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The Independent |
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Puccini: La Rondine, ROH, London November 2004
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The production (directed by Nicolas Joël) tries
a little too hard to look fabulous. Ezio Frigerio`s Klimt-obsessed sets are
awash with mosaic, gold-leaf, and - in the Riviera hotel of the final act -
a riot of turquoise and emerald stained glass. The applause that greets it
says a lot about the audience`s dubious taste, though it has to be said that
its wow factor is certainly in keeping with the dazzle and glitter of
Puccini`s score. But the real substance of the opera is in the heartfelt
third and final act, and it was here that the absence of Gheorghiu`s "other
half", might well have prompted a fresher response from her. For the
young German tenor, Jonas Kaufmann, it was quite a debut. The voice is more
swarthy and darker grained than that of the Italianate Alagna, and so are
the boyish looks. But Kaufmann is a graceful singer weaned on graceful
Mozart, and while he can muster a ringing flamboyance for the "money notes",
it is the subtlety of his response that draws us in. When he sings of the
baby that he hopes that he and Magda might have together one day, the
tenderness of his finely attenuated pianissimo singing beautifully reflects
the image of the child reaching for the elusive sunlight. |
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