Conductor - Riccardo Chailly,
Director - Davide Livermore
Anna Netrebko - Tosca
Francesco Meli - Cavaradossi
Luca Salsi - Scarpia
This production of Tosca for the opening of La Scala is constantly in motion. All the required elements are in place when required, but after they swiftly disappear. Why is this necessary?
Anna's Tosca may not be the best sung ever heard, but no one plays the diva to her level. She knows how to flaunt her goods as possibly no other Tosca before her. She is aided by the blocking: after she has given a flower to the madonna, she later takes it back. So it's the thought that counts?
The second act takes place in the Palazzo Farnese which in real life is decorated with elaborate wall paintings. Instead of paintings, we have live people standing in boxes above the stage. This seems exhausting. If you were in the house, you might have missed this, but the cameras show mouths moving and so forth. And when our girl is saying "mori" to Scarpia, she is choking him to death. Three stabs were not enough. She seems to regret it, though.
Luca Salsi as Scarpia is rather more friendly than I have seen. I will assume that Netrebko did not complain. He makes a wonderful, very slimy Scarpia.
Meli is ok. He doesn't usually rise above ok. He's cute. There are a lot of gimmicks in this production. In the end Tosca "goes to god" by floating upwards. I'm not sure the gimmicks enhance the overall emotion. I seem to always enjoy Netrebko. I think it is her natural intensity.
P.S. I forgot to mention that this was the original, longer version of Tosca, also called the critical edition. In fact here is a reference to the critical edition from Ricordi. This comes with a picture of Netrebko.
Conductor: Riccardo Chailly
Staging: Mario Martone
Andrea Chénier: Yusif Eyvazov
Maddalena di Coigny: Anna Netrebko
Carlo Gérard: Luca Salsi
La mulatta Bersi: Annalisa Stroppa
La Contessa di Coigny: Mariana Pentcheva
Madelon: Judit Kutasi
Roucher: Gabriele Sagona
Giordano's Andrea Chénier is an opera about the French revolution. The only other one I can think of is Dialogues of the Carmelites which sees the terror from a somewhat different perspective. It is curious that no opera sees the revolution from the side of the revolutionaries.
This is a wonderful traditional staging from La Scala Milano. In the first scene the staging is very clear with the revolutionaries' faces appearing through the windows. As I work my way through the scenes, they are all well done and easy to follow. Not too much detail, not too little. This is lovely, with well handled chorus, and all the elements of an excellent traditional staging.
"Viva la morte insiem." Long live death together. Sort of a self cancelling phrase. I have been listening to German versions of Italian operas for so long I have forgotten what the Italian version sounds like. Yusif is actually more highly regarded in Italy. His steely tone cuts right through the orchestra when necessary. He and Netrebko are gradually merging into each other. Will we like the result?
I love this opera and have very much enjoyed its recent popularity. I realize it will soon disappear, but that's no reason not to love it now. The poet falls in love and stays behind in France to protect his love. As a result, he is executed. It is an opera about love. Maddalena tells us that an angel has kissed her. This is the exterminating angel. He has marked her for death.
Chailly knows his Italian repertoire and gives us a stylistically excellent reading. Lovely. This is the one.
Aida: Anna Netrebko
Radamès: Francesco Meli
Amneris: Ekaterina Semenchuk
Amonasro: Luca Salsi
Ramfis: Dmitry Belosselskiy
The King: Roberto Tagliavini
A Messenger: Bror Magnus Tødenes
The High Priestess: Benedetta Torre
Verdi's Aida is this year's hit at the Salzburg Festival I am behind schedule but have managed to find a view of this great occasion: Aida, Netrebko and Muti collide.
The production by Iranian Sharin Neshat seems to ask the question "What if Ancient Egypt were a modern middle-eastern country?" I am loving the simple look after too many years of over-detailed productions. Aida's look for the first half, seen above, doesn't remind me of anything.
I am finding simplicity in the story, too. Radames is in love with Aida. Then he goes to the King to offer to lead an army against the Ethopians who are invading. Aida says wait, that's my father. This group dress in uniforms with head gear that looks like a fez, more popular in the past. The king in a gold fez approves, and then Radames goes to the priests for their blessings. King Farouk of Egypt wore something similar:
The priests all look the way priests look in Iran. They're called Imams, I know. Amneris tells Radames to return victorious. Aida sings yes, "return victorious over my father."
Then we go to the chamber of Amneris. Time has passed, and Radames has gone off to war. At this point guys come out in what look like bull skulls and do the dance normally done by Amneris' attendants. What is that about? They are on stage for only a couple of minutes. Amneris and her women return and they split. Curious.
There follows a scene between Amneris and Aida when Amneris tricks Aida into revealing she loves Radames. Amneris reminds Aida that she is only a slave. Aida prays for the gods to take pity.
So far I like very much the simple clarity of the scenes. The main characters are clearly delineated and never disappear into the crowd. I like the way Netrebko is dressed. Radames has returned and is enjoying a triumphal entrance such as he might have expected in Rome. I am enjoying the division of everyone into the priestly and military/ civilian classes. One does enjoy clarity.
Now if one only knew what the guys in bull skulls were for. They're back. The stage rotates and we see the African prisoners made up with white lines down their faces. Radames returns and is given the wreath of triumph, still very much like a Roman triumph, but then why not? Aida doesn't crack a smile until she sees her father and runs to him. He is the Ethiopian king but pretends that the king has died.
In the second half Aida has changed her appearance to look more like the other Ethiopians, even including the white line. On the banks of the Nile she sings of the loss of her country. Wonderful aria, wonderful rendition. Father comes in, then Radames. Aida and Radames plan how they will escape the powerful Amneris. Radames tells a military secret, Aida's father hears and declares that he is king Amonasro. Radames realizes he is now a traitor, they start to escape until Amneris enters with her priests. The plot is all here in these few minutes. This is a single set production that functions well for the various scenes. In this opera everyone messes up.
I like very much that the costumes clearly identify the status of each character. Priests look like priests. Soldiers look like soldiers. I have a vague idea of ancient Egyptian clothing, but would not know which people are which. Ethiopians all have white lines on their foreheads.
Radames says he will not be with Amneris if he can't have Aida. They are doomed. I am enjoying this opera a lot more than I usually do. Ekaterina Semenchuk is excellent. I sometimes think Amneris is the main character. She messes up everyone's lives, including her own. Meli does the best I've heard him.
But the fuss is for Netrebko. The best music is at the end. O terra addio. Love to all.
👍🏻
Conductor: Omer Meir Wellber
Production:
Philipp Stölzl
Andrea Chénier, a poet tenor:
Jonas Kaufmann
Carlo Gérard, a servant baritone:
Luca Salsi
Maddalena di Coigny, soprano:
Anja Harteros
Bersi, Mulattin, her maid mezzo-soprano:
J'Nai Bridges
La comtesse di Coigny mezzo-soprano :
Doris Soffel
They layered every nuance for us to see at the Bayerische Staatsoper for Giordano's Andrea Chénier. Above is how we generally viewed the sets. Below is closer to what the audience saw.
The production made frequent use of split pictures. In the opening party scene we see the household staff laboring below stairs while the party goes on upstairs. When the revolutionaries arrive, we see people from the below stairs staff among them. When Andrea and Maddalena are preparing to die, we see the guillotine just above them. The last thing shown is the blade falling. In the task of explaining the action this production was excellent.
This is a play about patriotism and class resentment. It started to sound familiar. The central character is actually Carlo Gérard who tries to stand on both sides of the conflict. He is for the revolution and overthrowing the aristocracy, but he also loves the family he served. He is the truly honorable but conflicted man. Each speaks of how he loves his country.
The artistry of the performers set fire to this opera. It is an opera about one of the most violent periods in western history. But somehow before today it has never had a sufficient effect. From "La mamma morta" to "Vicino a te" it blazed to ever more emotional intensity. Opera should set fire to your heart, and this one did. Bravi.
