Millennium Centre, Cardiff
This opera by Verdi was always notorious for having a complicated, if not incomprehensible, plot, but surtitles help fix that ? sort of. In 15th-century Spain, a baritone and a tenor who don't know they're brothers are rivals both in war and love. The outcome can only be tragic, but the music is middle-period Verdi at his most flowing and this cast delivered with real conviction.
Peter Watson's staging, getting its third Welsh National Opera outing in eight years, focuses on the emotions with a set that could hardly be darker or more stark. Using four massive curves of burnished wall to create any number of configurations ? soldier's camp, gypsy encampment, nunnery, castle ramparts ? the effect is sculptural and monumental. Such a minimalist approach puts the onus firmly on the singers to bring out the drama of their arias, and it was Veronica Simeoni as the gypsy Azucena and David Kempster's Conte di Luna who did this off best.
Simeoni was less of a crazed caricature and more deeply anguished in her characterisation, using her mellow mezzo to growing effect. Kempster, apparently recovering from bronchitis, was in remarkably potent form, inflecting Verdi's lines with authority and sensitivity. Katia Pellegrino, returning to the role of Leonora, still needs to quieten the emoting arms: her soprano is quite expressive enough, though she could often have done with more energy from Andrea Licata in the pit.
Making a role debut as Manrico, the troubadour of the title, is a rite of passage for a tenor: Gwyn Hughes Jones emerged with honour here. Vocally secure and ardent in his lyrical phrasing, if sometimes lacking in variety of colour, he helped carry the evening.
Leslie Bega Maria Sharapova Lindsay Price Zoe Saldana Rachel Perry
No comments:
Post a Comment