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Handel's opera "Ariodante" premiered in Israel - and it is an almost perfect experience - voila! culture

2023-02-24T18:02:36.417Z


The perfect performances of Hila Fahima and Daniela Skorka and the applause from the audience proved that there is also room for "small" productions, and they are no less impressive


Does not fall from Mozart.

Ariodante at the Opera House (Photo: Yossi Tzvekar)

I'll start with a confession: I really like baroque music.

specifically operas.

specifically of Handel.

The truth is that it is less a confession and more a disclosure.

The true confession is that I don't know how to explain why I love Baroque so much.

This is problematic because this fact undermines the whole idea of ​​criticism.

Beyond the typical sounds of the harpsichord, I know how to explain what characterizes the baroque style artistically.

I can ramble on about the balance between realism and emotion, mostly because I had to memorize it at the academic level years ago.

I can spot baroque architecture from a mile away, and like other musical geeks I love the soundtrack to Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon mainly because of Handel's style of influence on it.

But the bottom line is, I can't explain why I love this music so much.

Why do I consistently enjoy Handel's operas so much?

Maybe, as we were taught in Disney movies, you can't really explain love?



In light of the opening, it is almost needless to say that I really enjoyed the new production - and the first ever - of Ariodante, the greatest masterpiece among dozens of forgotten operas (literally, for about 200 years no one has performed it) by Handel.

There are few works of this scale that have not yet been staged in the Holy Land, so this is a fairly significant landmark in the annals of Israeli opera.



An elderly couple who sat next to me at the front of the hall wondered why the orchestra looked so different than usual.

Indeed, those who are used to seeing the opera orchestra immersed deep in the pit, were surprised to see the baroque orchestra, with its unique and authentic organs - which appear almost at the height of the main stage.

There is logic in this, because Handel's music can also be heard with the eyes.

It is not only the harpsichord we know from concerts of baroque music, but also rarer instruments such as violin or theorobo - which gives a visual meter clue: this is not going to be an evening of classical music, in the classical sense of the word.

Later in the evening when the opera choir joined the already elevated pit, it seemed as if two different performances were taking place in front of us: the main one held on the stage with the soloists, and the second in the pit, conducted by the French maestro Jean-Christophe Spinozzi.

Like many in this production, this was his debut in Israeli opera.

A star from another world, who happened to be born in Karmiel.

Hila Fahima (Photo: Yossi Tzvekar)

The Israeli audience had to devote almost four hours (including intermissions) to Handel's relatively gloomy work, but according to the full hall and the applause - no one was in a hurry to get anywhere.

Director David McVicker's choice to preserve the instrumental ballet sections from the original work proved to be correct, as at moments the grand and modern opera house seems to be reduced to a kind of small and intimate church portico.

Precisely in the impressive poetry sections, the building suddenly felt too big for Handel's simple romanticism.



Reinventing director Niv Hoffmann has marveled at recreating the 2018 Vienna State Opera production.

The compliments the Israeli Hila Fahima received at the time for her role as Delinda turned out to be justified.

Maybe it's even an understatement.

Since the Corona, we get to see Fahima more and more at the Israeli Opera House, and every time she manages to prove once again that she is on a level in her own right.

Her ability to make the role of Delinda feel small and simple is so impressive, precisely because it really isn't.

This is a quality of a truly great soloist, that she reaches the heights without showing the audience the great efforts that the role requires.

The fact that such a star was born here in Karmiel is just a bonus.



It is also necessary to stop and compliment Ed Layon, the British tenor who played Lorcanio (Ariodante's brother).

In his debut performance on Israel's stages, Laion gave such a perfect vocal performance that for a moment he felt like he would miss some entrance so that we would discover that he is human.

He didn't miss, and he didn't fake.

The audience also honored the Israeli Daniela Skorka with well-deserved applause, who had already starred in previous productions of the local opera, but something about her natural grace struck the character of Ginebra, probably the most complex and difficult role in the production.

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Daniela Skorka (Photo: Yossi Tzbaker)

As mentioned, I have no convincing explanation why I personally like Handel's operas so much.

Musically, I believe that "Ariodante" falls short of any Mozart opera, and certainly not of those of Puccini or Verdi.

Still, I can understand the choice of opera houses to experiment as little as possible with these works.

Their demands from the audience are enormous, and the artificial adjustments that are made to it today - a weak mezzo soprano in castrato roles, an exaggerated contra tenor in contralto roles - quite damage the charm.



On the other hand, the hall was full to the brim, and the returns were huge, so at least the demand for the baroque niche is there.

There is no shortage of smaller venues (the "Zuker" hall at the Culture Hall springs to mind, but of course there is no shortage of suitable venues outside of Tel Aviv) that would be suitable for smaller productions of this type.

Personally, I would love to not wait until next season for my next portion of Handel.

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  • The Israeli Opera

Source: walla

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