As the waning days of summer approach, the Liceu’s simple but effectively appealing stage set for Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims, with a beautiful blue sky, bright sun and nine beach chairs, seemed to suggest a relaxed, pampered and fun performance. And that is exactly what was delivered; a creative, entertaining production full of arias and showcasing fine performers.
Il Viaggio a Reims relays the story of a group of eccentric European aristocrats gathering together at the Golden Lily spa to continue their journey to Reims for the coronation of the French King, Charles X. This atypical opera is a bit of a cross between a serious and comedic opera offering lots of vocals, many characters and a little action. However, the entire cast of vocalists for the opening night performance were superb in their dramatic interpretations and exhibited great skill with difficult vocals. Blowing soap bubbles and cutting out red paper hearts, were some of the seemingly simple props so effectively used by the very animated cast. The Orquesta Sinfónica del Gran Teatre del Liceu conducted by Giacomo Sagripanti was on top form and provided the perfect accompaniment.
As the opera opens, the spa employees are scurrying around in anticipation of meeting every need of their important guests. Unfortunately, the Contessa de Folleville, a slave to fashion, faces a fate worse than death when all of her luggage is lost in a carriage accident, leaving her nothing to wear to the coronation. After fainting over the terrible news (and recovering) her maid miraculously appears with a hat that survived the mishap. The story continues with the extremely jealous Russian Count Libenskof and his love for the Polish Marchese Melibea. A disastrous fight over the Marchese is avoided when a famous Italian singer, Corinna, is heard outside accompanied by only a harp. As she sings her ode to peace and fraternal love, the tension is diffused and everyone once again turns to their self-centered concerns. Several other romantic overtures occur between this group of guests (imagine a scene of spurned love while clad in a bathrobe). Finally, when the guests think they will be departing, a messenger arrives with the unpleasant news that no horses are available for transport to the coronation. But as luck would have it, Charles X has invited those who were unable to travel to Reims the opportunity to share in the celebration in Paris following the Coronation. The opera ends with the aristocrats in Paris, no longer clad in their spa bathrobes, but all dressed in their evening finery joining together to sing ‘Charles X, King of France’. In this production at the Liceu, Charles X makes a surprise appearance just before the curtain falls.
While all of the performers received warm, justly deserved, applause from the audience and multiple curtain calls, Lawrence Brownlee as the jealous Count and Maite Beaumont as the Polish Marchese deserve special recognition. Their vocal talent was amazing, they had wonderful chemistry together and their duet was, for me, one of the most memorable.
The Liceu dedicated this performance and will be dedicating the remaining September opera performances in honour of the victims of the August 17th attack. Il Viaggio a Reims continues at the Liceu until September 20th.