VIENNA: il Trovatore 15 febbraio 2017
Il trovatore at the Vienna State Opera 15.02.2017 (last performance)
Conductor – Marco Armiliato
Director – Daniele Abbado
Cast:
- il conte di Luna – Ludovic Tezier
- Leonora – Anna Netrebko
- Azucena – Luciana D’Intino
- Manrico – Roberto Alagna
- Ferrando – Jongmin Park
- Ines – Simina Ivan
- Ruiz – Jinxu Xiahou
- Un vecchio zingaro – Michael Wildner
- Un messo – Wolfram Igor Derntl
Set – Graziano Gregori
Costumes – Carla Teti
light – Alessandro Linzalata
Head of the choir – Thomas Lang
If you want the best recipe for success in the modern opera world – the name of Anna Netrebko is a sure guarantee! Wherever she turns up – is going to be the key event in the world! The return of Verdi’s Il Trovatore in Vienna’s State Opera has been so far for sure most important production in the world in 2017. And mostly thanks to La Netrebko! Tickets were sold out long time before the premiere and desperate opera fans had to fight even for hugely overpriced second hand sellers in front of the theatre. However, the lucky ones, that made it into the State Opera – had no regrets. Despite some setbacks – this indeed was a great musical celebration! The new production of Il trovatore was conducted by Marco Armiliato.
They say it is not difficult to lead State Opera orchester. They are simply one of the best opera orchestras in the world. But… Maybe this is the greatest difficulty! Also in Il Trovatore there were moments, when the orchestra just took a lead effectively upstaging the soloists. But it was rather seldom. Maestro Armiliato kept a good control over the orchestra and gave singers generous space to express themselves in the most precious moments of the opera. Generally, the balance was good, interpretation – no comments needed. Maestro Armiliato is currently surely one of the best interpreters of this music. The new production was signed by Daniele Abbado. Although, it was not quite clear, why did the director placed the romantic medieval story into the Spanish civil war environment, it was still tasteful. The whole direction, as well as the setting and costumes, was very minimalistic. Almost a concert… Which worked this time, but mainly due to the star-cast of the singers. I am not sure, if it will have the same effect in case you remove Netrebko or Tezier out of the cast… Main role played the lighting (Alessandro Carletti).
The costumes were also not the best we’ve seen in the State Opera. The cinematographic atmosphere is not always the winning card for the big stage like state opera. …and you have make a serious effort to make a beautiful woman like Anna Netrebko look not quite as attractive as we always see her! The main attraction of the show was, of course, the cast of soloists. As Enrico Caruso once said – “if you want a good performance of Il Trovatore, you need to hire four best singers in the world”! And it is true… Four main characters of the opera require equal quality and stamina due to complex vocal and artistic requirements of the roles. The state opera in this case definitely won the lottery! The cast was excellent. Anna Netrebko as Leonora was the center of the show! Her warm and equally round voice from top to bottom has touched the audience. Her soft pianissimo sound got even softer and clearer. “D’amor sull’ali rosee” was the coronation of her performance. Very impressive Il conte di Luna – Ludovic Tezier! Voice present and touching with its beautiful, in a very masculine way, colour! Excellent legato and nobel stage presence! After his absolutely stunning “Il balen del suo sorriso” – he definitely had the most sincere and long applause among all the stars of the show. Also fantastic Azucena – Luciana D’Intino. Great Italian mezzo-soprano with almost scary, almost “baritonal” low notes, at the same time maintaining splendid top register. Her interpretation was also very touching. Azucena in probably most controversial character of the opera – in the balance between the wickedness of the woman, who’s out for the fatal revenge and a caring woman, who raised a child of the assassin of her mother – she chose a very human approach: desperation instead of vengeance.
Less convincing as Manrico – KS Roberto Alagna. Although, he sung his aria “Ah! Si, ben mio” with an excellent taste, beautiful fraseggio, present and carefully led voice. But in other cases, it was obvious, that the role is a bit beyond his limits. Many times voice was forced and lost homogeneity of the sound. Very convincing bass – Jongmin Park as Ferrando. Excellent Ruiz – Jinxu Xiahou, who managed to be noticed in this small role. Ines – was Simina Ivan. In difference to his colleagues she did not demonstrate any particular quality. The choir of the State Opera impressed with its rich sound and beautiful colours and maintained the quality of the performance.
