In this staging full of comic effects, jokes and gags, the Austrian mezzo-soprano Patricia Nolz stands out from a very homogeneous scenic set:
Unveiled in 2008 at the Teatro Comunale in Bern, then revived a Oviedo it’s at Tel-Avivthe staging of Mariame Clemente from Barber shop from Rossini (here taken from Jean-Michel Criqui) continues to amuse and delight the crowds. This choice ofNational Opera of Lorraine as an end-of-year show it is quite relevant in this sense, judging by the applause of the audience at the time of farewells.
Obviously, the director chooses to underline the food component of the masterpiece by Rossini, presented here as a series of gags, jokes and comic effects intended to entertain the public. The action takes place in an intelligent environment (of Julia Hansen), consisting of a huge cube that should represent all the levels of Bartolo’s house. Placed on a record player, this imposing structure, to say the least, gives access to the public and private spaces of the “doctor’s” house, the little room of little Rosine, lying on her bed and intent on shaving her legs or listening to pop music on her walkman, to the waiting room managed by the assistant Berta where Bartolo’s clients await, transformed for the moment into a dentist of the 50s and 60s.
The aesthetics that mark the surroundings of this almost prison-like cube could recall that of neo-realist Italy in the 1950s with its procession of individuals in need of points of reference, vagabonds, without documents and without shelter, over whom Figaro seems to reign supreme. master. Likewise, the decoration of Bartolo’s house could evoke the yéyé years, which allows us to recontextualize the insubordination of a Rosine in search of emancipation and freedom. However, the machine struggles to start, with some gags of questionable taste: Figaro recognizes Almaviva when the two men vent side by side against the wall, his love for gold ”that metal” manifests itself when pulling out the cans, while using the two bins in which the two protagonists are hiding could quickly become tiresome. It is useless to look for a possible parallel with the existentialist questions of the Game over from Beckett, obviously this is not the spirit of a show whose sense of parody remains very “primary”, as demonstrated, for example, by the appearance of a Basilio resembling Elvis Presley or the subsequent disguises of Almaviva: a sort of armed Che Guevara in the first act, an Americanized Italian rocker in the second. It is on a sort of synthesizer that Alonso accompanies the somewhat old-fashioned aria appreciated by Bartolo in the second act.
The public gets involved in this frank, direct and uninhibited theatre, to let itself be carried away by a wave of ideas and discoveries served by a true sense of staging, by a direction of actors drawn from the line and above all from the deliberate and presumed choice of caricature and derision.
Musically and vocally, happiness is different, above all for the mellow and confused diction of different interpreters, especially among the three protagonists with deep voices. Endowed with an abundance of dark and cavernous bass, which would no doubt be ideal for large Verdi works, Darius Russo he doesn’t have the vocal ductility necessary for a role like that of Basilio and his “Calumny”. Quite the opposite of Bruno Taddia, laughing at the difficulties of the syllabic song that belongs to Bartolo, but whose timbre relatively poor in harmonics serves his character. Hardly understood due to its entrance aria, Gurgen Baveyan en Figaro continues to improve during the evening, and the audience ends up being conquered by his rich and biting baritone, with easy high notes and undeniable scenic slaughter. Vocalization seems to come naturally to him, and the young Armenian has all the credentials to be an accomplished bel canto player in the years to come. This is already the case today for the tenor by Nico Darmann, even if the instrument is slow to start here (high treble, insufficient volume, inopportune vibrations for the two pieces at the beginning of the first act). During the evening, the young Maltese reveals a true Rossini voice, expert in all the vocal and stylistic difficulties of a role like that of Almaviva. Too bad the production had no intention of granting him the dreaded ” Stop resisting anymore which would have given him, at the end of the course, the opportunity to show his potential.
Among all the protagonists, the beautiful Rosina embodied by the Austrian mezzo-soprano Patrizia Nolz gives and receives maximum satisfaction from the audience throughout the evening. Her voice is long, homogeneous and ideally timbred, the high notes are brilliant and the vocal technique is perfectly ensured (a name to remember and add to your Favorites at the top of your Ôlyrix page follow his journey).
In this show where the collective prevails over the individual and where everyone is fully involved in the scenic dimension of their role, the compressions splendor. The presence of the warm and brassy middle of Marion Lebeguefor the very brief role of Berta, is therefore a luxury, and the public also appreciates the quality of the warm and vibrant baritone of Henry Neill in Fiorello (and the same goes for Ambrogio here too Camera Installer and Plumber by Romain Guyot and Il Notaio by Benoît Andrieux). Bass Yong Kim, emerging from the excellence of Chorus of the National Opera of Lorraine (particularly willing and convinced), also makes a strong impression for the few words sung by the Officer at the end of the first act.
The conductor Sebastian Rolli he conducts with rare meticulousness a score that seems to fit him perfectly. Chiseled with cleanliness and precision, the Opera’s opening sets the tone for a rehearsed, entertaining and coherent show, completely in tune with the spirit of levity inseparable from our end-of-year celebrations.
