(Salzburg, Austria) In mid-afternoon, the Grosses Festspielhaus was taken over by a nightingale, and then a blind princess.
The former came in the form of Stravinsky's Le Rossignol, and the later was Tchaikovsky's Iolanta with Salzburg favourite Anna Netrebko in the title role. Both works were given as concert stagings.
But first things first. Ivor Bolton is not Riccardo Muti, and the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg is not the Vienna Philharmonic. And of course, Stravinsky is not Verdi.
Now that we've got that out of the way, Julia Novikova was a stirling nightingale, and her Russian comrade Julia Lezhneva was a supple Cook. The remainder of the cast were young singers who are still in the blossoming stage: Antonio Poli (Fisherman), Andreo Bondarenko (The Chinese Emperor), Andrè Schuen (Chamberlain), Yuri Vorobiev (Bonze), Maria Radner (Death). There were also five vocalists from the festival's 2011 Singer's Project picking up valuable experience in small roles.
After intermission, La Netrebko took over and had the audience in the palm of her hands the moment she walked out on stage in her majestic white concert gown.
For this performance, she was reunited with Piotr Beczala as Count Vaudémont, the Polish tenor who sang opposite her in last summer's Roméo et Juliette by Gounod. La Netrebko geared her entire performance to climaxing in the duet with Beczala, the 1940 version of the revised libretto by Y. Yepaneshnikov being used. Here, her voice was at its fullest, leaving Beczala in the dust so to speak.
Canadian-American bass John Relyea was a hardy King René, though he always sang out to the audience, and rarely addressed Netrebko who played his daughter.
Russian bass Evgeny Nikitin was a downright respectable looking Ibn-Hakia.
Alexey Markov thrilled the audience with his singing of Robert.
The remaining minor roles were taken by singers who appeared in the first half: Poli (Alméric), Vorobiev (Bertrand), Radner (Marta), Lezhneva (Brigitta), plus Rachel Frankel (Laura).
Bolton & Co. were at their most impassioned in the Rose Scene, playing Tchaikovsky as he ought to be played: with your heart pulsating on your sleeve.
At the end, the audience did something rare in Salzburg: they gave the performers a standing ovation. But when you think about it, with ticket prices ranging from €22 to €300, they're welcome to stand and applaud for ten minutes if they so prefer.
Photo by Leonard Turnevicius: The cast of Iolanta in the Grosses Festspielhaus.
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