{"id":1606,"date":"2023-02-14T19:37:39","date_gmt":"2023-02-14T19:37:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.justsheetmusic.com\/blog\/?p=1606"},"modified":"2023-02-14T19:37:39","modified_gmt":"2023-02-14T19:37:39","slug":"at-the-met-queen-dido-abandoned-yet-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.justsheetmusic.com\/blog\/opera-2\/at-the-met-queen-dido-abandoned-yet-again\/","title":{"rendered":"At The Met: Queen Dido Abandoned Yet Again"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Deborah<\/a>

Deborah Voigt played Cassandra<\/p><\/div>\n

The Metropolitan Opera staged a performance of the great Hector Berlioz work Les Troyens<\/i><\/a> this season. This production attracted a lot of attention in December \u201912 and January \u201913 for a couple of reasons: first because, an up-and-coming French-American tenor<\/a> stepped in to save the day, capping an extraordinary year for him.<\/p>\n

Second, simply because Les Troyans<\/i> is very demanding for the singers, especially for Aeneas (in French, \u00c9n\u00e9e). Its scale is part of the problem. Les Troyens<\/i> lasts five hours. \u00c9n\u00e9e is in both the Trojan and the Punic portions, in contrast to the female lead of the first half (Cassandra) or that of the second (Dido). He is on stage, singing, a heck of a lot by any standards that prevail outside of Bayreuth. Beyond scale, there\u2019s the range of styles. \u00c9n\u00e9e has to be performed by a very versatile tenor.<\/p>\n

Deborah Voigt played Cassandra (see above). Susan Graham was Dido. But let\u2019s talk for a bit about that tenor, Bryan Hymel.<\/p>\n

He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in August 1979, to a French-speaking family. He made his operatic debut in 1998, when he played the Philistine messenger in Samson et Dalila,<\/a> the Camille Saint-Saens<\/a> work, for the New Orleans Opera.<\/p>\n

\"hymel\"Hymel, shown right, made his European debut in 2007, at the Westford Festival Opera (in Ireland) where he played the Price in Rusalka,<\/a> a Dvorak work. <\/a> This was an important milestone for him because Hymel\u2019s career since has largely played out in the great European opera-houses, including La Scala in Milan and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, central London.<\/p>\n

\"Royal-Opera-House\"Last year, 2012, represents Hymel\u2019s great Breakthrough into global superstar status. Jonas Kaufmann was playing \u00c9n\u00e9e in the rehearsal stage of that venue\u2019s staging of Les Troyens<\/i>. Kaufman became ill, and was expected to be out of action for two weeks.<\/p>\n

Hymel said, \u201cyes, I\u2019ll come to help out with rehearsals and then leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Kaufman\u2019s condition worsened, and he withdrew. The casting director naturally offered the job to the guy who had already been rehearsing it, and Hymel accepted.<\/p>\n

Another Convent Garden production, another withdrawal: Juan Diego Fl\u00f3rez, who had planned to perform there in the title role of Meyerbeer\u2019s<\/a> Robert Le Diable, bowed out. Hymel stepped in.<\/a><\/p>\n

Discreet Feelers and a Rescue<\/h3>\n

Then, while performing Robert le Diable in December 2012, Hymel received what Opera News in its article about Hymel in its latest issue, calls \u201cdiscreet feelers about his schedule.\u201d Would it be possible for him to \u201csing some performances of Les Troyens right after Robert\u201d at some unspecified other opera company?<\/p>\n

Those calls were from the Met, and he knew they were from the Met, because he has Berlioz radar!<\/p>\n

\"Marcello-Giordani\"But he didn\u2019t get he Met gig immediately. On opening night of the Met\u2019s production, the lead tenor was Marcello Giordani, the fellow portrayed to the left.<\/p>\n

Giordani\u2019s take on Aeneas was not well received. In the New York Post, critic James Jordan, who found Susan Graham \u201celegant\u201d as Dido: \u201cher lyric mezzo gradually gained heat until her final scene of rage and remorse throbbed with rich, molten tone\u201d \u2013 could find nothing nice to say about Giordani.<\/p>\n

Jordan said Giordani had a \u201cbarnstorming style,\u201d belting out his songs. This works well enough with Inutiles regrets<\/i>, but it didn\u2019t work at all earlier in the evening, when the scenario calls for \u201cdelicate love duets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jordan was hardly alone in that estimation. Indeed, so general was the criticism that in the middle of the run, Giordani withdrew from the role<\/a> and announced he was \u201cpermanently retiring the role of Aeneas from his repertory.\u201d<\/p>\n

So Hymel stepped in, here too. A third high profile replacement gig within a year. The backstage stuff is quite dramatic. But let\u2019s turn now to the on-stage drama!<\/p>\n

Mythology and History<\/h3>\n

Here\u2019s a link to a proper synopsis.<\/a> The opera represents Berlioz\u2019 romantic take on Publius Vergilius Maro (Virgil\u2019s) story of the doomed affair between Aeneas, (\u00c9n\u00e9e), the leader of a band of surviving Trojans looking for a new home after Greek equine trickery had destroyed their old one, and Queen Dido (Didon) of Carthage.<\/p>\n

\"statue\"Berlioz was personally responsible for both the music and the libretto here. I\u2019ve written about Berlioz\u2019 music-historical significance in this blog before.<\/a> I\u2019ll add now that he adhered to the aesthetic principle that operatic music is best when it expressed and develops the ideas suggested by the words, so in his view either one musical mind should be behind both or the collaborative effort must be especially close to succeed.<\/p>\n

Berlioz felt free to take liberties with Virgil\u2019s text, indeed in his own choice of word he planned to \u201cShakespeareanize\u201d Virgil.<\/p>\n

Musically, Les Trojans<\/i> is scored for a large orchestra. The house must have at its disposal piccolos, English horn, bassoon, trumpets, and piston cornets as well as at least six harps.<\/p>\n

Among the set pieces: Nuit d\u2019ivresse<\/i> (a love duet), Chers Tyriens<\/i> (Dido\u2019s aria) and Inutiles regrets,<\/i> (Aeneas\u2019 aria, \u201cUseless regrets\u201d in English though you\u2019ve surely figured that out already).<\/p>\n

The Words<\/h3>\n

Aeneas sings Inutilies regrets<\/i> as he prepares to leave Carthage and Dido.<\/p>\n

Here is how the libretto begins:<\/p>\n

Inutiles regrets…
\nJe dois quitter Carthage!
\nDidon le sait, son effroi, sa stupeur
\nEn l’apprenant, on bris\u00e9 mon courage…
\nMais je le dois… il le faut!<\/em><\/p>\n

Useless regrets\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

I must leave Carthage!<\/span><\/p>\n

Dido\u2019s understanding, her dread, her amazement <\/span><\/p>\n

when I told her almost broke my will<\/span><\/p>\n

But I must do it, it is needed.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Point of Comparison<\/h3>\n

\"Nicolai-Gedda\"Hymel recently told an interviewer for OPERA NEWS that Nicolai Gedda\u2019s take on Aeneas was his own model.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I\u2019m coming out of the Nicolai Gedda version \u2026 rather than the Jon Vickers or Ben Heppner, because these guys have bigger voices that sit lower than mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here, then, is Bryan Hymel\u2019s performance of Inutilies regrets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And here, so that you can make the comparison for yourself if you care to, is that of Nicolai Gedda.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n