San Carlo di Napoli: L'Incantatrice, Tchaïkovski 24-II-2017

Such a treat to be at the San Carlo again!
For a rare opera  also, one I had not even heard of before, and part of an excellent trip to Naples organised by an association of Italian teachers in Aix en Provence aiming at Italian language and Culture. We had three wonderful guides: a teacher, head of the group, a musicologist, Olivier Braux.
 I am following talks 'Thèmes et Variations' under his lead and he is also "Le Président des amis du Festival "(Aix en Provence). For the architecture and paintings we had the very charming teacher, writer, photographer Ferranti Ferrante as a guide.  I re-discovered Pompeii with him. His collaboration with Dominique Fernandez can be appreciated in some precious books.
He was also overflowing with enthusiasm on Naples baroque churches. So we had a wondeful and rich time following his steps. Going to Oplontis and Caserta with him was like a dream back to ancient times. The Villa dei Misteri in Pompeii during this visit offered some clues while listening to his detailed analysis of the various frescoes. The eyesight interactions of the characters are  disquieting and growing on the memory, even when it is possible to read  all about the Dionysiac cult which was popular in those days in Campania.
Naples is already an open stage to gaze at but with such guides, walking in la Saluta and looking at the some crumbling XVII th century palaces from their courtyards, was such a rich journey in past and present times. Before launching myself in this five day trip I read the amazing Elena Ferrante quartet.

When we visited in great details San Giovanni a Carbonara I had the vision of  the violence  of this site Lila depicts to her alter ego friend Lenù, although the place was so quiet, with children playing football on the small piazza in front of the double stairways to the church.  I had the feeling I could sit in the small garden and rest there for ever! I noticed the shopping bag hanging from the rope ready to go down then up to the upper floor, full of grocery and fruit.
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 Walking several times  through Spaccanapoli reminded me of the atmosphere of these four neapolitan novels.

In the National Museum of Architecture I even  had a vision of my discrete diva in Roman times, before the Vesuvio terrific outburst.






The evening at the opera house: a wonderful discovery of a rarely performed Tchaïkovski's Opera: L'incantatrice

The San Carlo, the oldest opera house in Europe,  has seen all the great Italian composers' works in the 18th and 19th centuries as well as the great singers from the neapolitan Castrat school, all the great singers too like La Colbran, Duprez, Nourrit, but Caruso once booed at the San Carlo never wished to come back. ( he was from Napoli! )
The Russian cast was fine: excellent for sopranos and the mezzo soprano. The bass, who is both the Prince's counsellor and the wizard at the end, was disappointing. The young prince, a tenor was also underpowered but had nice looks and a lot of chemistry with the charming Incantatrice. I was pleased to be able to follow the English subtitles (although as a matter of principle I do not like them). 
The music was really what mattered most that night. It was possible to find the same intonations as in
Eugene Onegin for the melodies even more in Kouma's parts: Like Tatiana, she declares her passionate love to the young Prince and unlike Tatiana, she has a positive answer, although not spontaneous, from the Prince ( after having seduced his father). The drama becomes a family one, with the help of underground powers, but in this setting where Kouma keeps a posh red light district in a fasnionable Empire style house (  beautiful red and black dresses for all of them) : the spell   is embodied  by flowers held by  her flock of courtisanes flirting around men. At the last scene when the wizard should show his kind of black magic, his greenish face and the mouldy tree trunk are hardly frightening, figuring his den in marshy land...
I had the impression the music was like a kind of rehearsal for Eugene Onegin but it came between Eugene Onegin and the Queen of Spades. It was like a continuous melodic variation on the theme of Lenski at times, very romantic and sad to my ears. No proper duets or  distinctive arias but an amazing orchestral work, with distinctive folk tunes in the first act and wonderful ensembles, even a huge a cappella one, ten singers all together with beautiful effects.
(It is possible to find two complete samples of this opera on youtube).
There is also a Forum opera review which also helped me to get into the story before attending the opera.

Lioubov Sokolova, playing the Princess who is deprived of her husband's love and above all of her young son's affection because of Kouma's spell was by far my favourite singer that night. Her dark and rich voice had some accents reminding me of the Queen of Spades.