The Ghosts of Versailles
Los fantasmas de Versalles
Los fantasmas de Versalles
The Ghosts of Versailles es una ópera en dos actos compuesta por John Corigilano con libreto de William M. Hoffman, basado en la obra La Mère Coupable de Pierre Beaumarchais. Fue un encargo del Metropolitan Opera para celebrar su 100 aniversario. La obra se representó por primera vez en diciembre de 1991, el reparto incluía a Teresa Stratas (Maria Antoinette), Haken Hagegard (Beaumarchais), Gino Quilico (Figaro), Graham Clark (Bégearss), y Marilyn Horne (Samira), dirigidos por James Levine. IMDb
Corigliano considera esta obra como “una gran ópera bufa” ya que incorpora elementos de ambos estilos: de grand opéra -con sus efectos especiales, la necesidad de un montaje laborioso y el uso de grandes coros- y de opéra bouffon con sus diálogos ingeniosos y su música alegre. Los dos personajes principales son el fantasma de Maria Antonieta (que sigue bastante alterada por su decapitación) y el propio Beaumarchais (autor también de El barbero de Sevilla y Las bodas de Fígaro) que está locamente enamorado del fantasma de la Reina. Aunque no sea correspondido, ofrece curar la melancolía de la Reina con la representación de su nueva ópera, Figaro, y trata de cambiar la historia evitando la muerte de Maria Antonieta en la Revolución Francesa. Otros fantasmas advierten a Beaumarchais que esto pondrá en peligro su alma, pero él sólo desea la felicidad de Maria Antonieta. Cuando Beaumarchais está a punto de sacrificarse durante la función de su ópera, la Reina comprende la profundidad de su amor por ella de modo que rechaza “salvarse” y acepta que la historia siga como ha sido. Ambos quedan unidos para la eternidad.
Aunque tiene un carácter definitivamente tradicional, descubrir esta ópera ha sido una grata sorpresa. Parece que sólo se hizo una grabación en VHS para la televisión en 1993 y no suele formar parte del repertorio habitual.
Ghosts:
Woman with Hat Mezzo-soprano
Louis XIV, Bass-Baritone
Marquis, Tenor
Players in Opera:
Beaumarchais, Bass-Baritone
(Ghost of) Marie Antoinette, Soprano
Figaro, Baritone
Susanna, Mezzo-soprano
Count Almaviva, Tenor
Rosina, Soprano
Léon, Tenor
Florestine, Coloratura Soprano
Patrick Honoré Bégearss, Tenor
Samira, Mezzo-soprano
Act I
The ghosts of the court of Louis XVI arrive at the theatre of Versailles. Bored and listless, even the King is uninterested when Beaumarchais arrives and declares his love for the Queen. As Marie Antoinette is too haunted by her execution to reciprocate his love, Beaumarchais announces his intention to change her fate through the plot of his new opera 'A Figaro for Antonia.'
The cast of the opera-within-the-opera is introduced. Following the familiar escapades of the Figaro characters, Almaviva has divorced the Countess after she had a son, Leon, with Cherubino. Leon wants to marry Florestine, Almaviva's illegitimate daughter, but the Count has forbidden the union as retribution for his wife's infidelity and has promised Florestine instead to Bégearss.
Figaro enrages the Count by warning him that his trusted Bégearss is in fact a revolutionary spy. Figaro is fired, but overhears Bégearss and his servant Wilhelm hatching a plot to arrest the Count that evening at the Turkish Embassy when he sells the Queen's necklace to the English Ambassador. Figaro intercepts the plot by infiltrating the party, dressed as a dancing girl. During the outrageous performance of the Turkish singer Samira, Figaro steals the necklace from the Count before the sale can take place, and runs away.
Act II
Figaro returns only to defy Beaumarchais's intention that he return the necklace to the queen, as he wants to sell it to help the Almavivas escape. To put the story back on course, Beaumarchais enters the opera and shocks Figaro into submission by allowing him to witness the unfair trial of Marie.
The Count, swayed by his wife's wishes, rescinds his offer to Bégearss of his daughter's hand. Even though Figaro gives him the necklace, Bégearrs is enraged and sends the Spaniards to the prison where Marie Antoinette lingers.
Beaumarchais and Figaro, the only two to escape, arrive at the prison to try to rescue the Almavivas. They are shortly followed by Bérgeass whom Figaro denounces to the revolutionaries, revealing that he has kept the necklace rather than using it to feed the poor. Bégearss is carried off, the Almavivas escape to America and Beaumarchais is left with the keys to the Queen's cell. But the power of his love has made the Queen accept her fate and she refuses to let Beaumarchais alter the course of history. Marie is executed, and the pair is united in Paradise.
Artículos (en inglés): Other People’s Music: Corigliano at the Met y On Contemporary Opera
AVI File Details
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Name.........: Corigliano - The Ghosts Of Versailles - Stratas, Horne, Fleming, Quilico, Hagegard; J Levine, Met, 19-12-1991(By Onegin).avi
Filesize.....: 1,801 MB (or 1,845,012 KB or 1,889,293,172 bytes)
Runtime......: 02:56:09 (316,762 fr)
Video Codec..: XviD
Video Bitrate: 1202 kb/s
Audio Codec..: 0x0055(MP3) ID'd as MPEG-1 Layer 3
Audio Bitrate: 224 kb/s (112/ch, stereo) CBR
Frame Size...: 640x464 (1.38:1) [=40:29]
(La falta de calidad de estos archivos que estoy trayendo no es un empeño, es que a lo que parece, no hay otra cosa)
Corigliano - The Ghosts Of Versailles - Stratas, Horne, Fleming, Quilico, Hagegard; J Levine, Met, 19-12-1991(By Onegin).avi
