The Requiem at Parma’s Teatro Farnese

From Seen and Heard International
By: José M. Irurzun
G. Verdi, Requiem:: Soloists, Orchestra and Choir Teatro Regio di Parma, Yuri Temirkanov (conductor), Parma’s Teatro Farnese. 08.10.2011 (JMI)

Parma’s Verdi Festival is no exception among opera theatres and festivals these days; the economic pressure is felt all around. This year the final program of the Festival wasn’t known until the beginning of September and one of operas (Il Trovatore) will be given in concert form.

The Verdi Festival takes place between October 1st and 28th and stages Un Ballo in Maschera and Falstaff this year – with two performances of the Requiem at the beautiful Teatro Farnese thrown in. The Farnese is a theater in the Palazzo della Pilotta and was built in 1618. The theatre is a semicircle with bleachers, with chairs added to the ground floor. It is a place of great beauty, built with wood and stucco (and so reconstructed after destruction in World War II), with a capacity of around 1,200 but rather deficient acoustics. From the stalls, all at the same level, it is difficult the view of the stage, especially if you are seated at the back. In short, it’s a more interesting theater to visit than to attend an opera performance in.

Yuri Temirkanov, music director of the Orchestra of the Teatro Regio di Parma, conducted. At almost 83 he is still—or rather again—in great shape and he was able to transmit energy to his musicians that defied his age. His reading was remarkable, particularly the beginning of the Requiem, which he attacked in breath-taking pianissimo, full of mystery and emotion. That level wasn’t quite upheld, orchestra and espeically the splendid chorus never contributed anything less than notable.
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Falstaff Scores Not at the Teatro Farnese di Parma

From Seen and Heard International
By: José M. Irurzun
G. Verdi. Falstaff: Soloists, Orchestra and Chorus Teatro Regio di Parma, Andrea Battistoni (conductor), Teatro Farnese di Parma. 10.10.2011 (JMI)

Photo courtesy Teatro Regio di Parma, © Roberto Ricci

This premiere of Falstaff marks the end of my stay in Parma this year. It wasn’t a case of saving-the-best-for-last, largely due to the problems of successfully performing opera in the acoustics of the magnificent yet fatally flawed Teatro Farnese. As I wrote on the occasion of Verdi’s Requiem (read S&H review), this is a very beautiful theater that is worth visiting, but not appropriate for a staged performances. The acoustics leave much to be desired and the view from the back stalls is so restricted that many spectators of these chairs moved to the stands at the first interval, taking advantage of the many empty seats available.

Parma’s Verdi Festival staged a new production by Stephen Medcalf whose work I have not found particularly exciting, an opinion that this direction did not change. A new production of Falstaff that only repeats on stage what we have seen so many times before is hardly justified. The sets are simple with a wood panel enclosing the stage with some painted motives on Windsor. The stage is filled with a large bed at in the Garter Inn, a large laundry basket and some folding screens plus a module with stairs in Ford’s house, and finally, a large oak in the last act. Been there, seen that, nothing new. The Shakespeare period costumes are attractive; mainly those of the ladies. The same goes for the stage direction which differs only from the many other traditional productions in that Sir John’s page is suited with full armor.
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A Tosca for our Times: Sondra Radvanovsky in Madrid

From Seen and Heard International
By: José MªIrurzun
G. Puccini, Tosca: Soloists, Madrid Symphonic Orchestra, Intermezzo Chorus, Renato Palumbo (conductor). Madrid Teatro Real. 28.07.2011 (JMI)

Production Teatro Real in coproduction with ABAO (Asociación Bilbaina de Amigos de la Ópera).

This performance of Tosca brings Madrid’s 2010/11 opera season 2010-2011 to an end. With this new cast Tosca worked better than it did at the premiere on July 12th. (Review on S&H here.) Renato Palumbo had better control of matters, too particularly the first act had much more tension.
The new Floria Tosca was American soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, wildly popular with the crowd. The evolution of this soprano is quite amazing: She now displays a voice of great volume with a very wide middle range, while having lost nothing of her ease at the high notes. She continues to be an outstanding singer and a remarkable performer on stage, even if her very distinctive voice is not to everybody’s liking: Its color is probably the darkest you will find today, with a characteristic vibrato in the middle register, not unanimously loved. She is a true spinto, perhaps the most important today, and she is foremost a rare voice. Moreover, her Tosca is very temperamental and credible, as it should be. She belongs to the category of Toscas who don’t need a knife to kill Scarpia; her order “Muori, damnato, muori!” alone should be enough. Not everything was superb in her vocal delivery, but she was a successful Tosca.
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