Metropolitan Opera History: Les Troyens 1973-74

	From The Metropolitan Opera Archives: Les Troyens 1973-74
	Les Troyens by Hector Berlioz reached the Metropolitan Opera on October 22, 1973, ninety years to the day after the company had opened its first season in the old house. "The contention that Les Troyens contains some of the most beautiful music ever written by Hector Berlioz has been tried and found true at the Metropolitan Opera House, in one of the most elaborate productions of a stage work ever seen or heard in this country. There were, to be sure, some counter-contentions about this or that detail, and a few of the composer's staunchest supporters could be heard to say, from time to time, that he tried even their patience with his garrulity. But it was an outcome, finally, that resolved an issue mooted in this country for more than a century, as a wider public may hear when the work is broadcast later in the season. "On balance, the effort mounted by a production team of Peter Wexler (scenery and costume), Nathaniel Merrill (stage direction), and Rudolph Kuntner (supervisor of the all-important lighting), under the overall command of Rafael Kubelik, making his debut as a Metropolitan Music Director and conductor, and General Manager Schuyler Chapin, proved several things. It demonstrated, first, that there is no operatic problem the Metropolitan cannot solve when all its resources are marshaled and, second, that the marshaling of those resources costs as much in blood, sweat, toil, and treasure as a small war used to. Altogether, Les Troyens was worth not only doing, but doing exactly in the spirit in which it was done - all out, make or break, Berlioz or bust. "It was Berlioz's conviction, as of 1858-60, when Les Troyens was being shaped, that somehow, somewhere, a way could be found of performing its two parts (the sack of Troy and the idyll of Dido and Aeneas) in a single evening. This was before revolving turntables, before stage elevators, before filmed projections - well, even before electrical illumination itself. All of these have been put to use in this production to afford Berlioz the resources he foresaw. It brings to mind Mussorgsky's famous statement: The artist believes in the future because he lives in it. "...Mignon Dunn, as Anna, was an equally sympathetic sister in either circumstance - what an artist this lady has become! - but the sturdy fulcrum to the events that moved the antique world of Berlioz was Jon Vickers. He was the Aeneas of the 1956-57 production by Kubelik in Covent Garden, again in La Scala, and in the Philips recording, directed by Colin Davis. His voice has lost some of its youthful vibrance, but in the management of tone, of mood, and of text, Vickers, while presenting a fine physical illusion, must be close to the category that Jean de Reszke represented decades ago in the French Repertory. John Macurdy (Narbal), Kenneth Riegel (Iopas), Judith Blegen (Ascanius), and Felicia Montealegre (Andromache) made big roles of small parts by their superior efforts." [Irving Kolodin, "The Antique World of Hector Berlioz." Saturday Review/World (18 December 1973: 53)] "As a whole, this is highly decorated Troyens production that nevertheless manages to retain dignity. Much of that, of course, is due to the singers. Schuyler Chapin, the general manager, came on stage before the performance to announce that Shirley Verrett would be singing the role of Dido in addition to that of Cassandra because of the indisposition of Christa Ludwig. (Mr. Chapin also pointed out that the evening was, exactly, the 90th birthday of the Metropoilitan Opera.) The other leading singer was Jon Vickers as Aeneas. The role is one of his specialties. "Miss Verrett thus had a hard night before her, and she came through very well. There occasionally was a bit of forcing and pitch trouble, understandable under the circumstances. But there also was a lovely lyric line that came to its full splendor in the duets with Anna and Aeneas. Those were sung as beautifully as anybody could desire. And Mr. Vikckers was resplendent. His is the voice of a champion - clarion, unforced, resonant; and the role fits him perfectly. "There were other fine singers around. Louis Quilico provided a well sung Coroebus. Judith Blegen was a fetching Ascanius, and Mignon Dunn absolutely tops as Anna. Kenneth Riegel made his debut as Iopas, and the young tenor sang in a stylish manner. Another debut, in a nonsinging, nonspeaking role, was that of Felicia Montealegre as Andromache. She mimed her part to perfection." [Harold C. Schonberg, "The Opera: "Les Troyens" at the Met at Last" (New York Times, 23 October 1973)] "The music of Les Troyens is spectacularly beautiful, but one has to live with the opera to enter its world. At a first hearing sections of the opera, especially Part I, may appear to be too full of recitative or declamation. But the more one listens, the more Berlioz's ground plan becomes apparent. There are subtle linkages throughout that tie the score into an ensemble about the death of Laocoon has an extraordinary impact; it is one of Berlioz's outré ideas that is carried off. "And most of Part II is sheer melodic rapture. The all but Tristanesque "Nuit d'Ivresse" duet is deservedly famous. But on as high a level is the Anna-Dido duet beginning with "Reine d'un jeune empire." When the women sing in thirds, Berlioz actually invokes bel canto opera, but on a transcendent level. Throughout the act, one extraordinary idea leads into another. And the binding that holds so much of it together is, lurking everywhere, the constant call of Aeneas to Italy. It is "Italie," sung by the chorus, that ends Part I of the opera. It is the Virgilian cry of "Italie" through Part II that finally precipitates the denouement. "By the time he reached the composition of Les Troyens in 1858, Berlioz was in full command of his resources. The former enfant terrible of early romanticism had developed into a classicist. It was to Gluck and Spontini he looked, not to Liszt and Wagner. His Opera on the Aeneid was to be a classical tribute to Virgil. It is true that Berlioz had to work within the limitations imposed by Parisian grand opera at the time. That is why he included the ballet music, by far the weakest part of the score. And that is why there is some Meyerbeerian panoply. The march that comes at the beginning of Act II of "La Prise de Troie" is very suggestive of Meyerbeer, the most popular operatic composer of the era." [Harold C. Schonberg, "The Met's 'Troyens'? Not Perfect, but Getting There" (New York Times, 4 November 1973)] "In other roles, Louis Quilico sang solidly as Coroebus, and Mignon Dunn was splendid as Dido's sister, Anna, though the music does not give her salient opportunitities. John Macurdy as Norbal also sang with impressive amplitude. "In YET other roles, Kenneht Riegel, as Iopas, making his Metropolitan debut, stopped the show with his lovely aria, "O blonde Ceres." Equally successful was Leo Goeke with his haunting Sailor's Song - one Berlioz' happiest inspirations." [Max de Schauensee, "'Les Troyens' at Met: A Stupendous Effort" (The Philadelphia Sunday Bulletin, 28 October 1973)] "Les Troyens is, therefore, like no other opera the Metropolitan has attempted, and this makes the triumph of the present production all the more astonishing. Rafael Kubelik has had to make his orchestra into a Berlioz ensemble with no precedent for the task - to work for the hard clarity in the brasses, a perfect balance in moments where a few winds, strings and harps must shimmer like moonbeams, an absolute definition of percussion sounds. Fortunately, the management has been able to find him sufficient rehearsal time to bring this about, and he has put this time to good use. The playing of his orchestra is almost the single most spectacular element in this production - its playing, and the uses that Kubelik himself puts to it, with his fine sense of pacing, his impeccable mastery of every nuance in the score. "He has aided immeasurably by the work of an almost perfect cast. Jon Vickers's Aeneas is the work of a supreme musical artist, a singer with more command than anyone I know of dramatic vocal color, a moan whose every musical gesture means something vital to the situation in which he is involved. While not perfectly endowed by nature to suggest either the heroism or the ardor of Aeneas - and his Gorgeous-George blond wig really ought to be reconsidered - Vickers is one of those exceptional singers whose command of the art of singing dwarfs any and all other considerations. Shirley Verrett, who sings both the Cassandra and, because of the continued illness of Christa Ludwig, the Dido, has for herself a stunning triumph in both roles. She is glorious to behold, and her luscious, pliant voice is at this moment in prime estate. The range of moods she must encompass during the long evening, the flaming passion in the melodic lines Berlioz invented for both of his heroines: these are incredible challenges, and Verrett has met them in a way that has to rank as one of the great personal tours de force in the company's 90 year history. Mignon Dunn, as Dido's confidante, and Louis Quilico, as Cassandra's lover, are also outstanding in the large cast which has been welded into a marvelously integrated performing unit. Words of the highest praise must also be summoned for the chorus, which has a great deal of difficult work to do in this score, and does it exceptionally well. [Alan Rich, "The Met Lands on its Feats" (New York Magazine, 1973)] "In the penultimate scene of Berlioz' Troyens, given at the Metropolitan Opera last night, a rare event transpired: the voice and presence of Christa Ludwig and the conducting genius of John Nelson united to make Dido's lament a moment of such heart-stopping splendor as to cause time to cease. "Adieu, fiere cité," Dido's farewell to her beloved city and people, has had many notable interpreters in recent years in this city - Régine Crespin, Shirley Verrett, Evelyn Lear - but never has the creamy quality of voice and majesty of carriage so ideally united in a Dido. "Miss Ludwig, clothed in orange with a wild red wig (is everyone celebrating Halloween in Carthage?), never loses Dido's queenly dignity and control even in her most happy or desperate moments. She has the knack of the grand style, the kind of presence it takes to do Racine or Corneille; her gestures in her final scenes were grand - far too much for most opera roles - but ideal for Dido. Her love for Aeneas was total, and in her vocabulary of reactions she obviously had no way to handle abandonment except by death. "Vocally she floated above the orchestra, maintaining an infinite sweetness that simply had to be heard to be believed. In the great duet "Nuits d'ivresse" she joined with her Aeneas, Jon Vickers, to maintain the shimmering web of iridescence created by Nelson. "Nelson has been assistant to Rafael Kubelik, the currently ailing music director of the Met who led the Troyens premiere last week. Therefore, Nelson had led some rehearsals and had prepared the chorus." [Speight Jenkins, "Nelson, Ludwig Triumph at Met" (New York Post, 31 October 1973)]		Shirley Verrett as Dido Photograph by Louis Melançon. Jean Kraft as Hecuba, Judith Blegen as Ascanius and Jon Vickers as Aeneas Photograph by Louis Melançon. Felicia Montealegre as Andromache and Douglas Grober as Astyanax Photograph by Louis Melançon. Judith Blegen, Jon Vickers, and Shirley Verrett Photograph by Louis Melançon. Jon Vickers as Aeneas and Christa Ludwig as Dido Photograph by Louis Melançon. Christa Ludwig as Dido Photograph by Louis Melançon. Jon Vickers as Aeneas Photograph by Louis Melançon. Minon Dunn as Anna Photograph by Louis Melançon. John Macurdy as Narbal Photograph by Louis Melançon. Judith Blegen as Ascanius Photograph by Louis Melançon.