Rossini's "William Tell" shows that revolution can work well on the opera stage
By E.B.
“HOW burdensome is life! We no longer have a fatherland!” William Tell may be better known as a skilled archer than as a poetic revolutionary, but he is also one of the millions whose cry of anguish at separation from their home has echoed through the centuries.
Rossini’s opera about the Swiss bowman is returning to the Royal Opera House in London after a 23-year hiatus. “Everyone knows that one particular moment of the story of William Tell,” says Damiano Michieletto, the stage director of the new production. Yet the nugget about Tell shooting at an apple perched on his son’s head is part of the problem: he has a reputation as a sort of friendly literary sharp-shooter. That hardly makes for expectations of a riveting evening at the opera. It does not matter that Tell was a medieval Swiss peasant—some think partly mythical—who rebelled against Austrian rule over his home region and whose killing of the governor set in motion a freedom struggle that led to the creation of modern Switzerland. It also does not matter that Tell, turned into a literary hero by Friedrich Schiller, a 19th-century German novelist, poet and playwright, inspired many rebels during that century’s upheavals.
Revolutions make for tricky operatic entertainment. “Revolution is a community that links together many people,” reflects Gerald Finley, who sings the part of Tell. “But as soon as you fill a stage with lots of people, it’s bad for battle and energy.” In another challenge particular to opera, the crowds consist mostly of chorus members who have to sing in sync. It’s hard to wage a revolution while trying to follow the conductor’s baton.
Sung revolutions do not just pose a technical challenge, though. Operatic romance, thin though its storyline may be, attracts great crowds and diverse interpretations. Wagner may have taken on humanity's biggest themes in his operas, but otherwise only a few works—including Verdi’s “Don Carlo”, which like “William Tell” is based on a Schiller play—address larger political issues and also enjoy first-rate musical reputations.
Mr Finley, who as Hans Sachs in Glyndebourne’s production of “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” in 2011 reflected on medieval German society and the concept of German art, argues that Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro” is a revolutionary opus that ridicules the aristocracy. But he also points out that in centuries past opera was often underwritten by aristocrats. An incendiary opus was hardly a clever move for a composer and his librettist.
“William Tell”, however, belongs to the rare group of successful revolutionary operas. “It’s really important to find a bridge between the past and the present,” says Mr Michieletto. “The action has to be linked to what we see and experience today. I started working on this opera during the Maidan [the square in Kiev where last year’s Ukrainian protests were centred], and a lot of images came to my mind about people struggling for their country, their dignity and their identity.”
Mr Michieletto portrays Tell as a modern hero, linking him to the Middle Ages through the comic book his son reads about the original Tell. “The father finally becomes the William Tell of his son’s comic book, the revolutionary who leads his people to freedom.”
According to Mr Finley, Tell is a normal man whose world is turned upside down. That is perhaps what makes the story so compelling: in the incarnation of Schiller and Rossini, Tell is as far from the vainglorious would-be-revolutionary as can be. “I'm none too sure what glory is, but I do know the weight of fetters,” he says in Victor-Joseph Étienne de Jouy’s French libretto, which the Royal Opera will use.
“I try to emphasise the humanity of the characters,” explains Mr Michelietto. “The war and the revolution take a toll on Tell and his family. Tell and his wife argue a lot, and his wife becomes frustrated, especially since she doesn’t know what’s happening and is often left alone.” Latter-day revolutionaries would do well to watch.
“William Tell” is at the Royal Opera House in London from June 29th to July 17th and is broadcast live in cinemas around the world on July 5th
