Other Links
Editorial Board
- UK Editors
- Roger Jones and John Quinn
Editors for The Americas - Bruce Hodges and Jonathan Spencer Jones
European Editors - Bettina Mara and Jens F Laurson
Consulting Editor - Bill Kenny
Assistant Webmaster -Stan Metzger
Founder - Len Mullenger
Google Site Search
SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL
OPERA REVIEW
Conductor -Riccardo Muti
Stage Director -Jean-Paul Scarpitta
Costumes -Maurizio Millenotti
Chorus Master -Roberto Gabbiani
Cast:
Leo Nucci -Nabucco
Antonio Poli -Ismaele
Dmitry Beloselskly -Zaccaria
Viktoriia Chenska -Abigaille
Anna Malavasi -Fenena
As soon as he stepped onto the podium of the Rome Opera,
Riccardo Muti turned to the invited audience of senior secondary
school students to remind them that when Mozart visited Milan,
he was still in his native Austria; when Verdi visited Milan, he
was in a foreign country. The unification of Italy is a hundred
and fifty years old this year and the theatre's performances of
Nabucco mark this anniversary. Patriotism is still
surprisingly alive in Italy; there is a We-the-People sentiment
which seems to operate independently of the prevailing cynical
attitude towards governance. The theatre had extended an
invitation to tomorrow's audience in what was effectively an
open dress rehearsal, though one with all the characteristics of
the finished product. Still, I must ask readers to keep in mind
these circumstances with respect to the observations which
follow.
The performances had been darkened by ill omen from the planning
stage. Just a few weeks ago, in Chicago, Riccardo Muti had a
serious heart attack, falling and breaking his jaw and requiring
hospitalisation to restructure his jaw in five places and
undergo heart surgery to fit a pacemaker. All praise to the
Chicago hospital: he appeared looking like his usual nimble,
healthful, athletic self last night. Only a few days ago, the
theatre were worried that he might not make the performances. If
that is not enough, a fortnight ago, the French stage director,
Jean-Paul Scarpitta, was carried off to a Rome hospital with a
heart attack and is still there, his assistant having taken over
the work. Elisabete Matos, who should have sung Aibigaille, was
indisposed, and the part taken over by
Viktoriia Chenska
Nabucco is the biblical Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon (legend
has him as the creator of the Hanging Gardens) and destroyer of
the first temple, who exiled the Jews from their homeland. All
this is promising grit for the patriotic mill. And Verdi does
not disappoint. Appropriately, this is predominantly a choral
opera: a We-the-People job. The Act three prayer -Va
pensiero- which the Hebrews sing in captivity, very nearly
became the Italian national anthem. In fact, I keep on running
into Italians who are convinced that it is.
Together with the other thirteen Italian Opera Houses, Rome is
being starved of funding from the central government. That
requires considerable ingenuity on the part of the theatres if
they are to continue to keep their doors open and deliver
productions. Jean-Paul Scarpitta displays outstanding ingenuity:
grasping the nettle that this is a choral opera, he uses the
chorus as scenery, grouping them in such ways as to be unfussy,
strikingly dignified and natural while at the same time
appearing choreographically freshly invented. Moving an Italian
chorus is a challenging business, but Scarpitta meets this
challenge with flying colours. For the rest, the stage is bare.
But that too, with the aid of excellent lighting, underscores
the drama which is taking place. Maurizio Millenoti's colourful
principals' costumes add a regal touch to the finely restrained,
grey, black and white of the rest.
The chorus themselves were less impressive in singing than in
movement. They sounded under-rehearsed. If only the perfectly
judged balance of the final cadence of Va pensiero
could have been maintained throughout, one could speak of
perfection, but on the way, there were some rough touches. In
contrast, the orchestra responded magnificently to the
conductor. As well they might. I have never heard the orchestra
play with such conviction and precision as their off-the-string
bowing of the overture's first allegro. This orchestra also
boasts one of the country's finest cellists, and Andrea Noferini
made a significant contribution in his duet with the
protagonist. (Verdi, you will recall has a predilection for
duets with baritone and cello: remember Rigoletto?) Mention,
too, must be made of the wholesome, finely-judged, lyrical
sounds of the young flautist, Matteo Evangelisti.
Leo Nucci must have sung the title role of this opera more often
than he can remember. But there is nothing routine in his
performance; it comes across as solidly comfortable,
reconfirming his depth of vocal understanding of the role. Verdi
never had a finer ambassador. Dmitry Beloselskly, in contrast,
was less convincing in the all-important role of Zaccaria, a
little underpowered and as though his mind was sometimes
somewhere else.
Viktoriia Chenska suffers from the common defects of many singers
trained in Eastern Europe. Her voice sounds as though it has
been trained upside down, which is to say from the top
downwards, with the training never arriving at the lower notes:
sounds in this register disappear. Without any support from
below, she often has to force on the top notes, which effects
her intonation negatively. She has not learned the essential
rule that quiet singing requires an increase in sound and
projection, inversely proportional to a diminishing of volume.
(Listen to Caballé to understand what I mean by this.) This
results in
Chenska's pianissimi sounding woefully enfeebled. There
is something of the warrior maiden in the character of
Abigaille. Some of us still have Dimitrova's impressive
performance in our ears. But no army would willingly sign up
Miss
Chenska.
The vocal surprise and pleasure of the evening was the young
tenor from nearby Viterbo, Antonio Poli, in the short but
compelling role of Ismaele. His voice is beautifully placed, he
never forces, but he makes golden tones from Verdi's score. Like
Caruso, this is one of those rare baritone-quality voices which
functions magnificently at tenor pitch. He also has the athletic
grace of a ballerino and is handsome to boot. Watch
this name.
Jack Buckley