PETER ILYCH TCHAIKOVSKY’s PIQUE DAME ('The Queen of Spade' or 'Pikvaya Dama') from Vienna in 1992

This is a Bel Canto Society live VHS recording of a 1992 performance from the Vienna State Opera. It captures the last stage appearance of the late legendary German dramatic mezzo-soprano Martha Mödl as the Old Countess.

Although known more for his ballets and piano concertos, Peter Tchaikovsky also wrote some of Russia’s best operas. Pique Dame was based on Modest Tchaikovsky (Peter’s brother)’s adaptation of a popular novella by the great Russian poet Alexandr Pushkin about how gambling destroyed a man and those around him. This romanticized operatic version premiered to great success in 1890. It isn’t beginner friendly, to tell the truth. But if you like Tchaikovsky’s brooding and dark romantic orchestral pieces, you’ll probably enjoy this. If you are still new to opera; however, I’d recommend you go for his Eugene Onegin first before trying Pique Dame.

This VHS recording is sung in original Russian and doesn’t have a subtitle and no synopsis came with it, so this will be more detailed than in my other reviews.

This rather creepy story is set in the late 18th Century St. Petersburg, Russia. Act I opens on a gray Russian day in a busy garden with the officer friends Surian and Tschekalinski gossiping about the their friend Hermann’s strange gambling habits (no doubt prepping themselves for Blackjack World Championship... Nyet). Hermann walks in spilling his guts to colonel Tomski about being in love with an unknown girl (Ja imeni jejo ne znayu). The gossiping party grows even bigger with the arrival of Prince Jeletzki and friends, talking about his up-coming marriage with Lisa (to Hermann’s horror as he recognizes her as his previously unknown beloved) and of her grandmother the Old Countess (also known as the Queen of Spade), who is rumored to know the secret of the 3 cards that made her rich, and has revealed it to 2 men (but is cursed to die if she reveals it to the 3rd). The story is told by Tomski, and it is useful to note the music theme ... it sounds familiar because it was in the prelude and will appear again a few times later to cue pending disasters. A storm then conveniently blows over the park and scatters the gossipers (maybe god is trying to send a message about gossiping?), and Hermann caps off the boring 1st scene singing of his intent to learn the Queen of Spade’s card secret so he can get rich and marry Lisa.

It is worth enduring all the gossip of the 1st scene on the first go just to get to hear the lovely duet between Lisa and her confidante Pauline in the following scene, which is followed by Pauline’s wonderful piano-accompanied ballad Podrugi milyye that evening at Lisa’s. Beside not being successful in cheerleading Lisa up, the girls get reprimanded by the cranky Governess for being cheery (and made noise)! Left by herself, Lisa confesses (to us trustworthy audience in the beautiful Zashem zhe eti slyozy) that she is quite taken with Hermann... who then proves that he is a true Russian romantic by popping up instantaneously on her balcony for one last glance of Lisa before heading off to commit suicide. Their little impromptu tryst is interrupted when the Old Countess comes in (while Herman hides in the closet having second thoughts about killing himself).

At the evening ball, Lisa is now considerably cooler toward her fiance (who tries to win her back with a beautiful Ya vas lyublyu aria). Tschekalinski and Surian tease Hermann about him being the 3rd person to learn the secret of the 3 cards. Hermann decides that he will and gets Lisa to give him the keys to her bedroom (with a door to the Countess’). Hermann conceals himself in the Countess’ room when she comes in and falls asleep on the armchair after singing herself a French lullaby. Upon being rudely awakened and threatened with a pistol to reveal her card secrets, the old woman dies of fright. Lisa blames him for her grandmother’s death and sends him packing... but then (possibly after a bottle of vodka) sends him a letter of forgiveness asking him for a rendezvous on the quay. In his own delusion, Herman sees the ghost of the Countess telling him to marry Lisa and the 3 cards will win in succession, “the three, the seven, the ace!”. With that, the vision of riches acquired by winning gambling takes him and he refuses to heed Lisa’s plea to not gamble anymore in taking off to the gambling house. The distressed Lisa then drown herself jumping into the river. Hermann himself expires from a heart attack upon losing everything to Prince Jeletzki when the 3rd card turns out to be the Queen of Spade instead of the ace promised by the Countess... the wicked old woman gets the last laugh!

CAST:
The Countess (Nicknamed “the Queen of Spade”) ::: Martha Mödl (dramatic mezzo-soprano)
Lisa (Countess’ granddaughter, engaged to Prince Yeletsky) ::: Mirella Freni (soprano)
Pauline (Lisa’s companion) ::: Vesselina Kasarova (mezzo-soprano)
Prince Jeletzki (Lisa’s fiance) ::: Vladimir Chernov (baritone)
Hermann (A gambling addict officer, loves Lisa) ::: Vladimir Atlantov (tenor)
Lisa’s Governess ::: Anna Gonda (mezzo-soprano)
Count Tomski (Herman’s friend) ::: Valery Alexejev (baritone)
Tschaplitski (gambling parlor proprietor) ::: Franz Kasemann (tenor)
Masha (The Countess’ maid) ::: Yvette Tannenberg (soprano)
Surian (a young officer) ::: Rudolf Mazzola (bass)
Tschekalinski (another young officer) ::: Wilfried Gahmlich (tenor)
Narumow (yet another young officer) ::: Peter Koeves (bass)

Condutor: Seiji Ozawa / Vienna State Orchestra and Chorus
Stage Director: Kurt Horres

Sample clips:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_8YSz_mqbk (Jeletski's aria)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXLde7J3mZE (Lisa's Act III aria)

This is a very fittingly dark staging of this creepy twilight-zone-ish opera (do Russians ever write a merry one?). The first scene is supposed to be in a sunny St. Petersburg park, but here it’s more like Moscow’s dreary Gorky Park in late autumn. It doesn’t get very much lighter in the rest of the opera with the exception of the bright sky moment after Lisa gave Hermann the key to her room. I’m afraid I don’t take to this work much, but the staging here fits the work well.

Unless you’re a big fan of Tchaikovsky and not so hummable tenor and baritone arias, the ‘Fast Forward’ button would come in handy during the 1st scene. Once you get to scene II at Lisa’s; however, the worst is over and the music gets more melodic then. To those familiar with Tchaikovsky’s music, this thing was composed between his symphonies #5 and #6 so the music has a very grand emotional sweep to it (with recurring themes... leitmotifs, if you will). And under the baton of Seiji Ozawa, the broodingly dark atmosphere of the story really comes to life (...it’s almost good to feel depressed hearing it... and that’s supposed to be a compliment).

The singing is exceptionally good. The Russian tenor Vladimir Atlantov practically owns the role Hermann. For good reason is he known as the Russian Corelli. He even looks something like Franco Corelli! Anyhow, the voice is gorgeous and powerful, while emotionally persuasive at the same time. I find the music rather boring (which really doesn’t say much since I’m a bel canto and Mozart fan... a totally different style), but Atlantov’s increasing mania as Hermann becomes more and more obsessed with gambling keeps me interested. This is a character I’d like to hate, but Atlantov makes him so like a real person that I can’t help but sympathize somewhat with this selfish character’s pathos.

The late legendary Martha Mödl is the Old Countess that will haunt you in a most wonderfully horrendous way. She was one of those few artists who can hold your attention by just being there on-stage. Her voice is strangely hoarse (especially up high) but it carries and she exploits every oddities in it to put a personal stamp on her portrayal of the Countess. There is something quite creepy about the way she sings herself a French song (Je crains de lui parler la nuit) to sleep. Her death scene is excruciatingly mesmerizing (and she has to hold the death look... eyes and mouth wide open and all.. for some 5 minutes until the closing of the scene with only a brief rest after Hermann tossed a blanket over her!). I’m sorry there isn’t many video recording of this artist around. This is truly one of those rare birds who could mesmerize her audience by just sitting still. There is no excess movement and every little thing she does means something.

The Lisa of Mirella Freni is very touching. She is married to the great Russian basso Nikolai Ghiaurov, so I’ll guess that her Russian is fine. Madama Freni looks a bit old for the part, but once she opens her mouth and starts to sing, all that age discrepancy is easily forgotten. What beautiful and youthful soprano voice! She seems at home singing the brooding Russian music and she portrays all of Lisa’s struggles convincingly. She also acts well with Vladimir Chernov’s princely acted and beautifully sung Prince Jeletzki. Very noble of bearing and appropriately snobbish.

The minor roles are uniformly well sung and acted as well. The young Bulgarian mezzo Vesselina Kasarova (only 27 at the time) is a treat in the cameo role of Pauline and gets to show off her pianistic flares in her little Act I air (she was trained as a concert pianist before switching to singing). It is weird that her acting seems more natural when she’s playing a man (Sesto or Orphée, etc) than when she’s playing a girl (a bit awkward in her movements and prone to exaggeration ... Like a guy in drag) ... and she isn’t even gay! But then Pauline is a young free spirit, so that isn’t very distracting here. The voice is very sensual and powerful... with something of a wildness at the top. It isn’t that she doesn’t have control of the voice, but the upper register sounds like an energetic wild colt trying to break free from her tight rein. Guess it’s a bit of a product of the orchestra being tuned higher in Vienna, so she sounds more like a spinto soprano than a deep mezzo. Yvette Tannenberg’s Marsha and Valery Alexejev’s Tomski are solid as well.

All in all, if you are a fan of Tchaikovsky and this opera, this is one of the best performance of it on record. A definite must buy if you are particularly fond of Mirella Freni and Martha Mödl. This isn’t a good work to introduce any newbie to opera, however. It is a very dark tale and the music takes some getting used to. Not cheery entertainment, but fans of ghost stories and twilight zone genre should enjoy it.

Actual rating: 4 1/2 stars

1 VHS tape (color). Run-time: 145 min. Sung in Russian. No subtitle.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older