Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center – Balcony (Seat
C117, $87.50.)
Story. Prince Igor
of Putivl leads his army in battle with the Polovtsians and is defeated; he and
his son Vladimir are taken prisoners.
Left behind in Putivl are Igor’s wife Yaroslavna and her brother Prince
Galitsky. Galitsky attempts to take over
in Igor’s absence but fails to get the support of the boyars (noblemen). He dies in the confusion from the panic
created by the advancing Polovtsians.
Meanwhile, Igor escapes and returns to the ruins of Putivl. He is recognized by the people and addresses
them in repentance. The people then
start rebuilding the city.
Conductor – Gianandrea Noseda. Prince Igor Svyatoslavich – Ildar Abdrazakov,
Yaroslavna (Igor’s wife) – Oksana Dyka, Vladimir Igorevich (Igor’s son) –
Sergey Semishkur, Prince Galitsky (Yaroslavna’s brother) – Mikhail Petrenko,
Khan Konchak – Stefan Kocan, Konchakovna (Konchak’s daughter) – Anita Rachvelishvili,
Polovtsian maiden – Kiri Deonarine.
Last Saturday, Anne and I caught the WQXR broadcast of
Prince Igor. It was during the
intermission betweens Acts 2 and 3 when the commentators were talking glowingly
about the performance, and telling us how beautiful the third act was going to
be. We were both disappointed when Act 3
started: the tune wasn’t particularly singable, and we weren’t sure what
sentiment the soloist was trying to convey.
We didn’t hear the rest of the broadcast.
On paper the opera certainly is interesting. First, it was by Alexander Borodin, one of “The
Five” whose music (the little I know) I always find pleasant and compelling. Second, Borodin died of a heart attack before
he completed the opera. He worked on it
for 18 years; he was a “part time” musician, and this is a rather complex
composition. His contemporary Nikolai
Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov (the latter’s student) completed the
work. Because of that, there is no definitive
version of the opera. The Met decided to
come up with a version that they claim to have restored a lot of the 20% of
Borodin’s music that was omitted by Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov (including
Igor’s monologue in Act 3), and excised the parts that were extrapolations by
them (the overture and much of Act 3.)
This was done with the help of several musicologists, and probably of
interest to only musicologists. A very
trained ear may be able to tell how much more Borodin is in this version than
the one traditionally used, but not mine.
Also, the last time the Met produced this opera was about a century ago!
The opera opens with a darkened auditorium. A black and white Igor was then projected
onto the curtain. Screen projection
turns out to be the technique used multiple times during the opening moments of
the opera’s acts to fill in the blanks in the plots. As the curtain was drawn, over 200 people were
on stage. The Putivlian army was
preparing to go to war, townspeople were gathering in the town square to say
farewell to the soldiers. The singing of
the chorus got the opera off on a good start.
The prolog was relatively short, and served to introduce many of the
main characters. In reading the
synopsis, I had some trouble with keeping all the Russian names straight;
interestingly it was rather easy to distinguish the different roles in the live
show.
The Putivlians already lost their battle with the
Polovtsians at the start of Act 1. The
curtain opened and Igor rose from the much talked-about poppy field scene. For quite a while I couldn’t be sure if I was
looking at real life or a projection.
Maybe that’s my poor eyesight, and my being in the balcony; but I
suspect that is the intended effect also.
Adding to the dreamlike nature of this Act at the beginning was the
haunting voice of a Polovtsian Maiden in the orchestra pit, accompanied by an
English Horn. For me unfortunately
things became a bit much when some 50 dancers pranced around towards the end of
the Act to denote life lived to the fullest.
Here is where the Polovtsian Dances are heard from the orchestra, and
where the chorus sang from the boxes in the lower tiers. These well-known melodies include the famous
tune “Stranger in Paradise.” While Igor
was on stage during the entire act, his singing was limited to the dialogs with
Ovlur (who suggested he should escape) and the Khan (who offered a truce.) Igor rejected both, saying it would be a
dishonor to escape and that he would continue to fight if set free. A side remark is that Igor lying in a poppy
field is the poster used by Met to “advertise” the opera: I thought his head
was cut off (ala John the Baptist) and placed among the flowers. That, obviously, is not so.
Act 2 is the dramatic part of the opera, so to
speak. The scenes depicted Vladimir
(unfortunate confusing name of Prince Galitsky) being out of control and plotting
rebellion against Igor in his absence but failed to get the support of the
boyars. The large crowds and the
collapsing scenery at the end added to the drama.
Our exposure from WQXR notwithstanding, Act 3 actually
started very well, with Yaroslavna lamenting the loss of Igor. Oksana Dyka has a great voice but doesn’t
seem to have a volume knob. Her strong singing
can definitely rise above a loud orchestra; I just wish that there is more
wistfulness during some of these more meditative moments, and in many instances
the orchestra is playing softly.
We have seen Abdrazakov several times, including the
title role of Attila a few years ago. My
sentiments are the same: “although weak in some places, he in general sang
well.” What I wonder was how the “original”
Act 3 would differ from the current one.
A search of Wikipedia results in a synopsis that is indeed quite
different from the one in the Playbill.
The ending in this Met production was more compelling; here the people
started to rebuild the city.
The story’s original setting is northeastern Ukraine in
the 12th Century. Per the
Playbill, the Met’s production is set in a timeless space. For me that means it is just a collection of
nice costumes and nice sets, complete with rifles. Nothing wrong with that, except I am sure
equally compelling production with costumes and sets from the appropriate time
period would work. Also, there are still
holes in the plot. For instance, I was
sure Igor refused to escape (somehow thinking it is not honorable,) but he
managed to escape nonetheless, and I am still not sure how Galitsky died.
My misgivings (or suggestions for improvement) are minor
compared with my overall enjoyment of the performance. For most of the show the seat in front of me
was empty resulting in a good view of the orchestra pit. I have seen Noseda before, he had to be at
his most energetic this time. The
orchestra responded well.
Another thought was the cast: most are from the former
Soviet Union. This is the week of the “Crimea
Crisis” when Russia sent troops into the peninsula. It is reassuring to see how well artists from
Ukraine, Georgia, and Russia work together.
Let’s hope their off-stage chemistry is as good.
The New York Times review is glowing in its praise. I didn’t find one negative remark in the
lengthy writeup which also recaps the story.
Anne decided not to come to the performance because of
grandchild babysitting duties, so I stopped by Jersey City for a quick visit
before driving in. Traffic was light
both ways, and I found off-street parking.
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