Madrid, November 27, 2025.
Cecilia Bartoli is one of the very few operatic divas who raises admiration similar to those of the past. Throughout her 38-year career, she has sold millions of discs, and is admired by music lovers around the world. In Europe, where she mainly spends her career due to her fear of flying, her performances arouse the delirium of her followers, some of whom spend fortunes to follow her in all her performances across the continent. During a performance of Giulio Cesare in Salzburg in 2012, at the end of each aria, a fan screamed, before the rest of the audience dared to applaud: "Great!" "Unique!" are some of the compliments that can be heard in this function immortalized on video, always from the same fan. Her virtuosity and vocal pyrotechnics, alongside her stage personality, drive all audiences crazy, with his devilish repertoire: baroque, Mozart, bel canto... the 18th century and the first third of the 19th century are his specialty. Thanks to her albums, the public has discovered musical gems that used to lay in unjust oblivion, and new approaches to classic scores. Celebrated are her renditions of the castrati repertoire, whose devilish tessitura she assumes without problems, dazzling the listener; as well as Mozart and Rossini. She has also dared to sing bel canto roles such as Norma and Amina from La Sonnambula, from a historicist point of view, trying to reconstruct as much as possible how these works sounded in their time, written for divas who had a vocal range as heterogeneous as hers. And in our country, all her concerts are sually sold out in a matter of days and even hours.
At 59 years old, the Italian mezzo-soprano still maintains a busy schedule both as a singer and as artistic director of the Monte Carlo Opera and the Salzburg Whitsun Festival. Precisely in this Austrian city in 2023 she presented a new production of Orfeo ed Eurydice, the famous opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck, in which she herself starred. He did it in a rare version of the many that this opera has: the one from 1769, called "Act of Orpheus", within the framework of a great gala called "The Festivities of Apollo" that took place that year on the occasion of the wedding of Ferdinand of Bourbon-Parma and Maria Amalia of Austria. This version reduces the three-act opera to seven scenes. The present musical edition shows with a sad ending in which the famous aria "Che Farò senza Euridice" is performed with faster tempi than normal in the first stanza, turning the beautiful aria into an initial moment of rage, and then performed with slow pace, showing Orfeo's collapse. In addition, it adds the ballets from the Paris version of 1774.
This modified version is the one that she is presenting in Spain in a semi-staged version, in her European tour: Madrid, Barcelona and Seville are the stops she makes in our country. Along with her, the same performers as the Salzburg version: the orchestra she founded.
Bartoli did not disappoint, despite the fact that her voice is matured after decades of career, and that this opera doesn't offer many numbers that would allow her to showcase the devilish coloratura she usually displays in her concerts. Her voice isn't particularly large, and the enormous Auditorio Nacional is certainly not the most suitable venue, but some things are still recognizable, such as her middle register, still well preserved. And what remains intact is her magnetism on stage. As an actress, her ease on stage is striking, moving from one side of the stalls to the other, or from the choir seats, as if reflecting her journey through the afterlife, as well as her moments of euphoria, joking with the musicians when Orfeo waits for the spirits to return Euridice to him. The third act was a moment of dramatic intensity, when the lovers argue because he cannot see her and she doesn't understand him. Bartoli successfully conveys Orfeo's despair, as well as the heart-rending cry in" Saziati, sorte rea! Son disperato!" before her famous aria.
The first great moment was the third scene, in which Orfeo is in Hades, singing a delightful rendition of "Deh, placatevi con me ," where, in the line "Vi renda almen pietose Il mio barbaro dolor," she offered a brief but splendid coloratura. Another spectacular moment was in the grand final scene, in the duet with Eurydice, "Vieni: appaga il tuo consorte", where she delivered a spectacular high note linked with coloratura, something truly amazing. The most anticipated moment was undoubtedly the famous aria "Che Farò senza Euridice", which in this version is performed first with verve, as a moment of anguish, and then sung at the usual measured pace, as the character breaks down. It was in the second half of the aria that Bartoli, displaying his beautiful and velvety piano singing, moved the audience deeply. As in this tragic version, Euridice dies, Orfeo ends his intervention looking for her in Hades (in the traditional version with a happy ending he tries to stab himself but Cupid stops him), with the words Aspetta! Aspetta!, and in the last of them, Bartoli left the stage while intoning a beautiful and prolonged pianissimo, thus evaporating her character in the underworld.
Alongside her, Mélissa Pétit was better in the role of Euridice, where she demonstrated a beautiful lyric voice with a lovely timbre and a touch of darkness, than in the role of Amore, which she performed well but not at the same level. Perhaps inspired by Bartoli, the chemistry between them in the third act was striking. As Euridice her acting is convincing, portraying a confused and fragile character, with her beautiful singing.
Bartoli probably knew what she was doing when he spearheaded the creation of his orchestra, Les Musiciens du Prince-Monaco, conducted by Gianluca Capuano. And indeed, it has surprised everyone with its powerful sound and Capuano's excellent conducting. The flute and bassoon soloists gave masterful performances of their solo passages in the exquisite Dance of the Spirits. The brass sounded terrifying and impactful in the scenes of Hades, and the strings were piercing, energetic, and spirited in the Dance of the Furies, as well as in the aria "Che farò senza Euridice." The ensemble was truly inspired. Equally remarkable was the choir Il Canto di Orfeo , sounding with the beauty characteristic of sacred music in the opening chorus and the tragic finale, as well as in the Heaven scene; and at the same time energetic in the Underworld scenes.
Even though it was a semi-staged version, the aim was to create the greatest possible sense of staging, such as Orpheus changing from a black to a white suit, Cupid's red dress and plush heart, or Eurydice's white dress. But what truly created a unique atmosphere was the powerful lighting. The auditorium was almost completely dark, save for minimal stage lighting, giving an unprecedented sense of intimacy and concentration on the drama seen in this venue. The organ was illuminated in red during the scenes in the infernal Hades, and in white during those in the heavenly Elysium. The chorus waved lights when portraying the Furies, and at the end, in addition to their excellent performance, they approached Eurydice's body and slowly placed candles around it.
The hall wasn't full, partly due to the high ticket prices (some were offered at a discount and through raffles in places like the newspaper El País), and possibly because the organizing company, IMPACTA, is still establishing itself, although it's already putting on top-notch concerts, like a beautiful Dido and Aeneas last year with Sonya Yoncheva. Even so, the occupancy was quite high. The entire audience rose to their feet, cheering and rewarding Bartoli with a standing ovation, demonstrating how admired she is in Madrid, as well as for the rest of the cast. Thanks to everyone involved, we enjoyed a moving and high-quality Orpheus at the Auditorium. Well done.
My reviews are not professional and express only my opinions. As a non English native speaker I apologise for any mistake.
Most of the photographs are from the internet and belong to its authors. My use of them is only cultural. If someone is uncomfortable with their use, just notify it to me.
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