The Lone Ranger rides again tonight on Radio Clasica d'Espana:
SPECIAL PROGRAM: "Guillaume Tell" de Grétry depuis l'ORW
L'Opéra Royal de Wallonie termine sa saison avec une rareté absolue, le Guillaume Tell de Grétry – petit opéra d'à peine une heure et demi, lesquelles contrastent avec les quatre heures que dure le Guillaume Tell de Rossini – et en réunissant, autour du chef Claudio Scimone, un plateau de gloires vocales belges : Anne-Catherine Gillet, Marc Laho, Lionel Lhote et Liesbeth de Vos.
Guillaume Tell : Marc LAHO
Madame Tell : Anne-Catherine GILLET
Guesler : Lionel LHOTE
Marie : Liesbeth DEVOS
Melktal père : Patrick DELCOUR
Melktal fils : Stefan CIFOLELLI
Le voyageur : Roger JOAKIM
Direction musicale : Claudio SCIMONE
Orchestre et Choeurs : Opéra Royal de Wallonie (Durations vary)
QuoteThe Lone Ranger rides again
Hello, child of the 50s! You're showing your age, Mike. I made the "definition of culture" joke to some late-30s friends of ours a few months ago and was met with blank stares.
Sad but true, Mark! Even my joke about Barber in the White House fell on deaf ears!
Since the opera dates from 1791 this Tonto will for once not be by his companion's side...
Hi..Howe! You missed out on a wonderful performance, Alan. The Beethovian finale was stunning!
Just the finale, then? ;)
The butler did it?
Don't just take my word for it....
" The opera is remarkable for the power and consistency of its style; Gretry's writing emphasized the Revolutionary taste for advanced harmony, dynamic strength and a prominent role for the chorus, whose energy is unabated.
Guillaume Tell had 82 performances and was rearranged in 1828-9 to vie with Rossini' opera of the same name."
David Charlton
The New Groves Dictionary of Opera
This delightful, spirited opera comique is archived at Radio Clasica de Espana:
http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/audios/el-fantasma-de-la-opera/fantasma-opera-gretry-guillaume-tell-15-06-13/1875187/ (http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/audios/el-fantasma-de-la-opera/fantasma-opera-gretry-guillaume-tell-15-06-13/1875187/)
A world apart from Rossini's Guillaume Tell (my favorite unsung opera by the much-performed Rossini) but a very fine work in its own right, permeated by French and Swiss folk song-like tunes. Fascinating to think of the context: a story of a medieval Swiss uprising, first performed in the shadows of post-Revolutionary Paris.
Some exciting music in between the interminable spoken recitatives, I concede. But Beethovenian? Well, perhaps more like pre-Cherubini in the tradition that led to Berlioz, and to that extent quite fascinating. Thanks for the heads-up.