ANDREA CHENIER (Royal Opera)***

 

By Dave

Link: https://stream.roh.org.uk/packages/andrea-chenier-2015/videos/andrea-chenier-2015

Available until: Sunday 7^th February 2021

Andrea Chenier is an interesting streaming choice from the Royal Opera (though they are obviously restricted to the productions they chose to film), but it’s a good choice. Mostly, they’ve been streaming the popular operas which everyone knows and this is a time when a lot of people might want a bit of familiarity. It’s not like we get much of it in the rest of our lives.

It’s true the production of Carmen they chose to stream isn’t the most conventional, but it’s still a well-known opera. So are Don Giovanni, La boheme (both made available for a month on their website for just £3), Die Zauberflote (currently available for free on their youtube channel) and Tosca (which they would have streamed live if circumstances hadn’t made it impossible). All operas which you’d expect the regular operagoers to know and have seen before. All operas which would make a good introduction if you hadn’t seen an opera before.

Umberto Giordano's Andrea Chenier is a bit of a departure from that but it’s one I completely applaud. It’s not as catchy musically. It doesn’t have any songs we know but didn’t realise were from operas. But the Royal Opera at Home initiative is really primarily for opera fans who’d usually be going to the opera house but can’t. A lot of operagoers don’t want to see the popular operas all the time, they want to see something a bit different which they don’t get to see often and Andrea Chenier definitely qualifies.

It helps that the baton is in very good hands, or rather hand singular. Sir Antonio Pappano has been at the Royal Opera House since pretty much the time when I first started getting interested in opera. I saw him more than any other conductor and I’m sure he really helped me to hear and feel the music and the emotions in opera. Andrea Chenier might not be the most tuneful opera but this cast has the chance to take it slowly and really emote with their voices. David McVicar’s production is full of darkness as a lot of his productions are, but you can see what’s going on and who everyone is. Robert Jones’ sets reflect the hard, unyielding nature of the cold and mostly colourless world they’re in.

It’s so easy for anyone, whether you’re a critic, a blogger or someone else who is expressing their opinion, to claim that a central couple lacked chemistry. It’s a valid view and one which we’re entitled to but I’m not sure it’s that simple.

When it comes to an onstage relationship there are basically three people in it. No, I’m not talking about love triangles. You do get them all the time in opera (and not just triangles – squares, pentagons…) and they are important but when you’re talking about the chemistry between two singers, there are three people in that relationship and that’s the two singers and whoever is expressing the opinion.

An opinion is totally valid but it won’t be shared by everyone. We all pick up on different things in real life,. There might be a couple in real life who other people describe as being a really great couple with a great relationship but you might feel differently, that it’s forced, that they’re hiding something, that it’s put on for everyone else’s benefit. We don’t all feel the same about every individual so we also won’t feel the same about every couple and that translates to fictional couples too.

Also an opinion can change from day to day. On this particular day I don’t think Andrea Chenier and Maddalena had much chemistry but if I’d watched it yesterday or if I watch it again tomorrow I might come out of it with completely different feelings. Exactly where your head is at is very relevant when it comes to opinions.

When you’re writing a review, you can only write what you feel and think but you can acknowledge you might be wrong, you can urge people to watch it anyway and let them draw their own conclusions and that’s what I’m going to do. If you’re in the mood for an opera, this one is definitely worth a try. It’s the Royal Opera so it’s obviously going to be good quality singing and if you want to watch something you haven’t seen a hundred times before, it’s very likely that Andrea Chenier qualifies.

Jonas Kaufmann and Eva-Maria Westbroek are fantastic musically. They’re full of the strong, passionate nature opera is famous for. They give everything and when they’re singing on their own, it’s a powerful performance. But when they sing together, they still seemed to give the impression of singing on their own. There was something missing for me. Something which might well have been there for everyone else.

Eva-Maria’s most animated relationship was with her servant Bersi, sung by Denyce Graves. It’s a really lovely friendship that makes you wonder what this opera might have been if it had gone in a comedy direction. Or a lesbian one. Denyce is full of fun and personality and her voice is full and rich. It’s a good opera for most of the women, with Elena Zilio very moving in the small role of Madelon, and Rosalind Plowright very grand as the Countess. There are also some female child actors who are very good.

Zeljko Lucic isn’t strictly likeable as Carlo Gerard, but it’s a powerful performance in terms of stage presence and voice. He conveys a lot even when he’s standing still and not singing and when he does sing, it’s arresting.

Definitely worth a watch. And I have it on the very best authority that proving me wrong is a lot of fun.