by Giuseppe Verdi characterized by its difficulty and its maximum demand both vocally and musically. The Liceu has opted to revive the staging by French director Jean-Claude Auvray, premiered in 2012 and co-produced by the Paris Opera and the Liceu, which is distinguished by its sobriety and minimalism. The opera lasts almost four hours and the Italian director Nicola Luisotti, who will lead the orchestra for all eight performances, assures that it is more complicated than the equally long and Wagnerian Lohengrin.
Inspired by the play Don Álvaro or the force of fateby the Duke of Rivas, the work describes the fatality that pursues Álvaro and Leonora and their tragic love story. The scenery travels a century in time and immerses itself in the second Italian war of independence. Released in 1862, Verdi softened the plot for seven years so that Álvaro could save his life. A century and a half later this opera is still known as la innombrable due to the bad fortune that seems to accompany it since its premiere in Saint Petersburg was postponed. F; Gabriele Viviani is out for medical reasons and Fra Melitone lo Pietro Spgnoli takes over; and Caterina Piva plays pressure after Vasilisa Berzhanskaya, who is singing at La Scala, has left the production.
The curtain rises and we see a long table, two candelabras and three paintings in the first act where the main protagonists are introduced. There is not much more scenery in a minimal, sober, tenuous staging, which plays with light and shadows that compensates with the color of the choir’s costumes. Of course: a gigantic crucifix, almost four meters high, with its back to the audience, presides over the second act. Leo Castaldi, who revived the work, maintains that Auvray wanted to reflect the pessimism that surrounded Verdi at that time. The composer had decided to return to composing and accept a commission from the Russian court after a brief stint in politics when he felt that the movement Il resurgencein which he was engaged, was interrupted by the premature death of Cavour, its leader.
Quique García (EFE)
Pirozzi sang this same production, a year and a half ago, at the Bastille opera house in Paris. He says that this is his favorite work and that he canceled all his commitments when a month ago the Liceu offered him the role of Leonora. “I am a lover of these classic productions,” “But this one concentrates everything on the singers, the music and the gestures. The first two acts are a tour de force,” admits Pirozzi, who points out the difficulty of resting throughout the long third act in order not to lose vocal concentration.
In addition to sparing the life of Don Álvaro -kills his father-in-law by accident and Don Carlo, his vengeful brother-in-law in a duel-, Verdi introduced, in the definitive version of 1869, which premiered at La Scala in Milan, a symphony, which includes the most popular melody of the opera. In this production it is included at the end of the first act (not at the beginning) and, on the other hand, it maintains almost the entire duet between Don Álvaro and Don Carlo when they discover his identity and feel betrayed. Both Brian Jadge (Don Álvaro) and Artur Ruzinski (Don Carlo) are happy to sing it in its entirety. “I love that it is complete,” Jadge emphasizes. “I take on the challenge with all my heart and with all my voice.”
on Thursday. “It is a very difficult opera to organize. It is very long and needs incredible singers with physical strength. But here we have them in each place and in both casts,” says the director, who adds that it is an opera full of traps at every moment. “Music is very complex. We have arias, duets, triplets, a choir, dance. Maintaining the opera as Verdi wrote it is a challenge, a challenge, but it must be done that way. It is long and very pretty and why cut back on beauty?”
