De Rolando Villazón como Don Carlo hemos hablado muy poco o nada en este blog. Hoy pongo el primero de dos post consecutivos sobre ello: éste es una colaboración que nos ha enviado Liz, sobre el DVD Don Carlo (Amsterdam 2004) y el próximo post, sobre el Don Carlo de la ROH, en 2008.
Don Carlo (Italian 4-act). Amsterdam Opera 2004.
Produción: Willy
Decker
Rolando Villazón (Carlo)
Robert Lloyd (Filippo)
Amanda
Roocroft (Elisabetta)
Violeta Urmana (Eboli)
Dwayne Croft (Posa)
Jaakko Ryhänen (Inquisitor)
Director: Riccardo Chailly
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Chorus Nederlandse Opera
DON CARLO AMSTERDAM 2004
My first impression was of the look
of the production. It is just so drab! The scenery (such as it is) and
all of the costumes are grey. The three principals, Carlo, Filippe and
Elisabetta are dressed in a paler grey than the other characters (to
emphasise that they are the Royal Family?). Apart from the red (blood
red?) of the Grand Inquisitor’s outfit the look is of unrelieved grey.
The set is narrow, high and very confining and does convey well the
rigidity claustrophobia of the Spanish Court. (I may be shallow but
as a fan of the Zefferelli approach to opera sets I did long for some
colour and spectacle!).
As for the performances I thought the
standard varied. Leaving aside the debate as to whether he was wise
to sing such a role, Rolando Villazon is hugely impressive in the title
role. I believe he sings it with great insight and delicacy - ok so
I’m biased! His phrasing is perfect. His first aria is critical to
our understanding of the opera as the original first act set in Fontainebleau
is omitted in this version. It is an immense challenge to launch into
such a difficult piece of music without any opportunity to warm up the
voice and Rolando handled it superbly. The duet with Rodrigo (also very
well played by Dwayne Croft) which follows is just incredibly beautiful.
On the down side I was not so keen on Rolando’s acting of this character.
He was just too twitchy for my liking, looking at times as though he
was auditioning for Hamlet! I can only suppose he had been given some
heavy handed direction as he is generally much more subtle.
Although Carlo is the title role, in
many ways Filippo is the central character. A nice piece of mime with
Carlo at the beginning establishes him as the “father from hell”.
Robert Lloyd is very convincing in the role having great stage presence
and he evokes a range of emotions from fear to pity (his aria lamenting
his wife’s lack of love for him is very poignant). His scene with
the Grand Inquisitor is very powerful and sets out the conflict between
Filippo’s position both as a father and as a ruthless king determined
to hold onto power. It also explores the ideological debate, Church
versus State. This is the first Italian opera I have seen which explores
ideas as well as emotions.
As for the female characters I thought
Eboli played by Violeta Urmana was excellent, she has a great voice
and presence – though I did think that Don Carlo badly needed a pair
of spectacles if he mistook her for Elisabetta!
I was not as keen on the performance
of Amanda Croft as Elisabetta. I found her voice very shrill when she
stretched for high notes. She was also burdened not only her drab costume
but also by horrible make up. We can see from the “behind the scenes”
part of the DVD that she is in fact pretty but her makeup makes her
look 10 years older and ugly!
As far as I am concerned there is one
outright star of this opera – VERDI! I was completely
overwhelmed by the magnificence of the music and the masterly control
of such an immense subject. So much so that I have now ordered a copy
of the French version (with Alagna?) and bought tickets for the Covent
Garden production in September (with Jonas Kaufman). In the meantime
I will be watching this version again for the glorious music and of
course Rolando!!!
Thanks, Liz !
del Bonus DVD
Io l'ho perduta
Duet final
