Well all Rome wasn't exactly trembling a week ago Sunday past (January 20th)but the Teatro dell'Opera had to be moving a bit with all the clapping, stomping and carrying on during the curtain calls at the end of Tosca - why even the orchestra stayed behind to join in the ovation. And when a frail looking Franco Zeffirelli came out, leaning heavily on conductor Gianluigi Gelmetti, the foundations had to have given a few shakes.
So was it really all that great an evening? Well yes... and no. Let's just say it was an evening of marvelous inconsistencies. As I mentioned before as a designer Zeffirelli is a traditionalist - if the libretto says Act I - Church of Sant'Andrea delle Valle that's what we get.
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Teatro dell'Opera di Roma - Tosca
Set Design by Franco Zeffirelli Act 1 - Church of Sant'Andrea delle Valle
Set Design by Franco Zeffirelli Act 1 - Church of Sant'Andrea delle Valle
And as a director he is remarkably faithful to the libretto, if Puccini writes music for a Te Deum and Illica and Giacosa want a procession then we get a procession to end all processions - Swiss Guards, Confraturnities, Priests, Cardinals et al.
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Teatro dell'Opera di Roma - Tosca
Act 1 - Te Deum finale
Act 1 - Te Deum finale
There were the Zeffirelli trademarks - extras wandering through the Church, children, a stripped to the waist muscle fuck in the last act,an elevator scenery change, naturalistic action mixed with outright operatic playing to the audience. It may not have all been logical but after some of the Regie nonsense seen here over the past few months - pax the dreadful Neapolitanized Merry Widow and the Smurf-infested Mose in Egitto- it was good to see a director who'd read the libretto and listened to the music.
As for the music making Gelmetti led a taut performance that burned with a sense of drama until "E lucevan le stelle" in Act 3 when all drama left the stage, but more about that later. Though its was a Sunday matinee we had the first cast from opening night: Martina Serafin, Marcelo Alvarez and Renato Bruson. The veteran baritone Bruson, 71 years old according to Wikipedia, was sounding a little thread-bare and now lacks the dark tones to create a really terrifying Scarpia. And if dramatically his Scarpia seemed an imitation of Tito Gobbi's, it should be best remembered that most of Zeffirelli's direction for Act 2 derives from the Callas-Gobbi 1964 production.
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But at that point the real drama was being reserved for the curtain calls.
Just in case you'd like to see/hear what the carry on was all about Teatro dell'Opera has posted an edited video of the first night encore here. And my friend Parsi has a complete audio here.
(All photos are courtesy of Teatro dell'Opera di Roma)
30 gennaio - Santa Giacinta
6 comments:
"a stripped to the waist muscle fuck" interesting. The night sounds delightful.
That's what I caught on! What means?
But as for the rest of the review, when I read your pieces, I always feel like I have a private line to Rome's top opera critic. Pretty impressive analysis, mister. And I can't believe he just ran off stage to powder his nose before dying. Ridiculous!
Sorry that's a term a few friends and I use to describe a guy who looks like he just stepped off the set of a gay porno shot - all buffed and oiled up and ready to be....
....in an opera?
Zio Franco is fond of including the odd bare-chested body builder in his productions. Gives him something to touch while he thinking about the soprano's next move.
Hideous. He sounds like alagna lite. Horrible, mime of "i go get get a drink of water" Hideous clack. I saw the show, Franco is god. It is more exciting to me to see it dne as the composer asked then all this other crap we had here.
She is good but very similiar in her reading to Millo. I love Millo's reading of Tosca, so I like hers. Just not as creamy an instrument as Millo's, so perfect for Italian rep.
Bruson still captivates by the presence and a real suave menace. The voice remains a memory.
84 years old and still in love with Rome.
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