Andrea Chénier. Gran Teatre del Liceu
Yesterday, some privileged ones, attended at the Liceu a perfect performance of Andrea Chenier. When opera reaches that degree of perfection, very rare on the other hand, and the audience surrenders like yesterday’s at the Liceu, opera lovers understand what Riccardo Muti means about the difficulty of the art of conducting: “… I believe that I am halfway along the road, and I am sure that I will never reach the other shore of the river, because behind the notes dwells the infinite, which means God, and we are too small before God”. The great attraction was the debut in Spain! of Jonas Kaufmann (48!) singing staged opera, so the house was completely full and the expectation indescribable.
Author: Alfonso Cortina
Yesterday, some privileged ones, attended at the Liceu a perfect performance of Andrea Chenier. When opera reaches that degree of perfection, very rare on the other hand, and the audience surrenders like yesterday’s at the Liceu, opera lovers understand what Riccardo Muti means about the difficulty of the art of conducting: “… I believe that I am halfway along the road, and I am sure that I will never reach the other shore of the river, because behind the notes dwells the infinite, which means God, and we are too small before God”.
The great attraction was the debut in Spain! of Jonas Kaufmann (48!) singing staged opera, so the house was completely full and the expectation indescribable.
The production is from Covent Garden and the mise en scène by David McVicar, sober and elegant, very suitable for a verismo opera.
The first aria sung by Kaufmann L’Improvviso merited a very long and enthusiastic ovation and, in my view, predisposed the audience to live a memorable night. But, in fact, both Sondra Radvanovsky as “Maddalena”, and Carlos Álvarez as “Gerard” were at the level of Kaufmann.
Jonas Kaufmann i Sondra Radvanovsky. (© Antoni Bofill)
Radvanovsky in the main aria of her character La mamma morta managed to suspend time and achieve, in the second following its conclusion, that the spectators went from a religious silence to an explosion of 120 dB.
Álvarez, whom I have seen on various occasions but never so rounded, was yesterday sublime with a perfect dramatic intensity and phrasing in his first aria Nemico della patria that brought the theater to its feet.
The orchestra and the conductor Steinberg were only correct with some failures of soloists and the chorus good above all in the third scene of the trial.
But nobody cared. Everyone was happy with the three divos. The final ovation lasted 15 minutes.
The Liceo has achieved with this performance of Andrea Chenier a historic success and an important qualitative leap.
Kaufmann at the speech of the subsequent fundraising dinner showed himself enthusiastic about the reception “why doesn’t this audience travel with me!” and promised to return.
These successes are international and cement the prestige of an opera house.
