There are some meaty parts in Le Comte Ory at Garsington Festival Opera, all really well taken by a strong cast… what’s not to like?
Le Comte Ory
Garsington Festival Opera, Buckinghamshire Until July 25
This fun-filled romp, hugely enjoyed by the audience, and perhaps even more by the cast, with great team spirit, begs the inevitable question: Where did it all go wrong for Count Ory?
This late comic opera was presented in Paris (in French, of course) just a year before Rossini’s final offering, William Tell, and his ensuing retirement, only in his late 30s, but totally exhausted.
Hector Berlioz, who knew a bit about music, was enraptured by it: ‘What musical riches! A wealth of felicitous airs throughout… admirable orchestral effects and dramatic intentions that have fully succeeded… Rossini’s masterpiece in my opinion.’
Andrea Carroll (above) is most persuasive as the Countess, and Katie Bray perhaps even more so in the trouser role of the page Isolier
And for 20 years thereafter it held the stage, becoming the foundation of a French comic opera tradition with Offenbach and others.
But now it’s hardly ever done. Which is the answer to those who think this production, pepped up by Cal McCrystal of One Man, Two Guvnors fame, is too coarse and vulgar.
What McCrystal has actually done is introduce contemporary comedy into the piece, some of it a bit crude, but why not, which then allows all the things Berlioz raved about to flourish.
The choruses, for instance, especially the final ones, are superb, with wondrous propulsion, and plenty of ‘felicitous airs’, the culmination of Rossini’s career-long mastery of such stuff.
There are some meaty parts, all really well taken by a strong cast. The young American bel canto tenor Jack Swanson is a stylish Ory – a bright future beckons. Jacques Imbrailo as his mate Raimbaud is an excellent foil.
Joshua Bloom, a Garsington regular, is an imposing Tutor, who spoils Ory’s fun. Andrea Carroll is most persuasive as the Countess, and Katie Bray perhaps even more so in the trouser role of the page Isolier.
In the pit, Valentina Peleggi, a new one on me, showed real Rossinian style, and a section of the Philharmonia gave of their best.
What’s not to like? Catch it if you can.