John Corigliano's opera THE GHOSTS OF VERSAILLES premiered at the Met in 1991 and was revived there in 1995. In this romanticized story of the French Revolution, Marie Antoinette is saved from the guillotine by the playwright Beaumarchais who is smitten with the Queen and re-writes history to save her. The plot revolves around the Queen's diamond necklace which will be used to buy her freedom and safe passage to America. Characters from the Beaumarchais FIGARO plays appear and Corigliano borrows musical 'images' from the Rossini and Mozart operatic settings of these plays.
When I was working at Tower, GHOSTS OF VERSAILLES was one of the most-requested but unavailable titles. Just before I left Tower, there were rumors of a revival at the Met and some of the singers who were up for roles came in looking for a visual or audio document of the opera. The Met production was briefly available on VHS and Laser Disc but has never made it to DVD or CD. Now that the revival seems to be a certainty (2009-2010 season?) perhaps the vaults will yield it up. I have a VHS tape that I made of the original Met telecast and I haven't played it for years. There are moments from the opera I recall, chiefly the quartet from Act I which was performed at James Levine's 25th Met anniversary gala and more recently by artists from the Lindemann Young Artists Program at a patron's event. The quartet is surely the most memorable and attractive moment in the score; as I have been watching the opera this week, I'm tempted to say it is the only moment...
I slipped the video in last week thinking I would watch the first act and then continue with the second act next day. Only a few minutes into the piece I began remembering all the things I disliked about it. GHOSTS seems to want to be three things: a Mozart/Rossini pastiche, a modern opera, and a Broadway show. The elements don't really jell into a compelling operatic experience. There is way too much recitative and parlando which - though sometimes clever on the surface - becomes annoying chatter after a while. The 'operatic' numbers - a rambling patter-style aria for Figaro and an extended character piece for the villain Begearss - are too long and not musically interesting. Marie Antoinette's 'aria' about a golden bird has no real melodic arch and is subject to digressions. The quartet is very pretty and is an oasis of lyricism in a sea of musical aimlessness.
Pointless scenes are included which bog down the narrative. King Louis, angered by the attentions Beaumarchais is lavishing on Marie Antoinette, challenges the writer to a duel. They fight and the king stabs Beaumarchais; since they are already dead, it doesn't matter. Later, at a ball at the Turkish embassy, the guests are entertained by Samira who has a long set-piece which is mildly entertaining but goes on and on. It was created as a vehicle for the one-and-only Marilyn Horne and in the revival is reportedly to be re-worked to suit Kristin Chenoweth; the whole fun of the piece is Horne's signature sexy-sultry deep sound. I can't really imagine Chenoweth's high, light voice in this music, even transposed up. The scene, at any rate, is superfluous.
Nor can I think what Angela Gheorghiu, the rumored Antoinette, will do in a role created for Teresa Stratas. Aside from her wonderful early Mimi, Liu and Cherubino and her matchless Nedda, I never cared much for Stratas. She has a lot of melodramatic parlando here, describing how she felt as the tumbrel carried her to the guillotine; much of the music lies quite low with the occasional high note tucked in to remind us that this is opera. Aside from wondering how Gheorghiu's English might be, I wonder if this role too will need revising upwards. I'm hearing that Thomas Hampson will be Beaumarchais and that's a good idea.
After four sessions I have finally made it to the end of Act I. I have promised myself to get thru to the end and I will. Now that my memory is refreshed I have no desire at all to see GHOSTS onstage even though I don't doubt that some of the young singers I've come to know in recent months will have roles in it. We'll see, when the time comes, if that is enough to get me to the box office.
UPDATE: Well, it is irrelevant now. The revival has been scratched.
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