Tidigare produktion recensioner
7Quickly at the head of this confusing congregation was the magician Cipolla, played by mesmerizing bass Andras Palerdi. With his flowing robes, long hair and beard, and air of mystique, the design of Palerdi’s Cipolla created a resemblance to the historical ribald moujik, Grigori Rasputin; a connection made all the more tangible by Cipolla’s overwhelming power of suggestion and hypnosis. The earlier parts of the opera featured a number of exchanges between Cipolla and the crowd of characters, wherein which a feat from the magician would send them into a burst of musical squabble before Palerdi’s seizing bass would silence them and, joined by more legato phrasing, would begin to work his spell again. Examples of this included a challenge from the crowd to solve complex arithmetic in his mind, and to find a hidden rose after being blindfolded; this later challenge featured an extended slow rise in the orchestra which heightened the anticipation leading to the reveal of the rose.
Dans l’expression des autres personnages, le choix des autres solistes se révèle d’une rare qualité. [...] Quelles couleurs chez le baryton Peter Bording s’il est Le Garde, Le Bouffon, Le messager, Le Père ou le Gentilhomme.
The house orchestra, conducted by Eötvös, plays like a dream - precise, alert, dedicated - and the vocal trio - Ilse Eerens, Salomé Kammer and Peter Bording - is simply superb. These are the high standards we have come to expect in Lyon. And though it kills me to say something positive about amplification, even the passages where the trio uses hand mikes to whisper are eerily beautiful.
On ne peut que louer la grande homogénéité du quatuor vocal réuni, avec Mary Plazas dans le rôle-titre, l’excellent baryton Peter Bording, la voix cristalline de Ilse Eerens et le chaud mezzo de Salomé Kammer.
Très à l'aise vocalement et musicalement sur une partition pleine de subtilités, les trois chanteurs, la soprano Ilse Eerens, la mezzo-soprano Salomé Kammer, et le baryton Peter Bording passent avec naturel d'un personnage – ou d'un animal - à l'autre. Peter Bording imite un chat avec pour seul accessoire un masque blanc qui s'envole dans les cintres lorsque le chat meurt.
