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MY REVIEW
by Carolyn - Report 3 Thursday, November 4 1999,
24 HOURS never passed any faster, particularly when it
took months to get there. Then it is gone in a trice! We
were lucky to have good weather so we didnt have to
consider a blizzard or such that could have been trouble.
So we made our flight and got to Detroit about mid
afternoon. We checked into the Atheaneum Hotel just four
blocks from the theater and is nice. It is in the Greek
district and most restaurants in the area are either
Greek or cajun it seemed to us. The hotel also has free
shuttle to and from the opera house so that was
convenient. Didnt have to cab it.
Luckily we had heard about a preshow talk they give. We
wanted to hear that so not long after arriving it was
time to leave. We barely had time for a sandwich there in
the hotel before catching the shuttle. The opera house is
just like the beautiful pics on the MOT DOT site online.
Not really big, just nice in size. All sight lines and
accoustics are the best I have seen anywhere which is a
break for both orchestra and singers on stage, and
ultimately the audience too, as there is no amplification
nor is any needed.....???
The talk was just about to start. When we arrived about 7
the stage curtain was up; and they were working on the
scenery but they were not lighted yet. Andrea's 4 yr old
boy (Amos Bocelli),was playing on the front part of the
stage observing the people coming in to take seats for
the talk. About 125 people took advantage of that and it
was well worth the time. Dr. Wallace Pearce gave the talk
and included various artists singing bits of the
music and he told in a humorous way, parts of the play
that we should look for and expect. This took the edge
off the serious nature of this opera which of course ends
in death for Werther by his own hand. It is a story based
on real people and real events in the late 1700's.
My husband who had never been to an opera before, was
getting as
excited as I was for the opera to begin. Box seats are
recessed overhanging the rear of the main floor. I was
very pleased to note that the Trustees Circle seats which
are the first few rows of the balcony are closer to the
action than the box seats. The balcony is quite close to
the stage; so you are looking down on the action, but
accoustics there seem ideal for the singing will carry
nicely up to you there, and you wont be too close to the
orchestra. My husband needed to hear the singing without
orchestra distortion. The stage extends ingeniously over
most of the orchestra pit so only the strings are totally
exposed in the open part in front. (It is my
understanding that Andrea Bocelli also feels the front
rows of the Balcony has the best accoustics too.) Werther
is the story of unrequited love between a poet and a
woman betrothed to another man as per a deathbed promise
made to the girl's mother.
During the first two acts the family is introduced to us.
Albert is Charlotte's fianceewho later becomes her
husband, but in the first act she goes to a dance with
Werther during Albert's absence and finds she is
attracted to him. She goes on to marry as promised but
continues to have feelings for the poet.
I was pleasantly surprised from the moment the curtain
rose. The sets are divine. We have seen them on the San
Diego Opera site under sets they own and offer to other
houses to rent. But here in person they were so much
brighter and lighter that it was a wonderful start. There
is a lot of interchange thru supporting cast and they
were better here than any filmed versions I have seen.
The credit has to go to the director for this production,
Mr Corradi. He put more action into the show so people
are not just singing their lines but doing something
interesting to look at at the same time. And the children
are of various ages....as I understand it, these roles
are sometimes played by 'older' children which means
sopranos and you have to imagine they are actually
children. Here they were the real thing and still could
sing too. They didn't have to have big solo voices
because they sing ensemble but again this was different
from what I had seen on videos.
Finally our hero enters and there is BIG applause. He
does ride in on his white horse and is coming to the gate
outside the property and that is where he alights and
then a stable hand takes over with the horse as a servant
opens the gate for him to stride in. This is stirring for
all of us who have never seen Andrea in person. He is
looking so fine!
He has time to 'look' around and observe his surroundings
and sing to nature as he does, with a voice rich and
resonant to the ear. It is July and there are flowers and
nice trees, benches etc., plenty of props for him to make
use of so he is not lost on a bare stage. These props
seem more in number than I remember from pictures of the
rental sets so I think they are strategically placed
allowing him to casually know where he is all the time.
He manages this well.
I can't say I wouldn't guess he had a sight problem as
some suggest. But I would say he convinces you that
whatever that problem is, it is not major to him. And
another thing for this performance that is just great to
see. He is comfortable enough that I did not see him
CLENCH THE FIST of either hand even ONCE. This is a major
accomplishment in my mind, with so much to be thinking
about at any given moment. It is hard to break with a
habit like this which he is known for doing in his
concerts. His hands are mostly openly relaxed as you
would expect them to be. He does not move as sighted
people do, casually without thinking. But the director
has been working with him to show him the body language
people commonly use and he is
learning to incorporate these techniques probably for the
first time in his life.
Even before losing sight he did not see as well as we do,
so just seeing shapes and colors does not provide him
with what we know and observe in an everyday monkey see,
monkey do fashion. This works both to his detriment and
also to his advantage. I would guess that it is one of
the great secrets of his ability to communicate through
his voice. Instead of moving he has contained emotions
and attitudes only to learn to show and express them more
effectively through his singing than any other singer on
the planet today. He moves us not with action but by
touching our very souls just
doing what comes naturally.
While it will be wonderful when he has more theatrical
movement training, that will come with practice and time,
but he already has the voice, which is the important
factor here. Since challenge is a constant for him, he
will continue to improve as he gains more experience and
exposure over the years. I have little opera-going
experience to compare to but we found his singing superb
and rich and plenty loud enough to reach any point in the
house . I just don't know what it may have been on
opening nite with all the critics there but when we heard
him he was just great.
He is given bits to do as in one
scene he is observing the children at play, and he is to
the side of the set in a wooded area and instead of just
being there he dips his hands in the water and puts the
water on his face. There are things like this all through
the opera that make it more natural and he didn't ever
miss one mark that I could see. It flowed quite well. The
orchestra is superb and Massenet's music gives hints of
what is to come as things move along. As we get to the
last 2 acts things are more tense
and climactic.
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Denyce Graves is a treat in every possible way
and I cannot imagine anyone else doing as well in this
role as she did. You feel her moral confliction in this
very much and her third act is a real showpiece. She is
perfect as she reads the letters she has saved and pored
over endlessly. Ying Huang plays younger sibling Sophie,
and she also has a lovely soprano voice that makes a
treat of two nice arias in the show. One is particularly
lovely as it plays back and forth with the orchestra like
little birds flitting and singing.
You
feel the heartbreak in the 3rd act. It is Christmas now
and Werther finally returns to visit once again. Tension
is evident from the orchestral music telling us
forbodingly of his entrance. Werther and Charlotte make
verbal exchanges which become intense. He is poetic and
sings the showpiece of the opera, Pourquoi me reveillier,
with its glorious high notes, but tension resumes once
again, building to a climax when they kiss for the first
time. Although she succumbs totally momentarily,
returning his passion, she immediately recovers and out
of guilt forces him to leave, never to return. He is
desperate. He abandons hope of ever having his
Charlotte. Distraught, he leaves and Albert, the husband
arrives and senses the mood when he confronts Charlotte.
Now a servant enters with a message from Werther asking
to borrow Albert's pistols. Albert, only too willing to
oblige, makes Charlotte hand them to the servant to
deliver. She resists a bit but then releases them to be
taken to Werther. Albert leaves the room and Charlotte
races first to her room for her red velvet cloak and then
goes to reach Werther before he does the deed.
Directly to the fourth act in Werther's garret style
room, set behind a scrim which means there is a see thru
gauze curtain between the audience and the scene which is
dimly lit .....you can see but the effect is ethereal.
Werther,near a window, is seated at a desk with a single
candle, and is writing with a feather pen. He pauses to
touch the pistol before him.
In a short while he stops writing, and in the candlelight
embraces a pistol, deliberately and skillfully loads it;
and now he stands, he strides to the shadows of the room,
slowly and deliberately places the pistol near his
heart and shoots. You hear the shot ring out and see the
spark as it fires. He plays this entire scene FABULOUSLY.
He handles the gun deftly and surely with just the right
timing, action and emphasis. He falls to the floor and
appears dead.
THE SCRIM lifts and....
.....he has about 20 minutes of drifting in and out to
endure and he is going to make sure we all are in a bath
of tears by the end. Charlotte bursts in, is
griefstricken when she sees him on the floor; maneuvers
him to his palette bed facing the audience, and now is
when Andrea's lack of sight becomes an advantage. It
helps him to do a more believable Werther than those who
stagger about, fall, almost die, rise again, stagger some
more, etc. overacting for one just shot in the heart..
His
singing, from a prone position is absolutely fabulous. I
can't say enough about how he handled this scene. His
voice drifts effortlessly out over the audience and wraps
around your heart. You don't want to miss a moment of
this breathtaking scene. Charlotte, overcome with grief
is suffering guilt for her responsibility at his doing
this. She wants to get help but he knows he is finished
and just wants her to remain with him to the end, which
allows her the chance to finally declare total love for
him, and these words are sweet for him to hear. It is
great staging here for the
full effect. She passionately holds him and they exchange
declarations.
She gives him one lingering final kiss and then, ...he is
gone. The end.
I have always had a problem with the character of Werther
in the first
place. He is no hero. His moody self-indulgence and
coveting of another
man's wife is hard to sympathize with or admire despite
his deep love. But,
by the time this act is done you empathize, feeling the
pathos of their
situation. You disagree in principle, but are finally
pulled into it and caught..
I was a total mess when it ended as was almost everyone
else. Everyone cut
loose with wild clapping and bravos all round. It was
wonderful and thrilling, and I can hardly wait to see
more opera. This difficult opera contains gorgeous music
of a lyrical nature. Still, except for
'pourquoi' it lacks memorable tunes to take home. I can't
imagine memorizing it
all and in a foreign language. Andrea's French is
perfectamundo but we all know
he has a wonderful ear for the sounds. For me, he is the
most marvelous singer, yet is a refreshing work in
progress and we can all share in the fun of seeing him
still get better. I am signing up for a permanent front
row seat. What a ride it will be!
All firsts in life are memorable and important. They are
only FIRSTS once.
I am so glad that the first time I saw him in person was
in this opera. He is a Wonder!
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