A Difficult Cocktail in Music and Vision 5 December

A Difficult Cocktail
Rossini's 'Moïse et Pharaon',
assessed by GIUSEPPE PENNISI

Moïse et Pharaon by Gioacchino Rossini inaugurated the 2010-2011 'season' of the Teatro dell'Opera of Rome on 3 December 2010. The inauguration was preceded on 30 November by a special charity performance in the presence of the Head of State, with a parterre des rois -- authorities and prominent personalities from politics, industry, finance as well as from Rome's (no longer very large) surviving aristocracy. I went to the 3 December performance -- a première (opening night) subscription series; again, dinner jackets almost a requirement for the gentlemen and, likewise, long dresses for the ladies. Bouquets of flowers in the six rows of boxes and (Italian) champagne in the foyer before the long performance; 210 minutes of music, eg including entreacts lasting from 7pm until nearly midnight -- made both 30 November and 3 December very special, and very long, nights). On 3 December, a selected crowd also had drinks and hors-d'œuvres during the intermissions and dinner after the performance -- hence the evening was extended nearly until dawn.

A scene from Rossini's 'Moïse et Pharaon' in Rome. Photo © 2010 Corrado Maria Falsini
In the opinion of the management of the Teatro dell'Opera, these inaugural performances ought to be the telling signals of a true turnaround in Rome's main opera house. (There are other opera theatres in town but they're rather small and of limited importance.) The Teatro dell'Opera has been plagued by serious financial problems. Now, in spite of the economic crisis affecting Italy as much as the rest of Europe, things might be looking up: the program for the 'season' is attractive as indicated by a 20% increase in subscriptions and tickets sales as compared with the same period in 2009. Rome's Mayor endeavored to chip in much needed extra financing (but the city has a dire budgetary stringency). Although without any official title, Maestro Riccardo Muti undertook to keep an eye on future developments of the Teatro dell'Opera. This 'season', he will conduct Verdi's Nabucco, in addition to the inaugural Rossini Moïse et Pharaon, as well as a series of concerts -- including two major events: one in the House of Parliament and one in the Vatican, offered by the President of the Republic to the Pope, for the 150th anniversary of the Italian Unification. Muti will also take the orchestra, chorus and singers of the Teatro dell'Opera to St Petersburg to perform Nabucco at the Mariinskij Theatre. Finally, a number of his long term associates -- from the chorus master Roberto Gabbiani to the head of the ballet company Micha von Hoecke -- have joined the ranks of the theatre. Thus, there is a new optimistic mood in the corridors, in the offices, in the halls -- in short everywhere.
Moïse et Pharaon had never been previously performed in Rome in its unabridged French 1827 version. In the Italian capital and in other towns, Mosè in Egitto, composed by Rossini for Naples in 1818, has been staged, but not very often either. For decades the standard fare was Mosè, a peculiar version by Callisto Bassi of Rossini's work where the 1818 Mosè in Egitto is merged with the 1827 Moïse et Pharaon conceived for the Paris Opera, following standards and conventions for the Parisian audience. Mosè was a pale copy of both operas: it did not have either the dramatic strength of Mosè in Egitto or the grandiose, indeed, colossal emphasis of Moïse et Pharaon. Also the 1827 Paris opera was drastically cut (about sixty minutes of music) by Bassi. To have almost rediscovered Moïse et Pharaon is a merit of Riccardo Muti (and of Vladimir Jurowski). Jurowski conducted the unabridged opera at the 1997 Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro (only four performances) and Muti has performed it at La Scala in 2003 and in Salzburg in 2009 (almost unabridged). To the best of my knowledge, in the previous five decades, Moïse et Pharaon had been staged only in the 1970s in Boston and Philadelphia under Sarah Caldwell's baton and at the Opéra de Paris conducted by Georges Prêtre. The 1975 Paris edition had a stellar cast but only a limited success; the score had been drastically cut, as can be heard in a live recording released in 1983 but no longer available in the regular catalogues.

Eric Cutler as Aménophis in Rossini's 'Moïse et Pharaon' in Rome. Photo © 2010 Corrado Maria Falsini
In all three editions conducted by Muti (Milan, Salzburg, Rome), the opera ends with the rich orchestral description of the Red Sea waters drowning the Egyptians as well as a rhapsody to peace. Muti does not include the final 'cantique' of Moses and the Jews ('Chantons, Bénissons le Seigneur!'). In my opinion, the 'cantique' seals the opera very well. On the other hand, the orchestral description was one of the sources of inspiration for the climax of Wagner's Götterdämmerung -- its ending. Thus, there is a reason for omitting the 'cantique'.
There is a vast literature on the differences, as well as the similarities, between Mosè in Egitto and Moïse et Pharaon. For an English speaking audience, the main reference can be an essay by the late American musicologist M Elisabeth C Bartlet; it is hard to find, but assistance to receive a copy can be obtained by the M Elisabeth C Bartlet Fund. Those who read Italian can find an excellent treatment in the recent book Rossini by Giovanni Carlo Ballola (Bompiani, 2008). Now, Callisto Bassi's Mosè (rather than Rossini's) is generally dismissed, even though it is occasionally performed in some faraway lands -- I am told of a relatively recent staging in Johannesburg. In short, even though many musical numbers are the same, they are two different operas: the 1818 Neapolitan version is short, highly terse and tense, whereas the long 1827 Parisian opera is sumptuous.

The reading of the Book of Exodus during the overture of Rossini's 'Moïse et Pharaon' in Rome. Photo © 2010 Corrado Maria Falsini
The main issue is how to deal dramatically and musically with Moïse et Pharaon. There are three different confrontations closely intertwined: a religious confrontation (between the monotheistic Jews and the polytheistic Egyptians), a power politics confrontation (between Moses and the Pharaoh) and a love-story -- with a confrontation between Moses' niece and the Pharaoh's son. In short, a difficult cocktail to mix.

Ildar Abdrazakov as Moïse in Rossini's 'Moïse et Pharaon' in Rome. Photo © 2010 Corrado Maria Falsini
In 1997 in Pesaro, with stage sets and direction by Graham Vick, Jurowski emphasized the dramatic strengths and pre-Romantic intuitions: the long opera was seen as the journey of the Jews towards freedom. The costumes were those of the 1940s -- a very eloquent indication. In 2003, with stage direction by Luca Ronconi and sets by Carlo Diappi, Muti gave prominence to a neo-classical design where Rossini sounded almost like Cherubini, especially in the choral parts, but with nervous accompaniment of the soloist(s). A more dramatic and grandiose approach was taken by Muti in 2009 in Salzburg, with Jurgen Flimm's timeless staging, albeit with references to Nazism and the Holocaust.

Nicola Alaimo as Pharaon in Rossini's 'Moïse et Pharaon' in Rome. Photo © 2010 Corrado Maria Falsini
In Rome, Pier'Alli stages the complex plot in a single structure with projections and special effects. (The parting of the waters of the Red Sea, the crossing of the Jews and the drowning of the Egyptians at the end of the opera as well as the full bright light after the darkness at the beginning of the second Act were all especially good.) During the overture, traditional Jews are reading the Bible's Book of Exodus. The opera itself develops in a colossal stylized Egypt, halfway between Cecil B De Mille's blockbuster The Ten Commandments and Fritz Lang's Metropolis. An earnest effort is made to keep lighting and projections in line with the music; whilst this objective is met and also the choral scenes are well resolved, the acting should have received more attention when only the principals are on the stage (eg the duet Si je perds celle que j'aime). The third Act ballet was very elegant, but Shen Wey's precious choreography seemed more American-Chinese than Egyptian. The audience seemed particularly to love the special effects of the staging. I found that, although pleasing the audience, once more (like in the Wagner Ring he directed several years ago) Pier'Alli lacked a central concept; he appeared more interested in surprising the audience with technological tricks than in providing a real focus to this complicated opera.

Sonia Ganassi as Sinaïde in Rossini's 'Moïse et Pharaon' in Rome. Photo © 2010 Corrado Maria Falsini
Musically, the key aspect of Moïse et Pharaon is the perfect fusion between personal and collective drama. Rossini had already achieved this perfection in Maometto II -- staged only one night, in 1820, in Naples at the Teatro San Carlo: it was too far ahead of its time, and neither the audience nor the music critics could understand it. As with Maometto II, in Moïse et Pharaon, when the principals with their own dramatic problems of power and love retreat to the background, the people take the foreground and limelight, with the chorus leading the way. The large number of choral interventions, required by the story, take center stage. The balance between soloists, chorus and orchestra is a challenging task of musical direction. Muti handled it extremely well, also because he had at his disposal 'his' chorus director (Roberto Gabbiani) and, by-and-large, 'his' Salzburg cast. The Teatro dell'Opera orchestra also played its part beautifully. After four hours of performance, the audience enthusiastically requested (and obtained) an encore of the large and engrossing prayer scene (O Toi que tout révère) when the chorus and many soloists (all the Jews) cross the Red Sea. Once more, as in Milan and at Salzburg, Muti conducts Rossini with an eye to Cherubini, Spontini and even Berlioz, more than with the foresight of European Romantic music -- not only Italian (Donizetti, Verdi), but also German (Marschner, Weber and even Wagner) and French (Auber, Gounod, Bizet) as Antonio Pappano did in his recent Guillaume Tell performances in Rome [see Music & Vision, 18 October 2010].

Nicola Alaimo as Pharaon in Rossini's 'Moïse et Pharaon' in Rome. Photo © 2010 Corrado Maria Falsini
As mentioned, the vocal cast is mostly the same as at Salzburg. Indeed Moïse is Ildar Abdrazakov, who had the title role both in Milan in 2003 and at Salzburg in 2009. In these seven years he has grown more authoritative both vocally and dramaturgically; his scene and quartet with Nicola Alaimo (Pharaon), Eric Cutler (Aménophis) and Nino Surguladze (Sinaïde) -- Ah! Quel désastre at the beginning of the second Act -- is especially imposing. Nicola Alaimo stands up very well to Ildar Abdrazakov. On 3 December Sinaïde was acted and sung by another Salzburg veteran, Sonia Ganassi. She is a dramatic mezzo, who received real accolades after her aria Ah! D'une tendre mère. The hopeless and helpless lovers were scheduled to be, as in Salzburg, Marina Rebeka and Eric Cutler. Due to a difficult pregnancy, Rebeka had to be replaced by the young Georgian soprano Anna Kasyan as Anaï, a role of limited vocal difficulties until the fourth Act duet (Jour funeste, loi cruelle) and aria (Quelle horrible destinée). The limelight was more on her than on him (a good stern Iowa tenor with more voice than agility). She did quite well and deserved the applause she received; she is still somewhat 'green' but has the potential to grow. Juan-Francisco Gatell and Nino Surguladze were good as Éliézier and Marie.

A scene from Rossini's 'Moïse et Pharaon' in Rome. Photo © 2010 Corrado Maria Falsini
After more than four hours, there were ten minutes of accolades. Then, a lot of after-theatre pouring rain whilst awaiting for a night tube or bus, as there were no taxis in sight. Even some of the audience, then, got wet -- but not from the Red Sea.
Copyright © 5 December 2010 Giuseppe Pennisi,
Rome, Italy

GIOACCHINO ROSSINI
TEATRO DELL'OPERA
RICCARDO MUTI
ROME
ITALY
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