Met gives a Russian accent to revival
of Verdi's ``Don Carlo''
MIKE SILVERMAN, Associated Press Writer
Sunday, December 30, 2001
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(12-30) 09:38 PST (AP) --
An AP Entertainment Review
NEW YORK (AP) -- Political struggle and personal longing are
entwined in
Verdi's "Don Carlo" to an extent found in few other
operas.
And both dimensions are given their due in the revival of this
brooding
masterpiece that had its first performance of the season at the
Metropolitan Opera on Saturday night.
This presentation of the handsome John Dexter production from
1979 has a
distinctly Russian accent, starting with Valery Gergiev in the
pit and
extending to four of the leading singers.
However, it's an American -- bass Samuel Ramey -- who provides
the glue
that holds it all together. His depiction of the 16th century
Spanish
monarch, King Phillip II, shows a ruthless tyrant who himself is
subject
to the will of the Church, personified by the Grand Inquisitor.
But
Phillip is also a tormented husband, who knows that his much
younger
wife loves not him, but his own son, Don Carlo.
When Ramey pours out Phillip's private agony in his Act IV aria
"Ella
giamma m'amo," his character is no longer merely a conniving
politician
-- he's a suffering human being who deseerves our compassion.
Ramey's voice may have lost a little of its power and sheen with
the
passage of time, but he is mesmerizing in his soliloquy as well
as in
the scene that follows -- his confrontation with the Inquisitor,
sung
here with sinister verve by the Georgian bass Paata Burchuladze.
The woman who exploits Phillip's jealousy, Princess Eboli, was
portrayed
by the fine Russian mezzo Irina Mishura. She brought down the
house as
Ebolis are expected to do with a bravura performance of her aria
of
repentance, "O don fatale," that was as notable for its
smooth phrasing
as for its dramatics.
In the title role, Canadian tenor Richard Margison grew better as
the
evening progressed, his ringing high notes ultimately more than
compensating for an occasional lack of dramatic involvement. As
his lost
love, Elisabeth of Valois, Russian soprano Galina Gorchakova had
to push
her voice in the upper register, but otherwise sang with
sensitivity.
The opera's last major character is Rodrigo, the hero's friend
who
inspires him to champion the cause of the oppressed Flemish
people. The
Siberian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky has a beautiful but modest
voice
that's hard-pressed in stentorian moments like the Act II
"Friendship
Duet" with Carlo. He did better when Gergiev kept the
orchestra in check
for him, as in his final two arias -- one just before and one
just after
being fatally shot by Phillip's agents.
Gergiev, the Met's principal guest conductor, was a marvel all
night.
Waving his fingers at the musicians instead of a baton, he
elicited
playing that was alternately delicate and fierce and never lost a
sense
of momentum. For once, the restored first act -- routinely
omitted for
decades -- made the evening seem not too long at nearly five
hours, but
just right.
December 2001 Performance Diary
January 2002 Performance Diary