Bellini: I Puritani
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Movie Reviews of Bellini: I Puritani
Movie Review: Brava Netrebko
Summary: 5 Stars
Anna Nebtrebko is, by far, the finest dramatic soprano in opera today & this DVD is an excellent opportunity to learn why.Movie Review: I Puritani
Summary: 5 Stars
I saw this opera live from the Met in January 2007 at the Cineplex Theatre in Brossard Canada. An excellent performance.Movie Review: Voice, voice, voice.
Summary: 4 Stars
Real estate agents like to say "Location, location. location" not knowing that they are parroting what Rossini said about opera "Voice, voice, voice". Now I learn that the original formulation was "Delivery, delivery, delivery". Demosthenes said it about oratory. Let's stick with Rossini's answer here.
How are the voices?
Netrebko has an absolutely gorgeous voice. She is a real pleasure to listen to - as long as the music isn't too fast. She is a lyric not a coloratura. So on the long sinuous phrases she sounds great but on those tricky little notes she just isn't quite agile enough. Her voice sounds rather more slowly than that of a real coloratura. A singer with a voice that sounds rapidly will be able to sing a turn or other ornament in a way that a standard singer just can't. A real coloratura like Diana Damrau would just whip therough all those passages where Nebtrko slows down and articulates each note separately. I've seen Puritani live twice with Sutherland and Sills. Netrebko is a very fine singer whose basic voice is at least as good as their's but its not the kind of voice that usually sings this music.
Cutler has approximately the right kind of voice. This was originally a Rubini part. It was probably done with some kind of falsetto high notes. Rubini interpolated an F above High C when he sang it in Palermo. That note has been called the "Palermo F" ever since. About the same time as Rubini, Donzelli and Duprez had begun to sing the high notes "from the chest". That's the way we are used to hearing opera tenors today. Unfortunately extremely high roles like Arturo are almost impossible to sing from the chest. For example on Sutherland's second recording of Puritani, Luciano Pavarotti sings the High F in a full unmixed falsetto. It is startling. We have the regular lucious full blooded Pavarotti lyric voice until we get to the F where it sounds like they brought in some whimpy countertenor. The young di Stefano has an even more beautiful voice than Pavarotti, but much more trouble with the very top. He doesn't try the F. Most often Arturo is sung by by high note specialists like Gregory Kunde, Pierre Duval, or Juan Suarez. The only major mainstream tenor who regularly did Arturo on stage was Alfredo Kraus. I heard him - alas he was spread on top. Many high note specialists have unattractive voices or limited musicality. Cutler is in a way the worst of both worlds. He has an unattractive voice and he has trouble with the high notes. He doen't even try for the F. He has enough problems with the C.
John Relyea simply doesn't have have a very attractive voice. On the two Sutherland records she has Nicolai Ghauirov and Ezio Flagello both of whom are fabulous. Relyea's voice is kind of rough and gritty when you want sonorous and creamy. Franco Vassalo is better than Relyea but it still isn't particularly competitive. The best baritones in the world have sung this part. That said he does have decent flexibility and excellent high notes. As you might expect the great Riccardo-Giorgio duet isn't very good.
What about the orchestra? Who cares. Puritani is famous for its bel canto singers. The originators of the four major roles came to be called the "Puritani Quartet" - Grisi, Rubini, Taburini, and Lablache. We remember their names almost two centuries later. I'm trying right now to forget Cutler and Relyea.
Movie Review: "Good, But Not Great"
Summary: 4 Stars
Star singer Anna Netrebko has a beautiful lyric soprano voice and is a pleasing actress. What she is not, however, is prodigiously gifted with coloratura skills. In this production of Bellini's masterpiece, she is enchanting to listen to and watch as long as one is prepared to ignore smudged fioriture, the absence of true trills, and the presence of scooped topmost notes. Whether she could benefit from more schooling, should she choose to continue in this repertoire, is an open question.
"I Puritani," was written for four spectacular singers, but, Netrebko apart, the Met has not cast this production from particular strength. Eric Cutler in the nearly impossible role of Arturo is a commanding figure, though he is undermined by an unpleasing, frequently nasal vocal production. True, he hits his notes, but his voice is not markedly beautiful. Similarly, John Relyea looks his part, but his rather gravelly voice gets in the way of any memorable impact. As Riccardo, Franco Vassalo is competent, but also in no way memorable. In sum, this production, for all the raves it has received, is hardly the night of four supreme stars expected in performances of this opera.
Further, the camera locations for this DVD performance are sometimes questionable. We, the viewers, are at moments in the wings or seemingly onstage with the singers, facing the conductor and looking out at the house, for no discernible purpose, except perhaps to give the bored among us the illusion of some few minutes of personal operatic fame. Even worse are the backstage visits conducted by Renee Fleming in Barbara Walters mode, asking dumb, unnecessary questions. The appeal here, I suspect, is the same as the one to diners in a fancy restaurant who, it is thought, like to watch the chef through a window open to the kitchen, or even worse cooking at their tableside. The idea that the production and stars should remain onstage and the audience in its seats probably was thought too non-interactive for contemporary multitaskers.
On the other hand, valuable among the special features of the DVD is the relevant between-scene commentary from the broadcast booth (thank God!) with the witty and charming Beverly Sills who shares her insights about this opera along with anecdotes of her own performances in it. Sills' remarks and the beauty of Netrebko's lyric singing, I'd argue, are the endearing features of this otherwise ordinary DVD.
Movie Review: Beautiful Bellini; charismatic Netrebko
Summary: 4 Stars
Several reviewers have criticized Anna Netrebko because her coloratura skills do not match those of Maria Callas. Joan Sutherland, Beverly Sills, or Edita Gruberova. On that point, I have to agree. Although Netrebko does an exemplary job of sustaining long notes at the end of phrases (a Bellini specialty), she doesn't display the trills and ornamentation skills of a true coloratura soprano. If the ability to sing coloratura is of primary importance to you, then this production will be a disappointment. However, I am willing to rely on "I Puritani" CD's to hear Elvira in her full coloratura glory because Netrebko brings so many other fine qualities to the role. Those qualities include: a full-bodied dark and dusky voice that, at the same time, is gentle and supple; superior acting ability; a charismatic stage presence. These combine to make for a performance that is both dazzling and haunting. Sadly for the other players, the stage often feels empty when she's not on it.
The male performers don't fare as well, but I think it's partly that Netrebko's stage presence is so strong that The Met needed to dig deep and find three males who could keep pace with her. Unfortunately, none of the three do. As Riccardo, Franco Vassallo has a strong baritone voice, but he doesn't convincingly express the pain of a rejected suitor. Eric Cutler fares better on the acting side as Elvira's true love, but he struggles with the high tessitura of the tenor role. (Nevertheless, he and Netrebko have good stage chemistry even though her voice dominates the duets.) As Uncle Giorgio, John Relyea's bass is too gravely for Bellini's melodic score.
The orchestra, conducted by Patrick Summers, does a superior job bringing out the melodic beauty of Bellini's score. Unfortunately, only Anna Netrebko does it justice vocally (and this, despite her not being a coloratura specialist).
The DVD has many special features. The highlights are Renee Fleming interviewing Netrebko between each act and a wonderful set of interviews with the late Beverly Sills in which she discusses (with her characteristic warmth and humor) her own experience playing Elvira.