Bellini Norma - Teatro La Fenice - Review
Bellini – Norma
Pollione – Stefano La Colla
Oroveso – Michele Pertusi
Norma – Angela Meade
Adalgisa – Paola Gardina
Clotilde – Stefania Ferrari
Flavio – Didier Peri
Coro del Teatro Municipale di Piacenza, Orchestra Filarmonica Italiana / Sesto Quatrini.
Stage director – Nicola Berloffa.
Teatro Municipale di Piacenza, Piacenza, Italy. Sunday, October 24th, 2021.
Today marked my first e'er visit to the Teatro Municipale in Piacenza – and what a handsome venue it is. Opened in 1804, it seats just nether 1200. The house is exceptionally cute, and from my seat towards the front, sounds quite wonderful too. The welcome is warm and cordial and it's indeed a near agreeable place to see a show. Of course, the house closely followed the electric current sanitary regulations in place in the Italian Republic. Temperatures were taken before entry, vaccination certificates were checked alongside tickets, and masks were required throughout. All of this gave a sense of security that made the feel even more pleasant.
The staging was the work of Nicola Berloffa. A co-production with the theatres of Parma and Modena, he sets the action in the nineteenth century. The Gauls appear to exist inhabitants of a military hospital, a number of whom walk around in crutches. Norma appears to be their leader, responsible for encouraging her people and protected past a trio of ladies. In a note in the program book, Berloffa posits that the way that Norma falls from grace in the eyes of her people, and the subsequent turning of the mob against her, represents a very modern and contemporary situation. It makes for an interesting starting point for a staging. Certainly, the updating looks practiced and allows the narrative to menstruation in an unobtrusive way – if perhaps not abounding in new insights. There was a off-white chip of standing and delivering, only at least characters did accost each other when singing to each other. The chorus was used relatively statically, although conveying crutches it's probably hard to appoint in any more agile move.
Angela Meade is an experienced Norma, having sung the function in New York, Los Angeles, Madrid and Naples. The voice is a practiced size, although it isn't the almost refulgent of timbres. She had clearly worked hard on the text to make the words articulate, even though her Italian is somewhat anglophone in flavour. She sang her 'casta diva' with rapt introspection and grew in stature as the evening progressed. There are elements of a skillful technique there. Her power to traverse the passaggio is impressive, and she is able to float some impressive pianissimi at the top of the vocalism. The vocalism itself is grounded in a big, juicy chestiness, but it does tend to thin out higher upwardly. The more florid writing too has a tendency to exist a bit bumpy. Her Norma is a creditable stab at the role. She'south clearly spent a considerable amount of fourth dimension studying it, but I left with the impression of someone who didn't quite communicate the total range of emotions of the part, her singing and phase presence feeling rather anonymous. At that place is much practiced at that place, even so.
Stefano La Colla sang Pollione with a practiced-sized tenor that carried well into the house. Naturally, his diction was impeccable, and he brought out much in the text. He wasn't only nearly producing volume, yet. His 'vieni in Roma' was sung with honeyed, seductive warmth. While the compactness of his vocalism was impressive, he did have a tendency to dive upwards to the higher notes in a way that started to distract from the excellence of his vocalism. I longed for him to simply assail a notation direct on. That said, his Pollione was certainly impressively sung. Adalgisa was sung by Paola Gardina, a new name to me, only a singer who has had a number high profile engagements. The owner of a brilliant, sunny mezzo, she sang with an implicit understanding of line that gave much pleasance. She sang her opening number with a warm legato and elegant phrasing. Adalgisa is a function that lies high for many mezzos. Gardina was unafraid to give united states a full and bright loftier C and she integrated her physical arroyo to her technique into her acting. That said, as the evening progressed, pitch did start to have a trend to sag. Gardina is an interesting vocalist, and I would be pleased to reencounter her.
Michele Pertusi offered a tower of strength as Oroveso. The voice has lost a petty of its lustre over the years, the tone now a piddling greyer than earlier. That said, Pertusi is even so a almost imposing stage presence. The firm chorus was enthusiastic, singing with wonderfully uninhibited carelessness and decent ensemble. The tenors shone nicely out of the texture in there 'Norma vieni'.
The revelation of this functioning was Sesto Quatrini'due south conducting. I was unfamiliar with him prior to today, but he gave notice of a very fine bel canto sensibility. Tempi were wonderfully swift, springy and founded on a strong rhythmic framework. He had clearly imparted a beauty of line to the orchestra, who played with loving care. The stage band besides demonstrated some impressive precision at some very swift tempi. Occasionally some of the string intonation was a fleck raw, however this was passing. Quatrini is undoubtedly a proper noun to watch in this repertoire.
This was a fitting introduction to this beautiful theatre. The staging allowed the narrative to flow with logical ease, and the quality of the solo singing was indeed respectable. Nosotros were also introduced to a very exciting conductor. The evening was awarded with an extremely generous ovation past the Piacenza public, particularly for Meade.
Source: https://operatraveller.com/2021/10/25/the-fall-norma-at-the-teatro-municipale-piacenza/
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