Barcelona Rarity:
Damrau and Flórez can’t Salvage Linda di Chamounix

From Seen and Heard International
By:José Mª Irurzun; Photo courtesy Gran Teatre del Liceau, © A. Bofill

SpainSpain Gaetano Donizetti, Linda di Chamounix: Soloists, Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Gran Teatre del Liceu, Marco Armiliato (conductor), Barcelona’s Liceu, 27 & 28.12. 2011 (JMI)

New production Barcelona’s Liceu, coproduction with Opera di Roma

Linda di Chamounix is an opera of full-blown maturity Donizetti. When it premiered in Vienna in 1842, Donizetti’s greatest hits were already well established. Only Don Pasquale (1844), among his best known operas, came later. Although Linda di Chamounix was a major success at its premiere and at its revival in Paris (revised and with the addition of its best-known aria), it is now one of the least performed operas by Donizetti. In Spain it was last performed in Bilbao in 1998 with Edita Gruberova in the title role. In major opera houses it was seen last season at London’s Covent Garden, but only in a concert version.

Now the Liceu in Barcelona has decided to bring it back on stage, and with an exceptional cast. Is the presence of two exceptional singers like Diana Damrau and Juan Diego Flórez enough for Linda di Chamounix to succeed? Alas, no.

Linda belongs among the semi-serious melodramas, which might have had its day, but not nowadays. There are exceptional lyrical pages in some Donizetti buffo operas, but no particularly successful lightheartedness in his lyrical or dramatic operas. Especially the quality of the music that Donizetti wrote for the buffo scenes of Marquis Boisfleury is poor. The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is weak enough to stand out even among other Rossini libretti and the music is very uneven, with outstanding moments (among them several of the main duets) right next to , but at times the music that does not go above oompah-pah. At three hours, nearly 3 hours of opera can get rather long.

The Liceu has commissioned a new production from Emilio Sagi, which doesn’t go beyond simply narrating the weak plot. He updates the action to the early 20th century and drapes it in kitschy sets for acts I and III: Some forested landscape with flowers and later a few trees replaced by tables and chairs to celebrate the return of the Savoyards from Paris. In the second act shows Linda’s apartment on two levels, and blends in with the costumes kept soft colors to match the sets. The lighting work is good, but the stage direction unconvincing.

Marco Armiliato has become one of the most requested conductors by today’s top singers, presumably because he is always at their service (if necessary at the expense of the music). Nothing was therefore more natural than to have him in the pit with Diana Damrau and Juan Diego Flórez on stage. His reading was not exciting; much as if the singers were in fact conducting. No question, Mr Armiliato can be (and was) very efficient at his job, but it’s not enough for an opera like Linda di Chamounix. His reading, interestingly, seemed much better with the second cast, when he managed for something altogether more lively—shaving a remarkable eleven minutes off the net music-time from the previous evening.

Diana Damrau is the ideal interpreter of the character of Linda: A great singer, a great actress, and a voice that is very well suited to the character, even if her very top register is not as bright as a couple of years ago. She has a lot to sing and many opportunities to shine and she was excellent. Her initial aria—or rather cabaletta—”O luce di quest’anima”—was good already, but she was at her very best in the madness scene that closes act II.

The second-cast Linda was Mariola Cantarero, with legions of her own fans in this theater. Her performance contained light and shadow. No question she is an excellent singer with an impressive technique that allows her to modulate her voice as few singers can do today. Unfortunately, the high notes were problematic, some of them just shouted and she offers some signs of fatigue… improper for a singer of her age, in addition to breaking three times in pianissimo passages.

Juan Diego Flórez as Carlo was a luxury. The score is not as long or complicated as Linda’s, but he threw about his expensive top notes for the pleasure of the audience, and did so with gusto! To my taste his voice is still rather too light for this Donizetti role; when Alfredo Kraus triumphed as Carlo at La Scala in 1972, he was a light-lyric tenor, not a light Rossini tenor, as Juan Diego Flórez continues to be. But that doesn’t mean that he is not an exceptional singer; indeed one of the best in recorded history.

Yet I found Ismael Jordi better suited to Carlos than his superstar colleague. He is much more in line with a “tenore di grazia.” He phrased with elegance and good taste and he was a good stage performer. What he cannot produce are the insultingly easy over-the-top notes that Juan Diego Flórez adds and delivers. Ismael Jordi was busy enough to cope with the notes as written in the score, lacking that extra bit of brilliance at the very top. Now a cross between these two tenors would be a Carlo for all history!

Silvia Tro Santafe was well-suited to Pierotto if somewhat monotonous in her singing. I preferred Ketevan Kemoklidze of the second cast, although her advanced pregnancy poked right through the fourth wall. Pietro Spagnoli was a mediocre Antonio, Linda’s father. This is not a minor character and a more important baritone is needed. Fabio Capitanucci was much better in the part, although his top notes remain too far much back. Simon Orfila was a remarkable interpreter of the Prefect, once you get used to his voice: not exactly beautiful, but always guaranteed to do well in any role he sings. In the second cast Mirco Palazzi offered a pleasant voice in the middle, of rather small volume—too whitish at the top and rather weak in the bottom register. Bruno de Simone was a better actor than singer as Boisfleury but again the singer of the alternative cast, Paolo Bordogna, gave the better performance.

Direction. Emilio Sagi
Sets: Daniel Bianco
Costumes: Pepa Ojanguren
Ligting: Albert Faura

Cast:

Linda: Diana Damrau / Mariola Cantarero
Carlo: Juan Diego Flórez / Ismael Jordi
Antonio: Pietro Spagnoli / Fabio Capitanucci
Pierotto: Silvia Tro Santafé / Ketevan Kemoklidze
Prefect: Simon Orfila / Mirco Palazzi
Marquis de Boisfleury: Bruno de Simone / Paolo Bordogna
Maddalena: María José Suárez
Intendant: Jordi Casanova

A Stunning Carmen at Seattle Opera

From Seen and Heard International
By: Bernard Jacobson

Bizet, Carmen: Seattle Opera, Soloists, Orchestra, Pier Giorgio Morandi (conductor), McCaw Hall, Seattle, 15/28.10.2011 (BJ)

Bernard Uzan, whose new Carmen for Seattle Opera ran through the second half of October, can certainly not be accused of one-size-fits-all directorial methods. As the disparity between the thrilling naturalism of Pagliacci in 2008 and the somewhat inchoate abstraction of Macbeth two years earlier illustrated, the gifted Frenchman’s response to the operas he stages tends to be admirably specific and sharply individual.

No exception, this Carmen in its turn offers a brilliantly imaginative and utterly compelling blend of naturalistic elements with touches of often quite magical stylization. The only major false note – the idea of having the officer Zuniga, on his capture by the gypsies, not led off under guard but summarily executed – added a gratuitous level of nastiness to an already morally challenging plot (and it was hardly consistent with “trusting the text,” which Uzan cites as a basis of his directing work.)

But everything else, from dance sequences like the graceful interplay of soldiers and cigarette girls at the start to the desperate Don José’s act of murder at the end, told the story of the ill-fated title character with exemplary clarity and suitably excruciating vividness.

More than most operas, Carmen depends for its success on the quality of its leading lady, and this production was graced by performers of major talent in both casts. On opening night, Georgian mezzo Anita Rachvelishvili, in her Seattle debut, fashioned a portrayal of stunning power. There is something about her facial expressions, her style of singing (and speaking), and her way of holding herself from which we learn that this Carmen is who she is and not just someone else’s idea of who she is. Her first aria, the sultry Habanera, was curiously disjointed of line and failed to make its usual effect, but if this was due to first night nerves, they were swiftly banished, and from then on we were treated to a glorious outpouring of impassioned and cleanly focused tone. A shade less individual in characterization, Malgorzata Walewski’s Carmen perhaps resembled more the traditional idea of the vamp, but within the framework of that conception her portrayal was consistent and convincing; she moved (and danced) well; and she made more of the insistent chromatic line of that first aria.
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At Last, Good Verdi From Parma: Un Ballo in Boston

From Seen and Heard International
By: José M. Irurzun
G. Verdi. Un Ballo in Maschera: Soloists, Orchestra and Chorus Teatro Regio di Parma, Gianluigi Gelmetti (conductor), Teatro Regio di Parma. 9.10.2011 (JMI)

Photo courtesy Teatro Regio di Parma, © Roberto Ricci

Among much mediocrity, the Parma Verdi Festival’s Un Ballo in Maschera was a triumph. Pierluigi Samaritani’s production premiered at this theater in 1989 and includes, as is typical for him, sets and costumes; traditional both. The production harks back to its 1859 premiere in Rome when it first became known under its now customary name: before then Un Ballo had been Gustavo III, then Una vendetta in dominò. The King of Sweden in turn became Riccardo, Earl of Warwick (via Duke of Pomerania); Ackerstrom became Count Renato, and the setting was moved first to Stettin (Una vendetta) then to the British colonial town of Boston.
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Samaritani’s appealing set, in the form of painted curtains, work outstandingly in the two scenes of Act I, and the masked ball. His typically attractive costumes please the eye, especially for Kristin Lewis’ Amelia. One problem with this production is that it requires two intervals, plus additional stops for scene changes, which makes the performance too long. In short, it’s a very attractive, old fashioned (and plain old) production which continues to please the audience.

Conductor Gianluigi Gelmetti is steeped in the Italian great opera tradition. On this occasion he convinced with energy, passion, and dramatic force, making orchestra and chorus play excellently, for their standards.

In a theater as small as the Teatro Regio, Francesco Meli could easily cope with he can cope with Riccardo, Earl of Warwick, something that he might find difficult to pull off in a large house; the house’s remarkable acoustics were very helpful in this regard. But even if Meli is a bit light for the character, he is a remarkable singer with an attractive voice and only the high notes tend to be thin. Provided that the repertoire and the theater are appropriate, he’s a very fine tenor, indeed.
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