Daniel Auber Still Shocks Brussels With "La Muette de Portici"

"Nearly everyone in Belgium has heard of The Mute Girl of Portici, the opera that, in 1830, sparked the Belgian revolution. But few have ever seen it performed. That could change, however, because the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie is staging a new performance for the upcoming opera season. Except that it won’t be produced in Brussels but in Paris as a co-production with the Opéra Comique. 'We did it knowingly,' says the director of La Monnaie, Peter De Caluwe. Staging the opera now, in Brussels, would not only be an artistic act but it would also be a political manifesto and interpreted as an argument in favour of Belgian unity at a moment when the political situation is precarious. 'It isn’t the right time,' says Peter De Caluwe, 'because it would raise the question of whether or not we need Belgium. I want to withdraw opera from the debate.' Writer Geert Van Istendael, who had to learn excerpts of The Mute Girl of Portici by heart in primary school, agrees with Peter De Caluwe. 'Staging the opera in Brussels today, in the political swamp in which we are wading would be a crushing blow,' he said. On August 16, discussions resumed over the formation of a Belgian government. Mistrust between the Flemish and the Walloons runs so high, that negotiations have been on-going for fourteen months. King Albert, one of the last symbols of unity left, last month blasted politicians for failing to find a compromise and warned against Poujadisme – an allusion to the French populist movement of the 1950s. In such a climate, staging The Mute Girl of Portici is considered dynamite on the political front." Find out more about this opera's politically charged history by reading the whole story here. [Source]

Listen to June Anderson sing "Arbitre d'une vie" by clicking here.

Listen to Alfredo Kraus and Jean-Philippe Lafont sing "Amour sacré de la Patrie" by clicking here.

Listen to Frieda Hempel sing "O Moment enchanté" by clicking here.

Lise Noblet as Fenella in La Muette de Portici 

Information about the artwork on the right: Color lithograph by Achille Devéria, Paris, [184-]. First performed at the Paris Opéra in 1828, La Muette de Portici was an opera-ballet with music by Daniel Auber, choreography by Jean-Louis Aumer, a singing hero (the fisherman Masaniello), and a dancing heroine (the mute Fenella). The work, set in Naples during a seventeenth-century revolt against the Spaniards, capitalized on the Romantic era's fascination with local color, evident in the treatment of Fenella's costume. Many French works of the Romantic period had Italian settings and featured classicized versions of Italian folk dances. Cia Fornaroli Collection, Jerome Robbins Dance Division. [Source]

More information about the opera, original cast list and a detailed synopsis after the jump.

Le Fils De Cadix: Ismael Jordi

In 1973 tenor Ismael Jordi was born in Jerez de la Frontera, a municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia in southwestern Spain situated midway between the sea and the mountains. His great-grandmother was the only one with musical abilities in his family. He was a semi-professional soccer player, but was always interested in singing. He took voice lessons with Argentinian tenor Daniel Munoz.

He attended Madrid's Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía starting in 1998. He studied voice with Alfredo Kraus for two years. He went on to take lessons with Suso Mariategui, Edelmiro Arnaltes, Teresa Berganza and Manuel Cid. He currently studies voice with Angelo Capobianco in Verona.