Genoa, Ivo Chiesa Theater & Carlo Felice Opera
“IL GIRO DI VITE” / “THE TURN OF THE SCREW”
From the story by Henry James, translation and adaptation by Carlo Sciaccaluga.
Governess LINDA GENNARI
Mrs. Grose GAIA APPREAS
Peter Quint ALEPH VIOLA
Mrs. Jessel VIRGINIA CAMPOLUCCI
Miles LUIGI BIGNONE
Flora LUDOVICA IANNETTI
Music Giua
New production of the National Theater of Genoa in collaboration with the Carlo Felice Theater Foundation of Genoa.
Opera in a Prologue and two acts with a libretto by Myfanwy Piper from Henry James.
Music by Benjamin Britten
Quint VALENTINO BUZZA
The Governess KAREN GARDEAZABAL
Miles OLIVER BARLOW
Flora LUCY BARLOW
Mrs.Grose POLLY LEECH
Miss Jessel MARIANNA MAP
Orchestra of the Carlo Felice Theater of Genoa
Director Riccardo Minasi
Regia Davide Livermore
Scene Manuel Zuriaga
Costumes Mariana Fracasso
Luci Nadia Garcia, Antonio Castro
New productions of the National Theater of Genoa and the Fondazione Teatro Carlo Felice of Genoa from the production of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia of Valencia.
Genoa 13 October 2024.
The gothic tale by Henry James, with the joint direction of Davide Livermore, managed, in an evening of Wagnerian duration, to accumulate, in the Ivo Chiesa Theatre, the inaugurations of the 2024 – 2025 season of the two most important cultural institutions in the city : the National Theater and the Carlo Felice. James’ original text navigates the indistinct, Sciaccaluga forces it into excessiveness naturalism. In the voice and expression of the Governess, who is the undoubted protagonist, except for not daring to name the bad things that happened to Bly, everything is real and tangible and explicit. The ghosts, in James, do not speak and show themselves only furtively, here, they too have a voice and increase the perception of a very concrete and factual story. We can all guess what the “impure acts” are that too obsess the two women of the house and leave them absolutely indifferent, but he is a man of the world, the young guardian, solitary in his house in London. The excellent actors were appreciated and applauded by the large audience at the Ivo Chiesa Theatre. The direction of Davide Livermore it is the key to the success of the performance and the unifying factor with Britten’s work even though it is so distant from the opening prose. The performance, in a single act of almost two hours, of Turn of the screwenjoyed the eccentric and excellent performance by the Maestro Riccardo Minasi. The opera begins, perhaps to please the protagonism of Peter Pears, leading actor and companion of the author, with an evanescent and useless Prologue, inserted later when the composition was now complete. Followed by hima key page, in which they are displayed, in
well-calibrated sequence, the twelve notes of the chromatic scale, which would lead to a twelve-tone composition with an inevitable expressionist atmosphere. But this does not happen: popular themes, children’s ditties, Purcell and Dowland, omnipresent in Britten, the nuanced timbres of oriental percussion and the otherworldly blades of the celesta of Antonella Poli, they lead us to an unprecedented symbolist, post-Debussy Britten. Even the voices are calibrated by Minasi along the path of the “faded ink”, mentioned in the prologue, which makes them float in an indistinct but understandable fluctuation of timbres that mix memory, nightmare, liveliness and anguish. We convince ourselves that Karen Gardeazabal the Governess, to match the orchestral climate and Minasi’s wishes, artfully makes her voice pale. We are also led to suspect excessive weakness of the instrument, when suddenly, in a formidably powerful finale, it surprises us with an unexpected strength. The two children Miles and Flora, respectively Oliver e Lucy Barlowplay like expert little actors and make their figures so real through childish tirades that Britten’s mastery alone makes them premonitory and 
credible. Polly Leech, Mrs. Grose, the elderly housekeeper, the only one with her feet on the ground, who knows that no weight should be given either to ancillary affairs between servants or to the “impure acts” of minors, sings and acts with a highly monitored naturalness that does not contrast the orchestra, kept by Minasi on the razor’s edge of the “fairy tale”. Marianna Map, Miss Jessel, is a pale presence, here, secluded, beautifully plays the part of frustrated and dissatisfied lover. Quint, the almost naked Valentino Buzza, singer with very effective recitatives, confirms and enhances the marginalization that his character suffers in this production. The enchanting melismas on the name “Miles”, perfectly executed, match beautifully with the woodwinds that underlie them. The facts are however absolutely secondary, like the singing characters; the atmosphere is predominant and is created by the changing timbres and the fantastic instrumental support provided by around twenty elements of the Carlo Felice Theater Orchestra. A more suitable scenography could not be found for the two plays than the claustrophobic gray one, obsessively invaded by chasing floral decorations, created by Manuel Zuriaga. The lights of Nadia Garcia e Antonio Castro they then generate disturbing shadows that take center stage. The costumes of Mariana
Failure they complete a visual part of absolute distinction. TO Davide Livermore, in addition to the excellent directorial level, we would like to recognize a coup de theater and an absolutely over the top humor: in the finale Miles shouts to Peter Quint, who at the creation of the work at the Fenice on 18 September 1954, was Peter Pears, “Peter Quint, you devil!” and then fell electrocuted to the ground. Here he does not die but we see him peacefully asleep under a duvet, in a bed hanging on the back wall: perhaps it was all a poetic outburst of repeated family squabbles, as witnessed by the many friends who frequented the Britten-Pears couple. The influx of public was notable, the Ivo Chiesa Theatre, with a capacity much smaller than the enormous Carlo Felice, was packed to capacity and showed no defections even in the pause between recitation and singing. Warm applause and unquestionable success for a daring and courageous opening of the season.
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