Review of Gli Amori di Teolinda

Review of Gli Amori di Teolinda

Tel Aviv, Israel

June 1 and 2, 2003

David Faiman

Venue: Concert Hall of the Tel Aviv Museum, Tel Aviv

Israel Chamber Orchestra

Elie Cheifetz, Clarinet

Michal Shamir, Soprano

Conducted by Mats Liljefors

Perhaps the first half of the concert went a bit too well! Mozart's overture "The Abduction from the Seraglio" and the Sinfonia Concertante with 4 wind soloists (Omri Raveh, ob, Sharon Adar, cla, Susanna Chen, bas and Haim Sened, hor), K 297, which for some inexplicable reason the experts at one time had doubted was by Mozart.

How come too well? The following snippet of dialog, in free translation, was overheard, coming from the couple who had been sitting next to us, as we filed out for the intermission:

He: Giacomo who????

She: That must be that Italian guy who died last week.

He: Oh hell, modern music again! Why must they always spoil these concerts by stuffing something modern down our throats?

And they didn't return for the second half!

Imagine missing not just one of the only two performances of Gli Amori di Teolinda in Israel's history, but the first stage setting of any Meyerbeer work here for nearly 80 years! For that is what that couple did at the Tel Aviv museum on June 2, 2003, after Mats Liljefors had come all the way from Sweden in order to conduct the Israel Chamber Orchestra with Michal Shamir (soprano), Eli Heifetz (clarinet) and a male chorus from the "Philharmonia Singers". Well, my wife and I didn't. We drove the two-and-a-half hours from Sede Boqer in the Negev desert, and then back again - on an adrenaline "high" after it was all over.

There are, of course, many advantages that a live concert has over a recording. But one that is often overlooked because of its relative infrequency is the electrified reaction of an entire audience who, together, discover something unexpectedly new and wonderful. Many MFC members will recall having just such a feeling at London's Royal Festival Hall last October, all the way through the first performance in living memory of Margherita d'Anjou. Of course, at an opera it is permissible to express one's delight at the end of each individual number, but for Meyerbeer's "Dramatic Cantata" (as it was billed in Hebrew) we had to hold it all in until the end.

First thoughts:

(1) "Twelve microphone stands on such a small stage: Hope nobody thumps one";

(2) Expectant silence;

(3) Silken orchestral introduction - Haydn; no. Beethoven; no. Meyerbeer; yes!

(4) Too bad that Haydn was dead: He'd probably have liked it. I wonder whether Beethoven did.

I won't say very much about the performance because (a) the recording will be available for everyone to judge, (b) I'm not a music critic, (c) my particular feelings have no objective significance. However, perhaps a few comments may help to fill a small part of that chasm that exists between listening to a recording and actually being there.

First, the hint of a self-satisfied smile on Eli Heifetz's face and a wicked twinkle in his eyes conveyed to perfection Teolinda's deceitful lover. But the hug he gave Michal Shamir at the conclusion of her heart-rending pleas brought instant forgiveness from the audience.

Second, as in Margherita, there are all kinds of surprising things going on in the orchestra, which I had never noticed on the Albrecht/Varady/Fadle recording. They are worth listening out for because they form a most tangible and characteristic part of Meyerbeer's musical scene painting.

Third, this is true not only among the orchestral players. The chorus too, although limited to male voices, also creates some remarkable effects that I hope will have come through on the recording.

Finally, even in this youthful work, the 25-year-old Meyerbeer had already learned to torture his solo singers. When I realized that the petite Ms. Shamir was, with apparent effortlessness, encompassing soprano and contralto tessituri (particularly in her poignantly sweet pianissimi) without loss of breath, it made me stop breathing!

But here I shall end because I am beginning to allow my personal feelings to enter the picture.

Hopefully there were no technical hitches with the recording so that this small but significant step in Meyerbeer's return to fame will be able to reach a wider audience than the small Tel Aviv auditorium (albeit with two empty seats) could contain.

David Faiman

Sde Boqer, Israel

June 3, 2003

Note from Meyerbeer Fan Club:

Meyerbeer Fan Club looks forward to offering a recording of the Tel Aviv Gli Amori within the coming months (to MFC members only)