Fair returns
Hugh Macpherson
The revival of Fidelio with which Colin Davis introduced himself as the musical director of the Royal Opera, was a strangely uneven affair. Of course Fidelio is a lumpy work at the best of times although it is often considered sacrilege to say so. To my mind the fact that Beethoven was a great symphonic composer is no reason to say that his one venture into opera bears the same hallmark of genius. For that matter, the fact that the theme is the restoration of liberty, and marital devotion, no more makes it a noble work of art than the fact that Rigoletto is a twisted evil figure with an easily seduced daughter makes Verdi's work ignoble.
Unlike the works of the supremely gifted Italian composers, Beethoven's opera needs superb performances to be 'acceptable, and in all truth this was not achieved. To take the good things first, Donald McIntyre provided the evil dark tones that made Pizzaro suitably hateful, and Elizabeth Harwood was a completely enchanting Marzelline. On the other hand, the Czech tenor Vilem Pribyl was only adequate as Florestan and did nothing to efface the memory of John Vickers in the same role. It would be unfair to be harsh on Ludmila Dvorakova, in the role of Leonore, who was in poor fettle indeed on the night I heard her. With such a distinguished pedigree this renowned Brannhilde was obviously off colour, and an evening of doubtful intonation was not helped by a ringing, but strained, upper register. The barbarians who occupy the higher reaches of the Royal Opera did not help by roundly cheering her, presumably for making loud noises, which reveals the kind of discrimination that one would find on the terraces of a Liverpool football ground.
The equally loud cheering which was afforded Shirley Verrett in Aida, the revival which opened the season, was, in contrast, well earned. Miss Verrett, as she so often does, completely dominated the stage with histrionic abilities that overshadowed all around her and a voice which is simply the finest in the world for this kind of role. In the face of such competition Marina Krilovici, a young Rumanian soprano who was making her Covent Garden debut as Aida, showed that she has the vocal abilities to become a considerable international figure. Understandably enough, she started nervously which made the voice sound a little uneven but as she gathered confidence her vocal scale became completely even and revealed an interesting grainy texture. Soon she was floating beautiful top Cs in the manner that was once the trademark of Zinka Milanov. Unfortunately, she was made-up to a muddy brown colour, presumably to balance the dark skin of Miss Verrett. This did little to enhance her appearance which is really rather fine, and she could learn much from Miss Verrett about acting, but she will be a most interesting addition to the international scene.
Charles Craig made some fine noises in the middle of the night and John Shaw has always been an impressive Amonasro with his splendid physique. All in all, an enjoyable evening with the orchestra playing rumbustiously enough under John Matheson, even though some noises were made which clearly were not intended by Mr• Matheson, by Giuseppe Verdi, or even by a few hapless members of the orchestra.
Previous page
