Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901)
Un ballo in Maschera – opera in three acts (1859)
Gustavo III, King of Sweden (Riccardo) – Piotr Beczała (tenor)
Graf René Anckaström (Renato), King’s aide – Dmitri Hvorostovsky (baritone)
Amelia, his wife – Krassimira Stoyanova (soprano)
Ulrica Arfvidsson, fortune teller – Nadia Krasteva (mezzo-soprano)
Oscar, page – Hila Fahima (soprano)
Graf Horn, enemy of the king – Alexandru Moisiuc (bass)
Graf Warting, enemy of the king – Sorin Coliban (bass-baritone)
Christian – Igor Onishchenko (baritone)
Judge/Servant – Thomas Ebenstein (tenor)
Orchester, Chor und Bühnenorchester der Wiener Staatsoper/Jesús López-Cobos
rec. live, April 2016 Wiener Staatsoper, Vienna
Booklet with notes in English,French, German
ORFEO C210062 [60:52 + 74:20]
Verdi’s Un ballo in Maschera is surely the most light-hearted of all of Verdi’s dramas. It sits on one end of the emotional spectrum of his operas, with La Forza del Destino marking the opposite, dark end of the same spectrum. There is a cheerful mood that infuses the piece, despite the individual woes of the principal characters, which wafts along throughout the opera, particularly whenever Oscar the page appears. This contrast between lightness and the deeper emotions of guilt, anger and fear is one of the reasons that this opera has always been popular with audiences and singers alike. In 2016 the Vienna State Opera mounted a revival with, what seemed to be on paper at least, a strong cast. This Orfeo release represents a nice memento of that performance but one that suffers from the close scrutiny provided by the microphones.
Jesús López-Cobos leads the Vienna forces with an attempt at Verdian grandeur and style, but the execution frequently lacks the crispness that would be achieved in a studio recording. He certainly draws a very silky sound from the Vienna string section in the opera’s prelude and he manages to achieve a palpable feeling of menace in the prelude to the Ulrica scene. The rest of the opera does not seem to have the same focus as does the first act, although everyone seems to be trying hard just the same. The conductor brings the middle section of the love duet to a grinding halt which is rather mystifying to say the least.
Chief among the principal singers is Polish tenor Piotr Beczała. He starts things off with an assuredly suave “La rivedrà nell'estasi” although not without a touch of tonal bluster on notes above the staff. He has obviously put a great deal of thought into Gustavo. This Gustavo is no bull in a china shop as Pavarotti could be. During the opening of the love duet Beczała begins eloquently with elegant phrasing which allows him much more room to develop as the duet progresses.
Krassimira Stoyanova’s Amelia has a vocal timbre of rich chiffon which at times is reminiscent of Zinka Milanov. She presents the most promising Ameila that I can recall in recent memory, even if her tone isn’t quite as distinctively memorable as that of Maria Callas. Her appearance in the Ulrica scene seems insufficiently warmed up to make much of an impact. In Act Two however, “Ma dall'arido stelo divulsa” is tense, troubled and sung with both ease and amplitude. “Morro ma prima in grazia” on the other hand lies a wee bit low for her so she has to force her tone a bit for volume’s sake. Dramatically she always comes across as deeply involved in her role.
Dimitri Hvorostovsky’s voice remains mostly intact by this stage of his career however; his vocal line can be bumpy at times. Frequently he seems to be working hard to achieve effects, such as having to lunge for high notes. The microphones regularly pick up a fair bit of gasping for breath which doesn’t seem to happen with any other singer; still, he weaves a broadly dramatic spell with “Eri Tu” where the years begin to fall away as one listens.
Among the smaller roles Nadia Krasteva is an excellent Ulrica as she delivers a thrilling account of her aria that can compare with those of Fiorenza Cossotto and Giulietta Simionato on the Muti and Solti recordings. Hila Fahima is a light and breezy sounding Oscar, although in the first act she has difficulty maintaining pitch in the lower parts of her voice. When it comes to the conspirator Counts Horn and Ribbing, Ribbing has been mysteriously renamed by Orfeo as Warting on the outer box. These roles have been assigned to a pair of singers who spend most of the evening in hollow-sounding bellowing which at times even overwhelms Hvorostovsky during the conspiracy scene in the Third Act. As to the recording quality, stage noises and shifting sound perspectives abound, as is often the case with live recordings. Orfeo saw enough potential in this recording to give it a commercial release however; this one is not capable of displacing older studio-based efforts as a first choice. Sets from Leinsdorf, Solti 1 and 2, Muti and Abbado are all preferable to this, which at least manages to be likeable in spite of its flaws.
Mike Parr
Previous review: Michael Cookson
