Předchozí recenze výroby
4Uno spettacolo che conferma l’alto profilo della rassegna proprio perché interroga questi testi, da intendersi nell’accezione più ampia del termine, fornendone risposte non univoche. La chiave di volta è senz’altro costituita dalla direzione attenta, calibratissima, lungamente meditata di Giacomo Sagripanti, che parte proprio dalla definizione di ‘oratorio’, scelta in occasione della creazione parigina dell’opera nel corso della Settimana Santa: filiazione, certo, di quella napoletana come ‘azione tragico-sacra’, ma secondo una prospettiva ancora più ampia. Nelle mani del direttore abruzzese, alla guida dell’Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI di straordinaria compattezza e fluidità, Moïse diventa un bassorilievo marmoreo punteggiato dai momenti ‘sublimi’ – per impiegare la terminologia impiegata da Ilaria Narici – in cui figura l’intervento del soprannaturale.
The Rossini Opera Festival had planned a new production of Moïse et Pharaon for its 2020 edition, which was disrupted by the pandemic. Instead, it opens this year’s festival. Director Pier Luigi Pizzi had a whole year to rethink his staging, which has ended up changing considerably. Scenes are minimalistic and elegant, in pure Pizzi style, Massimo Gasparon's lighting playing a big role in shaping the images. Costumes are colour coded: the Egyptians in blue and purple; the Jews in white and Earth tones. Videos on the back of the stage gave life to the most spectacular events: the plagues of Egypt, the destruction of the great pyramid, and the parting of the Red Sea.
Count Almaviva was well taken by Argentinean Germán E Alcántara (...)in his first major role here, showed vocal and histrionic gifts. In the Act 2 altercation with the Countess his violent side was visibly and vocally only just in check, an aristocrat aware he is losing control of events.
Davide Amadei's scenic design consists of an inclined floor placed diagonally, a wooden parquet cut vertically in half to act as a curtain that, when raised, reveals an environment surrounded by walls in the pattern of an overwhelming wooden coffered ceiling. Costumes are evening dresses for the female characters while Orpheus is barefoot in a white suit and Apollo in a gilded outfit. Even more bizarre are those worn by Charon and Pluto. In Pizzech's direction the entrance of both Music and the Messenger are flatly realized while Charon's boat goes back and forth just a few feet to carry wild souls which, with their rumpus, divert the attention from Orpheus trying to sweeten Hades' ferryman. A full range of expressive modes is highlighted through a colourful, rich palette, both instrumentally and vocally. This makes Monteverdi's work a masterpiece still wholly enjoyable today.
