pascale Beaudin, rejects her ardent suitor Jaquino (Keven Geddes) in the delightful opening scene and convinces her father that Leonore is the "man" for her. He consents.

Leonore wins the trust of Rocco, gets into the dungeon, and rescues her husband Florestan (tennorific Jean-Michel Richer) from the evil machinations of Don Pizarro, who wanted vengeance for Florestan's criticism of his evil ways. Let us say at this point that Matthew Scollin, who sang the role of Pizarro, created the most evil villain in our memory.

A deus ex machina concludes the opera with the arrival of the King's Minister Don Fernando (booming bass Alexandre Sylvestre) and the prisoners rejoice and celebrate Leonore's heroism.

The music captivated us from the moment Maestro Brown raised his baton. Please don't ask which of the four overtures we heard. It's like trying to sort out Puccini's four iterations of Madama Butterfly. Whichever it was we enjoyed the descending motif and the portentous theme. There were ascending flute arpeggi to lighten the mood. When the orchestra got into the melody that all Beethoven lovers will recognize, Maestro Brown carefully elicited the modulations from major to minor that make this overture so memorable and affecting.

The singing was superb all around and hearing the restored tenor aria was a special treat. Mr. Richer has grown in the role dramatically, in spite of having to sing in a different language. Actually we were quite satisfied with everyone's German diction and barely noticed the missing subtitles at the beginning which were quickly restored.

The score has some fine arias but we were most impressed by the duets and ensembles. The opera was written just five years after Mozart's death but we heard many echoes of him both musically and philosophically. Both composers created characters imbued with humanity and higher values.

Oriol Tomas directed with finesse until the final scene. We didn't care for the way it was staged; the words sung by Leonore and Florestan did not match up with the action. He was chained in place but Leonore, who should have been rushing to him, was lying at the other end of the stage. We just didn't buy it as a reunion scene. Actually there was more chemistry between Marzelline and Jaquino in the first scene who were charmingly directed, interacting quite believably whilst folding laundry.

Laurence Mongeau's set comprised simple interlocking rectangular forms embellished with parallel cables stretched to connect. It was Rob Siler's lighting design that created the appropriate atmosphere for each scene.

The theme of "rescue" has stayed with us all night. Leonore rescued Florestan and Opera Lafayette rescued Beethoven's early attempt at creating the Fidelio that occupies a major place in the canon.

© meche kroop

PRE-BEETHOVEN FIDELIO

Jean-Michel Richer as Florestan in Opera Lafayette's production of Pierre Gaveaux' Leonore

When an opera arrives at legendary status, other iterations of the same story generally fade away. Paisiello's Barber of Seville (produced by On Site Opera) and Salieri's Falstaff (produced by Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble) are cases in point. That a libretto for Beethoven's Fidelio was set before was not known to us, but what a revelation it was, in a production by the intrepid Opera Lafayette performed at the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College.

Opera Lafayette has the perfect niche, specializing in the French repertoire and performing on period instruments. This production of Pierre Gaveaux's 1798 work Leonore ou L'Amour conjugal is the first in modern times. What a delight to hear a work that has lain dormant for over two centuries, a veritable "sleeping beauty", awakened by the Opera Lafayette kiss. Fear not if you missed it because it has been filmed.

You already know the story--Leonore (soprano Kimy McLaren) has been working at a prison where she believes her innocent husband has been incarcerated after having exposed a tyrant. She has ingratiated herself to Roc, the prison warden (bass Tomislav Lavoie), gaining his trust.

Roc has approved a marriage between his daughter Marceline (Pascale Beaudin)  and Leonore, the former having fallen in love with the cross-dressed Leonore who calls herself Fidelio. Marceline's suitor Jacquino (tenor Keven Geddes) is unhappy about Marceline's rejection of his advances but, not to worry, the story has a happy ending.

After two years of terrible suffering in prison, Florestan (tenor Jean-Michel Richer) is finally liberated by his faithful wife, although his death has been commanded by the evil Pizare (baritone Dominique Cote). The deus ex machina arrives at the last minute in the person of Dom Fernand (bass baritone Alexandre Sylvestre).

There are two important themes to be considered. The first is the fidelity of Leonore who has never given up on finding and freeing her husband and is ready to die with him if she fails.

The second theme is that of unjust and arbitrary imprisonment and the need for liberation. When Jean-Nicolas Bouilly wrote the libretto, France was reeling from Robespierre's Reign of Terror and this theme was a common one in opera of that epoch.   So called "rescue dramas" were familiar to audiences.

By the time Beethoven acquired the libretto in German translation, there were other tyrants and the work transmogrified from the historical to the personal. It is unknown whether Beethoven ever heard Gavreau's score but it was found in his home after his death.

In any case, much about his Fidelio is anticipated in Gavreau's work, which was produced for the Opera Comique and therefore has substantial spoken dialogue and an altogether lighter touch. The opera opens with a comic scene between Marceline and Jacquino in which director Oriol Tomas has provided them with clever stage business that limns their homely existence--folding laundry.

The strophic music is delightfully tuneful and more than usually memorable. (Small wonder that popular music is written strophically!)  Duets were uncommonly beautiful.

When the prisoners are released for a few moments of daylight, they sing a stirring chorus, ending Act I on a hopeful note.

Act II begins on a tragic note with the suffering Florestan pouring out his despair. On a personal note, we were quite moved by his aria which the singer delivered with as dark a color as was a propos.

There was not a weak link in the vocalism; all the singers are Canadian and the French was mostly understandable, a good thing because the stage lighting often faded out the surtitles. We could not have asked for a better cast; they delivered dramatically as well as vocally.

We liked the direction and the opera moved along swiftly, leaving us wishing there were a bit more!

Laurence Mongeau's sets and costumes worked well. The set comprised a series of rectangular forms and pillars which folded into each other and could readily be moved to suggest a different place. The costumes suggested late 18th c. Europe but were less fussy. Everything worked well together and was enhanced by Julie Basse's effective lighting.

Ryan Brown, Founder and Director of Opera Lafayette conducted the sizable orchestra which was at the same level as the first row of the raked orchestra, giving us a welcome view of his balletic style of conducting. We also enjoyed the opportunity to see the individual instrumentalists, including some wooden flutes and oboes. The playing was beautifully integrated with the singing and performed in fine French style.

Given the choice of enduring another jagged-edge modern opera or thrilling to the discovery of a forgotten masterpiece, we will not hesitate to choose the latter and are happy to give credit to Opera Lafayette for another night of pleasure and illumination. We can't help wondering how many more worthy pieces are awaiting discovery. Opera Lafayette remains the Christopher Columbus of the opera world.

(c) meche kroop