Delightful that Opera Ballet Vlaanderen opens the season with a concert full of sparkling Italian music, before immersing itself in the German profundity of Wagner with Parsifal.
On the beautifully lit stage of the opera house in Antwerpen, the Symfonisch Orkest Opera Ballet Vlaanderen celebrated its return after the summer break with great enthusiasm.
Two Italian composers separated by a century, but with comparable "Italianità", provided an attractive programme: Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) and Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936).
The popular overture to La gazza ladra by Rossini rang through the hall with staccato percussion and fanfare trumpets. That conductor Alessandro Palumbo is a seasoned Rossini conductor became immediately clear, thanks to his attention to the clever Rossinian wit and typical liveliness, with a typical crescendo as conclusion. It is to be heard that he is a pupil of the legendary Rossini conductor and expert, Alberto Zedda (1928-2017), who conducted various productions at Opera Vlaanderen between 1999 and 2016.
Also in the ballet suite La Boutique fantasque for which Ottorino Respighi based himself on songs from the so-called Péchés de Vieilesse by Rossini, Alessandro Palumbo set the orchestra to the right tone each time: from dancing liveliness (Tarantella, Cancan) to precise finesse (slow waltz). But refinement sounded especially in the performance of the intimate Preghiera from Rossini's rarely performed opera Maometto secondo and in the soft entry of the well-known overture to Guillaume Tell which the cellos take on. Perhaps here and there a bit more contrast in the orchestra could have been employed – but that is under the heading of detail criticism.
For the vocal fragments by Rossini, Opera Ballet Vlaanderen invited Maria Warenberg, the Dutch mezzo who was a laureate at the previous edition of Zang van de KEW (2023) and was heard at OBV in La Clemenza di Tito. She let her beautiful mezzo timbre sound playful in La regatta Veneziana, also from Rossini's Parisian period when he composed only salon music (here in the orchestration by Bruno Moretti). Challengingly she sings Una voce poco fa from Il Barbiere di Sivigla and movingly Nacqui all'affanno from La Cenerentola. Her charming appearance gained particular emphasis through her expressive interpretation. The voice has a nice range also in the high register but would benefit from more colour and nuancing.
All in all a fine start to the opera season. We can agree with Alberto Zedda: "Rossini è una droga molto speciale", Rossini is a special drug, his music enchants you.
