D’Intino’s Azucena Rescues Liceu’s ‘Trovatore’
Opera research tells us that, at first, Giuseppe Verdi was considering “Azucena” as the name for his 1853 opera, Il Trovatore. If the composer were still alive and had attended the opera’s December 22nd performance at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, he very well might have. There was no doubt while watching the telecast at the Loft Cinema on the same date, that mezzo-soprano Luciana D’Intino captured one of the most intriguing and vocally-effulgent interpretations of Verdi’s gypsy outcast this opera lover has ever heard. D’intino’s vocal ease and textual command of the role was in the tradition of two of Italy’s best interpreters from the past, Giulietta Simionato and Fiorenza Cossotto. And the audience was very fortunate to hear and see her, for what remained was one of the dullest performances of Verdi’s magnificent musical masterpiece.
For once, the physical side of the production was not the culprit in the show. The sets, costumes, and lighting by William Orlandi were in vogue with many of the opera productions of today. They combined a style reminiscent of older times with the sleek lines of today. Orlandi’s unit set was composed of white side walls and back scrims that changed from the orange sun of daylight to the dusky blue of nighttime. Orlandi’s work followed Director’s Gilbert Deflo’s concept of chiaroscuro in Salvatore’s Cammarano’s text. (By the way, one remarkable thing about the libretto is how the librettist was able to wheedle down the verbosity in Antonio García Gutiérrez’s long romantic drama typical of early 19th Century Spain.) The set designer also carried the day/night theme over to his costumes. They had a hint of 15th Century soldiers’ uniforms united with the clean lines of modern-day dress. This was most apparent in the plastic sheen of the blue and red helmets of the opposing armies with both clad in black soft-shelled armor. He dressed the heroine Leonora in one costume only: a long white, tailored tunic. Beautiful though it was, it got a little boring to look at by opera’s end. As a matter of fact, ennui was something that plagued the whole production, even making Marco Armiliato’s conducting seem routine.
Deflo’s original idea was to incorporate the characters’ minimalists movements into Orlandi’s designs. This concept proved difficult for him to show, considering that the majority of the performers lacked the requisite stage presence to carry this off. Their lack of inner tension combined with the straight-out delivery of music and text that Verdi’s great work demands, defeated the entire production. Only D’Intino was able to project her Azucena in this way, although it must be admitted when she began her aria, Stride la vampa which opened Part Two, it was questionable whether she would be able to overcome Deflo’s ambiguous direction. Fortunately she did, and a great performance ensued.
But the Manrico of Marco Berti and Il conte di Luna of Vittorio Vitelli did not live up to the demands of their roles. In the December 2009, issue of Opera News, opera critic Georgia Rowe said of Berti’s Manrico in San Francisco that she “wanted lyrical temperament and more reliable pitch.” In Barcelona, his lyric temperament was non-existent and his variable pitch left little to enjoy in his performance. Vitelli exhibited a pleasing sound and some nice phrasing here and there, but his stage deportment lacked any resemblance to unrequited passion and ultimate anger needed for di Luna as he sought Leonora’s love.
Unfortunately Italian soprano Fiorenza Cedolins’ vocal performance proved to be the least satisfying element in the production. Cedolins is a svelt, attractive woman who demonstrated Leonora’s emotional conflict between her love for Manrico and her hatred for di Luna’s stalking nature, but she could not get her voice to match the persona. Her middle voice seemed cloudy and muddy, and she has a habit of singing with her head down which looked quite uncomfortable. The fault, however, was not all hers. For whatever reason, the sound system used for the telecast was of very poor quality. There were times in Part One and Part Three where Cedolins’s voice almost disappeared and the middle voices of Vitelli and D’Intino, at different intervals, came across as shaky and slightly off pitch. This was a near disaster for a major opera house trying to make a name for itself in the 21st Century world of opera telecasts.
The audience was very kind to Cedolins, Berti and Vitelli during the curtain calls, but this opening night telecast at the Gran Teatre Del Liceu was very unkind to the extraordinary melodies and gripping passion in Verdi’s popular work.
Go to: Il Trovatore-Wikipedia for a clear synopsis of Cammarano’s convoluted plotting of the opera.
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