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Saturday evening my wife and I attended the San Francisco's production of Berlioz' epic Les Troyens, which was co-produced with just about every major European house -Covent Garden, La Scala and the Vienna State Opera.
I am a huge fan of Berlioz - one music critic (B.H. Haggin, if you must know) called Berlioz and Mussorgsky the two great originals of the 19th century, an opinion which is hard to dispute. I had never seen Les Troyens performed so for me this was an event not to be missed. A complete (and this was apparently virtually uncut) performance of Les Troyens is a substantial undertaking -it really is two operas (the Fall of Troy, and the Trojans at Carthage) in one. Wagner probably would have made a cycle of it - which actually wouldn't have been a bad idea - 4 operas based on Homer and Virgil. Too bad Berlioz didn't have a King Ludwig to support him.
I have to report that the singing and orchestral playing was magnificent, and the production itself, as we find too often these days, was a mess. For some reason the concept was to show costumes based in 1855, from the Crimean War - supposedly to drive home the universal nature of the message, that humans keep making the same mistakes.
I find this baffling - the Trojan War is epic…..iconic….and Jungian. Why the Crimean War? The costuming was quite distracting….the Greeks show up in Act II looking like British soldiers. The two griping soldiers in Act V have rifles and smoke on stage….again, why? Modern dress would make more sense to me than 1855- you know, Dido is a real woman, just like us.
In Part II, the front of the stage was dominated by a model of Carthage set on a movable disc on the floor - cute but was in the way of the action, and key scenes in Act V (where Dido decides to kill herself) were done in front of the black curtain - I thought at first perhaps there was a problem with the curtain raising mechanism.
It all reminded me of the Lohengrin production a few years ago where the director decided to move the action to the time of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution "because it would be interesting and different"…Criminy, why not write a new opera instead of disfiguring an existing one with half-wit ideas?
Runnicles, of whom I have been critical in the past (overrated Wagner, for example), was magnificent in the pit, and drew wonderful execution from the orchestra, and the singing was good, and superb in the case of Susan Graham's Dido. Our Aeneas that evening was a replacement as Bryan Hymel was indisposed (don't have his name handy) - he was OK but it turns out that Aeneas really isn't that broad of a part, not the way Dido is.
I can accept an "updating" of an opera if there is a thesis supported by the music and libretto that shines a new light on a work…..but this wasn't it.
Still, it was a great experience for a chance to hear Berlioz' great music live.
Follow Ups:
As a response to the general question in your subject line, the directors have to be "progressive". At least here in Europe where the government bodies funding or financially supporting the houses withhold their grants otherwise. Traditional values are most decidely out.
The committees who judge the attainment of "progression" are, of course, peopled by trendy urbanites who are members of an elite. How they are appointed happens through arcane processes which may amount go a kind of social group nepotism.
Check the financial history of English National Opera or other UK performing arts institutions as examples.
I go for the music and could care less about the setting.
You missed a great Aeneas in Bryan Hymel. Agree, Runnicles had control of the music all afternoon with not a missed note in sight.
"Half-wit ideas" is right - but the question is, why is the big money following these half-wit directors around the world?
This was a magnificent production which enjoyed rave reviews in London and Milan and I expect the same in Vienna when it plays there next year.
I know my Euro-Trash and this production was definitely NOT Euro-Trash.
. . . you admit in your post above that you go for the music, not the setting. Hey, I love the music too (as I content myself with my Gergiev/Valencia Eurotrash production on blu-ray - better to turn off the video here, but at least the music is in hi-rez!).
EDIT: BTW, I saw the SF Opera production of Les Troyens in LA's Shrine Auditorium in 1969 (I think that's the one Swed referred to in his review - Crespin doing both Cassandre and Didon!) - maybe it was a little dowdy, maybe it wasn't. At least it was respectful of the composer's vision.
Edits: 06/22/15
The same production that played two years ago in London is available on BlueRay. Sorry, no Susan Graham. :-(
Lucky us, we got Susan Graham but not the top part of the sets as the War Memorial Opera House is to small and the had to lop off the top part of the sets. Still a real problem getting everything back stage along with parts of the orchestra and a HUGE chorus.
And the horse, of course!
I used to own that blu-ray too. It didn't stay around in my collection for very long. The staging on the Gergiev/Valencia album that I've kept was no improvement on the Pappano/ROH staging (i.e., they're both visually annoying IMHO), but as long as I was no longer going to play either one with the video turned on, I thought at least Gergiev conducted a more exciting performance. So, it was bye-bye Pappano. BTW, I used to have JEGgie on blu-ray too, which I jettisoned at the first opportunity. I DO try! ;-)
"JEGgie" is John Eliot Gardiner, right? I remember from the last thread, when I incorrectly guessed Gordon Getty. I'm going to have to put together a glossary so I can understand your posts. Well worth it, of course.
. . . there aren't that many blu-rays of Les Troyens, so you could have used the process of elimination too! ;-)
It DOES have Antonacci as Cassandra and Susan Graham in the lead role. ;-)
Like the staging or no, The San Francisco production with Graham and Hymel plus Antonacci as Cassandra was wonderful. Runnicles in the pit was likely better that either Pappano or (perish the thought) even JEG (on a good night).
Had a chance to chat up director Leah Hausman a few days before opening. We attended a 'free talk' at the Conservatory of Music which included a panel of the four main stars plus Runnicles and Hausman. After the talk we happened to see Leah walking past Hayes Street Grill. We said 'hi', thanked her for her talk and mentioned how much we looked forward to the opening night performance. She seemed quite comfortable chatting with two aging opera buffs and shared a bit of her experiences fitting this huge production with chorus and dancers into our small opera house.
With all of the talk of the production, the very best performance of the evening is Dido/Susan Graham singing her long Act IV aria alone in front of the curtain.
IMNSHO, the reviewer from LA is just being a 'dick'.
Agree with Steven Winn below:
"The Greeks and Trojans had much in common with the age of Napoleon III. David McVicar and his team (Es Devlin, Moritz Junge, Wolgang Göbbel), brilliantly captiure the expansive, extravagant spirit of Berlioz's time. France at its imperial peak, colonizing Africa and Asia. Paris was being rebuilt on a grand scale. Berlioz wasn't doing history re-enactment but writing to stun Paris with its audacity. His orchestration isn't the music of antiquity, but the most advanced and adventurous of its time. Berlioz isn't doing history re-enactment, and his audiences interpreted Virgil through the filters of Claude and Poussin."
Great stuff!
Europe, birthplace of Lego?
In the EU, do they call American productions "Ameritrash"?
. . . but the whole lame "Regietheater" movement (which is what I'm referring to when I use the term "Eurotrash" - "Regietheater" doesn't do justice to my contempt for it) began in Europe, not America. In any case, these productions are SO predictable and boring!
But revisionist without an alternative point of view. The local press here was also ecstatic, but for a more unbiased view:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-les-troyens-sf-opera-review-20150609-column.html
While I don't agree with his view of Runnicles' conducting, I agree with his assessments of the staging.
That's the only thing I can think of - there aren't any alternatives - if you want to see the Trojans you have to go to this performance. The guy gets an assignment and has "artistic freedom" to do what he/she pleases, even if it is nonsense.
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