Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur Blu-ray Movie Review

The little performed opera by Francesco Cilea receives a less than thrilling production by Teatro Regio Torino.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 25, 2010

Even opera snobs may choke for a moment or two when quizzed about who exactly Francesco Cilea was. Though in his lifetime such icons as Caruso performed in the debut outings of his operas, and over the years many of the top divas of the past century undertook his most famous operatic title character, Adriana Lecouvreur, the fact is that Cilea has never really catapulted into the front rank of operatic composers. Though this particular piece has attained at least a fitful entry into the repertory, it’s really not staged all that often and people who can recite their Puccini and Verdi backwards and forwards may stand dumbstruck when asked to offer even a passing comment about Cilea. Verdi had just barely shuffled off of this mortal coil, and Puccini was in between two of his greatest triumphs (Tosca and Madama Butterfly) when Cilea’s best known creation premiered in Milan in 1902. For one, brief shining moment this little remembered composer was the toast of Italian opera. Cilea’s musical language is a sometimes curious combination of Italian emotionalism with a certain French reserve, and he was not afraid to bend the borders of tonality with a subtly subversive chromaticism which never failed to remain grandly melodic. In fact Caruso himself excised the Act IV duet “No, più nobile” and made a famous early solo recording of it with Cilea himself at the piano. It remains one of the best known faux arias in early 20th century opera, and reveals the charms and hyperemotionalism of Cilea’s idiosyncratic style.

Micaela Carosi stars as Adriana Lecouvreur.

Adriana Lecouvreur had actually been set operatically thrice before Cilea attempted it, but such was the success of the 1902 version that the previous versions are all but forgotten today. The opera is actually based on the real life of a similarly named French actress, Adrienne Lecouvreur, though the libretto by Arturo Colautti drastically fictionalizes the story and introduces a patently ridiculous murder via poisoned violets that has made it the bane of fans of verismo. Basically the story of a love triangle tinged with jealous rage (could it be otherwise in the world of opera?), Adriana Lecouvreur has become a famous “acting” role for sopranos who want to strut their declamative skills while not stretching their vocal chords to the breaking point. The title role has a deserved reputation for being one of the lowest soprano tessituras in all of grand opera, but that actually provides some breathing room, both literally and figuratively, for the singer-actresses who undertake the role.

The plot of Adriana Lecouvreur has quite rightly been lamented as largely incomprehensible. Adriana (Micaela Carosi) is an actress at the Comédie-Francaise, getting ready for a performance which will also feature her acting nemesis, Mademoiselle Duclos, who is the mistress of the Prince of Boullion (Simone del Savio). The Comédie’s director Michonnet (Alfonso Antoniozzi) declares his love for Adrianna, but she of course is pining for an officer named Maurizio (Marcelo Alvarez). It turns out Maurizio is secretly the Count of Saxony. Though Adriana and Maurizio declare their undying love for each other, the Prince intercepts a letter from Mlle. Duclos to Maurizio which seems to hint at an affair. As the wending libretto progresses, it becomes apparent that Duclos was actually writing the letter on behalf of the Princess of Bouillon (Marianne Cornetti), who has in fact been engaging in an illicit dalliance with Maurizio. And believe it or not, ladies and gentlemen, that’s just the opening salvo in a four act evening.

What ensues over the next three acts is a frankly melodramatic series of interchanges and recriminations where Adriana is forced to realize she’s not fated for happily ever after. Actress that she is, she does not go gentle into that good night of spurned loverhood, but her fiery exit seals her fate, which culminates in one of the most famous recitatives and death scenes in opera. The fact that it does indeed involve poisoned violets doesn’t keep it from being a uniquely moving moment filled with some ravishing music and a fantastic opportunity for a diva to do what she does best—emote.

I really wanted to like this production more than I ended up doing, if only because Adriana Lecouvreur is so infrequently performed today. Unfortunately, though it’s extremely handsomely mounted and features a nice star turn by Marcelo Alvarez as Maurizio, the rest of the cast, sadly mostly Micaela Carosi herself, just seem to be marking time until a better known opera challenges their sensibilities. This is a long, often turgid, evening that never rises to the hyperbolic emotionalism that Cilea’s music and the, yes, sometimes incomprehensible libretto demand. A piece which relies on huge emotions as much as Adriana Lecouvreur does necessitates both a certain epic dramatic sweep with a simultaneous restraint keeping it from devolving into ridiculous pathos. Here I felt like restraint had taken by far the upper hand, with a flattening of affect where there should be grand gestures.

Cilea may indeed never really penetrate into even the operatic consciousness, let alone the public at large, as much as his countrymen Verdi and Puccini. Adriana Lecouvreur is as ravishingly melodic as either of those composers’ works, though it never really attains the tragic stature that it aims for, probably mostly the fault of a messy libretto. This production tries awfully hard, but there’s a spark here that’s missing.

Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

ArtHaus Musik presents Adriana Lecouvreur on Blu-ray with an AVC encoded 1080i "live" image in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. This is a spotty video which ping pongs between really great sharpness in close-ups, especially in the brighter lit moments, to an annoyingly mushy softness in a lot of midrange shots, many of which are in this disc's defense not very well lit. While the costumes are quite sumptuous indeed, colors are mostly saved for the women's gowns, so there isn't a great deal of eye popping palette here. Detail on the costumes is very good, so much so that you can actually catch a stray loose thread on a couple of dresses if you look closely enough. Some of the stage lighting gives the skintones an odd purplish tint. Black levels are okay at best, and contrast isn't overwhelming either, leaving a kind of muddy backdrop some of the time.

Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Cilea's expressive music is presented in two lossless audio options, a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 mix and an LPCM 2.0 stereo fold down. This is big, quasi-Romantic Italian music with touches of Gallic impressionism, and the best thing about the 7.1 mix is the shimmering string sounds of the Orchestra of the Teatro Regio Torino under the baton of Renato Palumbo. Alvarez is easily the best thing vocally in this production, with a gorgeously liquid tone that floats over the orchestra. Carosi is just a bit too bright for her own good, with a brittle higher end which thankfully isn't exploited much in Cilea's low tessitura. The 7.1 mix is appealingly spacious, with good ambient hall effect, though I personally wish there had been a bit more separation between the singers. A lot of this opera is staged down center, which means the singers are anchored solidly in the front channel for a not very immersive experience.

Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplements are offered on the disc. The insert booklet contains the requisite essay and synopsis.

Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Chances are you've probably never seen a production of Adriana Lecouvreur, even if you're a major opera fan. For that reason alone, you may want to check out this Blu-ray for an evening's rental at least. It can't be argued that this is a very handsome production, but there's a certain rigorous staidness that's shellacked over the proceedings like a hard-crusted veneer over a gorgeous painting. This is an awfully stiff production, for wont of a better word, when Cilea's graceful music asks for something a good deal more lithe and expressive.