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Hobby Forum Index » Music - Opera » Juan Diego Florez. Barbican, 12.vii.08...
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| Stephen Jay-Taylor... |
 Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 8:33 pm |
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As the cherry perched on top of on the cake that has been the Barbican's
07/08 "Great Performers" series, we got little JDF, cute as button and very
natty indeed in his immaculately tailored white-tie-and-tails, to round out
the season. Unusually - for London, at least - this wasn't a piano recital,
but a proper orchestral concert, with the pit-band from Welsh National
Opera - based in Cardiff - under their long-term, "is he/ isn't he" chief,
Carlo Rizzi. They played like dogs, which would have mattered less if the
vast bulk of the programme hadn't been given over to astonishingly poorly
chosen filler : the first half alone contained 35' of largely inapropos
overtures, starting with "Norma" ( !!!??!! ) inconsequentially followed by
"A te, o cara" from, er, "I puritani" - why not play the rumbustious
Puritani overture instead, or sing "Meco all'altar di Venere" to follow ? -
then the enormous overture to "Semiramide" played with all the knife-edge
precision of pea soup, followed not by either of Idreno's arias, but
Giacomo's from "La donna del lago". Then, at even greater length, the
"Guillaume Tell" overture, which was properly followed by "O muto asil", or
rather, as sung here, "Asil héreditaire", Arnold's big number.
Florez gave us a pinging C sharp in "A te, o cara", but the "aria" makes
virtually no musical sense outside the context of the chorally-accompanied
quartet it develops into in the opera proper, and, apart from letting us
know that he was in good voice, it seemed to me to serve little purpose as a
programme-launcher. Both Rossini items fared better, I thought, though the
idea of Florez singing Arnold strikes me as analagous to Diana Damrau
singing Elektra: they may both have the notes, but entirely the wrong vocal
weight and timbre. "Pace non trovo" from Donna del Lago was a suave piece of
vocalism, beautifully executed in terms of line and general sentiment,
though rather lacking in specific larmoyante colouring. But then colouring
is not and never will be Florez's strong suit. ( We'll find out how much he
can make of the role on stage when Covent Garden mounts the opera for him in
the10/11 season. ) The Tell aria was tasteful, and in comprehensible
French - not often the case, believe me - but it simply seemed the wrong
repertoire for him to be singing. [ Apropos, there was yards in the
programme about Rubini singing this, and Rubini singing that, conveniently
skirting round the fact that, Puritani apart, he didn't create any of these
roles, which were written for the darker, more dramatic likes of Giovanni
David and Gilbert Duprez. But Decca have a new Florez disc to sell, and need
a marketing peg on which to hang it, so Rubini it is....]
After the interval, the diminutive divo was going gangbusters through
Gennaro's "Partir degg'io" when he started semaphoring in the direction of
his throat, and ended it perfectly well, it seemed to me, but immediately
apologised to the audience, going on about how "global warming is obviously
now affecting even tenors" ( as if they above all might have reasonably
expected to be exempt from planetary collapse: but I quibble...) Quite what
this signified, other than trouble, no-one knew, least of all Rizzi, who
stayed put on the podium following Florez's departure to conduct a shambolic
account of the delicious "Don Pasquale" overture, and was then retrieved
from it afterwards by house management.
Five minutes of speculative hubbub ensued as the orchestra looked faintly
embarrassed ( which given their playing, well they might ). Eventually, JDF
reappeared and fired off a volley of semi-audible Speedy Gonzalese about
whatever the trouble was, and then - none too promising, this - said he'd
see how the next item went : "Ange si pur" from "La favorite", no fireworks
to speak of, but a very exposed acid test of line and control. It might have
worked perfectly but for an audible rasping shift of gears every now and
then which I've never heard from him before, and a definite sense throughout
of a man walking on eggshells. Still, he seemed relieved at the end of it -
the audience, comprising much provincial coach-trade who don't like art but
do like a tune and a pretty face, certainly worked overtime on his behalf -
and left the platform to Rizzi and the wretched "Fille du régiment"
overture, garbage even by Donizetti's standards, and played as such.
Which left only the showy capstone, "Ah mes amis!" - unaccountably given
here as "Amici miei!" - with its 9 Cs, and a general sense of trepidation.
Hard to know who was hanging on tighter for dear life, the audience to every
note, or the tenor to Rizzi's rostrum. Bumpy and disappointingly mere I
think I'd call it : certainly no frisson whatever, which had been evident at
Covent Garden last year ( where, of course, since House policy strictly
forbids encores, none was forthcoming ). After much applause, divo
reappeared and made a long, rambling speech about no high notes but plenty
of coloratura, and proceeded to polish off "Ah, il piu lieto", the flashy
cabaletta to "Cessa di piu resistere" from Barbiere Act II ( which Covent
Garden doesn't want him to sing in next year's revival of the appalling
Caurier/Leiser staging ). And that was that. He cancelled the signing which
Decca had set up outside the Hall on the grounds that he was too tired, and
for which the in-house shop had bought in specially, and sold, many hundreds
of the "Bel Canto Spectacular" disc. Many upset punters milling around,
muttering.....
So : not quite the evening of unmodified rapture everyone seemed to have
been expecting. Certainly not Decca, still smarting from upset in Dresden
where JDF's Duke of Mantua was received - and, according to rumour,
delivered - with less than enthusiasm. Me, I take it with a pich of salt,
though always bearing in mind that when singers start schmoozing an audience
verbally, it's usually in an attempt to offer up a decoy, hoping -
consciously or otherwise - that their power of personality will distract
attention from weaknesses of voice. He's still young - achingly so, to look
at him - and probably just going through a bumpy patch. But he might have to
rethink plans to stretch the repertoire towards such beefier fare as Edgardo
and Alfredo. It's a precious - if to me not especially interesting, or even
ingratiating - instrument, and I'd like to think it would take just a little
longer for all the gilt to wear off the gingerbread. When he returns in
October for the premiere run of Rossini's 'Mathilde di Shabran" at Covent
Garden let's hope he's in fully fighting form....
SJT, your man with the lorgnettes and bucket of popcorn. |
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