David Alegret / Rezensionen

The orchestra played at its best, with good and polished sound and with contagious enthusiasm for the first time in the season. Even if Ivor Bolton gave a vivid rendition of the score, with quick tempi and vibrant accent, he did not find the unclassifiable tone that the score requires (he cannot be too harshly blamed, though). He rightly underlined the comic traits with a joyous touch of operetta and saturating sound in the tutti, favouring volume over contrast and colour. The chorus suffered a bit from the loud pit but sounded fine in the carnival scenes.A more attractive cast would have raised the stakes of the performance, but no singer seemed willing (or able) to take the lead. Manuela Uhl is a fine singer with a powerful lyric soprano that makes her perfect for Wagner's “blonde heroines". Isabella.Christopher Maltman was brilliant as the awkward villain, Friedrich. He is a great actor and was the only one who offered an original and genuinely comic performance. Vocally, his lyric baritone lacked authority and even timbre, but he gave an overall good rendition. Bass Ante Jerkunica, an interesting voice, made the most of his funny judgement scene. Ilker Arcayürek was overwhelmed by the otherwise reasonable requirements of the beautifully written role of Claudio, and even lost his voice during the final duo with Isabella. The other tenor, of a very similar vocality, Peter Lodahl, had better fortune as Luzio.

All this is represented in the context of a comic opera, but with the remarkable scenic success of not falling into vulgarity or ridiculousness. Quite the contrary: we therefore highlight the very successful scenography by Pablo Menor, which with a prudent set of mobile mirrors and a deep red framing results in the sensual, deceptive and sibylline character of the main events. The ostentation and luxury remain reflected in the magnificent wardrobe inspired by the 18th century fashions of Ikerne Giménez, all of them also masterfully set by means of the cozy lighting of David Picazo. It is always necessary to highlight the work of those who are behind the stage productions, but it is even more so in productions that do not necessarily stand out for the depth of the music that accompanies that scenography. In the musical, it is mandatory to highlight the immense work of Rubén Fernández Aguirre , who masterfully directed the performance from the piano and who proposed all the musical support without wavering so that the leading quartet could show off their virtues during the almost hour and a half that lasted the representation. We must also acknowledge his intelligent work of "editing" the score, which undoubtedly lightened the musical result by replacing the duplicate of the voice with harmonic elements. Let us highlight the baritone David Oller , who in addition to dealing with the pitfalls of this score gave us a lesson in rhythm and diction in his interpretation of the stuttering character. at the end, in the happy conjunction of all the characters and in the triumph of free love over jealousy, were the characters able to shed their burdens and emerge gracefully from their own traps.