Händel - Berenice, at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris

Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris, Tuesday May 21, 2024

(In concert)

Conductor: Francesco Corti. Berenice: Sandrine Piau. Selene: Ann Hallenberg. Alessandro: Arianna Vendittelli. Demetrio: Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian. Arsace: Rémy Brès-Feuillet. Fabio: Matthew Newlin. Aristobolo: John Chest. Il Pomo d’Oro.

Photo: Stéphane Asseline, Région Ile-de-France

This concert performance of Berenice, with Il Pomo d'Oro under Francesco Corti, at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées last Tuesday was outstanding - in a way, unexpectedly so, as it seems to be assumed that because the work is now rare, it must be because it's weak. Is it dogged by its poor initial reception? It turns out (I'd never heard it before) there's absolutely nothing wrong with the score: a string of beautifully-crafted arias, as skilful, imaginative and varied as you'd expect from mature Händel, from the outset. For example, Berenice's first aria has an intriguing, 'shifting' accompaniment, and next thing you know, Fabio's 'Vedi l’ape che ingegnosa' has the strings evoking the darting about of gently-buzzing bees. It reminded me of a post I wrote, years ago, about a performance of Tamerlano, in which I likened Händel's arias to the objets d'art on display in the Galerie d'Apollon at the Louvre, each aria 'a miniature masterpiece in which motifs, melody and rhythm are expertly and imaginatively wrought into a coherent, deeply satisfying form.' Perhaps the slightly daft libretto, which has people falling in and out of love at the drop of a hat, holds Berenice back?

The artistry and experience of 'veteran' principals Sandrine Piau and Ann Hallenberg - what my neighbour admiringly called their supreme and obvious 'métier' - were well supported by an evenly-matched group of younger singers. Sandrine Piau's voice doesn't seem to have altered at all. I can't remember when or in what I first saw her. It must, however, have been way back in the 90s. What 'JdB' has posted on the French forum ODB Opéra about Piau's remarkable vocal freshness, impeccable sense of style, a thousand and one nuances and 'incredible alacrity' apply just as well to Ann Hallenberg. Although, as 'JdB' also notes, Selene isn't a long or spectacular role*, there were cries of 'brava' (or more often 'bravo' - audiences aren't too fussy about Italian gender) after every aria.

Among the younger singers was a remarkable Italian soprano, Arianna Vendittelli, new to me if to nobody else, whose singing was bright, firm and accurate. (I notice this brightness can sound hard and/or pinched in YouTube clips, but that wasn't noticeable in the house, so perhaps hers is a voice, like Dessay's, that needs to be heard live.) Her vocal production is strikingly even throughout her considerable range, and she has a strong presence and acts convincingly. And while we're on the subject of acting, I'll mention here that, despite this being a 'plain' concert performance, not even semi-staged, everyone acted excellently with their eyes and movements of the head. Ann Hallenberg is great at this kind of thing; I remember her perfect comic timing in Agrippina from Drottningholm, also incidentally under Corti. And Sandrine Piau is equally expressive with a fluttering hand, or just an airy wave of her specs.

 

Countertenor Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian (Demetrio) has come along fast, rapidly achieving star quality. I first saw him as Didymus in the 2021 Theodora (with Lisette Oropesa), then as Nireno in the Cesare conducted by Jaroussky, by which time I was already writing:

'Of the three countertenors, my personal vote (this weekend Ukraine won Eurovision) went to Paul-Antoine Bénos-Djian, who was already very promising when I heard him in Theodora, also at the TCE, and here was still more assured. A pity we didn't hear more of him and less of... er...'

His furious 'Su, Megera, Tisifone, Aletto !' was, as ODB's 'JdB' also rightly noted, one of the evening's highlights, 'breathtaking in its expressive virtuosity and utterly moving.'

 

This time, it was the 'second' countertenor, Rémy Brès-Feuillet who showed promise - more than in the recent revival, at Garnier, of Pelly's production of Giulio Cesare, which reduced Nireno to a silly caricature. I was told he was nervous, having learnt the part in just a few days (perhaps as few as two?) to step in at the last minute in Madrid on Sunday. Yet it didn't show. He did a very fair job, with good coloratura, already, that will be better still when he gets better at pacing his breathing over long runs (he should perhaps consult Ann Hallenberg on that, now he knows her), and 'hoots' less in the middle-to-lower range.

 

I've seen the American tenor Matthew Newlin a number of times, once remarking that 'whisked in from singing Lully in Versailles only the night before to replace Tansel Akzeybek, (he) seemed even more at home as a last-minute Andres' (i.e. in Wozzeck), 'than as Atys.' His Fabio was strong, even resounding, perhaps a touch hard at the top. John Chest, also American and also now quite familiar, is an equally sound Händelian baritone, with striking stage presence.

Seeing at the start that the orchestra was going to be mainly strings, I was afraid things might end up sounding dull, monotonous... But not at all. Francesco Corti's conducting turned out to be an object lesson in carefully-crafted spontaneity: totally under control, calibrated, yet seemingly free and easy, all bouncing rhythms, contrasting colours, delightful surprises, plus a bit of roughing-up now and again (didn't he work with Minkowski?), all in the service of the text. 'The most eloquent imagination and sincerest musicality,' as Opera Online cleverly put it. The principal oboist was rightly cheered for the beautiful obbligato in Berenice's 'Chi t’intende', for which he'd joined Sandrine Piau at the front.

If we're lucky, this performance might eventually be made available. There were microphones suspended over the stage. The theatre is busily plugging its replay 'channel', theatrechampselysees.fr/medias-hors-champs, so maybe one day on there? This really was a recording-quality performance (though trimmed to two-and-a-half-hours of music), and warmly applauded. With Berenice being so rare, it would be a shame if it went to waste…

*I actually took the opportunity, not so long ago, to ask Ann Hallenberg in person how long she expected to go on 'yodelling' these 18th-century coloratura roles. Her answer, unsurprisingly I guess, was 'As long as I can.'