[8/19/2011] Preview: Preparing for the culmination of our "Andrea Chénier" series -- Recap No. 1, Gérard's monologue (continued)

ABOUT TONIGHT'S -- AND TOMORROW NIGHT'S --
"PREVIEW PERFORMANCE"


This time through we're going to take advantage of the odd circumstance that the recording of Chénier I would probably still recommend, all around, above all the others, wasn't really available to me at the time, because I owned it only on open-reel tape, and while theoretically I could rig up a system whereby I could make MP3 files from tapes, just the thought of it exhausts me -- not to mention the practical consideration of where the hell this system would lodge.

Since then I've bitten the bullet and bought a copy of the above-depicted CD edition, and so that's what we're going to hear for the opening scene tonight and the scene that leads to Chénier's Improvviso tomorrow night -- and for that matter again Sunday when we get to the Madelon scene of act III. We did actually hear bits of all three of our principals from other performances, but they make quite a team in Decca's 1957 recording conducted by the estimable Gianandrea Gavazzeni.

The lush beauty of her timbre and vulnerability of her personality made Maddalena one of Renata Tebaldi's happiest roles (she's seen at right as Tosca); not many tenors have produced the kind of sound that Mario del Monaco did in the title role; and Ettore Bastianini had not only the beauty of sound but the capacity for baritonal thunder that Gérard calls for; and the enormous and important supporting cast is pretty darned good. While I would hate to be without the 1941 recording -- with the stellar principal trio of Beniamino Gigli, Maria Caniglia, and the even more thundreous Gérard of Gino Bechi, dramatically conducted by Oliviero de Fabritiis, and with another outstanding supporting cast -- the solid early stereo sound gives the 1957 Decca a strong advantage. (As you'll have noticed, and will notice again Sunday, I'm also fond of the 1963 EMI recording with Franco Corelli, Antonietta Stella, and Mario Sereni, Gabriele Santini conducting.)

So why don't we go ahead and ring the curtain up?


GIORDANO: Andrea Chénier: Act I, Major-Domo, "Questo azzurro sofà" . . . Gérard, "Compiacenti a' colloquii" . . . "Son sessant'anni, o vecchio, che tu servi!" . . . "T'odio, casa dorata" . . . Maddalena, "Il giorno intorno già s'insera"

The country estate of the Coigny family. The winter garden, the grand conservatory.

The curtain rises on a scene bustling with activity. Servants, lackeys, valets, all under the command of an officious MAJOR-DOMO, run hither and thither carrying pieces of furniture about and placing it down where he instructs them to. GÉRARD, in full livery, lends a hand in carrying a heavy blue sofa.

MAJOR-DOMO: This blue sofa, let's put it there.

GÉRARD and the lackeys obey his orders. Then the MAJOR-DOMO goes to another part of the château followed by all the servants. GÉRARD, left behind, kneels before the blue sofa, unruffling the fringe, smoothing the satin covering, and arranging the curtains.

GÉRARD: Obliging to the discourse
of the dandy
who offered his hand
to mature ladies here!
Here Red Heels
said sighing to the Beauty-patch:
"Orinthia, or Chloris, or Nike, powdered,
oldish and painted,
I long for you
and, only on this account, perhaps,
I love you!"
Such is the custom of the times.

An old man comes in from the garden carrying a heavy piece of furniture. GÉRARD throws down the duster he is holding and goes to help him. Weak and shaky, the old man leaves, disappearing through the garden. GÉRARD, much moved, watches him go.

GÉRARD: It's sixty years, old man,
that you've been a servant here!
On your insolent,
arrogant masters
you've lavished fidelity, sweat,
the strength of your nerves,
your soul, your mind . . .
and as if your own life didn't suffice
to carry on
eternally
the horrendous suffering,
you've given the existence
of your children . . .
[With immense disdain he strikes his breast with open hand, murmuring through tears]
You've fathered menials!
[He dries his tears disdainfully, turns to survey pridefully the opulence around him]
I loathe you, gilded house!
You are the image of a world
powdered and vain!
You pretty gallants in silk and laces,
faster ever faster whirl
your merry gavottes and minuets!
Your fate is sealed!
Worthless and wicked race,
the son of serfs and a servant
here, a judge in livery,
I tell you: It's the hour of death!

The COUNTESS, MADDALENA, and BERSI, the latter curiously garbed, appear at the entrance to the conservatory. The COUNTESS stops to give some orders to her MAJOR-DOMO. MADDALENA comes forward slowly with BERSI.

MADDALENA: The whole day
is already darkening
slowly.
In these mysterious . . .
[GÉRARD sings as below, overlapping MADDALENA.]
shadows, fantastic shapes
do things assume!
Now thoughts turn to rest
serenely!
GÉRARD: What sweetness fills my dark soul
because of you!
Even ideals may die, you never die,
you, Eternal Song!

["Compiacente a' colloquii" at 0:40, "Son sessant'anni" at 1:55, "T'odio, casa dorata" at 3:42; Maddalena's entrance, track 2] Michele Cazzato (bs), Major-Domo; Ettore Bastianini (b), Carlo Gérard; Renata Tebaldi (s), Maddalena di Coigny; Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, cond. Decca, recorded 1957


IN TOMORROW NIGHT'S PREVIEW --

As noted, we continue our recap with the scene later in Act I that culminates in Chénier's Improvviso. Then in Sunday's main post we attack (finally!) the Madelon scene of Act III


RETURN TO THE BEGINNING OF THE POST

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