Frühere Produktionsrezensionen
14On Saturday night the Teatro San Carlo crowned its summer season with Mario Pontiggia’s production of one of Verdi’s best loved operas, Rigoletto. It was a solid staging, which gave a trusty and convincing version of the masterpiece. Pontiggia was smart at showing the emotional conflict of characters in both crowd scenes and more intimate interactions, indulging the opera’s dramatic allure, supported by the scenery. From the luxury of the ducal palace with its gorgeous frescoes and huge equestrian statues, to Rigoletto’s out-of-the-way house, to Sparafucile’s place, an array of captivating traditional sets, designed by Francesco Zito, recreated the primal opera’s atmosphere. The wonderful Renaissance costumes, designed by Giusi Giustino with her usual and utmost attention to every detail, added both magnificence and realism to Pontiggia’s production.
A diptych in concert version was the final show of the Summer Festival “The Golden Stage" at the Teatro di San Carlo. It was a double bill of two oneact plays: Der Zwerg (The Dwarf) by Alexander von Zemlinsky, which premiered at the Teatro di San Carlo, and Il tabarro by Giacomo Puccini. Der Zwerg premiered in Cologne in 1922 under the baton of Otto Klemperer. The libretto by Georg Klaren was adapted from The Birthday of the Infanta by Oscar Wilde: there is plenty of references to psychoanalysis and to central European cultural themes of the early 20th century – loss of reassuring awareness, a destiny of bitter loneliness – within a dreamyvisionary music.
La direzione e la concertazione è stata affidata a Maurizio Agostini e sul palco, per Il nano, un cast prevalentemente straniero con Nicola Beller Carbone (Donna Clara), Majella Cullagh (Ghita), Thomas Gazheli (Don Estoban), Scott Mac Allister (Il nano), Elisabeth Breuer (Prima fanciulla), Magdalena Renwart (Seconda fanciulla), Anna Lucia Nardi (Terza fanciulla), Fulvia Mastrobuono e Francesca Tassinari, rispettivamente in “La prima ragazza” e “La seconda ragazza”. Il Coro femminile del Teatro di San Carlo è stato diretto da Marco Faelli. Per Il Tabarro, una delle pale del trittico di Giacomo Puccini, su libretto di Giuseppe Adami tratto da “La houppelande” di Didier Gold, invece, un italianissimo cast in cui ha spiccato la presenza di Amarilli Nizza (Giorgetta) affiancata da Antonello Palombi (Luigi) e da Rodolfo Giugliani (Michele) nei tre ruoli principali, mentre Antonello Ceron (il Tinca), Carlo Andrea Masciadri (il Talpa), Clarissa Leonardi (la Frugola), Mauro Secci (un venditore di canzonette) e Valeria Attianese e Antonio Mezzasalma (i Due Amanti) hanno completato il cast.
Sul podio, nella replica del 10 maggio, un giovane direttore che ben conosce l’orchestra del San Carlo, che ha avuto modo di dirigere più volte negli ultimi anni (per citare solo le più recenti, la Vedova Allegra ad inizio anno, la Traviata di novembre 2015 e lo Stabat Mater di Roberto De Simone nel settembre del 2015): Maurizio Agostini, attento e rigoroso, garantisce il giusto equilibrio tra orchestra e palcoscenico e un’esecuzione fedele e precisa della partitura di Giordano da parte di un’orchestra in gran forma.
La Traviata di Giuseppe verdi è mancata tanto al Teatro San Carlo, i quasi tre anni di assenza si sono sentiti ed il pubblico ha apprezzato e non poco l’opera. Pregevoli sono state le melodie come numerose le emozioni trasmesse in tanti momenti dal personaggio di Violetta. Sono state notevoli le interpretazioni di Stefan Pop, che, nei panni di Alfredo, e di Giorgio Germont di Giovanni Meoni, quest’ultimo con una gran voce potente e precisa; così come la postura e le movenze di Marta Calcaterra in Annina, e di Enrico Cossutta in Gastone. Senza alcun dubbio la parte del leone è stata svolta da Violetta interpretata da Jessica Nuccio. Di spessore è stata la direzione musicale di Maurizio Agostini che ha saputo trasmettere i sentimenti pieni dell’opera di Verdi. Il maestro ha restituito una Traviata ricca di emozioni dai toni inquietanti e nevrotici. Potenti i violini ed altrettanto malinconici i violoncelli e le viole avevano un timbro brunito, malinconico, grave. Accettabile la regia di Ozpetek, ci si aspettava qualcosa in più visto che è stata rappresentata una Parigi “orientale” con i tessuti damascati dei salotti e le mezzelune sospese. Buona ma con qualche pecca al terzo atto sono state le scene Dante Ferretti come altrettanto ferma è sembrata la regia, stranamente molto poco cinematogra弶ca tenendo presente il background del maestro.
Dans la fosse, Maurizio Agostini connaît son Puccini sur le bout de la baguette et entraîne l’orchestre dans son sillage, non sans un étonnant couac dans les cuivres qui rappelle à l’auditoire qu’il s’agit bien d’un spectacle vivant. On pleure abondamment à la n… Dans la salle, un spectateur rallume immédiatement son iphone qu’il n’avait éteint que lorsque le chef a levé les bras. Stendhal avait-il raison d’a rmer que le « San Carlo comme machine à musique est tout à fait inférieur à la Scala » mais « Naples est la seule capitale de l’Italie »* ? La soirée, même imparfaite, est mémorable et inscrite dans notre panthéon des événements lyriques majeurs. On sort entouré d’une foule au chic insurpassable – notamment pour les chaussures aux talons improbables portées par des créatures magni ques aux bras de quelques Apollons en Armani et d’inévitables barbons très dignes –, foule qui se déverse dans la sublime baie de Naples : un rêve !
Time has not taken away any of Il Barbiere di Siviglia’s charm: it has delighted both opera addicts and novices since its première nearly 200 years ago in Rome. Now, this cheerful production at the Teatro di San Carlo refreshes the 1998 staging of director Filippo Crivelli (now revived by Mariano Bauduin), which preserves the atmosphere of scheming and deception in which the plot is soaked: tricks, camouflage and treachery to overcome obstacles to a love story that ultimately leads to the young couple's marriage.
Teatro di San Carlo opened its opera season with a work which is not usual for the Neapolitan stage: Pique Dame (Queen of Spades), by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set to a libretto by his younger brother, Modest, based on Pushkin. It is a production by the Staatsoper Hamburg, directed by Willy Decker, revived in Naples by Stefan Heinrichs, with scenes and costumes by Wolfgang Gussmann. Decker does not try to make the structure of the plot any clearer with the aid of richly decorated sets, mainly concentrating on the deeper meaning of the opera. The only props around the four black, massive pillars on stage, were a gigantic portrait of Greta Garbo (representing the young Countess), some armchairs and a long table. The stage was kept quite dark and this helped the director (and us) to concentrate on the inner personalities of the protagonists. Some grumblings arose among the experts because of the cut of the pastorale interlude of Act 2, but all in all, the story was powerfully exploited by Decker's staging. Tchaikovsky's score is beautifully inspired, even though the libretto is hard to follow, as Modest complicates Pushkin’s clearer story more than necessary. In this story of love and obsession the composer delivers some of his most beautiful examples of operatic musical development. At San Carlo, the cast was excellent. In the role of Hermann, Misha Didyk revealed a powerful tenor and strong stage presence; he showed excellent acting skills and vocal control. His fervent passion was palpable in his imploring aria of Act 1. Here Didyk was at his best, as his penetrating singing reflected his intense passion. Soprano Anna Nechaeva played Liza with dramatic depth, showing utter confidence in her technique, as she displayed a wide range of emotions in her voice. Her aria in Act 3, a desperate song of strong impact, revealed a warm clarity and richness in her upper register. The Countess, sung by Julia Gertseva, had a severe and profound voice, poignant and bewitching, and excellently projected, too. Gertseva brought confidence in her intense performance. She was a solid presence on the stage, her mezzo-soprano showing a stiffness that suited the Countess' tough nature. Baritone Tómas Tómasson as Count Tomsky, Herman's friend, has a very pleasant, full depth timbre and natural dramatic flair. Tomsky is assigned two memorable arias, both of which were outstanding in Tómasson's rendition. Prince Yeletsky was nobly interpreted by the baritone Maksim Aniskin who sang formidably in his higher register, including a noble interpretation of “Ya vas lyublyu”, where he confesses his love to Liza, singing with sincere passion and an elegant baritone. As Liza’s companion Polina, Aigul Akhmetshima displayed a powerful mezzo-soprano, with an asserting firmness in the voice that gave her singing an ear-catching tension. Sofia Tumanian was a generous Masha, one of Liza’s maids. The Teatro di San Carlo orchestra and chorus were excellent like rarely before, the latter precise and clean, with perfect Russian diction. Conductor Juraj Valčuha is quite experienced in Russian, and more generally Slavic, repertoire and here he confirmed his ability to manage the almost symphonic traits that are crucial to this drama. He was particularly attentive to the emotional climaxes of the romance. Nevertheless, he never prevailed on his singers, and ensured that not a word was lost in the musical turmoil.
Once again, the Neapolitan audience, famous in Rossini's time for its severity, in some points of the ' Ermione , he remained silent. Just as happened two hundred years ago when, at the Real Teatro di San Carlo, on March 27, 1819, there was the premiere of this unfortunate and misunderstood masterpiece, which had to wait one hundred and fifty-eight years before being presented again in Siena, but in concert form, after the unhappy Neapolitan baptism.It presents atypical characteristics right from the symphony, abruptly interrupted by unexpected choral interventions: the distant echo of the tribulations of the Trojan prisoners, almost as if the symphony were already a scenic action and not a mere introductory work. A work marked by moments of demanding tension, introspective meditations, elegant melodic inventions and a tiring vocal writing
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.
Tempo di lettura stimato: 2 minuti Ein Deutsches Requiem di Johannes Brahms Sul podio Gea Garatti Ansini Mercoledì 15 maggio alle ore 18,00 al Teatro di San Carlo
Franco Vassallo ha ottenuto forse l’accoglienza più calorosa di tutto il cast. In effetti il baritono ha impressionato per l’estensione, la fermezza e l’omogeneità della sua voce, con un canto generoso esibito quasi con spavalderia nel quadro di un’emissione quasi granitica. Queste doti sono perfettamente in linea col suo Posa, personaggio ‘tutto d’un pezzo’, in cui è stato evidenziato il lato ‘eroico’ di un eroe positivo; quindi bando al giovanile furore che lo spinge a battersi per le cause ‘innovatrici’ o l’ardore febbrile del suo sentimento verso l’amico.
Il Teatro San Carlo di Napoli scopre una nuova Violetta. Debutta in questa parte difficilissima la giovane Mariangela Sicilia, e subito s’impone per autorevolezza scenica e vocale. Possiede indubbie doti di attrice, e una voce di soprano lirico-drammatico che dà al personaggio il giusto peso teatrale. La sua interpretazione va in crescendo, a mano a mano che Violetta abbandona la veste scintillante della cortigiana e, attraverso il sacrificio di rinunciare alla propria redenzione per amore di una sconosciuta, diventa donna, eroina e infine angelo che vola al cielo.(...) dal secondo atto, invece , la sua voce, assestata nel registro drammatico, si muove agevolmente tra parole scolpite con forza e canto melodico, sfumato nelle sonorità, sempre duttile, morbido ed espressivo.
"Una belleza terrena e sensual, dirompe, invece, con l´entrata in scena della Principessa straniera, Jolana Fogas, ottima interprete sia vocalmente che attorialmente."
