 |
| stage set and chorus |
...and
what a show it was—Rossini's The
Barber of Seville. Very tight and nuanced overture by conductor Tomas Brauner. Figaro came on strong with the critical first aria Largo
al factotum
delivered
slightly cynically in a warm deep baritone by Svatopluk Sem who
played Figaro with the brio and panache needed for the scheming
con-man of Seville—with just the right touch of devil-may-care
cool. Mr. Sem in the title role was by far the star of the evening. I
was lucky enough to find a YouTube clip of Mr. Sem singing the Largo
in concert in Ceske Budejovice here in the Czech Republic. The tenor,
Martin Srejma, as Count Almaviva, started out disappointingly weak
but warmed up sufficiently to share a skillful duet with Mr. Sem. His
singing was good, but not great, for the rest of the show.
 |
| l. to r. - Sem, Vernerova, Srejma, Brauner, Horak |
A
wonderful surprise came with the role of Don Basilio as expertly
interpreted and sung by Milos Horak in his strong and deep baritone.
His aria La
Calunnia
was the second aria highlight of the opera. The role of Doctor
Bartolo was played for laughs and sung with the great and versatile
voice of Pavel Klecka. A true comedian with a voice that ranged from
a quite high falsetto to his natural baritone he stole the show for
comic effects.
With
considerable regret I have to pan the performance of soprano Ludmila
Vernerova in the important role of Rosina. I had seen her previously
in a disappointing interpretation of Micaela in Carmen. Unfortunately
she was just a bad in Barber. To my ear, her voice didn't sound like
that of a trained opera singer, but more like that of a musical
comedy star. In fact, I've heard better voices in musical comedy
singers. Apparently the rest of the audience must have shared my
opinion since applause for her was lukewarm at best. The irony,
perhaps, of this performance was the wasted talent of mezzo soprano
Sylva Cmugrova in the role of the maid Berta. She would have been
much better in the role of Rosina, which is often played by a mezzo
such as Vesselina Kasarova in a DVD of The Barber of Seville that I
have at home.
Overall,
though, the show was great fun for our last show of the season. We
leave Prague a little wistfully with a wonderful opera season under
our belts to return home on Saturday. Alas! I am going to miss this
place.
 |
| l. to r. - Cmugrova, Klecka, Sem, Brauner, Vernerova, Srejma |
2 comments:
Thank you for taking us all on your trip with you.
Safe travels-R
My pleasure--a mystical magic carpet ride for all who may have read my (mis)adventures (take your pick) I hope....
Post a Comment