Ludovico Ariosto’s epic poem "Orlando Furioso" is one of world literature’s most influential works, having inspired artists and writers through the centuries down to 20th century comics, sci-fi movies and post-modern pulp fiction. The fantastic plot with ogres, dragons, sea monsters, valiant knights, damsels in distress, a flying island and a trip to the moon proved a goldmine for opera composers, too. Handel alone based three of his operas on it. Vivaldi was up til recently known as a composer of, as Stravinsky maliciously put it, 300 times the same concerto...But it was only a question of time until the operas of this prolific musician would be excavated from the archives where they had gathered dust for 3 centuries. Jean-Christophe Spinosi is one of the protagonists of the Vivaldi revival, and ever since he recorded “Orlando Furioso” to worldwide critical acclaim there had been talk of staging it. The Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris assembled the protagonists of this memorable recording this past march in a very elegant if sombre production by Pierre Audi. The Baroque theatre loved to put on lavish spectacles with a lot of machinery. Nowadays mechanical tricks have given way to psychological insight. So the setting was not an enchanted island but rather the somewhat morbid atmosphere of an austere Venetian palace where the wandering lovers are kept in a kind of claustrophobic “huis clos” under the control of Alcina. The magician of undetermined age – she could be several centuries old like Emilia Marty in “The Makropoulos Case” – is entangled in several dangerous liaisons with men whom she keeps in thrall with magic potions and manipulates according to her own wiles. The dramaturgy of the opera creaks a bit in the hinges like rusty stage machinery, as Vivaldi unlike Handel who wisely split up the convoluted plot into two operas (“Orlando” & “Alcina”) mixes the Alcina & Ruggiero story with the errant Orlando’s quest for his lost love Angelica who in turn is in pursuit of her own lover Medoro… Whenever things come to a seemingly unsolvable head enter Orlando raving and ranting. Marie-Nicole Lemieux in the title-role stormed and raged frighteningly, with never a note of the fierce coloratura awry! - upsetting the carefully arranged furniture in Alcina’s palazzo for which misdemeanour the lady of the house locked him up in a dark room! This nuisance removed for the time being Alcina can turn her full attention to her newest acquisition, the charming young knight Ruggiero, betrothed to Bradamante (who follows him disguised in men’s clothing) whom he callously forgets as soon as he sets eyes on the enchantress. Philippe Jaroussky as Ruggiero was the ideal personification of (male) innocence in danger, singing his transcendentally beautiful aria “Sol da te, mio dolce amore” with angelic voice, enchanting the enchantress and the audience alike. Alcina turns from temptress into helpless victim of an overpowering passion, and from this moment , when she shows real emotion, she starts losing control and her magic edifice begins to show cracks. Jennifer Larmore gave a first class impersonation of the sorceress, running the gamut from triumphant ruler over her magic empire with her fierce entrance aria “Alza in quegl’occhi”, via woman in love, “Amorose da rai del sole”, to growing fear and despair over losing her love and power at the same time in a poignant rendering of “Così potessi anch’io”. In the third act when all the characters are locked up in a kind of Hogarthian Bedlam she regaled us with a madscene that was worthy of Phèdre, simmering with quiet rage and despair, a real Racinian tragédienne! It was only consistent with a rather pessimistic reading of this piece that the director here changed the conventional happy ending of opera seria and has Alcina swallow poison. Orlando, in a strait jacket, remains locked in his own madness, and the others are left “smothered in surmise”, the knowledge dawning on them that nothing can be as it was before they got into this haunted palace; there is no returning to square one…With such a formidable performance in the central (if not the title) role it was difficult for the remaining singers to make much of an impact. This is again partly the fault of the composer/librettist who gave the roles of the comprimarii hardly any scope to develop full-bodied characterizations. Veronica Cangemi was a clear-voiced, touching Angelica; Romina Basso embodied her lover Medoro, sweet of voice and demeanour, and Kristina Hammarström an energetic and muscular Bradamante, Ruggiero’s betrothed,( who incidentally appeared more masculine than her rather girlish beloved). Christian Senn stood out as the only “proper” male voice in the whole ensemble, with a warm baritone ,making the best of the rather ungrateful role of Astolfo, Alcina’s discarded lover and helpmate in her intrigues.
Ensemble Matheus’ performance in the pit was dynamic and animated, you sensed the musicians’ familiarity with the score as they breathed fresh life into every note. “Historically informed performance” has come a long way since the first tentative experiments in the 1960s and 70s by the “pioneers”. Nowadays you have period bands that can produce as plush a sound as any traditional orchestra without losing any of the precision and transparency needed for baroque music. Spinosi's interpretation has lost some of its rough edges over the years, but none of its vigour and freshness.
So four hours (including two intervals) went by like nothing, and I shall never understand why people always mutter about the l e n g t h of Baroque operas but sit through 5, 6 hours of Wagner uncomplainingly!
