|
Back
A Haunting at Nymphenburg Palace München
Schloss Nymphenburg (Hubertussaal)
08/24/2024 - & August 28*, 29, 31, September 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 14, 2024
François-Adrien Boïeldieu : Die weisse Dame
Oscar Oré*/Luis Hernández-Luque (George Brown), Kyoungloul Kim (Dickson), Veronika Seghers*/ Mechthild Söffler (Jenny), Jakob Schad (Gaveston), Laura Braun*/Theresa Geyer (Anna), Vera Maria Bitter (Marguerite), David Holtz (Mac‑Irton)
Kammeroper München, Aris Alexander Blettenberg (conductor)
Dominik Wilgenbus (stage director), Uschi Haug (costumes), Kathrin Geiser & Katarins Künstler (masks), Wolfgang Förster & Senastian Lachenmaier (lighting), Tobias Melle (videography)
(© Tobias Melle)
François-Adrien Boïeldieu (1775-1834) was a leading composer in revolutionary France. Considered the successor of André Grétry (1741‑1813), he was then, together with Etienne Méhul (1763‑1817) and Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (1782‑1871), Paris’s star composer. Of his many operas, only Le Calife de Bagdad (1800) and La Dame blanche (1825) are seldom revived.
La Dame blanche is based on episodes from several novels by then popular Scottish novelist Walter Scott (1771‑1832). It recounts the story of the Avenel Manor in Scotland in the mid‑eighteenth century. Its owners, the Count and Countess Avenel, supporters of the deposed Stuarts, died in exile. Their only son and heir, Julien, is missing. Gaveston, the castle’s dishonest steward, plans to hold an auction to buy the castle and the title for himself. Jenny and Dickson, tenant farmers on the Avenel estate, are expecting, and looking for a godfather. George Brown, a young English soldier, obliges. Jenny informs him of the upcoming auction at Avenel Manor in the Ballad of The White Lady, “D’ici voyez ce beau domaine,” and of the legend of the White Lady who guards the Avenel Manor.
In the meantime, Anna, an orphan raised by the Avenels, recognizes George Brown as her childhood sweetheart Julien. At the auction, Dickson, bidding on the behalf of the estate’s tenants, reaches his limit. At the behest of Anna, George outbids Gaveston, becoming the new owner, though he has no money. Anna looks for the statue of the White Lady, stashed with the Avenels’ fortune. When Anna appears with the treasure disguised as the White Lady, a furious Gaveston tears off her veil. Anna reveals George Brown’s true identity and she is reunited with him.
Premiered just four years after Weber’s Der Freischütz (1821), it helped introduce the supernatural into French opera. Meyerbeer’s Robert le Diable (1831) and Gounod’s Faust (1859) would be unthinkable without La Dame. Dramatically, it started opera’s Walter Scott craze that led to Donizetti’s Elisabetta al Castello di Kenilworth (1829), Lucia di Lammermoor (1835), Bellini’s I puritani (1835) and Bizet’s La Jolie Fille de Perth (1867). Musically, it heavily influenced late bel canto. Given the centrality of Paris at the height of bel canto in the early to mid‑nineteenth century, the mutual influence of bel canto and French opera of the period was quite significant but is often overlooked.
The work is to be performed twelve times in the enchanting setting of Hubertussaal, in the Nymphenburg Palace, the summer residence of the Wittelsbach dynasty that ruled Bavaria for centuries. In recent years, Kammeroper München has staged operas here. This year is their twentieth anniversary of mounting operas. Past productions often featured such rarities as Piccinni’s La Cecchina, Mozart’s La finta semplice, Rossini’s La gazza ladra, Oscar Strauss’s Die lustigen Nibelungen, Salieri’s Falstaff, and Haydn’s L’isola disabitata and Il mondo della luna. Also featured were such warhorses as Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Le nozze di Figaro and Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia and La Cenerentola. Some were pastiches of operas. Though most of these works are Italian, all Kammeroper München’s productions are sung in German.
In 1980s Germany, I enjoyed several Italian operas in German translation. Record collectors may be familiar with this tradition in recorded opera featuring major singers singing the most popular Italian, French and Russian operas in German translation (the same was true in France, Italy, Russia, Hungary and even in the Anglosphere).
With the advent of surtitles and the world’s ever‑growing insistence on Urtext performances, the tradition of opera in the vernacular gradually disappeared. Pity, as this was one of the idiom’s means of remaining a popular art form while being appreciated by a non‑elitist public.
This production of La Dame blanche is small-scale, inevitable given the limited capacity of Hubertussaal (360 seats). This had the inconvenience of limited space, thereby necessitating simpler or virtually no sets. However, such productions can be appealing if handled ably by an imaginative team. Uschi Haug’s attractive period costumes and Tobias Melle’s videography and projections were effective. An appealing video was shown during the opera’s spirited overture. Its starting point was the hall where the opera is performed, then (no doubt thanks to a drone), we fly over the Nymphenburg Palace and Munich and finally over to Scotland and Avenel Castle. Throughout the performance, videos or projections were used to enhance the experience in lieu of sets, or for comic relief.
The young cast of singers was homogeneous. The voices may not have been uniformly ideal, but their enthusiasm and excellent acting compensated. Peruvian tenor Oscar Oré portrayed George Brown, alias Julien Avenel, convincingly. A certain naïveté is required in this role, especially in his first aria “Ah! quel plaisir d’être soldat!” His Act II cavatina, “Viens, gentille dame”, the opera’s most famous, was brilliantly interpreted. It was clear that this favourite was better prepared than Oré’s other arias.
Laura Braun was an appealing Anna, though she did not portray her as an ingénue. It’s thanks to Anna’s intervention that the Avenel castle is saved from Gaveston, so one may see Anna as a strong woman. Her Act II duo with Gaveston shows determination and defiance. Her Act II duo with George, under the guise of la Dame blanche, “Ce domaine est celui des comtes d’Avenel”, was charm personified. Anna’s Act III aria, “Enfin je vous revois... comme au jour”, the most Rossiniesque of the opera, was vocally thrilling thanks to Braun’s ease with her upper register. Throughout the opera, one felt a mix of three styles, that of Donizetti in most arias, Rossini in Anna’s aria and a few ensembles, and Mozart in much of the rest.
Veronika Seghers was a delightful Jenny, lively and coquettish. Seghers has huge potential as she has charisma in addition to a sweet and bright soprano leggero. Her interpretation of the Ballad of the White Lady, “D’ici voyez ce beau domaine” was spirited. Thanks to the lighting effects, a proper spooky ambiance was given to Jenny’s ballad. This was also the case in Anna’s appearances as the White Lady.
Dickson, the farmer on the Avenel estate and Jenny’s husband, is the opera’s second tenor, a character role more than a full‑fledged tenor. South Korean tenor Kyoungloul Kim was an excellent choice for the role. Vocally more than adequate, he did an excellent job providing comic relief by showing Dickson’s awkwardness and lack of courage.
Baritone Jakob Schad portrayed a particularly nasty Gaveston, the Avenel castle’s dishonest steward. His deportment appropriately indicated arrogance. He stood out in the auction scene, the septet “Oh Ciel! Quel est donc ce nouvel acquéreur”. This young singer is endowed with a beautiful voice, clear diction and huge stage presence.
Mezzo Vera Maria Bitter performed ably in Marguerite’s sole aria, the vocally undemanding Act II, “C’est la cloche de la tourelle”. She managed to portray a kindly, elderly housekeeper. Bass David Holtz also stood out in the minor role of Mac‑Irton, the auctioneer. Too bad his role is so small, as he had a natural comic verve.
Aris Alexander Blettenberg led a lively Kammeroper München with panache. As the ensemble features just twelve musicians, the balance between voices and instruments is sometimes lacking. One may think that this favours smaller voices, but this is not always the case. On occasion, some voices sounded exposed due to insufficient orchestral cover. Nonetheless, congratulations are in order as for this ensemble reviving such rare works.
La Dame blanche was once one of the most popular operas in France and elsewhere thanks to its melodious tunes, thrilling elements of the supernatural and joyous story. By 1862, it was performed over 1,100 times solely at Paris’s Opéra-Comique, where it premiered. Now, it’s hardly ever performed. Only the tenor’s cavatina, “Viens, gentille dame,” is sometimes heard in recitals and recordings. Given its many positive attributes, one hopes it may once again become popular.
Kammeroper München’s decision to produce La Dame blanche as a light‑hearted affair in a historic, enchanted setting was most appropriate. Also, singing in the vernacular (German) made it more operetta than highbrow opera. Judging from the public’s enthusiasm, one feels La Dame blanche could have a deservedly bright future in theatres catering to the operetta-loving public.
Ossama el Naggar
|
