patrikpen: Very Juicy in Music & Vision 13 agosto

Very Juicy

Summer Opera in Rome,
enjoyed by GIUSEPPE PENNISI

In spite of the economic and financial crisis, Rome's 2012 summer has not been short of music: eg the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia had a major Beethoven symphonies series; the Accademia Filarmonica Romana had a contemporary music program, several foreign cultural academies (most notably those of France and Germany) also offered contemporary composers; a few small opera companies -- one of them organized by an American conductor and with mostly Anglo-American singers -- performed in courtyards of baroque palaces or in Roman ruins. To provide a full account several pages would be required; more significantly, the report would be of little interest to many readers.

Let us focus on the Teatro dell'Opera summer season in the monumental Baths of Caracalla, a huge thermal complex which provides a vast natural auditorium and natural scenery for opera and which also has a smaller hall (the former 'Eastern Gymnasium' for the Roman athletes), perfect for smaller concerts. The program was very juicy: ballet, operas, concerts by international orchestras and concerts by the young trainees of the Teatro dell'Opera. I have selected just a few offerings: the 30 June 2012 opening night with the ballet Giselle, the 10 July twilight new production of Il Combattimento di Tancredi and Clorinda, and on 27 July, the twilight concert of the young Teatro dell'Opera orchestra and the evening performance of Norma. A general comment: when compared with previous years, major improvements have been made in the acoustics (often a problem in open air performances).

Rather than a full fledged review of each event, this report is meant to provide readers with a general overview.

Adolphe Adam's Giselle is a well known example of French romantic ballet with a pleasant score and with a rather short duration but with many opportunities for acrobatic dancing. It is a repertory piece of the Teatro dell'Opera and especially of the summer seasons of the Baths of Caracalla. On the 30 June opening night, the auditorium was full. The stage sets are simple but elegant; it was an excellent idea to use the costumes prepared by the late Anna Anni (the favorite costume designer of Luchino Visconti and Franco Zeffirelli); they are at least twenty-five years old but have aged very well because of the precious fabrics they are made of. The Teatro dell'Opera was able to obtain two major stars for the two key roles : Svetlana Zakarova and Friedman Vogel. The other dancers and the corps de ballet did quite well. The audience was enchanted.

Il Combattimento di Tancredi and Clorinda is one of Claudio Monteverdi's best known madrigals: a thirty-five minute drama with a narrator (a baritone) and the two heroes (a soprano and a tenor). She is a Muslim and he is a Christian, but they are deeply in love with each other. Disguised by their armor, they do not recognize each other and kill each other in a battle for the conquest of Jerusalem -- we are at the times of the Crusades. It is a very powerful piece of music. In the Teatro dell'Opera production, a new orchestration by Giorgio Battistelli (with emphasis on percussion) was used. The madrigal was staged in the four hundred seat 'Eastern Gymnasium' at sunset, 7.30pm, and was preceded by Battistelli's ten minute composition on a similar topic (Gli Orazi e I Curazi) from ancient Roman history. The narrator was Roberto Abbondanza; the unlucky lovers Cristina Zavalloni and Lorenzo Cerola. The stage director was Mario Martone, very well known for his work in theatre, movies and opera. Ursula Patzka provided costumes that fit very well with the context. The orchestra was conducted by Erasmo Guardiamonte. In short, a very tense and powerful hour of music drama, also thanks to the perfect acoustics of the 'Eastern Gymnasium' which is in open air but surrounded by tall, thick Roman walls. I attended the 10 July 2012 performance.

On 27 July, a double bill: a sunset concert of the Teatro dell'Opera trainees and an evening performance of Norma. Bellini's masterpiece is a standard feature of the Teatro dell'Opera but has not been seen at the Baths of Caracalla for the last sixty years. Norma is one of the best examples of bel canto, a style that is not thought to be suitable for open air performances. However, as mentioned, major improvements have been made to the Baths of Caracalla acoustics. Also the ruins provided a natural stage set; only a few props were used to illustrate the different places of the action. Fortunately, the stage direction was quite traditional, even though the director Andrea De Rosa had written that he intended to give a psychoanalytic twist to the opera. Gabriele Ferro had the baton and, as Bellini wanted, used the orchestra mostly as support to the singers. The key aspect was that the roles of Norma and Adalgisa were sung by two sopranos (Julianna Di Giacomo and Carmen Remigio), as originally conceived, not as usually performed by a soprano and a mezzo. The difference could be felt especially in their duet with cabaletta Mita, o Norma, where the action unfolds. A memorable performance.

Last but not least, the trainees' concert in the 'Eastern Gymnasium'. These are mostly teenagers and represent the future of symphonic music and opera. Under the baton of Nicola Paszkowski, they performed in a two part program.

The first part consisted mostly of adaptations of well-known symphonic pieces for percussion. The second part dealt with more standard pieces of repertory (from Martucci's Notturno to Schubert's Unfinished Symphony No 8. They acquitted themselves very well, demonstrating that they are an important promise.