On March 8 and 9, French Baroque orchestra Le Concert de l’Hostel Dieu and Italian soprano Roberta Mameli were invited by Arion Baroque Orchestra to present Ghosts of Hamlet at Montreal’s Bourgie Hall.
In the 18th century, Italian composers Domenico Scarlatti, Francesco Gasparini (whose opera includes various arias by Handel), and Giuseppe Carcani each composed an operatic version of Ambleto (Hamlet). Their versions were not based on Shakespeare’s play, but on a libretto by Apostolo Zeno. Both Shakespeare’s play and Zeno’s libretto were based on the legend of Amleth found in the Gesta Danorum (History of the Danes).
This concert was meticulously put together by musicologist Paolo Vittorio, who found manuscripts of these mostly lost and incomplete operas in various Italian libraries. His search was not in vain. While Vittorio may have unearthed these works from the dead, both Le Concert and Mameli invigorated them with new life.
What you missed?
Mameli played three parts in this concert: Ambleto (a role formerly sung by a castrato), his mother Gerilda, and fiancée Veremonda. Her ability to inhabit each character was singular. Mameli’s accusatory “Tu!” in “Tu indegno sei dell’allor,” an aria in which Gerilda vents her anger, was completely gripping. Her voice, facial expression and entire on-stage demeanor embodied the character’s extreme vexation. In “Nella mia sfortunata prigionia,” in which Veremonda laments her captivity by the King, Mameli had a remote, wistful, and despondent air about her. Musically, this translated into pianissimos which, though very soft, projected well throughout the hall.
Mameli’s vocal timbre is also ideal for this music. It is neither overly operatic nor is it plain. Rather, she possesses a honey-like tone and superb vocal control which resulted in many lively Baroque ornamentations speckled throughout her performance. I was especially impressed by the syncing of melismatic vocal passages with scalar orchestral ones in Carlo Pollarolo’s “D’ire armato il braccio forte.”
There were several orchestral sinfonias on the program so that Mameli could catch her breath between arias. Le Concert is an extremely adept Baroque orchestra. As in Mameli’s performance, the orchestra’s dynamics were spectacular. Conductor and harpsichordist Franck-Emmanuel Comte took fast tempos on most of the pieces which contributed to a lively and energetic, but never muddy performance.
The orchestra’s continuo section is particularly strong, and I found myself enamored with the cello playing of Aude Walker-Viry, who possesses a very poignant articulation and clear, decisive phrasing. Her cadenza on Gasparini’s “Stelle voi, che de’ regnati” was an unexpected and very creative addition to the work. In it, she played a flurry of harmonics, which aptly depicted the reign of the stars.
In general, the continuo section, which is responsible for the harmonic changes and consequently energetic drive of the orchestra, was extremely crisp and together. I was struck by the fact that they included a bassoon in this section. Combined with the alternating baroque guitar/theorbo, the bassoonist added to the distinctive sound of this section. The “Gavotte et Tamburino” from Handel’s Alcina was a crowd-favourite. Here, the bassoonist exchanged his instrument for a recorder, and the entire string section played percussive rhythms on the bodies of their instruments.
Hearing this music, it is clear why Scarlatti and Handel are the composers who are most widely listened to today, especially when compared to others on the program. Their music is much more emotionally sophisticated than Gasparini’s, Carnani’s or Pollarolo’s. For instance, both Gasparini and Handel wrote a version of “Nella mia sfortuna prigionia.” While Scarlatti’s version depicted all the nuanced psychology of a character longing for escape, Gasparini’s version has a sustained melancholy mood throughout. Comparing the two versions of this text, Scarlatti’s genius shines through: This is a composer with a deep understanding of the drama of human life.
Gripes:
The program’s strength was also its weakness. It did unearth a lot of music by forgotten composers, yet perhaps a lot of this music wasn’t forgotten purely by accident. While competent, the music of Gasparini, Carcani and Pollarolo is not great. While I was glad to have heard them performed, it is the Scarlatti and Handel pieces that continue to resound in my ears.
Bourgie Hall’s Baroque and Early Music series continues with Stile Antico- The Prince of Music: Palestrina and the Eternal City on April 2. www.mbam.qc.ca
