Guglielmo Tell, Usher Hall, review: `hugely enjoyable`

Guglielmo Tell, Usher Hall, review: 'hugely enjoyable'
A concert performance of this rare Rossini opera was rewarding
Rupert Christiansen - Wednesday 27 August 2014
Even those who feel sceptical of some of the claims made for Rossini’s genius bow down before Guillaume
Tell. Composed in 1829 to a French text, without recourse to his trademark rum-ti-tums and accelerating
crescendos, it is Rossini’s final and greatest work for the theatre – a tale of resistance to foreign tyranny
and a hopeful hymn to nationalistic liberty.
Although it proved hugely influential on the development of both French and Italian opera, Tell is expensive
to stage and relatively seldom programmed today, so it is a rare treat that new productions are scheduled
by both Welsh National Opera and the Royal Opera during the 2014-15 season.
As a taster, the Edinburgh Festival offered a concert performance, emanating from the Teatro Regio in
Turin and presented in the Italian version made under the composer’s supervision. It proved hugely
enjoyable and rewarding.
One great obstacle to Tell’s modern success is a shortage of tenors who can master the cruelly high and
virtuosic role of the Swiss freedom-fighter Arnold. Edinburgh was fortunate to secure the services of the
American John Osborn, who is not only master of its technical challenges but also an interpreter of musical
sensibility, who shaped, coloured and inflected the more lyrical passages as well as belting out the martial
top notes.
His Austrian beloved Mathilde was also impressively incarnated by the American soprano Angela Meade,
who has recently become a big favourite at the Metropolitan Opera. One could hear why: the voice is
sumptuous and it paints the music with a confidently broad brush and a richly coloured palette. The tone
spread under pressure and some things went a little fuzzy at the edges. I’d also like to feel more urgent
engagement with the text, but as she was a late addition to the cast (replacing Elena Mosuc), I shall
charitably assume that she hadn’t time to explore the music in depth.
Dalibor Jenis made a vocally imposing if emotionally withdrawn Tell, and there was a wealth of excellent
singing among the supporting cast – I particularly enjoyed the resonant young basses of Mirco Palazzi and
Luca Tittoto.
The chorus and orchestra of the Teatro Regio showed admirable gusto, though Gianandrea Noseda’s
simpatico baton didn’t always secure ideally taut, clean ensemble. After some rows with his management,
Noseda is threatening to walk: for Turin’s sake, one hopes he can be mollified.
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William Tell brims with a
palpable sense of relevance in
concert performance at the
Edinburgh Festival
z
SEE FULL LISTING
***11
By Thomas May, 27 August 2014
A conspiracy theorist might ponder whether the programming of William Tell
during the final week of the 2014 Edinburgh International Festival, the day after
the Salmond-Darling Scottish independence debate on the BBC, was intended
as a propaganda move in support of the “yes” campaign.
Certainly the fervour of the opera's grand finale, as the Swiss rise up in
triumphant revolt against their hated imperial overlords, is so palpably rousing as
to make one at least question the commonplace assumption of Rossini's
indifference to political matters. And in a coincidence sure to fuel our
conspiracist's fantasies, the Milanese censor gave the green light for the opera's
staging at La Scala – several years after its 1829 première in Paris – only on
condition that the setting be changed to Scotland, with the protagonist restyled
as "Guglielmo Vallace", and a name change from Gualtiero to "Kirkpatrick".
“There was symphonic
heft, an almost
Beethovenian
muscularity, in the
score's most powerful
climaxes”
Reviewed at Usher Hall, Edinburgh on
26 August 2014
PROGRAMME
Rossini, Guillaume Tell (William Tell)
PERFORMERS
Teatro Regio Torino Opera
Gianandrea Noseda, Conductor
Dalibor Jenis, Guillaume Tell (William)
Marina Bucciarelli, Jemmy
Angela Meade, Mathilde
John Osborn, Arnold Melchtal
Luca Casalin, Rodolphe
Fabrizio Beggi, Melktal senior
Luca Tittoto, Gesler
1
Teatro Regio Torino Orchestra
© Lorenzo Di Nozzi
But even if one is left to wonder who could, without ludicrous hyperbole, be
figured as the dastardly tyrant Gessler in such a contemporary allegorical
reading, an undeniable frisson vibrated through the audience gathered in
Edinburgh's stately Usher Hall. Mixed therein were Scottish politicos and Italian
diplomats, the Italian Embassy in London having supported the production “on
the occasion of Italy's 2014 Presidency of the Council of the European Union” –
a clue, perhaps, to the malleability of the opera's message in the eyes of the
beholder. And what to make of the apparent plethora lately of productions of this
otherwise rarely seen opera, with a new one to be unveiled next month in
Cardiff?
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And this without any staging, without the barest hint of Regie. Where innovative
approaches to opera presented in “concert performance” are increasingly part of
the landscape, the Teatro Regio Torino opted for the most traditional format,
more staid even than an oratorio: there was no lighting, the singers at most
walking on and offstage to indicate a change of scene. Subtitles were likewise
lacking, but those with programmes in hand could follow the printed libretto.
Still, conductor Gianandrea Noseda led a spirited performance of enormous
variety and sufficient colour to compensate for the lack of theatrics. No question,
the Teatro Regio Torino Orchestra was on splendid form, the real protagonist of
the evening, along with the chorus expertly rehearsed by Claudio Fenoglio.
Already in the overture, Rossini's marvellous tone poem avant la lettre, Noseda
made it clear that he wouldn't single out a particular aspect of this capacious
score to favour, from its pastoral interludes to violent storms, its lyricism, or its
blood-pumping, heroic momentum. Rather, all of these were present and fully
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Noseda incisively shaped Rossini's
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clarity in the Act 4 storm sequence
and the principal cellist and horn
player made memorable
contributions. The chorus, too, is
essential not just as a supplier of
Charlotte Valori, 7th Septemb er
Winner of OperaUpClose’s Flourish
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1
Gianandrea Noseda
© Ramella & Giannese
Rossini's local colour but as a
motive force in the drama; indeed it must assume multiple roles, representing
different Swiss cantons, the oppressed people, and even the occupying soldiers
who do Givernor Gessler's bidding. If anything, they veered on being overbright
at some points, but in general commanded a well-judged dynamic spectrum.
READ REVIEWS OF
Noseda, Gianandrea
Casalin, Luca
Jenis, Dalibor
Osborn, John
Meade, Angela
Bucciarelli, Marina
Presented here in the later Italian version, but with only a modest amount of
cutting (such as the choral scene-setting at the beginning of the second act),
Guglielmo Tell lasted just under four hours, including two intermissions and an
introductory speech dedicating the performance to the late Claudio Abbado.
William Tell is notorious for being outrageously difficult to cast, and Torino had to
accommodate several unanticipated changes. Curiously, the title role proved to
be a weak link here, with Dalibor Jenis as a rather dull, uninflected superhero
who is not only an expert marksman but a champion navigator and political
alpha-male to boot. Admittedly, this isn't Rossini's most interesting music, and his
characterisation of Gessler (given a disdainful, patrician-like demeanour by Luca
Tittoto) is also relatively flat. Gessler's henchman Rodolfo, however, took on a
more vividly menacing presence in Luca Casalin's colourful phrasing.
The first act in particular failed at several points, especially in the absence of
staging, to overcome its static longueurs. Along with the orchestral and choral
Teatro Regio Torino Opera
Guillaume Tell (William Tell)
Rossini, Gioacchino
vignettes, the most successful musical characterisations arrived in the subplot of
Arnoldo and his love for Matilde, a Habsburg princess who ends up rooting for
the Swiss cause. The American tenor John Osborn was a casting triumph as
Arnoldo, all but stealing the show in his magnificent "O muto asil" in the last act.
Osborn navigated Rossini's impossibly difficult high tessitura as surely as Tell
ferries about Lake Lucerne, but what truly thrilled was his sophisticated grasp of
the character's complexities as set to music. Osborn provided fragile tenderness
as well as full-throated patriotism, capturing Arnoldo's desperate need to
assauge his sense of guilt over the death of his father Melcthal, here sung with
booming vigour rather than mere age by Fabrizio Beggi. His second act trio with
Tell and Gualtiero (Mirco Palazzi in heroic voice) ranked among the highlights.
The romance with Matilde came off persuasively. As the brave princess, Angela
Meade included tasteful ornamentation and delicate pianissimo phrasing as well
as sensuous low notes, her huge voice securely powered if lacking somewhat in
depth of expression. It made for a delightful contrast with Anna Maria Chiuri's
earthy Edwige, and the intrepid young soprano characterisation by Marina
Bucciarelli as their son Jemmy, on top of whose head Tell splits an apple with his
arrow in Schiller's most iconic scene.
In Rossini's splendid apotheosis (which, in retrospect, turned out to be his
farewell to the stage), the freshly optimistic Swiss join in an ode to liberty as the
vehicle of joy, the chorus floating ever onward with a glowing serenity that almost
hearkens ahead to Parsifal. Even in the native language of bel canto of this
Italian version, Noseda and the ensemble conveyed a sense of the composer's
forward-looking musical language, casting aside as it does so many of the
familiar formulas of old, in which “a new world is revealed.”
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Noseda does justice to Rossini's freedom fighter
Teatro Regio Torino's sparkling concert-performance of the full Rossini opera proves
there's more to it than the 'Lone Ranger'
Kate Molleson - Wednesday 27 August 2014
Rossini's last opera – the whole thing, that is, not just the overture – is a rarity that suddenly seems to be
everywhere. There are new productions at Welsh National Opera and Covent Garden this season, and
there was this, a magnificent concert-performance from Teatro Regio Torino and its music director,
Gianandrea Noseda. Perhaps the themes of self-rule and justice are particularly topical at the moment;
perhaps the word is finally out that there's a whole lot more to this score than the first 10 minutes.
The plot is pure picturesque nationalism, and lively enough if you like that sort of thing. Set in Austrianoccupied medieval Switzerland, Guglielmo Tell is a Swiss freedom fighter who outwits the brutish Austrian
governor Gessler by shooting an apple from atop his own son's head and navigating treacherous waters to
freedom in a rowboat. Arnold, son of the Swiss leader, is in love with Matilde, an Austrian princess; the
chorus alternates between righteous patriots and boorish oppressors. Mainly it's the music that keeps
things rollicking along. This is Rossini at the height of his operatic powers: boisterously fluid and inventive,
sparkling with dramatic sequences, colourful orchestration and lush choral writing. Premiered in Paris in
1829, the rumblings of grand opera are everywhere.
Noseda and his team made a terrific case for the piece. The demands on the soloists are as daunting as
the Alps – poor Arnold needs an absurd cache of high notes, but John Osborn sounded heroically welloiled. Angela Meade was an ardent, sassy Matilde with huge decibels; Dalibor Jenis an august Tell, Luca
Tittoto a deliciously suave Gessler. The chorus was rich and spirited and the orchestra gave its all for
Noseda; shaping the music meticulously, he kept the performance wonderfully buoyant and made the four
hours fly by.
Edinburgh International Festival 2014: Complete coverage from The Scotsman and WOW247
Turin Opera: William Tell
Published by Edinburgh Festivals
28 Aug 2014
****
Edinburgh International Festival Scotsman review (opera): Kronos Quartet at the Usher Hall.
Reviewed by David Kettle
Conductor Gianandrea Noseda takes centre stage in Turin Opera’s performance of Rossini’s William Tell at the Usher Hall
[Picture: Lorenzo Di Nozzi]
One of the often-quoted benefits of opera in the concert hall – as opposed to the opera house
– is that it can be more vivid than a fully staged production. You’re not getting just a single
director’s vision, and the action can’t help but unfold in the endless vistas and bright colours
of the imagination.
That was true of Turin Opera’s colourful concert account of Rossini’s William Tell, in which
the apple-splitting archer hero leads Swiss nationalists to revolt against their Austrian
oppressors. The orchestra played as if the music was running through their veins, with a
captivating confidence and a lustrous, distinctive sound – silky strings, woodwind that truly
sang, and even a boisterous percussion section – especially in the bass drum thuds that
brought so much character to the storm section of the famous Lone Ranger overture.
You couldn’t have hoped for a brighter or more persuasive account to fire the imagination.
But the real advantage to this concert was in bringing conductor Gianandrea Noseda out of the
pit and placing him centre stage. He seemed like the source of power around which the
performance revolved.
It wasn’t simply an athletic performance – for the most part, he took things at quite a relaxed
tempo, although his gestures became increasingly extrovert as the opera’s revolutionary zeal
developed. It was his soft shaping of phrases, his command of the grand architecture, his
generosity in allowing soloists to shine in their own personal deliveries.
And for an opera that relies so heavily on its chorus – representing by turns Swiss villagers,
Austrian troops and Alpine guerrillas – the Turin Opera choir was on astonishingly fine,
incisive form.
Strangely, it was with the solo singers that the performance was rather variable. Angela
Meade shone as love interest Matilde, with a superbly controlled, powerful voice that
nevertheless brought a touching vulnerability to the Act 2 aria ‘Selva opaca’, while John
Osborn as her tormented suitor Arnoldo had a gloriously rounded, intense tenor.
Fabrizio Beggi was big and demonstrative as the doomed elder Melcthal, and Luca Tittoto
made a suitably imperious Gessler, head of the Austrian oppressors. Least convincing, was
Dalibor Jenis in the title role, who seemed ill at ease and struggled to project above Noseda’s
scintillating orchestra. But it was a quiet note of doubt amid a revelatory evening of
tumultuous drama.
Originally published in The Scotsman
Guglielmo Tell/Noseda/Teatro Regio Torino at Usher Hall,
Edinburgh
Sarah Urwin Jones
Published at 12:01AM, August 28 2014
*****
What with the technical requirements of shooting an apple off a boy’s head with a bow and
arrow, the stage-shunting of hordes of rowdy Swiss partisans and a lot of key dramatic
moments spent in a rowing boat, you can see why one might opt to keep Rossini’s last opera
Guglielmo Tell firmly in the concert hall. The price tag alone would probably buy you a small
Swiss canton.
But there was drama aplenty in this Teatro Regio Torino concert performance of Rossini’s
paean to liberty, thrillingly paced under music director Gianandrea Noseda in this Italian
translation of the French original. The soloists might have lined up on the Usher Hall platform
in their sober evening best, but you could see the mountains in Rossini’s thrillingly
orchestrated work, from the remote call of the horns as the oppressed Swiss rose up behind
every crag to the tinkling of bells across the restless valley and a truly Alpine storm whipped
up with gale force in the strings.
Despite a low-voltage start from a self-effacing Dalibor Jenis as the eponymous rebel archer,
the first act was a musical tour de force, every ounce of tension extracted from Rossini’s
sparkling score by Noseda and his Teatro Regino cohorts. A fine lineup of soloists was
crowned by John Osborn’s ardent Arnoldo, running the emotional gamut of love, grief and
revenge alongside the soaring soprano of Angela Meade’s fabulous, coloratura-slaying
Matilde. The chorus thrilled to Rossini’s pastoral, partisan tapestry, from a pert chorus of
archers to the impassioned cries of the put-upon populace.
Even the somewhat plodding dramatics of Act II, in which Swiss revolutionaries seep from
the hills to join Guglielmo and Arnoldo in their fight to topple Luca Tittoto’s crazed tyrant
Gesler, had a certain hushed tension. And the Act IV finale was a shimmering triumph.