Il barbiere di Siviglia - Royal Opera House, 18 January 2011 (first night)
As revivals go, this proved to be one of the better ones, though perhaps it was inevitable that the first night wouldn't quite live up to the promise of the bizarrely effective general-rehearsal-that-wasn't, not to mention the perfection of the previous revival.
With its claustrophobic sets and grotesquely caricatured oppressors, this production draws from the perspective of Rosina, the captive bird desperate to flee her cage. Aleksandra Kurzak was at her minxy best last night. The way she matched fioriture to text was uncannily musical, and it would take the mindset of a driving test examiner to carp at her few smudged or swallowed notes.
John Osborn recovered well from a rough start, looking (understandably) uncomfortable as he sang his first scene from the top of a distinctly wobbly tree. Tender and charming with Rosina, he coloured his line subtly to leave us in no doubt of Almaviva's essential selfishness and insincerity the moment she was gone.
If there's one thing previous revivals have suffered from, it's a surfeit of sugar-coated niceness. Here, Bruno Praticò's darkly-drawn Doctor Bartolo manages the quickfire patter with unerring skill, but at the same time you can imagine him beating Rosina when the visitors are gone. It's a masterpiece of character singing if hardly lovely on the ears.
The gigantic personality of Levente Molnár's Figaro fills the stage, but last night he hadn't quite worked the very specific gestures and movement demanded by the production into a naturalistic performance. The same was true to some extent of Ildar Abdrazakov's sinuously persuasive and most elegantly sung Don Basilio.
After a truly superb showing in the pit at the rehearsal, it was disappointing to hear so much tired and scrappy playing from the orchestra, not to mention a couple of occasions when Rory Macdonald dropped the ball and only just managed to scrape stage and pit back together again by the skin of his teeth.
I suspect those who have booked for later shows in the run will have made a wise choice.
Having been at the first night, I agree that there is enough to enjoy in this revival to justify seeing it, but no 'Cessa di più resistere' - a big, big loss.
Posted by: Opera Beginner | 19 January 2011 at 05:04 PM
Definitely a good revival but it's without doubt Kurzac's show. I've never heard Rosina sung as a full soprano before rather than a mezzo and the extra ornamentation and stunning vocal acrobatics that she added made it a sight (or sound?) to behold. I've just snapped up a cheap ticket to see it again near the end of the run based on her. Did anyone that was there last night actually flinch when she went to throw the dart into the stalls while singing Una voce poco fa? I was right up in the Amphi and still jumped ;)
I agree that the tree was unbelievably shaky and after performing (badly) his opening aria, Osborn was much better and far more secure on terra firma. I was sure that Dr Bartolo simply gave up during some of his patter songs and was singing 'fa fa fa la la la' at some points although it doesn't seem to be mentioned anywhere else.
Incidentally, after what happened last time when Joyce fell over (she landed her heel in the 'track' where the tree had been wheeled out, although again this is never mentioned, only that she 'tripped'), I'm sure Kurzac was wearing lower heels as a precaution ;)
Posted by: Michael | 19 January 2011 at 10:01 PM
This girl is fabulous. Listen to her Chopin songs CD (with Kwiecień): such simple music performed with pearly tones, imagination, and good taste!
Posted by: Andrew Powell | 20 January 2011 at 08:28 AM
@ Michael: At the rehearsal I thought the same as you about Dr Bartolo's patter song, and so did a friend of mine.
Posted by: Miriam | 20 January 2011 at 09:42 AM
Michael, I totally agreee with you about Dr Bartolo ... I am not a Rossini expert and was not that confident about it but definitely thought at times what he was singing in his patter aria was the equivalent of 'operatic rhubarb ... rhubarb'. British critics have history here because when Sir John Tomlinson recently forgot the words of Rocco's gold aria at the Proms (and broadcast on TV!) only one review I saw mentioned it! When I asked a senior critic about it they said they had heard it, but did not write about it, because he is Sir John Tomlinson! I don't think the same can apply for Bruno Praticò.
Posted by: Joseph Alder | 20 January 2011 at 10:52 AM
Did Tomlinson forget the words of Rocco's aria? I think there are alternative versions of the text or perhaps they were changed in that concert performance. I'm not sure but I would be interested to find out. Karajan used to omit it in many of his earlier performances, astonishingly in his 1960s Vienna production with most of the cast of Klemperer's EMI recording. Ironic that a maestro who accumulated more "Gold" than any other in the history of music, should have found Rocco's aria distasteful......
Posted by: Nikolaus Vogel | 20 January 2011 at 03:10 PM
Nikolaus, thanks for this ... re: John Tomlinson I did have the benefit of my ears in the Royal Albert Hall and the pause and replay button on my remote when I came home ... and someone else's ears for the 'Lah, lah, lahhing' or whatever it was exactly for a line or two!! These things happen to the best of them and JT is one of the greats!
Posted by: Joseph Alder | 20 January 2011 at 08:42 PM