'Naughty Bob' at Covent Garden

[Guest]

Anyone been to see Robert Le Diable - a rare appearance by Meyerbeer in the ROH's repertory?

I saw it last weekend and have to say......although it was about as well done as it could have been (the production is by French opera specialist Laurent Pelly, whose previous work at CG has never failed to impress me), the work itself is just impossibly thin and shallow, as well as being vastly too long to sustain any real interest.

Of course, it wasn't really written for operaphiles but for the gentlemen of the Jockey Club, who'd turn up in Act 2 to see their 'girlfriends' in the ballet. What they wuold have made of Pelly's somewhat necrophiliac interpretation of this set piece doesn't bear thinking about, though.

All in all, a bit of a waste of Covent Garden's resources (OK, I know it's a co-production) when there are other things that are far more deserving of attention.

This was the first Meyerbeer opera I have seen/heard; it will probably also be the last.

[Resurrection Man]

I'm not so sure. What little I heard last night on the radio sounded quite fun. Possibly a bit long.

[David-G]

It is far better to spend Covent Garden's resources on this than on yet more Toscas. It was a seminal work in the history of 19th century opera, and we should get the chance to see it once in a while. However the production was excessively jokey, which did the opera a disservice. It would have been better to have taken it entirely seriously and presented it in the grand manner. That said, I enjoyed it and am very glad to have seen it. I would go again if they revive it. For the present I shall look forward to listening to it again on the iplayer. The scene with the demons in the mountain, and the scene with the ballet, were presented more seriously, and I thought these scenes were very effective. Meyerbeer should not be written off. Years ago there was a fine production of "L'Africaine" at Covent Garden. I have vivid memories of Domingo and Grace Bumbry in it. I saw this several times and greatly enjoyed it.

I have enjoyed Pelly's productions of comic operas, but a more serious vein was required for this. The jokey style just made the opera look silly.

[Mandryka]

It is far better to spend Covent Garden's resources on this than on yet more Toscas. It was a seminal work in the history of 19th century opera, and we should get the chance to see it once in a while. However the production was excessively jokey, which did the opera a disservice. It would have been better to have taken it entirely seriously and presented it in the grand manner. That said, I enjoyed it and am very glad to have seen it. I would go again if they revive it. For the present I shall look forward to listening to it again on the iplayer. The scene with the demons in the mountain, and the scene with the ballet, were presented more seriously, and I thought these scenes were very effective. Meyerbeer should not be written off. Years ago there was a fine production of "L'Africaine" at Covent Garden. I have vivid memories of Domingo and Grace Bumbry in it. I saw this several times and greatly enjoyed it.

I have enjoyed Pelly's productions of comic operas, but a more serious vein was required for this. The jokey style just made the opera look silly.

No, of course we don't need more of the bread and butter stuff: but something like La Gioconda would be a worthier candidate for an expensive new production, I feel, than R le D.

The night I saw it, everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) sitting near me seemed to be comnparing it unfavourably to Faust.

[David-G]

I would like to see (or at least listen) to Robert again before forming a definite view. I certainly won't deny that Faust seems a better opera. But I would like at least once in my life to have seen all the really famous operas in operatic history. So I am very glad to have seen Robert. Roll on La Juive...

You must have had interesting neighbours! With one exception, nobody near us expressed any view at all. The exception was a highly knowledgeable gentleman who told us many details of the first production.