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Georg Friedrich Handel’s ‘RODELINDA, regina de Longobardi’

This is a performance from the National Theater at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich.


Original Synopsis:
The opera is set in Milan where Queen Rodelinda mourns her husband, King Bertarido, presumed murdered by the usurper Duke Grimoaldo. With a timing and sensitivity fitting for operatic villians, Grimoaldo asks for the Queen’s hand (sweetening the deal by offering to let her son Flavio have the throne itself) even though he is already engaged to Eduige. Needless to say, Rodelinda doesn’t find this proposal acceptable (and neither does Eduige, who then talks Duke Garibaldo into conspiring against Grimoaldo). When Garibaldo (acting for Grimoaldo) threatens Flavio’s life as the queen and her son mourn Bertarido at his empty tomb, Rodelinda acquiesces, to the dismay of Bertarido who is actually alive and hiding nearby in disguise as a Hun (yep a Hun... Hey, I didn’t write this story, you know).

Garibaldo spills Grimoaldo’s plans to Eduige and agrees to back-stab his friend if Eduige would marry him (there’s no honor among thieves after all!). Grimoaldo; meanwhile and against the laws of operatic physics, has grown more moral. He recoils when Rodelinda demands that he personally kill Flavio in front of her because she 'won’t be the mother of the rightful King while bedding his father’s usurper'. In the face of this strange logic Grimoaldo retires to confer with his advisors. Unulfo urges him to drop the whole deal and let Rodelinda be, Garibaldo urges him to call the Queen’s bluff. Grimoaldo broods.

Meanwhile Bertarido is discovered by Eduige and Unulfa, both offering their help after telling him his wife isn’t marrying Grimoaldo after all. They sneak him in to see Rodelinda at her apartment... where the happy reunion is interrupted by none other than Grimoaldo! Failing to recognize the old King (quite understandably as he now looks more like Attila the Hun than an Italian royalty), Grimoaldo rails at Rodelinda for taking a lover against her own professed virtue. This prompts Bertarido to reveals his real identity to defend his wife’s honor. Since no such good deed can go unpunished, he is promptly thrown in jail awaiting execution.

Now that we have the ‘hero’ in jail, there’s gotta be ...say it with me, folks... a jail break! Naturally! With the help of Eduige and Unulfo, Bertarido is led along the secret escape route to the garden. Incidentally the brooding Grimoaldo is suffering from insomnia (as brooding folks often do) and decides sleep might come easier from the comfort of a garden bench than from his soft bed. As he drifts off, Garibaldo comes in and decides to usurp the usurper. Just as he is about to sword Grimoaldo; however, Bertarido and Rodelinda arrive and drive him off. They then present Grimoaldo with the sword and submit themselves to him for execution. The astounding act of nobility (or is it stupefying stupidity?) snaps Grimoaldo out of his villian mode. He relinquishes the throne back to Bertarido and resolves to marry his old fiancee Eduige after all. And it all ends pretty much where it started. Makes you wonder what all the fuss is about, doesn’t it?

Cast:
Rodelinda (Queen of Longobardi): Dorothea Roschmann (Soprano)
Bertarido (King of Longobardi): Michael Chance (Soprano Countertenor)
Eduige (Bertarido’s sister): Felicity Palmer (Contralto/Mezzo-soprano)
Unulfo (Bertarido’s friend): Christopher Robson (Alto Countertenor)
Grimoaldo (A duke who wants to be king: Paul Nilon (Tenor)
Garibaldo (Duke of Turin, Grimoaldo’s pal): Umberto Chiummo (Bass)
Conductor: Ivor Bolton, Stage Director: David Alden
Set & Staging
I wonder when the last time was that the Bavarian State Opera had stage a period opera set in its own time... O well, at least this one isn’t set on Saturn’s ring like their ‘Pelleas et Melisande’ was! The story here is updated to the mid 20th Century Italy where the conflicting royal houses are now competing mafia families. It is a dark and grim set... like from an Italian film noir. It set a dark and brooding mood appropriate to the story, tho like most productions coming out of Central Europe these days, it’s abstract and full of symbolism. Much of the time you have to not take what is sung seriously because it won’t have a lot to do with what you see on stage. And the added jokes are weird (as when Grimoaldo breaks into Michael Jackson style moon-dance during Rodelinda’s 2nd aria, or when Unulfo entangles himself to a rolling office chair during his, etc). Guess I just don’t quite get Bavarian humor.


The Performance
If the sensibility of the staging is in doubt, the singing is undoubtedly fine. Dorothea Roschmann’s Rodelinda is vocally sumptuous in the opera’s central role. Hers is an expressive earthy voice with a touch of steel at the top that is reinforced by wonderful techniques, masking the difficulties of her 8 florid arias. She also has that rare quality of being able to unerringly expose the essence of each of her arias. She is appropriately stricken in Ombre, piante (what beautiful use of vibrato and colors), and gives the darkest and most dramatic rendition of ‘Spietati, io vi gaurai’ that I’ve ever heard (this rendition is also captured on the ‘Das Bayerische Staatsoper: Live 1997 - 2005' CD). A marvelous combination of singing and dramatization. Her acting is always believable (even when the plot isn’t).

The countertenor Michael Chance sings Bertarido adequately tho doesn’t blow me away. He sounds a bit sterile (there hardly is any vibrato in his voice) with the top getting rather thin and severely lacking in power in his fury aria ‘Vivi, tiranno’. A bit more emotion in his voice during his duet with Rodelinda would have been appreciated, also. Visually he holds his own in the acting department, tho his Hun disguise is more like a bum... with striking similarity to that train ghost that teaches Sam to move things in Patrick Swayze’s ‘Ghost.’

The bad to the bone Garibaldo is sung like a true bully by Umberto Chiummo (who looks uncannily like the young Sean Connery). He is one dimensionally bad on paper and is portrayed as such.

Paul Nilon sings Grimoaldo, the only character that shows character development through out the opera, quite stellarly. This character development (and all the brooding turmoil in between) is well portrayed with his nice lyric tenor voice. His timbre is similar to Ramon Vargas’ but without the Vargas “ping” and not as clear. He is a real stage presence and holds his own against the stage dominating Roschmann.

Felicity Palmer is a mess-with-at-your-own-peril glamor girl a la Norma Desmond Eduige. Vocally she takes some getting used to with that harsh dark timbre voice. She sounds more masculine than the 2 countertenors in the show... the kind of voice you’d expect to come out of the Wicked Witch of the East’s throat. But she uses it well especially in florid singing, tho dramatically the voice is rather one dimensional.

Maestro Ivor Bolton leads his semi-period orchestra at a brisk pace and supports his singers well, tho without much fire or flare.

All in all, it is a fine musical performance.... and a stage direction and conceptual setting that you’ll either love or hate. Handel operas are acquired taste for me (and I’m still working on acquiring them). They are long and though the arias are beautiful, there are so many of them along the same theme in one show that after a while it’s hard to tell them apart. So... if you are already a Baroque fan, there is a good chance you’ll like it. If you aren’t and are bored by music like Handel's ‘Water Music’, this show probably is not for you.

Actual rating: 3 1/2 stars

Picture: 16:9; NTSC Sound: DTS Surround; PCM Stereo Sung in Italian with Subtitles: German, English, Italian, & Japanese

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12