The Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, the composer's birthplace, dedicated its 40th edition to Montserrat Caballé and Bruno Cagli, two prominent Rossini interpreters. Highlights were the operas Semiramide, L'Equivoco stravagante and Demetrio e Polibio, and an anniversary concert.
For Semiramide, the culmination of Rossini's Italian career in 1823, director Graham Vick devised a psychological interpretation that will undoubtedly have held a valuable meaning for him, but which was not particularly easy to decipher for an audience relying on the libretto of this melodrama tragico by Gaetano Rossi. Forget Assyria and the temple of Baal and try to understand the meaning of the Brahmin priest and his followers sitting in a corner of the stage. Or why Semiramide's subjects move in rigid formations and the women resemble air hostesses and showgirls. And why Arsace is clearly not presented as a man. Stuart Nunn, responsible for sets and costumes, provided large green screens that stagehands visibly shifted to occasionally represent, among other things, the room of Ninia, Semiramide's young lost son, including a large blue teddy bear! Salome Jicia, elegant in a blue trouser suit and white blouse, gave Semiramide authority and elegance and sang with a full, expressive soprano and virtuosic coloratura. Varduhi Abrahamyan is certainly one of the finest interpreters of the role of Arsace, with a generous, warm, supple mezzo-soprano that mastered the vocal part with virtuosity. The treacherous Assur had the noble voice of Nahuel di Pierro, which could well have had a bit more bite, especially in his hallucinations. Carlo Cigni was a noble Oroe, Martiniana Antonie a fresh-sounding Azema, Sergey Artamonov an impressive Ombra di Nino and Antonino Siragusa a rather painful-sounding Idreno. The chorus of the Teatro Ventidio Basso sang well, and Michele Mariotti led the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai in a colorful, finely crafted orchestral performance with a well-structured overture and impressive ensembles. I wonder how this Semiramide, a co-production with the Opéra Royal de Wallonie, will come across on the Liège opera stage.
Lively caricature
For L'Equivoco stravagante – loosely translated as "the bizarre misunderstanding" – a drama giocoso from 1811, Carlo Rizzi conducted the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale Della Rai in a well-balanced, lively rendering of a score that clearly heralds Rossini's mastery of brilliant ensembles and finales. These received precise and whirlwind performances from the chorus of the Teatro Ventidio Basso and the soloists, in a staging by the duo Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier, with sets by Christian Fenouillat (a large room with many doors and a window looking out on cows in the meadow) and costumes by Agostino Cavalca (wealthy 19th-century bourgeoisie). The directing duo did not shy away from caricature and kept the tempo lively. But why the soloists were all fitted with a false nose remains a mystery to me. Paolo Bordogna was splendid as Gamberotto, the nouveau riche father who wants the best possible husband for his daughter Ernestina. Teresa Iervolino gave her the right mixture of awkwardness and innocence and sang her part with a bright, virtuosic soprano. The self-satisfied Buralicchio received a well-defined portrayal from Davide Luciano and a sonorous voice, but Pavel Kolgatin (Ermanno) did not sound very convincing. Claudia Muschio and Manuel Amati, equipped with fresh voices, were the well-meaning, meddlesome servant couple Rosalia and Frontino.
The third opera on the bill was Demetrio e Polibio, generally regarded as the first (partially) Rossini-composed opera, performed in 1812. For the occasion, the rather peculiar and unnecessarily complicated production by David Livermoore from 2010, with sets and costumes by the Accademia di belle arti di Urbino, was freshened up, but the result was no more convincing. Fortunately, the vocal cast was of a much higher standard. The audience could therefore comfortably concentrate on that and forget the framework. Jessica Pratt (Linsinga), Cecilia Molinari (Siveno), Juan Francisco Gatell (Demetrio-Eumene) and Riccardo Fassi (Polibio) brought their characters to life virtuosically and gave them dramatic intensity. Paolo Arrivabeni led the Coro del Teatro Della Fortuna M. Agostini, the Filarmonica Gioachino Rossini and the singers in a performance that was engaging throughout.
To celebrate the fortieth edition, the festival also offered a gala concert that could be followed live on the Piazza del Popolo via video projection. For the occasion, Carlo Rizzi conducted the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai, the Coro del Teatro Ventidio Basso and a host of soloists (fourteen announced, thirteen performed) in a two-part programme showcasing both the comic and the serious-heroic Rossini. The overture to Il barbiere di Siviglia, perhaps Rossini's most popular opera, opened the evening. The finale of Guillaume Tell, his last masterpiece with its message of freedom and hope, closed the evening. Not all numbers were equally convincing, but naturally crowd favourite Juan Diego Florez was showered with applause, as was his tenor colleague Lawrence Brownlee. The American soprano Angela Meade – no familiar guest in Pesaro – made a great impression with her performance of the dramatic scene of Ermione from the opera of the same name.
For 2020, the Rossini Opera Festival announces an edition from 8 to 21 August with Moïse et le Pharaon, Elisabetta regina d'Inghilterra and La cambiale di matrimonio.
- WHAT: Rossini Opera Festival – 40th edition
- WHERE: Pesaro, Italy
- WHEN: Tuesday 20 to Friday 23 August 2019
- WEBSITE: https://www.rossinioperafestival.it/