From Seen and Heard International
By: José M Irurzun; Photo © Javier del Real

Soloists, Orquesta-Escuela de la Sinfónica de Madrid.Conductor, Eun Sun Kim 21.4.2010 (JMI)

After the success of their Ópera-Estudio project last year with Don Pasquale, Teatro Real repeated the experience with Il Viaggio a Reims, with Raúl Giménez as vocal coach for the young cast. Last year’s success was also repeated this time, although not all the young singers on stage had the same desirable qualities as on the earlier occasion.

What happened to this Rossini opera in recent years is slightly curious. When the score was first rediscovered in the 1980s, the opera was performed with real splendour at some of Europe’s great opera houses with Claudio Abbado conducting and with a truly starry cast. Barely 20 years later, the Rossini Festival in Pesaro changed that model and presented the opera as a showcase for young singers. The success of that project is now an established fact, and for the last 9 years the opera has always been in the annual Rossini Festival programme. Something similar has happened in Spain, using the same Emilio Sagi production seen in Pesaro, which has already been staged in several different Spanish locations and France has also followed the same pattern. There, Nicola Berlofa’s production has combined the resources of a number of French opera houses, once again with young singers in the cast.

Emilio Sagi’s production has been seen by many opera- goers and the truth is that it has always gained the favour of its audiences. I have said many times before that it is in fact, the most profitable stage production in the whole history of opera. The last time I saw it was in Bilbao’s Teatro Arriaga and this is what I wrote then…

Musical direction was entrusted to the winner of the last Lopez Cobos conducting contest, Korean Eun Sun Kim, currently Lopez Cobos’ assistant at Teatro Real. Her reading was interesting and more than merely correct with lively tempos and only a couple of minor coordination problems between stage and pit… This does not overshadow a really good performance. This was a surprisingly good execution by the young orchestra, considerably better than last year in Don Pasquale. Some of the credit is certainly due to Ms Kim. The rest of my review is here.

The current cast, as on other occasions, was formed mostly by young singers some of whom have very interesting qualities. Most interesting was the Aragonese soprano Eugenia Boix as Corinna. At 28 years of age she is a more than pleasant soprano, with good doses of musical expressiveness and a good line in singing. She also cuts a pleasant figure on stage and I think that we will hear from her in the near future. A very good impression was also made by Italian bass-baritone Marco Filippo Romano (another 28 year old) in the character of Baron Trombonok. He is a true basso buffo, with an engaging voice even if its volume is not excessive. He is an excellent actor too and I am also convinced that there is a career ahead for him.
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From Seen and Heard International
By: James L. Zychowicz; Photo © Liz Lauren

Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Chicago Opera Theater, Leonardo Vordoni (conductor) Harris Theater, Chicago, 17.4.2010 (JLZ).

Chicago Opera Theater opened its 2010 season impressively with a revival of Rossini’s Mosé in Egitto. This production continues the tradition COT has of bringing to the stage bel canto opera and other related works from the early nineteenth century. In this regard, it served the score well in assembling a nicely balanced cast in an effective staging. Designated by the compose ras an azione tragic-sacra (a “tragic-sacred action”), Mosé in Egitto is sometimes treated as an oratorio, and the libretto certainly contains enough problems to challenge the the action’s realization on stage. Yet the production designer Anka Lupes and stage director Andrew Eggert brought the epic scale of the story into the space of the stage, very skillfully allowing the music to underscore the narrative very well. This is the kind of work that COT has done equally well in the past and contributes greatly to the artistic life of Chicago. Moreover, the effort involved in bringing such an infrequently performed work to any stage is in itself an act of creation that deserves congratulations.

The familiar story from the book of Exodus translates into an opera text based in part on the play L’Osiride by Francesco Ringhieri, and Andrea Leone Tottola’s libretto uses the romance between the Egyptian prince Osiride and the Hebrew woman Elcia to propel the narrative along. Even with some of the anachronisms that exist in the text, the romance between Osiride and Elcia offers some motivation for the political and religious tensions that must resolve either in the execution of Moses or with his pardon and the freedom of the Israelites. The singers who portrayed the lovers gave outstanding performances of their characters’ individual arias, both individually and in their duet and the ensemble work which involved them.

As Elcia, Siân Davies was persuasive musically and dramatically. Her vocal facility was remarkable from the start, and it was impressive to have such a talented in this unusual work. She already has credit for some major roles in Mozart’s operas, including Elvira in Don Giovanni and has also performed in Handel’s oratorios Messiah and Israel in Egypt. With this production Ms Davies had the opportunity to explore that rarely hear music, her cabaletta after the death of Osiride “Tormentia, afanni,” was impressive, especially in the context of its place near the end of the opera. She also brought finesse to her duet with Osiride in the first act, when Elcia is still consumed by her love, and not yet persuaded to forego it in deference to her loyalty to her people and faith in her deity. Her impassioned performance demonstrated all of the conflicts her character experiences in deciding between love and duty.
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From Seen and Heard International
By: James L. Zychowicz

Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Lyric Opera of Chicago, Leonardo Vordoni (conductor) Civic Opera House, Chicago, 27.3.2010 (JLZ).

The final work in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s 2009-2010 season is a well-cast revival of its delightful production of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. Even though this work was part of a recent season, it is still more than welcome in this house and continues to attract large, enthusiastic audiences. This season’s production involves an international cast of fine singers whose solo work is outstanding and who also blend well with each other in the familiar ensembles of this opera. The challenges of this production include the planned absence of Sir Andrew Davis for several performances, and here he was replaced by the young conductor Leonardo Vordoni, who makes his debut at Lyric Opera with this work. Unfortunately, soprano Anne Schwanewilms, originally planned to sing the role of Countess Almaviva, took ill after the premiere of this run and was replaced, with the final performances sung by Lyric’s Ryan Opera Center alumna Nicole Cabell. These details did not impair the production at all and, in a sense, contributed to the excitement about it, especially in bringing Cabell into the pivotal role of the Countess.

In fact, the entire cast worked splendidly together in bringing the familiar comedy to life. The tension between nobility and commoner, an element in Beaumarchais’ drama which Mozart exploited in his setting of the work, came off beautifully, particularly in the fine characterization of Count Almaviva by Mariusz Kwiecien. Kwiecien delivered a convincing portrayal of the Count, in which he blended the character’s penchant for womanizing along with his bent for intrigue. While Kwiecien’s Almaviva can be calculating, he also maged to seem genuinely concerned about the Countess, while also giving way to his ego in taking the bait of Figaro’s letter to her. Musically, Kwiecien stands out for his resonant and nuanced voice as expressed particularly in “Vedrò, mentr’io, sospire” in the third act. His clear diction and fine phrasing brought a freshness to this familiar character, and his ensemble work was notable for his sense of balance in both the musical and dramatic dimensions of his role.

Likewise, Kyle Ketelsen cut a fine figure as Figaro, a role which this bass-baritone has sung internationally, and which rang true from the opening of the opera. Ketelsen’s deep voice stands out from some of the other baritones who take up Figaro, and it sounds out strongly during the ensembles, which require Figaro’s distinctive lines to be clearly audible. In solo passages, especially “Non più andrai”, Ketelsen was even and persuasive, as his voice has a pleasant consistency. More than that, his acting helped to carry off the fine climax in the fourth act, as he faces up to Susanna and the Countess’s deception.

As Susanna, Danielle de Niese was equally engaging as she offered the knowing glances that distinguish her character. She worked nicely with Ketelsen in the opening scene, and continued strongly in the ensembles which followed, as she matched the sometimes powerful sound of Andrea Silvestri’s Bartolo and Kwiecien’s commanding Count. It was a pleasure to see her interact with Joyce DiDonato, who brought her own sense of Cherubino’s personality to that role. De Niese’s Susanna sometimes offered a light sound, but was never obscured by the accompaniment. Rather, her clear singing allowed her to project her lines nicely. In the same way, DiDonato’s voice sometimes seemed rather muted than the character she gave to Cherubino through her acting, but this also fit with the sense of the adolescent boy that she had to create.
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