Ludovic Tézier / Reviews

Il Silvano di Liviu Holender ha il fare simpatico di chi, a ritmo di marcia e voce omogenea, chiede la giusta mercede per i propri servizi e poi, ricevutala, guida il coro in un inneggiante e grandioso ringraziamento.

Kristin Lewis, making her Royal Opera debut as Elisabetta at relatively short notice to replace Krassimira Stoyanova, cut a girlish figure dashing through the snowy forests of Fontainebleu in Act 1. Her soprano was a little cloudy at first, consonants swallowed, and nervousness doubtless played a part in a couple of forgotten words and skipped cues. After a few cranky gear changes between registers, Lewis rose to the challenge of her demanding Act 5 aria “Tu che le vanità” well, with good pianissimo high notes and long phrases blossoming. Christoph Pohl, stepping in at even shorter notice for Ludovic Tézier, made a fine impression as Posa, his noble baritone having just enough bite to wound Philip in their Act 2 confrontation. After a curiously low-key Veil Song, Ekaterina Semenchuk made her mark as Eboli.For a performance which ended a good ten minutes ahead of the advertised timing, Bertrand de Billy's reading felt ponderous in places, the final Carlo—Elisabetta duet in danger of grinding to a complete halt. The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House played well though, the brass on its better behaviour, and the Chorus gave the auto-da-fé plenty of mob mentality. Hopefully individual performances will bed in during the run, but this was an evening where it wasn't just the heretics that failed to catch fire.

The second act is the real challenge for Scarpia, and Tézier was truly despicable here as his performance was fueled by believable emotions that provided psychological layers to the character rather than just playing up a clichéd monster as many other interpreters do. His Scarpia was also impressive and vocally impeccable. Of the rest of the characters in the opera, I want to single out Carlo Bosi’s Spoleta; Bosi possesses a rich tenor with a fair vibrato and a frightening personification of the role. Pierre Audi’s production is evocative and meaningful, exploring the power and control of the church and political order with a giant crucifix present in every Act. The first two acts are abstractions of the church of Sant’Andrea delle Valle and of Scarpia’s study, with a dramatic but effective use of lighting (by Jean Calman) that contrasts light and dark by playing with a black curtain and a cyclorama at the back of the scene. Most impressive was the clever dramatic setting of Tosca’s aria “Vissi d’arte” as Scarpia leaves Tosca alone after having given her a crucifix that she sings to.Carlo Montanaro conducted the orchestra of Paris Opera, giving a passionate reading of the score, but measuring the drama to avoid excessive mannerisms usually done in Verismo repertoire. In this particular approach, there was a perfect communion between the conductor and the singers, as if Montanaro were breathing with them during the lyrical legato moments. The orchestra and the chorus were undoubtedly at their best throughout. Ultimately, this was an amazing revival of the Paris Opera’s production of “Tosca,” with fine debuts by Agresta and Fabiano providing the main highlights.

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.