Colorful Opera Today sparkles with neon letters from the facade of the Opera House. And indeed: on Tuesday evening, the new “Barbiere di Siviglia” was shown in the ring – directed by comic specialist Herbert Fritsch, which uses colors and hairstyles only as props. The group’s pure comedic art is tickled, and Rossini’s energetic and colorful sound comes from the hole in the debut of conductor Michel Mariotti. Great calm, lots of hit songs, colorful opera.
Playing and singing is what is restricted by Herbert Fritsch, who has achieved something of a cult for his oddly expressive bodily products. The fact that the German actor for a long time does not distinguish between spoken and musical theater and knows how to discover the very individual comedians in each person on the stage, whether it is a miso coloratura or an evil bass, fits him perfectly with Rossini’s “comedy”. He lets the musical slingshot with the simple fancy plot play out in a stunning closet made of colorful walls that never stand still – glowing and somewhat meaningless, Dadi’s twist on the kaleidoscope, just like that. Against this backdrop, the trend unfolds in a zone between well-thought-out exaggeration and well-humored nonsense—and it seems to have no intention of explanation—or even: to be meaningful.
Already early in the evening, the audience of the premiere allowed to seduce Etienne Dubuis in the title role, a cheerful, cheeky, absurd, moderate, funny figaro in every emotion and with the best vocals. There was also a mat of momentary applause for the self-declared Juan Diego Flores, who also knew how to score points away from ridiculous disguises and who, shortly after starting the run, rose to the level of the usual tenor. Like Rosina, Vasilisa Berzanskaya celebrated her ring debut and, with a rather restrained performance, performed a massive but precisely defined miso, which one would not necessarily attribute to Rosina, but would like to hear it again. With the resonant and dangerous Eldar Abderrazakov as the cheerful Basilio, there was a sudden surprise, as was the case with Paolo Bordoni, who dressed up Bartolo as the grotesque, sad, sinister lyrical clown.
In addition to the troupe of singers, Ruth Brauer Kvam also debuted, in Vienna, of course, well known from the stage, here as the Maid of Ambrogio with an expressive commentary on the event, an avatar that is supposed to help the audience to watch and the heroes express their feelings, as well as by Squad Leader Michele Mariotti. The Italian, who will take over as Rome’s director of music starting next season, is Rossini’s connoisseur and connoisseur, tapping the rhythm into the recitations in indescribably grotesque and creating a very lively experience with the State Opera Orchestra, full of color and between wood, strings and vocals amazingly balanced. In recent boos, there were also a few boos when making, but especially when taking out. Maybe they made it too colorful for them.
(Service – “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” by Gioachino Rossini. Music director: Michele Mariotti, production and stage design: Herbert Fritsch. With Juan Diego Flores, Paolo Bordoni, Vasilisa Berzanskaya, Eldar Abdrazakov, Etienne Dupuy, Ruth Brauer-Kvam. Next dates on October 1, 4, 7, 10 and 14)