Madrid, January 6, 2024.
The Teatro Real begins 2024 with two concerts, by two of the most famous divas of the moment: Lise Davidsen, and Sondra Radvanovsky, who sings to Madrid, after doing so in Barcelona and Chicago, her the three finales of the Donizetti's Tudor Trilogy, which is one of the most awaited events of the current operatic season. Radvanovsky is one of the most celebrated sopranos in Madrid. Last summer she sang at El Escorial, but we still remember her glorious series of Tosca performances that she gave in 2021 at the Teatro Real, alongside Carlos Álvarez and Jonas Kaufmann, and when she encored the Vissi d'arte in several performances, in a run now considered as historical. In this occasion, the American soprano joins the little club of historical divas who have sung in concert the three endings of the so-called Tudor Trilogy, three operas composed by Gaetano Donizetti.
The Trilogy is made up of the operas Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda and Roberto Devereux, three operas with three queens as protagonists: Anne Boleyn, Mary Stuart of Scotland and Elizabeth I of England. These three works require a virtuoso soprano capable of facing not only the difficult tessitura of each role, but also, through music, must transmit the tragic pathos of each of these protagonists, to whom , in line with the bel canto tradition, a great finale, extremely difficult to sing, is reserved for them.
Great sopranos such as Leyla Gencer, Montserrat Caballé, Beverly Sills, and in the more recent past Edita Gruberova and Mariella Devia, have left great renditions of these three roles in the opera lover's memory. In 2018, Mariella Devia sang the finales of Stuarda and Bolena at the Teatro Real, in addition to her also historic Roberto Devereux in 2015. Today, Sondra Radvanovsky is possibly the most distinguished performer of these three difficult operas, especially Roberto Devereux, in which she has been highly applauded. Along with her, and as in Barcelona and Chicago, Riccardo Frizza conducts the Teatro Real Orchestra, and a large cast accompanies her in each of the three scenes, and the emerging stage director Rafael R. Villalobos is in charge of the staging concept.
Radvanovsky is one of the most relevant sopranos of today. It is because of her powerful tone, her massive voice, and her amazing technique, with an incredible legato, its spectacular high notes, and her ability to alternate them with ethereal pianissimos. It is true that diction is not her strongest point, but her devoted singing and her magnetic stage presence compensate it well. The concert began with Anna Bolena, of whom she gave a very moving version of the aria "Al dolce Guidami", soulfully sung, with a pristine high voice and a commanding of coloratura that she displayed in the cabaletta "Coppia iniqua", where she surprised , although some high note wobbled. The best part was the following scene, the finale from Maria Stuarda, in which voice and technique were balanced. Already in the praying aria, "Deh! Tu di un'umile preghiera", she surprised with a high-pitched prolongadísimo, along with the choir, which could be heard despite not being projected in full voice. In the final cabaletta "Ah se un giorno", she surprised by singing forte the famous phrase il flagello di un dio punitor, when five years ago Devia sang it on piano, but equally exciting.
The final part of the concert was the finale of Roberto Devereux, an opera that she sang at the Metropolitan Opera in 2016, in which, she made his entrance walking with a stick, recreating Queen Elizabeth I of England in her old ag. The line Ahi, crude, arresta was breathtaking, shockingly sung before singing the beautiful aria "Vivi ingrato", which she sang wonderfully, and again displaying his accomplished technique in the line "La regina d'Inghilterra ho veduto lagrimar", in which she went from an amazing high to a heartbreaking low voice (in his case rather declaimed), to end it with a high note in her great legato, going from piano to forte. The final cabaletta, Quel Sangue Versato, one of the most inspired pages that ever came from Donizetti's pen, ended with a spectacular and prolonged final high note.
Maestro Riccardo Frizza has conducted the Teatro Real Orchestra in an excellent manner, making its instruments sound vigorously, and also adapting them to the agility of bel canto music, making it sound dramatic and majestic. The overtures to each of these three operas were excellent, the strings shone in Anna Bolena's, and the oboe in Al dolce guidami sounded splendid. In the Roberto Devereux's overture the interpretation was brilliant. The Teatro Real Chorus was at an excellent level, with excellent female voices in the first intervention in Anna Bolena, and also in Roberto Devereux. Regarding the other soloists, Fabián Lara stood out in Maria Stuarda, with a vigorous singing. Gemma Coma-Alabert also excelled in her scenes in Bolena and Devereux, as did Carlos Pachon in the latter.
The production by Rafael R. Villalobos has an interesting scenic concept. During the overtures, the name of each queen, Anna, Maria and Elisabetta, is projected, and then a close-up of Radvanovsky appears, with a different, mournful expression for each queen. Radvanovsky wears three different dresses, the same as in her other concerts: a red one for Boleyn, a green one for Stuarda, and a white one for Devereux. First the choir appears, then the queen appears, and enters the stage majestuously. The lighting is successful, and during the central moment of Stuarda's prayer, the famous sky projection by Jaume Plensa designed for this season, lights up in the central lamp, as well as the room slightly, at that peak moment.
The audience in total ecstasy, vibrated and applauded with each work and gave Radvanovsky a thunderous ovation, rewarding one of their most beloved divas. A night to remember.
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