DATE: Thursday, February 27, 1997           TAG: 9702270084

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY PAUL SAYEGH 

                                            LENGTH:   66 lines

CAPRIOLE SET TO PREMIERE ``L'EUROPE GALANTE'' LOCALLY

MAJOR-LEAGUE HOCKEY may have not made its home in Hampton Roads, but Baroque opera has.

A month after the successful production of Handel's ``Julius Caesar'' at the Virginia Opera, the early music group Capriole is set to give the first American performance ever of Andre Campra's ``L'Europe Galante'' (Gallant Europe). The work, an example of the French form known as ``opera-ballet,'' will be heard this weekend in Williamsburg and Norfolk.

Gayle Johnson, the group's artistic director, will direct the performances from the harpsichord, much as Campra would have done at the Paris Opera in the early 1700's. ``L'Europe Galante'' will be semi-staged; that is, the singers, dancers, and chorus will be costumed and will act out the musical drama, though no sets will be used.

The technique is often used to revive rare operas where the cost of a full production would be prohibitive.

Interviewed at Old Dominion University, where Capriole is ensemble in residence, Johnson spoke enthusiastically about Campra's opera.

``It was the first opera-ballet ever written, and our performances are probably the first time it's been given in this country. It's also the 300th anniversary of the piece - it premiered at the Paris Opera in 1697.''

Johnson pointed out that at the time Campra wrote L'Europe Galante,'' he was master of music at Notre Dame and was expected to write serious, devotional music. The opera in fact was published under his brother's name to avoid any difficulties. Several years later, Campra left Notre Dame and went on to be a conductor at the Paris Opera.

The opera-ballet form was highly popular with the French; Campra's works were regularly performed until the French Revolution. Then the form disappeared, probably because of its association with the monarchy.

Johnson explained that in an opera-ballet, the characters come from real life, as opposed to the mythological figures of Italian opera. In addition, there is great attention paid to the text, as reflected in the music, which consists of a much more flexible mixture of arias, short arias called ariosos, and recitatives. In a Handel opera, there is greater emphasis on the aria as the main musical form.

The ballet is integrated into the dramatic action rather than added on. Johnson is especially excited in having Paige Whitley-Bauguess and Thomas Baird, whom she calls ``arguably the best Baroque dancers in the world.'' They will be performing choreography that was actually written down at the time fo the opera's first performances.

In addition, two singers new to Capriole and to Hampton Roads will be introduced. Soprano Dana Hanchard has earned excellent notices for her performances at the Glimmerglass Opera and on a recent Deutsche Grammophon recording of ``The Coronation of Poppaea,'' an early opera by Monteverdi.

Tenor Michael Brown is another Glimmerglass veteran, and has also been heard at the Spoleto-USA Festival.

The performances, which will be recorded and videotaped, also feature soprano Susanne Peck, baritone James Weaver, and the ODU Madrigal Singers.

If Capriole can't quite match the Paris Opera in the scale of its staging, it promises to give local audiences a good approximation of what it was like to be an opera-goer in the time of Louis XIV. ILLUSTRATION: WANT TO GO?

Who: Capriole

What: ``L'Europe Galante,'' an opera-ballet by Andre Campra

When: Saturday at 8 p.m. at Williamsburg Regional Library;

Sunday at 3 p.m. at ODU Chandler Recital Hall, Norfolk.

Tickets: $15 adults; $5 with student ID

Call: 220-1248

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