Wednesday 30 January 2013

Vienna: Forza del destino - last DVD of Salvatore Licitra

Forza del destino. DVD. Vienna State Opera 2008. Production: David Pountney. Conductor: Zubin Mehta. Cast: Nina Stemme (Leonora), Salvatore Licitra (Don Alvaro), Don Carlo di Vargas (Carlos Alvarez), Nadia Krasteva (Preziosilla), Alastair Miles (Marchese di Calatrava).

“The power of fate” - the butterfly effect - a butterfly flashes its wings somewhere initiating a chain reaction setting events in motion somewhere else. In this case the accidental shooting of Leonora´s father by her lover Don Alvaro, which sets the action in motion.

An elegant minimalistic David Pountney production held in white, black blue, plus the odd red colours and scaffolds. If you know Pountney´s work, you´ll know what to expect. I was present in the theatre during this run of performances in 2008, and I´ll have to say it comes over better in DVD than live as the close-ups and large video projections suit Pountney.
But not only that: Nina Stemme, whom I remember as rather unpleasantly-sounding in the theatre is still not really at her best, though vastly better here than I remember her in the theatre. Nadia Krasteva looked good and feisty and came off well vocally as well. As for the gentlemen, Salvatore Licitra, since then deceased in an auto accident, sang with a warm tone while Carlos Alvarez made an effective "villain".

Zubin Mehta you may judge yourself in the ouverture /symptomatic for the take on the work) below:

The bottom line (scale of 1-5, 3= average):

Nina Stemme: 3-4
Salvatore Licitra: 4
Carlos Alvarez: 4
Alastair Miles: 4
Nadia Krasteva: 4

Zubin Mehta: 3-4
Poutney´s production: 4

Overall impression: 3

1 comment:

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