Anna Maria Bruzzese / Critiques

One 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.

A Pietro Adaini, Elvino, va riconosciuta la luminosità dello squillo nel registro acuto – con tanto di re in «Ah! Perché non posso odiarti» –, a cui talvolta approda però con troppo impeto, inficiando la continuità della linea di canto, già velata da suoni leggermente nasali nella tessitura centrale. Lo spirito bonario, quasi sempliciotto, del ricco possidente, tuttavia, trova nell’ardimentosa espressività un ottimo canale di sfogo e il personaggio, in fin dei conti, è convincente.