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From Seen and Heard International
By: José M Irurzun; Picture © Bayerischen Staatsoper / Wilfried Hösl

Soloists, Bayerisches Staatsorchester. Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper. Conductor: Marco Armiliato. Nationatheater, Munich 19. 7.2010. (JMI)

Juha Uusitalo (Scarpia) and Karita Mattila (Tosca)

What a great pleasure it is to attend Munich’s Summer Opera Festival year on year, one of the most important events in the calendar. Although Munich probably lacks the glamour of Salzburg or the mystic ambiance of Bayreuth, its quality is second to none as far as I am concerned. My stay in Munich however, began with an almost all star Tosca, which unfortunately failed to meet my expectations.

This is the production that had its premiere at New York’s Metropolitan last September, where it was caused an almighty scandal. The truth is though – at least my truth – is that while different people might like it or hate it, there’s nothing terribly scandalous about it and I can only assume that New York’s reactions to it had more to do with the disappearance of Franco Zeffirelli’s old and much loved production, which seemed to be set as an integral part of the Metropolitan’s structure.

First of all, this is a traditional production, less spectacular than some others, but it follows the libretto faithfully; a rather spartan church in the first act, the Farnese Palace in the second – although it might just as easily be a less that luxurious room in a hotel, and finally a terrace on the fortress, but without the famous statue of the Angel. Costumes are appropriate to the time of the action, and are quite appealing as far as Tosca goes. The lighting could be improved, especially in the first two acts and the stage direction has some interesting details here and there but nothing radical since the three protagonists are what they have always been in so many other productions. The more personal touches happen in Act II, where Scarpia is entertained by a few women of easy virtue, before being stabbed several times by Tosca. Luc Bondy takes away the chandeliers and the crucifixes at the end of the Act, showing Tosca lying on the couch for the last few bars, calming herself by using the Marchesa Atavanti’s fan. It seems that she is not in any hurry to rescue Cavaradossi, even though there are only a few hours (Scarpia says one hour) of life left to him. In fact, she wears a different costume in Act III, presumably having had ample time to go to their villa to change her clothes. Her choice of costume did not seem the particularly suited to take “una tartana por Civitavecchia” either, but the third act remains totally traditional. In short then, the production is fairly conventional, less spectacular than some and not completely convincing at times but it’s certainly no kind of Eurotrash.
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From Seen and Heard International
By: José M Irurzun

Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, Conductor: Michele Mariotti, Teatro Real de Madrid 29. 6.2010 (JMI)

Teatro Real’s ‘Great Voices’ cycle comes to an end with this concert featuring two of Madrid’s most well loved singers. The concert raised great expectations, especially after Leo Nucci’s triumph in another concert in Bilbao a few weeks back. The Madrid concert was truly spectacular and I have never seen the Teatro Real audience as excited before, a real madhouse.
The first outstanding performance of the evening came from conductor Michele Mariotti, who at 31 is already a splendid maestro. In addition to accompanying the singers with much care and delicacy, he also provided some excellent overtures. If he was very good with La Favorita, his interpretation of the prelude to La Traviata was truly breathtaking and he also gave two other outstanding performances of the overtures to Luisa Miller and Nabucco. He was not quite at the same level of quality – it is true – in I Capuleti but he drew a wonderful result from the orchestra, which has, in fact, improved remarkably in the last two years.

The program was quite demanding for the two singers on stage. Rather than arias, they mostly sang full scenes, ending with real firework encores, as if they had not sung enough during the official concert.

Patrizia Ciofi is one of those singers whose performances must be taken as a whole. Her voice is not spectacular in volume or timbre, her top notes don’t leave the audience breathless, nor is her figure full of “charm” and “glamour” either. She possesses none of these qualities in especially large doses, but all of them are present in her performances all of the time, coupled with a capacity for communication that makes her one of the world’s few singing artists. This is not a singer made for studio recordings, but an artist – here is the word again – to be enjoyed in full on on the stage. After a good prison scene from Maria Stuarda, she sang “Il faut partir” from La fille du Régiment, where she was as exciting as usual in the role of Marie. She finished the concert’s first half with the duet betweeb Lucia and Enrico, in which both she and Leo Nucci brought the house down with a marvellous “Si tradirmi tu potrai”. She was superb when singing Violeta’s scene in Act I from La Traviata.
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From Seen and Heard International
By: Harvey Steiman; Pictures © Cory Weaver

Wagner, Die Walküre: Soloists, chorus and orchestra, Donald Runnicles, conductor. San Francisco Opera, War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco. 22.6.2010 (HS)

Valkyries parachuting down in aviatrix garb, warriors dressed in World War I uniforms, Wotan as a three-piece-suited captain of industry, and Valhalla as a vaguely Art Deco high-rise overlooking a Gothan-like city set San Francisco Opera’s newest installment of Wagner’s Die Walküre firmly in the first half of the 20th century. It was a time of conflicts between good and evil that made it seem as if the world could come to an end, which is more or less what Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen is all about, and why this co-production with Washington Opera, updated in several details since its debut in 2007 there, works on many levels.

Michael Yeargan’s set designs remain sketchy enough to integrate with the overall thrust of Wagner’s drama, in which Wotan’s optimism that he can sort out his problems and save the world are shot down, only to find a glimmer of hope that a yet-unborn Siegfried could save the game in the next two chapters. Francesca Zambello’s direction focuses tightly on the personal interactions of the characters, right down to a brilliant team of eight valkyries that not only sang spectacularly well but created unmistakably individual characters.

All that would matter little if the music did not come through. Conductor Donald Runnicles, who led complete Ring cycles in 1990 and 1999 when he was music director of this company, shaped a muscular, vital, no-holds-barred performance from the orchestra. Nearly note-perfect, the pace and phrasing propelled the action nicely and inspired some superb singing.

Eva-Maria Westbroek (Sieglinde) and Christopher Ventris (Siegmund)

Act I belonged to Dutch soprano Eva-Maria Westbroek, in her house debut. Her Sieglinde, which she has sung at both Covent Garden and the Metropolitan Opera, oozed vulnerability even as she made the melodic lines gleam. As a Siegmund just a few decibels short of heroic, English tenor Christopher Ventris still managed to create a believable character and ride the musical lines effortlessly. His “Winterstürme” had a beautiful arc, and the final duet melded well with Westbroek.

From the first moments, this production made effective use of moving images, starting with a mad run through the forest seen from Siegmund’s eyes, projected onto a forward scrim. Changing sky views on the rear scrim added to the visual richness. In Act I the walls of Hunding’s hut open to reveal a gigantic moon rising against a dark blue sky, followed by red and orange pre-dawn skies.

As Hunding, bass Raymond Aceto manhandled Sieglinde, aptly demonstrating and why she wants out. His dark voice carried plenty of menace.
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From Seen and Heard International
By: Harvey Steiman

Soloists, chorus and orchestra of San Francisco Opera, Nicola Luisotti, conductor. War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, 9.6.2010 (HS)

Deborah Voigt has proven herself formidable in Wagner roles such as Sieglinde in Die Walküre or Senta in Die Fliegende Hollander, and Strauss heroines such as the Prima Donna in Ariadne auf Naxos or the Dyer’s Wife in Die Frau Ohne Schatten. In her role debut as Minnie in Puccini’s Fanciulla del West at San Francisco Opera last week, not so much, at least not vocally.

The company has been billing this as “The Girl of the Golden West” and cleverly promoting it as “the original spaghetti western.” Puccini set the scene in California’s Gold Rush, a time and place that must have been as exotic to him as the Japan of Madama Butterfly or the China of Turandot. Voigt, familiar to San Francisco audiences since her days here as an Adler Fellow, brings a straightforward American openness to the character, along with warmth and real charm. You can understand why the miners in the story would love her good-hearted saloonkeeper.

Unfortunately, the vocal demands do not suit her strengths. Heard on the production’s opening night June 9, her singing was blunt, lacking in Italianate legato and in the ebb and flow that makes Puccini’s music so immediate and enthralling. Dramatically, the big crowd scenes never jelled musically because she could hold the center vocally. The more intimate scenes, such as the love duets with tenor Salvatore Licitra and the confrontation with baritone Roberto Frontali, revved up to a higher intensity, but the difference between her choppy melodic lines and the plangent phrases of the two Italians created a wide gulf.

As the bandit and love interest Dick Johnson/Ramerrez, Licitra wielded a robust tenor that may have pulled back a tad on the top notes but played out the shapely lines with clarity and refinement. His Act 3 arietta, “Ch’ella mi creda,” was a moment of sweetness and glory. Frontali played and sang Rance, the sheriff with an unrequited yen for Minnie, with an emphasis on power over refinement. He made a frightening nemesis for Voigt’s Minnie.
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Gallery A of “Il matrimonio segreto”
Gallery B of “Il matrimonio segreto”

If an audience’s enthusiastic response to an opera performance can be taken as an indicator of a successful production, then the U of A’s Opera Theater presentation of Domenico Cimarosa’s 1792 opera buffa, Il matrimonio segreto can be considered as one of its best.

Cast 4/8 4/10
L to R: Asleif Willmer- Carolina • Katie Vanderhooning- Elisetta • Mackenzie Romriell- Fidalma • Greg Guenther- Count Robinson • Chris Herrera- Geronimo • Dennis Tamblyn- Paolino

This enthusiasm for Il matrimonio can be traced back to its premiere in 1792 at the court of Emperor Leopold 11 in Vienna. Leopold commissioned Cimarosa to write an Opera buffa and was so pleased with the results he requested a repeat performance the same evening- after a sumptuous dinner, of course.

The opera was an immediate hit with the public and up until the end of the 18th Century, it was performed over 70 times in Vienna alone.

Cast 4/9 4/11
L To R: Erika Burkhart- Carolina • Angeline Chairez- Elisetta • Seth Kershisnik- Count Robinson • Orquídea Guandique- Fidalma • Kyle Connor- Geronimo and Alan Stevens- Paolino

Fast forward to April, 2010, to the Opera Theater’s four performances at Crowder Hall where audiences discovered to their delight that Artistic Director Charles Roe and Musical Director Charles Bontrager had woven an aura of deja vu into their interpretation. They decided to execute the set and fit the costumes to an elegant acting style that seemed right out of what the production looked and sounded like in 1792.

In today’s operatic climate, with so many loony revisionists puncturing unrelated, chaotic holes into many operatic masterpieces, Roe and Bontrager came up with a radical idea; they opted for a traditional interpretation. It proved to be a very astute decision.
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The following photos are courtesy of the University of Arizona Opera Theater. ©
Show dates: April 8th and April 10th, 2010

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The following photos are courtesy of the University of Arizona Opera Theater. ©
Show dates: April 9th and April 11th, 2010

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From Seen and Heard International
By: José M Irurzun; Photo Courtesy of the Teatro Calderón de Valladolid ©
Soloists, Orchestra and Chorus of Latvian National Opera. Conductor: Pietro Rizzo. Teatro Calderón de Valladolid. 19.5.2010 (JMI)

The Teatro Calderón brought Italian director Elena Barbalich’s Macbeth to Valladolid, three years after its premier in Lisbon. The production concept is very traditional, grim, dark and well suited to the dramatic narrative. Sets are often rather light coloured however but are always appropriate while the dark toned costumes are less attractive. Lighting could have taken more advantage perhaps, of the production’s dark and scary atmosphere too. The direction portrays Lady Macbeth as the real manipulator behind her husband’s actions, which is absolutely right. The two scenes with the witches are well resolved, Macbeth’s party is less so and the ghostly apparitions and the final battle were not done so well either. There are some curious details in the production, such as the presence of the murdered King Duncan on stage, covered with a blood-spattered white sheet which when removed in order to have to the corpse washed, leaves no trace of blood on his royal skin. Overall though, this is an effective production.

The best part of the evening was the music. In charge of musical direction we had Maestro Pietro Rizzo, whose reading I found wholly convincing. I do not know how many rehearsals he had, considering that he was working with a Latvian orchestra and chorus but there was no doubt that Mr. Rizzo was in full control of all the forces under his care, producing some remarkable and truly Verdian sound. This was an excellent reading. The orchestra offered a fine execution of the score, better than what one usually hears in Valladolid, and the chorus produced a decent performance too; good rather than exceptional perhaps.

The Italian baritone Vittorio Vitelli sang Macbeth and he offered exactly what we might expect from him. He has a pleasant and homogenous voice, rather lightweight for Verdi maybe, but his biggest problem, as usual, was his lack of expressiveness and his habitual tendency to sing forte.
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From Seen and Heard International
By: José M Irurzun; pictures © Javier del Real
Soloists, Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid. Coro Intermezzo. Conductor: Massimo Zanetti. Teatro Real de Madrid. 23. 5.2010. (JMI)

There was a time when I was very disappointed when an opera belonging to the main repertoire was offered in concert version. With passing years I am now more inclined to accept it, provided that there is enough musical and vocal interest to justify the absence of a stage production. And since, with very few exceptions, it is almost impossible these days to see great opera singers in staged belcanto operas, I now consider the concert as a good substitute, provided that the musical and vocal quality matches the standards that these operas require.

The presence in the cast of Violeta Urmana and Sonia Ganassi largely explained Teatro Real’s slightly curious decision to go ahead with a Norma in concert version. If I am not mistaken, it is more than 30 years since has not been performed in Madrid at either the Teatro Real or Teatro de la Zarzuela.

The musical direction was entrusted to the always effective Italian conductor Massimo Zanetti. This time things worked much better than on some other occasions and this is probably the best performance I remember from him: in addition to perfectly controlled direction, he supported his singers very well and he drew an excellent performance from the orchestra along with one of the best results I can remember from the Teatro Royal’s chorus. Altogether this was an excellent musical version.

Violeta Urmana sang Norma and was clearly the main reason to program this concert. Hers was a remarkable interpretation, if not one that was completely convincing. Without entering in the discussion whether Ms Urmana is a soprano or a mezzo, I have always been convinced that she is always at her best in high mezzo roles. Norma requires a dramatic soprano with agility in the second part of the opera, while the first half requires a lyric soprano with outstanding coloratura and an easy top. In short, a true soprano is needed. Ms Urmana clearly has soprano notes, but this does not make her ideal for many sopranos roles or even some of those that she sings regularly. There was an announcement of her indisposition before the concert started and regardless of other possible health problems, I wondered if she might be suffering from “Norma virus”, as so many of her colleagues have suffered in the past. Ms Urmana is an important Norma however, despite needing better coloratura and a brighter top register. Too metallic this time and almost shouting occasionally, she was at her best in the opera’s second.
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