Dukas Ariane et Barbe-Bleue

 Day 46

Dukas Ariane et Barbe-Bleue

Soloists

BBC Singers

BBC Symphony Orchestra

Leon Botstein

Like everybody else I came to Dukas via The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. I played it against recently - a great if nerve wracking experience for a contra bassoonist - and it reinforced my view that it is one of the truly great short orchestral pieces - perhaps only Chabrier’s España rivals it for brilliance. Chabrier is one of my enthusiasm and I am sure he will feature in this series.  I’ve got to know La Péri and the symphony but this was my first experience of this opera.

What a piece - it is one of the very best discoveries so far this year. It is based on a play by Maeterlinck and has links to both Bluebeards Castle and Pelléas e Mélisande . Indeed at one point Dukas briefly quotes form Debussy’s opera. The title is rather deceptive as Bluebeard plays a very minor role in the opera - he has 10 mins at the most of singing in the First Act, is off stage in Act Two and appears, but doesn’t sing in Act 3. 

Dukas has a complete command of the orchestra and the score is full of magical touches. Almost every bar has something of interest. Then the use of the choir is highly distinctive with a lot of wordless singing off stage. This features right from the beginning and gives the opera a hugely impressive start. Dukas control of pacing is superb, with some beautiful moments of contemplation but also some really terrifying climaxes. 

Nobody but a Frenchman could have written this music - hearing it cold you would probably guess it was written by Debussy - but it is also a reminder of the huge influence that Parsifal had on the musical imagination of late 19th century composers. The synthesis of styles is fascinating.

The only reservation is the vocal material. There is only one real aria (at the end of Act 2, where the spirit of Wagner is most obvious) but elsewhere much of the singing is in that typical French style which is half way between recitative and melody. My French is just about good enough to give me a rough idea about what is going on but not good enough to pick up all of the nuances of the language and it has to be said that at times this constant arioso style can be a bit wearying.

The orchestral playing on this recording was phenomenal but I had reservations about the casting of the main character - Ariane. She is on stage more or less all the time and to a large extent carries the opera. She is described in the score as a soprano but in this recording the role was sung by a mezzo, and one who frankly sounded rather too old and wobbly to really carry off the part. In much of the first act she is in dialogue with her nurse - an older character sung by a contralto. Here it was difficult to tell them apart at times, indeed Ariane sometimes sounded older than her nurse, which can’t be right.

So that was a drawback to this performance but it shouldn’t detract from the fact that this is a marvellous opera. I was constantly fascinated by the score and am sure that on repeated listening it will reveal even more of its treasures.

Dukas is certainly not a one work composer. His output may be small but everything I have heard of his is of the very highest quality.