For the Handel part, three male singers joined the ladies featured within the Moreau part. The function of Haman was sung by bass-baritone Jonathan Woody (who additionally served as musical co-director of this system), that of Ahasuerus by tenor Jesse Darden, and tenor Patrick Kilbride was within the function of Tenor II. Interactive singing between a number of the characters within the oratorio excerpts heightened the emotional attraction, such because the duets between Ms. Francisco as Esther and Mr. Darden as Ahasuerus. Handel’s music allowed extra shade by the singers and allowed extra expression of emotion. Haman was given extra prominence in Handel’s model for higher dramatic influence. Handel used music and vocals from one other work of his for elements of Esther, which gave Haman the odd chore of singing concerning the advantage of forgiveness at one level. The finale the place the vocalists got here collectively because the choir to sing, “The Lord our enemy has slain” was a becoming, robust end with added emphasis from a trumpet. At a number of factors within the oratorio, vocal and musical riffs jogged my memory of Handel’s The Messiah, and although OL’s small refrain had a beautiful sound, I did discover myself wishing for a a lot bigger refrain. At one level, maybe between excerpts, Mr. Taylor appeared to be jamming on the harpsichord. It is likely to be enjoyable to listen to extra of that. Every of the singers was a pleasure, and the musicians once more delivered a powerful efficiency. Conductor Taylor was clever to position Handel’s Esther final in this system, although the restricted excerpts from each Moreau and Handel left me wanting extra.
As soon as once more, my spouse and I headed residence from an Opera Lafayette efficiency feeling that we had skilled one thing not simply pleasing, however one thing particular.
The Fan Expertise: Opera Lafayette scheduled performances of “From Saint-Cyr to Cannons: Moreau and Handel’s Esther” for February 8 within the Kennedy Heart and Could 9 in St. Peter’s Church, NYC. The efficiency lasted an hour and a half, together with one 15-minute intermission. Moreau vocals had been in French and Handel’s in English; subtitles in English had been proven for each. This system delivered to thoughts for me the October 7 assault of Hamas on the individuals of Israel, but it surely was set and deliberate previous to that occasion. Soprano Margot Rood was initially forged as Soprano I and Esther however needed to withdraw because of sickness.
OL’s 2023/2024 season will conclude on Could 3, 4 with “Mouret’s Les Fêtes de Thalie” within the Kennedy Heart and Could 9 within the Museo del Barrio, NYC.
The program ebook, nonetheless on-line at this writing, contained informative program notes by musicologist Anne Piéjus, a wonderful essay by Washington Submit Artwork and Structure critic Philip Kennicott drawing parallels between the French court docket’s reception of Esther and impacts of at present’s social media, and an additionally wonderful essay by music historian Benjamin Bernard who lined non-public faculty schooling at a contemporaneous boys faculty, Collège Mazarin, and the ladies faculty at Saint-Cyr, Maison royae de Saint-Louis. As well as, they held two zoom conferences with artistic workers to debate these productions, Salon I and Salon II, nonetheless accessible on-line.
On a closing word, there’s a 2000 movie titled “Saint-Cyr” accessible for buy, however solely in French, that covers the non-public historical past of Madame de Maintenon and the Esther performances. As a result of I had not seen the movie, by means of OL, I requested their skilled within the space, musicologist Anne Piéjus for feedback on the historic accuracy of the movie; she is Director of Analysis on the CNRS Institute for Analysis in Musicology. Many because of her for an in depth response. I’ve included her feedback beneath, barely edited to take care of the concentrate on the movie. She has additional piqued my curiosity in seeing the movie and studying extra:
“Patricia Mazuy’s movie (2000) relies on the novel La Maison d’Esther, revealed in 1991 by actor Yves Dangerfield……one other movie about Saint-Cyr and Mme de Maintenon, L’allée du roi, made solely 4 years earlier, by director Nina Compañez, relies on the magnificent novel L’allée du roi by historian Françoise Chandernagor….. Saint-Cyr is a reasonably movie, but it surely’s a good distance from actuality. The units at Caen Abbey are magnificent, and the story of the 2 little Normandy women who communicate poor French is pretty devoted to what we all know concerning the linguistic unification sought at Saint-Cyr Theatre and music additionally helped them to be taught French. The feminine characters, masters of their very own future, are fairly convincing.
Nonetheless, in my view, there’s a distorted studying of the story……[re] Mme de Maintenon (a “lovely brunette” poorly portrayed by Isabelle Huppert) and the establishment: the extremely sexualized and unhealthy sado-masochistic relationship between Mme de Maintenon and the teenage women, a type of tawdry retelling of an actual well being drawback within the 18th century: the tuberculosis epidemic that killed many pupils and adults. In the identical vein, the scene with Mme de Maintenon washing herself within the pond after having intercourse struck me as extremely inappropriate. Aside from the truth that she was hated at court docket, she would by no means have risked shedding her fame by making love within the wild like a prostitute.
The episode of Iphigénie [in the movie] is a basic within the romance literature of Saint-Cyr, however it’s false…..
What stays is the effervescence of the younger women, the theatre that went to their heads, the rehearsals, the court docket audiences, and the wedding that came about after the efficiency, all of that are attested to within the archives and pretty nicely captured within the movie…..” Now, if solely the corporate will re-issue the movie with English subtitles!
