Léirmheasanna Táirgeadh san am atá caite
2Prince Igor' by Aleksandr Porfir'evič Borodin is one of those works, little represented everywhere, which is worth seeing both for its intrinsic artistic value and - and perhaps even more - because they are the mirror of a cultural climate in many ways peculiar: that of the birth of a Russian operatic vein, with roots well planted in popular tradition. In this sense, the director Igor Chernetski hit the mark, also thanks to the formidable performance of the choir and aVerdi Orchestra which, despite some inevitable flaws in live performances, confirmed itself as a solid team, with an exuberant character, but also ready to implement the indications of the podium. And, as it was easy to predict, it was precisely the episode of the dances that was most popular with the public. The Polovtsian Dances are the best-known page of the opera and the contribution of the chorus and corps de ballet are a notable added value, such as to make one (almost) forget that it is a scene that defining kitsch is a very vague understatement. In the singing company Alexey Zhmudenko 's imposing Igor shone for authority and burnished timbre , very well in part also from the scenic side. Dmitry Pavlyuk 's performance was less focused , a little too over the top in the characterization of Galitzky, whose more noble and less reckless side he didn't catch. On the whole, Anna Litvinova 's Jaroslavna is discreet and, incisive in phrasing and nonchalant on stage, in the face of a luxuriant central register, she revealed some episodic intonation shifts and a couple of adventurous high notes. Very good, despite the certainly not captivating timbre, Vladislav Goray , interpreter of Igor's meek son, Vladimir. The tenor has shown good technical skills and an almost yesteryear way of delivering . Incisive Viktor Shevchenko, Kontchak menacing and grim but also capable of melancholy retreats.
Finally, after a long absence, a rather rare title returns to Trieste, not only for the Teatro Verdi , where it was performed only three times, the last two of which were very close, in 1980 and 1983, but in general for the Italian stages: that Prince Igor' by Aleksandr Porfir'evič Borodin which constitutes one of the founding titles of Russian melodrama. If Russian opera was born out of the dual thrust of reaction to the court environment, originally, and on the wave of romantic nationalism, certainly the choice to bring to Italy, together with the company, the staging of the Odessa National Academic Theater of Opera and Balletit takes the form of an all-round cultural operation, a museum in the noblest sense of the term, since it takes us to the heart of that tradition that the author and the Group of Five wanted to rediscover and from which they themselves drew. Anna Litvinova , a strong lyric voice, who can count on a not very rich but varied dynamic, lent to an intense and careful phrasing; she always sings well projected in the mask and makes herself heard even in crowd scenes without ever straining, standing out in particular for the interpretation of the fourth act aria (here second scene of the second). The profligate and traitor Galitzky is played by Dmitry Pavlyuk, nice bass-baritone timbre not very comfortable in the high register, but musically impeccable. The tenor Vladislav Goray in the role of Vladimir Igorevich shows off skilled mezzo-voices and a confident technique, against a not very beautiful timbre; however, he gives the audience one of the most applauded performances, rightly so, of the evening. A particular note should also be made to the aforementioned couple Skulà and Eroshka played respectively by Yuri Dudar and Alexander Prokopovich, excellent both vocally and scenically in their roles of deserters, drunkards and turncoats, however bearers of a cunning that is believed to be typical of the peasant and which saves their lives. All traits that render excellently, respectful of the musical phrase, without ever lapsing into jokes or excess. Things are going just as well in the Polovtsian field, thanks to the beautiful mezzo-soprano voice of an excellent Kateriyna Tsymbalyuk in the part of Konchakovna, seductive both in the aria and in the duet with the tsarevich, and to Viktor Shevchenko 's Kontchak , a young bass with a beautiful sound and a soft emission even in the low register, sonorous without being forced or swallowed. In more marginal parts they do not disfigure Viktor Muzychk like Ovlur,Irina Kamenetskaya as Nurse and Alina Vorokh, a Polish girl.
