Il crociato in Egitto

While not one of Meyerbeer's better operas, like 'Les Huguenots' and 'Robert Le Diable' (which have more compelling stories), 'Il Crociato in Egitto' is a very interesting opera historically (it being Meyerbeer's final Italian opera) and is well worth hearing.

'Il Crociato in Egitto' is a long opera and is very demanding for the musicians and singers with its vocal demands and massive structure, which is true of all Meyerbeer. The story is not the most compelling in the world, with a good number of twists and turns but not an awful lot of action in between, but Meyerbeer's music as usual is wonderful, especially the three duets and the huge scene for soprano.

This is a very good performance of 'Il Crociato in Egitto' (a shame that it's the only, known to this viewer that is, production available on DVD for the opera), and is one of the better productions of any of Meyerbeer's operas that are available on DVD (which is a very limited number, only six or seven overall), with the best being the productions of 'Dinorah' and 'L'Africaine' and the weakest being the German production of 'Les Huguenots'. The Joan Sutherland production while not perfect was much better, ROH's production of 'Robert Le Diable' fared nowhere near as badly but a classic case of being well-performed but perplexing.

Flaws here are very few. Although the chorus sing absolutely beautifully, they were very unmotivated in their acting, almost like they didn't know what was happening in the action or even worse that they didn't know what the story was. While the singing is excellent on the whole, there is nearly always a weak link in an opera production cast and it is true here with this 'Il Croatio in Egitto'. That weak link was Fernando Portari, who has a rather nasal and strained sound with a lack of agility (the Colouratura is incredibly ungainly in fact) and constant register breaks that sounds ugly and is ill-suited to Bel Canto. He is a quite stiff actor too.

However, the production fares quite well visually. The sets are austere and very simple in detail, but evocatively lit and quite atmospheric. The costumes are suitably colourful, appropriate historically and don't look cheap or drab. Pier Luigi Pizzi's staging has somewhat of a "less is more" approach, but he succeeds in never making the drama static or interminably dull which considering the nature of the story could have easily have happened, neither does he make it bloated or overblown. He makes the characters, their situations, chemistry and conflicts constantly interesting, with his direction of the chorus being the only weak spot in his directing.

Moreover, this 'Il Crociato in Egitto' is outstanding musically and a contender for the production's best aspect. The orchestra play their structurally massive and virtuosic music with equal beauty of tone, energy and virtuosity, and as said the chorus sing beautifully, one just wishes their acting was more inspired. They are authoritatively and sympathetically conducted throughout.

Of the mostly excellent cast, with only Portari underwhelming, particularly good are Patrizia Ciofi and especially Michael Maniaci. Starting with Maniaci, he is a wonder and apparently learnt the role in two weeks, not impossible in opera to learn a whole role that quickly but that Maniaci learnt a very difficult role (due to it being written for a voice-type that is not around much now, and being written in a wide range of registers that mezzos would fine too low and most counter-tenors would find too high) in such a short space of time and somehow made it look and sound like he had been singing it for longer. He sounds at ease in this very wide range, and it is a rich and pure voice that is also very flexible and intelligently used. He is a dignified and passionate actor too, and gives it his all, he holds everything together and does a quite frankly outstandingly good job at it.

Patrizia Ciofi's voice may sound a tad small for Meyerbeer, but it is more suited to her role here than it was in ROH's 'Robert Le Diable'. Regardless, her singing is very graceful and beautiful and Bel Canto comes easy to her, while she matches Maniaci in dignity and passion as well as emotional content. Marco Vinco has a very resonant bass voice, coping well with the low Tessitura without sounding forced or too much of a growl. He acts with authority and is a reasonable threat, though could have been more sinister.

Laura Polverelli shows the most energy and character dramatically as Felicia, the spurned woman role, and her full and warm voice, if lacking in elegance in places, comes through strongly in ensembles. Silvia Paesani and Jorio Zennaro are also impressive.

Overall, a very interesting and very well executed production, apart from a dramatically lacklustre chorus and a weak tenor. 8/10 Bethany Cox