Rossini - Mose in Egitto (Roberto Abbado, Alex Esposito, Sonia Ganassi) [2012]

×

Rossini - Mose in Egitto (Roberto Abbado, Alex Esposito, Sonia Ganassi) [2012]

Close

Rossini might have dressed his opera in biblical garb, but it is still a story of the conflict of love and patriotic duty that had become the basis of Italian opera. That the plight of the Jews in Egypt is a mirror image of all that is happening today in the Middle East has sparked director, Graham Vick, to think afresh about the opera, the enclosed booklet delving into his thought process, as the present day political and religious leaders use ordinary people as pawns to satisfy their own personal agenda for power. In its original form the Egyptian Pharoh’s son, Osiride, falls in love with the Israelite girl, Elcia and that is about to come to an end when the Pharoh is minded to give the Israelites their freedom to leave Egypt. Now he has to reverse that decision to keep his loved one in Egypt by all means possible. The set used by Vick must have cost a fortune, its scale, complexity and attention to detail of a magnitude few opera houses could imagine. Indeed I guess it is the viewer of this video who sees far more than was visible to the audience. In his updating Vick retains everything inherent in the original opera, the attempt to depict the parting of the Red Sea, that caused howls of derision in the work’s first performance, here substituted by the parting of the wall that here prevents the Israelites leaving Egypt, the very opposite to the present situation in Gaza. Visually the casting is certainly not perfect, but it does possess some very good singers. They have that ‘straight from the heart’ quality, the baritone, Alex Esposito, as the Pharoh, giving a most impressive performance of his big arias, and is more than matched by Dmitry Korchak as Osiride, his tenor voice so typically Italian. Strangely Rossini did not give Moses a commanding role, Riccardo Zanellato making the very most of all he is given, and though looking incongruous as Aaron, Yijie Shi is vocally pleasing. The remaining roles of Amaltea finds Olga Senderskaya in good form, and Sonia Ganassi makes the most of the not very plausible character of Elcia. Very good orchestra and chorus of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna with Roberto Abbado conducting. The film crew do all they can to capture the high activity level on stage.

David’s Review Corner

×

Rossini - Mose in Egitto (Roberto Abbado, Alex Esposito, Sonia Ganassi) [2012]

Close