URMANA brilliant as Leonora
Violeta Urmana as Leonora, 1. act, foto: Andrea Messana
URMANA brilliant as Leonora in La Forza del Destino at Bastille Opera, Paris
The world famous lyric dramatic soprano Violeta Urmana was singing a wonderful Leonora in the premiere of Giuseppe Verdi´s opera La Forza del Destino, at Opera Bastille, Paris, Monday 14th November.
Musically it was a big success. Well conducted by the Paris Opera new young music chief Philippe Jordan, which made it fluid well, sensitive in the pianissimo details, and powerful in the fortissimo details, underlining its very many beautiful details, listening to the singers and giving them the right tempi. The very ending was amazing in its pianissimo, with excellent soloists in the orchestra.
Urmana has the power, the sensibility and the beautiful voice to sing Leonora, it was a great pleasure. Her duets together with Kwangchul Younas Padre Guardino were of very high musical quality.
Mario Luperi (Il Marchese di Calatrava), Violeta Urmana (Donna Leonora) et Nona Javakhidze (Curra)
Unfortunately neither the tenor Zoran Todorovich as Don Alvaro, nor for the baritone Vladimir Stoyanov as Leonora’s brother Don Carlo di Vargas was at the same high level as Ms
. Urmana. Both sung with powerful, but unfortunately, not beautiful voices. Especially Todorovich, was singing loud and with a lot of power, all the high tunes was there in right place, but his voice and his tunes were not with the kind of beauty that this role is needing, and therefore the duets with Leonora was not successful, it was only one time in the ending duet, when he was singing pianissimo, we could hear that he in pianissimo has a very beautiful sound, unfortunately it was spoiled shortly after a few seconds when he had to follow Leonora and the music up the final tunes in fortissimo, then the beauty in his voice disappeared.
Stoyanov was a bit better, he had some beautiful parts, but it never became extraordinary, he has several parts, where it could have been beautiful, and where we have heard many baritones making this extraordinary.
Zoran Todorovich (left) and Vladimir Stoyanov as Don Alvaro and Don Carlo in La Forza del Destino. Foto: Andrea Messana
To be honest for these two roles as Don Carlo di Vargas who is supposed to be a student, and Don Alvaro who is supposed to be a young mulat lower of Leonora, I would have preferred that the opera house has given younger looking singers the possibility to sing these roles. It didn’t look real on stage, and when it then not was of beautiful, and then I don’t understand the casting. However better costumes with younger look could have been helping them.
Fra Melitone, the monk, who is the practically caretaker in the monastery, was performed and entertained by the wonderful Nicola Alaimo, his many appearances, which for the Verdi operas where the character of Melitone prefigures that of Falstaff, yet La Forza del Destino dominated by the idea of God, faith, punishment, explanation and redemption, also looks forward to the Requiem, in particular in Leonora’s air Pace, pacein the last act, addressed to God as is the Libera me. .
Nadia Krasteva as Preziosilla in the scne at the military camp. Foto: Andrea Messana.
Nadia Krasteva as Preziosilla was singing and performing brilliant. Rodolphe Briand did a very good figure out of his Trabuco, the servant of Leonora, who later became a business man at the military camp…
Philippe Jordan leaded the orchestra to perform at its very best, musically it was floating well. Beautiful soli, Especially I noticed the flute and the harp. A small curiosity. The overture was moved to after the Marquise of Calatrava (Mario Luperi) was dead. The opera started directly in to the first act, without any introduction. At first this seemed strange to me, but when overture came and we during that moved 18 months ahead in the history, then it became logic. Chief of the choire is as usual Patrick Marie Aubert.
There is something abrupt and vertiginous about La Forza del destino, an unrelenting tragic tension, passion and rage that leave the spectator utterly stunned.
Violeta Urmana, (left, dressed as a man) and Kwangchul Youn as Padre Guardino scenography by Alain Chambon. Photo: Andrea Messana.
Scenery was made practically, with moving behind carpets, which in an easy way helped to change between fully stage and a separate part, it functioned well by Alain Chambon, OK costumes by Maria-Chiara Donato, for Ms. Urmana a beautiful dress in the first act, and then when she shall hide looking like a man, in an Oscar Wilde like outfit, which functioned very well. The lighting was extraordinary good, spectacular in beautiful color combinations, which reminded me of a famous Italian painter, never dominant by Laurent Castaingt. The direction is by Jean-Claude Auvray, we trusted in the staging. The fighting scenes were not realistic. The good functioning choreography was by Terry John Bates.
Nicola Alaimo, left as Fra Melitone, and Kwangchul Youn as Padre Guardiano. Photo: Andrea Messana
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This is a coproduction with Le Gran Theatre del Liceo, Barcelona.
La Force du destin (1862) Melodramma in four actes de Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), Libretto: Francesco Maria Piave.
12 performances between 14 november and 17 décember 2011 at ‘Opéra Bastille
Direction musicale : Philippe Jordan – Mise en scène : Jean-Claude Auvray – Décors : Alain Cahambon – Costumes : Maria Chiara Donato – Lumières : Laurent Castaing – Chorégraphie : Terry John Bates – Chef du Chœur : Patrick Marie Aubert.
Violeta Urmana and Zoran Todorovich as Leonora and Don Alvaro. Behind Kwangchul Youn as Padre Guardiano, and laying Vladimir Stoyanov. Foto Andrea Messana.
Applaus Forza del Destino, Monday November 14th 2011. Opera de Bastille, Paris. Foto: Henning Høholt