I looked forward to this with mixed feelings. It is a production mired in controversy, with the hissy fit walk-out by 'designer' stage director Hugo de Ana followed even more hissily fitty by Riccardo 'Maestro' Muti. And reviews had been lukewarm - the Guardian awarding one star because probably it couldn't award nil points. The cast was generally slated as being some third-raters, the best Italy can produce these days, and foisted on Covent Garden as the price for getting Riccardo Muti, who then walked out in a hissy fit.
But it's Verdi, and whilst not Verdi at his very very best, it's still Verdi at his better than just about anyone else.
The overture began. BTW, and I'm not going to mention this again, it is universally known to just about everybody as the Stella Artois tune. But remember, Verdi wrote it, and properly orchestrated it sounds twenty times better than Stella Artois. Played by a sumptuous orchestra under the masterful leadership of the poised-on-the-verge-of-greatness Antonio Pappano, it was one of the most gorgeous and beautiful performances I have heard this year.
That's just the overture, by the way. It received thunderous tumultuous applause.
Then the opera began. Synopsis. I took a good look at the set for Act 1 and wondered what the fuss was about. Bland boring. And the production was dull. In fact, it is fair to say that the sets didn't get any better, arguably Act 1 was the best. Certainly nothing to warrant multiple divo strops. The absolutely worst thing about the production was the distractions going on in the background. In Act 1, when Leonora sings of her indecision about whether to elope with her husband, we see the maid packing a case and walking out the room and then coming back again.
For the acts set on the battle field and in the gypsy camp there was an annoying shelf about eight foot up, at the back of the stage, where people did things that were irritating and distracting without adding anything to the plot. A lot of the staging was dreadful - crowd scenes that suddenly froze as tableaux. In fact the predominant theme was tableau. Most of the sets and costumes were drab, dreary, drab. A gypsy camp that was drab. When there was colour it only highlighted how drab everything else was. And I wasn't impressed by the lighting.
I was not impressed by the singing of Salvatore Licitra, the tenor lead as Don Alvaro in Acts 1 and 3. He doesn't appear in Act 2 (which, teamed with Act 1 of Fidelio and Act 3 of Walk�re makes the perfect performance for the tenor you can't stand: in fact it would be nice to think of it as being Andrea Bocelli's next CD, the ultimate in cynical marketing...). Anyway, I had composed my blog post about Salvatore Licitra - strains to reach the high notes, fails to get the power on the low notes, has moments of beauty followed by moments of sounding like a strangulated cow. But he had a storming Act 4, one that indicates that he has a tremendous voice and great talent. The experts reckon he'll be finished in five years. (He's my age). He has been tipped as the 'new Pavarotti'. his acting is exponentially better than Pavarotti's. Good, but not great.
Ambrogio Maestri, a giant of a man whichever you look at him, has been hailed as the great new Verdi baritone. And certainly his Falstaff, available on DVD, and occasionally shown on Artsworld is a tour de force. But I was not impressed. His voice sounded weak in Act 2, ugly in Act 3 and although strong and loud, boring in Act 4.
If you've read thus far, you've probably concluded that I absolutely hated it.
Wrong!
Violeta Urmana was amazing as Leonora, a real star performance vocally and totally convincing acting throughout. Roberto de Candia gave a fine comedy performance in the smaller role of Fra Melitone, Maria-Ange Todorovitch was spirited, with a rich voice as Preziosilla, also a small role and Ferruccio Furlanetto was superb as Padre Guardiano, one of those small, but absolutely crucial roles.
But the real star of the evening was Verdi, along with Piave the librettist. Just superb. In Act 2 Scene 2, Leonora is on the run - her elopement didn't happen, because Don Alvaro accidentally shot her father. In disguise as a student, she meets her brother Don Carlo, in disguise, who vows (not recognising Leonora) to kill her and Alvaro. So she seeks refuge at the monastery, requesting to live out her life in solitude in a cave. This was so poignant and moving, and superbly executed by Urmana and Furlanetto , plus Mr Pappano and his amazing band, that I was in floods of tears. And I know I wasn't alone., even just in my section. The heartbreak was exacerbated at the end of that scene as she took Communion and Padre Guardiano instructed the monks on how to treat the mystery hermit.
Violeta Urmana was again superb as she sang the moving words to aching music about how she loved and missed Alvaro. Turns out, he's been living in the monastery for seven years as Padre Raffaele. Don Carlo finds him, and they duel, almost to the death. By chance they come upon Leonora in her hide-out. The supreme joy as they recognise each other and reunite in love just brings the tears on more. He breaks the news - he has (mortally) wounded her brother. She rushes to the side of her brother, who stabs her and she dies a beautiful, poignant Verdi death, which I can barely see for the tears flooding my eyes.
It was beautiful. On the basis of eavesdropping, most people loved the singing, hated the sets, adored the music, and came to the conclusion that the Press night must have been shaky, because there appeared, on tonight's evidence, to be no basis for the bad reviews.
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