February 28, 2004: I Puritani in Vienna

2004-02-28 I Puritani (Bellini), Wiener Staatsoper

Lord Gualtiero Valton = Goran Simic
Sir Giorgio = Alastair Miles
Lord Arturo Talbot = Joseph Calleja
Sir Riccardo Forth = Manuel Lanza
Sir Bruno Roberton = Benedikt Kobel
Enriquetta di Francia = Caitlin Hulcup
Elvira = Stefania Bonfadelli

Stefan Soltesz, conductor



I PURITANI
(Vincenzo Bellini)
WIEDERAUFNAHME
(36. Aufführung in dieser Inszenierung)

Inszenierung: John Dew
Bühnenbild: Heinz Balthes
Kostüme: José Manuel Vazquez
Chorleitung: Ernst Dunshirn

After Signierstunde Carreras in Karajan Center it is time to see if my photos are ready. They are not. Back to the hotel to relax before the opera. I decide that I have time to go to Westbahnhof and to use the Internet café there, I do so. Then suddenly little time left. Unfortunately my irregularly eating have made my stomach uneasy. Luckily the Opera Toilette is there, and at the sound of Strauss I get "ready" for the opera. Hungry, feeling a bit sick and tired. But when I sit down and opera starts... the opera I Puritani by Vincenzo Bellini... then I don't feel so sick and tired. I can enjoy it.

I saw this opera earlier with Gruberova as Elvira. I was disappointed when I heard that she was ill. Stefania Bonfadelli replaced her. Last time I saw Bonfadelli was as Lucia di Lammermoor. But this time I really was positively attracted to her voice. This time I heard this warm voice and she was adorable. After just a few moments I did not miss Gruberova at all. Joseph Calleja, the young Maltese tenor (only 24) was wonderful as Arturo. The music of Bellini also was a revelation to me.

And I must tell of the impact that the subtitling that we got in the Wiener Staatsoper. I sat there and just decided not to read the synopsis of the opera. Last time I saw Puritani I bought a Libretti and sat desperately reading it in the pauses. But now relaxed and just see the history evolve before my very eyes. It meant that I did not know the ending of the opera. At the beginning I did not know who was singing but that cleared up. Wonderful singing. MAGIC.

Colored light. I can understand the Red color when the king of England is beheaded, all the statues also beheaded with heads on one side of the stage, the bodies in the rear of the stage. Blood.
Orange. When Arturo and Elvira meets in the forest. I would have thought Green was better. There were other colors in the production, purple... But really it seemed often superficial. But the production was otherwise very good.

BRAVA!! BRAVO !! Bravissimo!!

OD Travel + Photos

June 10, 2002: Lucia di Lammermoor in Vienna

2002-06-10 Lucia di Lammermoor (G. Donizetti), Wiener Staatsoper

Enrico = Manuel Lanza
Lucia = Stefania Bonfadelli
Edgardo = Tito Beltran
Arturo = John Nuzzo
Raimondo = Dan Paul Dumitrescn
Alisa = Florina Carmen
Normanno = Cosmin Ifrim

Frédéric Chaslin, conductor



Wiener Staatsoper
montag, 10. juni 2002
129. Aufführung in dieser Inszenierung

Lucia di Lammermoor
Tragische Oper
Dichtung nach Walter Scott
von Salvatore Cammarano
Musik von Gaetano Donizetti

Musikalische Leitung Frédéric Chaslin
Inszenierung Boleslaw Barlog
Bühnenbild Pantelis Dessyllas
KostümeSilvia Strahammer
Chorleitung Ernst Dunshirn
,

-.
Ort der Handlung Schloß und Park von Ravenswood in Schottland Zeit Ende des 16 Jahrhunderts
Orchester und Chor der Wiener Staatsoper
" Stipendiat des Herbert von Karajan Centrums

TITO BELTRAN as Edgardo
Stefania Bonfadelli as LUCIA

Last time I saw it in Vienna State Opera was with Edita Gruberova as Lucia, she was just amazing: vocally and acting and in seeming so young. This time with a young soprano, wonderful voice and acting skills. Was Bonfadelli better then Gruberova? Different, but not better. The balance was better in Gruberova´ performance, in a mad scene that was not so exaggerated, but more chilling because of that. And in the beginning of the opera, when she tells of the ghost she saw and her love of Edgardo, much more adorable and winning and the young soprano. The duet with her brother, much better acting and singing. My heart did not beat so much for this Lucia, even though she has a very rich soprano voice, a fullbodied voice, and yet the top notes was sometimes a rather unpleasant shock.

Tito Beltran, was a really wonderful Edgardo, youthful and shining. Getting better all through the evening. The last scene really was a shower of tears for me. So emotional, hard not to start crying for real.

What could have made this evening better: a better Enrico. Manuel Lanza was weak this evening. Even the showstoppers that Enrico have was not a highlight. It was impossible for Stefania Bonfadelli to be better in the scene Lucia/Enrico, because of her weak partner. And in the Wolfrag-scene between Edgardo/Enrico, without a strong partner it was not possible to make this a real highlight, even for TITO BELTRAN

OD Travel

May 15, 1999: L'Elisir d'Amore in Vienna

1999-05-15 L'Elisir d'amore (G.Donizetti), Wiener Staatsoper

Adina = Ana Maria Martinez
Nemorino = Ramon Vargas
Belcore = Manuel Lanza
Dulcamara = Alfonso Antoniozzi
Giannetta = Uta Schwabe

Anton Guadagno, conductor

Samstag, 15. Mai 1999 STAATSOPER
126. Aufführung in dieser Inszenierung
L 'Elisir d'Amore
Komische Oper in zwei Akten
vonFelice Romani
MusikGaetano Donizetti

Dirigent Anton Guadagno
Nach einer Inszenierung vonOtto Schenk
Bühnenbild und Kostüme
nach Entwürfen
für die Aufführung im
Theater an der Wien 1973 von Jürgen Rose
Chorleitung Ernst Dunshirn


Ein Trompeter Konrad Monsberger
Diener des Dulcamara Michael Burggasser
Landleute und Soldaten
Bühnenorchester der Österreichischen Bundestheater

Why not see one of the most popular operas? It is exciting to see familiar operas, maybe just for enjoyment, for making a comparison against what your mind told you this opera should be or other productions of the same opera. Opera critics: the opera as a whole or just the top notes, never mind the rest. I detest top notes when it is just put there no connection to the drama. When the top notes gives the dramatic key to the opera, telling the truth there and them, then I embrace it.

I remember the cries: "Bravo, Ramon!!" And he was worth those cries. Ana Maria Martinez, she not as great as Isabel Rey was in Opernhaus Zurich. But the production was splendid. Loved the scenography. Ramon Vargas was a sympathetic Nemorino. I remember the chorus. The individuality of the chorus. Making it real.
BRAVO, RAMON!!

OD Travel