Concert
Grand Operatic Concert
Aurora Opera House
The operatic concert is an odd beast. Heroes and villains rub dinner-jacketed shoulders like Casino croupiers during their work breaks.
...there certainly was much to focus on and enjoy...- Tony Cassar Darien
The women, clutching their ball-gowns, zigzag their way among the waiting seated musicians, doing their utmost not to knock down the music stands.
And with the orchestra excavated from its opera-house pit, and occupying the whole length and breadth of the boards, with the conductor in full view of the audience, the message is in stark black and white: This is TMI: The music itself.
With the singers performing downstage of the orchestra, bringing the action closer to the audience, even greater emphasis is placed on the musical expression. And rather than concentrating on sets, costumes and choreography, as is done in the fully-fledged operas, during the operatic concert performance, the audience is more likely to focus and enjoy the music. 3 And there certainly was much to focus on and enjoy during the Grand Operatic Concert organised by the Classique Foundation last Saturday.
The live musical theatre has always been fraught with that kind of danger which is always lurking in the shadows much like the renowned Phantom of the Opera.
In a concert version, not very many singers manage to overcome the tight-fitting cummerbund and convey a sense of drama. Shorn of his theatrical costumes, veteran tenor Francesco Anile, making his third appearance on the Gozitan stage, was perceived as having been reduced to mortal proportions and thus had to rely on his voice alone.
His instrument has the power and the high notes that make it obvious as to why he is in constant demand to perform certain roles. His Vesti la giubba from Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci offered that kind of special thrill that is difficult to resist.
Murderous clowns never sounded so good, while his Loris’s act two aria, the familiar Amor ti vieta, which has been instrumental in dubbing Fedora, a one-tune-opera, commanded all the vocal colour which the audience found to its liking. Both arias featured in the second part of the concert.
Earlier on, Mr Anile’s clear full tone at times sounded somewhat strained when he sung Don Alvaro’s long recitative and aria Oh, tu che in seno agli angeli, from Verdi’s La Forza del Destino and again in the Flower Song, Don José’s great second-act aria in Bizet’s Carmen, La fleur que tu m’avais jetee. But when it came to his duets with the soprano, especially when he reprised his Turiddu’s role with which he made his La Scala debut in February of this year, Mr Anile reached inside himself and found what was necessary to convey this tragic Sicilian. His Turiddu was virile and nuanced, with plenty of voice; and his timing, which could get thrown off easily, was flawless.
Soprano Alessandra Rezza stepped into the shoes of the originally contracted Maria Pia Piscitelli less than a week before the concert after the latter singer was indisposed. She reveals a voice which is ringingly firm on the high notes, has a strong body of sound in the middle register and employs a chest resonance on the lower notes. However, there is occasionally a noticeable break as she passes from one register to the other.
This was evident in Bellini’s Casta Diva, one of the best examples of the bel canto style of singing where the top register sounded squally rather than serene.
However, Ms Rezza more than made up for this slip up in her other arias namely, the Sola… perduta, perduta, abbandonata from Manon Lescaut and Tacea la notte placida, Leonora’s confession to her confidante in Verdi’s Il Trovatore. Here her voice soared with clarity, combining expression and colouration from which emerged the correct characterisation.
The solid contribution of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra and the idiomatic conducting of Mro Joseph Debrincat, together with the excellent acoustics of the Aurora opera house, made this event a wholly recommendable experience for the audience, including the many Maltese patrons who had purposely crossed over to Gozo for their beloved TMI treatment.