Cecilia Gaetani / Recensioner

The title role of Juditha was placed in the hands of the 24-year-old soprano Caterina Meldolesi. That she was to an extent dwarfed by the performances of Vivica Genaux and Sara Mingardo was neither surprising nor a major criticism: in fact, there was plenty to admire in Meldolesi’s performance. She possesses a securely grounded voice with a pleasing tone which she used with ability to successfully characterise the role. In her opening aria, “Quocum Patriae me ducit amore,” she immediately showed off her fine vocal control, delicate phrasing and the appealing timbre of her voice. In the aria, “Veni me sequele fida,” accompanied by the fluttering sound of a flute, her sensitive connection to the text enabled her to produced one of the most charmingly delivered pieces of the evening. Later, while Holofernes sleeps, Juditha takes his sword and beheads him, which she gives voice to in the aria, “In somno profundo” and the in following accompanied recitative, “Impii, indigni Tiranni” in which she produced an expressive performance, accenting and coloring the voice with skill, and displaying versatility.

Even those who have experienced Mozart's "Così fan tutte" in various productions will not remember any female Don Alfonso. But the guest performance of the Munich Chamber Opera in the Cuvilliés Theater makes it possible. Since no replacement could be found for the sick Frederik Tucker, the assistant director Anna-Lu Rausch played in a black baggy suit, a loose tie and a top hat, while Philipp Gaiser sang from the sheet music to the side. Otherwise a rather cynical mastermind, you now saw a mixture of sad clown and Marlene Dietrich, who often looked on in amazement and with a sphinx-like smile as she watched the experiment of the loyalty test, which in the second act almost tipped from comedy to tragedy.