Ressenyes de producció anteriors
8This opera and Warner’s production show very clearly Otello’s descent into jealous madness, contrasted with the jubilant scenes at the start, where the wonderful movement among the actors forms a prelude to his victorious arrival after defeating the Saracens in the eastern Mediterranean.
Keith Warner’s 2017 production at London’s Royal Opera House, now revived, takes us beyond these shores into the darkest corners of Otello’s tower. Gregory Kunde sings the titular role of Otello. He steps into Jonas Kaufmann’s shoes. No easy task. But Kunde has become a familiar face at the ROH, performing three times in as many years since his 2016 debut. And he can clearly hold his own.
Richard Jones’ production revived with warmth, elegance and added resonance
Café Momus on Christmas Eve is clearly suffering from a waiter shortage; fewer customers too, plus a shrunken crowd milling outside. Otherwise, there are fewer changes than you might expect in Dan Dooner’s Covid-conscious, socially distanced edition of Richard Jones’s 2017 production of Puccini’s masterpiece. The snow continues to drift from the heavens, and the bohemians’ Paris garret hasn’t got any warmer. More to the point for this story of sudden love, poverty and cruel death, the characters still intermingle, embrace, and, in the case of Musetta, bite. Meanwhile, down in the pit, an orchestra of 74 has been stripped down to 47, armed with Mario Parenti’s reduced orchestration. Yet despite much lighter forces, Puccini remains Puccini.
International opera houses such as Covent Garden need fail-safe productions of works that feature in most seasons, in which multiple casts can be accommodated as unfussily as possible. Now eight years old, and in its fourth reincarnation, Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser's staging of Madama Butterfly has, surprisingly perhaps, evolved into one of those dependables. Over the years, much of the kitsch that characterised it when new seems to have been quietly abandoned, although traces remain: the landscape, covered with what looks like pink bubble bath, that replaces the backdrop of Nagasaki when Butterfly makes her first appearance; and the tacky flapping gestures she makes as she dies. But generally the production's straightforwardness and refusal to labour political subtexts has become its strength, and its ability to retain its crispness is shown by this excellent revival, which Caurier and Leiser themselves returned to supervise.
Koskys rabenschwarze Deutung des Werks ist sieben Monate nach ihrer ersten Wien-Präsentation erneut an der Staatsoper zu erleben: Back to black.
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.
