Will Self's pointless and oh, so tired swipe at the physical attributes of the main protagonists in the Royal Opera's sensational revival of Strauss' Elektra ("Heavyweights in the House" Evening Standard 25/11) was yet another instance of writer and editor spectacularly missing the point. If they spent half as much time learning about the realities of opera as they do propagating the same old ignorance we'd all get somewhere. Clearly Self has no idea how few sopranos have what it takes mentally, physically, vocally, to sing the highly challenging role of Elektra - no more than a handful in the world at any given time. Susan Bullock rightly triumphed at Covent Garden uncovering layers of text through subtleties of colour not often heard in performances of the role. In the face of such a detailed and moving portrayal how churlish, then, to harp on about the absence of "sunken cheeks" and the fleshier forms of these heroic women. Perhaps an inaudible Katherine Jenkins might satisfy his casting requirements. In your dreams, Will.

                                                                                           

Good to find Rolando Villazon looking and sounding so relaxed as the ardent and well-lubricated Hoffmann in Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann after his near-disastrous innings as Don Carlo in the Royal Opera's synthetic Hytner production. Singing that role was always a bad idea, the more since well-publicised vocal problems had inevitably led to a crisis of confidence. I will always remember Jose Carreras telling me that the one big regret of his career was allowing Herbert von Karajan to persuade him to sing Carlos. Once was more than enough. It is longer and heavier than it appears and to a lyric tenor like Villazon embracing it to the full is potentially suicidal. One of Villazon's great qualities as an artist is his unstinting commitment: he will push well beyond his comfort zone if that is what is required. But his charm, as we heard here as Hoffmann, lies in the soft velvety "cover" of his voice, his caressing way with dovetailed phrases mezza voce. The "push" of his voice is exciting only when he is singing within its natural bounds. Let sanity prevail - he is too big a talent to lose to bad decisions. It's true that Domingo sang Hoffmann, too; it's grateful to sing and not too high. But only a handful of roles (and this is one) sit just as comfortably for two very different kinds of tenor.  

For collectors of operatic idiosycracies, the current revival of the so-called Zandra Rhodes “Aida” at English National Opera has thrown up a real humdinger. In two runs of performances now Claire Rutter has made an extraordinary impression in the much-vaunted and highly challenging title role. She sings the role with great subtlety, finesse, and imagination, making light of the extraordinary difficulties and reminding me, at any rate, of the number of times I have heard major international singers come a cropper in it - not least the notorious Nile Scene where Verdi sets hurdle after hurdle for the lyrico spinto soprano. Rutter didn’t receive nearly enough credit for her achievment, some commentators even suggesting that she had too light a voice for the role. Honestly, some people need a crash course in the basics of vocal fachs. The good news, though, is she is learning the role in Italian for her Australian Opera debut. But she could sing it a lot closer to home than down-under - anywhere in the world, I reckon, including the Royal Opera (take note).

( Read more... )