Review of Berlioz: Les Troyens (Gardiner)

Introduction

Hector Berlioz remains one of France`s most revered cultural treasures and was a leading light of the French Romantic movement . On December 11th last year, fans of the French composer gathered at his grave in Montmarte to lay wreaths in tribute to his 200th birthday. But the day didn`t pass without controversy. President Jacques Chirac blocked a proposal to move the composer`s remains to the Panthéon and protestors have questioned why not even a single street in sprawling and expanding Paris bears the name of Berlioz .

His marathon achievement, and his penultimate operatic work, is an opera based upon the Trojans at Carthage. This was reduced to only three acts on its first performance. After all - the full five hours would have been as likely as the uncut version of Dune making a theatrical run. The cuts probably hurt Berlioz every bit as much as the cuts to `Dune` did for David Lynch, who never put himself in such a creatively vulnerable position again.

The refusal of any opera house to play the full epic as envisaged by Berlioz took its toll and he wrote a cynical and bitter book of memoirs for posthumous publication and died in 1869, aged 65. His last words were: `enfin, on va jouer ma musique - at last, they will now play my music.`

How right he was! The first five-act performance of `Trojans` was played over two nights at Karlsruhe in 1890 and its first authentic staging at Covent Garden in 1958. My guess is that he would have been thrilled with this DVD version, which allows audiences around the world to enjoy his epic in the comfort of their living rooms. (`What a happy old Hector I am!` - sorry.)

This new production features John Eliot Gardiner conducting the Monteverdi Choir, Choeur du Theatre du Chatelet, along with the period-instrument Orchestra Revolutionnaire et Romantique. Staged at the marvellous Le Chatelet, Paris. Anna Caterina Antonacci leads as prophetess Cassandra, the bel-canto tenor Gregory Kunde plays Aeneas and Susan Graham is Dido. (Not that one silly!)

Yannis Kokkos created the jaw-dropping stage set, replete with its giant rotating mirror, in this no expense spared production.

Mercifully the Opera is divided into five acts of approximately 60 minutes each so you can watch it in segments. (Well, that approach works for `Bad Girls` doesn`t it?) It`s certainly a lot to take in a single sitting.

This particular production, staged in 2003, was awarded the 2003 prize for the Best Opera Staging by the Syndicat de la Critique Musicale.

Video

The recording is a first class Digital video recording that features a well-directed multi-camera shoot. It`s a nice flaw free recording and captures something of the magic of the original performance.

Audio

Well, there`s a huge sticker on the case saying `High Definition True Surround Sound`, and the DTS 5.1 does a fair job of adding chorus and spurious orchestration to the outer speakers fairly appropriately. But as this is a theatre piece, with all performers performing directly in front of us, the majority of the audio is (sensibly) mixed to the centre. So it`s not quite the ultimate surround sound experience that it proclaims to be. Also - the stereo option was actually a little quiet, which means you have to pump up the volume, and therefore the background. In truth you won`t notice that much until you switch it off and get the thunderous volume of standard broadcast through your system. Overall though, a very fine mix that takes in some pin-dropping quiet as well as some glass-shattering loudness.

Features

This 3 DVD set also has a documentary that includes interviews with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Yannis Kokkos and members of the cast. Whilst this is primarily just a series of interviews intercut with relevant pieces of the production, it features everyone from the Director and Conductor (Gardiner) to the principal cast and Stage Designer. What comes across is the passion that each and every one of these individuals has for the production and that can become quite infectious. In many respects, I`d rather have watched this prior to my initial viewing, rather than at the end of Disc three.

The set comes nicely packaged in a robust Amray case, and there`s a fairly lengthy booklet inside with a full synopsis of each Act. (I found it really useful to read this prior to viewing. Yes - it contained `spoilers`, but at least I could follow the narrative!).

There`s also a nice little essay entitled `The Sum Total of Berlioz`s Achievements` which, despite its cheeky title, is quite informative. The general thrust of the conceit lies in the notion that `Trojans` encapsulates all of Berlioz`s many skills, combining them all into a major work. It`s worth noting that he even penned the Libretto himself.

Conclusion

This production of Berlioz`s finest operatic hour (well, five to be precise…) will be most welcome for fans of this rarely performed opus. Divided into five acts, it`s not quite the marathon it might be and it really does squeeze a lot of history and emotion into its limited running time.

The opera`s narrative is based on Virgil`s epic poem, `The Aenid` which had so impressed Berlioz as a child. From a musical point of view, there is much to be enjoyed, including full assesmbly of many of the original instuments envisaged by Berlioz for the original production over 100 years ago. I`m sure opera lovers will find much to enjoy though if, like me, all the vibrato and hysteria can often be a little much to take, you might find the Aria that opens Act 5 amongst the most moving, as Hyas (a young sailor) sings of his homesickness for Troy. It`s truly a beautiful moment.

The documentary included is particularly welcome as it provides interesting insight into the production (for a novice like myself) and goes some way towards dispelling the myth that Opera is an elitist genre reserved for the highbrow and the wealthy. Of course, to enjoy Opera first hand is a pricy business (these productions are incredibly expensive to stage and are very labour intensive). This DVD will go some way to redressing that balance and, with some imagination on the part of the viewer, may turn even the dreariest lounge into a wonderful theatre.