PAGLIACCI The short opera by Ruggiero Leoncavallo
Rewiew by Lukas Franceschini
Verona, 2 February 2017
The short work Pagliacci by Ruggiero Leoncavallo, a prologue and two acts seventy minutes overall, is the second title proposed by the Arena Foundation for the opera season at the Philharmonic Theater.
The season started again in December with Turandot, after two months of suspension and the new superintendent. The economic problems are not solved but a path is being sought that will be long and tiring, all in the total indifference of the city and civil society considering that the corps de ballet has been definitively liquidated and abolished. The project to cover the amphitheater sponsored for one hundred and twenty thousand euros by a well-known international Veronese company is more newsworthy, without bad faith the loan offers more commercial visibility to the company than a real utility and possible realization.
In this moment of economic hardship, Pagliacci "fa sera", as they say, without matching it with another short work. If it was not possible to program a diptych, for example symphonic pieces could have been performed in the first part or other solutions, since tickets were not at a reduced price.
The show was the one already presented in Verona a few years ago and signed by Franco Zeffirelli, direction and sets, who especially in his last part of his career used an excess of extras in all his creations. The setting is ideal: a degraded suburb of any provincial city, but it clashes with the sense of the story set in a small village. We therefore have a schizophrenic insertion of characters that annoy not a little: commoners, children, teenagers, prostitutes, transvestites, painters, police forces, jugglers, tightrope walkers and so on and so forth. Definitely too much, so as to create a sense of bewilderment in the viewer. The arrival of the company of circus-protagonists resembles the arrival of a Circus Orfei at its peak, when instead they would be four acrobats wandering around third-rate squares. All this decisively removes the dramatic aspect of the work, which sees the mature Canio, a man basically good but blinded by jealousy, who turns into a murderer. There recovery curated by Stefano Trespidi seems to have pressed his hand even more on these excesses, and i costumes by Raimonda Caetani contribute not a little to an excessive and out of place atmosphere, which overall disturbs and diverts attention not only from the music. Few dramatic ideas, so much confusion, a show that could very well go into the attic.
The director Valerio Galli, which I was hearing for the first time, was an interesting and pleasant acquaintance. The tempos are kept on an excellent balance of sonorities, very varied in the nuances and colors of which he is able to grasp the clear meaning in the various moments of the work. Good conductor in keeping together the choir, soloists and orchestra, which responds very punctually and demonstrating the professionalism we know. A wand that I hope to hear from other repertoires soon.
The choir of the Arena di Verona, instructed by Vito Lombardi, has carved out a particular success deserved for its precision and safety, an applause also goes to the white voices choir A.Li.Ve directed by Paolo Facincani for the excellent professionalism and theatrical verve demonstrated.
The cast is also very satisfying. Rubens Pelizzari showed solid preparation and we had a Canio very generous and interpreter, perhaps with some heated theatricality, the vocal line is sufficiently refined and overcomes all obstacles with good musicality.
Excellent the Nedda by Valeria Sepe, a soprano who, in addition to the beautiful theatrical figure, sports a very refined lyrical voice, precious in the accent and in the phrasing and with a relevant high register.
Elia Fabbian, Tonio, offers a very well done performance in intention and interpretation, sometimes trying to exaggerate and could do without it, because his phrasing is eloquent, even if in some passages it is not always precise.
Very good Alessio Verna, Silvio Nedda's lover, particularly effective in opera singing, in the love duet shows off sensuality through a well-set and soft voice, with beautiful colors.
Bravo too Francesco Pittari, Beppe, very precise in the part and vocally refined which has its glorious moment in the famous serenade of the II act.
The show was very popular with the public, numerous even at the last performance we witnessed, who, in addition to appreciating all the confusion on the stage, bestowed a warm and successful performance on the whole company.
Lukas Franceschini
PHOTOS © Ennevi – Arena of Verona