ROSSINI: Le Comte Ory (complete opera) (2 DVDs)

ROSSINI: Le Comte Ory (complete opera) (2 DVDs)
Conductor: Maurizio Benini/ Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Cast: Stephane Degout (Raimbaud)/ Monica Yunus (Alice)/ Susanne Resmark (Ragonde)/ Juan Diego Florez (Le Comte Ory)/ Michele Pertusi (Le Gouverneur)/ Joyce DiDonato (Isolier)/ Diana Damrau (La Comtesse Adele)/ Tony Stevenson, Tyler Simpson (Courtiers)
Producer: Gary Halvorson
Director: Bartlett Sher
Studio: Virgin Classics 0709599 3, 2012 [Distr. by EMI]
Video: 16:9 Color
Audio: DTS 5.1, PCM Stereo
Subtitles: German, English, French, Spanish, Italian
Length: 153 minutes
Rating: *****
Until this production, Le Comte Ory had supposedly been performed only 16 times in history! Why, you may ask? Frankly I am not sure. The work, the last of Rossini’s comedies, and created in 1828, doesn’t exactly fit into the opéra comique genre because of its extended and highly developed scenes which rely on accompanied recitatives instead of short dialog more common to the genre, and in fact Rossini created it for the opera proper. But—no one in their right mind would ever consider this as anything but a comedy, Italian music lifting the roots of the French farce (and in the French language) to great heights.
The story is simple and silly, and quite funny as well. Count Ory, whose father is away at the crusades, embarks on a lust-fest with designs especially towards Countess Adele, and tries a series of escapades to get into her favor, including dressing up as a religious hermit, and in Act II—a nun. What he doesn’t know is that his page, Isolier, is also in love with the Countess and is actively competing with him and thwarting his efforts. Having the page as a “trouser” role was a stroke of genius, and the resulting sexual confusion towards the end of the opera when all three principals are in the boudoir is quite hilarious. The Count by the way, is discovered and routed when daddy returns home, the page helping him escape, and finally getting the girl, Adele.
The staging is also quite wonderful. Since this is an opera that takes place in the middle ages, director Sher opted to create an environment where we witness a 19th century theater putting on a production of an opera that takes place 800 years earlier. It is very effective, wonderfully atmospheric, and refreshingly “authentic”.
One of the reasons that the Met says this opera has never been performed there—or anywhere else, for that matter—is that the proper singers were never available. Given the Met’s history that statement is a little hard to swallow, but it is also true that this cast is simply fantastic. Juan Diego Flores is an amazing effortless tenor whose vocal powers have captured audiences around the world. Diana Damrau and American Joyce DiDonato are much newer on the world scene, but their rapidly rising stars should rise a lot faster once audiences get a hearing of these two remarkable bel canto roles. And the chemistry among them is quite the one of full camaraderie, with presentations that show just how much fun they are all having. The Met’s “HD” appellation is not quite Blu-ray, in fact a long way from it, but the visuals, production and video are outstanding, with the sound equally impressive. It is a miracle that this opera ever got performed at all, let alone filmed, and this release is mandatory for all opera lovers—a real winner.
—Steven Ritter