Past Production Reviews
2One of the titles of the great bel canto repertoire returns to Palermo after many years of absence with an international cast of great prestige: for the new season of the operas of the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Gaetano Donizetti's "Roberto Devereux" is staged , the great opera that sees protagonist Queen Elizabeth I of England. The opera, which was performed in Palermo only in 1994 at the Politeama Garibaldi under the direction of Gianandrea Gavazzeni, is staged from 29 April to 7 May in the staging of the Welsh National Opera under the direction of Alessandro Talevi and the sets and costumes. by Madeleine Boyd. On the podium Roberto Abbado, who returns to direct the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Massimo in Palermo after the Mahlerian concert last March. The absolute protagonist in the role of the English queen - a role in which singers such as Montserrat Caballé, Leyla Gencer, Beverly Sills, Edita Gruberová, Raina Kabaivanska and Mariella Devia have ventured - is the soprano Maria Agresta , who will sing the part for the first time in Paris just before the performances in Palermo, always under the direction of Roberto Abbado. Her rival Sara is played by mezzo-soprano Vasilisa Berzhanskaia, a rising star of the international scene, while in the performances of April 30 and May 6 the role of Elisabetta passes the baton to Davinia Rodriguez and that of Sara to Chiara Amarù from Palermo. "Roberto Devereux" is a lyric tragedy in three acts composed on a libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the tragedy by Jacques-François Ancelot "Elisabeth d'Angleterre" and together with "Anna Bolena" and "Maria Stuarda" is part of the so-called "Ciclo of the Tudor Queens "by Donizetti. The staged story is inspired by the relationships (real, but also fictional) between the Earl of Essex, Robert Devereux, and Queen Elizabeth I of England. Or better,his love for the Count is no longer reciprocated . Devereux, in fact, has fallen madly in love with the beautiful Sara, wife of his best friend the Duke of Nottingham, who reciprocates by unleashing the ire of Elizabeth who, having learned of an alleged betrayal of the crown by the Earl of Essex, in a vortex of conflicting emotions and feelings finally decides to sentence him to death.
On stage an uneven cast found its peak in Hasmik Torosyan (Leïla), a bel canto soprano whose silvery timbre and flawless agility are well suited to a character that appear to be like Norma, the priestess who breaks her chastity vows, were it not for the much less tragic mood. There was a rather colourless performance from French tenor Kévin Amiel who for Nadir's aria “Je crois entendre encore” – brought to fame by voices like those of Enrico Caruso, Alain Vanzo, Beniamino Gigli, Alfredo Kraus or Nicolai Gedda – delivered a modest and reduced version, although using the mezza voce requested by the composer. Pierre Doyen, replacing Fabio Capitanucci as Zurga at the last minute, proved to be better. The French baritone has a bright timbre and he elegantly defined the nobility of spirit of the man who saves his friend from death and lets him run away with the woman he has always loved. With these two interpreters one heard impeccable French diction and not the rather loose one of the chorus. The quartet of performers was completed by Ugo Guagliardo's coarse Nourabad. Julien Lubeck and Cécile Roussat's staging swayed between tackiness and naivety. After rejecting a directorial idea that could give greater depth and humanity to the characters, the two directors chose a decorativeness that seems taken from those old Christmas cards with sequins glued to the edges of the figures. Sinuous frames make up a diorama flooded with blue, red and gold light where two-dimensional characters act. The idea of using mime to recreate the pantomimes that were fashionable at Bizet's time clashes with modern taste and when Leïla's replica swirls around the two singers during one of the most beautiful operatic duets, you want to close your eyes. Birds, adequately glittered, are moved by mimes during Leïla's aria in Act 1 and the ubiquitous acrobatic dancers were rather annoying. A fair amount of applause welcomed the end of the show.
