Hérodiade in Antwerp

[pjme]

This season's theme in the Flemish opera Antwerp / Ghent is "Orient": Massenet's "Hérodiade" seemed a good choice.

Bad luck however: Carmen Giannattasio, who was supposed to sing Salomé, was sick...and Barbara Haveman was "flown in" from Montpellier or Marseille...
Haveman sang "Salomé" last in Vienna, 2004 and hadn't had time, ofcourse, to memorise the lenghty libretto.
So, Aviel Kahn, director of the Flemish Opera asked for understanding: miss Haveman was to sing her role, score in hand, on the proscenium. The choreographer's assistant would mime Salomé's role...
More bad luck: no Orient whatsoever was to be seen on stage. Director Joachim Schlömer set this biblico-erotic drama in a "floating", very austere, clean penthouse that overlooks a sea of huge (very fake) tree truncks...
The tree trunks function as royal palace, temple, market square, prison.
Costumes: a mix of Barbie, Kadhafi, Chanel and ( for Salomé)  ca 1970 anti abortion or nuclear bombs manifestation, including pink dreadlocks. Jean ( saint John) wears jeans and a long Indian kaftan-like shirt.
They smoke.
Herod wears an appron and peels a cucumber.
2 dansers in pink rabbit costumes act lasciviously.
Vitellius, a Roman consul, was dressed as a 19th century explorer, albeit with a laurel wreath.

Good luck: the music is colorfull, exciting and well played under Dimitri Jurowski. Most of the singers are really excellent:
Russian mezzo Julia Gertseva as Hérodiade
Tenor Zoran Todorovich as Jean
Baritone Philippe Rouillon as Herode
Bass Petri Lindroos as Phanuel
Latvian Igor Bakan as Vitellius

Choreography: two dansers/contorsionists with the headdress of a deer/stag miming/dansing Jean and Salomé's attraction/rejection. Quite often a happy counterpoint to the rather stolid action of the singers.

Unexpected star : Dutch soprano Barbara Haveman! She was vocaly absolutely stunning - a small, elegant figure with the right mix of power and tendernes for Salomé's conflicting moods and moodswings.

Anyway, Hérodiade may not be Massenet's most subtle opera, still I was fascinated by the rich sound, the impressive mass-scenes...the "charm" of old fashioned prudishness and sentimentality ( in the libretto).

Does Hérodiade need a contemporay make over? I'm convinced it could stand one - but this Belgo/Swiss/British concoction ( direction/lighting/dramaturgy) wasn't convincing. I'll spare you the many silly details ( Vitellius descends from heaven, "le peuple" has to wear pig's masks..,Vitellious kills Salomé as if it was a scene from "Cluedo"..)etc.

Barbara Haveman saved the performance! A glorious voice, the right style ( passion without vulgarity, tenderness without cheap sentimentality..., real admirable commitment).

Next on the program is Monteverdi's Ulysse...



Salomé