Review: THE MAGIC FLUTE at the Teatro Regio in Turin, Die Zauberflöte by Mozart, directed by Asher Fisch, with Markus Werba Papageno.
By Natalia DiBartolo © DiBartolocritic –
They do no good The Magic Flute the Mozart neither pompous Germanic afflatus, nor too much fairy-tale lightness: it is a masterpiece of inscrutable depth, which mixes the Singspiel with the serious Opera. The execution of the 16 maggio 2017 al Royal Theater of Turin, presented with the title in Italian, “The magic flute”, it seems to me that in this sense he came close to perfection.
This perfection, according to my personal parameters, is attested in my memory al far 1992 at the Massimo Bellini theater in Catania, with the late Spiros Argiris on the podium: it was my "first" Magic Flute, after having sipped an infinite number of them in complete boredom. Probably not that the great Argiris had fully captured Mozart's perfection, but I think he came very close.
The same has been able to do, perhaps with greater knowledge of the facts of the Teutonic school, the M° Asher Fisch, in Turin. Specialist in the late-romantic repertoire of German matrix, M° Fisch, will be back on May 31st next. to direct theRoyal Theater Orchestra for a concert dedicated to Richard Strauss; which says it all about her Mozart competence. From the enthusiasm in the sparkling overture, to the full and theatrical but delicate sound, which followed the sound of the German language in its dynamics, his conducting of Mozart's Singspiel was textbook. Firm pulse, brilliant tempos, light when needed, serious when the work veers towards the serious, he fully grasped the lesson of his master, the great Daniel Barenboim, proving to be an "artisan" in the tests, but "king" on the podium. The magnificent orchestra of the Regio seemed galvanized. Of course! When on the podium there are those who know what they have to direct, even the professors are motivated; and he feels.
Alchemy, then, becomes perfect when one unites such a direction crowd of first-rate interpreters: this also happened. A sound mix between pit and stage that kept the spectators wide awake and active, making them applaud many and many times in the open scene and give an ovation at the end to all the performers.
To begin talking about the performers, in fact, one is spoiled for choice, but I find that the absolute protagonist on the Turin stage was the Papageno at Markus Werba. Yet another Papageno by an artist who has made it the leitmotif of his career, but who is now sipping it, compared to other roles in a repertoire that has become vast, promising a future one at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. In Turin Werba gave proof of "being" Papageno. Impressive vocal competence, delivery of the part, fluency and stage mastery, in one directed by Roberto Andò, skilfully taken up by Riccardino Massa, which also led him to interact with the public, winking at the "Barolo", sitting on the lap of a front row spectator, up to embracing the Maestro as he descended into the mystical gulf. It was he himself, then, who played the flute and also the glockenspiel, which gives the unmistakable silvery sounds that underline the character's character.
Alongside Werba and notable for center and color, the Her name is Ekaterina Bakanova; very pleasant and well issued the Tamino by Antonio Poli; more casual scenically than vocally Papagena by Elizabeth Breuer; excellent the Sarastro by Antonio Di Matteo; but we obviously come to the queen of the night, the Queen of the Night, the tremendous Starflame.
In Turin, the cruel and very severe Mutter, who does not fall however in the finale among "the bad guys", all pardoned in this production, was the soprano Olga Pudova. Remarkable, there's no denying it: the part is very difficult, you know. The high F was all there and not only touched, but also turned. Good pronunciation, well defined agility, vocalization however preceded in the most difficult moments by the silent emission of the breath. Lucia Aliberti was its teacher. But that's not necessarily a good solution…Does it safeguard the strings and deliver the sound without "bumps"? Maybe, but it's not pretty and I personally don't find it very elegant either. Pudova's performance, however, was absolutely appreciable and appreciated by the applauding audience. Her instrument is of very good quality and the soprano knows how to use it with full knowledge of the facts. Perhaps the first scene of "Oh don't tremble, my dear son" the first act, that the next one, the famous one of “Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen”, in the second act. The first scene of the queen is less known, but equally difficult and Pudova deserves credit for having rendered it with pregnant vocality and stage presence.
All the rest of the cast was top notch, including the three children, educated, like the magnificent Royal ChoirDomenico Claudio Fenoglio.
Intelligent and engaging, therefore, the production of the aforementioned Roberto Andò and Riccardino Massa, with the scenes and lights by Giovanni Carluccio and imaginative costumes by Nanà Cecchi. Traditional, a bit’ dreamlike, fable-like, as mentioned earlier, it made the characters interact with the audience and saw all the performers rush into the audience in the end. She was also well studied in the esoteric references to ancient Egypt that are by Sarastro and underlie a whole philosophy on which rivers of ink have been scattered, but which here would be a source of boredom for the reader to underline.
On the other hand, it is underlined how ultimately the Mozart evening in Turin was of a high standard in every respect and that Amadeus from up there will certainly be pleased.
Natalia DiBartolo © DiBartolocritic
PHOTOS © Ramella&Giannese – Edward Piva