Hablando del rey Rolando ( ROH Contes d'Hoffmann)

ROH foto

On a second viewing this old production seemed even worse for wear than before. It has passed it’s expiry date some 10-15 years ago I guess. I still think for a first time contact with Hoffmann it a great one to see because it has all the gimmicks and is very literal on all special effects. To the adult viewers some of the tricks maybe a bit overplayed but it still has a bit of a fairy tale character to it, which I am naïve enough to still be able to enjoy ;-) The adult in me however rebels against the decadent Venice falling so totally flat on stage! I understand that the staging is a bit ridiculous and it is hard to take one self’s contribution to it seriously but it didn’t really seem like the people involved gave it the best go. Strangely enough there was double the involvement in the prologue and end, which felt overacted and a bit exaggerated. I am not trying to be excessively harsh here, it is just that it truly felt either underplayed or overacted, in all cases as “acting” and not really being there in time and space naturally.

The orchestra and cher Pappano were in top form indeed. Pappano deliveryed amazingly as always in ensemble scenes and you always get a feeling with him in those parts that he music explodes, tornadoes out of the pit to engulf you. Having said that I was just a tiny bit disappointed in the romantic, lyrical parts as they never quite got to the French elegance and coquetry that I expected ( again,. More of an observation to the 2nd act). It did however the convey the melancholic and sad mood wonderfully in the 3rd act.

The girls were good, with Olympia (Ekaterina Lekhina) being a bit less fabulous than in the GR, but first night nerves can get to everyone :-) Guilietta (Christine Rice) has a pleasant warm voice, but she never quite convinced me as courtesan. Antonia (Katie Van Kooten) has for me the toughest job of the three and I really liked her voice, I just wish she hadn’t struggled a bit in her last aria. I don’t know if she started a bit off from the orchestra or if Pappano just pushed it a bit too hard for her; however the struggle came off believable in the circumstances of the scene and the character and she has us all with emotion and torment.

Nicklausse (Kristine Jepson) builds up a believable character and she has a good voice but somehow I was never fully blown away. The one disappointment of the night for me was however Gidon Saks villain. I don’t know if it was first night nerves or what, the role in itself is very long and by no means easy, however Scintille, diamante didn’t sparkle at all and there was more than one painful top note and also some problems in the lower register. Pity, because he should be almost as powerful as Hoffmann and didn’t quite manage to get to that level.

But this was not a bad night by any means, nor was the singing bad, it was good, but only one managed to be excellent, outstanding…there was only one star this evening and it was undoubtedly Rolando Villazon. The orchestra, the music and Rolando made the night a truly special one, one to say I have been there, I have seen and heard that! The amount of expectations being shovelled on his slight elegant shoulders must have been immense and it surely would have crushed a lesser artist. But not Rolando!

The role certainly suits him perfectly, vocally and most of all intellectually and emotionally. And judging from his latest statements and interviews he has the perfect state of mind for the role. His was never “acting”, he was Hoffmann, every single second he was on stage. He stepped on it and just as the audience at the tavern we were riveted, listening to his every word and watching his every movement. He not only was Hoffmann but also managed to take us back in time and explore the evolution of the character with them. He did that wit every gesture, every blink of his eyes but he did it also with his voice. It started dark, rich, disillusioned and switched amazingly to youthful and innocent freshness inact1, to careless and abandoned passion in act 2 and to romantic lyricism and preoccupation in act3 only to come back with more force in the end.

His every gesture was equally as well in tune with his adventures. He proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he not only is a gifted singer but a completed and amazingly talented artist, gestures, voice, facial expression all were perfectly in tune. And we got to sample some of that amazing charisma he can whip up on stage. He can make you smile, laugh, cry, forget to breath and explode with emotion with the efficiency of a wizard.

And the singing? The singing was passionate, moving, colourful, engaging and abandoned, powerful and just plain beautiful. It will never be perfect and some will always be there to measure decibels and intensity and what not. But to be as human as he is on stage, to be as convincing and really tell the story with such truth you couldn’t possibly be perfect because emotions aren’t perfect and controllable. It was in his phrasing and every aria that one would find a perfect reflection of the orchestra and nobody else on stage managed to display the beauty of it just as he did. The lyrical, musical, sweet character of his voice is amazing and a quality that is rarely appreciated as it deserves. The “Frenchness” that I sometimes felt underplayed in the orchestra came off in waves and waves from his voice, never exaggerated but just warmly and totally irresistibly. He is quite the charmer this one when he sets his mind to it ;-) And the more I hear him, the more I like his lower register, elegantly virile as it is. And the tops were as sunny and as secure as everyone was thirsting to hear them again :-)

He started off on the top of the mountain in the prologue and just kept on swirling powerfully and elegantly there, never once letting the tension ease, never once reducing the intensity and energy that drives him. And the last spoken words summing up the fate of his three loves was as powerful as the singing.

In the end the ROH gave him what he so fully earned – thundering applause!! I was immensely touched by the image of RV in his wig, in front of the huge red ROH curtain with the House giving him a standing ovation and him being touched as well… he sent us kisses, signalled his heart and was literally jumping up and down with joy. And all I wanted to say was: yes, Rolando we love you too, very much so :-) And a happy Rolando is an incredible joy to watch!

Rolando sigue siendo el rey! (Hoffmann conquers the ROH)

Foto borrowed from Joaquim ;-)

More tomorrow as tonight I am dead!

Rolando Villazon returns to Les Contes d'Hoffmann at ROH

Photo: ROH site

I’ve had a challenging weekend! And all i did was listen to almost 7 hours of French opera : 4x Offenbach plus 3x Berlioz. I’ll come back to Berlioz and his Damnation in a separate post, but just wanted to say than when I realised I had almost overbook myself I was quite apprehensive about my capacity to take all this in during one single day. It proved to be an inspiring combination and two works that go well together if you are in a pensative mood.


On to Hoffmann…
The last time I have heard this opera I was just a kid, the perspectives changes significantly with age. I find this now an utterly fascinating work, by far not just another French opera about love. As I see it now it is the tale of a very troubled man, always in the quest of deep, unlimited passion, be it love, beauty, art, music or his own literary muse. And it poses to me that interesting question of what is life without passion, but what if passion takes over life. One to Hoffmann is unbearable and the other leads equally to destruction (which is where I felt that Damnation tied wonderfully into as well).

The public laughed often throughout the opera, but I have to admit that for me (maybe also because of knowing where it ends time and time again) passages weren’t funny, but more grotesque, sometimes sad and always unsettling. Of course one can choose the way one views this opera.

Maybe it is also the old sets and the whole feeling they have about them of time not having been very kind on them, it does feel indeed more as distant memories through the eyes of a wiser and more disillusioned man than actual moments in current time.

But I am certain that the uniting element is Rolando Villazon’s interpretation of Hoffmann. I don’t know if it particularly reflects his current mood as an artist, but the role suits him exceptionally well. The music is good to his voice and vice versa, I have heard some beautiful warm notes in his lower register yesterday and the long rich lines were melancholic and emotional. But I see what he is trying to convey and do with the character and I like it. I hope the public will go to the performance with an open mind and open eyes and try and see beyond the old fashioned set up. And he is in good form, still looked and sounded pretty fresh at the end of it :-)
Kristine Jepson’s Nicklass felt like a true companion, but I am not sure about everyone else taking their character one step further. Wonderful singing from Olympia (Ekaterina Lekhina) and Antonia (Katie Van Kooten) and genuineness of character.

The scene which felt the weakest to me was Giulietta’s Venice. To be honest Pappano also had a bit of a dull moment there, it just didn’t sparkle, none of the expected sensuous character and spell of it came over, at least not for me. It was all a bit jaded and I do hope they do better on opening night, because each piece has it’s significance and they should have equal weight and intensity. Admittedly the set here doesn’t help but I do expect more, even though it might be the most difficult to act .

All in all it was a surprising and interesting preview and I must admit I wish there were some dress down opera-nights ;-) Nice to be really comfortable for once, also to see house staff more relaxed and the whole feeling of “working art” ;-)

But I am also looking forward to that tension, the butterflies of the “real thing”!

So I’ll be back with more Hoffmann after Tuesday night, until then good luck for the opening to all singers, performers and all staff who work on it :-)

PS Have to wonder if this will be the last we see of this particular production? I hope it doesn’t drop out of the repertory just because the sets call out for retirement, it is too beautiful an opera not be able to enjoy it more often!