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Visions of Human Suffering
Lyric Verdi, and a great
success,
but in some ways a 'Don Carlo' of losers
at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino,
impresses GIUSEPPE PENNISI
In spite of continuing financial
difficulties (as well as a comparatively low occupancy rate), the 2017 Maggio Musicale Fiorentino shows signs of improvement. It is one of the
oldest and most prestigious in Italy: this
is the eightieth festival. Its original
mission was to rediscover forgotten masterpieces or to provide innovative
productions of repertory operas, but
over the course of the last thirty years, this mission appears to have
been partly forgotten. Also, in nearby towns, circuits of other opera theatres have
joined forces to provide higher quality
productions at lower prices. Thus, also the audience
appears to be wanting.
It seemed that Florence's
Maggio Musicale was about to be shut down (see Troubles in Florence, 7 May 2013). The Government
intervened for the Maggio Musicale (and other major houses in
difficulties) with interest free loans based on adjustment plans. It is
quite uncertain that the financial objectives of these plans will be
reached. Meanwhile a new chief executive officer has been appointed.
Cristiano Chiarot comes from Venice,
where he has made La Fenice a
well functioning operation running two theatres in parallel — La Fenice
itself and the Malibran Theatre. So there are high hopes.
This year the Maggio
Musicale (24 April-26 June 2017) features a large variety of concerts, but
only three operas, of which only Stravinsky's L'Histoire
du Soldat is a new production
offered in the small Teatro Goldoni. The
other two are Mozart's Idomeneo and Verdi's Don Carlo, I
selected the latter because the former originated from Vienna where
it was premiered some thirteen years ago and it has been seen on television
several times.
Roberto Aronica in the title role of Verdi's 'Don Carlo' at the Maggio
Musicale Fiorentino. Photo © 2017 Michele Borzoni, Terraproject. Click
on the image for higher resolution
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This Don Carlo
production is not a new original effort by the Maggio Musicale. It is a
joint undertaking by several theatres (Bilbao, Oviedo, Seville,
Tenerife). Giancarlo del Monaco is the stage director, the
stage sets are
by Carlo Centolavigna, and the costumes by
Jesús Ruiz. The staging is quite traditional (as
this is liked in the Iberian Peninsula, and not only there). Even though
it appears to be monumental, it can be easily moved from stage to stage,
and used in theatres of different
dimensions. The 1884 four act Milan/La Scala version was
performed. I saw the 11 May 2017 performance, in
Florence's oversized new Opera Theatre.
Julianna Di Giacomo as Elisabetta and Roberto Aronica in the title role
of Verdi's 'Don Carlo' at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Photo © 2017
Michele Borzoni, Terraproject. Click on the image for higher resolution
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Nonetheless, there was
considerable innovation in the musical part. Now in his eighties, Zubin Mehta does
not emphasize the monumental dimensions of the stage setting (as
he did previously with Don Carlo in Florence and elsewhere) or the
violence of the contrasts. Instead, as Carlo Maria Giulini did way back in 1958, he 'discovers' an
intimate Don Carlo in an atmosphere of
sobering lyricism where
the main point is not the historical
tableaux but the lowliness of each of the characters and
the difficulties of communicating with one another. Each is a different vision of human suffering ...
in some ways, a Don Carlo of losers.
The auto-da-fé scene in Verdi's 'Don Carlo' at the Maggio Musicale
Fiorentino. Photo © 2017 Michele
Borzoni, Terraproject. Click on the image for higher resolution
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Among the main protagonists,
Giovanna Casolla (called in at the last moment because Ekaterina Gubanova
was ill) excelled as the Princess of Eboli. At the age of seventy-two,
she is a great professional singer, able
to switch from dramatic soprano to mezzo, and
to merit open stage ovations, not just applause,
after her main two arias in
the first and third acts, 'La Canzone del Velo' and 'O don fatale'.
Giovanna Casolla. Click on the image for higher resolution
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Casolla's triumph
slightly obscured Julianna Di Giacomo (who received an open stage
applause in the fourth act, after 'Tu che le vanità'), the American
soprano who rendered a suffering and sweet Elisabetta in the style of Montserrat Caballé.
Julianna Di Giacomo as Elisabetta in Verdi's 'Don Carlo' at the Maggio
Musicale Fiorentino. Photo © 2017 Michele
Borzoni, Terraproject. Click on the image for higher resolution
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In the men's group, the
two basses — Dmitry Belosselskiy and Eric Halfvarson — are impressive in
the roles of Philip II and the Great Inquisitor.
Eric Halfvarson as The Great Inquisitor in Verdi's 'Don Carlo' at the
Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Photo © 2017 Michele Borzoni, Terraproject.
Click on the image for higher resolution
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The young
Massimo Cavalletti was a both generous and thoughtful
Marquis de Posa. Roberto Aronica mastered the title role well. A great success.
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