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Metro, June 23, 2017 |
by Warwick Thompson |
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Verdi: Otello, Royal Opera House, London, 21. Juni 2017 |
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Give me Moor, Moor, Moor! A triumphant Otello at the Royal Opera
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FEW role debuts have been anticipated with such tongue-lolling excitement as that of superstar tenor Jonas Kaufmann as Otello. |
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Singers who can conquer this Everest of a role are few and far between. It
demands huge amounts of Wagnerian power combined with Italianate passion and
tenderness — and it helps if the singer can portray all the psychological
traits of a complete mental breakdown with detail and honesty too. So, not
much to ask then.
But the ranks of the truly great Otellos have now
been swollen by Kaufmann, who appears in Keith Warner’s new production of
Verdi’s opera at Covent Garden. His ringing top notes blast out heroically,
his love duet with Desdemona is sublimely beautiful and caressing, and his
acting is sensationally vivid. The looks of shock and disbelief, the icy
coolness, the tortured nobility… this is a gripping and heartbreaking
portrayal of disintegration.
Warner’s claustrophobic and intense
production — with its gorgeously sumptuous period-style costumes by Kaspar
Glarner — offers a perfect vehicle for the tenor. He sets the action in a
dark, walled box which opens at the back and sides (designer Boris Kudlička)
to reveal several eye-popping coups de théâtre which it would be churlish to
spoil, and he presents the story with exemplary clarity. His decision not to
darken Kaufmann’s skin, but instead to present his Moorishness as a kind of
social and psychological alienation, is an excellent way of handling the
‘blacking up’ dilemma of the piece too.
The rest of the cast are from
the topmost of the top drawers. Maria Agresta (Desdemona) offers a warm,
velvety-rich sound in her middle register which matches Kaufmann’s baritonal
power-notes beautifully, Marco Vratogna (Iago) sings up a thrilling storm of
hatred and malevolence, and Frédéric Antoun makes a meltingly lyrical
Cassio. With a chorus on top form, and Antonio Pappano’s conducting as vivid
and as full of telling details as Kaufmann’s performance, the tragic tale
hits every cathartic nail on the head. A Royal Opera triumph.
On June
28, the performance is broadcast live to cinemas in the UK and around the
world. See roh.org.uk/cinemas for details.
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