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3Roméo, Nico Darmanin, may not be French (he is Maltese), but he has the ideal voice for the role: light, lyrical but with enough heft and brilliance for the more dramatic scenes. Nico Darmanin was superb in the well-known ‘Ah! Lève-toi, soleil’, sung with a true glow, and elsewhere he was just as impressive. Both singers are also young-looking, have slender bodies which makes the more intimate scenes, where they are lightly dressed, pleasant to look at. Rarely have I seen two young singers so well suited to their roles.'
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.
Sukanya, the only opera by Ravi Shankar, virtuoso sitar player and one of the first truly global music stars is certainly a lavish treat for the eyes and ears. Amongst the music and singing is plenty of excellent dance by Aakash Odedra, another artist who bridges Eastern and Western traditions with such ease.The story is taken from the Sanskrit texts of the Mahabharata. Having accidentally blinded the revered and aged sage Chyavana, the princess Sukanya is offered to him as a bride by her father, King Sharyaati, to make amends. It’s a fate she accepts with remarkable dignity as she sings of her destiny.Odedra’s dance tends towards the traditional, although there is sometimes a contemporary edge to things. Given the severe restrictions on space, that the choreography looks so good speaks volumes. Standing out is the lithe Indian film actor and bharatanatyam dancer Rukmini Vijayakumar, a temple dancer in gorgeously coloured silks. Everything about her sparkled: her rhythmic footwork, poses, facial expressions and super-clear hand movements. I also enjoyed a duet between Odedra and Sanjukta Sinha, in identical white costumes, that was full of spins and turns.The atmosphere throughout is light and innocent, although every now and again there’s an explosion of excitement, one in Act 2 matched by a terrifically exciting dance by all five dancers. The music is loaded with gorgeously listenable to melodies, Murphy’s orchestration combining the Eastern and Western instruments beautifully; no easy task given that Indian music uses scales based on the harmonic series, which introduces microtonal notes that are mostly not used in Western music. The different Indian and Western operatic traditions add further complexity. In Sukanya, the singers sing Indian ragas, the opera also including konnakol, a voiced percussion. In amongst in all is the soft yet gin clear voice of The Royal Opera soprano Susannah Hurrell as Sukanya, whose husband was played by tenor Alok Kumar. I also enjoyed the sweet sounding Eleanor Minney as Sukanya’s friend, and Njabulo Madlala and Michel de Souza as the bumbling Aswini Twins, who you just knew were going to finish up losing out. Keel Watson is the well-rounded King.All round an evening of pure delight. Sukanya may not be opera as usually known in the West but it’s a massively colourful, entertaining, total integration of music, dance, drama and modern visuals. Above all, perhaps, an evening of driving energy that shows just how well different traditions can come together in the right hands.
