The cast of Matilde Di Shabran
Well Bear managed to get one of those hot, hot tickets for Covent Garden's production of Matilde di Shabran with the hottest of tenors today Juan Diego Flórez.
This production has been getting rave reviews but I just don't get it. I do not know Rossini operas at all.... but are they all pantomimes! I know, I know it is a comedy but the comedy is in thick, thick crayon. Don't get me wrong there are some great moments in the opera; some beautiful arias, duets and choruses but it was not for me. It appeared as if everyone of the performers was hamming it up.... excluding Vesselina Kasarova playing Edoardo ... she appeared in the more serious parts of the opera and there really was not anything to 'ham up'. Sure it provided lots of entertainment and was funny (in a preposterous way I thought) but panto!
And that overture - eurgh! I thought when was this ridiculous piece of music going to end. It was like a day out to your local bandstand with some strings thrown in. I heard mutterings about the overture during the interval and was glad that others thought that this should have been cut. It almost made me think twice about getting tickets for the Barber of Seville in the summer season....
Thankfully the rest of the opera did not reach quite that low again.
Essentially this is the story of a blood-thirsty lord, Corradino, violent and vengeful who is changed into a love-sick and forgiving man by the feminine wiles of Matilde. Throw in a sub-plot of the imprisoned Edoardo who escapes his chains and a scheming Contessa determined to undermine Matilde and win the love of Corradino and you get this inconsequential but fairly entertaining opera.
Marco Vinco as Aliprando the doctor gave a solid performance. Alfonso Antoniozzi's Isidoro, the wandering poet/minstrel, was marvellously comic and what was a loss vocally was more than made up for by the witty and charming acting particularly at the start of Act 2 where he fabricates a story of how he alone won the battle... gradually building up the amount of foe he had killed in much the same way as a Shakespearean Falstaff. Of course we had all come here for J-Flo (Juan Diego Florez's nickname, courtesy of OperaNow podcast), playing Corradino.... personally I disliked his performance... too much flopping around being enraged or lovesick or grief-stricken or smitten... the emotions were just writ large. (Maybe I am being harsh as this is Rossini - this is a comedy). Saying that I was impressed by the aria towards the end which was achingly beautiful.
Vesselina Kasarova's Edoardo brought the only serious twist to the story but these moments only served as being strangely dark interludes between the pantomime. I felt she was holding back a little on the first aria but this soon changed in Act 2 with a keening aria after he escapes... in fact it was the only time I was touched by anything in this opera. But this was sadly marred by an odd trombone solo in the middle. Ugly, ugly, ugly. It is an odd role in this opera and this role seemed strangely detached from the rest of the piece. I imagine it is there to contradict the almost slap-stick of the rest of the opera but for me it did not work and I got the impression that maybe even Kasarova thought so as well.
Alfonso Antoniozzi, Aleksandra Kursak, Juan Diego Florez, Vesselina Kasarova,Marco Vinco
The night I think went to Aleksandra Kurzak's Mathilde with a great portrayal of a woman determined to woo Corradino through her womanly wiles. I would have preferred a more Les Liaisons Dangereuses style but it was well played. Whilst Kurzak started off a little shrill she definitely settled down and indeed surpassed J-Flo's performance. Starry.... When Matilde returns from the dead to sing 'Do you love at last?' we are given the performance of the night. Singing 'the proud trumpet falls silent' her voice truly sounds like a trilling trumpet. If you had come to here the mercurial Juan Diego Florez you would have been sure to have left with the sweet tones of Kurzak ringing in your ears.
Aleksandra Kursak
Juan Diego Florez
Juan Diego Florez, Vesselina Kasarova,Marco Vinco, Enkelejda Shkosa
Here is a little taster of Vesselina Kasarova performance.
Matilde de Shabran at Covent Garden - 31st Oct 2008
Aliprando Marco Vinco
Isidoro Alfonso Antoniozzi
Corradino Juan Diego Florez
Edoardo Vesselina Kasarova
Matilde di Shabran Aleksandra Kursak
Contessa d'Arco Enkelejda Shkosa
Conductor Carlo Rizzi
Director Mario Martone
Note: Having acquired the ticket in the Amphitheatre whilst waiting in the returns queue.... definitely lots of horse-trading going on.... I thought I was getting a great seat. Sure the sound and the view of the stage was magnificent but ROH do pack you in. I was uncomfortable throughout.... so if you do get tickets for the Amphitheatre go with some close friends so you can 'huggle' up together. Oh and a word of advice from some fellow opera-goers.... be prepared for bad sound quality in the Amphitheatre if you are beyond the arch way... which is probably the 6th to 8th row back. The archway deadens the sound apparently.... maybe something else ROH should look at to improve the place along with getting rid of those irritating pub lighting sconces.
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