Bizet/Halevy - Noe (Jourdan, Courtis, Schmidt) [DVD]

On Halevy's death,he left an incomplete grand opera based on the biblical story of Noah. His daughter turned the sketches over to her husband, Georges Bizet. Bizet orchestrated Halevy's sketches and added both original and self borrowed material to complete the score. Bizet was not quite finished with his realization at his own untimely death, Mme. Bizet turned the score over to a third (unnamed) person. One would think that this hybrid work would be weak, but it isn't. It is dramatically vivid and in its best moments, deeply moving. The melodies of both composers are wonderful, and Bizet's orchestration is brilliant.The performance from the opera house at Compiegne is musically very strong, but the stage production is problematic. Biblical tableaux sit side by side with a modern dress S & M "Cities of the Plain" ballet.Traditional views of ancient Jewish and Arabic costume become decorated with machine guns in the second act, and the flood sequence uses documentary footage of the recent floods in Southeast Asia. Noah's ark looks like a cross between a coffin and a submarine. It isn't boring for a minute, but it often doesn't make much sense.The overall sweep of this score is remarkable, and it is amazing that it didn't establish itself as a repertoire piece.