Lalo's LE ROI D'YS @ Avery Fisher Hall

Friday October 3, 2008 - It's quite rare these days to encounter a singer who brings not only a highly individual timbre and a real sense of intensity but also a very personal commitment and passion to what is being sung. We are so accustomed today to hearing singers whose heyday has passed, or cookie-cutter voices from the younger generation, that when someone comes along with something special to offer it is quite a revelation.

Dana Beth Miller's performance as Margared in the American Symphony Orchestra's concert reading of Edouard Lalo's LE ROI D'YS at Avery Fisher Hall was in a way a throwback to earlier times when singers came out and just gave lavishly of themselves, reveling in their own vocal prowess: unafraid of - and in fact totally committed to - buying directly into the emotional context of the music. Ms. Miller has recently shifted from soprano to mezzo; in fact I would be tempted to call her a dramatic contralto. Her voice has a smouldering richness in the lower range and she can punch out the high notes as well. The sound has a colour all its own but more importantly Ms. Miller has a feeling for grandeur of utterance that reminded me at times of Rita Gorr. Margared, a cousin to Wagner's Ortrud, is a princess steeped in melodrama and Ms. Miller wasn't afraid to express the character's violent passions yet she showed great wisdom in keeping everything musical and not resorting to 'effects'.

This kind of voice of course needs special care; she needs to keep the top connected and within reach. It's a very risky approach that Ms. Miller takes - which is why it's so exciting - and she seems very assured with what she is doing. I frankly can't wait to see and hear her again.

Above, tenor Frederic Antoun (whose performance at last year's Puccini Foundation Gala I truly enjoyed) appeared as the romantic hero Mylio. Tall and handsome (the photo doesn't do him justice, really), Mr. Antoun is the kind of tenor who could make hearts throb. But handsome is as handsome sings, and he has a wonderfully expressive and heady French tenor voice - a species which has all but vanished. In the poetic Aubade, Frederic spun out his dulcet headtones to lovely effect. But much else of Mylio's music is in a more heroic vein. Using his gorgeous language as a vocal springboard, Frederic refused to force and capitalized instead on pointed vocal expression to sail thru the treacherous passages. Earlier, as he bade farewell to his Rozenn, she asked when she would see him again. "Ce soir! Demain! Toujours!" ("Tonight! Tomorrow! Always!"), Frederic replied with breathtaking tenderness. What a Romeo or Tamino he would be!

Above, Frederic Antoun and Georgia Jarman in a Hiroyuki Ito photo. Ms. Jarman as Rozenn displayed a bright lyric timbre and very persuasive style; in her first duet with her sister she offered real beauty of expression. At a few points, with the big orchestra churning behind her, she seemed a bit extended vocally but overall she was very enjoyable - both to hear and to watch, for she is a really beautiful woman with a superb figure, gowned to perfection. I very much liked her expression of romantic ardour as she listened to her Mylio's pledge of love.

Eugene Brancoveanu as Karnac, the enemy of D'Ys whose announced marriage to Margared is supposed to solve all problems, started off modestly. But in his big duet with Ms. Miller (reminiscent of the plotting of Ortrud and Telramund), Mr. Brancoveanu engaged us with his powerful and dramatically vivid singing. Their scene was a high point of the evening. It took a few measures for Curtis Streetman as the King to get his voice in gear but thereafter he made a good impression.

I especially enjoyed baritone Andrew Nolen (above) in his dual roles as Jahel and Saint Corentin. He sang with clarity and firmness and subtly differentiated the two characters by letting his long hair down for the Saint's utterances.

LE ROI D'YS centers on Margared and Rozenn, the daughters of the King of Ys, a mythical realm set below sea-level. Both princesses love the warrior Mylio, but he is in love only with Rozenn. (The Aubade is Mylio's serenade to his beloved). Seeking vengeance, Margared betrays her father's city to Karnac, their enemy. She gives Karnac keys to the sluice standing between the town and the sea. Just as the city and all of its inhabitants are about to be destroyed in the deluge, Margared throws herself into the flood in remorse. Her sacrifice causes the waters to recede.

The plot of this opera is based on an old Breton legend and the music is sometimes described as a morphing of Massenet and Wagner. It reminded me in fact quite a bit of ESCLARMONDE, though without the sparkly high notes and fiorature which that title-heroine must possess. The music is colourful and melodic, laced with heavy doses of religiosity (organ, church bells, even a singing saint) and makes me think Lalo would have been a great composer of Hollywood film scores had he lived in a later era. The orchestra is huge and with the exception of some scrappy trumpets they played very well. The chorus participated eagerly, to fine effect, and Maestro Botstein marshaled the forces to make the strongest possible statement for the opera. 

Kudos to the Maestro and his American Symphony Orchestra for bringing us yet another rarity. I understand their next operatic enterprise will bring us a Meyerbeer revival.

Comments

[Yan Quinn-Chasle]

Très cher Frédéric. pour être guitariste (manqué), Fils de guitariste, quand je t'ai croisé à la Pl-de-Arts, et que j'ai appris ton cheminement professionnel par Manu Rochenbach, j'ai été agréablement surpris et très fier du fait que tes professeurs aient sus reconnaître ton talent exceptionnel de Grand Ténor et que tu est, et sera, une notoriété classique, mais contemporaine également j'espère! Tous me voeux et bon succès Maestro Antoun!