The cemeterial, empty worship of dead singers and dead conductors and the adoration for the good old times that might or might not have actually been that good in the first place, together with the YouTube reviewers is one of the most fascinating phenomena in opera -- and probably the creepiest. Historically awesome productions must therefore, to follow the cult of the past, considered de facto lame because, say, Montsy or Claudione or whomever is not there anymore, and the past is always king (for some).
That's why among the more dogmatic Scalagoers the revival of Luca Ronconi's staging of Il Viaggio a Reims was by definition A BAD THING -- because it was once staged with greater musicians on the stage and in the pit.
OC's reaction to all that? She went twice (the premiere before Easter and the seconda rappresentazione after it). And she even liked it more the second time, imperfections and all (because opera is livelier and cooler and, frankly, more alive on a stage than on YouTube or in someone's cranky, possibly unreliable memories)
Rossini's legendary Coronation opera, the last Italian opera he inked (although we hear a revival in Le comte Ory -- one of the four, subsequent French-language operas Rossini stamped before he died), was originally commissioned to celebrate the 1825 coronation of King Charles X in Reims.
Viaggio a Reims is a demanding work, requiring 14 soloists (three sopranos, one contralto, two tenors, four baritones, and four basses culminating in a "Gran Pezzo Concertato" for 14 voices), and to stage coherence amid so many voices and Rossini's sometimes insensitive, comical undertones is a daunting task. There's also the multifaceted chorus, and the entire army of Charles' coronation party. But director Luca Ronconi's direction was sparkling with just one intermission (coming almost 2 hours into the production), and the 3+ hour opera seemed to last only a fraction of the running time.
Ronconi's legendary directorial premiere of Viaggio a Reims was in Pesaro for the 1984 Rossini Opera Festival, which was the first time it was heard with the rediscovered cuts & reconstruction, meticulously prepared by musicologist Janel Johnson & professor/musicologist Philip Gossett in the 1970s. The same production has been resurrected a handful of times: In 1985 at La Scala (again with Claudio Abbado); in the early 1990s at Pesaro & Ferrara for Rossini's bicentennial; and in 1999 for the Rossini Opera Festival (this one boasting Daniele Gatti leading our lamby prince, Juan Diego Florez ). Director John Cox tried for Covent Garden in the 90s, as did James Robinson for the New York City Opera, but none could adequately compete with Ronconi's perpetual exposition...not even Dario Fo's excellent (but politicized & liberally adapted) version for the Finnish National Opera in 2003.
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Among the very many cool things related to our spending the Summer back home in the US -- family & friends, Starbucks, Montauk, 24 hr. everything -- there's a big minus: Opera Chic will not be able to attend the insanely awesomeness of the Rossini Opera Festival, that begins tomorrow night in Pesaro (the program).
Among the gems, two new productions -- "Ermione" (conducted by Roberto Abbado and directed by Daniele Abbado) and "Maometto II" -- and then "L'Equivoco stravagante", a recital by el mejor tenor ligero de la historia, Juan Diego Florez, then Carmela Remigio, Lawrence Brownlee and Opera Chic's dear Ciofolina, aka Patrizia Ciofi; "Il viaggio a Reims" with the cool kids from Accademia Rossiniana.
With a only a tiny fraction of Salzburg's budget, and its PR pull.
We're very happy that La Ciofolina, our dear Patrizia Ciofi, before tackling Gilda in Berlin at the Deutsche Oper (photo below), has found the time to appear tomorrow nite in a recital in Liège, where she will later this month sing Maria Stuarda.
And Rolandino fans should remember that on June 23 she'll appear in a double-bill concert in Paris with el senor Villazon.
Via gtl torn t, the 2008-2009 season of Teatro Real (.pdf file): it's a rich, juicy temporada, with big stuff such as Juan Diego Florez's sparkling Duke in Roberto Abbado's Rigoletto (OC might be there, we'll see; esp since in the cast there are also our beloved Ciofolina, aka Patrizia Ciofi, and maestro Leo Nucci); flashy stuff such as a Alvarez-heavy Un ballo in maschera with Marcelo Álvarez, Violeta Urmana, Carlos Álvarez and Elena Zaremba; La Damnation de Faust with Olga Borodina, Piotr Beczala, Ildar Abdrazakov and Simón Orfila. But also little gems such as Haendel's Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno and Janacek's always awesome Katya Kabanova. Rolando Villazon will appear in a night of arias & zarzuela with Placido Domingo.
Teatro La Fenice in Venezia (Venice) is bragging that the kick-off of their 2007 season is going to be something quite spectacular, but they indeed have reason. La Prima, staged for Sunday, January 14, has been selected as Giacomo Meyerbeer's Il Crociato in Egitto (The Crusader in Egypt), which hasn't been brought to the stage in modern times since its initial la prima on March 7, 1824, and was last seen performed in Venice eleven years later in 1835. It was initially met with great success, and proved to be the paradigm of many revivals through the 1860s, including a popular 1825 production at Théâtre des Italiens in Paris, where Gioacchino Rossini was managing at the time.
Interestingly enough, the role of Armando d’Orville was written originally for the famous castrato, Giovanni Battista Velluti, which poses an inventive interpretation in the modern world:
"In this production, the role of Armando d’Orville, the crusader, written in Venice for the castrato Giovanni Battista Velluti, but ever since its Parisian revival in 1825 (when it was sung by Giuditta Pasta) usually given to a female voice dressed as a man, will be performed by the countertenors Michael Maniaci and Florin Cezar Ouatu."
Patrizia Ciofi will be singing the role of Palmide, and it will be conducted by Emmanuel Villaume.