Vienna State Opera, Balkon HalB Mitte Links (Seat 2-28,
68 euros).
Story. See
previous post. In the telling of the
story tonight, the scheme to deceive Pasquale was much more in evidence.
Conductor – Frederic Chaslin. Don Pasquale – Roberto De Candia, Ernesto –
Antonino Siragua, Malatesta – Adam Placherka, Norina – Danielle de Niese.
This was the last of the five operas we would see during
this European trip. They came fast and
furious during the past week, and I have been having trouble keeping up with
the writeups, more because my impression of one can easily be confused with
that of a later one. So I am trying to
record my observations as quickly as possible.
If La Scala is known for its rich history, and the number
of operas that saw their premiere there, then Vienna State is known for the
number of operas it stages every year (they may do over 300 shows a year, if
memory of my tour serves), and that the venue is very popular with tourists.
Our seats tonight certainly didn’t compare at all with
what we had for the prior four concerts.
We didn’t have a good view of the right front part of the stage (from
singers’ perspective), and much of the action – it felt like most of the action
– took place there. So that detracted
from a full experience. Not far from our
seats stood the “standing room only” crowd.
The curtain was raised a few minutes before the performance, with the orchestra seated.
The other problem is the general lack of vested emotions
in a comedy. Having said that, I thought
they did a good job of the comedic aspects of the plot. This was the third time I saw the opera, and
I thought this was the funniest. Usually
the “funny” either doesn’t take with me, or becomes “old hat” after I had seen
it once, so this was a rare exception.
I was surprised at the low-budget stage, which put the
time frame in the early 1940s, maybe, when there were rotary dial
telephones. For most of the performance
diner tables were set up on stage, with a bar to the left, and a ballroom in the
back. For an inside scene a curtain was
lowered and the audience was expected to fill in the mental details. It got the job done, but I couldn’t help but
wonder whether the place has fallen on hard financial times, as Don Pasquale
did.
The orchestra did well, coming to the front or fading into
the background as necessary.
The roles of Don Pasquale and Malatesta were sung by
previously-unknown-to-me singers, and they both did well, articulating their
lines. Especially impressive was Siragua
as Ernesto. His voice was strong, and
did a credible job imitating a young man in love.
The one name I had known before today was Danielle de
Niese, whom I saw singing a relatively minor role at the Met (as Ariel in
Jeremy Sam’s “The Enchanted Island,” in 2011.)
I remember being very impressed with her singing and had been wondering
why she was not seen that often. For her to land a lead role at Vienna State is
a testament to her persistence and talent, no doubt. For tonight, her voice was strong, but that’s
the only positive adjective I can think of to describe her performance. Her voice sounded surprising grating and
unrefined. Which might well have been
how the director wanted Norina to be, but nonetheless not a good reflection on
her capabilities.
The "supporting" cast at the end of the performance.
From left: De Chandia as Don Pasquale, de Niese as Norina, Siragua as Ernesto, and Placherka as Malatesta.
This was a relatively short opera. With a start of 7:30 am, we were done at
around 10 pm, which allowed us to walk around Musikverein and made a discovery
about a concert … but that is a blog entry for another day …
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