Recenzii de producție anterioare
17We returned to the Teatro alla Scala to attend one of the performances scheduled on the bill with an alternative cast to the first. Considering the examination of this production - directed by Davide Livermore and taken up by Marco Monzini - written by Ugo Malasoma to be pertinent from a directorial and scenographic point of view , we focus on the performance of the singers on this warm evening at the end of June. In the role of the diabolical Lady, as in the opening production of the 21/22 season , we find Anna Netrebko returning from the recent, spectacular and controversial production of Aida "del Centenario" at the Verona Arena . Let's say right away that compared to last time the Russian singer seemed to us much in better shape in the difficult role that Verdi himself defined as an "ugly and bad lady" (although to tell the truth Anna Netrebko differs greatly from the meaning of "ugly"). In the previous season, the fact that it tried to sink the emission a lot and in a certain way tried to darken the timbre to the point of exasperation (obtaining a rather "guttural" sound in the low notes), had led it, in our opinion, to lose its brilliance in the acute extremes which were bleached and not very ringing. Yesterday evening, however, the emission was evidently much more uniform throughout the range, despite the fact that there was still a certain loss of timbral polish and despite the agility being rather weighed down. The low notes felt much more focused and softer while the high notes were easy and clear. On the other hand, there is nothing to complain about the singer's excellent vocal projection which is always perfectly audible even in the concertatos and with the orchestra at full capacity, even if a greater scansion of the sung word could be perfected, which is at times excessively "fleshed". From an interpretative and acting point of view she dominated the scene: with her sanguine temperament and expressive gestures she gave us back a character willing to do anything to achieve power, giving her best in the very risky "sleepwalking scene" (sung poised on a ledge) annotating the aria with beautiful pianissimo phrases. With good reason she was the most applauded of the evening. The presence of Amartuvshin Enkhbat in the role of Macbeth was most anticipated on this occasion. The Mongolian singer, now very busy in all the most important theaters in the world, faces his debut in the role he will reprise at the Bayerische Staatsoper (Nov./Dec. 2023). What is immediately striking is always the noble, warm and soft timbre stylistically catalogable among the so-called Grand Seigneur baritones. The singing line is uniform and the phrases impeccably characterized by beautiful legates. All without showing the slightest effort in the emission constantly aimed at the search for colors and shades and great attention to the word. Although initially he seemed to "take measures" with the Scala context, he concluded his performance with an engaging and passionate "Pietà, respect, honor" that kept the audience in suspense until the final liberating ovation. The only drawback in the performance is that it is still rather inert scenically, a little little "character". Giorgio Berrugi did well in the role of Macduff, offering the audience a heartfelt “O children… Ah, the paternal hand”. He possesses a beautiful line of singing that is uniform and elegant in the way of delivery with beautiful legates but also a nice piglio when needed and an easy ascent to the high note. His voice has a nice timbre even if not particularly voluminous and is always well projected as in the duet with Malcolm, a somewhat vociferous Jinxu Xiahou with a somewhat rough singing line. Jongmin Park 's Banco also did well with a very dark timbre and a soft and clear emission. All the other accompanying characters also performed well: Marily Santoro (lady's lady), Andrea Pellegrini (the doctor), Leonardo Galeazzi (a servant), Alberto Rota (sacred killer), Costantino Finucci (herald and first appearance), Elena Finulli and Cecilia Menegatti both soloists of the Children's Choir conducted here by Marco De Gasperi . We agree with what Malasoma said regarding Giampaolo Bisanti 's direction and we reiterate his very positive impression. We also point out the extreme attention in accompaniment to the soloists in order to put them at ease at all times. Even the orchestra seems to scrupulously follow the eloquent gesture of the Milanese conductor. For the writer, the best moment was the performance of the dance songs and the Witches' choir from Act III due to the variety of chromatisms and intense dynamics. The choir , instructed by Alberto Malazzi , performed as a whole, as usual, in the best way but with a special mention for the female choir which sang really well in its fundamentals and numerous interventions, also actively involved in the choreography. Also noteworthy is the skill of the mimes/dancers involved in this production in following the difficult and convulsive choreography of Daniel Ezralow . Evening welcomed by enthusiastic applause from the audience especially at the time, as it should, the two protagonists and the Director.
The last few performances of Umberto Giordano’s Andrea Chénier revival saw the much expected visit of star tenor Jonas Kaufmann, who replaced Yusif Eyvazov in the title role. In spite of limited rehearsals, the singer adapted perfectly to the production and was very compelling theatrically. The vocal performance was somewhat uneven, with a positive start in “Un dí ll’azzurro spazio” and an even better end in “Come un bel dí di maggio” and then in the final duet. In the course of the performance he sounded at odds in “Ora soave”, which he started in pianissimo, a choice that turned out to create problems for his emission. At his side, soprano Sonya Yoncheva, who sang in all of the performances, proved to be more than adequate as Maddalena di Coigny, changing her interpretation from the cheeky girl of the first act to a more mindful young woman in the rest of the opera. Vocally she displayed a firm middle range and a well tuned high register, while in the lower range the voice changed color and the emission sounded forced.
Audience triumph for Verdi's masterpiece directed by Roberto Abbado and directed by Yannis Kokkos. The staging of this Parma edition of La forza del destino was entrusted to the artist of Greek origin but French by adoption, the set designer and theater director Yannis Kokkos , one of today's most popular theater men who was the author of all the visual part, stage and costume direction.
Il Marchese di Matteo Mancini, da lodare per voce e attitudine scenica.
en el podio de una excelente Orquesta Filarmónica Italiana estaba anunciado Francesco Ivan Ciampa, indispuesto (¡qué pena! con gusto lo hubiésemos escuchado por su talento y su sensibilidad musical que crece temporada tras temporada. ) Sin embargo, su reemplazo, Gaetano Lo Coco, suscitó una excelente impresión: gesto claro y atento al escenario, dinámica apropiada a la música de Verdi (del pianissimo al fortissimo, tiempos amplios pero coherentes, pulso decisivo), respeto por las voces, transparencia e inteligibilidad del fraseo (¿cuánto se debió a la concertación de Ciampa y cuánto a Lo Coco?).
Rigoletto ha, come dicevamo, la magnifica voce bronzea, avvolgente ed unica di Amartuvshin Enkhbat, che riesce a rendere umano, attuale il dramma del buffone di corte. L’emissione è impeccabile, la voce ha un unico, affascinante colore che stupisce per volume e bellezza del suono, la dizione è perfetta e chiarissima. Alla perfezione assoluta manca solo un po’ di fuoco interpretativo, di mordente e di carisma scenico.
Eindrucksvoll steht und droht Matteo Maria Ferretti Monterone.
Eindrucksvoll Matteo Maria Ferretti als stimmgewaltiger Monterone.
Verdi, Nabucco: Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden / Daniel Oren (conductor). Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 20.12.2021. (CC)
The run-up to curtain-up wasn’t auspicious. The Royal Opera House prefaced this opening night of the revival of Daniele Abbado’s 2013 production of Nabucco with an earlier announcement that the next two performances of Verdi’s biblical epic of religious enlightenment and reckoning, on 23rd and 28th December, had had to be cancelled, ‘due to resource challenges caused by the Omicron COVID-19 variant’.
Squillante, ma molto equilibrato, l’Ismaele di Tatsuya Takahashi. Evitando ogni possibile retorica guerriera legata al personaggio, il tenore ha espresso sincerità di affetti per i sentimenti amorosi provati dal nipote del re di Gerusalemme.
This Rigoletto was an admirable revival of late director Giancarlo Cobelli’s 1989 staging, which provoked a scandal for the nude scenes when it was first performed. Now it seems reassuringly traditional as far as the drama goes: gloomy, as it must be, with some gothic elements. Paolo Tommasi's sets and Giusi Giustino's costumes evoke paintings by Mantegna, depicting the magnificence of the Gonzaga court.
The exceptional technique of Nadine Koutcher, from Belarus, had created the strongest of impressions in her concert round, so it mattered less that her fine, stratospheric soprano betrayed the strain in this final. To borrow diving terms, her arias had carried the highest possible tariff in difficulty and, appropriately, it was for her precision in Olympia’s aria from The Tales of Hoffman by Offenbach that she will be remembered. Her instinctive musicality, meanwhile, shone in the more lyrical context of Marfa’s aria from The Tsar’s Bride by Rimsky-Korsakov. The emotion of winning broke through her steely calm.
Verdi – Aida Aida – María José Siri Il Re – Romano Dal Zovo Amneris – Olesya Petrova Radamès – Murat Karahan Amonasro – Sebastian Catana Ramfis – Park Jongmin Un Messaggero – Francesco Pittari Sacerdotessa – Yao Bohui Pianist – Patrizia Quarta Coro dell’Arena di Verona / Diego Matheuz. Video design & digital scenography – D-WOK. Arena di Verona, Verona, Italy. Thursday, July 15th, 2021. Tonight, was something of a very different evening. My first visit to the Arena di Verona to see Aida. The Arena is a legendary venue and the excitement of being able to see opera in a Roman amphitheatre is something that is difficult to put into words. The sheer scale of the venue is breathtaking and the magic of seeing singers at work under the Veronese night something very real. Of course, with the current sanitary restrictions this was never going to be a typical evening at the Arena. FFP2 masks were compulsory and spaces on the famous steps, the Gradinate, at the top of the Arena were numbered, rather than the traditional first come, first served. Still, the atmosphere was electric – with ambulant salespeople going around the crowd before the show and during the intermission selling cushions, drinks, program books and libretti. Unfortunately, the sanitary restrictions were not the only change this evening. Due to a labour dispute, at the performance start time of 21:00 we were informed that the orchestra would not play and that there would be reduced choral forces. The performance was given with piano accompaniment by maestro collaborator Patrizia Quarta, a chorus of 25, and the spectators who chose to stay for the show were offered a full refund. It’s unclear what the exact nature of the labour dispute was, although the harpist in the temple of Phtà and the trumpeters in the triumphal scene did show up for work. Thus, this wasn’t the full Arena experience, and it would be hard to assess the performance fully as a result. I wanted to experience sitting in the Gradinate and the view was indeed spectacular. What was noticeable is how well the voices carried. Hearing an unamplified voice in a space like this is something truly extraordinary and yes, while I regret not being able to have the full Arena experience, it was undoubtedly still memorable. Of course, one doesn’t go to the Arena for insightful Regietheater. As a result of the current sanitary restrictions, the chorus was parked at the side of the stage, dressed in black, while the principals acted out their roles on the stage in front of video projections showing various bits of Egyptian imagery. The most notable was in Act 3 with a crescent moon over the Nile which contrasted nicely with the Veronese night above. The ballet and masked extras provided visual interest, throwing themselves around in formation to offer various images of triumph, warfare and associated emotions. In the temple of Phtà, the extras were ranged around the back holding lights which also offered an impressive sight. Direction of the singers basically involved asking them to emote grandly to reach those in the highest gradinate, lots of outstretched arms, and staring into the extensive distance. Hard to fully evaluate Diego Matheuz’ tempi as, given that a single piano was in no way a substitute for a full orchestra in terms of sustaining power, but they seemed sensible enough. The chorus was enthusiastic in their reduced numbers, although it sounded as if there were no first tenors. Tuning and blend were admirable, and the reduced forces still managed to carry with enough power into the Arena – one could only imagine the impact with four times that number. Quarta more than deserved her post-performance prosecco and she rightly granted a huge standing ovation from the Arena public. María José Siri offered us a passionate Aida. The voice tends to hardness in its highest reaches, although that could be simply be as a result of feeling a need to fill the vast space. She sang her ‘o patria mia’ with generous feeling, no pulling back for the high C which is a bit of a shame because in the final duet, she floated some magical lines and had no issues being heard. Murat Karahan offered a robust and virile Radamès. Again, his ‘celeste Aida’ was sung with a tremendous amount of volume, the closing diminuendo not attempted. The voice is bulky but loses body higher up. He did give us some genuine soft singing in the closing duet, pulling back on the tone nicely (no crooning unlike a certain Bavarian). He could certainly be a very useful artist in these roles. Olesya Petrova was terrific value as Amneris. She made much of the text – the words always clear. She has a magnificently full chest register, which she wasn’t afraid to exploit, and the registers were well integrated. In the judgment scene she also sang with generous force, giving us all she had – the closing high A absolutely massive. Sebastian Catana sang Amonasro in a baritone with a firm column of sound, although the tone was quite grainy and lacking in body at the top. Park Jongmin sang Ramfis in a huge bass of impressive resonance and tonal beauty, while Romano Dal Zovo sang il Re with a velvety bass that also carried well. Some mixed feelings, then, about tonight. While it was a genuine treat to be able to attend this legendary venue and have the experience of sitting high up and experiencing a show in this historic amphitheatre, it is tinged with regret that there was no orchestra. That said, I am full of gratitude for the chorus, ballet and principals, not to mention the pianist, who ensured that we got an evening of high drama despite the circumstances.
The Arena di Verona is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and having opened the season with a somewhat controversial new production of Aida by the Spanish group La Fura dels Baus, it has now reverted to a reconstruction of the original 1913 production for the final seven performances of this opera. Aida was the first opera to be performed at the Arena in 1913 produced by the tenor Giovanni Zenatello, and has been recreated here by Gianfranco de Bosio. It is an attractive, traditional production as you would expect and makes full use of the Arena's large stage, evoking Egypt of the Old Kingdom with its statues, obelisks, sphinxes and lavish costumes. The triumphal scene literally seems to consist of a cast of thousands spread to the very heights of the Arena, including four horses and a colourful ballet choreographed by Susanna Egri. It offers spectacle where required and detailed settings for the more intimate scenes - the Nile scene is particularly evocative. However at the end of the day, irrespective of how much spectacle there is, Aida is a story about love, patriotism and human emotions making it a difficult opera to bring off dramatically with the need to juxtapose its differing elements. Part of the problem lies in the fact that it has four acts and with three intervals and scene changes within the acts it runs for over four hours - with only just over two and a quarter hours of actual music. As a result dramatic tension is lost over the long evening, which is a shame given that the musical standards here are very high. Fiorenza Cedolins both excites and frustrates as Aida. Much of her singing is a joy to listen to and she projects the character effectively, but there is a tentativeness about her performance. She seems to prefer to float the high notes at pianissimo suggesting fragility and vulnerability, rather than attack them, and while this works most of the time, there are many moments when you really just want a bit more. There needs to be an inner strength in Aida which is lost here. Marco Berti has a voice that is ideally suited to the Arena, his strong ringing tenor a perfect match for Radames. If his 'Celeste Aida' is a little tentative and cautious, he soon warms up to deliver an exciting, if somewhat unsubtle, performance. Violeta Urmana is a powerful Amneris. While she has placed an emphasis lately on singing soprano roles this mezzo part is much more suited to her voice which has a dark, lustrous hue to it. She is able to inject anger and passion into her interpretation which reaches its climax thrillingly in the final act confrontation with Radames. The remaining roles are all strongly sung: Ambrogio Maetsri is luxury casting as Amonasro, while Orlin Anastassov's Ramfis and Carlo Cigni's King both impress. Daniel Oren is an energetic conductor clearly enjoying leading the massed forces both in the pit and onstage. The brass section certainly gets their chance to shine in Aida and do so with aplomb. However, ultimately Oren's approach to the score is a little too middle-of-the-road to be dramatically effective. So, a long evening. While there was much to enjoy during the performance with some fine singing, the whole proved to be less than the sum of its parts. Nevertheless there was much to celebrate as the Arena looks back on the last 100 years, and no doubt also to an illustrious future. One wonders if the La Fura dels Baus production of Aida will be revived in 2113?
This year�s summer Festival in Verona honors star director Franco Zeffirelli by staging five of his productions: season opener Turandot, Aida, Carmen, Madama Butterfly, and Il Trovatore. This last production, which premiered in 2001 and was then revived in 2002 and 2004, featured a star studded cast, with Arena favorite Marcelo Alvarez in the role of Manrico and baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky in his Arena debut and Italian role debut as his rival Count Luna. The two singers did not disappoint: Alvarez, arguably the best Manrico of his generation, was perhaps not at his best and had to force somewhat in the first duet with Azucena; the perilous high note of the cabaletta was perhaps not perfect, but the dynamics of piani and forti were excellent and his performance was compelling throughout. Hvorostovsky�s performance was flawless. His nicely colored baritone voice is not especially large, but it is perfectly projected by means of a reliable technique. His accurate diction and theatrical skills were appreciable even on the large stage of the Arena. The women were also excellent: Maranne Cornetti as Azucena is perfectly cast both for the role, which she masters completely, and for the Arena, given the size of her voice and despite some imperfect diction. Sondra Radvanovsky�s performance as Leonora was somewhat uneven. The soprano started with some problems, which made the sound of her voice unpleasant at the end of her first aria with a missed note on which she also lost intonation. However she recovered afterwards and was especially compelling in the death scene after which she deservedly received the biggest applause of the evening. As usual, Zeffirelli not only directed the stage action but also designed the opulent medieval sets. The large space allows the director to follow his taste and use a large number of extras with knights riding horses during the soldiers� chorus. The ballet music composed by Verdi for Paris was inserted in order to allow the dance company El Camborio to perform (in costumes that could as well be those they also use for Carmen, which is playing on alternate nights). Conductor Marco Armiliato was making his debut at the Arena, which was perhaps the reason he produced a smaller volume of sound than usual from the orchestra. This had the welcome consequence that the singers could be heard unusually well. The evening ended in a triumph for everyone.
A revival of the 1993/94 Gilbert Deflo production of Rigoletto is enjoying a sweeping success at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, where baritone Leo Nucci interrupted a long standing tradition, and encored the duet ‘Sí vendetta’ at the end of the second act, together with soprano Nadine Sierra. This gave rise to long discussions in the local media and among opera fans: as is well known, several conductors at La Scala have discouraged encores, starting with Toscanini. Muti had the same approach, even though he himself encored the chorus ‘Va pensiero’ in a Nabucco performance in 1986. That was the last encore heard in a Verdi opera and, notably, it was not by individual singers. Only Juan Diego Flórez encored the aria ‘Ah mes amis’ in Donizetti’s La fille du régiment in 2007 (but it would have been an exception for him not to encore that aria). The ongoing discussion had aroused the audience’s expectations, and at the second performance there were pressing requests for encores addressed to Nucci as early as the first act, along with much applause throughout. At the end of the second act, the curtain fell. Nucci and Sierra remained on the forestage and again decided to repay their fans’ appreciation: they quickly consulted with the maestro and the general manager with a simple eye contact and encored the duet, to the audience’s enthusiasm. Nucci has sung Rigoletto about 500 times and the baritone is by now a leading exponent in this role and identifies with it completely. At his side, American soprano Nadine Sierra, making her company debut, was a compelling Gilda: her youthful looks and her lightly colored voice proved especially appropriate for the naive and idealistic young daughter of the hunchback (who, by the way, did not have a hunch in this production). Tenor Vittorio Grigolo was the Duke. This singer can rely on a sizable voice, evenly colored throughout the range, with long breaths and good technique, but unfortunately his taste leaves much to be desired, and so does his discipline, as he often did not comply with the conductor’s choice of tempi. Bass Carlo Colombara, making his role debut, was a good Sparafucile, while mezzosoprano Annalisa Stroppa's small voice made her barely audible during the third act quartet. The classic sets and costumes by Ezio Frigerio and Franca Squarciapino offer a visually convincing setting for the action, and have the merit that they follow strictly the libretto. It is not easy to bring something new to the conducting of Rigoletto at La Scala, but Nicola Luisotti’s reading of the score was refreshing, and his brisk tempi captivated the audience. At the end, all the singers received a tribute of applause, especially rich for Nadine Sierra, and with a real triumph for Leo Nucci.
