SPECTRUM
MAX LOPPERT ON THE SUMMER FESTIVALS, AND A PARTICULARLY LACK LUSTRE PUCCINI Su mmert im e, an' fO[ oper« critics [he livin' is hectic, with fes[iv«ls allover [he counery burgeo ning and blooming. To be seaso nall y ex act, la[e spring is when Glyndebourne, [he
failing of our boringly verisimilitude-obsessed,
Richard Hud son 's blandly refin ed
reily-dominated age. Through It <1 liana(e voca l
samlsro ne-colo ured bllx-se( spoke, modishly, of
resplendency, dra matic tenors of va rying ages, shapes ,md sizes such as Ca ruso , Gigli, Bjiirling,
neither tim e nelr place (the designer ler his cos rumes dll -hm \w rk): and the s(aging by
Del Monaco, Tucker and (in our day) Domingo h ave made Des Grieux be lie vab le and, in the process, made a triumph of (he ope ra. Patr ick Dennisron, a slim, hand so me Ameri can, W<lS f<lint-voiced in (he firs( scene (in [he second
Graham Vick , 0 1\ nd ehourne Director of Prod uctions, h ad a Je(aci ll::d , \"8guely 'critical' feel [() it (elderly roues cm1 J'in ~ it Lip runen in Manon's boudo ir). In rIce pr 19ra mme book we
te nor ro le of Edmo ndo, Antonello Palombi oursa ng him embarrass ingl y); anJ while
were informed by Amhony Whirworth,Jnnes , fes(i va l General Director, that this Monon U?s ca ur had been '(he real isa (ion of a dream
leading Bri[ish opera fesrival, opens its doors; [hi s year i[ was o n [he rather grey, chilly afternoon of Ma y 17, which provided an appropriate backdrop 10 a dis[incrly damp sq uib -ish fes[ival-opener. S ince moving inw i[ new theatre, in 1994, Glyndebourne has enjoyed a terrific run of success, boldl y adding wo rthwhile ra re or semi rare operas 10 its repertory - which is why the promise of Puccini's early Manon Lescaut had whetted so many appetir es. Puccini is nor a 'Glyndebourne w mposer' (only one of his operas - La Boheme - had previously been tackled the re); bur, while nO[ norma lly reckoned in need o f [he extra ca re an d rehearsal time tha t fe stival condition s are intended to afford , in Manon U?Scalft he produced exactly [he sort of'special case' worthy of fes tival treatment. Th e thitd o f his o peras, the one which made his reputatio n, it 's musica lly rich, an un s[inted outpouring of youtl,ful me lodic abundance, and dramatically misshapen. The unamibu[ed libretto , patc hw otk effort of 8t least seven write rs, is clumsy. The lOne of th e mus ic is inconsistent, veering from ope rena (Ac[ I) through F[e nc hifi ed rococo-pastora l (Act 2) (0 [Wo concluding acts of drenching, almost Wagnerian Roman[ic pass ion and pathos. Manon LeswlIl has no ne of Boheme's shapeliness or su refire appeal, bu( on a good night i( can exude a freshness and warmth miss ing fro m, say, the nth revival of Tosca. Just (he Pucclni for Gl yndebourn e, one migh( think; so it 's sad to have 10 repo rt tha( on May 17 the fe stival 's luck y Streak had apparently run out. The performance was less a disaster (han <l mirage, a mou thw<1(erin g event (hat simpl y f<liled to materi a lise . The main handicap was the casting of the you(hful C hev a lie r des Grieux - th e sop rano may h8ve (h e n<lme part but (he te nor's is the beau role - plainly on grounds of looks ra(h e r (h8n vnice, a co mmon
M;) nnn LC::.Glu t:
PlHrick /)enniSWll
(OC.~
GrieloJ and Adina Nic!.?sc!1 (J\t1 m Il Jtl J .
Denni swn Imer llpencd our more, (he dry, (hroa ty, e ntire ly un -I(ali <1na te quali(y put the
(for) ... Vick, who adores (h e piece' - a S(8(ernenr
c l<lmps on Des Grieux's heartrending Ac( 3 pleading o n (he Le Havre ljuaysidc, the
uncommitted production that Vick actua lly mounted. Th e final di sappointment W<lS (he house debu( of ) ,)hn EIIO[ Gmdiner,
opem's climax.
impossibl e to squa(e with the e legantl y