Prom 59: Benvenuto Cellini - 2.09.19

[edashtav]

OK, in a phrase: this Prom is a complete blast so far :) .

In more than a phrase: JEG pretty much lets the ORR loose, as well as the Monteverdi Choir (let's not forget the chorus besides the orchestra), and everyone is running with it pretty much full throttle. However, the proceedings do properly subside at the moment when Pompeo snuffs it (spoiler alert, sorry). Maybe the innkeeper overdoes the caricature a bit, but that does allow the goldsmiths to mock him back in imitation. If you happen to have both the Colin Davis and the John Nelson recordings of the opera, you're going to need both, if you plan to give it a listen later.

A Tour de Force?
If I had more time, I would draw parallels between Richard Egarr's approach to Jeptha the other evening and Gardiner's interpretation of Benvenuto Cellini. Of the two works, Berlioz's needed the dynamism to obscure moments of mundanity, whereas Handel, at the end if his career, hardly put a foot wrong. Nevertheless, neither work is performed that often and I look to Festivals , such as the Proms, to make the case and these two did just that.

[bluestateprommer]

When you write "you're going to need both", do you mean both Nelson and Davis or both the Davis recordings, or all three? So what about the Elder (directed by Gilliam)?

Sorry that I wasn't clear; to be able to follow along with the libretto. I began listening with the Colin Davis set libretto. But then when JEG's performance took a sudden left turn away from Davis, after doing the momentary "whaaaaa????" panic at home, I switched as quickly as possible to the John Nelson set libretto. I had to do a tiny bit of back and forth switches between the two from that point on, but not too much. I've never seen the Mark Elder DVD of the Terry Gilliam production, so maybe one of these days. One of the interval speakers actually sang TG's praises for his production of the opera, saying that it was the one staged production which she's seen that really made it work on stage (words to that effect; need to re-listen later). Very enjoyable interval discussion, BTW, well worth hearing.

Modest warning: a few numbers got trimmed in the 4th Tableau, and Cellini's No. 23 solo about "wouldn't it be nice to be a shepherd?" got moved to after No. 24. Michael Spyres did show some moments of strain in No. 23 and elsewhere, as I think maybe also from one or two others, but given the high energy of the evening, no matter. I also thought that I heard one singer intone "To work?" in place of "Travailler?", as Fieramosca is getting 'recruited' for the final job.

Berlioz was smart enough with the beginning of Act II to dial down the pace, compared to the frenzy of the close of Act I. It would have been nice to hear more of the audience applause (even with Tom Service as presenter), to soak up the RAH audience vibe at the end.

(PS: Just realized the totally unintended bad pun in my earlier post, after Act I.)

[David-G]

As to tonight's performance, I arrived early, got cloakroom ticket 13 for the Arena Day queue, then later in the day remembered I had agreed to send a friend's recording of two song cycles to one of his friends to celebrate the latter's 80th birthday. I thus turned on my heel and headed for home to send the recording. Who wants to stand for over 3 hours listening to Berlioz, anyway. I did, that's who! Now I have to make do with just the Sounds.

So near and yet so far! I was number 9 in the day queue. Would have been nice to meet you! Perhaps I did meet you unknowing?

[bluestateprommer]

If you missed this Prom of Benvenuto Cellini, you might have one more chance to catch it, before the archived transmission from the France Musique page expires. It's actually at the general "Samedi à l'opéra" page:

https://www.francemusique.fr/emissions/samedi-a-l-opera

You need to scroll down to the entry for 28 September and click on the arrow icon (this page didn't work for me, at least). Microsoft Edge worked better for me on the "Samedi à l'opéra" page compared to Mozilla Firefox, for some reason. If you need another motivation to listen besides the merits of the performance, you will hear commentary from Judith Chaine, with Tom Service completely cut out.