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Classical superstars Bartoli and Villazon have graced the Barbican with an evening of Classical and bel canto arias, duets, and excerpts. Supported by the excellent Orchestra La Scintilla of the Zurich Opera, the pair bring joy and energy. Rolando Villazon may not be the most able of tenors, even without the cold he had on this evening which haltered his head voice and passagio, yet he is certainly the most energetic and lively tenor, with a likability that makes his documentaries so compelling. Cecillia Bartoli without doubt is one of the greatest mezzos and also has a charm and a rapport with Rolando that is just wonderful to see. The evening's programme tackled lovein all its forms from unrequited to requited to tragic. Whilst Villazon's arias were damaged because of his cold, he still brought the energy and passion which made them easy to listen to. Bartoli had no illness so soared through the evening, seeing off difficult Rossini arias as if they were 'twinkle, twinkle, little star'. The finale of Otello was moving and perfect. Rossini writes the final scene better than Shakespeare, making Desdemona a far stronger mezzo and the end is far grittier and less romanticised than in the play so, whilst there were some lighting effects which were unneccesary, the performance of this scene was spellbinding from both of them. This was certainly an evening which deserved the three encores this duo received.
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Jonathan
Miller's production of the Rossinni classic comedy is almost 30 years
old. Now in it's twelfth revival, the traditional and simple staging is
looking dated. Unlike John Copley's Boheme, Tanya McCallin's design has
no real punch or artistic impact. There is nothing dynamic or alive
about the staging and is in dire need of revitalisation. And yet I left
the Coliseum with a firm smile on my face. From the overture to the
curtain call, Rossinni's music delights and entertains and, thanks to
Christopher Allen's colourful and emotive conducting, provides a
musically satisfying evening. This is helped by some extremely talented
singers. Anyone who can sing this opera deserves high praise and for
this group of singers to inject the energy they do is quite remarkable.
Morgan Pearse's Figaro is playful and fun whilst Eleazar Rodriguez is a
forlorn as the Count yet delivers hilarious accents whilst maintaining
top musical standards. It is a rather large step for the audience to
believe that he is the love of Lathryn Rudge's Rosina yet the magic of
opera let you believe it for the duration. Rudge, however, steals the
show. From Una voce poco fa, she gives a wit and a defiance to
Rosina along with an incredible tone of voice. This is helped by Amanda
and Anthony Holden's witty libretto which feels fresh and far from the
stuffy operatic text we have come to expect. Andrew Shore is also
notable as the antagonist Dr Bartolo whose fast tongue masters the
tricky and fast paced score. The cast and music shine here in a
production that needs to be put out of it's misery.
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I rarely feel as angry as when I emerged from Guillaume Tell. It wasn't because of the now- infamous gang rape scene. Yes it was childish and unnecessary but it wasn't the most obtuse thing I have ever scene at the theatre. In fact, I was angry at Antonio Pappano. Pappano for me has always been the face of opera. His enthusiasm and charisma enabled me to fall in love with this extraordinary art form. In Tell, you can feel that charisma and excited energy injected in the orchestra through his brilliant conducting. Therefore, how could he stand aside to let a protentious child ruin one of the best performances of Rossini's grand opera. The moments when I closed my eyes, I was in heaven yet the moment I opened them I was transported to hell. If the standards of the music quality wasn't so high, I wouldn't have left so enraged but Finley's Tell is powerful yet emotional; Osborn's Metcalf transforms from devoted love to devoted soldier so well; Byström's Mathilde is delicate and heartfelt. Therefore it is up to the director to make a true mess of things. There is a potentially interesting idea of rebirth and a country uprooted with the idea about the tree that could be incorporated into a production. However, that production becomes thin on the ground when you rely on this idea to last four and a half hours. Any production needs both light and shade and if, in the case of this production, there is no light, the shade becomes dull and tiresome. Damiano Michieletto's direction does nothing interesting other than one moment of trying to shock an audience before presumably being made to tone it down so significantly that it becomes insignificant. The use of video is poor. Look to Es Devlin to be shown how to incorporate multimedia into a production instead of just turning the Opera House into a cinema for something that is of no real importance. This is certainly a production worth listening to although it is a shame that the abismal aesthetics let it down.
