Mundoclasico.com miércoles, 22 de abril de 2009

ESTADOS UNIDOS An opera tailored to the singers

CLAUDIO VELLUTINI

Mozart composed his first Viennese opera, The Abduction from the Seraglio, for a cast of outstanding singers. His primadonna was Caterina Cavalieri, a young and promising soprano who studied with Hofkapellmeister , and for whom the composer tailored the role of Konstanze. Mozart, who praised her “agile voice” in a letter to his father, wrote three tremendously difficult arias for her which require at the same time complete mastery of coloratura singing, wide vocal range, intense lyricism and remarkable vocal power to face the massive orchestration of Konstanze’s well-known aria 'Marten aller Arten'. Her partner on stage was the tenor Valentin Adamberger, one of Mozart’s closest friends in Vienna. He Wolfgang Mozart asiste a una was trained as a singer according to the precepts of the representación de El rapto en el serrallo (1789) © Autor desconocido / Creative Italian singing school, which enabled him to make a career Commons in Italy before being hired in Vienna. For his lyrical, Chicago, lunes, 16 de marzo de 2009. Lyric Opera. . somehow dark, yet flexible voice, Mozart wrote four of Die Entführung aus dem Serail. Chas the most beautiful arias he conceived for tenor. In the role Rader-Shieber, stage director. David Zinn, of the antagonist, Osmin, Mozart could rely upon the stage and costume designer. Christopher Akerlind, lighting designer. Erin Wall talent of one of the finest basses of his time, Ludwig (Konstanze), Matthew Polenzani Fischer, who, according to the composer, was a darling of (Belmonte), Aleksandra Kurzak (Blonde), Andrea Silvestrelli (Osmin), Steve Davislim the local audiences. As prima buffa, the original cast of (Pedrillo), David Steiger (Pasha Selim). the opera had Theresia Theyber, acclaimed by her Orchestra and Chorus of the Lyric Opera contemporaries for the liveliness of her acting, but who of Chicago. Donald Nally, chorus master. nonetheless must have had an outstanding vocal range to Sir Andrew Davis, conductor. be able to sing a role that included a repetead high E and a low A-flat. In order to enhance and accommodate the talents of his interpreters, Mozart requested many changes to the mediocre libretto that Gottlieb Stephanie had provided him. We can follow the whole process in Mozart’s letters to his father, whom he informed in great detail of his work in progress. But, in spite of the composer’s dramatic sense in balancing the need for fulfilment of the singers’ requests and the construction of the opera’s frame, the material he had to work with (that is Stephanie’s libretto) was nothing more than situational archetypes which he filled with flamboyant music. In the end, if the opera was not a dramaturgical masterwork, it was nevertheless a feast for the ears. Any attempt to stage the opera today has to grapple both with the virtuosistic demands of the music and with the inconsistency of the libretto. Even if not ideal, the new production by the Lyric Opera of Chicago assured many enjoyable visual moments and a highly professional music rendition of Mozart’s score. Facing the tremendous part of Konstanze, Erin Wall did not seem completely at ease, lacking sometimes that bold, charismatic control of the vocal writing that should portray the character’s self-confidence in confronting the Pasha Selim. Nonetheless, her singing was correct and her aristocratic figure contributed to define the role in a positive way. Matthew Polenzani (Belmonte) was the jewel in the crown of the production: his airy, sweet, always controlled voice was used so expressively that I cannot imagine any other tenor who, at the moment, could interpret the role in a better way. Andrea Silvestrelli also seemed particularly suitable for the role of Osmin, whose furious temper he portrayed with his huge stage presence and somehow rude voice. Blonde’s effervescence found in Aleksandra Kurzak an ideal interpreter, thanks to her tiny figure and sparkling, youthful singing. Steve Davislim’s Pedrillo was pleasing both to hear and to see. David Steiger played the spoken role of the Pasha Selim.

Sir Andrew Davis conducted the excellent orchestra of the Lyric Opera with the usual elegance and stylistic competence, although on this occasion he sometimes lost control of the coordination with the singers.

The staging by Chas Rader-Shieber read the plot of the opera as a progressive exploration of Pasha Selim’s interiority. Although unclearly, the story is rendered as a recalling of the old Pasha, who from time to time appears on stage next to his young counterpart (the latter taking part in the action). The gradual pentration into Selim’s memory is signaled by the stylistic diversity of the scenery by David Zinn, who was also responsible for the lush eighteen-century costumes.

In the first act, the Pasha’s palace was represented as a luxurious baroque building, which seemed to allude to the interior of a private theater of the time. The second act consisted of a movable stage representing a garden, with only a stylized tree as natural reference. Finally, the only scenic element of the third act was a door, whose various symbolic meanings were left to the interpretation of the spectator. It possibly represented the door of Selim’s memory, as the old Pasha is the only one who traverses the door at the end of the opera, physically entering into the space of the plot.

The director’s intention to provide the libretto with a deeper meaning was praiseworthy, but, as I mentioned, his choices often seemed quite obscure to me. What he managed to do effectively, though, was to move the actors on the stage. Indeed, the comic scenes expecially, as in the first-act finale or the duo between Osmin and Blonde, met with the approval of the spectators. But his difficulties in treating coherently the whole plot confirmed that Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio is an opera in which the music wins out over the drama. © 2009 Claudio Vellutini / Mundoclasico.com. Todos los derechos reservados