Nadine Sierra excites Liceu again with the “long, long, long melodies” by Bellini | Culture

It was the old Giuseppe Verdi who, in a famous letter of 1898 to the French critic Camille Bellaigue, better summed up the main achievement of Vincenzo Bellini: “Those long, long, long melodies, as no one has done before him.” Perhaps the supreme example of this statement is Ah! you don’t believe you to aimthe beautiful cantabile of the final scene of The sleepwalkerwith that initial melody that unfolds without caesuras during 11 measures. Soprano Nadine Sierra turned this Aryan again at a time for memory on Tuesday, April 22. As in December 2022 at the Teatro Real, his masterful interpretation melted to the public of the Liceu, who dedicated a huge ovation.

The American singer, of Puerto Rican origin (Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 36 years old), has become this season the undisputed Liceu star. For its exceptional leading role in The traviata by Verdi, last January (which will sing in June at the Teatro Real), and also for its successful recital with orchestra two weeks ago, although it will still return to the Ramblas Theater, at the end of July, to sing two functions in a concert version of West Side Storyby Leonard Bernstein. But her interpretation of Amina, the young orphan who walks asleep in The sleepwalkerBellini, maybe it’s difficult to overcome today.

Apart from having a very beautiful voice, of having an amazing technical precision and of being a singer with an exquisite musicality, Sierra has something that brings her closer to Giuditta Pasta’s magnetism, the diva that inspired Bellini in 1831 to create the main character of The sleepwalker. I refer to that tint slightly darker and with a greater sierra, in relation to the light bell of the Belcantist sopranos, although the American singer has a more homogeneous record and is not as serious as that of pasta, according to the famous description that Stendhal made of her voice in her voice in Rossini’s life.

In any case, the flexible and musical phrase of Sierra in the aforementioned Ah! you don’t believe you to aimwith that domain of the average voice and the control of the dynamic shading next to the coloratures, it was unforgettable. It is true that cabaletta following, Ah! It does not come human thoughtinterprets it a little more slow than usual, but its vocal pyrotechnics is unmatched, with magnificent ornaments in repetition and a way of sustaining the acute that takes away its breath, both in the mi Bemol overgiveness of the last fermata and in the FA overgudo that nails in the final compases. But we also listen to its excellent interpretation in the first act, as in its cavatin As for me serenewhich ended with wonderful edges and caused the first excitement of the night, or in the cabaletta following, Above the sen la man pose mewho adorned with pleasure in his shortened repetition and my Bemol overgive was invented at the end.

Xabier Anduaga (San Sebastián, 29 years old) did not have it easy to match the impressive Sierra amina with his interpretation of Elvino. But the tenor Donostiarra has won security and musicality since his performance at the Teatro Real in 2022. In these years he has not only triumphed in the Metropolitan operates in New York, but last month he was declared a favorite of the Viennese public. In his case, that virile vocal sweetness, a metal point, which reminds Ah! because I can’t hate youa cabaletta where he exhibited technical brilliance, fluidity in the phrasing and power in the high notes, easily reaching the re -enague.

The rest of the cast was below, although it maintained a high level. This is the case of the Hispanic-Cuban soprano Sabrina Gárdez, which shone in Lisa’s cololatures; The attractive voice of the mezzo-soprano Donostiarra Carmen Artaza as Teresa; the Argentine bass-barrel Fernando Radó, competent but limited in his role of Comte Rodolfo; And both Aragonese Isaac Galán and Malaga Gerardo López, respectively and Alessio and the notary, maintained the same level as in the Royal Theater two seasons.

The third element to highlight from this production of The sleepwalker It is the excellent musical direction of Lorenzo Passerini. The young Italian teacher (Sondrio, 34 years old) accurately defends an elegant and well -prolaptically propelled version of Bellini’s opera, with a fluid management of the tempo and tensions. The Symphony Orchestra of the Great Teatre of the Liceu paid admirably under its command, especially in the second act, where the unequal performance of the choir reached its best moment in Here the forest is thicker and shaded.

The scenic proposal of Barbara Lluch, released in 2022 at the Teatro Real, continues to stand out more at the visual than dramatic level. His ideas contribute dynamism and some beauty, but there is not much more. This is the case of the scarce connection between the choreographed ballet by metamorphosis dance, which represents amine ghosts, and the music that is heard. In fact, three minutes of silence were arranged before the start of the opera, in which we see the dancers harassing the young sleepwalker, but harassment continues incomprehensibly when music begins in a cheerful and bright major sun. The Directorate of Actors shines for its absence, as well as the handling of the choir on stage. And the end, with that cornice that isolates the protagonist, continues to be incomprehensible from the dramatic point of view; Lluch defends in the hand program a “dramaturgy that leaves the end open”, which has nothing to do with the music of Bellini and the Romani libretto.

In any case, the scenery of Christof Hetzer is attractive, with that oppressive rural atmosphere halfway between naturalism and industrialization, which is very well illuminated by US Schönebaum, along with the beautiful romantic costumes of Clara Peluffo. And the staging helps to raise the musical moment of the night, the aforementioned Ah! you don’t believe you to aimthat Sierra sings up to the cornice while starting to snow.