The great conductor Carlo Maria Giulini once said that he adored the music of Verdi’s opera Falstaff even without the singers. Maybe, some think, he secretly preferred it that way. Whatever the truth, his remark came to mind this week while I was watching the ballet based on Massenet’s opera Manon — the music sounded so much better when simply danced to than it ever had as an operatic score. And combined with Kenneth MacMillan’s superlative choreography, plus the amazing versatility of the Australian Ballet’s young dancers back in 1995, the DVD on the Kultur label is highly recommendable.
Its strong effect is all the more extraordinary because the dancing is largely traditional, though with some charismatic exceptions. There’s a superbly choreographed fight to end Act One, for instance, and a funny and acrobatic drunken dance by Manon’s malevolent brother (danced by Nigel Burley) in the first scene of Act Two. In essence the style’s conventional but eroticized, and the Adelaide audience clearly adored it.
The secret of this production’s success is that the story is part of the personal history of millions — a girl who ditches her boyfriend for an older, richer man. The emotions of the rejected youth and the guilty but determined girl — Manon — are wonderfully encapsulated in the music. Justine Summers is ideally youthful, and then cynical, as Manon, while Steven Heathcote makes an exceptionally strong Des Grieux, the impoverished boyfriend.
The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra plays the music with obvious relish, and the sound quality is high. This is an outstanding version of Manon as a ballet, and the most enjoyable DVD I’ve seen this month.
I must admit that Offenbach’s comic operas are not to my taste, and it takes a very strong production for me to watch it without wincing. Two have recently come to hand, Zurich Opera’s La Belle Helene conducted (astonishingly) by the Baroque expert Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and Orphee aux Enfers (“Orpheus in the Underworld”) from the Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels, conducted by Patrick Davin. There’s no doubt which is preferable.
Both works retell Greek myths in a modern setting, the aim being to raise a laugh at the contrasts. Critics try to argue that they’re satiric of the lifestyles of the Paris bourgeoisie of Offenbach’s time, but they seem to be tailored for their amusement as much as anything else — drink and silly flirtation are the order of the day. These works can occasionally be salvaged by introducing a darker element, however. Only then does their saccharine frivolity become remotely palatable.
Zurich’s La Belle Helene is intensely colorful, brightly lit, and played for laughs. It didn’t get mine, and the only favorable impression I carried away was of the very strong voice of Vesselina Kasarova in the title role. But if you want to experience the bizarre spectacle of Harnoncourt dancing, as he does along with the rest of the cast at the end, then this might be reason enough to take a look. Originally issued by Arthaus, this DVD is coming out from Kultur in the US next month, and is now available for pre-order.
Brussels’ Orphee aux Enfers, by contrast, presents almost the entire story as taking place in a somber-looking restaurant that could well be in the Belgian capital itself. This certainly makes for a darker reading, and provides a desirable contrast to the zestful but essentially trivial music, as well as being suitable for depicting Hades, as the story requires. It’s impossible to repress the work’s flippant high-spirits altogether, though — it does contain the famous Can-Can dance, after all, plus jocular reminiscences of Gluck’s music in his 18th-century opera on the same topic.
Here there’s even a dog included, though not a real one — Cerberus, perhaps, but something more as well as he’s made to bark enthusiastically during the Can-Can. But the generally shadowy ambiance makes this rendering of an Offenbach comedy one to go for if absolutely nothing will hold you back.
Finally, don’t forget the existence of EMI’s wonderful and ever-expanding Classic Archive series. It contains a huge treasury of old performances from different sources. Many of the most famous names in classical music are here. One superb DVD is a performance by the Istomin-Stern-Rose Trio of Brahms’ three piano trios, filmed at ORTF Paris in September 1974 — Eugene Istomin as pianist, Isaac Stern as violinist and Leonard Rose playing the cello. All were famous soloists in their day, and the combination on this DVD was a major occasion.
I don’t know why instrumental music should benefit from the artists at work being filmed. It does, though. Maybe it’s their finger-work, or maybe it’s the glances they exchange. But above all, I think, it’s the general atmosphere that’s conveyed — of dedication, and (in this case) of a past era. Whatever it is, this DVD represents a good way to get into Brahms’ not always easy-to-grapple-with chamber music. It’s in color, by the way, despite the monochrome photo of the three musicians on the cover.
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