Opera Reviews
29 March 2024
Untitled Document

Strong singing prevails in an overambitious futuristic production



by Silvia Luraghi

Verdi: La forza del destino
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
19 June 2021

Luckily enough, the first day on which live performances were allowed coincided with the opening of the Festival del Maggio as it originally had been scheduled, so the programming could immediately be brought back to almost normal, except for the restrictions on the number of people allowed into the theater.

Among operatic titles Verdi’s La forza del destino had not been shown in Firenze since 2007, conducted by Zubin Mehta, who took the baton again for this year’s production. On stage, the Catalan company La Fura dels Baus, directed by Carlus Padrissa, took care of the production. The director has a reputation for being provocative, as he also tried to be this time, even though the result remained below his ambitions.

The director’s plan was to have the action stretched in time until a very far future in which humans reverted to prehistoric technologies as a result of destructions brought about by wars. This could have been a good starting point, but it was not easy to develop, and often the ideas that the director tried to convey were just too many, let alone the idea of overtly explaining what he wanted to express through supertitles projected on the curtain during the long, and apparently useless, breaks between the scenes. Visually, the most compelling part of the production consisted of the numerous science fiction citations, such as Star Wars’ Mos Eisley cantina in the second scene. The lowest peak was the final duel between Alvaro and Don Carlos, fought with long bones in a Flintstones' setting.

The strength of the production lay in the vocal cast. All roles, including the smaller ones, were covered by high quality voices, but the best on stage, at least in my opinion, was baritone Amartuvshin Enkhbat, in the role of Don Carlos di Vargas. The Mongolian native relies on a huge volume of a handsomely timbred voice perfectly supported by the breath, and is quickly becoming one of the most important Verdi baritones of his generation. He deservedly earned the first applause of the evening after his aria ‘Son Pereda.’ As his antagonist Don Alvaro, Roberto Aronica reliably sang the challenging role. Soprano Saioa Hernandez making her debut as Eleonora displayed a well-tuned, ringing voice, evenly colored throughout the register with good interpretative skills in spite of poor stage directions for the singers. Mezzo Annalisa Stroppa was an impressive Preziosilla, with gorgeous top notes that she commanded easily even when dancing and jumping around in extravagant costumes. Ferruccio Furlanetto remains a charismatic Padre Guardiano, and Nicola Alaimo proved luxury casting for Fra Melitone.

In the pit, Zubin Mehta conducted with majestic tempi, with a somewhat slow pace that didn’t help the singers, who deserved an even bigger praise for managing the tempi. A special mention also goes to the chorus, instructed by Lorenzo Fratini and singing in masks.

I saw the last performance, a matinee with an almost sold out theater, and found the cast at its best. The performance was warmly received, with applause for all singers and an ovation for the conductor.

Text © Silvia Luraghi
Photo © Maggio Musicale Fiorentino
 
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