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Opera News, September 2017 |
George Hall |
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Verdi: Otello, Royal Opera House, London, 21. Juni 2017 |
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Otello
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JONAS KAUFMANN added the title role of Otello to his repertory on June 21 at
Covent Garden, in a new production staged by Keith Warner and conducted by
Antonio Pappano. Inasmuch as Kaufmann’s repertoire already includes Radamès,
Don Carlo and Manrico, not to mention Lohengrin, Parsifal, Siegmund and
Walther von Stolzing, his assumption of Verdi’s Moor is not such a
surprising move, though ever since Francesco Tamagno created it, back in
1887, the part has been considered sui generis within the Italian
repertory—a role either to specialize in or to avoid.
On first
hearing, it was clear that the forty-seven-year-old Kaufmann can sing every
note and every phrase, and without apparent difficulty or strain. He brings
to Otello a lighter, less stentorian approach than some of its regular
exponents, with little of the baritonal mix often employed to give the voice
extra ballast. He did not give the impression of being careful, though there
were few occasions when he fully opened up his voice; when he did, those
moments felt satisfyingly powerful. Yet even with so thoughtful a maestro as
Pappano in the pit, Kaufmann was occasionally covered by the orchestra.
As a first attempt at one of opera’s great challenges, Kaufmann’s
performance can be accounted an overall success, managed as it was with
skill and aplomb; but it also felt underwhelming in a way that Otello never
should: at this point, Kaufmann’s Otello is less a titanic force of nature
than an expertly voiced but ultimately limited conception. It will be
interesting to see in which ways his characterization develops.
The
evening’s most complete vocal performance came from Maria Agresta as
Desdemona. Her tone consistently clean and clear, Agresta brought to the
role finely sculpted lyricism and sufficient personality to allow this
essentially passive character to maintain genuine sympathetic interest from
first to last.
Italian baritone Marco Vratogna replaced the
originally announced Iago, Ludovic Tézier, who left the cast due to health
problems before rehearsals began. Vratogna is an actor of strong
physicality, possessing a big voice that he doesn’t always use with much
subtlety or textual insight. The secondary roles were all well handled, with
Canadian tenor Frédéric Antoun as an elegant Cassio and Estonian mezzo Kai
Rüütel making a positive impression as Emilia.
Warner obtained
worthwhile dramatic performances from the entire cast, but his relatively
traditional staging—a blend of the realistic and the abstract in Boris
Kudlička’s resolutely dark-toned sets, with handsome period costumes by
Kaspar Glarner—was not remarkable, either visually or intellectually.
The evening’s finest features were the playing of the Royal Opera House
Orchestra, which offered tautness of ensemble and tonal refinement under
Pappano’s baton, and the work of the chorus, whose high-definition singing
as coached by their new chorus director, William Spaulding, was equally
notable. Pappano remains a master of Verdian style, able to judge tempos
with finesse, and to hold the bigger picture in view even as he mines the
writing’s smallest details.
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