San Riccardo di Roma

This observation - I won't call it a review because I am becoming more and more aware of my limitations as a reviewer - of the December 9th performance of this season's opening work at the Opera here is long overdue. But finally here it is.

Perhaps it is no mistake that Riccardo Muti has found his way to a city known for its churches and priestly population. More and more in the past few years he has taken on an almost priest-like aura as he mounts the podium in opera houses and concert halls in Salzburg, Ravenna, New York or Chicago. Going to a Muti performance seems to have become an almost religious experience for his followers. A hush falls about the hall as he enters the pit and god help the person that interrupts the mysteries with unnecessary movements, coughing or applause before the final note has sounded - they are liable to be silenced by the horrified reaction of the devout or even worse a glare from the high priest himself.

Moïse (Ildar Abdrazakov) and the Hebrews hear the Mysterious voice issuing from the flames telling them to leave the yoke of Eygpt. The flaming pillars are an example of the effective use Pier'Alli made of projections in this production of Moïse et Pharaon at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma.

Now I am a Muti follower and devotee myself - I have been since I first saw him conduct Don Pasquale in 1971 at Salzburg - what a year that was! Abbado with Rossini, Karajan Verdi, Boehm Berg and Mozart and Muti Donizetti! One of the great joys of the past few years is having the opportunity to see performances he has conducted both in Salzburg and here in Roma. However I am starting to question how far we can go with the hero worship and reverence - we are after all in the opera house or the concert hall not a church or a temple. Music was meant to be responded to and unless its Ambrosian Chant was not meant to be heard in a sepulchred vacuum.

Take in point last month's Muti-led season opener at the Teatro dell'Opera: Moïse et Pharaon. This was Rossini's reworking for the Parisian audience of his earlier Neapolitan work Mosé in Egitto. Many of the big numbers were carried over from the earlier work and others added to meet the requirements of the Opéra for spectacle, dance and the talents of the resident singers. Yes the subject is of a religious nature - though librettists Balocchi and de Jouy somehow work the Burning Bush into the Plagues on Egypt!!!! - but it also has good old fashioned operatic situations woven into the story. Oh sure Moses keeps saying "let my people go" and Pharaoh says "yes, no, maybe" but there's also the forbidden love of Aménophis, Pharaoh's son, for Anaï, Moses' niece, and the conversion of Sinaïde, Pharaoh's wife, to the faith of the Hebrews thrown in for good measure. It pretty much ends according to C. B. deMille - the Hebrews escape through the Red Sea and Pharaoh and the forces of Egypt are drowned but there's a fair bit of digression along the way.

This photo doesn't half catch the brilliant effect of the final scene as the sea parted and Moïse and the Children of Israel made their way through the cascading waters to the other side.

There are quite a few ensembles, chorale moments and the incredibly beautiful Des cieux où tu résides quartet with chorus - but a great deal of the music is Rossini writing for star singers to show off their vocal chops. The very beautifully produced programme - I really must do a posting on the remarkable programmes published here one day - included pictures of all the principle singers, both in costume and civilian dress, who sang at the primiére but search as I might I found no picture of the conductor nor even a mention of his name.

Such was not the case here in Roma in December, the name foremost on the posters was Muti. Though there was "names" among the singers they were secondary to the maestro and were not the reason we were making the journey to Piazza Beniamino Gigli. Not that the maestro in anyway failed us. This is the third time he has led this particular work and his love and familiarity showed. The forces in Roma may not have been as first rate as those at La Scala or Salzburg but the orchestra is constantly showing what can be achieved when working with a demanding taskmaster. However I am starting to wonder - given both that evening's performance and the next evening at La Scala - if all Italian orchestras have problems with their brass sections? Riccardo Zanellato's chorus did some of the finest work I've heard from them in the past four years - and Moïse is one of those works where the chorus is as important as the soloists.

Muti's soloists were a variable and in one a case a questionable choice. Ildar Abdrazakov (above left) has sung Moïse in Muti's two previous productions and his is a powerful, if not dominating, performance and in Nicola Alaimo's Pharaon he had a worthy opponent.

I was expecting much of Sonia Ganassi (right) as Sinaïde but have noticed in the past few performances I've experience that her voice has taken on a very uncharacteristic harshness. Her duet with the equally rough sounding Eric Cutler (Aménophis) almost became a shouting match. Though it should be noted that Ganassi was cheered to the rafters while Cutler received a few jeers from the normally timid galleriste. Juan Francisco Gatell (Éliézer) and Barbara Di Castri (Maria) offered strong support in their few solo passages and to the ensembles. The one miscalculation was Anna Kasyan in the role of Anaï - her is a pleasant but thin voice and she seemed to lack both the breath control and the technique for her big scene. This music was written originally for the great Colbran and adapted for the equally admired Cinti-Damoreau, and no matter how brilliant the conductor requires a singer of equal brilliance.

Director/Designer Pier'Alli's design for the opening of the Red Sea - a spectacular use of projections, lighting and a semi-permanent architectural set. The entire production was the best example I've seen of using modern technology as scenography.

I am not an admirer of Pier'Alli as a director and have yet to see anything staged by him where there has been any real solid characterizations or emotional core but this time I was overwhelmed with admiration for his designs - his use of architectural elements, lights and multiple projections were exceptional. For the first time in my opera going experience I saw modern technology used effectively and seamlessly to enhance and illuminate a production - as a sidebar it made the sloppy projections in the La Scala Die Walküre the following evening look like the work of amateurs. Highest praise to Alli for his designs, Guido Levi for his exceptional lighting and the technical staff at the Teatro for putting it all together.

Shen Wei's modern choreography was an remarkable match for the extended dance sequences Rossini wrote for the original production in Paris.

Equally as praise worthy was the choreography of Shen Wei for the extended dance sequences that make up most of the third act of the opera. Dance was a must for any production at the Opéra in those days and Rossini met the requirement with 20 minutes of pleasant, highly dancable, if not memorable, music. I had read much about Wei in the translations I had done for Ballet2000 but wasn't expecting the simple beauty of his dance patterns and movements. Like Alli's designs his choreography reflected an innate sense of musicality.

And that might well be the watchword for the entire evening - musicality. That sensitivity to, knowledge of, and talent for music that is the mark of a Muti performance. But what was lacking, and frankly seems to now elude the maestro, was any feeling of spontaneity; less a feeling of awed worshipping at the altar of art and more of feeling of joyful participation in the art itself would have made a good evening more than that.

To celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Unification of Italy Maestro Muti will be giving us Nabucco in March - another work with a religious theme and the added strong patriotic subtext. It is early Verdi, raw and a little rough around the edges a bit like the Risorgimento itself. I can only hope that the Maestro will give us more of the rough and raw and a little less of the religious.

Photos: Falsini for the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma


17 gennaio - Santa Nadia

Call Me A Snob ...

... but honestly something isn't right about this!

12 decembre - Santa Giovanna Francesca Frémiot de Chantal

Salzburger Zeitung - Betulia Twice Liberated - Part I

As has become the tradition of the past few years the PfingstFestspiele began with an opera conducted by Riccardo Muti. The first two years were opera buffa (comic operas) last year an opera seria (tragic opera) and this an Azione sacre (Sacred Theatre piece) - all in the Napoletano style.

Azione sacre was a particularly genre of opera meant for the period of Lent when the theatres theoretically were closed but the impresarios still had singers under contracts and seats to fill. A Biblical subject would be chosen, preferably one with a good moral message and set to music that was often so similar to that heard in opera that there was really very little difference. The azione sacre often included more chorus work as most of those uplifting religious subjects involved crowds praying, imploring or if they were horrid Babylonians cavorting so a choir was needed. And the work was seen in a simplified staging but often with some scenery and costumes. It was a crafty work-round the religious restrictions of the season.

Pietro Metastasio, the great Italian librettist, considered Betulia liberta (Bethulia Liberated) to be his finest azione sacre and it is easy to see why. His take on the apocryphal story of the widow Judith and her victory over the Assyrians is unusual for the subject - it was normal to accentuate the erotic end of things with the beautiful but pious widow seducing the foreign commander but in this case Holofernes never appears. Metastasio centres his story around the inhabitants of the town of Bethulia and their faith under fire during the siege. The seduction and beheading is only described by Guiditta (Judith) in a passage of recitative which is perhaps one of the most powerful descriptions of a murder I have ever heard. And the second act includes a dialogue between Ozia, the Prince of Bethulia and his captive the Assyrian Achior that is a masterpiece of Christian rhetoric and was often cited in theological discussions. It is a solid, concentrated piece of theatre with a clear message of the Power of God through faith - just the message wanted for the Lenten period.

It is thought that Metastasio's work was set to music on at least 40 occasions and for this year's Festival Muti decided to perform two version with music composed at different periods by two composers at very different periods in their artistic lives.

Italo Grassi's model for a scene from Act I of Betulia Liberata - an interesting trio of semi-circular walls revolved around each other. It was an effective use of abstract forms to convey locale and, with Marco Filibeck's lighting, mood.

In 1771 during a tour through Italy a 15-year old Wolfgang Mozart was commissioned to set the libretto by a rich patron in Padua and it was to be presented there during Lent in 1772. For some reason it was never performed then nor during Mozart's lifetime. It is obviously the work of a young composer - Mozart did not have the confidence, or his patron's leave, at that point to so much as change or omit a word of the libretto - but the music that accompanies Guiditta's retelling of her act is intensely dramatic and matches the power of Metastasio's words. And as performed by Alisa Kolosova became, rightly, the centre piece of the work. Theatrically it was stunning as words, music and performance.

It is telling that as a conductor Muti seemed to give a much importance to the recitative throughout the performance as he did to the big arias and choral moments. Speranza Scappucci's provided a pointed continuo that kept the story moving without that often mindless plunking and plucking when everyone wants to just get through it and on to the next big aria.

Though big arias there are: as can be expected some are very formula - a young man writing what is expected of him; while others show the undeniable talent that was forming. All follow the AABA format of the period i.e. Section A is sung, then repeated, Section B (often a contrasting text or emotion) is sung, then Section A repeated with variations. However often the arias are bracketed by the chorus - this is particularly true of the music for Guiditta and Ozia to heighten the emotional impact. It is a well crafted work by any composer, exceptional when you think it was written by a teenager.


With the exception of Maria Grazia Schiavo the young singers in the cast were all new to me. Schiavo appeared in last year's opera at Whitsun and this year after a slightly unsteady start - I may be wrong but I believe she was pregnant unless it was a costume decision to heighten the effect of her pleas on behalf of the besieged people of Bethulia - she delivered her arias with an honest intensity and some lovely but subtle ornamentation. It should be noted that though Muti allows his singers to ornament the da capo section of most arias it is always within certain boundaries of taste. Michael Spyres (left with Alisa Kolosova) sang the strenuous tenor lines of Ozia, the Prince of Betulia, with a fine lyric sense of style and his handling of the theological duologue with Nahuel Di Pierro's fine bass Achior was a model of recitative singing. Di Pierro brought power to his final aria as the foreign Prince recognizes and accepts the power of the God of the Jews.

Amital (Maria Grazia Schiavo) rejoices as Achior (Nahuel Di Pierro) praises Jehovah, the one god as Ozia (Spyres) and Giuditta (Kolosova) look on.

The production by Italian director Marco Gandini was a simple clear telling of the story within Italo Grassi austre setting of three revolving semi circular walls. The chorus - the remarkable Philharmonia Chor Wien - were treated as individuals and the direction of the soloists pointed up the tensions in a group under siege, the people, their leaders and the brave woman who saves them. Gabriella Pescucci's costumes were subdued and vaguely oriental in style with only Giuditta bringing any colour onto the scene - a deep marine blue gown as she adorned herself for her mission and for her triumph a red dress almost the colour of the blood she had shed to liberate her community.

Giuditta (Alisa Kolosova) describes her beheading of the drunken Olfernes in a powerful accompanied recitative that is the pivotal point in both Metastasio's libretto and Mozart's score.

If the costuming kept Giuditta as the focus of the piece so did Kolosova's performance. The young Russian mezzo has only recently appeared on the international scene and appears to have taken a path through various Young Singers projects to her current position with the Atelier Lyrique at the Paris Opera. Muti may have been taking a chance on casting her in the title rule of the centre piece of the Festival but it was a chance that paid off. As I mentioned her handling of the "azione" recitative was riveting and her arias showed a rich voice which promises much for the future.

Muti's Mozart may be a bit old-fashioned but it suits this particular work well. I am always astounded by how he is able to communicate his incredible musicality to his singers and the orchestra. His Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini is, of course, the "house band" for the festival and play beautifully under his command. The key to anything that has been presented here since he took over four years ago has been the thorough preparation that goes into what is being presented.

The entire team behind Betulia Liberata - production team, conductor, soloists, chorus and orchestra - take their final curtain call at the end of the first performance.

This may have been "minor" Mozart but as always with Muti and his troupe it was a "major" performance. It was going to be interesting to see how the older and more famous - at the time - Niccolo Jommelli handled the same subject in 1743.

All photos by Silvia Lelli for the Salzburg Festival who graciously allows free use of them.

06 giugno - San Norberto di Premontre

Whitsun 2009 - Monday Morning

My darling OC was right - Giovanni Paisiello is an absolute genius! And that was more than apparent on Monday morning's final concert at the Felsenreitschule. His Missa Defuctorum has a career almost as varied as that of its composer. It was originally written for a performance in memory of members of the Bourbon royal family who had died during the smallpox epidemic that devastated Napoli in 1789. Ten years later, for the funeral of the exiled Pope Pius VI, it was expanded to include new choral work and a Funeral March written at the request of Napoleon earlier that year. This unlikely history has led to it being referred to as "a unique mixture of obsequiousness to the Jacobines and homage to a Pope." It was this 1799 version that Riccardo Muti choose to end this year's Whitsun Festival.

Riccardo Muti conducts the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini, La Stagione Armonica and soloists in Paisiello's Missa Defunctorum.

It is a Mass in the grand style - Muti led four soloists, a double choir of 60 voices with choir soloists, two brass choirs and an expanded Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. The sound in the Felsenreitschule was remarkable and placement gave the impression of the Mass being sung in a great cathedral.

Pride of performance has to go to La Stagione Armonica under Sergio Balestracci. This remarkable group of singers soared to the heavens one minute and sang in hushed wonder the next. The dynamics of their performance were exceptional as was the work of the soloists from within their ranks. The four major soloists - Beatriz Diaz, Anna Malavasi, Juan Francisco Gatell and Nahuel Di Pierro - made exciting work of the great Dies Irae sequentia. The center piece of the work, it is a remarkable piece of music. Less dramatic than many other settings it has a lyrical almost sorrowful approach to the Day of Wrath - it lacks the power of the great settings but still has considerable emotional depth.

Again this year from our vantage point we could observe Muti at close quarters. It sounds hackneyed but he seems to have an almost sorcerer's control over his performers. Not a movement is wasted - no dancing, bobbing and weaving - and with his left hand he seems almost to pluck the sounds of out the air. And his forces responded to every nuance and details he wanted from this work. As I said this is not one of the great settings of the Mass for the Dead but it is one that when it is directed with such authority and affection demands to be heard.

I have mentioned in all the previous reviews the audience response and this time I was able to capture some of it on video however have not been able to transfer it. So lets just say that the applause was prolonged and heartfelt.

Again, a brilliant conclusion to a festival that this year only seemed to get better with each passing day.

Photographs by Sylvia Lelli - from Salzburg Festival Webside.

04 giugno - San Francesco Caracciolo

Whitsun 2009 - Saturday Morning

About half way through the 15 minute ovation that greeted this morning's performance of Nicola Fago's Faraone sommerso conductor Fabio Biondi (above rehearsing with Europa Galante), having acknowledged his quartet of soloists and the members of Europa Galante, turned to the still cheering audience and held up the score. It wasn't just us that you're cheering he was saying - it was this glorious piece of forgotten music. And that was the great difference between last evening's performance of Jommelli's Demofoonte and the Saturday matinee. To my ears, at least, Fago's oratorio was far superior to Jommelli's opera seria and gave the festival a much needed impetus.

Though 60 odd years separate the two - as close as we can figure Faraone was written in 1709, Jommelli's 4th setting of Demofoonte in 1770 - their form is essentially the same. Oratorios were really only an attempt to get around the ban on operas during Lent - the action is moved along in recitative and then commented on in arias. Each part closes with a choral finale. The earlier work's libretto, by an unknown source, is the more concise of the two but still gives plenty of room for emotional outpourings and musical variety. And Fago - a composer of whom little is know - supplied an endless variety of music - menancing, contempletive and dramatic.

And there was more variety of voices - a soprano, contralto, tenor and bass assumed the roles of a Messenger, Aaron, Moses and Pharaoh respectively. And a remarkable quartet they were both vocally and dramatically. Though the performance was unstaged the four interacted with looks, gestures and reactions - and at the request of the performers we held our applause until the end which meant we erupted in wild, stomping applause at the conclusion of both parts.

Tenor James Gilchrist brought a clear ringing sound and some incredible colouratura to Moise's arias and his voice blended beautifully in duet with Marianne Beate Kielland's Aarone. Kielland had a sound that was at times almost that of a counter tenor, whither she did this intentionally I'm not sure but it gave extra depth to her character. Farone is perhaps the most interestingly of the roles and bass Havard Stensvold gave it a powerful reading filled with menace. With some of the most beautiful music in the oratorio Lucia Cirillo as the Messenger drew vivid musical pictures of God's wrath on Pharaoh and the people of Egypt as well as poignancy to her second act aria, though occasionally a touch of period singing "hoot" did creap in.

Biondi led the performance from the first violin desk and gave the score an affectionate if taut reading - it is a piece which he obviously loves. His group takes an obvious joy in playing this music and special praise should go to violist Stefano Marocchi, theorbo player Patxi Montero, harpsichordist Paola Poncet and organist Francesco Barone who supported the recitatives and many of the arias with elegance and virtuosity.

After the they had returned to the stage for the 8th or 9th time and in response to our stomping and clapping Biondi announced - rather delightfully beginning the sentence in Italian trying to continue in German and ending up in English - that they would encore the quartet that ended the first part. It was as delightful the second time and the cheering was renewed.

Damn this is what festival music is all about.

Photos above are from the Salzburg Festival website and are respectively Gilchrist, Kielland, Stensvold and Cirillo.

31 maggio - Visitazione della Beata Vergine

Whitsun 2009 - Friday Night

Riccardo Muti, the singers and orchestra take their bows on opening night of Demofoonte.

My friend OC - the one who got me hooked on this Whitsun Festival thing - decided not to show up this year, another chance for a chat and an aperitivo missed. The reasons she gave were interesting and in many ways prophetic:

This year, though, she's staying home, because as yummy as Demel's Esterhazytorte, as historically informed Tomaselli's coffee is, between the fact that Jommelli's musical talent is not on the same level of Paisiello's absolute genius and that Demofoonte, no disrespect intended, is simply not as engaging as Calandrino's crazy antics, OC chose to sit this edition out.

I'm sorry to say she's right. Despite all the efforts that Riccardo Muti, his talented cast and Orchestra Giovanni Luigi Cherubini put into the performance there was not escaping the fact that Demofoonte just didn't do it for me.

For almost four hours we followed the story of the Thracen King and his family - through secret - and possibly incestuous - marriages, switched babies and immovable monarchs and frankly when everyone came down to the fore stage to sing about living happily ever after I was relieved that it was finally over.

Again it had nothing to do with the performance and everything to do with what was being performed. Only when he broke out of the mold of opera seria did Jommelli's score take wing - the trio that turns into a duet ending Act 1, the passages of accompanied recitative and the heartbreaking duet that ended Act 2 all had a power that was lacking in much of the rest of the music. And sadly all the love and work that Muti put into seemed like it could have been directed to something else.

Muti had gathered a cast of young singers - in the case of countertenor Antonio Giovannini too young to be convincing as the old nobleman - and coached them with loving care. Soprano Maria Grazia Shiavo (left with Lo Monaco), as the much put upon Dircea, was the obvious star of the evening closely followed by mezzo Jose Maria Lo Monaco in the travesty role of her husband Timante. In both arias and ensemble passages the two gave intense, dramatic performances and their performance of the fore mentioned duet was the dramatic high point of the evening. Tenor Dmitry Korchak was a ringing Demofoonte but again was unconvincing as a character - though that may have been as much Jommelli's fault as his.

Of the secondary singers Eleonora Buratto (right with Coladonato)as the foreign princess Creusa showed promise of something special on her initial entrance that unfortunately was unfulfilled. Valentina Coladonato sang her arias well but behaved like a young Cherubini with a clothing fetish. For some reason director Cesare Lievi had decided to treat these two as comic figures however most of it was either flat or in the case of Coladonato sniffing Creusa's clothing embarrassing.

Margaret Palli's stage set is strewn with obstacles for the singers.

Despite his lengthy programme note I did not find that Lievi brought anything original to the staging other than having the two singers en travesti behaving like Principal Boys from Christmas pantomine and the feeble attempts at humour. And frankly I am getting tired of settings that require singers to clamber over inclines and uneven platforms. Yes we know that the world is topsy turvey but singers need two feet planted firmly on the ground to give their best. And I'm sorry but if the damned surtitles say "I give you my hand as a pledge of my fidelity!" shouldn't the singer be doing exactly that not potting a plant?

Rather surprisingly the horn section of the Cherubini had a bit of trouble with the interlude March and were ragged in a few other spots. Otherwise Muti drew from them their normal high standard of playing - its just that what they were playing wasn't very interesting.

As a side note Muti has choosen a Jommelli oratorio Betulia liberta to end next year's Festival and it will be bookended by the young Mozart's setting of the same libretto. It will be interesting to see how the 15 year old genius from Salzburg compares to his older colleague.

Photographs by Sylvia Lelli - from Salzburg Festival Webside.

30 maggio - San Giovanna d'Arco

Whitsun 2009 - Pfingstfestspeile

This is the third year of Riccardo Muti’s 5 year tenure as Artistic Director of the Salzburg Whitsun Festival and the programme again highlights music of the Napoletano school.Muti is, of course, a native of Napoli and its been rumored that one of his favorite pass-times is to delve into dusty old scores from the various Napoletano conservatories that flooded the world with composers, musicians and singers during the 18th and 19th centuries. This year he unearthed an opera seria, Demofoonte, by a greatly admired and lauded composer of his period, Niccolo Jommelli. We’ll be hearing Jommelli’s third setting of one of Pietro Metastasio's most often set libretti. The great Roman born poet was the source of most opera seria of the period. It was said that his lines often sang themselves and his sense of drama and pacing was unparalleled. His subjects were often mythical, sometimes historical and always involved love unrequited or thwarted, identity mistaken and royal power as both a force of corruption and beneficence.

Opera seria had its conventions - recitative, most often only accompanied by harpsichord and bass continuo, moved the story along and arias allowed the characters to give vent to their reactions to what had just happened. At the end of an aria the singer always exited the stage whither it made dramatic sense or not. Duets where uncommon, trios even less so and choruses tended to be sung by the principals only at the conclusion as the clemency of Tito or glory of Caesar were praised by all and sundry - including often characters who had met a grizzly end but were resurrected because a bass or contralto line was needed to swell the ranks. The castrati ruled the stage - those “singing capons” who also were a product of both the barber’s knife and the music schools of Napoli. The Caesar who sang of “coming, seeing and conquering” did so in a contralto or soprano voice while holding a heroic pose center stage sporting a plume bedecked helmet. Giovanni Velutti (right), one of the last great castrati, had the height of the plumes stipulated in his contract - he also demanded a dramatic entrance on horseback whither justified by the action or not. Given that castration is frowned upon today - a good thing unless you're really looking for authenticity - these roles are often sung my women, though the sudden wealth of counter tenors these days has seen a return to men in the roles. Muti has chosen women for the main roles and counter tenors for the secondary characters.

But we will be hearing the popular French counter tenor Philippe Jaroussky in concert of heroic arias on Sunday morning - following the old tradition matinee at Salzburg means late morning. Saturday morning brings a matinee by Fabio Bondi and his Europa Galante - Farone Sommerso, an almost unknown cantata by Francesco Nicola Fago retelling the story of Pharaoh's swimming accident in the Red Sea. That evening Accordone, one of my favorite groups, will be presenting a new programme intriguingly called The Temptations of Evil and inspired by the Napoletano scholar, alchemist, arts patron and all-round eccentric Raimondo de'Sangro. The Festival concludes Monday morning with a performance of Paisiello’s Mass for the Dead conducted by Muti with a cast of young singers in the Felsenreitschole - most familiar as the place where Julie Andrews and the kids did their disappearing act from the nasty Nazis.And of course the maestro will, as he was for the opera, be leading his exceptional group of young musicians - the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. This group of young musicians changes regularly as they serve an exceptional apprenticeship under Muti and then move on to the major orchestras of the world.

Its going to be a full weekend but then that’s what a Festival should be.

Photos: Riccardo Muti by Silvia Lelli; Philippe Jaroussky by Simon Fowler


30 maggio - Santa Giovanna d'Arco

Esultate? - Yes and No!

Otello - Cassio and the chorus get drunk in Act 1.

I received an e-mail from a friend suggesting that after talking about anticipating the Muti Otello last week I had been remiss in posting anything about it. What's your problem he asked - or words to that effect. Well as I've said in the past if I were a critic I'd be better off working for a weekly or a monthly. Sometimes I just can't meet deadlines. But here goes.

Last week I wrote

After its summer break-in at Salzburg how will this first collaboration between Muti and the Teatro turn out? Certainly with the change of venue things will be different - the Grosse Festspeilhaus is such a bloody barn that voices can get lost and details in productions swamped by the mere size of the stage and auditorium. Will the more traditional opera house be kinder to the voices? Will the producer have rethought some of his ideas after the unkind reviews? How will Muti handle a chorus and orchestra that are a few steps below the forces he commanded in Salzburg?

Let me answer the last question first. Otello is one of those operas that can be spoken of in terms of tenors or conductors. I have seen or heard Vickers' Otello, Domingo's Otello, Del Monaco's Otello and MacCracken's Otello. I've also seen or heard Von Karajan's, Solti's and Toscanni's Otello. And on one occassion saw a Vickers-Von Karajan Otello. Ever since it was announced last December there was no mistaking what sort of Otello we were going to get here in Roma. The posters announced it, the press talked about it and frankly when my friend Parsi asked me who was singing I couldn't remember but I knew who would be conducting. This was going to be Riccardo Muti's Otello.

And so it was. And it had all of his familiar trademarks - dramatic push and tension as well of moments of incredible translucent beauty. There was no stopping for applause - though several moments cried out for it - nothing was allowed to interfere with Verdi's music and Boito's libretto. And on two occasions noisy members of the audience were treated to that glare that makes musicians' mouths turn dry and brows break out in a cold sweat. The Teatro orchestra responded to what ever magic he holds over his orchestras - pax La Scala - and played to an exceptional level. There were some incredibly beautiful sounds coming out of the pit and the brass had a golden edge to it that was entirely new. Andrea Giorgi's chorus can always be counted on to do a fine job but in full-throated cry as the opera began gave me chills.

And the singers? I can only believe that the more intimate acoustic of the Teatro made a great deal of difference. Though perhaps not meeting the standards of the Golden Age - that's my golden age - they worked well within the framework of Muti's musical vision of Otello. At this stage of his career Aleksandrs Antonenko simply doesn't have all the voice or the experience that is needed for the part of Otello - these days who does? His Esultate! was slightly underpowered but unlike at Salzburg, if reports are to be believed, he did not run out of steam before Act 4. His is a Slavic voice with the tendency that voice type has to turn slightly steely under pressure and he lacks the stage charisma that a Vickers or Domingo brought to the part.

Russian soprano Marina Poplavskaya (Desdemona) is one of those singers that divides opinion - I often wonder if the commenters have been to the same performance. Here she gave a lovely performance, again her's is a Slavic voice and finally lacks the creamy tones of a Tebaldi or Freni in the part. But it did give her Desdemona an edge: here was no Kewpie doll waiting to be murdered but a proud daughter of La Serinissima. The ultimate test of any Desdemona is the final scene and here the combination of Muti in the pit, Poplavskaya on stage and the staging itself - for the first time all evening possibly - came together to create moments of sadness, tension and heart-stopping drama. Barbara di Castri's Emilia came into its own at this point, lovingly attending to her mistress, her darker voice underscoring the drama. Huddled barefoot on the floor in front of a single candle Poplavskaya almost mummered the tale of poor mad Barabara in a chilling but beautiful half-voice. Her despairing cry after the departing Emilia was shattering and the Ave Maria sang in a half-whisper ending in a pianissimo Amen as she drifted into troubled sleep.

The most satisfying singing of the evening came from Giovanni Meoni's Iago. His was a subtle portrayal and he avoid that generalized Verdi baritone sound we get so often today. His Credo was strongly delivered and reeked of an almost Jesuitical cynicism. It was one of those moments that called out for applause but the Maestro was having none of that.

I find it difficult to say anything about Stephen Landgridge's production as a good deal of the action was not visible from our palco stage left. No doubt when we were able to see what was going on our friends at stage right had the same predicament. He had obviously not restaged with a traditional theatre in mind. George Souglides' dull unit set of metal walls and fracturing glass floors had been altered for width but not for depth and much of the upstage action was lost. Emma Ryott's costumes were fine in a generalized Renaissance style but with little variety in colour - Cyprus was a pretty dreary post if these designers are to be believed. As I mentioned Landgridge did stage the beginning of Act IV beautifully and the ending - Otello crawling towards the body of his dead wife, straining but failing to touch her before he dies, heightened the tragedy. Sadly, from what I could see, nothing in the rest of his direction was as dramatic.

Otello - The entrance of Lodovico, the Venetian envoy.

Which brings us back to Maestro Muti - most of the drama for the evening was being generated in the pit and that may be the way he wanted it. And we knew from the beginning that this was going to be a Muti Otello.

Production photos for the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma by Falsini.

19 dicembre - San Dario di Nicea

Anticipation

I've heard it said that anticipation is half the pleasure of any event but unfortunately it can lead to much of the disappointment. Tonight may prove that point of view.

Back in December last year I booked my subscription for the 2008 season at the Teatro dell'Opera Roma and aside from the convenience factor there was the BIG EVENT in December: Riccardo Muti conducting Verdi's Otello. It was going to be a hard ticket to get but back in December 2008 I knew that - god willing and the Tiber don't rise* - Laurent and I would be sitting in Ord. II, Box 6 on December 11, 2008 with our friends Linda and Nazareno.

Now as anyone who has read my Salzburg Whitsun Festival postings knows I worship, along with a damned fine crowd including my dear Opera Chic, at the shrine of Muti. However reports coming out of this summer's Salzburg Festival, where the production originated, where not all that encouraging. Apparently Muti achieved some great sounds form the Vienna Philharmonic and Statsoper chorus and conducted a driven, highly dramatic performance. About the soloists and production itself the word of mouth was decidedly mixed. Now mind you, as always, some of those words were being spoken or typed by people who had only heard or seen a broadcast or heard from others, but they certainly have added to the anticipation.

After its summer break-in at Salzburg how will this first collaboration between Muti and the Teatro turn out? Certainly with the change of venue things will be different - the Grosse Festspeilhaus is such a bloody barn that voices can get lost and details in productions swamped by the mere size of the stage and auditorium. Will the more traditional opera house be kinder to the voices? Will the producer have rethought some of his ideas after the unkind reviews? How will Muti handle a chorus and orchestra that are a few steps below the forces he commanded in Salzburg?

So here I sit, a few hours away from a performance I have been anticipating for a year with all sorts of questions running through my head. Answers should come, possibly, tomorrow.

*I had no sooner written this than the Mayor declared a city-wide "State of Calamity" - don't you love the wording, its so bloody operatic. The torrential rains of the past two days have left majors areas of the city flooded, at least one person dead and some roads impassable. And according to forecasters there is more to come. And the Tiber is indeed rising.

11 dicembre - San Damaso I

Salzburger Zeitung - Friday Evening's Opera

I'm really late with this one, it was the first event of the festival but the last thing I'm commenting on. After reading my friend Opera Chic's review I feel a bit inadequate as there is no way I can match her witty and wise ways. But here goes....

Il matrimonio inaspettato

As I've mentioned this was a delightful evening of music making. Again Giovanni Paisiello's opera buffa - written for the court of Catherine the Great when he was employed in St. Petersburg - isn't a great piece of music but it is a charming one. Paisiello wrote to certain restrictions set out by the Empress - an opera could be no longer than 90 minutes, recitative had to be brief as her court didn't understand Italian and the libretto had to meet certain rules of decorum. Given that opera buffa was a form of Neapolitan popular entertainment the later was perhaps the hardest restriction, that and a lack of singers schooled in the buffa tradition. Perhaps it was the last restriction that forced him to compose a four character piece for two baritones and two mezzo-sopranos.

It's stock opera buffa plot: Farmer Tulipano (Nicola Alaimo) has become rich and bought himself a title; he wants his son Giorgino (Markus Werba) to marry the Countess di Sarzana (Marie-Claude Chappuis) but Giorgino is in love with and loved by a local peasant girl Vespina (Alessia Nadin.)

The edition Riccardo Muti and his forces gave us was a revised version played throughout Italy in the 1700s but hardly ever since. It was still only a brief two hours, but what a two hours! Neapolitan conductor Muti and Neapolitan director Andrea Da Rosa joined forces to make sure that the ear was bewitched and the eye was enchanted.

Da Rosa knows what make opera buffa buffo – not always a given in Italy as witness the laughless Barbiere di Sivilgia we saw last month in Venice – and didn't resort to the stock ideas of operatic haha! He had Farmer Tulipano’s estate - a marvelous complex with pivoting facades and crumbling interiors - peopled with wonderful types - as well as the Salzburger Bachchor as farmhands, villagers and the Countess's retinue there was a doddering Overseer (Paolo Sirotti), a youngster with a ready and accurate pea-shooter (Norbert Steidel)and a friend for Vespina (Anna Redi) whose sole purpose seemed to be to shriek Sarzana at given moments. Even the Countess had a silent housemaster (Ivan Merlo) with an S and M streak. All wordless or rather songless but adding to the amusement of the story.

But no number of extras could have stolen the spotlight from the Laurel and Hardy team of Werba and Alaimo. I would guess that Werba is black and blue from the number of pratfalls he took during rehearsals and performances. And all the while singing like an angel - a slightly dazed angel as the frequent cuffs across the back of the head could be the reason poor Giorgino was a trifle slow. One of the highlights was the mock heroic (a very funny spoof on opera seria)duet as the father and son struggled into antique armour to battle the Countess's men. Though, like OC, I loved Werba I have to give top honours to Alaimo. Though a trifle young for the part his Tulipano was entirely believable as an operatic M. Jourdain - and he didn't have to do the vocal equivalent of mugging to get his laughs.

The women were only marginally less successful. I find Nadin's voice on the sharp side but that is really the only problem I had with her Vespina - who you just know will take up cuffing poor Giorgino where his father left off. Unfortunately the Countess doesn't show up until the second act so Chappuis had to make much of little and if her vengeance aria didn't have quite the fire the programme notes promised it had more to do with Paisiello than her.

As for Muti and his young orchestra - what more can I say about the Maestro that I haven't already. I think OC said it best in her review and I hope she doesn't mind me quoting:

Muti's read of the score left nothing to be desired, the most controlled, driven, seamless push and pull, which his Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini lovingly embraced, following Maestro Muti's every minor twitch -- and let us praise those kids from the Orchestra dreamed by Muti out of nothing....
Read the entire review here.

Next year he'll turn his attention to opera seria with Jommelli's Demofoonte. Since OC and I are such big fans I really think the maestro should invite us over to his compound in Salzburg for a drink. Then maybe she can convince to do one of her favorite opera seria Paisiello's Fedra and I can talk him into Cimarosa's Il Matrimonio Segreto.

All photos are by Sylvia Lelli.

20 maggio - San Bernardino da Sienna

Salzburger Zeitung - Monday Morning's Concert

I pellegrini al sepolcro di Nostro Signore

One could be forgiven for thinking that 75% of the ladies in the audience had brought baby blue wraps with them on Monday morning – the stunning Kollegiatekirch was as cold as a Neapolitan whore’s heart on a night when the fleets in. But the thoughtful people as the Festspeile had provided blankets at the door, and we were just glad that, even for a morning matinee, gentlemen are expected to wear jackets. I had been telling Laurent about the glorious Bernini alter piece all weekend but sadly it was obscured by sound panels and recording equipment. Those were the only drawbacks in Johann Adolph Hasse’s Good Friday oratorio I pellegrini al sepolcro di Nostro Signore, the concert that Laurent ranked as his favourite of the Festival.

Hasse started life as a tenor then went up in the world (?) and began composing; he studied in Naples and became one of the most loved, respected and performed composer in Europe. I pelligrini was written for the court at Dresden and uses the unusual conceit of four Pilgrims being led by an old hermit through the places of Christ’s Passion in Jerusalem until they arrive at the Sepulchre. As they stop at each they are moved to comment on their emotions and feelings. When they reach the place of Christ’s burial they join in an exquisite Lauda to the Holy City.

Riccardo Muti had gathered a group of young singers – all of who, it would seem, have benefited from his mentoring – and his Orchestra Giovanile "Luigi Cherubini" and worked his magic once again. We were seated to one side and could see him clearly. No dancing, lunging or choreography but it is amazing what he can convey with a few movements of his left hand, which more often than not simply rests on his chest. He drew beautiful sound from his orchestra and stylistically superb and committed performances from his soloists.

Riccardo Muti acknowledges our applause with his singers and orchestra; (l-r)Monica Tarone, Elena Monti, Muti, Daniela Barcellona, Franco Fagioli and Luca Pisaroni. Photo by Silvia Lelli.

If I was not a captivated as Laurent it had more to do with Hasse’s composition than the performance. I find that the formula of recitative followed by da Capo aria becomes a bit tedious but those were the conventions of the time. Though Monica Tarone, Elena Monti, Franco Fagioli and Daniela Barcellona all sang their music superbly I was most moved by Luca Pisaroni’s old guide. The young Italian bass delivered his aria describing the suffering of Christ powerfully and sensitively and with his handling of the recitative descriptions of events leading to the crucifixion it was no wonder that the Pilgrims in Pallavinco’s text were stirred.

The sold out audience gave Muti and his forces a deserved 10 minute ovation. We were on our feet with the rest of them.

Photo of the Kollegeinkirche by Andrew Bossi

17 maggio - San Pasquale Baylon

Salzburger Zeitung - Whitsun Festival

We were on the go constantly in Trento, Salzburg and briefly in Innsbruck and between opera, concerts, great food and sightseeing its been hard to find time to write anything about the Pfingstfestpiele (Whitsun Festival) that was the principal reason for our trip.

I’ve only been in Salzburg during the Summer Festival, back in 1969, 1971 and again in 1978, when crowds are chaotic, hotels are full and prices are astronomical. Fortunately the Whitsun Festival is still small enough that things are quieter, hotels available and it’s possible to have a good meal without mortgaging your first born. One thing that will never change is the abundance of ticky-tacky Mozartiana souvenirs - to bad the family isn't still around to benefit from the copyright.

Beginning with last year what was once a festival featuring Baroque music in a general way now celebrates the musical genius of Naples. And behind it is that modern Neapolitan genius Riccardo Muti. Like my friend OC, I’m one of those people who worship at the shrine of Muti – and this weekend Laurent has also become a convert to the cause. After watching him at close quarters yesterday, our seats at the side choir of the Kollegenkirche gave us a perfect view of his interaction with the soloists and orchestra, Laurent remarked that he had an almost palpable sense of Muti’s love of music and musicians. Yes there may be stories of his vanity and arrogance but for the two performances he gave us this weekend alone in my book he’s entitled.

Speaking of his vanity I recall the last time we saw him conduct in 1998 – Milan, Les Dialogues des Carmelites – he mounted the podium took his bows, turned away from the audience and surreptitiously slipped his glasses out of his pocket; his year he arrived specs firmly in place and still looking leonine and handsome.

The form of the Festival seems pretty much set now: three concerts of secular and sacred music mixing the classical and the popular (folk) bookended by a Muti-led opera and a Muti-led cantata/oratorio/mass. The Muti performances feature his exceptional group of young Italian musicians, Orchestra Giovanile "Luigi Cherubini" and young singers who in many cases he has mentored. The concerts are by international soloists and ensembles - e.g. this year's Andreas Scholl, theBalthasar-Neumann Chor and Ensemble, Accademia Bizantina and Accordone.

In what has become standard practice for Muti, his Orchestra Giovanile "Luigi Cherubini" joined the performers on stage to share in the 20 minute ovation opening night of Il matrimonio inaspettato . (Photos by Silvia Lelli)

On Satrday Muti was confirmed as Festival director until 2011 and next year's programme was announced. Sunday we decided that we'll be there - God willing and the Salzach don't rise.

I am honestly going to try and get something up about the indivdual performances tomorrow or Friday - it just we're still doing the sight-seeing thing here in Verona.

14 maggio - San San Pachomius

Salzburger Zeitung - Friday - II

We've just come in from a late dinner after Il matrimonio inaspettato, the opening performance of this year's Whitsun Festival. Its been a busy day of walking around town - seeing new things, revisiting old and I'm almost dead on my feet.

But before I got to bed I want to put up a quick post. Paisiello's little four character opera buffa isn't great music but damn this was great music making and comic theatre at its best. Riccardo Muti, the driving force behind the festival, his cast, chorus, orchestra and production team treated the piece lovingly and had us on our feet for a 20 minute ovation at evening's end.

If there was any star, other than Muti of course, it was the young (30 year old) Italian bass-baritone Nicola Alaimo as Tulipano, the farmer with aspirations above his station. Vocally and dramatically he was a constant delight and the strongest player in an evening with no weak links.

My friend Opera Chic has a few photos of the production on her site; and speaking of photos I'd love to get my hands on the SOB who decided that it was okay to disturb the final moments of the performance by taking not one or two but six flash photographs. There is a special place in my version of hell for a..h....s like that.

And I almost forgot tomorrow morning is an Andreas Scholl concert - and aside from the fact he is one of the finest countertenors around I've always found him hot in a nerdy-German way. Sort of "take of my glasses, unbutton my lederhosen and turn me into an animal!" And if the publicity photos are anything to go by our Andreas has been working out. Hmmm something to dream about.

Anyway I'm going to bedforshire a happier man for having experienced this evening. More tomorrow.

(Photo of Nicola Alaimo by Kira Volkova)

09 maggio - San Gerontius

Extravagance ... and Optimism

In a gesture of extravagance and optimism I purchased a box for the Opera and Ballet for the coming year. Extravagance because a box is five seats and we are only two but this way we can invite friends or visitors to come out for the evening with us. And I'll never had this chance again - our own box (10D) at the opera! Damn the expense I say! Optimism because I am saying that on December 11, 2008 I'll be alive, well and able to attend Otello. But to be honest if I don't book subscriptions we will end up not going. Its happened so often in other places: Oh look the bus-truck production of the hit musical In Cold Blood is coming to town, we must get tickets. Oh damn that was last week.

Okay Roma isn't La Scala - hell I guess its not even La Fenice or San Carlo - but at least here you have a chance of getting a seat as most transactions still have to be done at the box office. There are a few other opera houses, that will remain nameless, were the only people who seem to have seats are the scalpers. The minute seats go on the Internet they are snatched up - and how exactly at 2 per customer do those totes outside the theatre end up with rolls of 10 to 12?? The big subscription booster this year is the Muti Otello scheduled to open December 6, 2008 - on the strength of that one production alone the subscription series appear to be sold out and all five performance will be standing room only. I guess I'm not alone in my optimism.

So we now have subscriptions to the Opera, the Ballet and the Accademia Ste Ceciela which guarantees that at least three times a month we'll turn off the fascinating Italian quiz shows, get off our asses and get out on the town. However friends and acquaintenances should note, we are still available the rest of the month for dinner parties, cinema and pizza forays.

06 decembre - San Nichola di Bari