{"id":55487,"date":"2013-07-12T22:12:22","date_gmt":"2013-07-12T20:12:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gbopera.it\/?p=55487"},"modified":"2017-02-09T14:55:14","modified_gmt":"2017-02-09T13:55:14","slug":"placido-domingo-nabucco-at-the-arena-of-verona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/placido-domingo-nabucco-at-the-arena-of-verona\/","title":{"rendered":"Placido Domingo: Nabucco at the Arena of Verona"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"line-height: 12.75pt; text-align: justify;\"><em><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; color: black;\">Verona,<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>Arena di Verona<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>Opera<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>Festival, Centenary Season 2013.<\/span><\/em><em><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; color: black;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/em><strong><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; color: black;\">\u201cNABUCCO\u201d<\/span><\/strong><strong><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; color: black;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/strong><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; color: black;\">Opera in four acts, libretto by Temistocle Solera<br \/>\nComposer<strong><span style=\"font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;\"> Giuseppe Verdi<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;\">Nabucco <\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;\">PLACIDO DOMINGO<\/span><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;\">Abigaille <\/span><\/em><span class=\"apple-converted-space\"><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/span>TATIANA MELNYCHENKO<br \/>\n<em><span style=\"font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;\">Zaccharia <\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;\">VITALIJ KOWALJOW<\/span><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;\">Ismaele <\/span><\/em><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0LORENZO DECARO<\/span><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;\">Fenena<\/span><\/em><span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0SANJA ANASTASIA<\/span><br \/>\n<em><span style=\"font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;\">High Priest of Baal<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;\">FRANCESCO PALMIERI <\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<em><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; color: black;\">Abdallo<\/span><\/em><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; color: black;\"> CARLO BOSI <\/span><br \/>\n<em><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; color: black;\">Anna <\/span><\/em><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; color: black;\"><span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; color: black;\">MARIA LETIZIA GROSSELLI<\/span><span lang=\"EN-GB\" style=\"font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia; color: black;\"><br \/>\nOrchestra and Chorus of the Arena di Verona<br \/>\nConductor<span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;\">Julian Kovatchev<\/span><\/strong><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong>Chorus master<span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;\">Armando Tasso<\/span><\/strong><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong>Director<span class=\"apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><strong><span style=\"font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;\">Gianfranco De Bosio<\/span><\/strong><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong>Set design <strong style=\"mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;\">Rinaldo Olivieri<span style=\"mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/strong><em><span style=\"font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;\">Verona,<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>4<sup>th<\/sup> July<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>2013.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/em><br \/>\nThat the fourth performance of<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>Nabucco in this season&#8217;s Arena festival was a special evening, was apparent by the unaccustomed capacity audience(even opening night wasn&#8217;t a full house), a palpable air of expectancy and an elegantly attired stalls.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>Only a sensational event like this year&#8217;s opening with a La Fura dels Baus production or a performance of Domingo(as singer) can assure a sold out<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>Arena. And 4<sup>th<\/sup> July was the first of only two performances this summer of Domingo, in his transformation from tenor to baritone, in the role of Nabucco, a role well run in after performances in London at Covent Garden, St. Petersburg at the Mariinsky 2, and Beijing at the NCPA.(reviewed in this magazine).<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>The audience followed the performance with hushed attention, quite unusual for the customary festive exuberance of<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>the Arena audience, in particular at<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>Domingo galas. Domingo repaid them generously, giving unsparingly of his vocal and theatrical resources.<br \/>\n<strong>\u00a0As seen at hi s performance in Beijing,\u00a0 Domingo brings all his available resources to the role: a role which seems to define the natural progression of\u00a0 all aspects of his maturity, vocal, musical and human.<\/strong><span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>If the depth and colour of the baritone voice<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>was found lacking, he skilfully<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>compensated by adding weight and intensity to every single note and word,<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>to give dramatic<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>edge and significance, without resorting to senseless effects.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>He charged the baritone range with the<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>natural ringing,<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>burnished<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>quality of<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>his voice.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>He tastefully refrained, as he had in Beijing, from forcing or enlarging the voice,<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>even though the immensity of the Arena must have been a temptation to do so.Instead, he extracted the maximum pathos from the music and words, and his commanding physique and stage presence definitely contributed to creating the aura of majesty and power of his character.The prayer,<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>Dio di Giuda was interpreted with heart-rendering intensity.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>The whole of Domingo&#8217;s performance proved well calibrated and intelligently administered.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><strong>Tatiana Melnychenko<\/strong>&#8216;s Abigaille has grown in both vocal firmness and stage-craft<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>since opening night.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>She displayed technical security,<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>a smooth vocal extension and control, and a sustained and expressive lyric line.<strong> Vitalj Kowaljow<\/strong> gave a beautifully expressive performance as Zaccaria,<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>infusing each word with significance.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>The voice, well-focused and endowed with a vibrant timbre was homogeneous throughout the range.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>Only the very lowest notes resulted a little light.<strong> Lorenzo Decaro<\/strong>, was a solid Ismaele, although the role would gain from a greater variety of colour.<strong> Sanja Anastasia<\/strong> was a convincing Fenena, but the unnecessarily darkened voice laboured under an obtrusive vibrato.<strong> Carlo Bosi<\/strong> was a competent and effective Abdallo.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>The other parts were the same as the premiere.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>The orchestra, conducted by <strong>Julian Kovatchev<\/strong>, was not at its most attentive.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>The Va pensiero theme in the Sinfonia was excruciatingly out of tune, out of time and lacking in agreement on the dotted values from the wind soloists. The orchestra slipped and slid through the first finale (taken at break-neck speed, perhaps to balance out the accommodating tempos conceded to Domingo), and at various times throughout the performance,<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>chorus and orchestra were<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>out of sync. The most musically satisfying moment of the opera came from the cannon quartet and ensemble in the second act<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">\u00a0 <\/span>finale, where individual colours, dynamics and musical intention were, in turn, highlighted and amalgamated, by both soloists and orchestra alike. <em>Photo Ennevi for Arena of Verona<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"line-height: 12.75pt;\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"line-height: 12.75pt;\"><span lang=\"EN-GB\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Verona,\u00a0 Arena di Verona\u00a0 Opera\u00a0 Festival, Centenary Season 2013. \u201cNABUCCO\u201d Opera in four acts, libretto by Temistocle Solera [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[155,9354,2352,153,1099,9052,105,145,268,7971,9465],"class_list":["post-55487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-senza-categoria","tag-arena-di-verona","tag-foreign-readers","tag-gianfranco-de-bosio","tag-giuseppe-verdi","tag-julian-kovatchev","tag-lorenzo-decaro-it","tag-nabucco","tag-opera-lirica","tag-placido-domingo","tag-sanja-anastasia","tag-tatiana-melnychenko-it"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/105"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55487"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86959,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55487\/revisions\/86959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}