What are we to make of Robert le Diable in the 21st century? Premiered in Paris in 1831, Meyerbeer's opera took Europe by storm and made its composer, for a while, the most important musician in the world. The subject – the moral redemption of the sensualist son of a mortal woman and a demon – touched prurient 19th-century nerves. And the music, combining florid Italianate lyricism with progressive harmony and instrumentation, was considered shockingly original.
Its eclecticism now strikes us as leading to stylistic disunity. If you wrote operas in the 19th century, however, Meyerbeer was the competition, and Robert le Diable became one of the most imitated scores in musical history. That bits of it sound like Verdi, Wagner, Berlioz or Offenbach is because the composers all drew on it, even while professing to detest it.
Its first outing at Covent Garden for more than 100 years comes as a major revelation of its historical importance. It's a shame, therefore, that the Royal Opera entrusted the production to Laurent Pelly, who directs it with knowing flippancy rather than taking it seriously. Choruses of knights sway in time to the music before setting off to their tourneys on multicoloured plastic horses. Robert's virginal foster sister, Alice (Marina Poplavskaya), and his demonic father, Bertram (John Relyea), fight for his soul in front of a flimsy-looking pasteboard hell's gate. Even Lionel Hoche's brilliantly creepy choreography for the still-notorious ballet of ghostly nuns doesn't alleviate the pervasively camp tone.
It's decently conducted by Daniel Oren, and there's some amazing singing. Bryan Hymel as Robert and Patrizia Ciofi as his beloved Isabelle tackle their immense roles with tremendous panache and stamina. Relyea sounds good but isn't quite dangerous enough, though Poplavsksya's cool tone and grand delivery make her a fine Alice. It's worth hearing, but it would all be so much better with a staging that treated the work with greater respect.
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