PARIDE ED ELENA
When there came an
opportunity to see - performed for the first time in Finland - Paride ed Elena
by Christoph Willibald Gluck, of course, I had to travel to Jyväskylä, where
the local University of Applied Sciencies with some outside help did a
production of this opera. And I must say the opera was really worth the visit
to Jyväskylä.
The storyline is about
what happened before the Trojan War, how Paris seduces Helen, so the story
itself is not exactly spell-bounding. There aren’t that many people in the
opera, but the three main characters get a lot of fine music to sing.
The production was
made by Ville Saukkonen, who was also responsible for the setting and the costumes.
I think he succeeded in all of them. The production breathed and even though
the setting and costumes were rather simple, they suited the opera. Lights by
Arto Saarelainen were partly good, but sometimes, at least I, hoped for more
light on the singing characters.
And the singers! I was
absolutely flabbergasted that it had been possible to find so great singers for
such a challenging opera. Especially I have to mention Taru Haili in the role
of Paris. Absolutely fabulous singing technique, her voice never faltered and
she was in control of it all the time. The other impressive singer was Miia
Saari in the role of Helen. When both these main characters, in addition to
beautiful singing, also managed to sink deep feelings into their singing, the
over two hours spent listening to the opera practically flew by.
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