Arts & Events

Preview: Céline Ricci To Star in LA CIRCE

Previewed by James Roy MacBean
Saturday August 26, 2017 - 09:07:00 AM

On September 8-9, Ars Minerva will present the opera La Circe by Pietro Andrea Ziani at San Francisco’s ODC Theatre in the Mission District. Ars Minerva is the company founded by renowned mezzo-soprano Céline Ricci with the purpose of reviving lost and forgotten operas from 17th century Venice. In 2015 Ricci revived La Cleopatra by Daniele da Castrovillari, and last year she brought us Le Amazone nelle isole fortunate by Carlo Pallavicino. Neither of these operas had been performed anywhere since their respective premieres in Venice in 1662 for La Cleopatra and in 1679 for Le Amazone.  

As for La Circe, its 1665 premiere was not in Venice but in Vienna, although it was later presented in Venice in 1679. Even the name of this opera’s composer is a bit uncertain. Pietro Andrea Ziani is the most likely candidate for several reasons. He worked in Venice at the same time as Francesco Cavalli, premiering several operas that gained great popularity, including Annibale in Capua (1661) and La Semiramide (1670). In 1662 Ziani traveled to Innsbruck and moved on to serve the dowager Empress Eleonora in Vienna, where La Circe premiered in 1665. However, a second candidate for composer of La Circe is Domenico Freschi, who is credited by several sources as La Circe’s composer in its revival in Venice in 1679.  

In conversation with Céline Ricci I asked what attracted her about La Circe that made her want to stage this opera in San Francisco. She replied: “It’s above all an opera about different ways of loving, some bad and some good. It takes place in a kind of Wonderland, an island where the beautiful sorceress Circe uses her magical powers to rule. But Circe, who has been abandoned by Ulysses (Odysseus), seeks vengeance on men by seeking to seduce each and every man on her island. She attempts to seduce Glauco, but Glauco rejects Circe because he is in love with Scylla. However, Scylla does not requite Glauco’s love, even though he keeps forcing his unwanted attentions on her. Nonetheless, Circe, in her jealousy, uses her magic to turn Scylla into a monster, then into a shoreline rock. On Circe’s island there is another couple, Andromaca and Pirro, who love each other dearly. Circe attempts to seduce Pirro and separate him from his beloved Andromaca, but in this Circe is unsuccessful. There is beautiful music for Andromaca, a lyric aria, “Dammi sospiriti,” (Act 1, scene 6) and “Di Pirro eche sarà” (Act 2, scene 10). Andromaca and Pirro are a kind of positive counterweight to the wrong kind of loving personified by Circe on one hand and by Glauco on the other hand. They try to force love on individuals who don’t want their love, whereas Andromaca and Pirro love each other spontaneously and steadfastly.” 

When I pointed out to Céline Ricci that what most of us know about Circe is the episode from Homer’s Odyssey where Circe turns half of Odysseus’ crew into swine, she replied that “In the opera, the tale begins when Odysseus has already left Circe’s island. The story behind the opera comes from Ovid’s Metamorphosis. The libretto for La Circe is by Christoforo Ivanovich, who wrote several opera libretti. “  

In the forthcoming Ars Minerva production of La Circe, Céline Ricci will both sing the title role and serve as the opera’s stage director. When I asked her how she manages to wear so many hats – concert artist, opera singer, company director of Ars Minerva, and stage director – Céline laughed and said simply, “It’s exhausting.” 

At this I complimented Céline on how well she manages the diverse aspects of her career and how lucky we are in the Bay Area to have so many opportunities to hear her sing and see the operas she produces. Then, changing the subject slightly, I brought up the operas of 17th century composer Jean-Baptiste Lully, who ruled over all music performed at the court of Louis XIV at Versailles from 1661 until Lully’s death in 1689. I expressed to Céline Ricci my dismay that Lully’s operas receive no attention from Bay Area groups such as American Bach Soloists and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. I asked Céline, who received her initial musical training in Paris, if she would ever consider mounting an opera by Lully. 

“I’d love to,” she replied. “Lully’s operas have some fantastic music! The drawback, from the viewpoint of a small company like Ars Minerva, is that Lully’s operas demand a very large orchestra and a great amount of spectacle. For the time being, they’re too large-scale for Ars Minerva to produce. But who knows what the future may bring? In any case, I love 17th century French music. At the Palace of Versailles in 2008 we reconstructed Les Vingt-Quatre Violons du Roi,” which was the name of the string ensemble at Louis XIV’s court. I was invited to sing with the group Les Folies françoises, and we performed in the Galérie des Glaces, or Hall of Mirrors. The sound was incredible, especially since the instruments were tuned to the French pitch. We filmed the performance, and it’s available on You Tube.” 

For those interested in other recordings of Céline Ricci, there is the opera La Giudica by Alessandro Scarlatti as well as Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell, which features Céline Ricci as the First Witch in a performance directed by William Christie. This performance is available on DVD. Meanwhile, don’t miss the forthcoming opportunity to hear Céline Ricci star in the title role of La Circe on September 8-9 at San Francisco’s ODC Theatre.