The History of one Opera
«It had turned to a green, into casino field
That was yesterday Russian Empire…
Blood is spreading as wine poured out around,
Candle lights burning bright as wildfire…
Alas, Hussar`s roulette,
Through cruel game we`re going!
No one can help you live enough,
Enough to see the morning…»
(From the famous Russian song)
24th of September 1819 —
Autumn (September-November) of 2019
200 years passed…
THE NECESSARY/ UNNECESSARY INTRODUCTION
Frontier of 18th and 19th centuries was full of thunderstorms. At first Europe was covered by a hurricane of the French Revolution and later Bonaparte seized the power and became an Emperor. This sequence was quite natural one because «....there is no other, more constant and more excruciating worry for a man who suddenly gets his freedom, than to find — as soon as possible — somebody whom he can worship again…»…(1)
It was a cruel time: time of cynics and tyrants. Time of mass murders and executions, of embittered hearts and boiling minds. Time of complete hopelessness which being unable to endure itself always begets its opposite.
And so it happened. The steel glove of the era was raised by romantics. They called their followers into the world of mighty passions and lofty feelings, to the world that could be — if not a dream incarnated, then at least a consolation. One of those who had almost totally mastered minds of that epoch became the Celtic bard Ossian, who lived, according to the legend, in Ireland, in the 3rd century ad.
Ossian’s poems enchanted contemporaries like the siren`s singing, but, alas, all it was a pure fiction. It was a hoax, a mask for a writer named James Macpherson. In July 1760, in Edinburgh were published the «Fragments of ancient poems collected in the highlands of Scotland», whose translator remained unknown. In the preface was mentioned that these snippets, presumably, are only a small part of another, larger epic. The book was successful and therefore, was almost immediately reissued. Macpherson (who, in fact, invented all these «Fragments…») allowed to persuade himself to go on «further searches», all necessary funds for it were collected by subscription — as well as for the publication of first English translation, issued in 1761—1762.
«Ossian`s Epic» was republished several times; it was a matter of tremendous interest and had influenced almost all the spheres of the cultural life. The strongest was its influence in Germany, among romantic poets.
«Ossian has ousted Homer from my heart. To what a world this giant brings me! You are wandering there over the plain when the storm is raging around driving the souls of the ancestors through the fogs, under the dim light of the moon from the mountains, you are listening to the moans of wraiths in dark caves muffled by the roar of a forest stream, or to the bitter complaints of a girl near four mossy, grassy rocks, under which a fallen hero, her lover is buried! "- exclaims Werther in the Goethe`s novel.(2)
Napoleon was an ardent admirer of legendary Celt, thus the fashion for Ossian in France wore a state character: plots of his poems inspired drama plays and operas, purposely for the imperial residence of Malmaison were painted «The Sleep of Ossian» and «Ossian Greets the Shadows of Fallen French Heroes».(3)
Europe was lying under the heels of the French Army; in a couple of dozen years old orders and principles had vanished like a smoke. When Napoleon’s troops were entering Italy, the Italians met him as a national hero. They tenderly named him Buonaparte. They cried him «evviva» at the same time when he was taking their monies and masterpieces out to Paris. They gave him their faith and hope which he subsequently deceived. The boundless power — as well as the flattery — corrupts and destroys not immediately but completely.
The great warlord had influenced lives and works of both «fathers» of «La Donna Del Lago» but while the interest of Sir Walter Scott was mostly of an exploratory character, on the lifeway of Gioacchino Antonio Rossini, Napoleon and his entourage had influenced directly and not once.
Giuseppe Rossini, Gioacchino`s father, was an avid Republican; we have even a legend that when Napoleon troops entered the city, he hung out a placard were it was written: «Here dwells the Citizen Vivazza (Giuseppe`s nickname), the true Republican». The financial records of Cisalpine forces (4) testifies that little Gioacchino in the age of 6 already belonged to the revolutionary forces in Pesaro and received a small salary for his participation in activity of the local orchestra.
So perfect was Gioacchino`s voice that when he was only 14 years old, he was admitted to the Philharmonic Academy of Bologna. While dreaming about career of a Bel Canto virtuoso young Rossini simultaneously studied all that could be given to him by those, with whom his fate was bringing him. He studied to play cembalo, violin and alto violin, as well as harpsichord, cello and piano. He studied counterpoint and literature, studied the works of Mozart and Haydn. But too diligent he never was — too lively and rebellious was his character, any coercion shackled him, paralyzing his abilities, preventing them to turn around in a full force. Natural gift, excellent memory and strong belief that all outdated rules and techniques are suitable only to throw them away in order to create instead them new ones on a basis of all entire arsenal he had in his disposal — thus were the preconditions for the unique Rossini`s style with its incredible melodiousness and equally incredible lightness and generosity. As for self-borrowings and laziness in which Stendhal is endlessly reproaching him, they were a result of the necessity to support his family and were dictated mostly by working conditions than by the features of his own character.
«...moving from city to city like a nomad I wrote three or four operas a year. But don`t think that it gave me an opportunity to live as a grandee. For «The Barber» I`ve got 1200 francs and also impresario gave me a suit of walnut color with golden buttons, so I could appear in the orchestra in a decent way. This suit costs, perhaps, 100 francs, in total, therefore, 1300 francs. And it took me only thirteen days to write the score…»(5)
To be more accurate — he was given (or it was left) only 13 days to write the score. Can`t help to remember the famous words of Maurice Bejart:
«Michelangelo had no genius — he had the job! He was failing with deadlines and the Pope was coming into fury».(6)
In 1815, in the year of Waterloo, Rossini wrote «The Anthem of Independence» that was commissioned by Joachim Murat, Napoleon`s brother-in-law. For this anthem, later nicknamed «Italian Marseillaise», Austrian authorities for a long time kept Rossini under their surveillance as a suspicious person prone to subversion. And it seems that the pillars of Italian musical Olympus, Paisiello and Tsingarelli, were quite in solidarity with them: the first one was calling Rossini «an obscene» composer, and the second, being the Director of the Royal school of Music in Naples, forbade his students even to read the scores, written by Rossini.
Certainly, when Paisiello was dignifying young Gioacchino with a title of «an obscene» composer, he meant firstly and mainly the musical specifity of Rossini`s style but, perhaps, in such choice of words something more than simple discontent of a professional musician had been hidden.
Beethoven said once that Rossini’s music is «reflecting the frivolous spirit of our time». Actually, the mores of that era «tried out» all possible barriers and love affairs were no exception to the rule but only one more way for self-expression and self-affirmation. Many of famous opera divas often were no less famous as courtesans and enjoyed the patronage of nobility. Should we condemn them for it? Freedom for self-expression, eternal longing for something new as well as ability to accept the challenge and to pay the price for it– these qualities are necessary in both cases.
Gioacchino Rossini was a true child of his era: he loved luxury, exquisite cuisine and beautiful women. He said once: «Although I was still a boy (I was only 13 years old) I was already a big fan of the fair sex. One of my friends and patronesses — how should I call her?…»(7) Well, let`s pronounced it as it was in reality: «one of my mistresses…»
Isabella Colbran also became his mistress, later he married her. Rossini firstly had heard her in 1807, in Bologna. Their next meeting took place in Naples, in 1815 and the beautiful Spanish became his friend, his inspiration and one of the best performers in his operas-seria. Her contribution, her participation in his life is difficult to overrate. Colbran was a surprisingly beautiful woman, her extraordinary voice and her gift of a tragic actress could not but conquer Gioacchino Rossini.
Another person who had played more than a significant role in Rossini’s life was the former waiter from Milan, Domenico Barbaja. When they met, Barbaja already was very important figure in the operatic world of Naples. He was poorly educated but incredibly smart and perceptive. He had a lot of energy and business acumen. He got his fortune from the gambling business, for instance, in Milan he had under his control all game tables in the foyer of «La Scala». Here, in Naples, he was the main impresario for almost 30 years and controlled all theatrical gambling tables, as it was in Milan before. He was a regular in all society circles including the royal ones, and on his «account» there are 10 Rossini`s operas, including «La Donna Del Lago» which was premiered at «San Carlo», on September 24th, 1819.
The selection of libretto was usually a prerogative of impresario but «La Donna Del Lago» became an exception to the rule. The text of Walter Scott poem first fell into Rossini`s hands and only later it came to the librettist Andrea Leone Tottola. «...Maybe for the first time in his life…» — wrote Stendhal — «… Rossini was inspired by the libretto he worked at».(8)
And so it was. One of Rossini’s colleagues had found this little book for himself but let it slip to Gioacchino, and the latest, having read it, came into a full delight and rushed off to the librettist. The poem appeared to be so good and its author — already so famous, that Tottola, after having fairly redrawn the original text and original plot, had considered as his duty to make official apologies to Sir Walter Scott in the preface of libretto. As a leitmotif he laid the assertion that all edits he had made, no matter how serious and extensive they were, are absolutely necessary to turn this poem into an operatic libretto and Sir Walter has to understand it. And, of course, to forgive.
The future «Titan of Literature» — a poet, translator, writer and historian — Sir Walter Scott, was born in 1771, in Edinburgh, in the same place where ossianism had first arisen. Despite his glory as a novelist, the first 20 years of his literary career he had passed and became famous namely as a poet. His admiration for romantic poets, as Burger and Goethe, combined with his interest to the «legends of old» resulted in two-volume «Songs of the Scottish border» (1802—1803). It was a work that really became the event — both in the science and in the literature of that time. «Ossian-mania» had captured him too; he was looking for storytellers and wrote down folk songs and beliefs. After his ballads, which firstly were a sort of imitations to the folk songs, soon followed the epic and lyric poetry, including his famous «The Lady of the Lake» (1810) which stands six editions during the first year and went out with the fabulous at that time circulation of 50,000 copies in 1836.
Scott’s view of history and society can be called providential and this feature relates him with Shakespeare, and, perhaps, the allusions in Tottola`s libretto with the famous «Midsummer Night’s Dream» are not so accidental in the end. Something similar always is thickening around you when you are coming in touch with the «nodal» themes, senses or their creators; and sometimes, even not trying to coincide, you are still going «step in step», even if you have no idea with what exactly. However, our today is so far from that era that sometimes the «targeted return to the roots» can make a fair amount of confusion in the minds and souls of the wide audience.
INTRODUCTION TO THE OPERA
In «La Donna Del Lago» staged by Max Emanuel Cencic, you come across with such interpretation of the plot that it leaves you only two options. You can neglect all attempts to understand «why everything is going so» and simply enjoy what goes on, that is not hard a task, taking in account the splendor of Rossini’s music and very subtle and sophisticated scenography of Bruno de Lavenere. To do nothing, just listening and watching, bathing in a flow of associations (sometimes look more like hallucinations), admiring quirky-eclectic costumes (if you’re the fan of all ethnic with a light contaminants of devildom) and nearly naked women bodies (if you are not quite a prude and a bore). Or you can take a risk to unriddle this well-polished rebus, this culturological puzzle, but in this case «just watching» is impossible, because all the time you are eager to jump up and bury yourself in the reference literature. And what first comes to your mind is to open that very volume which the main heroine is reading. And that’s where the most interesting begins.
Sir Walter Scott is a rare phenomenon, and not only in literature but also in psychology. A poet (and a lovely poet!) and along with this — the scientist and researcher, combination almost impossible because mutually exclusive as a rule. In our days such a person was, for instance, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. Max Emanuel Cencic seems to be also from this breed. His interpretations both of particular arias and full-fledged operas — incredibly soulful, striking your imagination with the multilayered associations are firmly rooted in the enormity of knowledge and in the thoroughness of the scientific approach to everything that occupies his mind. Everything he refers to — in one way or another, bears the symbol of «reboot», the sign of the second breath and new life for the forgotten masterpieces.
By the way, this is what contemporaries were putting to the credit of Maria Callas «by a separate line», if so to speak. Long forgotten masterpieces of Bellini, Cherubini, Donizetti and Spontini had been renewed for her: operas that were considered either completely obsolete or non-scenic before her appearance at the stage were brought back to life and glory.
The history of «La Donna Del Lago» that had begun in 1819 was interrupted in the midst of 19th century — it was forgotten for almost 100 years. New life came only in 1958 at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Festival (Florentine Musical May) with Maestro Tullio Serafin as a conductor. Later in its history was the year of 1969 at Camden (with Kiri Te Kanawa in the part of Elena), years 1981 (Houston) and 1985 (London) — with Frederica von Stade and Marilyn Horne. And then were Pesaro, 1983 with Katia Ricciarelli and Lucia Valentini Terrani, and Milan, 1992 at La Scala with Riccardo Muti, June Andersen and Rockwell Blake; and finally, if we shall speak about recent and most notable — productions with Juan Diego Flores in 2001 (Elena — Mariella Devia) and 2010 (Elena — Joyce Di Donato). Of course, there also were studio recordings, something near 20.
Nothing very strange from the first glance — we can name a lot of operas with even more unfortunate fate. But why it`s really surprising in this case that`s because almost every Aria, every musical item in «La Donna Del Lago» is a small but a true masterpiece. And such are Malcolm’s cavatina «Mura felici», solemn, strict, but flowing smoothly at the same time, and cabaletta «Oh, quante lagrime» which follows it — impatient, sometimes angry and restless, but filled with boyish glee and anticipation of meeting with his beloved, and of course, his duet with Elena «Vivere io non potro…», full of incredible tenderness, melodiousness and unbelievable beauty. We can add here Uberto’s cavatina «Oh, fiamma soave», the tercet «Alla ragion, deh rieda» sung by Elena, Uberto and Rodrigo who joins them little later («Qual pena in me gia desta»), and at last — gorgeous, enchanting, brilliant rondo «Tanti affetti» from the 2nd Act. And let’s not forget about Elena and Uberto duets in the 1st Act, and about the scene of their parting when she sends him away with Albina, about the scene of rivalry and fight between Uberto and Rodrigo in the 2nd Act, and so on, endlessly, until you will list all, including the magnificent choruses (again one by one), and fantastic final scene of the 1st Act, simply magnificent in its energy, pressure and coherence.
I dare to ask, what after all was wrong with «La Donna Del Lago»? Why had it been forgotten for such a long time and why — despite its return — still there is so little of it, if compared with other Rossini`s operas? Was it only due to the fact that it was written specially for the great Isabella Colbran and her unique voice?
Stendhal wrote that «La Donna Del Lago» is rather opera-epic than opera-drama; it is characterized by «ossianic colors and extremely sharp, wild energy», and he adds that the staging needs a lot of space, and as it could be called nowadays, very high-class scenography. Despite all his admiration for this genuine creation, the poem of Sir Walter Scott he considers as «bad one», which is strange enough, because in fact Stendhal had very high opinion about W. Scott as a novelist, and moreover, in his writing manner he always found many similarities with Rossini`s style as a composer.
Perhaps to his vivid French mind so prone to lightness and elegance, all these historical facts and details seemed too annoying. Being appropriate in a large novel, they were improper in poetry and could not be combined with romantic love and heroic romanticism. But, alas, after all the entire «historical background» had been moved from the poem, the remained melodramatic component failed to become a clear, intriguing plot.
Poem written by Sir Walter Scott was based on a real event: the end of the house of Douglases that after a long struggle was crushed by James II Stuart, the King of Scotland. Archibald Douglas, the 5th Earl of Douglas indeed was appointed as a regent when James I Stuart, the father of six-year-old prince, had been killed by conspirators. And he really had a daughter — Margaret Douglas, The Fair Maid of Galloway, who later married William, the 8th Earl of Douglas, whose death had completed the defeat of «Black Douglases» and became the triumph of the royal power in Scotland.
In the poem, Ellen`s character is versatile and attractive. A noble girl of proud and haughty character, but at the same time an obedient and devoted daughter, she is afraid of Roderick Dhu, the head of the clan, who once gave them a shelter. Her fears are very understandable because although Dhu is in love with her, he is famous not only for his might and bravery but also for his cruelty. The mutual affection between Ellen and Malcolm is obvious to him and he`s waiting only for a chance to put it to an end. Rumors about Ellen`s beauty have already spread very far, stories and memories about the luxury and splendor of the Royal court, which could surround her, if not this exile, flatters her, as flatters the chance encounter with the King disguised as a hunter. She is amused by his manners, his noble appearance and his passion that had flared so unexpectedly. But her vanity is rather the matter of her mood and whim than of the habit; as soon as the temptation disappears she begins to repent and reproach herself. Being true to her duty, Ellen is ready to give Roderick her life, but not her hand:
«..To … brave chieftain son, from ire
Of Scotland’s king who shrouds my sire
A deeper, holier debt is owed;
And, could I pay it with my blood, Allan!
Sir Roderick should command
my blood, my life — but not my hand…»(9)
And only the danger compels her for attempt to save her father at the cost of her own wedding.
The character of Douglas is much brighter, softer and (what is very important!) much nobler than in libretto. Ellen`s sacrifice is unacceptable to him and he flatly refuses to force her to marry Roderick. Malcolm, her beloved; one, who helped them to escape the wrath of the King: only Malcolm will be her husband. Douglas is ready to assume all consequences of his decision, he declines to fight against the King, who was his ward and whom he still loves and honors.
And while Douglas and Ellen are competing in nobleness, Malcolm is swimming across the lake under the cover of the night in order to warn Stuart about the danger that threatens him. Clans under Roderick`s power are rising to war, they are blessed by the Christian priest with the soul of a pagan-druid, whose birth is entangled with the blackest rumors. The King in disguise makes one more attempt to charm Ellen and take her away but receives in response her declaration of love to another man; she loudly proclaims the name of her groom that in those days meant an official engagement. The King, touched and agitated, gives her his ring promising that she can use it in a peril or emergency and get therefore the royal help and intercession.
Wounded in the fight with Stuart, Roderick Dhu is captured. Captured are also Malcolm and Douglas, the latter delivers himself to the hands of the King in a vain try to help his friends and allies. Ellen comes to the royal court with the ring given to her, and saves all.
As a result of Tottola`s interference (according to another version this intrusion could be inspired by Isabella) from the whole poem of Walter Scott only love story of Ellen had been left and transformed into a hymn to her beauty. The struggle of highlanders became one more decoration alongside with the lake and rocks. The main heroine changed her name and it instantly caused the «bundle» with an ancient myth while the insertion of traditional conflict between «fathers and little ones» threw a bridge to the «Midsummer night’s Dream» — one of the most famous plays of William Shakespeare.
Parallels, however, were coming by themselves due to the texts and subjects. Here and there are the beautiful, pure, innocent girl whose love is sought by two rivals, both young and noble, and the wise, brave prince, sovereign, who conjoin the lovers. Duke Theseus appeared to be an analog of the King Jacob (James), and the Earl of Douglas — of Egeus. But the Earl Douglas who was in the poem a gorgeous example of a noble and wise knight, in libretto turned into a petulant tyrant, such as the father of Hermia in Shakespeare`s play was described. The words that «operatic» Douglas is saying to his daughter:
«How strange your mouth speaks.
May I never listen to such words of you again!
No matter how audacious will be the one, who tries to resist me,
He has to understand that must obey to my volition.
Not in my habit is to bear the shame.
Keep quiet, such is my will, such is my will.
…I forgive you the burst of pride and tenderly embrace you,
To prove that you are still dear to me…»(10) —
in fact is only a detailed paraphrase to the short statement of Egeus:
«…. As she is mine I may dispose of her;
Which shall be either to this gentleman
Or to her death, according to our law.»(11)
We have to add that in both cases an integral part of the whole action becomes a huge, mysterious forest. Although there are no magical personages in «The Lady of the Lake», here are the Prophetic Maidens and Prophetic Dreams, there are the Signs and Providence, here the real Ellen exists on a par with her magical hypostasis, the Soul of the Lake.
Speaking of love affair between Uberto and Elena that appeared in libretto, it is worth to say that in the poem one can find some hints of Ellen`s favor for the King, but besides the fact that she received a ring from him (although it is well-known that usually the kings were not so free with such a symbols) there are no other proves to this connection. But the theme of Royal favor which had began with the theme of the «royal ring» was continued by Rossini: our century is not the only one who supposes that you need to «modernize slightly» the plot for its better understanding. And besides, how else can you fully reveal the character of the heroine if not through a love conflict, how can you glorify her talent and beauty if not through arias created for her, and through her duets with her admirers? And more magnificent they are — the better it will be, especially if you yourself are in love with a woman who will sing them.
THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE OPERA
The definition that Stendhal gave to «La Donna Del Lago» («more an epos, than a drama») was the «nail on the head» — in one phrase he showed all its advantages and disadvantages. While in the heart of a drama always lays the conflict that is taking place «right now», epos is a story about Very Old Past. And no matter how violent and bloody it can be, the temporary detachment reduces the acuteness of the conflict and your own feeling of involvement. Although the epic story has a scale and inspires much more than a dramatic one, it is too static, descriptive and conversational and its practical implementation is associated with great difficulties.
«Epos of Elena» is a hard nut for staging. The closer is your embodiment to the original source, the more monotonous it becomes, and more evident became the contrast of Rossini`s music, sometimes swirling whimsically, sometimes languidly shimmering, with the motionlessness of the dramatic component of the plot.
In La Scala version (1992) 1st Act is lasting for 1 hour 40 minutes where 10 minutes are given for the «hit of all times and nations» — «Mura felici», and for 1 hour and a half we have different types of conversations: monologues, dialogues, praises and discussions that are interrupted only by the choir, which comes out and is simply standing on the stage. Practically there is no action, and the scenography made by Werner Herzog as close as possible to «ossianic spirit» and engravings from the poem`s lifetime editions only makes the whole staging even more «heavier». Met. (Metropolitan Opera) version (I watched the recording of 2015) is livelier a little; firstly, due to the costumes — bright, elegant, and close enough to the historical era where the story takes place; and secondly to the choir whose members, if comparing with La Scala version mentioned above, are much more deeply involved into action.
May be an unique voice, natural grandeur and the gift of a tragic actress, inherent to Colbran, were captivating her contemporaries such fully and totally that in performances with her participation no additional «livening up» was required, and moreover, the public and operatic traditions of those days differs from what we have nowadays.
But be that as it may — again I`m faced with the fact that it is much better to listen than to watch. Rossini’s music is so picturesque in itself that it is enough to close your eyes and you almost need no stage director! But if so then it`s better to listen to the Pesaro`s version of 1983 with Katia Ricciarelli and Lucia Valentini-Terrani — it is the closest to the Stendhal`s description. «Ossianic colors and extremely sharp, wild energy» here are present in full: an excited rebelliousness and incredible vivacity are reigning in this record. Rossini`s music here is so dynamic, totally permeated with lyrical and heroic impulses and so easily visualized into a dance, that at some point you suddenly feel an irresistible desire to participate in it.
In one old film about Rossini there is a scene where he is asked: « Is it true, Maestro that you want to remove ballet from the Opera?»
«It`s true!» — answers Rossini.
There is no ballet in «La Donna Del Lago». But what a paradox — it is still here!
And implementation of this paradox is one of the most important (in my opinion) advantages of «La Donna Del Lago» directed by Max Emanuel Cencic. In addition to its direct functions the choir here also exists as a visualization of Rossini’s music; it reflects like a mirror all musical transitions, tempo`s changing and intonations with the help of dance movements. Each chorister has his own small solo part, his own character with a personal story and each of them enjoys what is happening on stage. The result is obvious: characters created by the members of the choir are so expressive that they are perceived on a par with the characters created by soloists. It`s not surprising; the more pleasure you get from what you are doing the higher will be the quality degree in the final product.
Cen;i;`s version is more calm and lyric than of Pesaro`1983, here the pace is slower and the sound is smoother, here are practically no such fluctuations filled with a wild energy, it is more languorous, full of a feline smarmy softness, that is inherent not only to the tenderness but also to the magic of vice and temptations. The sonorous mezzo-soprano of Lena Belkina (Elena) goes quite well with Rossini’s music and you suddenly find out that a lower voice fits much better to its general tone especially when you have a deal with an opera which is not only an epos, but a sleep as well.
All versions that I had heard, tightly convinced me that soprano has nothing to do with the part of Elena — the whole atmosphere of this opera doesn’t go with high, clear voices and intricate «nightingale trills». Quite unbelievable it can sound but this conclusion had not been shaken even after thorough listening to the great Montserrat Caballe in the Turin`s recording of this opera (1970). Even risking to be beaten by stones I have to say that her voice sometimes was «out of tune» with the orchestra, it seemed «living by itself», as if they were in different rooms, far from each other, and in some moments you just physically began to see this «gap» — the magnificent soprano of Caballe was hovering in «sky-highs» above the stage and in contrast with it the sound of the orchestra went somewhere down and in deeps, as if it stalls.
I would venture to say even more concretely: soprano in the part of Elena is «not in music» of «La Donna Del Lago». The only exception in this range became Dame Kiri Te Kanawa (in Camden version of 1969), and this could fell in a contradiction to all I had written above if not one small detail — she began her career as mezzo-soprano and sang the mezzo’s repertoire until 1971.
Rossini wrote this opera for the voice of Colbran, who was one of the best dramatic sopranos or to be more precise — one of the best dramatic flexible sopranos of the time.
«Her voice is really able to charm with its smoothness, strength and amazing length of tones — from the bass „sol“ to the high „mi“ that is equal almost to three octaves, it amazes with its combination of softness and power… The method and style of her singing are perfect…» — wrote newspapers about Colbran.(12)
«… Until the early nineteenth century the best masters of vocal art were considered special Virtuoso — castrati… They were the acknowledged masters of fioritura style that prevailed throughout the eighteenth century. … When the castrati singers gradually disappeared… there aroused a need in female singers with great opportunities in the upper register. And soon happened a very strange thing…: some contralto female singers managed to expand their vocal range, to reach the upper register, to gain the foothold in it and become soprano. Their lower register remained almost unchanged; the middle one had expanded and was enriched with high and even extremely high notes. The most fantastic phenomenon of this kind was Maria Felisita Malibran… according to the contemporaries Malibran had managed to possess a huge vocal range, extending from the «sol» of the small octave to the «mi» in the third. Giuditta Pasta…. had almost the same range as Malibran.
…Contemporaries called them «soprano sfogati» («pouring» — my translation, ES) –… by nothing constrained with, infinitely flexible. But when Verdi had brilliantly introduced into the Opera world the characters tormented with high passions and feelings, these female singers became known as «flexible dramatic sopranî» (soprano drammatico d agilita). They had a huge vocal range, virtuoso technique inherited from the Bel Canto masters, and remarkable voice power. … To their virtues one more has to be added– the precious ability to sing in a low voice (mezza voce), which also have many singers in our days, but the divas of the past were capable to use mezza voce in passages that required extraordinary vocal flexibility…» (13)
Summing all mentioned above, we can say that Colbran had soprano of the same type as Giuditta Pasta and Maria Malibran; in the 20th century the same flexible dramatic soprano had Maria Callas. In the modern Opera world which lives according to the accepted division of voices-sopranos into three main types — lyrical, dramatic and light, or as they say now, coloratura soprano, as well as their subtypes, the parts written for a dramatic flexible soprano, is presenting considerable difficulties for the singers.
All the same (I mean, the considerable difficulties) can be said about the tenor parts in «La Donna Del Lago». Judging by them one can come to a conclusion that the technique of singing was much more perfect in those days and the audience — much more sophisticated and demanding.
Were these parts intentionally written by Rossini as «transcendent» in their height and vocal ornaments, was he measured them with the skills of his own voice, or simply wrote them for the singers who were bound (or could be bound) by contracts with the theater? Or was it done in order to set off, to emphasize, to highlight the voice of Colbran? But however, the low female and high male voice combination for this opera is the most adequate in the case of its symbolic and semantic context. Heroes-tenors are sovereigns, warriors, their power is given from above, and ergo — they themselves bear a gleam of the Divine radiance, whereas Elena is not more than a woman, from one side and almost a witch, the ghost of the lake, from another. The Manhood lies in spiritual - it is the light, it is Rational, while Feminine is a sin, devil temptation and a mystery.
Both tenor parts (Uberto and Rodrigo) are abounding in high notes and vocal decorations, but it is almost impossible to appreciate all this wealth today. In most cases you have an impression that if high notes are still present, Bel Canto seems to be over.
Because «Bel Canto» (and I`m digging into the dictionary to find the most comprehensive definition) is a «virtuoso technique of singing which is characterized by the smooth transition from sound to sound, effortless sound production, beautiful and rich color of the sound, equable voice sounding in all registers and an easiness in the leading of the sound which preserve in technically moveable and sophisticated parts of the melodic pattern».
Almost in all recordings that I viewed and listened to, there were places where the switching from «note to note» sounded like a descent down the stone staircase on a washing board; it reminds me trajectory that is left by a stone jumping on the water («stone skipping» it is called, we all, I think, played this game in the childhood). The process was accompanying by the sudden sharp cries and strange meowing overtones at the tops. In whole it provided the steady feeling that singers are not singing but pushing a bar. Where is now the pure open sound so inherent to the Opera of the Past or you will try to assure me that Bel Canto is another name for «singing in the nose»?
Problems mentioned above gave almost no effect on singing of only two Uberto — one that was performed by Juan Diego Florez and another, that was sung by Daniel Behle, in «La Donna Del Lago» staged by Cencic. Although I will not take a risk to call Daniel the perfect Uberto, it was noticeable that singing «sitting» troubles him more seriously than high notes and furious passages with which he copes quite easily and gracefully.
The part of Rodrigo is even more «heaped» in high notes and musical notation and while the main difficulties for Uberto belong to the 2nd Act, Rodrigo is a powerful «challenge» to the singer from the very beginning to the very end. Mighty lord, the leader, cruel and arrogant, the Sun-King — in other words, something almost supernatural.
In Cencic `s production this role is given to Juan Francisco Gatell. His Rodrigo is self-confident and haughty, he does not like to get into awkward situations and is much preoccupied in gaining all possible support from his proponents (was a great desire to write «voters»). His output Aria is really very similar to the election speech; his gestures and glances addressed to all around are full of complacency and euphoria, coming, as a rule, after all promises are given and the required number of votes is already gathered. Although his acting is very well done, the technical delights of his part are not quite submissive and this was especially noticeable in the Act 1st, in «Eccomi a voi miei prodi»; and also later, in those places where he had to sing «sitting down». In the past centuries artists usually were singing «standing up», but even if Rossini had decided to write something for the fans of «sitting» — in this opera it could be anyone else but not Rodrigo, — the rebellious warrior, the warlord leading regiments to the battle. And therefore, arias written for him and being sung by a singer in sitting position are the matter of great difficultness and the fact that Gatell, in spite of everything, still copes with this task, says much about his talent and professionalism.
As it is usual in our days «singing-sitting» is a common place in this staging, not excluding Cencic himself but it only adds the class to his production, because, in spite of all acrobatic tricks the overall balance of voices has a very, very high level. The last one is a fact of great importance since we have an «entire» performance. Frankly speaking, it`s hard to admire when you find on the stage two or three decent voices, and all other participants are riding on these not-numerous, mighty (or, conversely, fragile) shoulders.
The absolute hit in this production is Malcolm`s «Mura felici», performed by Max Emanuel Cencic. Equal to it can only be his duet with Elena «Vivere io non potro» and actually all the subsequent scenes with his participation. The description of his jewelry technique, of the incredibly careful elaboration of every note, of impeccably accurate intonations and unbelievable emotional depths and richness of vocal tones and colors, that all are the unique traits of his mastery, his exclusive style and way of performance — such description can be endless. In any case, no matter how many votes «for» or «against» will be, I daresay that Cencic `s interpretation of Malcolm`s part is a benchmark — golden section, tuning fork, the ideal role model. Here every note, every sound — exactly in that place, shape and mode, which was originally defined for it by composer. The emotionality of Cen;i; `s performance does not interfere with the accuracy of execution; on the contrary, it is similar to a magical crystal, in which a ray of the sun has been caught; it is focusing, deepening, coloring, complementing and, as a result — turning his voice from the «mode of expression» into the means of transforming reality.
I shall add: when Parnassus Arts Productions, on its official page wrote in the announcement that «the role of Malcolm will be performed Max Emanuel Cencic and it will be the world premiere, because for the first time this part will be sung by a man», I smiled to myself: elegant wordplay, beautiful advertising move. But now, having listened in the preparation process for the writing of this article to 8 full versions of this Opera (3 of them — on video) and a little bit more in the «scraps» on YouTube, I would venture to say that it really is a world premiere, because it is: a). one of «on the fingers of one hand to count» cases, when it is sung so as need to, and not so as «I can or I want to», and b) before the part of Malcolm had fully obeyed to Cencic, it had submitted to only two persons — Gillian Knight (at Camden, 1969) and to Daniela Barcellona.
The production of 1969 obviously can serve as a standard, especially if we are speaking about the careful following to the score and the accuracy of performance, because in those years it was absolutely impossible to move the composer «beyond the brackets», as it is often today. «I remember how Serafin said to me one very important thing: «If you want to find the right step, the right movement on the stage, remember that composer has already thought about it, listen carefully to the music, listen to what the orchestra is playing, and you will find in it any movements and gestures you need. The composer has already done everything for you».(14) And it is absolutely evident — in a world where the greatest interpreters of music treated composers and their works like this — any «gags» were simply unthinkable.
In addition to the fact that in the production of 1969 there was almost flawless Elena, it also had the best Rodrigo — Pietro Botazzo. And while I was listening, I was repeatedly asking myself, didn`t he sang, by a chance, like Rossini as soprano up to 13 years, so beautiful was his voice, bright, lyrical, with perfectly developed upper register, and also very open, joyful, with overtones as of a jubilant teenager.
One of my discoveries in Cencic `s production became Lena Belkina. A year ago, when I first came across the information that she will sing part of Elena — I went to YouTube to search for her records. Why did it found for me only very old ones — God knows, but I was disappointed. I said «Oh, no!» and went sad. On April 27, during the live broadcast from Lausanne I kept making big eyes, because suddenly realized — I like her. Even despite very cautious tops, especially in the end of «Tanti affetti», where the real scattering of dazzling shimmering passages is present, despite all my initial prejudice. «Stop» — I said to myself. — «Don’t rush the assessment».
Well, now eight full versions are behind, 8 different Helens (Elens, Elenas — my God, how it will be in English?) and I stay with two — Elena that was sung by Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Elena sung by Lena Belkina. They are so greatly unlike. Elena of Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is humble and proud, gentle and restrained; so much from the original Ellen, Ellen of Sir Walter Scott is in her. And Elena of Lena Belkina lives in completely different world — world of crazy passions and dreams to which her luxurious, chest voice perfectly corresponds, voice, whose velvet, deep tones are as a hot whisper under the cover of the mask. These deep tones are so close to the insinuating gait, to a glance paid aside, to the alluring shiver of the lashes and to the rustle of pricey cloths, and when her voice starts to sound in a strong and clear manner it become visualization of desires which burns her heroine like a flame. In fact, the only thing that is left is to wish to the singer to be more persuasive in her acting. Dramatic talent is not yet her strongest feature but we have to note that from this point of view just her personage is the most demanding. Elena is a dreamer, who is watching the changeable, vague, mysterious reality, in fact, she is its creator, and at the same time, a victim because in the end you understand: she is slipping along the edge of the abyss which is called madness. Such explication is not so easy to perform but if you will take in account the libretto text — absolutely canonic, classical, having not changed in a word; text that automatically, reflexively causes the chain of associations and reactions — also classical, so familiar, already established and for not one century preserved, which now are «falling into a conflict» with the director’s conception — you can definitely accept such a task as a serious test even for an experienced dramatic actor.
«La Donna Del Lago» from Lausanne fascinates you not at once, it looks more likely as a visit to Bedlam on the New Year Eve than like a usual Opera production and nevertheless I would venture to say that from both musical and vocal points of view — today, almost 50 years after the Camden version of 1969 we finally have a new standard. And just as all singers had been doing their best in performances with Callas so probably it is awkward to sing badly for those who work with Max Emanuel Cencic, and thanks to the God if it is really so, because everyone wins that way: staging, artists, spectators and the Art itself. Speaking about stage direction we must confess - yes, here we have not the classical interpretation of the story, here we have a free retelling but this retelling is very close to the very essence of Rossini`s music and of the poetry of Sir Walter Scott.
«LA DONNA DEL LAGO» IS FALLING ASLEEP
ATMOSPHERE
Cencic `s retelling is full of allusions and subtexts; as well as the author of the poem he alloys in his staging sleeps and facts, myths and history, the private past of his characters and the hoary antiquity of human civilization, following to the magic ball woven of the melodies created by Gioacchino Rossini.
The lake that is crossed by Ellen`s boat so often and fearlessly that you percept it as a part of her soul; the lake as a symbol of dreams and secrets, the blue infinity where two naked bodies are intertwined caressing each other, the two lonely souls separated from the whole world as if nothing else exists. Elena’s body, projected on screens hanging from the ceiling above, her white shoulders, her rounded neck and a feather clutched in her fingers, light and fluffy, that is gliding down her body, caressing her soft skin. Leda, who is waiting for her Swan, Helen the Beautiful, who became the cause of the Trojan war…
«And locks flung back, and lips apart,
Like monument of Grecian art,
In listening mood, she seemed to stand,
The guardian Naiad of the strand».(15)
A naiad, nymph, mermaid, Little Mermaid… The silent soaring of two bodies brings to your mind the famous clip of «La Cross» where the magnificent text is beating in your temples so fiercely that you unwittingly recollect the words of Ulenspiegel: «… the ash of Klaas is knocking at my heart». Clip where the rap as a metronome is merged with the immortal theme of Tchaikovsky’s Swan and where the beautiful narrow-eyed girl is begging for a help being captured and imprisoned by an unknown witchcraft in the transparent, impervious massif of water as if in the solid stone of a Bastion.
«…Like a swan in a cage, what does it take to stop
And open it up to make you fly away
to make your beauty shine thru the deserts of fake
But I guess it’s too late
You’re already made yourself up, ready to die
God knows you cry and I can’t lie, It makes me going mad
And believe me it’s truth
If I get the chance I will save you!…» (16)
Animal masks of the choir, their horns of various forms and sizes remind us of bloody rites and ruthless priests that put the spells. Priests, who drove the cattle between bonfire lights spending it through the ritual purification and who, in order to ward off evil forces, made offering to the Gods, using the criminals condemned to death or enemy soldiers who were captured as victims for sacrifice.
And if Ellen in Sir Walter Scott`s poem is an embodiment of the Soul of the Lake, then her father is also not quite human.
«Yet Douglas and his daughter fair
Sought for a space their safety there.
Gray Superstition’s whisper dread
Debarred the spot to vulgar tread;
For there, she said, did fays resort,
And satyrs hold their sylvan court,
By moonlight tread their mystic maze,
And blast the rash beholder’s gaze».(17)
Celtic evil wraiths, very similar to the satyrs of Ancient Greece, were called Urisks. Similar living conditions always are giving the rise to the similar shapes and images — the goat-legged God Pan to whose retinue belonged satires, also was the patron of shepherds and cattlemen.
Animals and humans, burning in the fire, were either identified with the evil forces or were considered to be enchanted by them, so the flames were the weapon of struggle in the name of prosperity, fertility, and fruitfulness. Someone had to die in the name of Life continuing. And thus, Elena who like a vision is hovering over the stage with her hands folded on her chest is not only a symbol of love languor and sex appeal, but also a Paraphrase of the Sacrifice.
Most beautiful girls were always chosen to be May Queens. But the beauty means temptation behind which the devil’s horns are always visible and therefore almost always brings the grief to its owners, and probably, starting from this very point can we try to tell one more story of Elena and Malcolm.
RE-CONSTRUCTION
Where and when lived this little Mermaid who was sold by her own father, sold in the name of his own profit and power, little girl who could not been saved by that boy? That boy who had fled (or had been expelled) and then returned many years after. That boy, who came back old and tired, with a pirate bandage on one eye; came back because for years he lived, caressing the memories of their tender and touching childish friendship and of their love, that (as it turned out later) had been doomed to the abyss.
And there was, there lived a great pirate in Napoleon`s era, and what a pirate! The famous king of corsairs, Robert Surkuf, who inspired the French cinematography of 60-s for the saga about his love and career and that story had a happy end. But in the story told by Cen;i; the young girl had not find enough courage to oppose her father and so she married another man. This wormhole had followed her in her sleeps, and reincarnated the halls of magnificent mansion into a brothel of an extra-class where the lust, greed, lie and indifference totally reign.
The text of libretto, not changing in a word, is superimposing on the another, alien reality, acquiring hereby new shades and meanings, and this initial contraposition, the parallel co-existence of two different worlds or double — dimensionality of the only one (here both interpretations are suitable) permeates this opera from the very beginning to an end. Everything is dual in it, dual and mysterious, as it should be in a dream.
An iridescent soap bubble, shimmering like an opal; crystal and transparent as a soul of a child is the personification of the hope and at once — of its futility, the symbol of fragility and innocence and at the same time — of a lie and emptiness. The vows, proclaiming by Malcolm and Elena, sounds with the finality of a death sentence; they are singing in turn, their hands firmly gripping the rail — whether to give more weight to their words or, perhaps, associating the stair rods with the rods of a cage where they both are locked. One is singing the words hard as a steel and the second is blowing bubbles so pensively and impassively, as if saying: «I know, you believe in what you are talking about but it’s impossible, it’s just a dream and will never come in true…»; their kiss on the stairs — it is a farewell, it is the point, whereas that one which Malcolm is giving to Elena near the gambling table is not a caress, it’s a glove thrown into Rodrigo’s face, a challenge to a fight.
When Malcolm is singing his Aria embracing the robe there is such a care and credulity in his movements that it seems as if a living being is in his hands. He cradles and caresses it as his beloved whom he had at last miraculously found. But he stiffens having real Elena in his arms: too far had diverged their ways and no return is to the past, and the space of Elena`s sleep is sensitively responding to the «inconsistencies» of her inner world, materializing them in a quaint, elegantly-impish and ironic combinations.
Broom, tuxedo, rag for dust — all along with pirate past.
Look — black bandage on his eye, hinting on the last.
Can one man at the same time be a dreamy clumsy servant and a filibuster, cunning and dangerous?
— Two in one?
— Of course not! It never happens!
— Oh, dear, we understand all your troubles, we tolerate your quirks because of our respect for your scars but it’s time for you to get down to your business! You’re tired and upset? Well, here you are, take a piece of cake… And don`t you dare to stand on these chairs in your boots!!!
But finished is the Aria about heavenly love and wiped away is all the dust, and it comes the time to eat the cake snatched from the tray.
Ohhhh! The stormy and prolonged ovations!!!...
— Can`t you see, the real filibuster he is! And you as always: «never happens, never happens»!
All can happen in the Realm of Sleep.
And what about Rodrigo? Rodrigo who is unloved, indifferent and busy only with his newspapers and himself, or Rodrigo who is carefully listening to her pulse, to her stories about what she had read, to her complaints about life, sleeps and feelings… A husband or a doctor? Elena is sleeping, Elena is sick, or Elena is crazy? And is it only Freud, the «father of libido» who is responsible for all phantasms, generating in her brain? Or is she maddened by the memories of her first love and of the sin in which she and Malcolm were both guilty, and how profitably her father settled her, having sold as a thing, as a piece of meat, as a spoiled commodity? And how Malcolm was expelled and how careless and indifferent became her husband later…
«Out, damned spot! Out, I say!» (18)
The guilt and despair being weaved with her suppressed fears and desires awaken the passionate desire — to escape, no matter where and how. To escape and find a protector, or even better — an avenger. To throw down the most powerful and imperious, to listen how he is begging for love and mercy and to demand for these favors most high a price. Ruby necklace on her neck, golden rings on her fingers, and a whip, clamped in her hands: here they are — a carrot and a stick, symbols of the power and success, they are well known to Elena. She has someone who can serve as example and she knows the rules.
Gambling table, the place of God’s duel, and roulette wheel embodying God’s judgment where the bet is she, Elena. And although the Fate is very fond of mad men, it doesn’t like to be challenged: Malcolm fails and is kicked out the door. In the world of luxury and debauchery luck is always on the side of those who can pay the bills.
And meanwhile the memory is whispering famous Bulgakov`s words into my ears: «One girl fell in love with him and so he went and sold her to the brothel…». (19) Beautiful Elena, poor thing, her father had sold her to one man and that one — to the next one? Or that charismatic, selfish rich man, «the darling of fate and crowd», actually was not more than an owner of a chic brothel, in exclusive cases personally recruiting the «staff»? And what else was in the life of this woman in the evening gown whose color is like a fresh blood, in a luxurious necklace where the rubies embedded in the metal are facetted as the tears? And look how there, in her dream, when she is in the white dress of a bride, Rodrigo is tearing off her veil with a gesture of a slave trader, and his wedding gift looks more like wooden collars which were once put on the necks of the criminals?
And the low, deep bass of Daniel Golossov (Douglas), of the tyrant — calculating, cocky, but unexpectedly charming in his cynicism - and all these animal horns and masks, everything here is working for this cruel interpretation of the well-known plot. The inhuman behavior of Douglas towards his own daughter is only emphasized and additionally underlined through all these non-human images that had been conceived by the creators of the staging.
CODA
«Different sleeps come to me. Sleeps-predictions, when my brain as a computer after having processed at a deep level all available (for him, not to me) information, is drawing pictures of my possible future composing more or less absurd scenes; sleeps-puzzles, in which the reality, being divided into pieces of different shapes and sizes is mixing fancifully with my memories, fears, hopes and dreams. But sometimes the subconscious, which usually is locked in secret places hidden behind the walls carefully nurtured by my conscience, somehow manages to get along with his jailer and arrange a holiday, inviting me to the „cinema-hall“. An thus I watch the real colored feature film — with a lot of personages, main, and minor, and just figurants; with carefully detailed interiors and full-scale shootings, and with quite distinguishable and coherent plot. Everything I once knew and heard is woven into this plot in the most unexpected and awfully strange combinations, which are at the same time surprisingly logical; the prisoner and his guard are jointly turning me inside out, extracting everything that can be necessary to create their masterpiece. Sometimes, waking up in the morning I feel desperate regrets that I can neither press the „record-button“ in my sleep nor to memorize all to the very smallest detail».(20)
In «La Donna Del Lago» this button is pressed by Max Emanuel Cencic and obeying to his hands and mind, the shadows and dreams surround Elena who has fallen asleep on the couch, with a book in her hands. Alien reality, created by Bruno de Lavenere, accepts her; it is strict and bizarre, it is concisely exquisite, soundly accurate and delightfully wrong; slightly creepy and attractive, shocking and alluring at the same time. And in this reality where epochs and fears are mixed, where masks and rules are always changing, only one chain link remains intact — you yourself. And when you see in your sleep your «wish-fulfillment», realization of your most cherished desires, you wake up right in the moment when you are closest to the victory. This is the rule of the sleep: it never puts final points, it always leaves an open end. Malcolm, the exile, doesn`t get his Elena in the final; he gets a changeling, the daughter of a horned Satyr. As for Elena who is caught in a fairy tale which she had read and «reshaped» according to her own deeds and needs, she is out of the game — in all senses. Alien reality of her sleep throws her back into the real world, where the end of the fairy tale transforms into a passionate dialogue with Rodrigo-doctor (or Doctor Rodrigo, perhaps); into her dance with two fans (ah, that old days, Cabaret and beauties topless), and the final point become her arms stretched in an ecstatic gesture, in a silent plea — «we shall to meet again… we have to…»
The whole «La Donna Del Lago» staged by Cen;i;, all its embodiment, in combination with texts and music, is simply overflowed with culturological «hooks» that catches the audience attention, and so the recognizing albeit implicit, begins to haunt you; and right here, in these meetings, on the tips of these hooks lies that very modernity, which at the same time is the authenticity and this effect is achieved through the junctions of cultural epochs in segments where they are complementary to each other.
New story of Elena, the Lady of the Lake, unfolds in the times of the Second Empire whose «enlightened mores» are only exacerbating the immorality of the First one. Napoleon III (his physical appearance is given to Uberto) cares «mostly and totally» about his mistresses, about his balls and carnivals, whereas the lovely head of his wife, beautiful and cold Spaniard Eugenia Montijo is tightly occupied with politics in which she understands nothing; an absurd combination that fully corresponds to the rules of «bad dreams».
The second Empire as a symbol of «divine decadence» and of the senseless fall from the glorious start to the inglorious end — how many times had it happened in History? Roses and thorns of a rotting totalitarian regime — epochs are different but the smell is still the same… What will you say of the escapism as a panacea? Nothing new again? Fates of the world that are solved in whist rounds, by the roll of a dice, by the flip of a coin — all it already was, for hundred times was…
— What had you ordered — heads or tails?
Had anything changed since the days of Sir Walter Scott, Gioacchino Rossini or their heroes?
The correct answer will be «No».
Obvious it is that for Cencic as the stage director the gambling table in the brothel is not just a reference to of Rossini`s biography (as it is in mise en scene, where Tristan Blanchet (Serano), is parodying Max Emanuel himself in the production of Handel’s «Alessandro»; mise en scene that like an echo is reflecting Rossini `s self-borrowings); or a lucky way to resolve the love conflict. No, it`s a mirror of epochs — of one that was chosen for the «edging of the plot» and our «today», with its total permissiveness elegantly called the «tolerance», with our unbridled cult of success, and the sphere of Art and Culture that we successfully transformed into the service or even to the sport industry, and thus nearly destroyed. The world, where is invented and works the slogan «Best friends at the best price» which imprints in your memory at once — no matter how cunning it was for the chain of jewelry-shops to use such a hint, such an Easter egg that links the slogan with one of the most famous and most successful films in the history of world cinematograph — this world, I say, is really a brothel. No more, no less.
«Everywhere is the deep night. In France, there is no more parliamentary rostrum, no press, no free speech....In this dungeon under the cover of darkness, the most heinous crimes are happening. Everywhere — illegal exactions, robberies, ravages, expulsions, executions, gallows; in the Crimea — the terrible war; Europe is the den, where people are slaughtered».(21)
And if the Europe, the outpost of civilization is a brothel then Elena is not only a symbol of the sublime passion but also the greatest temptation and the challenge to a man — as an embodiment of Deity, on whose altar you put the world you had conquered. Cruel Diana, Artemis Virgin-Hunter and seductive Aphrodite, loving and generous: both in one person. And thereby you receive the «plot edging», a freaky mix of paganism and its entire devilry with lecherous mores and luxurious interiors of the 2nd half of 19th century; hence are the horns and brothel, gambling tables and naked bodies, hence are the armed troops pedantically shooting personages one by one. But in spite of all changes the hymnal choir of Scottish bards — an ecstatic prayer before the decisive battle, even transformed into the choir of casino players still remains what it was in the beginning — a sacred ritual, the spell for a good luck.
«It’s not an art», — will you shout out, — «it’s a kitsch». But today, while the whole world is drowning in a suffocating, sated, smug atmosphere of what is called by this short, catchy word, Cencic, who despite all his aestheticism, sparkling brocade and paradoxes takes his own work more than seriously, uses the kitsch in the most skillful, reliable and professional way: as a seasoning. He throws it into the dish in strictly-dosed proportions. And then this style, or rather, this tastelessness, but so huge and defiant one, so shameless and deafening that there happened no other way to get rid of it except giving it the name and define for it the place in the history, this style, I say, serves the true art and become a part of it. And then this part becomes very important for the contemporary art which exists nowadays in the over-saturation of information, competition and advertising, important for the art that is forced to submit to the high-speed rhythm of civilization and to the human mind which gradually and steadily becomes impulsive, short-lived.
Being added as a spice this part works as «attention grabber» to which a man shall definitely react in one way or another and which should be able to force him to «watch the movie» further. Something familiar among the strange and incomprehensive, something that will make easier the perception and will not interrupt already started «journey». These «hooks» are like safety islands as they are, for instance, in ballets of Matthew Bourne. But their locations and appearance must be carefully thought out by the stage director, otherwise the viewer risks to lose his way.
«For me, directing is a composition, first of all. It is connected with montage, which is situated somewhere in the point of junction between the theater, cinema and painting. How can we glue a story in such a way that even if a man fully doesn`t understand it will leave him no chance to break away and stop watching it? In the theatre one who cannot guess what is going on from the first or from the second glance become terribly upset, almost desperating, and consider director as a fool, but in the cinema we have absolutely different situation… Different psychology of watching and understanding…» (Yuri Butusov).(22)
Maybe the difference lays in the fact that theater is substantial and conditional, it is a harsh reality as solid as the legs of the table set on the proscenium. In opposite, movie is not a reality, it is a projection, it is more like the sleeps or daydreams united within any certain arbitrary interval of time and space, and in addition by the certain conception (or its absence that to some extend also can be counted as conception) and right here is laying the difference in watching and understanding, mentioned by Yuri Butusov. At the cinema audience does not protest against an absurd because it is non-real, it is only a projection that is intangible; it is a priori the set of conventions, a sort of a game, so why not? And the viewer accepts the game, and thus, takes part in it; he becomes its co-participant verifying its non-reality by his own, more than real, existence.
And here, finally, appears the «point of intersection», here appears the «cinematographic» as a way of perception, which is directly related to musicality, and in my opinion, such process as world`s creation alongside with any other of the cosmic processes must necessarily assume this cinematic — multi-laid, multi-faceted, externally chaotic but internally architectural-ordered — conscience. Conscience that exists as a process that develops steadily, in a strict sequence from the starting point to the final one; conscience that includes the absurd and grotesque as an integral part of reality and non-existence as its reverse side.
«Cinematographic» as a way of perception is the unity of a place, time and action with everything that has got into the sight of the camera. This is the flow of visual perception which is equal to the flow of sound perception and is connected in a parallel with the flow of senses, essences and meanings (no matter explicit or hidden), and in the end it allows us to consider each individual, arbitrarily small segment of this generalized, aggregated super-flow as the symbol that has the right to exist independently. Cinematograph becomes the reality of a magic ball or a magic mirror, or a water poured in a palm where you can see the past, the future and unknown countries that are lying afar. Cinema is a reality that flows in front of you like a river, like a dream, like music, like the Time.
Music is expressing things for what no words exist or you need them too many. Cinematograph is doing the same. And both of them while expressing the world — recreate it and sometimes even create it anew.
But recreation (or creation of a new) means «synthesis» — merging together everything available at the moment, everything what the hand of Creator can reach with all that he knows, remembers or anticipates. This is a breakthrough into something qualitatively new. Evolution as well as the history of the world is the synthesis. Music and cinema are also synthesis, cinema — but, alas, not the theater.
The incredible energy and continual fluidity of the musical canvas in «La Donna Del Lago» force us to recall what was said about the other, earlier opera of Rossini: «It is cantilena, always cantilena, beautiful cantilena, new cantilena, magical cantilena and remarkable cantilena».(23)
Prof. Boris Pokrovsky, in his book «Creation of Opera Performance» is giving the definition to the job of an opera director: «He is… a genuine professional director, who has the skills and talents to create the artistic solution for the performance which he is staging… He needs to be professionally educated as a musician and his musicianship should be very special — he needs to see (italics mine — E.S.) the music and to hear (italics mine — E.S.) the image that has to be implemented on the stage; that means to embody definite associations born by the musical dramaturgy in the stage actions…» And later: «We are expecting from the Director his own view…». «Depending on stage accents», — he is writing further, — «the work can turn out to be either a tragedy, or an epos, or a melodrama… however, within the range of images and emotions defined by the author-composer there are countless ideological and artistic concepts that influence the Opera Director, giving to him really great opportunities…»(24)
The cinematographic mind inherent to Cencic as a stage director is basing on the Opera as such and emerges from the continuity of the musical material. Although the libretto is full of conventions and distinctions, music itself is a unity, like a living being that grows and develops, unfolding from the first note to the last one. Existing conflict between the static, conventional character of Tottola`s libretto and the headlong flood of Rossini`s music that is rising as a tide, Cencic overcomes by overlaying an additional plot that is running in parallel to the main one and this supplemental story becomes an «action» providing dramatic conflict, always actual and always happening «right now». And as a result, something completely new appears to us, something that did not exist before in the history of this Opera. We receive the film. Film-Opera designed in the spirit of a Sleep (or in the spirit of a Dream that sometimes is the same one).
And it is Cantilena.(25)
Cinematograph, music and a sleep — they all are «right now» they are the triumph of the Present, triumph of an involvement and complicity. They are an action where paths of the Past and Present are crossing as if in a focus of the crystal ball; where the Time as a river is encompassing us, carrying from one familiar pier to another, and we pass all the way moving together without stops and distractions and we don’t see this flowing because we are prisoners of this moment of «now». And as if in a dream all is fused together in «La Donna Del Lago» from Lausanne — voices and images, music and plot, and if we accept this game then we become a part of it, part deeply interested and engrossed.
You may be well acquainted with past and use a lot of historically reliable details aspiring to the authenticity, but receive something archaic as the result. Or you can try to become truly authentic, like the novels of Sir Walter Scott or stage productions of Max Emanuel Cencic, where the main secret lays in the ability to unite historical realities with the «pain points» of nowadays, and having created the effect of participation to make the Past breathable and alive.
PS.
1. F.M.Dostoevsky, «The Brothers Karamazov», Ch.5 «The Great Inquisitor».
2. J.W. von Goethe, «The Sorrows of Young Werther».
3. «Dream of Ossian» by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1812 and «Ossian meeting shadows of French warriors of the fallen» Anne-Louis Girodet, 1802.
4. Cisalpine forces — troops of the Cisalpine Republic, the «subsidiary» satellite state of the first French Republic, established in 1797, after the first Italian campaign of Napoleon in 1796—1797.
5. Herbert Weinstock «Gioacchino Rossini. Prince of Music», Moscow, 2003 (Russian edition of Herbert Weinstock, «Rossini: A Biography»).
6. Maurice Bejar «A Moment in the Life of Another», Moscow, 1989 (Russian edition of Maurice Bejart «Un instant dans la vie d`autrui», 1979).
7. Herbert Weinstock «Gioacchino Rossini. Prince of Music», Moscow, 2003 (Russian edition of Herbert Weinstock, «Rossini: A Biography»).
8. Stendhal, « Life of Rossini» (Russian edition, Moscow, 1988).
9. Sir Walter Scott, «The Lady Of The Lake».
10. Libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola «The Lady Of The Lake» (was found in free Internet in Russian, English translation is mine — E.S.).
11. William Shakespeare, «The Midsummer Night’s Dream».
12. Herbert Weinstock «Gioacchino Rossini. Prince of Music», Moscow, 2003 (Russian edition of Herbert Weinstock, «Rossini: A Biography»).
13. Theodoro Chelli, «The Voice From Another Century», from the anthology «Maria Callas. Biography. Articles. Interviews. M., Progress, 1978. Russian Edition.
14. From Maria Callas’s interview with Edward Downs (Anthology «Maria Callas. Biography. Articles. Interviews. M., Progress, 1978. Russian edition).
15. Sir Walter Scott, «The Lady Of The Lake».
16. La Cross «Save me». Lyrics taken from web-site www. amalgama-lab.com
17. Sir Walter Scott, «The Lady Of The Lake».
18. William Shakespeare, «Macbeth».
19. M. A. Bulgakov, «Master and Margarita», Ch. 23.
20. Quoted from my article «Yuri Butusov: You cannot escape your dreams» (E.S.).
21. Victor Hugo, «The Seventh anniversary of February 24, 1848» (1855). Note: from the trilogy «Deeds and speeches», the second part «during exile» 1852—1870. From Russian edition, 1953).
22. From interview. Quoted from the text of the publication in the group «Modern theater», Vkontakte, dated 24.02.2017).
23. These words belong to Giuseppe Carpani (1751—1825), Italian writer, librettist, playwright, the author of biographies of Haydn and Rossini, and were said by him about Rossini`s opera «Tancredi».
24. cit. after: Boris Pokrovsky, «Creation of an Opera Performance», 1985
Video and audio materials used in the work on the article
La Donna del Lago — 1969 Audio Recording (Camden)
La donna del lago — 1970 Audio Recording (Turin)
La donna del lago — 1983 Audio Recording (Pesaro)
La donna del lago — 1985 Audio Recording (London)
La Donna del Lago — 1992 Video Recording (Milan)
La Donna del Lago — 2006 Audio Recording (Edinburgh)
La Donna del Lago — 2015 Video Recording (New-York)
La Donna del Lago — 2018 Video Recording (Lausanne)
May-September 2018
Saint-Petersburg
Last redaction - Nov, 2019