John Corigliano The Ghosts of Versailles opera to libretto by William M. Hoffman. Directed 2019 by Jay Lesenger at the Royal Opera of Versailles. Stars singers Teresa Perrotta (Marie Antoinette), Jonathan Bryan (Beaumarchais), Kayla Siembieda (Susanna), Ben Schaefer (Figaro), Brian Wallin (Count Almaviva), Joanna Latini (Countess Rosina), Peter Morgan (Louis XVI), Christian Sanders (Bégearss), Emily Misch (Florestine), and Spencer Britten (Léon), all from the Glimmerglass Young Artists program, as well as dancers from the Glimmerglass Festival. Joseph Colaneri conducts the Chorus of the Glimmerglass Festival and the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal. Directed for TV by Olivier Simmonet. Sung in English. Title includes a Blu-ray disc, a DVD, and a CD. Released 2021, Blu-ray disc has 5.1 Dolby Digital sound. Grade: NA
After 7 years in composition, this opera premiered at the Met in 1991. It has since been produced in various forms a handful of times. Previous recordings of this consist of a VHS, a Laserdisc, and a 2-SACD audio album. (The show may be available via Met Opera on Demand, and there is a weak YouTube video of the Met show.) If this title is any good at all, it could be the only modern recording that you can buy.
Ghosts of Versailles is a comedy designed to provide a field day for (1) opera experts, (2) opera trivia fanatics, and (3) graduate students in history. Will this have appeal to the rest of us? Well, this recording will likely be the best way for the rest of us to find out. To fully enjoy this, it appears one must bone up a bit on the astonishing life of Pierre Beaumarchais, Rossini’s Barber of Seville, Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, the history of the American Revolution, and the history of the French Revolution. So even if you don’t much care for this opera, you will learn a lot from checking it out.
Peter Quantrill reviewed this disc in the September 2021 Gramophone at pages 72-73. He reports that cuts in the complicated libretto and reductions in the score have improved the opera. He also praises the conducting and the young singers. Finally, he applauds the mise-en-scène stating, “The pitch-perfect Dangerous Liaisons costumes, gestures, and designs look right at home in the renovated opera house at Versailles.”
The alternative view (of an expert writing for experts) is different. See Joe Cadagin’s clever if caustic review in the October 2021 Opera News at pages 65-66. Joe complains that the opera is “stripped to its barest elements for export purposes, eliminating the kinds of quirky details and side gags that made the Met’s 1991 premiere such a delight.” He goes on to say that the young singers appear to be overwhelmed by the thought that they are singing in the same room where Louis 16 and Marie Antoinette got married.
The official trailer below is encouraging even if you are not an expert:
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