Well, is it a Swiss Hit or a Swiss Miss? Like the Laurel and Hardy film of the same name it has some wonderful moments but some awful quarter hours. Funnily enough, that is exactly what Rossini said about Wagner's operas. At four hours Rossini's William Tell is only slightly shorter than Gotterdammerung so pots and kettles come to mind. This 1988 recording is, as far as I can see, the only recording of Rossini's William Tell available on DVD. Also, I had to be content with a recording in Italian rather than the original French. This opera has a high reputation but is rarely performed, possibly because of its length, its difficulty of staging and the high tessitura of the tenor role. I got the DVD for Christmas because I wanted to find out for myself if it really is the neglected masterpiece that it is supposed to be. It turns out to be a very serious piece with no sign of the the showy bel canto arias that enliven Rossini's earlier works.
The production gets off to a good start with a rollicking performance of the famous overture by La Scala's orchestra under Riccardo Muti. At one stage Muti urges the orchestra onwards with both hands in front of him as if he is holding the reins, almost in imitation of the Lone Ranger's gallop. Apart from the overture, listeners might be surprised to recognise a couple of other tunes in this opera. Some of the music made its way into the ballet La Boutique Fantastique and one tune is better known as a maudlin ballad by Andy Stewart called A Scottish Soldier.
When the curtain goes up we are immediately aware of the practical problems in staging this opera. La Scala has to resort to a series of back-projected images to conjure up the mountains, lakes and rivers of Switzerland. Costumes are 19th century rather than 14th century but it is not unusual to set operas in the period when they were written rather than in the period they depict. The cast is unprepossessing and given to grand operatic gestures. La Scala does tend to cast purely on singing ability rather than choosing singers who look the part and can act. Giorgio Zancanaro is an uncharismatic William Tell although he has a good baritone voice. He is at his best in the Resta Immobile (Hold Still) aria immediately before he shoots the apple from his son's head. The ample-bosomed Amelia Felle plays Jemmy, Tell's son in the most unconvincing casting in a trouser role that I have ever seen. Still, Felle has a sweet soprano voice and it is quite a rarity to have a soprano rather than a mezzo in a trouser role. Cheryl Studer cannot make much of her role as Mathilde. Her big aria Selva Opaca (Gloomy Forest) is, in fact, rather gloomy and not what we are used to hearing from Rossini heroines. The best performance comes from Chris Merritt as her lover Arnoldo. He handles this very high role well with only his bat squeak top note sounding rather unmusical. His O Muto Asil is the highlight of the production.
We all want to see the apple shot off Jemmy's head and at La Scala this must have been quite a coup de théâtre. Unfortunately the director of this film cheats Hollywood-style so we see Tell fire his crossbow and then cut to the arrow embedded in the apple. If you play it back in slow motion you see that the arrow is not fired at all, it withdraws into the crossbow. On the whole this is a rather disappointing production of a difficult to stage opera. I shall have to suspend judgement on whether or not this really is Rossini's masterpiece until a better production comes along
The production gets off to a good start with a rollicking performance of the famous overture by La Scala's orchestra under Riccardo Muti. At one stage Muti urges the orchestra onwards with both hands in front of him as if he is holding the reins, almost in imitation of the Lone Ranger's gallop. Apart from the overture, listeners might be surprised to recognise a couple of other tunes in this opera. Some of the music made its way into the ballet La Boutique Fantastique and one tune is better known as a maudlin ballad by Andy Stewart called A Scottish Soldier.
When the curtain goes up we are immediately aware of the practical problems in staging this opera. La Scala has to resort to a series of back-projected images to conjure up the mountains, lakes and rivers of Switzerland. Costumes are 19th century rather than 14th century but it is not unusual to set operas in the period when they were written rather than in the period they depict. The cast is unprepossessing and given to grand operatic gestures. La Scala does tend to cast purely on singing ability rather than choosing singers who look the part and can act. Giorgio Zancanaro is an uncharismatic William Tell although he has a good baritone voice. He is at his best in the Resta Immobile (Hold Still) aria immediately before he shoots the apple from his son's head. The ample-bosomed Amelia Felle plays Jemmy, Tell's son in the most unconvincing casting in a trouser role that I have ever seen. Still, Felle has a sweet soprano voice and it is quite a rarity to have a soprano rather than a mezzo in a trouser role. Cheryl Studer cannot make much of her role as Mathilde. Her big aria Selva Opaca (Gloomy Forest) is, in fact, rather gloomy and not what we are used to hearing from Rossini heroines. The best performance comes from Chris Merritt as her lover Arnoldo. He handles this very high role well with only his bat squeak top note sounding rather unmusical. His O Muto Asil is the highlight of the production.
We all want to see the apple shot off Jemmy's head and at La Scala this must have been quite a coup de théâtre. Unfortunately the director of this film cheats Hollywood-style so we see Tell fire his crossbow and then cut to the arrow embedded in the apple. If you play it back in slow motion you see that the arrow is not fired at all, it withdraws into the crossbow. On the whole this is a rather disappointing production of a difficult to stage opera. I shall have to suspend judgement on whether or not this really is Rossini's masterpiece until a better production comes along
