Gaetano Donizetti’s DOM SEBASTIEN (Opera Rara: ROH 2005)

This CD set is a live recording from a concert performance of the opera at the Royal Opera House - Covent Garden in London in September 10 & 13, 2005 (the ballets were recorded separately in studio at Cadogan Hall in London).

In case you don’t feel like reading this whole review, this CD captures a splendid performance of a work infested with gorgeous melodic and moody music, captured in exceptionally fine sound quality, fully deserving of my loudest applause.

This opera' libretto by Eugene Scribe is based on a historical-fiction (heavy emphasis on the fiction part) by Paul-Henri Foucher about the ill-fated expedition by the Christian fanatic King Sebastien II of Portugal to Morocco in 1578 (resulting in the total annihilation of his army and most of the Portugal nobility). Somehow this lunatic, through his own spectacular demise (or the lack thereof... his corpse wasn’t identified until much later, giving ground for many false Sebastien imposters to pop up afterward), became a legend and the subject of this swan-song opera of the bel canto master Gaetano Donizetti.

This performance uses the unabbreviated new critical edition of the work by Mary Ann Smart.

The story starts off with Dom Antonio, the Regent of Portugal, plotting with the Spanish Grand Inquisitor Dom Juam de Sylva to usurp power during his nephew the King Dom Sebastien’s impending absence. Dom Antonio’s attempt to dismiss Camoens, the poet who is seeking audience with the King, is overruled by Sebastien himself. The adventure-seeking Camoens is allowed to tag along in his invasion of the Moors of North Africa, and the captive Moor noble-girl Zayda is saved from being burnt at stake for trying to escape from the monastery she has been residing in since her conversion to Christianity when Sebastien commutes her death sentence, (O mon Dieu, sur la terre) taking her with his fleet to return to her aged father in Fez (modern day Morocco).

Everything goes wrong for Sebastien and Zayda in Africa. Her reunion with her dad Ben-Selim is spoiled by her unwillingness to marry her fiance the Moor chieftain Abayaldos, who then leads out the Moorish army to obliterate Sebastien’s force. The wounded Portuguese King’s life is only spared when his lieutenant Dom Henrique Sandoval pretends to be Sebastien himself when confronted by Abayaldos before expiring. Zayda’s promise to give herself at last to her fiance if he would spare the wounded Portuguese Christian’s life (lying that she had made a vow to save a Christian’s life when she was a captive in Portugal) seals the deal. Sebastien is left alone at the battlefield a defeated man (Seul sur la terre).

Act III sees the parties returned to Lisbon, where Dom Antonio receives Abayaldos and his wife, who is not recognized as Zayda (and I thought I’m the worst at remembering names and faces!) as the Ambassador from Morocco. At the same time the disillusioned Camoens who had escaped wounded from Africa sings of his love for his homeland and how grateful he is to return after his near-death experience (Sur le sable d'Afrique/ O Lisbonne!). To make the scene even spookier for him, the first person he runs into at the public square is the supposedly dead Dom Sebastien, and they unite in the surreal experience of listening to Sebastien's funeral mass (Requiem) organized by his uncle Dom Antonio.

Proving that it doesn’t pay to hang with a hot-headed poet, Camoens causes a commotion in his indignation at the Regent’s overly friendly relation with the Spanish Grand Inquisitor, Sebastien intervenes and is recognized for himself. Abayaldos recognizes him as the non king whose life he spared on the battle field and attests that he had buried the real Sebastien at Alcazar-Kebir. His testimony sends Sebastien to jail as an imposter.

At his trial, Zayda proves her love for the King by testifying to his true identity, attesting that the buried Sebastien was actually Dom Henrique. They are both thrown in jail (she for treason). Dom Juam de Sylva and the Spanish envoy Dom Luis offer Zayda a deal that they will spare Sebastien’s life if she can prevail upon the King to sign an official instrument selling Portugal to Spain. Initially resolved to die together rather than signing the shameful paper, Sebastien relents in the end and endorses the document... to Zayda’s indignation. She runs off to throw herself to the sea, but they instead finds Camoens waiting in a boat at the bottom of the cliff mounting a rescue attempt. They are discovered half way down the rope; however, and fall to their death when it was slashed. Camoens is mortally wounded by gunfire and the opera ends in a rather rushed vision of the lost of Portuguese independence to the approaching Spanish fleet.

Cast:
Dom Sebastien (King of Portugal) ::: Giuseppe Filianoti (tenor)
Zayda (Moor girl saved by Dom Sebastien) ::: Vesselina Kasarova (mezzo soprano)
Dom Juam de Silva (Spaniard Grand Inquisitor) ::: Alastair Miles (bass)
Camoen (poet, soldier of Dom Sebastien) ::: Carmelo Corrado Caruso (baritone)
Abayaldos (Moor chieftain, Zayda’s fiance) ::: Simon Keenlyside (baritone)
Dom Antonio (Sebastien’s uncle, Regent of Portugal) ::: John Upperton (tenor)
Ben-Selim (Zayda’s dad, Governor of Fez) ::: Andrew Slater (bass)
Dom Henrique Sandoval (Dom Sebastien’s lieutenant) ::: Robert Gleadow (bass)
Conductor ::: Mark Elder/ Orchestra of the Royal Opera House - Covent Garden
Chorus Master ::: Renato Balsadonna/ The Royal Opera Chorus

Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht9_-RvrCE0 (Act III Funeral March)

Donizetti was truly one of the greatest orchestral mood painters ever. His orchestra writing for this fast pace opera (that takes place on 2 continents with so many scenery changes as to render it hard to stage) is wonderfully scenic and theatrical. And with a bloody engaging read of it by Maestro Mark Elder and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, all the scenes really come alive! I’ve heard this work live once before at Carnegie Hall under the direction of Maestro Eve Queler last November, and this is quite a different take.

In stead of a settled and contemplative reminiscence opening of the overture (giving a good glimpse of the most marvelous Act III Requiem), Maestro Elder’s read is more accented and masculinely decisive... more descriptive of Dom Sebastien as a forward-looking, naively idealistic, young monarch whose lack of experience and patience would yield tragic consequences. I must say that this sonic narration of what grave harms a well-meaning religious fanatic with too much power in his hand can do to himself and others is quite strikingly relatable to real life even over a century after it was written.

The piece is very lyrically beautiful, but here the gravity and fire of the martial atmosphere of the work is more palpable and the tension in the music gripping. All the different scenes of the work is beautifully described in the orchestra. The Act III Requiem is absolutely stunning. And when a period instrument orchestra can keep my pulse beating slightly faster than normal like that through out the piece, time becomes relative and the 176 minutes long opera just flies by like an enchanting gust of the west wind.

In the title role of Dom Sebastien is the Italian tenor Giuseppe Filianoti, whose clear, light, and beautiful tenor voice is very becoming as the idealistic ill fated king. Though at times it is overwhelmed by the orchestra... and even some of his ensemble partners. Aside from some trouble with his top notes and leaving out the high C’s and D in his big Act II aria ’Seul sur la terre (Alone on this earth)’, he sings beautifully and very engagingly. Indeed, having read up on the real Sebastien II of Portugal I’m a bit disturbed by how attractive Sr Filianoti’s vocal portrayal of him is.

This is one interesting thing about listening to this political opera from my 21st Century perspective... If anything Abayaldos and the Moor should probably be the heroes of the story and not this fanatical and incompetent Portuguese King. The music for Sebastien does paint him in a more forgiving light, though the over all tone of the opera does provide a sobering perspective to the blunders of this character. Sr Filianoti’s voice and singing style is very appealing, however. I will definitely keep an ear out for him in the future.

This recording also captures Bulgarian-Swiss mezzo Vesselina Kasarova’s debut as the passionate Moor nobility Zayda. Her French diction has never been worse than on this CD (I was following along with the libretto and still had a hard time keeping track of her), but her grasp of the Donizetti style, her smooth as silk legato, and dramatic commitment is sublime. Every emotion and anguish Zayda experiences is plain to hear in her singing. Her heroic standing up to Abayaldos for Sebastien’s life (after a most heart-rending read of her duet with Sebastien ‘Grand Dieu! Sa misere est si grande’) is awe-inspiring. The voice is alluringly light and exotic sounding (all with that trademark huskiness) and her subtle (or not) shading of it to highlight various emotions is very adeptly fitting in this hybrid opera that is neither really French nor bel canto in style. And this voice amazingly refuses to get drowned out in ensemble numbers...even when the orchestra is blaring and the chorus roaring. She doesn't shout or tries to out sing them, but the voice just has a way of making itself heard!

Barring the glorious choral numbers, the Requiem, and the sextet, the highlight of the show has to be her Act II duets ’Ah! Bien donc.. Ordonnez qu’on epargne sa vie! (Well then.. Order them to spare his life!), and ‘C’est qu’en tous lieux, comme une esclave (So that wherever we go, you will follow my steps like a slave!)’ with magnificent English baritone Simon Keenlyside’s deliciously hot-blooded and vengeful Abayaldos. What a glorious baritone voice and what intensity in his singing! He matches Kasarova note for note, and dominates other scenes he is in. And all with exquisite French diction! His character is supposed to be the bad guy of he opera, but the way he sings Abayaldos... I would follow him into battle any day!

Dom Juam de Sylva the Spaniard Grand Inquisitor is convincingly sung by the English basso Alastair Miles. Perhaps his low notes could be stronger, but he is convincingly shady and self-righteous in this role. Camoens is sung by the Italian baritone Carmelo Corrado Caruso, who was reportedly a late replacement for an ailing Renato Bruson. I was taken aback by the prominent vibrato (pulsation) in his voice when he enters asking for an audience with Dom Sebastien early in Act I. Perhaps he was simply nervous, but the vibrato (or perhaps more a shaky tremolo in this case) stabilizes somewhat as the opera progresses, and he is very touching in of one of the greatest patriotic song in opera, 'O Lisbonne, O ma patrie! (O Lisbon, O my fatherland!)'.

All the minor roles are well sung and the Royal Opera House Chorus under the leadership of Renato Balsadona also are in splendid form in this performance. They stand up well even when the orchestra is roaring during the martial passages, and in softer scenes they are beautifully lyrical.

This is a wonderful musical performance that really brings Donizetti’s much forgotten swan-song to life and make me very wishful for a staged version of it. The opera may be problematic (especially toward the end where the writing feels rushed and anti-climatic compared to the exquisite 3rd Act), but what does that matter if you aren’t a composition student? It is not a perfect work, but it stands in that curious niche where bel canto and French grand opera overlap. There aren’t many works like this around and this is the best recording of it available on the market. Bar none.

I do not work for Opera Rara (www.opera-rara.com) nor do I know anyone in that organization, but I am very grateful for their ongoing work in preserving stellar performances of rarely performed masterpieces such as this for posterity even though complete opera CDs are taking longer and longer to sell enough copies to recover the cost of commercialization. This CD set comes in a very lovely sturdy box (definitely collectors’ item with a painting of the real King Sebastien of Portugal circa 1571 by Cristovao do Moraes) with a thick booklet detailing the full history of the opera’s composition and lists the main cast of all the performances given to date (the last entry being the November 2006 show I attended at Carnegie Hall), a very generous extra CD of highlights from other recordings by Opera Rara (with their catalogue). All is very beautifully present. It truly is a labor of love that is worth every penny of its retail price.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!


If in your hunt for the best deal on this CD set you come across pirate copies of it at some shady outlets, please refrain from trading in your integrity for a few dollars saved in acquiring what is essentially a stolen good. This CD set was only released this month, and for pirates of it to already be available is sickening. Ask yourself who deserved to be paid for all the painstaking labor that was put into this recording? The artists and their support staff (including way underappreciated members of the orchestra and chorus, and all those involved in recording the performances), or the self-centered thieves who seek only to enrich themselves? The Opera Rara Association is the true preserver of great arts for posterity, not the pirates who stole their work.

This CD is commercially available (very newly available, at that). There is absolutely no excuse for pirates of it to have surfaced only a week after its release! If you find a pirate, let the recording company know!

3 CD set (uncut version). Sung in French. Booklet contains synopsis in English, French, German, & Italian. Printed libretto in French and English.

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Listening