A pity presentation
is so lacking. There is a tiny slip
of a booklet and (perhaps more importantly)
no subtitles to the DVD itself. At least
there is a separate track for each act.
A shame, as the actual
performance and staging are by no means
disgraceful, and the picture itself
is of pin-point clarity. The performance
took place in the Teatro di San Carlo,
Naples (http://www.teatrosancarlo.it/),
a venue that, interestingly, staged
Verdi’s Gustavo III this January.
It is evidently a very beautiful building
on the evidence of this DVD.
Perhaps the most intriguing
thing that struck this reviewer on receiving
the product was the conductor, Gustav
Kühn. Kühn’s Wagner has been
arriving via Arte Nova, yet in the mists
of my memory he was marketed as a new
star by EMI for a while (some Glyndebourne
activities also ring a bell – a well-received
Entführung? - see footnote).
The present DVD may be part of a resurgence,
therefore, and his interest in earlier
music is confirmed by an Arte Nova disc
of Pergolesi recorded in 1997 (also
including Paola Antonucci; the disc
includes the Stabat Mater). His
rather pedestrian way with Gluck’s Overture
(scratchy strings) does not bode well,
however, and sets the scene for a rather
routine reading of the orchestral contribution
throughout the ‘evening’. A word of
warning – the orchestra is very forward
in the balance, so that the chorus can
be so recessed that one can barely hear
them (although soloists are more closely
miked). And later, at ‘Che pure ciel’,
the voice seems to slot into the middle
of the violins and flutes, as if manipulated
there spatially.
Orfeo has a
tiny cast. Firstly, Orfeo him(her)self.
Among other things, Bernadette Manca
di Nissa has recorded Pergolesi with
La Scala and Muti (Lo frate ’nnamorato
on EMI), Mistress Quickly for the same
forces (Verdi’s Falstaff, on
Sony) and Smeton in Bonynge’s Decca
Anna Bolena (Donizetti). It is
quite an impressive role-call (sic).
Manca di Nissa has a wide expressive
range and impressive stage presence,
yet sometimes her words become indistinct
(lack of subtitles hardly helps). She
can be imposingly assertive when required,
though, and her voice contrasts well
with Paula Almerares’ pure soprano.
Try Orfeo’s progressively more and more
impassioned pleas in Act II Scene 1
for a demonstration of her dramatic
grasp. ‘Che farò senza Euridice’
does convince in the final analysis
(the audience certainly liked it, and
she remains completely stationary during
the applause), despite singer and orchestra
not being entirely synchronised, and
some rather syrupy, romanticised string
phrasing from Kühn and his forces.
Almerares is a well-cast
Euridice. Dressed in bridal/virginal
white, her voice is as pure as her costume,
but also emotive (and the strings even
take on a certain radiance at her entrance).
Paula Antonucci sang
Susanna for Arte Nova’s Figaro
(again with Kühn at the helm) and
Norina in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale
for the same record company. She first
appears (as Amor) at the back of the
stage, shrouded in clouds and wearing
a pair of wings – yet the recorded balance
is such that one is much more aware
of the strings. Forcing one’s attention
to the voice, Antonucci in fact sings
well (she draws the first spontaneous
applause from the audience, too). In
Act III, rather primly dressed in pink,
she is perhaps less impressive as her
voice seems to have taken on a roughness
that was absent earlier.
Actual movement on
stage is nicely managed, with lots of
muscly skin on view for the Furies in
Hades, if you like that sort of thing.
The chorus in Act II has glowing blue
heads, rather intriguingly. The production
as a whole, though, is sparse, often
dark but traditional (Orfeo even has
a lute, although she does rather walk
around looking as if she’s not quite
sure how it got there).
Recommended with caution,
then. John Eliot Gardiner’s Arthaus
DVD (100 062) has the massive advantage
of including Magdalena
Kožena in the cast, but be aware that
he opts for the Berlioz version of the
score.
Colin Clarke
Footnote
Performances
at Glyndebourne were:
1980, 83 Die Entführung
aus dem Serail
1981, 84 Le nozze di Figaro
1981 Ariadne auf Naxos
1983 Intermezzo
1984 Cosi fan tutte