Commissioned to write an opera to celebrate the crowning of a king (Charles X, in 1825), Rossini responded with a perky piece about a glorious gaggle of guests from across European society who didn't make it to the coronation, because their fashionable luggage and the horses didn't turn up. Not much of a story? True, but that's the point - here's the plot - and it's fabulous music!
His opera, intended only for this event, and to showcase the top bel canto singers of the time, nearly didn't make it to future performances. Indeed he lifted a lot of the most successful music into his own future works (especially Comte d'Ory.) . But after bits of the score were discovered, it was reassembled in the 1970s, and splendidly imaginative productions (with little to do with the Bourbons, but a lot to do with splendid bel canto stars!) have emerged. Dutch and Danish National Operas and Opera Australia placed it not in an inn but in a gallery, in which the national stereotypes come alive. Review here.
Perhaps Rossini, celebrating his satirical cartoon characters' failed attendance at the coronation, was foretelling the dramatic life and decline of this new, highly conservative, ultra-royalist Bourbon king? Just 5 years after the lavish coronation, Charles would be ousted and he died in exile in 1836.
Read all about his amazing life here. And a succinct summary of his character here.)
Our production
Forget the historic context, as do most modern productions. This is Rossini's wicked musical wit, 12 years after his Italian in Algiers and 9 years after Barber of Seville. It was his last Italian opera and his last comedy. Full description on Wiki here.
Our production - of this French story in Italian - is designed by French experts and produced in Russia! Directed in 2005 by Valery Gergiev, it's cast from extraordinary talent at the academy of young singers of the Mariinsky Theatre. Review of the recording here. At the time, Opera Today enthused:
Rossini's long-lost, magnificent "party piece," originally created for an army of bel canto singers, "Il Viaggio a Reims," is being revived at the Mariinsky Theater... The French actor and director Alain Maratrat is responsible for the staging, while his compatriot Pierre Alain Bertola created the sets. With their show, the French team promises an explosive fusion of Rossini's subtle comedy and raving Russian madness.
A summary of the ridiculous plot is here, along with a thoughtful commentary on this energetic and talented production. "It used to be said that all Il Trovatore requires is four of the greatest singers in the world. Il Viaggio a Reims ups that number to 14. The Mariinsky can't quite fill the bill, but, given the gameness of these singers and the wittiness of this production, it comes close enough to make this DVD a gladdening success."
Lyn, 6/8/23
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