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ANTONIO SALIERI’s TARARE An opera in 5 acts

A DVD of a live performance from the 1988 Schwetzingen Festival in Stuttgart, Germany.

Yup, you read right... this is a work of the Antonio Salieri who was portrayed by F Murray Abraham in that beautiful film Amadeus. Though I’m sure you know enough to not confuse film portrayals with reality!

This French opera, premiered in 1787 in Paris, was set to libretto by the very witty playwright Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (famous for the Figaro plays) about how a person’s worth is based on moral character rather than worldly status. It was such a big hit that Emperor Joseph II commissioned Salieri to write a duplicate version in Italian (translated by none other than Lorenzo da Ponte... before he started working with Mozart) which became known as Axur, re d’Ormus.

The main plot is quite simple and all the characters pretty much ends the same way they started (no character development), but it is a heck of a fun entertainment with drama-oriented music, witty lyrics, and cool dancing. This is probably best called a musical play rather than an opera as the style falls somewhere between that of Christoph Gluck and Richard Wagner (flowing music but not many catchy tunes). There is a long and quite interesting prologue of the creation story, followed by 5 acts of not a lot of real arias as most of the melodies is integrated to move the story forward (lovely Act III barcarolle for Calpigi, tho).

Salieri (no, he really didn’t kill Mozart... they were actually quite friendly! And Salieri was well loved by his contemporaries) wasn't as deep and gifted as Mozart, but he was a very good composer in his own right. So throw away any preconception of him you may have picked up from Amadeus and enjoy. This is no Don Giovanni or The Marriage of Figaro, but it is a good fun entertainment nonetheless! If you like plays, you will probably like this.

The story is on a familiar theme (if you have read a religious text of some sort) of how the Spirit of Nature and the Spirit of Fire (which breathes life into things) got tired of the corrupted human race and decided to start anew by creating new ones. They arbitrarily made one a king (Atar) and the other his slave-turns-soldier (thanks to having saved the king’s life from drowning) Tarare.
But instead of Tarare being jealous of Atar the king, it is Atar who is jealous of Tarare for being admired by the populace and for having the beautiful Astasie as his wife. Atar spends the entire opera trying to win her love (after having abducted her to his harem... tho we must give him credits for not forcing himself on her after having done so), but in the end is defeated when Tarare’s and Astasie’s true love and moral strength win the public’s admiration over their king.

CAST:
Spirit of Nature ::: Gabriele Rossmanith (soprano)
Spirit of Fire ::: Klaus Kirchner (baritone)
Atar (Hormuzian king) ::: Jean-Philippe Lafont (baritone)
Tarare (Hormuzian soldier/slave) ::: Howard Cook (tenor)
Astasie (Tarare’s wife) ::: Zehava Gal (soprano)
Arthenee (Hormuzian Brahma High Priest ) ::: Nicolas Rivenq (bass)
Altamort (Arthenee’s son) ::: Hannu Niemelae (baritone)
Calpigi (A European courtier) ::: Eberhard Lorenz (tenor)
Spinette (A European courtesan, Calpigi’s wife) ::: Anna Caleb (soprano)

Conductor: Jean-Claude Malgoire / The German Haendel Soloists
Chorus Master: Michel Laplenie
Stage Director: Jean-Louis Martinoly

This performance is very imaginatively staged by Jean Louis Martinoly, bringing the work to life in appropriately stridently funny manner. M. Martinoly had the luxury of the merged ensembles from the Theatre National Opera de Paris and the Badische Staatstheater Karlsruhe, and he made use of them splendidly. There are so many supernumeraries (extras) on stage I’m reminded of how Zeffirelli put on so many supers on stage in the Sam Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra that opened the new Metropolitan Opera that the stage’s rotating table broke under their weight. But the Rokokotheater at the Schwetzingen Festival, barring a few trap doors from which things have a way of popping up, has a mostly solid floor and stood up well against all the supers dancing on it.

In the intriguing long prologue each nation of the world is struck down with a scythe stroke as the Spirits of Nature and Fire proceed to have a second go at creating moral man. Act III is mostly dances, with an unusual twist that the European dance is the ‘exotic’ party in this Asiatic setting (Atar is dressed like a sultan). All are very lively and beautifully choreographed.

The singing cast is marvelous, especially Jean Philippe Lafont’s Atar and Eberhard Lorenz’s witty Calpigi. All sing and act well (it helps that most of the cast are French). M. Lafont’s Atar is simply hilarious without compromising any of the character’s bad qualities, and Herr Lorenz’s Calpigi is such a magnetic stage personality (and can really sing, too!) that he tends to steal the scenes... even with all the supers around him.

Howard Cook’s Tarare is solid, too. With real sparkle in the wonderful air Astasie est une deesse is a real gem. Zehava Gal’s lustrous Astasie makes the most of her desperate Act IV air O mort, termine mes douleurs! and in other ensemble appearances. Nicolas Rivenq’s Altamort is also solidly portrayed tho a bit in a stereotypical manner.

Maestro Jean Malgoire leads a lively read from the orchestra pit and does a wonderful job of keeping everybody together and in tune with the drama the entire show. There is no weak link in the production, both in staging, cast and orchestra. Bravi to another fine production of this very obscure work from the Schwetzingen Festival!

All in all, this is a very entertaining theatrical work. Don’t hold the slanders on Salieri from the film Amadeus against him. The man was a worthy composer in his own right and this is one of his best works that deserves more attention than it receives these days. In it you hear lots of musical ideas that would remind you of many recognizable numbers by other composers.... who came after Salieri. This is one frustrating thing about the music of the piece, in my opinion. Salieri doesn’t just take a few musical ideas and developing them to their potentials, but throws a bunch of them out there for others to seize on them later... leaving me hanging a bit. But that is just a minor quibble. I’m very grateful that this DVD exist so I get to hear this charming work at all!

2 DVD (Region: 0 Worldwide). Very good picture and sound quality.
Run-time: 184 min. Sung in French with subtitle in: French, German, English, Spanish. DVD lining includes: notes on the opera and synopsis in English, French, German. No libretto.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8