The lecherous Falstaff, with his infamous roving eye, finally meets his match when his underhand plans to solve money troubles have the three merry wives of Windsor conspiring to teach him a lesson. Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducts a fine ensemble cast directed by Sven-Eric Bechtolf. The result is a joyful production, with gorgeous costumes that seem to inspire those wearing them as much as they will delight OperaVision viewers.
Paolo Albani
The ambiguities of Verdi’s theatre are particularly clear in his baritone roles, among which is that of Boccanegra, corsair turned doge of Genoa and the troubled observer of the conflicts that tore apart 14th century landowners and peasants. An eminently political opera in which power struggles are interwoven with family conflicts, Simon Boccanegra echoes the life of its composer – the man who championed the cause of Italian unification and overcame the loss of his wife and children. Calixto Bieito, that most Shakespearean of opera directors, brings humanism and truth to a work haunted by gleaming images of the sea.
Bartolo
The composer's opera buffa transcends the spirit of Beaumarchais’ comedy and combines the absurd with a touch of satirical realism in a score where rhythm and virtuosity place the comic effects in an ongoing dramatic narration. As a result, the characters – Rosina in particular – gain a new degree of realism and break with the usual archetypes. Damiano Michieletto’s giddying production embraces this perpetual motion and carries in its wake the happy couple formed by Lawrence Brownlee and Pretty Yende.
Verdi's lively opera Luisa Miller – filled with tricks, betrayals, and love stories – is performed at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège in a staging by Jean-Claude Fall and conducted by Massimo Zanetti.
Aliprando
Juan Diego Flórez takes on the lead role in this performance of Rossini's opera at the 2012 Pesaro Festival. Corradino (Flórez), a paranoid, misogynistic lord, is in the care of Aliprando (Nicola Alaimo), a doctor who is concerned that the poor spirits of his employer will damage his health. He duly attempts to make Corradino fall in love with the beautiful and self-willed Matilde (Olga Peretyatko). Will the plan succeed?
Guillaume Tell
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.
