patrikpen: Black and White in Music and Vision 11 aprile

domenica 12 maggio 2013

Black and White in Music and Vision 11 aprile

Black and White

Saint-Saëns' 'Samson et Dalila'
as envisaged by La Fura dels Baus,
enjoyed by GIUSEPPE PENNISI

Camille Saint-Saëns' Samson et Dalila is back in Rome after nearly fifty years. I couldn't miss the 5 April 2013 opening night. Samson is the most popular of the composer's six stage works, even though it was initially conceived as a Church oratorio; Parisian bishoprics might have been quite tolerant at that time because, in the midst of prayers and invocations to God Almighty, the second part of the score is overtly sensual and in the third, there is a wild bacchanal with human sacrifices to a cruel pagan divinity. Briefly, Samson took a long time to reach Paris. It was initially performed in Germany (Weimar, Hamburg) in 1877-82 in, of course, a translated version. Only in 1890 was the opera performed in French, in the small theatre at Rouen (which lacked the orchestral, choral and ballet resources for the task). Eventually, in 1892, it was properly performed at the Paris Opéra, where it was an instant success. Sin (especially sexual) and repentance were the fares which most appealed to the Troisième République's upper class and opera goers. Delilah (Dalila in French) is a vampire woman like Carmen. And there were many others on the lyric scene at the turn of the twentieth century.

Olga Borodina as Dalila in Teatro dell'Opera di Roma's staging of 'Samson et Dalila'. Photo © 2013 Lellie Masotti

The original oratorio conception still molds the opera, since there is very little action in the three acts. Nonetheless, most productions are broadly based on the colossal 1969 Cecil B DeMille film with the stage filled with extras in colorful attire. It is sufficient to view a few of the dozen available DVDs to see huge sets and technicolor wide screen style lighting.

A scene from Teatro dell'Opera di Roma's staging of 'Samson et Dalila'. Photo © 2013 Lellie Masotti

There is nothing of this in Samson as seen by La Fura dels Baus. Sets, costumes and projections are rigorously black-and-white with only two exceptions: a pink backdrop for the seduction dance of the Philistine priestess at the end of the first act and a strong red backdrop for the love-and-sex scene which fills most of the second act.

Olga Borodina as Dalila and Elchin Azizov as Gran Sacerdote di Dagon in Teatro dell'Opera di Roma's staging of 'Samson et Dalila'. Photo © 2013 Lellie Masotti

La Fura is known for shocking audiences. This happens in the third act: young men and young women are picked by Philistine priests and priestesses from among those sitting in the audience -- they are, of course, mime artists -- then undressed on stage and tortured to death during the bacchanal. This is in line with the violence of the bacchanal music and the short finale where, after a prayer, and in a supreme effort, Samson uses all his might to bring down the pillars and the whole temple upon the assembled Philistines (in today's business attire) and upon himself. Many booed it.

The audience warmly applauded the musical aspects, however. Rome's Teatro dell'Opera had called in Charles Dutoit (currently artistic director and first conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) to handle the complex score, unmistakably French but full of the influence of Wagner (especially Der fliegende Holländer and Lohengrin) as well with echoes of Berlioz's L'enfance du Christ. Dutoit caught the right exotic tint -- a Near East as seen from France at the turn of last century. In line with the initial concept, the chorus, directed by Roberto Gabbiani, is one of the protagonists and deserved all the open stage applause it received. The two stars of the evening were Olga Borodina and Alexandrs Antonenko. She has a very taxing role, especially in the second act where her two major arias -- Amour! Viens aider ma faiblesse and Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix -- were handled beautifully. His part requires the timbre and the volume needed to sing Verdi's Otello, which Antonenko did in Salzburg and Rome under Riccardo Muti's musical direction.