Rossini Opera Festival 2017

The only person who really impressed me this year at the Viaggio a Reims was Roberto Lorenzi with a true bass voice and a fluid coloratura. Others were also enjoyable such as Oscar Oré as Belfiore or Noluvuyiso Mpofu as Cortese. Corinna and Folleville lacked substance and were a bit thin. Good all others. The conductor Michele Spotti was hugely applauded but I found his direction a bit flat, colours missing and not much variation. The mise en scene was the very effective one by Emilio Sagi and as always this Viaggio by the students of the Rossini Academy is a pleasure to watch, almost touching in the enthusiasm the young singers put into their singing and acting.

Torvaldo e Dorliska was this year’s most balanced opera I thought. Both the visual and musical side were satisfactory. The stage is nicely designed by Mario Martone, a forest behind a iron gate impress with the versatility it offers to move around it, and the delightful costumes by Ursula Patzak put us into the narrative immediately. Very well the young director Francesco Lanzillotta. He plays with colours, dynamics, and tempi to give the music the lightheartedness and tension it deserves. Salome Jicia, seemingly the Semiramide of the 2019 ROF, started on a wobbly foot with her first aria but her performance grew over time into a well performed Dorliska, though I felt her lower and middle register were not as strong as I remember them in Elena in last year’s Donna del lago. Very well Dmitry Korchak as her lover with a bright ringing voice he also had no difficulty to find his way through the rapid vocalisms, and the top notes were poured out with ease. Of Carlo Lepore I especially liked both the comic and tragic characterization of the character. Nicola Alaimo has not a huge voice but sings with great taste. Great fun was Filippo Fontana in his small aria Sopra quell’albero vedo un bel pero while I thought Raffaella Lupinacci was marvellous in the small role of Carlotta, her aria very well sung. Since i could not see the subtitles from where I was sitting, I especially appreciated how everybody put extra effort in the pronunciation as the plot was easily followed even without subtitles.

Le siège de Corinthe was a huge disappointment. The direction was given to La Fura dels Baus, who have created many memorable productions, but this opera did not tickle they inspiration at all I feel. They de-contextualized the plot, and the struggle for independence of the Greek from the Ottomans is interpreted by La Fura with the struggle for water. Although I get their point and can imagine the parallel somewhere, the show did not convince me in the least for the absence of a real storytelling, and boredom came up pretty soon. Furthermore 20L-water-bottles strung together into walls was visually not very pleasing. The costumes looked like there were paint stains on them. Furthermore, instead of the ballet one could read poems by Lord Byron projected on the wall. They certainly were congruent (and I rediscovered Byron’s touching “Darkness”) but it’s not a ballet, and the dancers came in only very late into the orchestral intermezzo. Abbado did not direct badly but I felt he was accompanying well (which is still a great achievement) rather than looking for exciting ways to interpret the newly edited score, and overall he was not able to lift the musical part above the abominable visual disaster. Nino Machaidze’s voice is well projected and she has a good enough coloratura, but she impressed me much more in her Neapolitan Desdemona. My issue with Luca Pisaroni is that he is not a real bass voice and that makes him lose credibility as Mahomet altogether, especially when he awkwardly tries to reach the lower notes. Much better the two tenors. Sergey Romanovsky has a beautiful and strong tenor voice and his last aria is sung very well. I hope he choses his repertoire well and doesn’t push too much on the top notes as it would be a pleasure to hear him in the Neapolitan Rossini in future. Convincing was also John Irvin as Pamyra’s father, in fact more convincing that the day before at the the 3 Tenors’ concert. Cecilia Molinari was barely audible but Carlo Cigni, Xabier Anduaga, and Omar-Iurii were all convincing.

La pietra del paragone’s conductor Daniele Rustioni is precies but not as light as needed. Margheri has the right physique du role for Count Asdrubale and a nice voice but he is somewhat flat in colours and a little clumsy with the agilities. Even worse Aya Wakizono, she is almost inaudible in the grave and center even with the orchestra playing pp. It is a disaster for a role that urges for the low notes of the voice. The coloratura is good but her pronunciation a bit scholarly and she really shines only when the variations bring her to the higher notes. Very good Paolo Bordogna who, though with a slight tight vibrato, is a great singer who’s Pacuvio does not find obstacles in the range, his agilities good and much fun on stage. Wonderful Davide Luciano, who I gladly saw again after the very positive impression he had made on me in the Inganno felice, an impression that was repeated: beautiful voice, sure in the agilities, excellent phrasing, but also a great actor who knows how to speak with body, gestures, and a simple look. The direction uses the whole setting of a modern house in a continuous flow of people that makes the plot glide fluidly, beautiful the lights and the costumes, the latter in colourful and elegant 70s style.

Il viaggio a Reims: Direzione-Michele Spotti, Elementi scenici-Emilio Sagi, Costumi-Pepa Ojanguren, Corinna-Beatriz De Sousa, Marchesa Melibea-Martiniana Antonie, Contessa di Folleville-Giorgia Paci, Madama Cortese-Noluvuyiso Mpofu, Cavalier Belfiore-Oscar Oré, Conte di Libenskof-Emmanuel Faraldo, Lord Sidney-Elcin Huseynov, Don Profondo-Roberto Lorenzi, Barone di Trombonok-Michael Borth, Don Alvaro-Francesco Auriemma, Don Prudenzio-Daniele Antonangeli, Don Luigino-Alasdair Kent, Delia–Francesca Tassinari, Maddalena-Valeria Girardello, Modestina-Marigona Qerkezi, Zefirino/Gelsomino-Ruzil Gatin, Antonio-Aleksandr Utkin, 16 agosto 2017, Torvaldo e Dorliska, Direttore-Francesco Lanzillotta, Regia-Mario Martone, Scene-Sergio Tramonti, Costumi-Ursula Patzak, Duca d’Ordow-Nicola Alaimo, Dorliska-Salome Jicia, Torvaldo-Dmitry Korchak, Giorgio-Carlo Lepore, Carlotta-Raffaella Lupinacci, Ormondo-Filippo Fontana, 18 agosto 2017, Le siège de Corinthe, Direttore-Roberto Abbado, Progetto Regia-La Fura dels Baus, Regia e Scene-Carlus Padrissa, Elementi scenografici e pittorici, Costumi e Video-Lita Cabellut, Mahomet II-Luca Pisaroni, Cléomène-John Irvin, Pamyra-Nino Machaidze, Néoclès-Sergey Romanovsky, Hiéros-Carlo Cigni, Adraste-Xabier Anduaga, Omar-Iurii Samoilov, Ismène-Cecilia Molinari, 19 agosto 2017, La pietra del paragone, Direttore-Daniele Rustioni, Regia, Scene e Costumi-Pier Luigi Pizzi, Marchesa Clarice-Aya Wakizono, Baronessa Aspasia-Aurora Faggioli, Donna Fulvia-Marina Monzó, Conte Asdrubale-Gianluca Margheri, Cavalier Giocondo-Maxim Mironov, Macrobio-Davide-Luciano, Pacuvio-Paolo Bordogna, Fabrizio-William Corrò, 20 agosto 2017. Pictures: Studio Amati Bacciardi/RossiniOperaFestival/www.Lafura.com

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Pesaro – Rossini Opera Festival 2015

Every year, The Accademia Rossiniana of Pesaro teaches young singers about the interpretation of Rossini who then all give their best in Il viaggio a Reims. Famous singers have passed through this Viaggio and it is delightful to hear young and motivated voices. This year there were those who sing well but whose voice is too weak to be properly heard, those who pronounce miserably and have a shrill voice, those who just sing well and you imagine them grow artistically. This year I thought Sunnyboy Dladia, Rubén Pérez Rodriguez and Federica di Trapani were promising. My personal favourite was Leslie Visco, who I thought sang very well with a clear pronunciation the role of Madama Cortese. The Filarmonica G. Rossini orchestra didn’t play well at all, at times out of tune and unsynchronized once or twice. The director also lacked in Rossinian spirit.

The Messa di Gloria was created by a Rossini who was worried of the public opinion. This might explain the careful composition, the “borrowing” of a theme from an opera by Mayr and the help of a fellow composer, Pietro Raimondi. One of the most important witnesses of the Messa di Gloria, which was first heard in the church of San Ferdinando in Naples in March 1820, was Carl Borromäus von Miltitz, a minor composer present in Naples who hoped to be staged by Rossini on one of the Neapolitan theatres. Not entirely adverse towards Italian music first, his tone became more and more aggressive when realizing that his opera would not be staged (For the highly amusing article I refer to Reto Müller in La Gazzetta nr 22 of the Deutsche Rossini Gesellschaft). Florez sang very well and has a beautiful voice though I slightly raised my eyebrow on the troublesome and hard sounding florid passages of qui sedes ad dexteram patris. The radiant looking Jessica Pratt sang extremely well with a stronger middle register, soft pianissimi, marvellous crescendo, clean vocalises and a dramatic interpretation of the cantata in both recitive and aria. I didn’t hear the mezzosoprano until her solo part in the terzetto and then only until she was joined by bass and soprano. Her coloratura was sometimes so quick she arrived at the end before the phrase actually ended. The voice is not particularly beautiful. The comparison with the soprano, who sang the same phrase, in the terzetto was quite pitiless, repeating the impression I had in Wildbad. Mirco Palazzi sang with a splendid and noble timbre and Dempsey Rivera was a good second tenor in the Kyrie with Florez. Not much personality emerged from Donato Renzetti, neither in the Messa nor in the Gazza. Heavy direction and little or no nuances.

L’inganno felice is a farsa composed for the Teatro San Moisé in Venice in 1812 and was one of the more successful of Rossini’s farse being frequently staged also outside Italy. Mariangela Sicilia and Carlo Lepore are both excellent. Beautiful voices, both convince with technical skills. Carlo Lepore is also perfect in action and pronunciation and achieves a tender and dramatic Tarabotto. If Mariangela Sicilia will make the right choices I am sure she will mature to an excellent career. Vassilis Kavayas was slightly unripe in voice and didn’t convince much while Giulio Mastrototaro was only adequate as Ormondo. I found Davide Luciano as Batone simply superb: easy coloratura, beautiful voice, splendid acting and excellent pronunciation.  I certainly hope I will hear this promising young singer again. Graham Vick’s staging of 1994 has lost nothing of its freshness while the director Denis Vlasenko gives attention to details, and accompanies with elegance and grace.

La gazza ladra was presented this year in the 2007 staging by Damiano Michieletto, who won the premio Abbiati in 2007 for best director. The staging is a transposition of the Gazza ladra plot into a modern version where the magpie is interpreted by a child who dreams the whole story. A touching staging, one of my favourite by the Venetian director, who, in most cases (in my eyes) fully grasps the spirit of the operas. From the original cast only Alex Esposito is present. And what a loss if he wouldn’t be. He sings and acts with talent interpreting a stirringly emotional father figure. René Barbera charms with a beautiful voice and adequate coloratura. Nino Machaidze sings with easy top notes and light coloratura but with a shrill-ish voice. Teresa Iervolino’s creamy voice fits the character of Lucia, and her gradual conversion from shrew to accepting mother-in-law, well. Marko Mimica gave the impression he is too concentrated to sing everything right, which slightly affected both musical and actorial performance, lacking in grandeur, but he contributed to the overall success of the opera. Peculiar choice was Lena Belkina, or whoever offered her the role of Pippo (and why did she ever accept it). Her voice shows clear difficulty in the first act where she struggles to reach the lower notes, which are hardly heard. Worse even, she “acts” funny to sing towards higher notes, which are sometimes screamed, sometimes out of tune because not able to descend. Very disappointing. She sang better in the duet of the second act. Orchestra and chorus were wonderful. Of Renzetti I have already spoken.

La Gazzetta needs a entertaining show, able to grasp the Neapolitan humour, especially of Don Pomponio. And in Pesaro something went terribly wrong. Although glimpses of Naples were present with Don Pomponio’s dialect and the excellent mute role of Tommasí, the direction of Marco Carniti, although it had the benefit of making a rather confuse plot understandable, was nowhere near being amusing. The set follows the recent money-saving trend consisting mainly of tables and chairs, which do not much except rotating. Which is fine if the director had imagination and originality…. Big disappointment for me, who remembers the superlative staging of Dario Fo, which, although not being over-Neapolitan either, matched the whirling humour of the libretto. Musically on the other hand things went quite well with a cast which lived up to expectations. The recently found Act I quintet is charming. Enrique Mazzola directs a wonderful Orchestra del Comunale di Bologna. Hasmik Torosyan has a luscious voice, lovely pianissimi and an easy coloratura but I wish she didn’t force too much her higher notes. Maxim Mironov is a wonderful tenor, agile and mature, a delight to hear and see. Vito Priante took the role of Filippo and he did it with verve and musicality though the florid passages of his Act II aria are not all too fluid. Nicola Alaimo proved to be as convincing in dramatic as in comic opera. Doralice was finely sung by Raffaella Lupinacci and all other characters were also well interpreted.

Il viaggio a Reims (17/8/15) Direzione-Manuel Lopez-Gomez, Elementi scenic-Emilio Sagi, Costumi-Pepa Ojanguren, Corinna -Federica di Trapani, La marchesa Melibea-Shirin Eskandani, La contessa di Folleville-Kaori Nagamachi, Madama Cortese-Leslie Visco, Il cavaliere Belfiore-Sunnyboy Dladia, Il conte di Libenskof-Rubén Pérez Rodrìguez, Lord Sidney-Alessandro Abis, Don Profondo-Pablo Ruiz, Barone di Trombonok-Vincenzo Nizzardo, Don Alvaro/Antonio-Carlo Checchi, Don Prudenzio-Shi Zong, Don Luigino/Zeffirino/Gelsomino-Dangelo Fernando Dìaz, Maddalena-Cecilia Molinari, Delia-Carmen Buendia, Modestina-Salome Jicia

Messa di Gloria, Il pianto d’Armonia sulla morte d’Orfeo, La morte di Didone (18/8/15) Donato Renzetti, Jessica Pratt, Victoria Yarovaya, Juan Diego Florez, Mirco Palazzi, Dempsey Rivera

L’inganno felice (18/8/15) Direttore-Denis Vlasenko, Regia-Graham Vick, Scene e costumi-Richard Hudson, Progetto luci-Matthew Richardson, Isabella-Mariangela Sicilia, Bertrando-Vassilis Kavayas, Ormondo-Giulio Mastrototaro, Tarabotto-Carlo Lepore, Batone-Davide Luciano

La gazza ladra (19/8/15) Direttore-Donato Renzetti, Regia-Damiano Michieletto, Scene-Paolo Fantin, Costumi-Carla Teti, Progetto luci-Alessandro Carletti, Fabrizio Vingradito-Simone Alberghini, Lucia-Teresa Iervolino, Giannetto-René Barbera, Ninetta-Nino Machaidze, Fernando Villabella-Alex Esposito, Gottardo-Marko Mimica, Pippo-Lena Belkina, Isacco-Matteo Macchioni, Antonio-Alessandro Luciano, Giorgio-Riccardo Fioratti, Ernesto/Il Pretore-Claudio Levantino, Una Gazza-Sandhya Nagaraja

La gazzetta (20/8/15) Direttore-Enrique Mazzola, Regia e Costumi-Marco Carniti, Scene-Manuela Gasperoni, Progetto luci-Fabio Rossi, Don Pomponio Storione-Nicola Alaimo, Lisetta-Hasmik Torosyan, Filippo-Vito Priante, Doralice-Raffaella Lupinacci, Anselmo-Dario Shikhmiri, Alberto-Maxim Mironov, Madama La Rose-Josè Maria Lo Monaco, Monsù Traversen-Andrea Vincenzo Bonsignore, Tommasino-Ernesto Lama

An 5-star Otello (Rossini) @ Flemish Opera/Vlaamse Opera in Ghent

What the major opera house in Belgium doesn’t dare to play, is bravely tackled by the two other two opera houses, the Opéra Liege and the Flemish Opera with its two houses in Antwerp and Gent. So while the money is ehm….spent in Brussels with the more conventional Italians with alternating success, Gent and Liege offer the possibility to broaden ones musical horizon with Rossini serio, rare Donizetti, Bellini etc. (Sidebar: in Brussels I saw the stupidest Trovatore by Tcherniakov…where the main characters tell each other the events which happened years earlier……Do me the favour, Mr de Caluwe!!! I suggest you use the same setting for all your future opera’s……… what better idea than having all characters telling each other the plot? with a setting that you can recycle for Tosca, Hoffmann, Norma, Carmen, Tristan, Zauberflöte……..)

Rossini’s Otello presented in Gent is the one Leiser and Caurier created for the Opernhaus in Zürich and staged with Osborn, Camarena and Bartoli. This setting is quite good in mixing dramatic with more lyrical moments, and the portrayals of the different characters is well balanced also, from Desdemona’s disobedience and independence to Otello’s lost trust and desperation. I particularly like act 2, (where we see the moor Otello, who, although a respected military man, still does not deserve more than to hang out in a shady bar, fighting with racial prejudices) or the willow song, where Desdemona thinks of happier times listening to the harp intro from an old record player.

Musically the performance is way above average from what one would expect from a provincial theatre. And although the orchestra starts the overture awfully (with the violin accompanying the oboe solo playing the descending motives as eights instead of triplets of sixteenths ) the overall rendition is correct and the orchestra accompanies with precision a difficult but colourful score (Rossini had to shorten the horn solo to Desdemomas’s entrance at its Neapolitan premiere as even the horn player of the San Carlo deemed it too difficult). The orchestra, prepared by Alberto Zedda, is led through the sublime music by Ryuichiro Sonoda.

Also the voices offer great pleasure. Otello is the marvelous Gregory Kunde. And although not equally smooth and mellow in all registers (at 60!), he renders the moor wonderfully expressive as a man driven by determined desperation. Kunde sang the same role in a concert version in Brussels in 2012. But in Brussels the approach to the character was distant, cold and unemotional, even with a Desdemona like Anna Caterina Antonacci (equally distant). In Ghent I was bolted to my chair. From the entrance Kunde was magnetic in his interpretation, in the ringing top notes and in the touching rendering of the wretched husband (yes, in Rossini’s Otello they are already married!)
The tender Rodrigo is interpreted by Maxim Mironov with a precise and flexible voice. “Che ascolto” is very touching and sung with clear diction. Desdemona is Carmen Romeu whom I never heard before. But i was positively impressed. Romeu mastered the monster role with panache and expression, her voice has an interesting timbre and the coloratura is precise. All other roles are adequately cast with a tender and full-body voiced Emilia (Raffaella Lupinacci), Josef Wagner as Elmiro, Robert McPherson as Iago, the gondolier by Stephan Adriaens and the doge by Maarten Heirman, all contributed to a close to perfection performance. I can only hope for more Rossini, especially the opere serie, into which Rossini poured his most inspired music.

Musical direction-Ryuichiro Sonoda, Director-Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier, Set design-Christian Fenouillat, Costumes-Agostino Cavalca, Lighting-Christophe Forey, Otello-Gregory Kunde, Desdemona-Carmen Romeu, Elmiro-Josef Wagner, Rodrigo-Maxim Mironov, Iago-Robert McPherson, Emilia-Raffaella Lupinacci, il doge-Maarten Heirman, un gondoliere-Stephan Adriaens, Gent, 7-3-2014

Ricciardo e Zoraide in Bad Wildbad

Ricciardo e Zoraide comes from this incredible pool of Rossini’s operas composed for Neaples between 1815 and 1822. When Domenico Barbaja summoned Rossini to Naples, the Real Teatro di San Carlo had everything a composer could hope for: a first class orchestra composed only of professionals (which was by no means the standard in Italy in those days, see for e.g. the clarinet solo in Ricciardo and especially the horn solo from Otello), some of the finest singers of that time, and one of Europe’s best choruses (although I’m sure Rossini was attracted as well by the excellent food and other Neapolitan beauties …..). This was Rossini’s fertile ground on which grew his masterpieces, in a time regarded as the zenith (and end) of belcanto. For Naples Rossini could draw all his stops, in fact, in Naples Rossini was more innovative and modern than ever.

From the mentioned singers one has to outline Isabella Colbran, Rossini’s lover-then-wife, a singer of a wide vocal range, smoothness and flexibility, praised all over Italy. Celletti analyzes Colbran’s voice as  sono più basse (the parts she sings), come tessitura delle parti di soprano “puro” e, anzi, hanno sovente il carattere di parti di mezzosoprano acuto… e improntate come sono ad un accentuato virtuosismo e ad una coloratura fittissima, sono quelle che più rispecchiano l’inventiva di Rossini in materia di diminuzioni, variazioni e fiorettature e la sua capacità di mettere in evidenza taluni pregi dell’esecutrice (la vocalità acrobatica, specie “di forza”, occultandone, insieme, taluni difetti: in particolare, sembra, la progressiva incapacità della Colbran di sostenere senza stonare le larghe frasi di canto spianato; da cui la tendenza ad una coloratura sempre più dettagliata e fastosa, con conseguente eliminazione dei cantabili veri e propri.. Giovanni David, the tenore contraltino, with an extravagant taste for decorating into extremes, and Andrea Nozzari, the more baritonal tenor. The fourth voice was the one of Rosmunda Pisaroni, one of the finest contralto’s of her time. At the time Rossini reached Neaples, Colbran’s singing abilities were declining and she lost pitch and flexibility. This might maybe the reason why Zoraida has no aria di sortita, and her final aria is built into the Finale II.

Bad Wildbad is a small village in the Black Forest and Rossini seemingly enjoyed its curative waters in 1856. For the last 25 years opera’s by Rossini and his contemporaries are staged here. This year it was Ricciardo e Zoraide‘s turn in a concert version. Singers are a mix of the star system and lesser known artists. I remember Randall Bills from his cavalier Belfiore in the Viaggio a Reims in Pesaro last year. His coloratura is perfectionable and Agorante is a role too big for him, which is noticeable in his entrance aria. But withouth the screamed top notes and the non-existing lower notes I liked his nice timbre. Silvia Beltrami had no problems with the tessitura, mastering the contralto notes with ease, her voice running smoothly through the theatre although one wishes more fluid coloratura. No problems with the coloratura instead for Alessandra Marianelli, whom I also remember from Pesaro in a very questionable Turco in Italia. Her voice is pleasant but with unfortunate, near-scream upper notes. Best of the evening was Maxim Mironov, with clear coloratura and a spot-on top register. Di Pierro and Sargsyan sang well in the roles of Ircano and Ernesto, respectively. The director left the singers the time they needed and did a good job following them although one would have wished a slightly bigger unity between orchestra and singers. The orchestra was perfectionable, with some off-key notes and players not always playing together. The chorus on the other hand was superb.

Overall a very pleasant evening for an opera containing excellent music heard far too rarely, adequately cast by the Rossini in Wildbad-staff, who is doing an admirable work reviving forgotten opera’s.

Musical director-José Miguel Perez Sierra, Agorante-Randall Bills, Zoraide-Alessandra Marianelli, Ricciardo-Maxim Mironov, Ircano-Nahuel di Pierro, Zomira-Silvia Beltrami, Ernesto-Artavazd Sargsyan, Fatima-Diana Mian, Bach choir Poznan, Virtuosi Brunenses

Bad Wildbad, 20/07/2013

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