La Quincena Musical Donostiarra Festival 2007:  Verdi, Otello (Concert Version)Soloists, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, WDR Rundfunkchor Köln, Orfeón Donostiarra, Conductor: Semyon Bychkov , Auditorio Kursaal. San Sebastián, Spain 1.9.2007 (JMI)

Cast:

Otello: Johan Botha
Desdemona: Nuccia Foccile
Iago:  Carlo Guelfi
Cassio: Richard Paul Clark
Ludovico: Alfred Walter
Emilia: Tiziana Tramonti.

This year's Quincena Musical Donostiarra. one of oldest and more prestigious musical festivals in Spain  ended with  this concert version of Verdi’s Otello  following on from  2005's  success by Semyon Bychkov and his WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln who gave a concert  version of Richard Strauss’s Elektra.  In both cases the concerts  provided a kind of final rehearsal for forthcoming  recordings.  If the 2005 experience of Elektra was very positive, on this occasion the artistic outcome did not achieve the same quality for various reasons, most important of which were some vocal failures in casting.

Semyon Bychkov is one of the great conductors nowadays and his  work is very much appreciated in central Europe, particularly in German repertoire. This was  first time that I had seen him in Italian opera and my impression was  not so positive. His reading of Lohengrin seemed to me a real model and his work in Elektra was also very brilliant, although more superficial, but sadly this performance did not meet my expectations. In a reading in which there was always tension, he overdid the orchestral volume, more remarkable considering his castings, in which the Festival organisers were not involved at all. Since opera recordings can do wonders  today, there is no doubt that the final result will be very different -  which only means that the differences between recordings and theatre continue to be quite large. There was also some lack of emotion in the more lyric moments even though he had at his disposal a good and disciplined WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, ready to follow all of his volume requirements. He also had  an extraordinary choir of almost 150 members, formed by the combined WDR Rundfunkchor Köln and Orfeón Donostiarra, a powerful mixture in which the German sopranos stood out. In summary, this a good musical version of Otello if we compare it with with what we are used here, but well below what one can expect from a top conductor like Bychkov.

The protagonist Otello was the South African Johan Botha, one of the most important tenors of the last few years. He sang his first Otello in Vienna less than a year ago and there was little doubt about his vocal power for the role.  With Botha though something happens that is rather like what I have just said of Bychkov:  in the sense that I consider him one of the great interpreters in the German repertoire, difficult to match as  Walther or Lohengrin or in the most demanding of Richard Strauss roles. Nevertheless,  I have never been really excited by his singing in Verdi or Puccini. I concede of course that valid alternatives for Otellos are very few and that Botha is one of the small number who can face up to this dramatic part. A different matter however, is whether he has the role sufficiently interiorized to give a completely convincing interpretation. The best things in his performance took place in the second part of the opera and  I  should emphasize particularly his rendering in the third act. His “Dio mi potevi scagliar” was worth the evening in itself even though  in the first half there was more volume than nuance to his singing. Having said all this though, there are  few who can be compared to him in this character and that includes some of the most  famous. The exception might be Ben Heppner in his best days. Although this is not a fashion review, I cannot resist mentioning the fact that Mr Botha  appeared dressed as a real Meistersinger, as if ready to sing the last scene of a Wagner opera.

Nuccia Focile seemed a surprising choice for Desdemona, since she has always been a light soprano who has developed over time into a light-lyric one -  not  the voice that the role requires. Her voice is good if not extraordinary and she sings with great taste, but her shortcomings are also important. Her lower notes are  poor, as was in evidence in her duet  with Otello in the second act. Her middle register is not strong enough to face the third act either, being totally inaudible in the great concertante where only Botha could be heard through the  orchestral gale. Ms Focile did give her best in the Willow Song and Ave Maria however, singing in a very moving way.

Carlo Guelfi was Iago and this casting was  the most paradigmatic example of the lack of Verdian baritones in the world today.  In his favour, the fact that he sang without score and that he gave meaning to his words was greatly appreciated but  the question of how he can sing these  parts in the big opera houses is a mystery more difficult to explain than the plot of Trovatore. The voice lacks projection, seems more tenor-like than ever before and is almost inaudible from mid-range downwards. His  'Credo' was anything but Verdi.

Richard Paul Clark was a correct but fairly uninteresting Cassio   and Tiziana Tramonti was the Emilia who replaced the advertised Marianna Pizzolato. I can only say that her voice could only be heard clearly in the last act and that the sound engineers will have their work cut out with her.      Alfred Walker was a resonant  Ludovico, Samuel Youn was a luxury- like Montano, and Emanuelle d' Aguanno passed by without pain nor glory as  Roderigo.

The performance had a warm reception without an excess of  enthusiasm and Bychkov, Botha and Guelfi (yes, yes, him) were the winners for audience favours. We can always learn from the wise of course, but I happen not to be in this club.


José M. Irurzun

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