Opera Chic

Meyerbeer In Erfurt

American tenor Erik Fenton (Robert) and Claudia Sorokina (Isabelle) rehearse Giacomo Meyerbeer's "Robert le Diable", directed by Jean-Louis Grinda and opening Friday at the Theater Erfurt.

You Don't Know Jack: The Plot Against Giacomo Meyerbeer

Opera Chic has a weakness for Giacomo Meyerbeer's astonishing talent, the variety of his inventions -- oh the film noir coolness of Robert Le Diable, the imperfect shimmering allure of L'Africaine, the unabashed grandeur of Il Crociato in Egitto, the grand Rossinian dreams of Les Huguenots. Happily, Meyerbeer's works are not bashful about being operas -- the former piano prodigy was brave enough to dream big dreams and that's why he has a special place in Opera Chic's heart. The shameful way his reputation has been tarnished and insulted, for all the wrong reasons, mostly by someone who robbed Meyerbeer's blind, make every Meyerbeer revival a much-needed attempt to bring Giacomo back in the limelight his talent so richly deserves.

That's why one has to be grateful to Leon Botstein and Bard's Music Festival. And in the Wall Street Journal, Barrymore Laurence Scherer renders unto Giacomo the things which are Giacomo’s -- ie, his place among the giants:

“Meyerbeer and Mendelssohn were two of the most noble, most gracious figures of our musical history,” observes Dr. Botstein. “They freely ­encouraged the careers of other composers, the young Wagner included, only to have their posthumous reputations ­severely damaged by the ­Wagnerian version of music history.” One final irony: When Wagner compiled the first edition of his complete writings, he did not include the glowing ­essay he had written on “Les Huguenots.” Now, thanks to Bard’s celebration of his music, Meyerbeer’s masterpiece is being heard again.

Kickin' it old skool at La Fenice: Meyerbeer's Il Crociato in Egitto

Teatro La Fenice in Venezia (Venice) is bragging that the kick-off of their 2007 season is going to be something quite spectacular, but they indeed have reason. La Prima, staged for Sunday, January 14, has been selected as Giacomo Meyerbeer's Il Crociato in Egitto (The Crusader in Egypt), which hasn't been brought to the stage in modern times since its initial la prima on March 7, 1824, and was last seen performed in Venice eleven years later in 1835. It was initially met with great success, and proved to be the paradigm of many revivals through the 1860s, including a popular 1825 production at Théâtre des Italiens in Paris, where Gioacchino Rossini was managing at the time.

Interestingly enough, the role of Armando d’Orville was written originally for the famous castrato, Giovanni Battista Velluti, which poses an inventive interpretation in the modern world:

"In this production, the role of Armando d’Orville, the crusader, written in Venice for the castrato Giovanni Battista Velluti, but ever since its Parisian revival in 1825 (when it was sung by Giuditta Pasta) usually given to a female voice dressed as a man, will be performed by the countertenors Michael Maniaci and Florin Cezar Ouatu."

Patrizia Ciofi will be singing the role of Palmide, and it will be conducted by Emmanuel Villaume.