Berlioz - Benvenuto Cellini

Berlioz wrote about this early opera "a variety of ideas, a vitality and Zest and a brilliance of musical colour as I shall never find again." The opera is full of the colour of Italy,moving very quickly,and is unlike any other music he wrote again.Which contradicts the fact that he said he did not like the modern Italy of the time. The opera is based upon the memoirs of the Renaissance Florentine goldsmith and sculptor Cellini.This first opera was given at the Paris opera in 1838. From the opera comes the famous Roman Carnival overture. Naturally, the opera was not sucessful.It was from his writing that he survived. As a composer once stated"Berlioz died beneath the walls of Troy".His music and operas were misunderstood in France, although he was considered a master of orchestration.He was also the first of the true modern conductors. His work was popular in England, Germany and Russia, not in his homeland of France.According to the notes ,the opera concerns Cellini's wooing of Teresa, the daughter of the papal treasurer,Balducci,who would prefer Teresa to marry Cellini's rival, the cowardly Fieramosca. When Cellini attempts to abduct Teresa at Carnival time, a fight ensues in which Cellini kills Fieramosca's hired assassin. Cellini disappears,returns under the cover of a monks procession, is arrested, and is pardoned by the Pope only on the hurried completion of commissioned statue of Perseus. You may think how can Berlioz make a opera out of these ideas, and make it funny in parts. He does.The notes also state" a mix of futurism a la Metropolis, fantasy,a la Batman,juxtaposed in the form of photo montages,also a helicopter, a shark and the winged vechile of the Pope." Metropolis was a German film directed by Fritz Lang in 1927. The first Sci-fi film. The feminoid robot is an evil double of Maria, a pacifist attempting to help the workers. The robot goes from dancing naked in a decadent nightspot and inciting a riot in the film. The robot is Ascanio an assistant to Cellini in this opera. So you can see the relationship between the film and the opera, for the Robot is involved in the carnaval.There is a connection, but she is not evil.At the beginning, the dark background is a cityscape, an updated version of the city in Metropolis. The two colourful robots helpers to Teresa, are inspired by Metropolis. After the beautiful aria, Teresa wears a light yellow dress, the two robots have blue light shone on them, the same tones as the Yellow and the orange doorway at the side. Blue and Yellow are complimentary colours. The carnaval is a riot of light colours, all blended in with a dark ultramarine background.Every movement and colour is well thought out. The Shark is used as a stage to poke fun at Balducci,Mr money bags. Themes and tunes come thick and fast, with a Rossini zest, but sounding nothing like it. His sound is so unusual because Berlioz couldnt play a piano ,but a guitar. Listen to the choir singing words to the Roman Carnival theme, unbelievable. How can people miss such a performance as this because of this nonsense about modern vs traditional staging. Act one is simply beautiful and full of youthful Zest.The Pope arrives in Act 11, in pink with his helpers dressed the same, a rock star pope. He wants his Statue. After a period of time he does get it. But in between the workers go on strike and will not cast the statue. Teresa and Ascanio think Cellini has been murdered, but he hasnt. The workers attack Fieramosca and find gold in his pockets to bribe the workers to stop working.Cellini turns up gives his rival the chance to work on the statue,or thrown in the furnace. Naturally, he chooses life. The end is cheerful. Cellini obtains the Popes forgiveness and Teresas hand.You may notice the robot out of Metropolis, which is apt for the scene with the workers. At one point, the robot has no head, it is singing while sticking out the floor. A imaginative touch. Near the beginning of Act there is a marvellous duo between Ascanio and Teresa and some monks are passing singing in Latin. See the dark background and how the Green costume and Gold robot suit stand out. Act 11 is darker then Act One. In this act you see Berlioz mixing together Masses, symphonic music, arias and lighter music. At that time no one else was doing this. The Furnace scene has to be seen to be believed and heard. Parts of Act One do remind me of Rameau's Les Indes Galantes,by Rameau and conducted by Christie.The stage director is Phillip Stozl who directed Rienzi. He follows the Libretto. You can just watch the Blu Ray and you get the idea of what is happening. That is his tradmark. He was a film director.The Vienna Philharmonica is conducted by Valery Gergiev extremely fast. Which shows how this helps the choir and singers. You can hear the themes so clearly.Cellini is Burkhard Fritz suited for the part. Teresa is 26 year old Marja Kovalesvska with a beautiful voice, ideal for this part. Fieramosca Laurent Naouri is funny in his role,he has been around for a while. Then we have the Mezzo, Kate Aldrich. I have seen her in a few Blurays and what can one say. The crowd went bonkers when she gave her bow at the end. All the roles are well sung. The scenery and the colours are the best,very sophisicated. This is a Bluray you can love regardless of taste. Who would have believed this came out of the 2007 Salzburg Festival. Bravi.

The Salzburg Festival has been responsible for three of Berlioz' masterpieces; for that I suppose we must be thankful. The Damnation of Faust is, of course, not an opera. The only staged version I have seen is one from Brussels with Jonas Kaufmann, Susan Graham and Jose Van Damm. It is worth seeing and owning. I have the Troyens and now Cellini. The former is currently available in three sets, but the Cellini has no challenger and is not likely to be contested. This is a pity since the work is clearly a masterpiece, but one that is difficult to bring off. Ideally it should be sung by French trained singers, or those who have an awareness of the style and the importance of the text. The orchestra and chorus should also be French. Berlioz created a unique sound; it deserves to be honored.Where to start? Updating frequently can add interest and make the auditor rethink his/her ideas about the work in question. In this particular case it is simply silly. Cellini makes his appearance in Act I via a helicopter! The setting is a rooftop (in Rome?) and Balducci has two robots as servants. Oh yes, Ascanio is also a robot. An hommage to Star Wars? Don't ask. If the updating were witty, imaginative, artistic and relevant I would probably sound less churlish. As it stands, however, there is nothing about the staging that I find engaging or likeable. Salzburg became (under Mortier) a showcase for outrageous staging. Sometimes it worked and sometimes not.All of this would be academic if the singing were world class. According to the notes, Burkhard Fritz has sung Cellini before. I understand that he sings frequently at Bayreuth; no matter, as the voice is not a beautiful one nor one that is used artistically. Maija Kovalevska, Teresa, is one of the second generation of singers from the former Soviet Union. It is generically pretty, without a hint of the singers' ethnic background, e.g., slavic shrillness. Brindley Sherratt, from the UK and a voice I was not familiar with sings Balducci; the role is not a showcase for the singer, but he makes the most of what is really an ungrateful role. The only Frenchman in sight is Laurent Naouri as Fieramosca. The best singing of the evening came from the American Kate Aldrich. Vocally she was stunning; dramatically she was hamstrung by having to be a robot.Unfortunately Cellini does not have what can be called a performing tradition. It is difficult to sing and doubtless expensive to stage. Early on its history was one of failure for the composer. Add to that the variety of textual differences. Initially it was intended for the Comique and included dialogue. For the Opera recitatives were required. And in Weimar Berlioz shortened the text eliminating "buffo" elements. The first recording (and in my estimation still the best sung) under Colin Davis includeds dialogue and a bevy for French trained singers. Gedda was, of course, not French trained, but was sensitive to the text and the style. The most recent recording on Virgin was conducted by John Nelson a sensitive Berliozan. Why he chose Gregory Kunde is a mystery as the role truly eludes him as it eludes Fritz--although differently. Nelson includes about twenty minutes of music that had never been heard. Since the notes for the DVD (more generous that most) do not make reference to the edition used, on that there are a number of textual difference, the listener is required to be a bit of a musicologist.In spite of the above criticisms and the "three star" rating I have to recommend the set simply because you are not likely to see another in the near (or distant) future. The Met has never revived its first production even though Troyens has had two investitures. After watching this DVD listen to the first recorded performance to give you an idea as to what could have been.

The opening overture is exuberant and all that one expects from Berlioz. As the opening scene of act 1 appears it becomes apparent that this will be a modern interpretation. Not usually a good selling point for me, but as the opera progresses I have to admit it has many saving graces.Just a brief note on the story, The Pope wants a statue casting and he chooses a rather wayward sculptor, Cellini for the job. Cellini wants to marry the daughter of the Popes treasurer Balducci, he has an alternative suitor in mind, Fieramosca. Teresa, the daughter however favours Cellini and has a healthy dislike of her fathers choice. The rest of the opera revolves around these relationships.The sets particularly the first act are a little confusing, but become more logical as we progress. Even so they are quite spectacular and worthy of commendation. The first for instance is a rooftop with a number of exits and entrances including chimneys,it also features a helicopter entrance by Cellini.A word about the cast, firstly Burkhard Fritz as Cellini, he portrays the lovable rogue nicely and seems to enjoy his role. Mostly his round tenor is very pleasant, but occasionally appears to strain, for instance act 2 scene 2 where he wants to exchange his life for that of a shepherd.Next Teresa, Maija Kovaleska, she sounds and looks good, I am impressed with her voice and portrayal.Balducci played by Brindley Sherratt is a bad tempered character, he plays the part well and has a good voice.Laurent Naouri as the rather weak charactered Arch rival is perfectly adequate without being spectacular, and is subjected to some misuse, verging on slapstick at times.Very impressive is the mezzo of Kate Aldrich, a rich and powerful mezzo, and is involved in two of my chosen highlights, the duet with Kovelevska in act 2 and in scene 2 of the same act her opening aria, which is cleverly visualised.Mikhail Petrenko is a young and good looking Pope, he has a pleasing base baritone voice.The brilliant chorus have quite a lot of work to do and are very good indeed, they get to wear a variety of brilliant costumes particularly in the Carnival.There is not as far as I know a more traditional rendering of this work and it is rather good fun and entertaining, I would recommend it to Berlioz fans and lovers of spectacle.

Before reviewing this production I listened to the original Colin Davis recording again and saw Terry Gilliam’s new production at the royal opera house.Imagine the situation: You are thirty four and you go along to the powers that be and say,“Hi Guys, I’ve written this real off the wall opera with lots of oddball characters. It’s really crackpot and It will cost you zillions to put on. It’s a real funny black comedy, but don’t worry, its got really great music, everybody will love it”. You can understand the reaction. “Well young man, we suggest you stick to your day job, or at least try the theatre down the road and while you are at it get your hair cut”.In 1837 nobody was ready for Berlioz and Wagner was only just coming online. In its time there was nothing that Benvenuto Cellini could be remotely compared with. It is not surprising that it failed. In his memoirs Berlioz said if he could live to the year 2000 he may have a future. How right he was. We have finally caught him up.This is a zany black comic opera wrapped up in some of the greatest music of its time on a scale that anticipates Wagner and Verdi. The score is breathtaking in both orchestration and shear imagination. The demands that Berlioz makes of his singers are immense. All the principles are clearly world class singers and the music is fantastic. There are only two principal female singers with phenomenal roles. Even if you love the original Colin Davis recording give this production a go.Do not be put off by some of the oddball characters like R2D2 or the tin man. The chorography is astounding and the jugglers and acrobats are amazing.One reviewer commented that the cast were overacting at times. This would not have been so noticeable had you been in the opera house but it is when you are watching it as a film. However the other side of it is that you can see what the cast are doing and they obviously enjoyed every moment of the production. The thing about film opera is that it is not enough to be a great singer. You have to be able to act as well. Nobody wants to watch wooden singers however good they may be.If you are not sure if this production is for you can watch the great trio from act one on YouTube. That will give you an insight into the quality of the production. As one reviewer said, even Berlioz failures are masterpieces. This is a five star production by a five star cast and it is well worth buying. You should see the reaction of the audience at the end. They loved it.

I have no fewer than four favourite composers. Berlioz is one of those. I already have this opera on an LP. I was not totally convinced with the production in question, but when it comes to my DVD Opera library I am very much a traditionalist. It has to be quite an outstanding piece of theatre for me to accept it. Jonathan Miller's Rigoletto and The Mikado are two excellent examples of modernist productions to my liking. I have watched the opera under review only once and I hope I might like the production nearly as much as I like the music after a few more viewings.

von den Salzburger Festspielen daher sehr gut.

Berlioz fans and opera lovers have had to wait a long time for this masterpiece on DVD whilst having to tolerate lesser works getting multiple releases. However, be assured this is well worth it. In the same way as Mahler's symphonies could be argued to have been written for the audio age, this opera is ideal for home watching on DVD. The staging, slightly convoluted plot and stamina required all conspire against frequent performances. However, the consistently high-quality music is too good to be ignored. This is confirmed by the number of `spin-offs' Berlioz made from his material due to the few productions in his lifetime including the 'Roman Carnival' Overture and the 'Reverie and Caprice'.The modern staging is imaginative and brings both theatrical humour and visual challenge to the plot. The orchestra and soloists are on top form with Maija Kovalevska outstanding as Teresa. The chorus work like (pardon the cross-reference) Trojans and the costumes, sets and choreography combine to make this a `must have' item.Don't let any anti-modernist influence you; this is a treat for the eyes and ears and a life-enhancing visual and musical experience. Buy it, watch it and enjoy many times.