Korábbi gyártási vélemények
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.
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.
Flórez set a high bar, but the other principals cleared it. Paolo Bordogna was an engagingly buffo Bartolo. As Rosina, Vasilisa Berzhanskaya’s coloratura was impeccable, her middle voice well controlled, her high notes sure-footed. The robust baritone of Étienne Dupuis’ Figaro was the perfect instrument for the wily barber with his finger in every Sevillian pie who helps guide Almaviva and Rosina to a happy ending. And as the scheming Don Basilio, Ildar Abdrazakov’s gloriously effortless and sonorous bass was a treat. Also good, if not exceptional, were Aurora Marthens as Bartolo’s nerve-wracked maid and Stefan Astakhov as Almaviva's servant, Fiorello. And if not champagne, the Staatsopernorchester under Michele Mariotti was at least a sparkling wine, delivering much of the elegance, wit, zest and glitter found in the music. But not all was well on stage. No less an expert than Verdi wrote that Barbiere “is the finest opera buffa that exists”. Rossini left plenty of room for slapstick in his comic opera, but there was simply too much of it in this performance; too many unnecessary pratfalls, too much mugging. Simply put, it was too laboured an effort to be funny. And so, the heavy handed attempts to provoke laughs from the audience soon met the same fate as the perpetually moving scenic backdrops: at first pleasing, they soon turned annoying, two blemishes on an otherwise enjoyable evening.
