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José Cura gives a flawed performance as Andrea Chénier in TDK's new DVD of Giordano's opera.
Like Cyrano de Bergerac, the hero of Giordano's Andrea Chénier is both a soldier and a poet. The martial air of the warrior and the lyricism of the poet is a tricky combination for a tenor. Plácido Domingo can achieve it, as he reminded us recently in Cyrano at Covent Garden, but what of his former protégé, the Argentinean José Cura?
On stage, Cura does have a certain physical presence and makes a convincing soldier, which can't be said of some finer tenors. He can stand alongside Domingo, Mario del Monaco and Franco Corelli for masculine strength and forthrightness but not, unfortunately, for singing. His high notes can be quite exciting but lower down, there's an unattractive growly quality and a tendency to croon. He certainly has power but not beauty and there tends to be a dullness about much of this performance.
In the first two acts, Cura seems strangely absent and unengaged but he livens up in the courtroom scene towards the end of Act 3 during Si, fui soldato. It's difficult to believe that this Chénier has forsaken the sword for the pen. The Improvviso (Un dì all'azzurro spazio) in Act 1 is adequate but not thrilling. There's not much passion in it, which is also noticeably lacking in the great Act 2 love scene, a climax as big as anything in Puccini. It isn't helped by a lack of chemistry between Cura and his Maddelena, the Russian soprano Maria Guleghina. She sings well throughout and is particularly impressive in her big Act 3 aria (La Mamma morta). The third principal is baritone Carlo Guelfi as Gérard who, like the tenor, takes a while to warm up. He comes into his own in Act 3 for the Nemico della patria aria and his attempted seduction of Maddelena, where he is suitably menacing.
Of the minor characters, Carlo Cigni as Chénier's friend and accomplice Roucher is impressive and Pierre Lefèbvre is appropriately weaselly as the Incredibile. The Countess, Cinzia De Mola, fails to make much impact in her brief Act 1 appearance, while Giacinta Nicotra gives a lively performance as Bersi.
The production is directed by Giancarlo del Monaco, the son of Mario, who was one of the finest Chéniers of his era. He also designed both the costumes and the sets and I can't help thinking that he's taken on slightly too much. He doesn't create sufficient atmosphere in most of the scenes and the sets are acceptable but not impressive. Act 1 is elegant; Act 2 is dominated by a downstage obelisk with a statue of Marat, dead in his bath, based on the famous David painting. The courtroom scene is simple but attractive and Act 4 follows straight on, as a huge grille drops at the front of the stage and serves as Chénier's prison. I'm not sure that the final image fully conveys the protagonists' fate.
The orchestra, under Carlo Rizzi, gives a competent reading of Giordano's lively score. The performance was filmed early in 2006 in the beautiful Teatro Comunale di Bologna.
Overall, the production is a little bland. However, I have to say it's not a bad addition to the currently-available DVDs of the opera. Whether you go for the Domingo, Carreras, Del Monaco or this new Cura release will probably depend on your taste in tenors.
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