René Jacobs

KlaraFestival's Artist-in-Residence

As an inspired practitioner, scholar and philologist, René Jacobs primarily focuses the power of his thoughts on music. He has never tried to convey the impression of campaigning for any cause, mindful that his performances make more of an impact than any speeches. However, he has agreed to speak his mind, discreetly, about this year’s theme. A theme whose powerful presence we are about to discover in Haydn's Orlando Paladino and Handel's Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, the two operas he is presenting during the festival.

Photo: René Jacobs (c) Marco Borggreve

During an interview in 2002 concerning Monteverdi's Orfeo, you had some harsh words to say about the arrogant attitude of the musician - Orpheus - who thought that, owing to the magical power of his songs, he was above the law. "If our art could change the world, you went on to say, we would certainly be aware of this power. Hatred cannot be dissipated by music." And here you are today, involved with the KlaraFestival and its theme for 2011, Utopia or in search of paradise lost. With two iconic productions lying in wait ...

Jacobs: Art obviously cannot save the world but it can help to give it a more human dimension. As an artist, I am helpless to do anything against the bombing of civilians in Libya, but this does not stop me dreaming about the idea of a better world. And on that score the theme of Utopia is obviously wonderful. The lieto fine (happy ending) means exactly that. All Baroque operas converge upon this theme, even when they are based on works that end badly ... Take the example of Tommaso Traetta's Antigona: in Sophocles' version, the play ends in tragedy, Creon realises his mistake in the end but it is too late to save Antigone. Marco Coltellini, Traetta's librettist, sees things differently: he grants Creon two acts to allow him to open up, to change and to come to the realisation that the main thing that needs to be protected is the love between Antigone and her brothers ... and Creon arrives on time!
It is precisely in this movement that Utopia makes an appearance. This "place that does not exist" remains a goal for improving the world, without relying on the help of any god or gods! That is part and parcel of what we have inherited from the Enlightenment. Some directors now think it is the done thing to finish operas that have a happy ending on a sour note. They are missing out on what really counts; creating a heaven, or Utopia if you will, on earth ...

How does Haydn, composer of Orlando Paladino, which you will be conducting during the KlaraFestival, fit into this legacy?

Jacobs: Haydn was a Christian and a Catholic - he also wrote some very beautiful masses - but he gradually diverged from the Church. From his correspondence and from accounts of the things he said we see that he regarded himself more as a "deist," discovering the idea of God in others, in nature, in beauty. We also know he was a freemason (which, at the time, would be perfectly compatible with his religious faith). All of these qualities are the reflection of a free man's spiritual dimension.

Orlando Paladino, one of many operas inspired by Ariosto's poem, was sometimes referred to as Haydn's Magic Flute, do you share that view?

Jacobs: I would not go as far as that, there are plenty of operas with ideas of the aufklärung (Enlightenment) in the key of E flat major ... But it is true that the comic side of this opera buffa (or dramma giocoso) is merely a facade behind which more serious ideas are lurking. After all, who is relating the opera? Orlando has lost his mind and, believing that he is still in the midst of the Crusades, he lives in the dark depths of insanity. His delirium is focused on his love for Angelica and his murderous jealousy of Medoro. After many adventures, he regains his sanity as a result of his ordeal in an enchanted cave. And we end up in the key of C major. We can
draw a parallel here with the Magic Flute, where Tamino and Pamina are also put through an ordeal, and there is a dual process at work between the key of E flat major - symbolising darkness, with a mystical hint - and that of C major, symbolising light. But the Flute was not written until 1791, while another Mozart opera, La Finta Giardiniera (1775), closer in time to Orlando Paladino (1782) uses the same symbolic approach: Sandrina and Belfiore go out of their minds, an experience from which they emerge liberated and more mature after having withdrawn to a cave; and, once again, we are back in C major when they regain their senses!

So under the comic surface, Orlando Paladino explores serious themes?

Jacobs: Yes, for anyone willing to read the libretto – something directors do not always do ... – and just
listen to the music of Haydn, which is extremely profound. Praise has always been heaped on Haydn for the brilliance of his symphonies, quartets, oratorios and chamber music, whereas people have been less enthusiastic about his operas. Giuseppe Carpani, his first biographer, made the mistake of writing it down, whereupon the opinion became widespread. Perhaps Haydn himself sowed the seeds of doubt; he was so dazzled by Mozart...
We have discussed Mozart's La Finta Giardiniera: Orlando is at least as good and it is streets ahead of any other Italian operas of the time. But after listening to Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, Haydn became a bit depressed, even turning down an offer from the court of Prague. The big difference is that Mozart was a visionary man of the theatre; his requirements in terms of the libretto were quite different from Haydn's. He had the good fortune to work with Da Ponte, he adopted a subversive approach, took an independent line, dared to take risks. While Haydn - who worked for the court of Esterhazy - was more flexible, accepting the prince's interference, and, as for the libretto, he agreed to what was imposed on him and then gave his all.

The Orlando overture is not exactly scintillating...

Jacobs: Because the overture is intended to greet the public: three ideas and no more, repeated until everyone is seated ... Gluck invented overtures that announced the various themes of the opera; and before him the overture mainly served a practical function.

The second opera you are conducting for the KlaraFestival is entitled, in Italian, Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, and is composed by Handel.

Jacobs: This is an early work, composed in 1708, not to be confused with Acis and Galatea, a "masque" that Handel wrote ten years later, in English, based on the initial "serenade". Handel left Germany for Italy in 1706, and there his first operas, and especially Agrippina, enjoyed a huge success. It was a period of intense activity and it should come as no surprise to find a few tunes from Agrippina in Aci, Galatea e Polifemo: resorting to musical "parody" (recycling earlier musical ideas in a new dramaturgical context) was the only way Handel could keep up the furious pace of the productions! Three characters in total, no chorus, and shorter - scarcely 90 minutes. It is a beautiful story on a par with La Belle et la Bête: Aci, soprano, is a mere mortal, Galatea, contralto, is a nymph (a little higher on the divine scale ...), Polifemo (Polyphemus), bass, son of Poseidon and Thoosa, is a "shepherd" cyclops.
The cast is amazing, but on closer inspection - as is the trend with the new Anglo-Saxon musicology - we can see a religious subtext, where Aci represents Christ, Galatea the soul, and Polifemo the devil. The soul is tempted by both Christ and the devil. The allegory becomes clear on a careful reading of the text – which for me, as a philologist, is riveting. The choice of voices then becomes comprehensible: high for heaven, low for hell and contralto for the whole of humanity, men and women.

And, returning to the theme of the festival, does the opera end on a happy note, does it re-establish a welcome Utopia?

Jacobs: Let us say that in the act of dying Aci sings a splendid aria - accompanied only by the strings, without any continuo - and it is magnificent, the connection with the Passions is abundantly clear.

Did Handel deliberately make all those semantic associations?

Jacobs: Of course! And for several reasons, primarily because of codes being available that immediately conjured up these sub-texts, and because the musicians always worked with poets.

An overriding concern is apparently to make a detailed analysis of the text the music is based upon.

Jacobs: It excites me and it inspires me. I always delve down as deep as possible to discover what the libretto can offer and it is generally more interesting than you might think (sometimes it is limited, and you have to make do with it! ...). That is why the relationship with a director can be so rewarding (those interested in the text, of course; others make do with a rough understanding and generally commit barbaric acts ...). Everything has to be taken into consideration, including the form, the verse, rhymes; anything may be rich with meaning.

MARTINE MARGEAY