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When the Royal Opera announced their plans for 2006-7 last week, one of the main themes of the season was revealed to be French opera.
And the season is to open with two concert performances of Jacques Fromental Halévy's 1835 opera La Juive.
In anticipation of this, Deutsche Grammophon has jumped in early and re-released this recording conducted by Antonio de Almeida from 1989.
After a slightly tepid start, the opera and the recording grow in stature, and now I can see why the ROH wants to turn its attention in this direction. The mixture of intense solo and duet passages and big choral and ballet sections make this a varied opera, with plenty to keep the ears pinned back in anticipation of the next surprise.
From the evocative introduction to Act 1 to the abrupt shock of the final execution scene, La Juive can never justly be accused of being boring. The story is rather convoluted, but also moving. Eleazar the Jew and his daughter Rachel face persecution from the Christians in Constance in the year 1414, though Cardinal Brogni preaches forgiveness to the people. Prince Leopold is secretly in love with Rachel but married to Princess Eudoxie. Rachel and her father are sent to their deaths for heresy; the love of a Christian and a Jew is unacceptable to society. But at the last minute, Eleazar reveals all too late that Rachel is the long-lost daughter of Cardinal Brogni, and therefore a Christian.
The role of Eleazar is a big vehicle for a star tenor, in this case José Carreras (Dennis O'Neill will take the role in September). He sings with passion – the famous aria 'Rachel, quand du Seigneur' from Act IV is ardently done, for instance – but elsewhere there is strain. In the Act 1 finale Carreras borders on the cringe-worthy, in fact, with tight upper notes and audible gasps for breath. On the whole, however, the impressive characterisation overrides one's reservations about his occasional lack of vocal finesse.
I never felt that Julia Varady, wife of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, got enough praise for her dramatic skills when she was still singing on the stage – nor did she make enough recordings. All the more reason to welcome this reissue of her portrayal of Rachel, torn between her love for her Christian lover and her love for her Jewish father. The highlight here is Rachel's Act 2 Romance, 'Il va venir', which is sung with amazing powers of expression.
The American soprano June Anderson is at the height of her career in this recording. She sings the role of Princess Eudoxie rather wonderfully, with the Bolero in Act 3 sung with a luscious tone and powerful seduction. The Eudoxie-Rachel duet at the start of Act IV is surprisingly psychological, the former begging the later to help save Leopold, and brings out the best in Anderson and Varady.
Ferruccio Furlanetto is in good voice as the Cardinal, lending weight to the climactic final scene in particular. And Dalmacio Gonzales is, if anything, in better voice than his fellow tenor Carreras in the role of Leopold. He makes something of a potentially dull character, and phrases very beautifully indeed.
The Philharmonia is in excellent form under conductor Antonio de Almeida for this daring venture. The upper wind instruments are especially good, evoking the exotic times and locations. Although the ballet music in the third act is so extensive, it doesn't drag on for a minute; it's so convincingly played that it seems an integral part of the action. The Act III finale is very moving, the equal of a contemporary Donizetti concertato.
Elsewhere, Almeida does lose something of the tension of the piece. This, combined with Carreras under strain deprives the recording of four-star status, but it's a fascinating opera that deserves to be explored.
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