patrikpen: Autumn Trilogy in M& V 23 Novermber

Autumn Trilogy

GIUSEPPE PENNISI writes about
three operas on the brink of the twentieth century,
performed as a cycle in Ravenna

As underlined several times here, Ravenna, like Salzburg in the Austrian Alps, is a festival town on the shore of the Adriatic sea. After a long Summer Festival in June and July, it features an 'Autumn Trilogy' — three operas on a theme with the same stage director, creative team and conductor as well as a young cast. In addition, there is a regular opera season, featuring eight productions this year, as well as a concert season. As Ravenna was the capital of the Roman Empire and of two different Kingdoms from 402 to 751, opera and concert goers can enjoy quite a bit of sightseeing. An important part of the audience is non-Regional, or coming from abroad.

The 'trilogy' is masterminded by Cristina Mazzavillani Muti, who also has a key role in the Summer Festival. This November, the title of the trilogy is On the Brink of the Twentieth Century. It includes three operas that had their debuts between 1890 and 1900 — Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni, I Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo and Tosca by Giacomo Puccini. The operas are presented in three cycles so that the audience can see and listen to all of them during a three day stay in Ravenna. I saw the trilogy on 17-19 November 2017.

A scene from Leoncavallo's 'Pagliacci' at the Ravenna Festival's 'Trilogia d'Autunno'. Photo © 2017 Zani Casadio

As the first two operas are relatively short, each of them is prefaced by a forty minute performance where children, aged eight to sixteen, show their understanding and views of the opera about to be shown. The operas have the same conductor, Vladimir Ovodok, and the same creative team — Cristina Mazzavillani Muti for stage direction, Vincent Longuemare for lighting, David Loom for visual design, David Broccoli for video programming and Alessandro Lai for costumes. In the pit is the Luigi Cherubini Orchestra, created and often conducted by Riccardo Muti. The chorus is provided by the Teatro Municipale di Piacenza, directed by Corrado Casati, and the children's chorus Ludus Vocalis is led by Elisabetta Agostini. This provides for artistic unity. Finally, the cycle represents travel from Sicily (Cavalleria) to Calabria (Pagliacci) and Rome (Tosca) during the last decade of the nineteenth century.

A scene from Mascagni's 'Cavalleria Rusticana' at the Ravenna Festival's 'Trilogia d'Autunno'. Photo © 2017 Zani Casadio

A sunny but primitive village near Catania is the set for Cavalleria. The strong light provides the atmosphere of a Greek tragedy; performances in Greece used to start in the early afternoon and end at sunset. The orchestra emphasizes the tints. Chiara Mogini excelled in the generally good cast. She dominated the difficult vocal role very well by ascending to high notes and descending to a low register without showing any difficulties.

Antoniella Carpenito as Lucia and Chiara Mogini as Santuzza in Mascagni's 'Cavalleria Rusticana' at the Ravenna Festival's 'Trilogia d'Autunno'. Photo © 2017 Zani Casadio. Click on the image for higher resolution

In Pagliacci too we are in a small village, but one somewhat better off than that in Cavalleria: the folks can afford entertainment by travelling theatre companies. Here the key colour is black. It is a black play of blood and guts where only Nedda and the village children wear white. Ovodok's conducting is brisk, accelerating the impending drama to its double homicide conclusion. In this good cast are noticeable voices such as Estibaliz Martyn, Kiril Manolov and Diego Cavazzin, who had to act and sing with an arm in a cast because of an incident.

Kiril Manolov as Tonio and Estibaliz Martyn as Nedda in Leoncavallo's 'Pagliacci' at the Ravenna Festival's 'Trilogia d'Autunno'. Photo © 2017 Zani Casadio

Cavazzin was still in the cast on the following day when, as Mario Cavaradossi in Tosca, the audience requested an encore after 'E lucevan le stelle'.

Diego Cavazzin as Cavaradossi in Puccini's 'Tosca' at the Ravenna Festival's 'Trilogia d'Autunno'. Photo © 2017 Zani Casadio

Dark colours dominate each of the three acts of Tosca. We are no longer in a poor Sicilian village, but in a slightly better off small Calabrese town. Sets and projections show the majestic baroque architecture of Rome, including St Peter's dome. At the end of the first act, the Te Deum scene fills St Andrew's Church with light. In the second act, there is an elegant use of singers' shadows on the Palazzo Farnese walls. In the third act, the night over St Angel's castle becomes a slightly pink dawn at day break; dawn should mean hope, but in Tosca it is tragedy. Ovodok and the Cherubini orchestra render Puccini's melodic symphonic writing and the use of leitmotif well. Along with Cavazzin, Virginia Tola and Andrea Zaupa were experienced and well-versed as Tosca and Scarpia.