Customer Reviews

Cimarosa - Il Matrimonio Segreto / Barbara Daniels, David Kuebler, Carlos Feller, Claudio Nicolai, Hilary Griffiths, Schwetzinger Festspiele

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Captain Fitzroy, whose review preceeds mine below, has condescended to give Cimarosa four stars and to suggest that "you" might not be unamused by watching Il Matrimonio Segreto, even though it's pre-Romantic. I must be an easier audience! I loved it. The sets and costumes are excellent, and the photography captures their excellence with fine cinematographic flair. The acting is as plausible as you're ever likely to see on any opera DVD. And the music is great! Cimarosa is always perceived as a half-way stopover between Mozart and Rossini. Well, he belongs in that company, and his fame during his own lifetime was not inappropriate. You will hear a lot of Rossini in Il Matrimonio Segreto, largely because Rossini borrowed a lot from Cimarosa. Mozart, by the way, was more than willing to contribute incidental arias to performances of Cimarosa's operas when singers demanded such. Give this disk a chance! If you enjoy it, I urge you also to find the CD of Cimarosa's concerto for oboe. It ranks with Mozart's and Vivaldi's for grace and pathos.

I bought this DVD as a result of "Giordano Hussein Bruno's" favourable review above which I strongly endorse.

Domenico Cimarosa is sometimes described as a half-way house between Mozart and Rossini. This is a useful way of summarising his musical style, but it may mislead you into underestimating Cimarosa and it simplifies the chronology. (I can remember when I was a school child in the early 1950s Mozart was regarded as somehow "not profound" and a lightweight stopping place on the road from the first of the 3 big B's, Bach, to the second of the Big B's, Beethoven. Brahms was of course the 3rd Big B.)

Yes, Il Matrimonia Segreto, does perhaps sound closer to Rossini than Mozart, and was commissioned by the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Leopold not long after Mozart's death. However Cimarosa was born in 1749, 7 years before Mozart's birth year, and was ranked by many of his contemporaries more highly than Mozart. In retrospect it has become clear that Mozart was a genius of the first order, but it is a mistake to neglect lesser figures such as Cimarosa, who sometimes achieved works of outstanding brilliance such as ll Matrimonia Segreto.

While reading a book, I first tried playing the DVD with the visuals switched off - just to get some idea of the music. This was so delightful, it whetted my appetite to watch the opera.

I was not disappointed. ll Matrimonia Segreto takes place in Italy, but is based on an English comedy, The Clandestine Marriage, one of whose authors was the famous actor, David Garrick. So the opera has a strong, if absurd and hilarious story line. You know, of course, there will be a happy ending, but suspense is achieved, by wondering how the denouement will come about, which is postponed masterfully to a short and sizzling finish. The singers may be relatively little known, but they sing well, and their acting is outstanding. They all fit their roles exactly and have great stage presence. The ensemble singing has many highlights. There are also some delightful arias. For example, the secretly married heroine, Carolina, in trying to convince Count Robinson that he should not be courting her, as she is too ignorant to be the wife of a noble, sings about her inadequate knowledge of foreign languages. If she had to converse with a Frenchman, the only word she knew was "Monsieur", or an Englishman, she could only say "How do you do?", and if she met a German she had no words at all! Count Robinson, similarly tries to convince Carolina's less attractive sister, his intended, that he is totally unsuited for matrimony, claiming that he is a drunkard, a sleepwalker, a gambler and incorrigibly bad tempered.

Count Robinson, played and sung by Claudio Nicolai, steals the show - a generous, charming and worldly aristocrat who is more than a match for Carolina's deaf, bad-tempered, money-grubbing father, who is played by Carlos Feller, also marvelously. An interesting detail - all of the singers refer to Count Robinson as Il Conte Robinson-e, adding an Italian vowel at the end, except Carolina's father, who as a merchant perhaps was aware that the name should be pronounced without an added vowel.

I've seen this three times and every time I watch it, it gets better. David Kuebler is the star of the show giving a great comic performance as Paolino, who is secretly married to Carolina, played by Georgine Resick. They want to reveal their marriage but are thwarted by a series of comic romantic misadventures where everyone declares love for the wrong person.

Barbara Daniels is wonderful as the haughty Elisetta who wants to marry Count Robinson, played by Claudio Nicolai, who wants to marry Carolina instead. Carlos Feller, the father who wants his daughters to marry into the nobility, is brilliant in the role. His sister, Fidalma, played by Marta Szirmay, adds to the fun by proposing marriage to Paolino. There are no weak links in this cast.

As others have pointed out, the music is similar to Mozart and Rossini. I don't think you'll walk away whistling any tunes, but there is some great ensemble singing here.

The whole thing is excellent and you will definitely be laughing. I recommend this production highly.

At the risk of being deemed ignorant by those who are much more knowledgeable in music and it's history, I must confess that I didn't know about Cimarosa and that this little jewel of an opera even existed. To someone like myself, new to the world of opera, "Il Matrimonio Segreto" is a find. While not at the level of a classic work, it definitely provides one with an evening's worth of delightful entertainment. As you listen to the music, you can't help thinking Mozart and Rossini at their comedic best. Perhaps, what stood out most for me is the type-casting and how that, and the small size of the Rokokotheater used in the Schwetzingen Festival work to involve the listener in this farce.

About 20 years ago while pulling out some LP's to offer to play, one such ancient LP was by Biff Rose ( whatever happened to...); and one wag in the room piped up with "Frank prides himself on his collection of obscure artists"...hmmm...I thought. He's right. I do.

We are all good at name dropping; God forbid that it be a name that is not well known! For how could we impress someone if we name unknown people?!

I also search out obscure but great painters; wondering always why no one would Not recognize the name Pontormo... or Guercino who painted the most breath taking Mary Magdalene one could ever hope to see. I suppose the fear of the "unfamiliar" is what keeps church folk all looking alike, and talking alike, and dressing alike, and thinking alike, and succeeding , mostly , in making us all ill, like wheat stalks bowing in the wind.

This Cimarosa had a tough act to follow - namely Mozart. Isn't it sad that such an ouvre would cast everyone nearby in shadow for all eternity?...Well...on earth, perhaps ; not in "Eternity"-eternity... where all those who insist on going along with the crowd are on the "Broad Road to Destruction" we are told on High Authority!

If you are fond of opera, I would give this one a chance. If you find anything "Pre-Romantic" tedious, I can at least assure you of an overture par excellent in this one.

You should also not be disappointed in the opening duet between the two lovers that carry the title role. Indeed, all the singers are very, very good. The libretto?...wellll....it is the era of fake moles and powdered wigs, is it not? The cover art is appropriate...delicate china figurines, so apropos for this era. We might find it cloyingly antiquated that the entire household would live in abject fear of wagging tongues in town, should any salacious rumor get bandied about...or is it really so antiquated?...Isn't that what all those church folks also live in abject fear of still today...which keeps them all dessicated with affected polite distance? Try making friends with church folk sometime...try to wrangle an invitation to their home, and you will see what I mean. You'll get the blank stare, the stumbling excuse...and the never get too close to you again, posturing. The only thing missing is the powdered wig.

What one has to admire is the simple fact that if they all the performers stood up there and just did side straddle hops to music for two hours, you would just have to applaud them lustily for that feat alone. But they do more than that..they have to learn an encyclopoedia of lines, an unimaginable number of notes, and exceedingly difficult to remember melody lines, and walk about, and act and sing all at the same time! Who among us can even come close to chewing gum and walking at the same time like that?

I give this one only four stars...which is better than the three stars I gave Verdi's "Falstaff", (Von Karajan production) - which is saying something, I suppose. There are worse operas than this one - like The Wolftrap production of "The Daughter of the Regiment; and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra production of "L'Italiana in Algeri". I hope this helps; I hope no one's feelings are particularly crushed by that - for there are always great performers even in bad productions. It is critically important to hire a Real Artist ( that is to say= not the big contributor's "cousin, grandson of that famous, so and so from years ago"- "therefore, he must be good"...groan... )...a Real Artist, please, when designing a set, and casting the parts, and hiring a director. In these three areas , great music can be so sullied, that the opera may not be performed again for a generation! And please, for the Love of God...no more minimalist sets. More than one reviewer has expressed the genuine emotion that they felt "cheated" by such stupid , lame sets. Alll of these artistic travesties , more often than not, can be traced to the directors and set designers.Or perhaps the control freak in the bean counter's office...also the big contributor's "cousin"

The seamstresses, unsung heroines that they really are...are usually spot on, with their designs by the way, even on a bare stage the costumes can help carry the day...but not really.

A good director , unfortunately , is not in the business of being "liked" by the performers....he often has to be "the bad cop" in order to stop the performers from being so full of themselves that they ruin the show by trying to steal the show. It's especially problematic in opera buffa. To be really effective at getting smiles out of the audience, you have to take yourself dead seriously, and "Not Realize that you are funny at all"!

This comment reminds me of "Gianni Schicci" by Puccini which I must reveiw next. That was very nicely done...one of those that stand out in your mind for a long time. I still can't get "O Mio Bambino Caro " out of my mind. and isn't that what we all want in an opera?