Simone Alberghini

Queen Semiramide is haunted by the ghosts of her past. Together with her lover Assur, she once murdered her husband King Nino; a deed which ever since has weighed heavily upon her. With her marriage to Arsace, she hopes her soul will at last find solace. Her love, however, is misplaced. Arsace not only loves another, he is also, as is later revealed, the son Semiramide and Nino believed to be dead. He is faced with a decision: should he avenge the death of his father – and thus become his mother's killer?

La obertura inimitable (gracias a Dios) no tiene puesta en escena y está terriblemente interpretada, con espléndidos solos de violonchelo y flauta: el fino estándar nunca flaquea. La extraordinaria partitura de Rossini de 1829 presagia audiblemente a Meyerbeer, Berlioz, Glinka, Verdi y Wagner, entre muchos otros. La dirección de Graham Vick privilegia el conflicto de clases, con el puño cerrado sobre el antetelón rojiblanco. Los trajes eduardianos colocan a los austriacos con atuendos de noche blancos; los suizos vestidos de negro pulen el piso mientras los gobernantes disfrutan de una filmación (mucho de eso a continuación): el pescador Ruodi, en un bote con una rubia y un escenario falso, con Tell y su familia brindando soporte técnico. Vick despliega el kitsch geográfico e histórico generosamente pero no (siempre) sin sentido. Sin embargo, la coreografía pretenciosa y educada de Ron Howell es increíble.

"Irresistible" (Opera News) rising-star mezzo Elina Garanca triumphs as Rossini's Cinderella in this delightful Metropolitan Opera production. "As close to pure joy as you will find in a big-time opera house" (New Yorker), conquering audiences and critics alike, "Garanca has a gorgeous voice that she uses with exceptional skill, melting tenderness; but when the part calls for coloratura fireworks, she unleashes a flawless technique and ringing high notes of impressive power" (Associated Press). Filmed in High Definition Widescreen.