LUCREZIA BORGIA in Bergamo – Review by William Fratti – The work was performed according to the new critical edition edited by Roger Parker and Rosie Ward –
Bergamo, 24 November 2019 –
One of Gaetano Donizetti's most discussed and historically represented dramas, Lucrezia Borgia is the third title of the Bergamo festival, performed according to the new critical edition edited by Roger Parker and Rosie Ward.
Among the numerous versions of the opera, almost all documented, the musical director Riccardo Frizza opts for the one performed at the Théâtre Italien in Paris in 1840, with the restoration of the duet between Gennaro and Orsini. Frizza leads the talented Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra with an elegant gesture, good balance in dynamics and great respect for the voices on stage. The performance of the Choir of the Municipal Theater of Piacenza prepared by Corrado Casati was commendable, especially in the intense finale of the prologue and in the duet between Rustighello and Astolfo.
Carmela Remigio offers a performance of Lucrezia from the height of her professionalism as a bel canto singer, which finds its peak in diction and phrasing, with a rendering of the character perfectly in line with the idea of direction. Vocally we find the vigor of the accents that he also expressed in Anne Boleyn, but unfortunately we also find the somewhat empty and veiled centers that were heard in Mary Stuart's Elizabeth.
Xabier Anduaga, gifted with an astonishing sunny timbre, performs the role of Gennaro well above expectations. The beauty, the brightness and the brilliance of his voice had already been noticed previously, but on this occasion it is possible to affirm that the young tenor has gold in his mouth. It is to be hoped that unscrupulous agents and foolish or incompetent artistic directors will not ruin him by offering him the wrong roles too quickly, with false promises that would damage him, in favor only of visibility and the pockets of those who would put him in difficult conditions.
Marko Mimica is an excellent Duke, with a velvety tone, with nuances and facets in the rendering of an interesting character, who showcases the anger of a man in love, but jealous and disappointed, rather than a ruthless perfidious person who only wants to safeguard his property .
Varduhi Abrahamyan is a luxury Maffio. His voluminous and velvety vocality is endowed with body, depth and is enriched by a good use of agility and colors.
Very good also for the long group of supporting actors, generally of good quality and homogeneous with each other, with Manuel Pierattelli's Liverotto, Alex Martini's Gazella, Roberto Maietta's Petrucci, Daniele Lettieri's Vitellozzo, Rocco Cavalluzzi's Gubetta and particular praise for the excellent Edoardo Milletti as Rustighello and Federico Benetti as Astolfo.
Positive notes also for Andrea Bernard's show, which makes use of rather clear symbols and symbolism connected to Lucrezia's stolen motherhood, also introducing the historical realism of her father Rodrigo (who would have been preferred played by an older extra having to impersonate a sixty-six year old) which makes her take away her illegitimate son. Other emblems appear more obscure and seem to recall some sort of Dante's circle. However, it is very effective, coherent, with careful movements and gestures, decidedly current in the theme of saving motherhood and women crushed by chauvinist society.
Alberto Beltrame's scenes, enriched by Marco Alba's lights, are very simple but rather suggestive and effective, however with the big flaw of being fully visible only from the audience, while the upper floors lose the beautiful play of the environment created by golden ceiling. Elena Beccaro's costumes are very well suited to the show, recalling Renaissance fashion with some dark additions, in addition to the hint of yellow – perhaps a symbol of salvation or purification – of Gennaro's jacket and Lucrezia's dress.
William Fratti
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