Giacomo Meyerbeer: Robert le Diable (Robert the Devil)
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Royal Opera House Orchestra and Chorus
Daniel Oren, conductor
CAST: Bryan Mymel (Robert); Patrizia Ciofi (Isabelle); John Relyea (Bertram); Marina Poplavskaya (Alice); Jean-Francois Borras (Raimbaut); Nicolas Courjal (Alberti)
This five-act extravaganza features everything from an orgy of evil spirits, to a chorus of defrocked nuns rising from their graves, to a deal with the devil which, for once, doesn't turn out all that badly. The work's Paris premiere, in 1831, instantly made Meyerbeer the most celebrated opera composer of the time.