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LE BRACI (The Embers), Opera by Marco Tutino in Firenze


LE BRACI (The Embers), Opera  by Marco Tutino in Firenze

(dall’omonimo romanzo di Sándor Márai)

Opera di Firenze, Italy, 2015 November 9th

Review by Fabio Bardelli, fotos Simone Donati.

Le Braci, Scandiiuzzi and Antoniozzi, Foto Simone Donati

Le Braci, Scandiiuzzi and Antoniozzi, Foto Simone Donati

FIRENZE/ITALY: Sándor Márai (1900-1989) is an Hungarian writer not very well known in Italy, and the composer Marco Tutino, also author of the libretto of this opera Le Braci, took inspiration from one of his work.

 

The novel, certainly the best known of Márai’s, tells the story of two friends, Konrad and Henrik, who meet again after over forty years of separation (they met at the Vienna Military Academy) and after Henrick’s assassination attempt perpretated by Konrad.

The situation isn’t clarified also in this meeting after so many years, and the final does not explain much the story, especially as Kristina’s diary (Kristina was Henrik’s wife) where could be elements to clarify the romance is burned in the fireplace.

The remote events coincided with the last period of Austria felix, while the duality reality-fantasy in which the author insists has its climax in the impressive final scene of the opera.

 

Le Braci, Ensemble, please note the scenography by Tiziano Santi. Foto Simone Donati

Le Braci, Ensemble, please note the scenography by Tiziano Santi
. Foto Simone Donati

I must admit that the visual impression of this performance at Florence’s House is really very good, and I think that when Le Braci will be staged again it will be very difficult to ignore the ideas and the visual part of this staging by Leo Muscato, a director that we appreciated also in other occasions.

Le Braci, Giusto and Lindroos, Foto Simone Donati

Le Braci, Giusto and Lindroos, Foto Simone Donati

The story is staged in the beautiful scene by Tiziano Santi, an installation divided into three sections, the central one is the hall of the castle near Carpathians where Henrik lives (the story takes place in 1940) and the two side-ones the woods used for the numerous flashbacks of the events of forty years before

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. Silvia Aymonino‘s costumes are quite adequate and good is the light designer Alessandro Verazzi.

So the story takes place linearly on two levels, with many flashbacks that recall the remote episode of the attempted murder on a continuous musical flow, without interruption, in which reality imagination and memories mingle in an interesting way.

Le Braci, Nisi, Foto Simone Donati

Le Braci, Nisi, Foto Simone Donati

The characters are visually very well depicted, the passages from the reality to the remote episode in flashback occour naturally and are visually interesting, small choreographic inserts are adherent and quite adequate.

But my global impression is that the merits of the visual part overrun decidedly the musical side. Music by Marco Tutino arises on a level of absolute “normality” inspired by a solid tradition, but too often seems to be almost a pleasant but generic “deja entendu”, anyhow is very far from experimentalism or too difficult musical language
. We have the impression to listen to a “soundtrack with obbligato voices” that often goes on in vain failing to flesh out the dramatic situations of the text. Beyond admiration for the linear writing, Tutino’s music seems not to characterize significantly the dramatic situations nor the characters of the plot, with the exception of Henrik, the most careful character.

Le Braci, Scandiuzzi, Foto Simone Donati

Le Braci, Scandiuzzi, Foto Simone Donati

On the unceasing flow of the orchestra now soft now hardly dramatic stand out the voices whose line is now near to declamato, now to recitativo, now to shout, now on the contrary showing a more melodic line arioso-style; apart some more evocative moments we never find the very interesting moment really to remember and that enthrals the viewer.

The opera Le Braci in Firenze is also preceded by an useless declamation of some pages of the original novel by the director Leo Muscato on a background music, a thing quite unnecessary and that adds nothing to the global middle level success of the perfromance.

Young conductor Francesco Cilluffo knows perfectly the work having conducted this opera in other occasions and really does wonders in concertating and refinements to capture the attention of the very small audience, conducting an orchestra in good shape.

Le Braci, Ensemble, Foto Simone Donati

Le Braci, Ensemble, Foto Simone Donati

The singers were globally all more or less quite correct, and must be praised Roberto Scandiuzzi as Henrik, who creates quite well a lordly tormented and complex character, both scenically both vocally.
Very effective also Alfonso Antoniozzi as Konrad, even if his part in the opera is less important.
Florentine public was really very scarce, the success was moderate to everyone, warmer applause was for Roberto Scandiuzzi.

Distribution:

Direttore, Francesco Cilluffo
Regia, Leo Muscato
Scene, Tiziano Santi
Costumi, Silvia Aymonino
Luci, Alessandro Verazzi

Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino

Voce recitante, Leo Muscato
Kristina, Angela Nisi
Nini, Romina Tomasoni
Giovane Konrad, Davide Giusti
Giovane Henrik, Kristian Lindroos
Konrad, Alfonso Antoniozzi
Henrik, Roberto Scandiuzzi
Danzatori, (Fattoria Vittadini) Cesare Benedetti, Mattia Agatiello, Chiara Ameglio

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