SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Verdi, Don Carlo:  Soloists, Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana. Chorus de la Generalitat Valenciana. Conductor: Lorin Maazel. Palau de les Arts de Valencia. 21.12.2007 (JMI)

Production by Opéra National de Paris.

Direction: Graham Vick (Original) Lorraine Reda (Revival).
Sets and Costumes: Tobias Hoheisel.
Lighting: Matthew Richardson.

Cast:
Don Carlo: Yonghoon Lee.
Elisabetta: Angela Marambio.
Filippo II: Orlin Anastassov.
Rodrigo: Carlos Álvarez.
Eboli: Anna Smirnova.
Inquisitore: Eric Halfvarson.
Frate: Stanislav Shvets.
Voce del Cielo: Olga Peretiatko.

In any of its different versions, Don Carlo is one of the most difficult operas to perform and it is very seldom that one leaves the theatre really satisfied after hearing it. To the work's extraordinary musical difficulties, the need for six very strong voices - and of voice types those that are mostly very scarce these days – must be added.  The doubts raised by  the musical direction raised in the recent Valencia  Carmen, were amplified by some surprising choices for the original cast for this production, and were compounded by cancellations that also took place. Nevertheless, despite all these clouds, the final result turned out to be more than satisfactory, with an outstanding and well balanced cast and a musical performance of remarkable brilliance.

From my point of view the biggest success of the evening goes to the Orchestra, without any doubt the best today in any opera house in Spain. In fact, we have to take a very long trip outside Spanish borders to find a musical ensemble as good as Valencia’s. Other opera houses in Spain should take note of what Valencia has achieved in this aspect in such a short time and Lorin Maazel deserves great praise for this  superb musical realisation. This interpretation of Don Carlo was  infinitely  better than his Carmen and on  this occasion Maazel produced a  very lively reading - perhaps more brilliant than  profound - although there were some moments where he did slow down tempi rather too much. Even so, this was the most impressive musical interpretation in Spain during the present opera season, together with Paul Goodwin's Nevember Rape of Lucretia in Madrid. It was a real pleasure to attend a Don Carlo with a great conductor and a great orchestra. The chorus did not quite achieve the same level of excellence but is still one the best in Spain.

The young Korean tenor Yonhoon Lee had the burden of substituting for Marcello Giordani in the title role and  the overall result was amazing. His is a beautiful voice and he used it with great taste, having no problems at all with the tessitura. Every opera lover  knows the difficulties of this role and also they know too that it is rather unrewarding. Yonhoon Lee showed maturity and quality, without a doubt  although his future may be more uncertain  if he continues singing this type of role. He need to push his lyrical voice too rather much, and this could be a problem for him unless he is careful with his repertoire. He was a very fortunate substitution and I hope that his promise isn't spoiled by over-exposure.

The presence of Orlin Anastassov as Philip II was one of the main attractions for this performance but he was, rather sadly, disappointing. At only 31, he has not matured enough yet to face the complexity of the character. While I can understand why Philip has a special appeal for basses or bass baritones considering that today there are few great protagonists -  if we take out René Pape and Roberto Scandiuzzi -  Mr. Anastassov lacks both volume and vocal authority, both  needed to portray all the complexities and difficulties of the King. The final result was rather colourless, even in his big aria “Ella giammai m’amò”. Mr Snastassov is certainly a very promising bass, but I think that his time for Don Carlo has quite not arrived yet. As yet I cannot quite seem him as an outstanding interpreter of the great bass roles in Verdi.

I was very keen to see Angela Marambio (Elisabetta)  in Verdi. It is  more than three years since I last saw her on stage and then I  was surprised to see her moving towards the main Verdi heroines. She is  very much changed in a positive way and is certainly a true Verdian soprano now, which is always good news. Her big and beautiful voice is even throughout its full range and has particularly well projected high notes. Her main problems lie in the difficulties of singing piano and there are small pitch defects in her highest notes, which became evident in the more dramatic moments of the opera. All in all however, she is now a very interesting Verdian soprano.

Carlos Álvarez sang in this performance for the first time after recovering of laryngitis. His Rodrigo is one of the best than one can see today on stage anywhere. Almost, but not quite, recovered from  his health problem, he was in  fresher voice than in the other roles I have heard him sing recently and offered one of the most accomplished performances that I can remember from him. In some previous appearances I have found him slightly monotonous, but not in this case, where he was absolutely convincing. There was hardly any sign of his illness  at the end of “Per me giunto è il dì supremo”.

The Russian mezzo-soprano Anna Smirnova replaced Nadia Krasteva as Eboli and  also has one the more important voices to be heard these days:  yet again,   Russia's  supply  of fine  mezzos seems endless. Ms Smirnova has a huge voice, very easy at its top and with traditional Slavic consistency down below. Her performance was one of true vocal insolence, such as  I remember only when I first heard Dolora Zajick or Nina Terentieva. This was a more than fortunate substitution and as I always say, the true greatness of opera houses is shown by their management of cancellations.

American bass Eric Halfvarson is a real specialist in the role of the Grand Inquisitor and he showed his mastery in the character once again. Stanislav Shvets was a remarkable Monk, much better here than as  the King in  the Bilbao  Aida  and Olga Peretiatko was pure luxury as the Heavenly  Voice, very promising as a light soprano with a bright future, provided she does not continue to  insist on singing roles like Desdemona in Pesaro last summer.

Graham Vick’s production can be considered as a minimalist with exception of the Auto da Fe scene. One of its great merits is the fact of it offered a fully enlosed stage complete with walls and ceilings, which helped a lot with vocal projection. Mr Vick probably loves opera, unlike some of his colleagues. The 'Our Lady of Atocha'  scene was not terribly original with too many commonplace  effect although it is always good to remember that the audience was attending Don Carlo for the first time in Valencia for many years.  It's much more important that a new public enjoys the staging and we can forget  the opera  maniacs who are always ready to cry, 'déjà vu.'

This was a great  success for the singers, particularly for Smirnova, Marambio and Alvarez, not to mention of course, Mr Maazel and his magnificent orchestra.

Jose M. Irurzun