ROLANDO VILLAZÓN, PUMEZA MATSHIKIZA - OPERA GALA MOSCÚ 17/10/14

foto: Foris-Art.com

Warm and bright sunshine under the cold and dark sky of Moscow

Moscow people are fine connoisseurs in music and greatly passionate music lovers. To perform in this city, is certainly a special experience for the artists. The acoustics of the beautiful and architecturally very interesting Tchaikovsky Hall are excellent, one has the impression of sitting under a fantastic and rich rain of sounds. After 2006, Rolando returned to delight the audience.

This time, we had the Moscow Symphonic Orchestra. Its sound is magnificent, very round, providing deep warmth and great cleanness of tone. Under the baton of Maestro Voronkov, the 'solos' of the orchestra were also great moments, we had colourful music in Massenet's 'The King of Lahore', heartrending notes in Puccini's 'Manon Lescaut' and particularly effervescent moments in 'The Wedding of Luís Alonso'. Maestro Voronkov offered all sophisticated and refined details of these challenging pieces. Great precision in each note, warm sound of the violins, perfection with wind instruments.

Pumeza Matshikiza sang with sweetness the 'Elegy' of Massenet, and her voice was beautiful in 'Signore ascolta'. Her version of this aria is somehow different from the traditional or habitual one. In her Liu, I felt more authority, a more 'hard' woman as usual, and she finished this aria with a, for me, unusual solution. In the Ravel piece, Pumeza Matshikiza was brilliant. In the duets, she was a passionate partner of Rolando.

ROLANDO

He gives me chills every time I hear his voice. No matter what he sings, it always sounds like 'Fire'.

'El Cid' is one of the greatest arias of Rolando. In Moscow, from the very first notes, 'Ah, tout est bien fini', I felt in every moment a particular passion. Each note, each word was sung with a heartrending beauty.

In the duet of 'Les Pecheurs de perles' too, his voice offered the full scale of emotions: love, hope, despair, happiness... The magic of the voice was limitless when he sang: 'Ton coeur n'a pas compris le mien, au sein de la nuit parfumée...'. 

Each evening, in each performance, Rolando offers us a new and different world. But my vocabulary is not wide enough, to extensively describe all these new and fabulous experiences. It is far too limited to allow me to adequately write about his voice and to find new superlatives.

'Lamento di Federico' - each time, the greatest experience for me. Every note comes from his soul with the deepest passion.  In Moscow too, he stole the attention of the audience completely, and when he finished, the public cheered with a thunderous explosion of applause and a rain of flowers.   

In 'Caro elisir', the spectators were captivated by the powerful stage presence of Rolando who felt totally comfortable and free on stage, knowing that people are loving his performance.

For 'Una furtiva lágrima', 'Ya mis horas felices' and ''No puede ser', I have always the same (and very personal) feeling: I cannot imagine these musics with another voice. For me, the voice of Rolando is the unique one to sing them.

This time too, we had 4 encores. In 'Brindisi', during the orchestral part, Rolando jumped off the stage for dancing with a lady, then he jumped back to the stage for singing the rest of this beautiful duet. 

With his ardent, fervent, burning passion, his enthusiasm and his commitment to each piece, Rolando ignited the audience of the Tchaikovsky hall. Standing ovations, rain of bravos and flowers,  thunderous applause.

Another glorious evening in this series of concerts!

GRACIAS, ROLANDO!

Eleonore

- Muchas gracias e Eleonore por su crónica y fotos -

foto: Eleonore

foto: Eleonore

foto: Eleonore

foto: Eleonore

foto: Eleonore

foto: Eleonore

foto: @RubenBeltranG

foto: olga_goreglyad -  iconosquare.com

foto: natalylam- iconosquare.com 

foto: isilven - iconosquare.com

foto: fliyingcate -  iconosquare.com

Añado unas fotos de la recepción en la Casa de México en Moscú.

foto:  @RubenBeltranG 

foto:  @RubenBeltranG