“Trick or Treat?”
The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées was sold out and, with cameras flashing, a couple arrive who we were told was a Belgian prince and princess, along with a serious knot of courtiers. Their purpose was apparently to delay the start of both halves of the evening.
The first half commenced with the two national anthems. This signaled a special occasion because regular visiting orchestras would not normally start this way. Liege’s Royal Philharmonic (or at least musicians on stage who resembled that group) was the first to be heard. Their conductor was named in the program as Christian Arming who has been their music director since September of last year. Looking like he was hired from central casting, he was tall and lanky with perfectly coiffed hair and controlled gestures. The first work was the Villanelle from Berlioz’ Les Nuits d’Été sung with a surprising lack of grace by a fellow Wallonian, the dependably splendid soprano Sophie Karthäuser. Odd, I thought.
I did not remember that César Franck was born in Liege (he fled to Paris as soon as he could), but his Symphony in D minor would be a natural on the program. At the very beginning of the work I began to notice that something was up. The orchestra was accurately playing the notes in the score but there was no sign of the music. Dynamic markings were observed and volume levels were in place but there was not a trace of emotion or engagement in this delicious masterpiece. The sound of the orchestra was vaguely unpleasant and, above mezzo forte, something like fingernails on a blackboard. Was it an acoustical problem from where I was sitting? Usually way up high is where the best sound is heard.
I was certain that it would be impossible for the English Horn not to respond to the melody he introduces in the Second Movement. Yet it was done with such mechanical effect, it sent shivers through my spine. Where these real musicians? They moved and were dressed like they were but seemed to have been drained of their blood. Finally I understood: this was the Halloween “trick.”
The “treat” was the second half. The Royal Opera’s orchestra and chorus took the stage, with their music director Paolo Arrivabeni, to provide the real entertainment. It opened with the Overture to the opera Stradella, composed when Franck was only 15. It remained a piano score until recently orchestrated by Luc Van Hove and this opera opened the Liege season a few weeks ago. His unmistakable gifts were obvious even as a teenager. Then our “usual” (i. e., talented) Sophie Karthäuser returned with “Deh, vieni, non tardar” from Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro.
With the “Intermezzo” from Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana you began to see how extraordinary is conductor Paolo Arrivabeni. Foremost is the elegance and nobility. The passion unfolds with a naturalness that was completely absent in the first half. The sound, heard from the same seat, was bronze and warm. There was no question of an acoustic problem. The chorus sang a chorus from Verdi’s Macbeth and two from Nabucco, the last being the famous “Va pensiero.” There was not a drop of the bleating that usually is part of the performance of this overplayed chestnut. With Arrivabeni, it was a performance of magisterial beauty and grace.
Finishing with the rousing Overture from Nabucco, he had everyone in the theater in his pocket and there was much cheering at the end. He is a poet with his baton and the difference between him and the conducting during the first part could not have been more striking. At the exit, there were glasses of champagne for all, even for those of us in the cheap seats. Was it an effort to make amends for the Halloween scare at the beginning?
Tags: Berlioz, Cesar Franck, Christian Arming, Le Nozzi di Figaro, Liege Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Luc Van Hove, Macbeth, Mascagni, Nabucco, Paolo Arrivabeni, Royal Opera of Wallonia, Sophie Karthäuser, Stradella, Va Pensiero, verdi
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Tags: Berlioz, Cesar Franck, Christian Arming, Le Nozzi di Figaro, Liege Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Luc Van Hove, Macbeth, Mascagni, Nabucco, Paolo Arrivabeni, Royal Opera of Wallonia, Sophie Karthäuser, Stradella, Va Pensiero, verdi