Gioachino Rossini’s Le Comte Ory was produced during the
Metropolitan Opera’s 2010-2011 season and a live production was filmed. Shown
on television in 2011, the film was also shown last year as one of a series of filmed operas
shown on the large screen.
Rossini’s 1828 final comic opera features Juan Diego Flórez in the title role.
He dominates the production with a great voice and a sense of enthusiasm and panache. Disguised first as a hermit, he later joins his men disguised as nuns on a pilgrimage. He appears to have fun with the role and we in turn respond to him. The mezzo-soprano
Joyce DiDonato has the trouser role of Isolier, Comte Ory’s page, who competes
for the love of Countess Adèle, sung by soprano Diana Damrau.
Bartlett
Sher directed this version of the opera,
which includes a full 18th century style production within a
production. Michael Yeargan’s set is dominated by a platform stage on the stage
with footlights in front of a vast brick wall. A silk curtain is occasionally
pulled across to denote acts and vast chandeliers, a window unit,
and other set pieces are flown in or moved on to denote various settings. Several
artificial trees are moved around to suggest change of scene. In the last act when the comte, the countess and the page end up in a
large bed together, a pink canopied bed dominates the scene and can be cranked up to allow the audience a view of
all that goes on.
The action is all
directed by the Prompter (Rob Besserer) who issues directives to his crew,
rolling around trees and ladders and manipulating thunder and wind machines for
the audience’s delight during a storm scene. He also controls delightful butterflies on wires in one of the scenes.
Although Catherine Zuber’s
costumes merely suggest the 1200 period, the costume wash the plain stage with vibrant purples, pinks and reds.
The Metropolitan HD Live: Le Comte Ory (2011) **** [The film runs just under 3 hours.]
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