‘Maria Stuarda’ arrives at the Teatro Real and the sordid becomes sublime | Culture

Although in 1834 the most common operatic model was the well-known love story between a soprano and a tenor thwarted by a baritone, Gaetano Donizetti wrote Mary Stuart for two leading sopranos. Its libretto, based on Friedrich Schiller’s tragedy about the last days of Mary Stuart and her fictitious meeting with Elizabeth I in which they exchanged violent invectives, includes practically the same number of scenes and arias for each of the two queens.

The anecdote is famous that, during rehearsals, the two primadonas They came to blows. But it was a matter of jealousy, as Donizetti himself explains to the librettist Jacopo Ferretti in a letter: “You already know about the fight between women. What you may not know is that Ronzi (soprano Giuseppina Ronzi De Begnis, who played Maria Stuarda) spoke ill of me, believing me to be far away, and claimed that I protected that bitch from Del Sere (her colleague Anna Del Sere, who played Elisabetta). But none of that has happened these days at the Teatro Real. Even the good atmosphere between the two leading singers was evident at the end of the premiere, on December 14, when Lisette Oropesa affectionately kissed Aigul Akhmetshina amid the applause of the audience.

Both singers, who were making their debut in the characters of Maria Stuarda and Elisabetta, were the great winners of the first production of the central opera of Donizetti’s so-called Tudor Trilogy at the Teatro Real. David McVicar returned to stage direction, after the start of the season with his successful Adriana Lecouvreurbut now with a new production. It is inspired by his management of the 2012/13 season at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and will soon be presented at the Liceu in Barcelona, ​​the Donizetti Festival in Bergamo, La Monnaie in Brussels and the Helsinki Opera.

The dramatic concept of manager Scottish is faithful to the work, although it has barely evolved since its New York production. The changes in the movements of the choir and the singers are now more fluid and some extras have been added, although the direction of actors is still quite flat. However, the new setting is much better. We check this with Lizzie Powell’s lighting, which achieves lighting effects. living paintingbut also in the symbolic scenery of Hannah Postlethwaite, which combines the future of a gigantic orb with a wall of ears and eyes to represent the intriguing court of the Tudors. The magnificent historicist costumes by Brigitte Reiffenstuel stand out especially, with an ideal characterization of each character, reminiscent of her proverbial costumes for Gloriana by Britten, in 2018, where Elizabeth I of England is also represented.

The musical direction of José Miguel Pérez-Sierra from Madrid has also been another element to highlight in this production. For his brilliant management of Donizetti’s orchestration, his vivid and varied tempos that contributed to the dramatic fluidity, and his admirable accompaniment of the voices along with the attention he pays to the recitatives. At the same time, he benefited from another great performance by the Teatro Real’s Main Orchestra. And he stood out especially in the finale of the second act with that melancholy obsessive accompaniment that opens the funeral hymn of Maria’s relatives and that reminds us of the future Prelude “Raindrop” by Chopin.

His decisions regarding the score used were less successful. To rescue the mediocre overture that Donizetti wrote for the premiere of the opera at La Scala in Milan, in December 1835, after the cancellation of its premiere in Naples and the reconversion of its musical numbers into Buondalmonteis only interesting if the Milanese version of the opera is respected. However, Pérez-Sierra chose to delete the brief and wonderful prelude that follows the overture, and which everything indicates was also performed in Milan, and even started the opera with the opening chorus. Wait here, she’s close included in the composer’s margin in the Naples revival of 1865. Fortunately, he kept the finale original of the first act and was extraordinarily respectful of all the repetitions of the other numbers.

Precisely that initial chorus of the opera was the least successful of the night, since the performance of the Teatro Real’s Main Choir was exceptional in the second act. We check it in Did you see? We saw where you hear a precedent of Verdi’s famous patriotic choruses, but also in prayer Oh! You of a humble onean innovative aria by Maria that progressively transforms into a choral hymn.

The best of the night continued until the end of the opera. Donizetti admirably balances the sordid with the sublime, but he needs a vocal artist with the talent, expressiveness and strength of Lisette Oropesa. The Cuban-born American soprano capped an impressive psychological evolution from violent confrontation to spiritual elevation with 25 minutes of exceptional singing. His interpretation of the beautiful Of a dying heartwhich was almost ruined by a cell phone, was the most emotional number and was crowned with sublime filados. But he was not left behind majestic final Ah! if one day from these retorts with an exquisite hurrying and the addition of a blinding final high note, before placing his head on the block and we saw the executioner raise the axe. Oropesa also shone in his cavatina in the first act, with exquisite phrasing, and exhibited outstanding virtuosity in the cabaletta which he tastefully embellished in repetition. The only objection was her bass, which sounded somewhat faded, although no soprano today has the bass that Donizetti wrote for María Malibrán.

Aigul Akhmetshina brought drama and vocal color to the evening. It is worth clarifying that the tradition of assigning the soprano role of Elisabetta to a mezzo-soprano with a wide high register comes from the call Donizetti-Renaissance of the 1950s. This idea allows us to delve into the psychological differences of the two protagonists on a musical level and was evident from the beginning with the rich and powerful cavatina performed by the mezzo Russian. His vocal prowess allowed him to add additional highs and lows, although his first appearance sounded a bit flat and lacking in nuance. He improved musically at the end of the first act, during his famous confrontation with María, and especially at the beginning of the second, where he impressed with That life was disastrous to me.

The overall quality of the cast was evident in the sextet of the finale of the first act where all the characters intervene. The Cádiz tenor Ismael Jordi faced the thankless role of Leicester with elegance and vocal courage, although he failed to capture its scenic complexity as a sentimental element. He had his best moments in the duets of the first act with the two queens where he risked the treble, but also in the trio of the second act with Elisabetta and Cecil, with an exquisite Oh! please stop. The Italian bass Roberto Tagliavini once again gave a lesson in bel canto technique and uniform timbre, as noble advisor Talbot, in the scene of Maria’s confession in the second act. Finally, Polish baritone Andrzej Filończyk articulated his role as evil treasurer Cecil well and mezzo-soprano Elissa Pfaender provided good color in her role as wet nurse Anna Kennedy.