NEW YEAR'S EVE CONCERT at the Fenice in Venice – Review by Natalia Dantas – The Sierra has something to do with Verdi, of course! –
Social media is now a hotbed of opinions and above all of commentators. One look at Twitter, in particular, and a world opens up. But when the critic, who has recently lifted his back from the red seat in the stalls of the Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice at the end of the 2019 New Year's concert, happens to read about the second part of the concert in question, broadcast by Rai on the first of the year, a sentence like: “But what does the Sierra have to do with Verdi?”, then it is not certain that he will take it philosophically.
The writer does not ignore it and therefore objects here to the unfortunate "New Year's Eve critic", that he did not see the above concert, repeated in the lagoon city since December 29th, live and therefore did not understand Nothing. The Sierra has something to do with Verdi, of course!
We are talking about the American soprano Nadine Sierra, emerging star of international opera and prima donna for the second time at the concert at the beginning of the year in Venice. Sierra, also gifted with a rare attractiveness, emerged at La Scala with Verdi's Gilda: many remember her triumph in 2016 alongside the elderly Rigoletto Leo Nucci. And the beautiful singer, today, in the second part of the Venetian concert, dedicated to the Opera, revived, coincidentally, "Caro nome", that is, the strong piece that brought her to the attention of the public and national and international critics. But one would still object to the unfortunate "New Year's critic" that in Venice a Sierra/Violetta was also heard which promises much more than in Rigoletto. Opera voices are always evolving, and gifted ones in particular are. AND’ therefore also the case of Nadine, who sang a “Sempre libera” which, listened to in perspective, made Gilda four. Ergo: long live Sierra Verdi and we hope to hear (and see) her soon supporting the entire role of La Traviata. Then when she finds her "right" vocality, above all smoothing out some roughness of modulation and refining the style, and she lets go of that adorable air of a big American girl, we will hear some beautiful things. AND’ a voice that probably evolves towards the lyrical-dramatic, while maintaining high notes and strings. Time will give an answer. In the meantime, those who witnessed his performance live could only applaud the woman who conducted the entire second part of the concert.
The tenor Francesco Meli, in fact, was probably not in excellent vocal shape and was also affected by the slow tempos that Director Myung-Wun Chung imposed on him, in particular in Donizetti's "Una furtiva lagrima". The Genoese artist, known above all for his Italian bel canto, instead presented French-style masses of voice in the Elixir and was probably penalized by the length of the wind instruments imposed on him by Maestro Chung; subsequently he also found himself slightly in part in a Cavaradossi that is not usual for him.
For his part, Maestro Chung, Unicef ambassador and, according to him above all as such, present in Venice for the second time to conduct the New Year's Eve concert, publicly declared himself not guilty of the choice of the program which, on reflection, was not suitable for nothing coherent in the part dedicated to the Opera, which was broadcast on Rai on New Year's Day.
The opening with the Piccoli Cantori Veneziani in the blue Unicef t-shirt, directed by Diana D'Alessio, with “Here they are, here is the quadrille” beginning of the fourth act of Carmen, in fact, he then mixed Bizet with the aforementioned Verdi and with other Verdi: from the Brilliant Waltz orchestrated by Nino Rota for Visconti's Il Gattopardo, to the choirs entrusted to the excellent choral team of the Teatro La Fenice directed by Claudio Marino Moretti: “Va pensiero” from Nabucco and “Fire of joy” from Otello. And here M° Chung aroused in the writer distant memories of an Otello he conducted at the Opéra Bastille, anno domini 1990, with the dazzling Desdemona by Angela Georghiu. A young Chung, who since then, when he was artistic director of the Parisian theater, has seen a lot of water flow under the bridges and who, probably, with a completely oriental ascetic imperturbability, still lets it flow abundantly even under those of the lagoon of Venice.
So much so that, together with all this varied Verdi, we also found an unusual Puccini on the program, with the quartet from La Rondine “Bevo al tuo fresco grin”, which made use of the contribution of the soprano Serena Gamberoni and the tenor Matteo Lippi, even reaching the finale of Alfano from Turandot. Above all the Puccini/non Puccini, performed in the name of a program that had been declared by Chung himself to be centered on "love", musically held up poorly, to tell the truth, until the inevitable conclusion, again by Verdi, with Brindisi da La Traviata.
This is why, with a program like this, the pleasure of listening to Sierra made up the second half of the concert, it would be reiterated to the "New Year's critic" mentioned above, together, in truth, with the first part, symphonic and intended only for the public present in the room, entirely dedicated to Symphony No. 7 in A major op. 92 by Beethoven.
Here M° Chung was happy to give effect to his conducting vocation, implementing wise solemn dynamics, brilliant colors, timbric refinements, with a beautiful, honest orchestra of tradition like that of the Gran Teatro La Fenice at his disposal. And the symphony, which preceded everything that has been written about so far, was successful in all its splendor.
Natalia Dantas
PHOTOS © Michele Crosera