I genuinely didn't realize while watching this that here's another opera that starts with "don." Sheer coincidence; I'd had it on my radar for a while. It's based on a poem by Walter Scott, so naturally it centers around Scottish people noisily stomping around.
To be a little more specific, la donna in question is Elena, daughter of a noble who had been banished from James V's court, named "Duglas" (sp?). She's being courted by a guy who I'm pretty sure the opera doesn't make clear until the end is supposed to be King Jim in disguise, but it's impossible to read a plot summary that doesn't tell you this, so you're sure to know it in advance. I mean, having read this you do. Sorry if that's a problem! Also in love with her is Rodrigo, the chief of a faction rebelling against the king. But as for herself, she only loves some guy named Malcolm. Anyway, the rebellion's put down and Rodrigo's killed and Duglas and Malcolm are going to be executed as traitors but Elena gets the king to magnanimously pardon them and let her be with Malcolm. What a guy!
The thing that you notice here is that it sure feels like there ought to be some sort of ideology but there sure isn't. Are the rebels justified in rebelling? You get one passing reference to James' "cruel oppression," and that's all. But he's depicted sympathetically, so...? It's very unclear. Maybe it's less so in the original poem, but if you think I'm going to go around reading Walter Scott poetry, or even wikipedia entries thereon, you have another think coming. Anyway, accept the opera for what it is.
...which is a romance similar in some ways to Guillaume Tell. And I'm not complaining; that's exactly what I was signing up for, and if it isn't quite on the level of that one, it's still very good, even if it took me a little while to really get into it. Story's a bit silly, but it's fine for the purpose, which is to create a beautiful racket. Somehow, operas with merciful kings--like Clemenza di Tito or Die Entführung--are always moving. Obviously, ideologically speaking, I'm not a fan of the idea of absolute rulers, and yet I find it interesting that even when most people--apparently--accepted this as an okay state of affairs, they always celebrated it when said rulers didn't actually exercise their absolute right to be huge dicks. I mean, okay, it's only logical, but you'd think it would've raised certain questions about whether this was actually a good system or not. But man, these days, think how amazing it would seem if our Dear Leader would ever use his power for good. Somehow, pardoning war criminals because he's a big fan of war crimes doesn't quite have the same redemptive force. Blah.
This performance was the first time the Met produced the opera. It has Joyce DiDonato as Elena and Juan Diego Flórez as Jim, so they're always good. But here's what I find interesting: Malcolm is a trouser role, here played by Daniela Barcellona, a singer I didn't know but who's perfectly fine. Why is that interesting? It's not; shut up. But what IS interesting is that DiDonato and Barcellona are both mezzo-sopranos, whereas originally Elena was a soprano role and Malcolm a contralto. So they just decided that soprano+contralto averages out to two mezzos? Hmm. I have my doubts. AND LOOK: we talk about contraltos being marginalized, but here's a perfectly good role that one of them doesn't get. It's a shameful state of affairs, I tell you. And just because I'm meandering crazily, let me note that, per wikipedia, the role was created by a singer named Benedetta Rosmunda Pisaroni, who was a soprano until she came down with smallpox, which permanently lowered her voice. THIS IS WHY WE NEED A SMALLPOX COMEBACK. So we can get some more contraltos. Bad taste to joke about something like that at this time? Maybe so. But you know what they say: when life gives you smallpox, make smallpoxade. LOOK, under the circumstances, you can't blame me for being a little flakey. I'm DONE, okay? This blog entry is OVER. Get the heck outta here, ya big palooka!
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