Opera in Concert opened their season at Trinity St. Paul’s on Saturday with the Canadian premiere of André Grétry’s 1784 opéra comique Richard Coeur-de-Lion.  This is very loosely based on the story of Richard’s imprisonment by Leopold of Austria while returning from the Third Crusade.  Richard’s man Blondel; disguised as a blind minstrel, discovers Richard’s place of imprisonment by playing a tune that Richard wrote.  He then enlists the help of the Countess of Flanders, in love with Richard, (which would have come as a surprise to Berengaria of Navarre) and a Welsh knight; improbably styled Sir Williams, who his now (also improbably) running an inn in Austria and his daughter, Laurette.  The governor of the castle where Richard is imprisoned, Florestan, in turn in love with Laurette, is tricked and Richard is freed to great rejoicing. (As opposed to a whopping ransom being paid!)

It’s about as historically accurate as most operas so let’s not worry about that because this opera is actually rather charming.  The libretto is written in quite elegant French couplets with spoken dialogue; quite sensibly given here in English.  It’s tuneful in a very straightforward way that one could argue looks forward to operetta or back to folksong.  There are pretty arias, some well constructed ensemble numbers and plenty of work for the chorus.  It’s also remarkably short for an opera that technically has three acts, coming in at around 75 minutes.

The title though is a touch misleading.  Richard appears in two short (though important) scenes and it’s really Blondel who carries the plot.  Fortunately OIC had an excellent troubadour in tenor Yanik Gosselin who sang sweetly and characterfully in excellent French.  He also acted well making for a most sympathetic performance.  Richard is also a tenor role and was sung here by Colin Ainsworth.  We were advised before the start that he was not well but he battled through!  There was more excellent singing from Nicole Katerberg whose rich soprano was ideal for the Countess and which contrasted with the lighter tones of Madeline Cooper as Blondel’s guide Antonio.  Alice Macgregor, as the inn keeper’s daughter Laurette, sounded fine in her solos and acted well but sounded a bit strained in the ensembles.  Baritones Joseph Ernst as Sir Williams and Taylor Gibbs as Florestan, were brusquely effective.  There’s a raft of minor roles, all of which were fine. 

There’s lots of really good choral writing in this piece and the OIC chorus directed by Robert Cooper sang lustily and acted enthusiastically.  As is the OIC norm it was piano accompaniment; here skilfully played by Suzy Smith with some help from Soltan Mammadova on violin for the song/melody that is the key to finding the king.

It’s easy to see why this is regarded as perhaps Grétry’s masterpiece.  It’s just very enjoyable in an undemanding sort of way.  One wonders why it’s not done more often.