Berlioz from Glyndebourne – Only Two More Days

Will they or won't they? (B&B have a moment.)

I finally got my act together and watched Berlioz' Béatrice et Bénédict from Glyndebourne. Unfortunately, it's only available for a few more days. (I don't know whose "midnight" is the cutoff time, though I'd guess it's GMT.) However, I am sure it will show up somewhere else. 

It’s not performed often, and one can imagine why. It’s a pleasant little piece, and this is a fun production, but not terribly profound or moving. It’s short enough to absorb (unlike Les Troyens) in a single shot. The cast—especially Stephanie D’Oustrac and Paul Appleby as the title couple—act well and sing beautifully. The chorus seems to have fun and does a great job (as does the orchestra!) And no one dies in this one.

The look of Laurent Pelly’s production set vaguely in a 1940s “black and white” film is startling at first, then soothing—makeup and costuming are all in blacks, whites, and greys. During the curtain calls, it’s startling again, when the “life-like” creative staff show up on stage, in an odd contrast to the cast. The set consists of boxes, representing the expected way of life that Béatrice et Bénédict do not wish to follow—they don’t want to be “put in a box.” However, if you know the play on which this is based (Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, which most people do in fact know), you won’t be surprised when they give in to love, and end up in a “happily married” box.

I am trying not to say “fluffy,” but there’s not a lot of substance to this little opéra comique. That said, there is some pretty music—particularly a duet and trio for the principal women, and Béatrice’s aria, in which she realizes she really is in love with Bénédict. The production is fun, well sung, and looks pretty; and it’s pretty amusing. If you can catch it on the Glyndebourne site in the next day or so, do take a watch and listen. (And/or watch for it to show up elsewhere.)

Gratuitous Friday – Véronique Gens Chante Berlioz

Every time I see and hear  Véronique Gens perform, I like her even more than before. This is the first time I’ve heard her sing anything in her native language; her presentation of Berlioz's Les Nuite d'ete is just delightful! 

Mme. Gens enters the stage about 14:30 into the video. Click here for texts and translations of these songs. (The rest of the program is lovely, too; but, sadly there's no more singing.)

Lionel Bringuier is a (very) young French conductor who has already served six years as a resident conductor for the Los Angeles Phiharmonic (once filling in, mid-concert, for the"Dude" to conduct the same Tchaikovsky sixth we hear here), as well as conducting the New York Phil and a host of European ensembles.  

The Otterphile – Berlioz: Les nuits d'été: Villenelle

This is not opera or regie. But even in concert, Ms. von Otter is a wonderful and expressive interpreter.  There are far too few videos of her at all, let alone singing opera.  

Ms. von Otter sang the entire Les nuits d'été in this concert. The songs are all on YouTube individually. 

Villenelle from Berlioz' Les nuits d'été