Les Huguenots (Meyerbeer)
Feb. 4th, 2019 06:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cahnIt took me months and months -- October through December was a mostly lost cause, and January turned out to be not much better in terms of opera time -- but I finally watched the entirety of Les Huguenots, which I really liked! (It is on Youtube with subtitles!) Opera Australia, with Joan Sutherland as Queen Marguerite, Amanda Thane as Valentine, Anston Austin as Raoul, Clifford Grant as Marcel. (Marguerite is a minor character, but obviously Sutherland was a big draw.) (Sorry justplainsavannahd for taking sooooo long! I'd love to hear from you if you are still around, though I certainly understand if you are not.)
I thought they were all really good. I really need my opera to have excellent acting as well as good singing, and this production really delivered on that front. All the acting was brilliant. I'd listened to a recording on Spotify (thank you justplainsavannahd for the libretto!) -- this recording also had Joan Sutherland as Queen Marguerite, also Martina Arroyo as Valentine, Anastasios Vrenios as Raoul, Nicola Ghiuselev as Marcel -- and so I knew the broad beats and also that the melody of "Ein' feste Burg" was a prominent part of it (it's there. all. the. time. Which I mostly liked! But I would not blame anyone else for getting tired of it), but as usual for me it was about 500% more moving actually seeing it and seeing the staging and acting as well as hearing it.
So, randomly talking about the characters and the singers singing them, often at the same time!
Queen Marguerite: I mean. Joan Sutherland is fantastic! I felt like I didn't find her quite as utterly amazing as she was on the recording, where she was so good that she was making a part look easy that was so very difficult that I actually found myself getting angry about how difficult it was. It's a relatively small part, though, and I don't have much to say about the actual character.
Raoul: Suffers from Overintense!Tenor Syndrome, but honestly as tenors go, gets away with one overintense misunderstanding and a too-rash action at the end that results in Sudden Death For Everyone (but they probably would have died anyway). Other than that Raoul actually seemed pretty nice, for a tenor. And I thought Austin was great. (Vrenios has a much lighter voice, which I liked a lot, but which isn't quite enough to navigate the last part of the opera.)
Valentine: I have never heard of Amanda Thane before but she impressed the heck out of me, she managed to really sell me on her arias. I also really loved Valentine's duet with Marcel (...who here is surprised that I loved the non-romantic duet?? No one? Okay, well then.) and her duet with Raoul when Marcel marries them (...uh, trio, but there are these bits where she's just duetting with Raoul), it's got this sort of pure stained-glass quality that I found just really appealing.
Marcel: The recording I listened to had a really impressive Marcel. This Marcel was... OK. He got better? I wasn't very impressed by his "Piff! Paff!" song (which I absolutely adored on the recording) but I liked his voice a lot in the later parts of the opera, although I felt like he never got the perfect togetherness with ensemble and orchestra that I associate with my favorite singers. But Marcel is a great character and this guy was a great actor with a lot of good character beats -- especially (as I mentioned) that scene with Valentine where he starts having to realize that... maybe... she's not the devil incarnate, being both a woman and a Catholic. His acting in that scene was fantastic. Also I honestly don't get tired of how when he's around the viola d'amore is likely to be hanging out.
Nevers: I was in love with Nevers less than five minutes after he appeared onscreen, while I was still unsure as to whether he was actually Nevers. He was great, really sold Nevers as the fun-loving, big-hearted aristocrat who also actually, in a surprise plot twist, HAS A CONSCIENCE. I had forgotten this (I was angry about this on the recording too) but HOW DARE YOU KILL HIM OFFSTAGE, seriously?? He's the coolest! How does he not even get an awesome death scene??Verdi would have totally given him an awesome death scene
Nevers totally did not actually die and ran off to save Flanders with Rodrigo
The end: I generally listen to operas in better audio circumstances than when I watch them -- it was good I'd listened to it and knew what happened, because on the recording, the bit where the martyrs are singing Ein' feste Burg, and still singing -- and then -- they stop singing -- is absolutely heartbreaking, and I found it a little harder to follow in the production, probably because I didn't have as good audio conditions. But man. It's still a heartbreaking ending.
I thought they were all really good. I really need my opera to have excellent acting as well as good singing, and this production really delivered on that front. All the acting was brilliant. I'd listened to a recording on Spotify (thank you justplainsavannahd for the libretto!) -- this recording also had Joan Sutherland as Queen Marguerite, also Martina Arroyo as Valentine, Anastasios Vrenios as Raoul, Nicola Ghiuselev as Marcel -- and so I knew the broad beats and also that the melody of "Ein' feste Burg" was a prominent part of it (it's there. all. the. time. Which I mostly liked! But I would not blame anyone else for getting tired of it), but as usual for me it was about 500% more moving actually seeing it and seeing the staging and acting as well as hearing it.
So, randomly talking about the characters and the singers singing them, often at the same time!
Queen Marguerite: I mean. Joan Sutherland is fantastic! I felt like I didn't find her quite as utterly amazing as she was on the recording, where she was so good that she was making a part look easy that was so very difficult that I actually found myself getting angry about how difficult it was. It's a relatively small part, though, and I don't have much to say about the actual character.
Raoul: Suffers from Overintense!Tenor Syndrome, but honestly as tenors go, gets away with one overintense misunderstanding and a too-rash action at the end that results in Sudden Death For Everyone (but they probably would have died anyway). Other than that Raoul actually seemed pretty nice, for a tenor. And I thought Austin was great. (Vrenios has a much lighter voice, which I liked a lot, but which isn't quite enough to navigate the last part of the opera.)
Valentine: I have never heard of Amanda Thane before but she impressed the heck out of me, she managed to really sell me on her arias. I also really loved Valentine's duet with Marcel (...who here is surprised that I loved the non-romantic duet?? No one? Okay, well then.) and her duet with Raoul when Marcel marries them (...uh, trio, but there are these bits where she's just duetting with Raoul), it's got this sort of pure stained-glass quality that I found just really appealing.
Marcel: The recording I listened to had a really impressive Marcel. This Marcel was... OK. He got better? I wasn't very impressed by his "Piff! Paff!" song (which I absolutely adored on the recording) but I liked his voice a lot in the later parts of the opera, although I felt like he never got the perfect togetherness with ensemble and orchestra that I associate with my favorite singers. But Marcel is a great character and this guy was a great actor with a lot of good character beats -- especially (as I mentioned) that scene with Valentine where he starts having to realize that... maybe... she's not the devil incarnate, being both a woman and a Catholic. His acting in that scene was fantastic. Also I honestly don't get tired of how when he's around the viola d'amore is likely to be hanging out.
Nevers: I was in love with Nevers less than five minutes after he appeared onscreen, while I was still unsure as to whether he was actually Nevers. He was great, really sold Nevers as the fun-loving, big-hearted aristocrat who also actually, in a surprise plot twist, HAS A CONSCIENCE. I had forgotten this (I was angry about this on the recording too) but HOW DARE YOU KILL HIM OFFSTAGE, seriously?? He's the coolest! How does he not even get an awesome death scene??
The end: I generally listen to operas in better audio circumstances than when I watch them -- it was good I'd listened to it and knew what happened, because on the recording, the bit where the martyrs are singing Ein' feste Burg, and still singing -- and then -- they stop singing -- is absolutely heartbreaking, and I found it a little harder to follow in the production, probably because I didn't have as good audio conditions. But man. It's still a heartbreaking ending.
no subject
Date: 2019-02-05 07:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-02-06 06:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-02-05 09:51 pm (UTC)(Honestly, I knew you would love it. And I knew you'd love Nevers. And That Duet.)
WHY MEYERBEER DID YOU NOT GIVE NEVERS A DEATH SCENE OR BETTER YET LET HIM LIVE GAH
(Also, check your inbox. :))
(Addendum: about Too-Rash Action That Causes Sudden Death For Everyone, I'm like "RAOUL NO WHY". But you're right; there's a roughly 99% chance they would've all died anyway.)
no subject
Date: 2019-02-06 06:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-02-06 06:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-02-07 07:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-02-06 06:19 am (UTC)RAOUL WHY. Because he is a tenor. And I guess there's a what-if Saint-Bris had found them first and realized they were married?? and gotten off his eeeevil kick?? Maybe they would have lived?? (I forgot to mention Saint-Bris! He was satisfyingly eeeevil. Shallowly, I liked his black-and-silver eeeevil costume and the pearl earrings the noblemen had.)
(I checked my inbox and didn't see anything?)
no subject
Date: 2019-02-06 12:31 pm (UTC)(It’s bits and pieces I’ve written for a draft of a Rodrigo-and-Nevers-centered-but-also-includes-other-characters fic.)
Edit: Okay, I sent it again and it said that the messages have all been successfully sent, so...
no subject
Date: 2019-02-07 04:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-02-06 12:34 pm (UTC)Also that black-and-silver costume is the actual best.
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Date: 2019-02-07 04:17 am (UTC)By the way, was too excited yesterday about Huguenots and Protestants to ask properly, how are you doing? I hope you're doing better?
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Date: 2019-02-07 12:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-02-07 12:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-02-08 05:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-02-06 05:02 am (UTC)I love Mendelssohn's "Reformation" Symphony and I also enjoyed singing the relevant Bach oratorio with my chorus, so I suspect I have a high tolerance for "Ein feste Burg". :)
Edit: Listening to the overture now, and what would you know, there it is first thing. :D I can't say you didn't warn me!
no subject
Date: 2019-02-06 06:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-02-06 10:59 pm (UTC)Nevers is the best. :(
I wrote down thoughts as I was watching (with pen and paper! like a very low-tech version of live-blogging) and I'll hopefully post that at some point when I get around to it.
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Date: 2019-02-06 11:05 pm (UTC)And yes, Nevers is the best. :( My heart=broken.
(Okay, but who here among us is skilled enough to write an insert scene for the purpose of actually showing Nevers' death onstage? If necessary, we could use that to replace the Act V ballroom scene (which got cut on this performance anyway, and as much as I love it, how relevant is it actually?))
no subject
Date: 2019-02-07 04:25 am (UTC)(Though at the rate I'm doing everything these days and/or getting distracted with shiny things like maybe, er, post-canon Ballo fic, it might take me literally years to make a stab at it.)
no subject
Date: 2019-02-07 12:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-02-07 04:21 am (UTC)Nevers is the best :(
Hilariously, when listening I totally missed the part where Raoul thinks Valentine is Nevers' mistress, so I was very confused when he refused Valentine!