{"id":86679,"date":"2016-11-10T03:59:47","date_gmt":"2016-11-10T02:59:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gbopera.it\/?p=86679"},"modified":"2016-12-18T01:32:00","modified_gmt":"2016-12-18T00:32:00","slug":"new-yortk-metropolitan-opera-guillaume-tell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/new-yortk-metropolitan-opera-guillaume-tell\/","title":{"rendered":"New York, Metropolitan Opera: “Guillaume Tell”"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York, Metropolitan Opera, 2015\/2016
\n<\/em>\u201cGUILLAUME TELL\u201d
\n<\/strong>Opera in four acts. Libretto by Etienne de Jouy and Hippolyte-Louis-Florent Bis, assited by Armand Marrast and Adolphe Cremieux, based on Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller\u2019s play Wilhelm Tell
\n<\/em>Music Gioachino Rossini
\n<\/strong>Guillaume Tell <\/em>GERALD FINLEY
\nArnold <\/em>BRYAN HYMEL
\nMelcthal <\/em>KWANGCHUL YOUN
\nJemmy<\/em> JANAI BRUGGER
\nHedwige<\/em> MARIA ZIFCHAK
\nLeuthold<\/em> MICHAEL TODD SIMPSON
\nGesler <\/em>JOHN RELYEA
\nMathilde<\/em> MARINA REBEKA
\nRodolphe<\/em> SEAN PANIKKAR
\nRuodi <\/em>MICHELE ANGELINI
\nRodolphe<\/em> SEAN PANIKKAR
\nA Huntsman <\/em>ROSS BENOLIEL
\nMetropolitan Opera Orchestra & Chorus
\nConductor Fabio Luisi<\/strong>
\nProduction Pierre Audi
\n<\/strong>Set Designer George Tsypin
\n<\/strong>Costume Designer Andrea Schmidt-Futterer
\n<\/strong>Lighting Designer Jean Kalman
\n<\/strong>Choreographer Kim Brandstrup
\n<\/strong>Dramaturg Klaus Bertisch
\n<\/strong>New York, November 5, 2016
\n<\/em>If there is a reason why Gioachino Rossini\u2019s music has made its mark in pop culture, it definitely has to do with his fun and frantic overtures. The overtures to the Il Barbiere di Siviglia<\/em> and La gazza ladra <\/em>have been featured in Looney Tunes cartoons and have accompanied Alex and his Drogs as they cause mayhem in the movie, A Clockwork Orange.\u00a0 The overture to Guillaume Tell<\/em> is no exception.\u00a0 Rossini\u2019s final opera begins with a miniature symphony whose final allegro is immortalized as the theme song of The Lone Ranger.\u00a0 However, the overture also contains the \u201cRanz des veches\u201d the Swiss cattle call which is used in almost every cartoon to show either peaceful nature scenes or someone waking up. \u00a0Unfortunately, the opera as a whole is nowhere near as popular as the overture.\u00a0 This year the Met\u2019s new production, directed by Pierre Audi<\/strong>, marks the company\u2019s first performance since 1931 and this is also the first time the work will be given in the original French.\u00a0 This is a great disservice to the work as it\u2019s a mighty swan song for Rossini.\u00a0 It is definitely his most ambitious if not his most physiologically complex work.\u00a0Perhaps the works absence can be contributed to its length.\u00a0 A complete performance of the work, which rarely occurs outside of special occasions, takes more than 6 hours.\u00a0 Or it could be that William Tell is considered the Grandfather of French Grand Opera, a genre predicated on spectacle and massive crowd scenes that are out-of-date in an era of minimalism.\u00a0 Yet for all of that, the piece is a tale of what happens when individuals are unwillingly swept up in the greater forces of nationalism and patriotism.\u00a0 It is doubtful whether William Tell actually existed and it is still more doubtful if he ever shot an apple off of his son\u2019s head.\u00a0 But, Rossini makes use of Tell\u2019s myth to examine how rebellions put stress on personal and family relationships.\u00a0The Met\u2019s current version supposedly contains more music than the version performed in 1931, however, it was missing the Trio for the Princess Mathilde, Tell\u2019s son Jemmy, and Tell\u2019s wife Hedwige, which unfortunately is one of the most beautiful pieces of the opera.\u00a0 Nonetheless given time restraints, cuts are necessary. \u00a0In the pit Met principal conductor Fabio Luisi<\/strong> gave a clear and buoyant reading of Rossini\u2019s score.\u00a0 The music was serene and energetic when called for.\u00a0 As Tell the incomparable Gerald Finley<\/strong> brought the same emotional intensity that has made his performances so memorable.\u00a0 His repertoire covers a wide-range from Dr. Atomic\u2019s<\/em> J. Robert Oppenheimer to Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande<\/em>\u2019s Golaud and Anna Nicole<\/em>\u2019s Howard K. Stern.\u00a0 Finley managed to convey both Tell, the compassionate father figure and Tell, the somewhat reluctant freedom fighter. Marina Rebeka<\/strong> has a wonderfully full-bodied voice which she used to great effect as Mathilde, the Habsburg Princess in love with a Swiss Revolutionary.\u00a0 She also possessed great flexibility which she used to great effort for the vocal fireworks of the third Act.\u00a0 At times however, she seemed to lose stamina which is understandable in this marathon work.\u00a0Tenor Bryan Hymel<\/strong> portrayed Arnold the Swiss Army captain haunted by the murder of his father.\u00a0 Hymel has made a name for himself in French Grand Opera.\u00a0 He recently sang \u00c9n\u00e9e in Les Troyens<\/em> at the Met and the title character in Robert le diable<\/em> at London\u2019s Royal Opera.\u00a0 Unfortunately, he frequently sounds pinched and this performance was no exception. \u00a0Janai Brugger<\/strong> was wonderful as Jemmy, Tell\u2019s son.\u00a0 She was appropriately sweet and na\u00efve. \u00a0Also, Marco Spotti<\/strong> was a strong Walter Furst.\u00a0 John Relyea<\/strong> physically and vocally inhabited the demonic Gesler and Sean Pannikkar<\/strong> was appropriately slimy as Rodolphe, Captain of Gesler’s guard.\u00a0 Michele Angelini<\/strong> lent his smooth tenor to Ruodi, a small part but Angelini is someone to watch for in upcoming seasons.\u00a0 Maria Zifchak<\/strong> is not the sweet voiced tortured Hedwige one usually hears, but she became more compelling as the evening went on.\u00a0 Kwangchul Youn<\/strong> as Melcthal, Arnold\u2019s father gave a sturdy performance; he aptly played the part of awise elder.\u00a0Pierre Audi<\/strong>\u2019s production comes to the Met from the Dutch National Opera.\u00a0 His goal was to set the work amongst the natural beauty of Switzerland.\u00a0 He also wanted to include the crossbow, something so crucial to the story, in the designs of props like boats and towers.\u00a0 Unfortunately some aspects of this production did not make sense.\u00a0 During the Overture, for instance, Tell mourns a dead body, which looks like his son, but his son doesn\u2019t die.\u00a0 During the first Act the set designed by George Tsypin<\/strong> is a simple sky blue background, appropriate since they are at the shores of the Swiss lakes, however, there is a boat hanging from the ceiling giving the impression that they are underwater.\u00a0 The same can be said of the second Act, which had rocks dangling from the ceiling.\u00a0 I understand that the idea was to get some perception of distance but it didn\u2019t come through that way.\u00a0 Also, at times the stage direction was confusing.\u00a0 For example, the second Act opens with Matlidhe waiting in a clearing for her lover to arrive.\u00a0 Arnold walks on stage during her famous aria \u201cSombre for\u00eat\u201d and began searching for her as she sang.\u00a0 This would make sense but at times he was right in her sight-line, which made it difficult to believe that she was alone. Finally, in the fourth Act, after Arnold\u2019s rousing call-to-arms, the chorus exited while Arnold remained on stage and brooded.\u00a0 As their leader; he should\u2019ve taken charge immediately and been the first one off stage.\u00a0 Regardless of this production, Guillamume Tell<\/em> is an incredibly moving work and we can only hope we don\u2019t have to wait another 80 years to see it again. Photo Ken Howard<\/em><\/p>\n

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New York, Metropolitan Opera, 2015\/2016 \u201cGUILLAUME TELL\u201d Opera in four acts. Libretto by Etienne de Jouy and Hippolyte-Louis-Florent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6132,"featured_media":86684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[17348,1683,14511,4515,143,8277,16388,4335,1731,14984,812,17349,1181,145,3627],"class_list":["post-86679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-senza-categoria","tag-bryn-hamel","tag-fabio-luisi","tag-george-tsypin","tag-gerald-finley","tag-gioachino-rossini","tag-guillaume-tell","tag-janai-brugger","tag-kwangchul-youn","tag-marco-spotti","tag-maria-zifchak","tag-metropolitan-opera","tag-michele-angelini","tag-new-york","tag-opera-lirica","tag-pierre-audi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6132"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86679\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}