With Rossini's Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra (1815), De Munt unveils the first evening of the diptych The Queen and her Favourite/The King and his Favourite. In doing so, it casts the previously planned Donizetti project Bastarda in a new light. Under the direction of conductor Francesco Lanzillotta, the Brussels opera house presents an interesting production of Rossini excerpts full of intrigue, longing and beautiful Bel Canto passages.
Around 1815, Italian composer Gioachino Rossini was already an internationally renowned master. Tancredi (1813) proved to be one of his decisive successes. But when he arrived in Naples, it took some time before the Neapolitan people warmed to the maestro and his compositions. The city, known for its own beloved opera traditions, had difficulty with the new wind. For the Teatro di San Carlo, Rossini ultimately wrote Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra, a 'dramma per musica' in two acts. It was with this opera that the composer won over his Neapolitan public.
Characteristic of a Rossini composition is a Bel Canto style upon which nineteenth-century romantic opera would later build its foundations: light and fleeting passages are alternated with fast, technical coloratura sections. A reflective dramatic moment soon unfolds into a hurried movement in which dynamics, tension and expressive vocal expressions find each other. Finales in Rossini are nothing less than a whirlwind of emotion, but that does not mean the other pieces have to fall short. Fast playful, yet technically complex vocal coloratura is one of Rossini's hallmarks on the Italian Bel Canto period of the nineteenth century.
Love and (im)power
Whoever catches the wings of Rossini's other famous opera Il barbiere di Siviglia (1816) at the beginning of Elisabetta's overture and opening aria is on the right track: the composer indeed took the mustard from his own work. Nevertheless, the extremely strong similarity quickly fades in favour of a Rossini-typical play of sounds on the personal battlefield of Elisabeth I (soprano Salome Jicia). She discovers that her beloved favourite Leicester (tenor Sergey Romanovsky) is already secretly married to another woman, Mathilde (soprano Lenneke Ruiten). The antagonist Norfolk (tenor Enea Scala) manipulates the English princess out of jealousy for her preference, to the detriment of the unhappy couple. Ultimately, justice and love triumph over Norfolk's revenge. Elisabeth is left with the words "Fuggi amor da questo seno / non turbar più il viver mio." (Let love flee from my heart / and trouble my life no more). Gloriana – a nickname of Elisabeth I – triumphs, but the woman in her must give up her favourite.
The staging has – in these bizarre times when audience and stage are sometimes far apart – taken the turn of a visual story. The main actress, a young girl, is drawn into the story of Elisabetta. As a spectator, she takes her place, empathizes, and even conducts along. Ultimately, she plays an active, visual role in the opera, and conveys in a kind of pantomime what happens during the alternating opera excerpts. This gives the concert scenario an extra dimension. The vocal layer is enhanced by visual emotions and body language. In this way, everyone is invited to the theatre – in the staging, the child is warmly welcomed and waved off by Elisabetta – even if reality is different.
Bel Canto elegance
Clearly audible are the rapidly successive high leaps and bright coloratura passages for which the opera is known. From the duet between Leicester and the antagonist Norfolk, it becomes clear how both perform daring leaps that approach the bravura of a Verdi tenor, and this with the speed of a powerful coloratura passage à la Rossini. There is not a single moment in which technical power and endurance are not at issue in this production. All performers, from choir to soloist, bring this music with a Bel Canto elegance that is captivating. Moreover, it is established that Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra in both story and music carries pure and captivating Italian charm with it. This evening was no less than that either. The production of The Queen and her Favourite is an immersion in the world of Rossini's Bel Canto, and the love of the historical Virgin Queen for the man who would never be hers.
- WHAT: The Queen and her Favourite: Gioachino Rossini's Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra (1815)
- WHO: De Munt/La Monnaie
- WHEN: from 11 March (livestream available until one week after the premiere)
- PRODUCTION: De Munt/La Monnaie production (co-production with Shelter Prod and Prospero MM Productions), seen 11 March 2021
- BROADCASTS: Klara on 24 April 2021, Musiq3 on 24 April 2021
- LINKS: preview conversation with explanation of Bel Canto and this production
- PHOTOS: © De Munt / La Monnaie