Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835)
I Capuleti e i Montecchi (1830)
Romeo – Sonia Ganassi (mezzo)
Giulietta – Jessica Pratt (sop)
Tebaldo – Shalva Mukeria (tenor)
Lorenzo – Luca Dall’Amico (bass)
Capellio – Rubén Amoretti (bass)
Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro La Fenice/Omer Meir Wellber
Arnaud Bernard (stage director)
rec. live, 18, January 2015; Teatro La Fenice, Venice, Italy
NAXOS NBD0149V Blu-Ray [136]
Naxos has recently been reaching back into archives from the not too distant past for some of its home video releases of opera. The latest one is this recording of a performance of Bellini’s sixth opera taken from a staging in Venice in 2015. The staging by Arnaud Bernard in most respects observes a traditional interpretation of Felice Romani’s libretto, although it does impose a superfluous action during the overture where the audience is brought into some sort of art museum that is undergoing renovations. From this, the characters all seem to emerge from the disturbed Renaissance paintings that have been removed from the walls and jumbled about on the floor. While this concept does absolutely nothing for the opera, neither does it get in the way of the story. Occasionally Bernard achieves some really striking friezes, as seen in the closing tableau for Act Two and a wonderful visual effect for Giulietta’s funeral procession.
Bel Canto operas are all about the singing and in this case the Teatro La Fenice has assembled a fairly respectable group of singers. Georgian tenor Shalva Mukeria starts things off as a decent enough Tebaldo. There is a slightly dry quality to his tone and he doesn’t do much in terms of styling but he is never less than acceptable. For a superior account of Tebaldo’s music one could turn to Benjamin Bernheim’s elegant singing on a rival DVD from Zurich on the Accentus label review. Capellio, Giulietta’s father is given an imposing performance by Rubén Amoretti. His bass is strong and solid with an appropriately sepulchral aspect to his tone. His contribution is my choice for the most fearsome Cappellio available. That leaves Luca Dall’Amico’s Lorenzo as the odd man out. Although he acts his part relatively well Dall’Amico’s voice is just not developed enough to meet Bellini’s music, demanding as it is of smooth vocal lines and nuances of expression.
For better or worse the success of this opera rests with the performances of the two principal singers. Sonia Ganassi is of a decidedly matronly appearance for the teenage Romeo, a fact only emphasized by the High-definition cameras. Vocally her mezzo has a fine sheen to it, especially in the upper register where her tone could be described as glowing. However, her account of “Deh! tu, bell'anima” lacks some control of line when compared to other singers like Agnes Baltsa and Jennifer Larmore. Other than that one aria, Ganasssi gives a fine performance of Romeo. Jessica Pratt’s Giulietta is notable for her polished acting. Her every gesture is in tune with the heroine’s increasingly desperate situation. Her concentration on her character doesn’t lag for an instant, as witnessed her performance of the long opening recitative before “Oh! Quante volte”, in which she presents a singularly riveting, three-dimensional portrait. Platt’s voice is in splendid shape on this occasion, her singing is poised and the tone is always brightly expressive. There is little of the uneven vocal production which sometimes affects her singing. Both stars’ voices meld quite beautifully in their duets and leave nothing to be desired some of Bellini’s most ravishing music.
The chorus and orchestra are in excellent form and respond beautifully to the energetic baton of Omer Meir Wellber. He offers plenty of rhythmic drive but rarely did I sense that the music was rushed, as is so often the case in recent performance practice of early 19th
century operas. The production has some incredibly beautiful costumes from
the late Renaissance period and the High-definition camera work does real
justice to that aspect of the production. My first copy of this Blu-ray had
recurrent fluctuations or inconsistencies of the PCM soundtrack which made
for some very bumpy listening. A second copy provided by Naxos has no such
issues, so it would seem there are a few bad copies around.
Mike Parr
Production Staff
Alessandro Camera – Set Designer
Carla Ricotti– Costume Designer
Fabio Barrein – Lighting Designer
Claudio Marino Moretti - Chorus Master
Stéphane Vérité– Video Director
Video Details
Filmed in HD - Mastered from an HD source
Picture format: 1080i, 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo
Region Code A, B, C
Sung in Italian, with subtitles in Italian, English, German, French, Japanese, Korean
