Un Ballo in Maschera [Blu-ray]

An Imperfect Ballo Made "Perfect" With Cutting Edge Engineering
This production was a big success in Parma in 2010. The video and sound engineers needed all 6 performances of the run to piece together a perfect Ballo (they usually require 2-3 performances). Once the video and sound engineers were done they produced a Ballo too good to be true. I am ashamed to admit that I enjoyed it more than any Ballo I ever experienced in any form - it's simply addicting.

This was Meli's debut as Riccardo (the Boston version was used). They cast him (at least in the first cast) with an Amelia he had to work hard to keep up with. Since body mikes were used as usual, it was possible to "correct" the imbalance so that Meli comes out with a Pavarotti sized voice, easily overshadowing his colleagues. So you get a Riccardo not only with a golden tone, elegant phrasing, passions well projected, style, acuti - you also get a rock solid "di' tu se fedele" barcarolle with its low tessitura and the most perfect 12 note leap from high Ab to middle C. Really? Meli...





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Don Carlo [Blu-ray]

Don Carlito on a Shoestring
C major wanted to release the complete Tutto Verdi box in time for the 2012 Holiday season and they needed a Don Carlo. Whether this one should have been documented at all, let alone be included in an expensive box is a different question. It's like buying a box of Godiva chocolates and finding one Hershey's inside. Nothing wrong with Hershey's; it just doesn't belong in a Godiva box. This is a very low budget production (the total budget was 60,000 euros, and that for Verdi's grandest of all grand operas). I first thought it's a student production until I checked the credentials of all involved. The stage is made to look even smaller than it really is. The costumes are rich and gorgeous. The set is basic. To call the staging static is an understatement. The "Modena version" was used ("Fontainebleau" plus the revised four-act version in Italian).

Tutto Verdi gives you a taste of provincial Italy (except for the Otello), with hopefully good, idiomatic productions. This...

A very traditional Don Carlo
Perhaps this is the record with the highest number of coughs in the entire history of the music industry. Indeed, there are times when we believe we are in a theater with high rates of sick people. However, this recording is an honest version of the opera Don Carlo. Very traditional, with period costumes and conventional scenarios. Let's talk about the singers: Cellia Costea (Elisabetta) is at a level above the rest. Beautiful voice, excellent technique and great theatrical skills. The promising Simone Piazzola (Rodrigo) has a beautiful baritone timbre and sings very well, especially in his great solo passages and in the duet with the King, in the second act. The veteran tenor Mario Malagnini (Don Carlo) acts in old school style: little movement on stage, standardized gestures. His voice is appropriate to the role, and the singer knows how to save his instrument when needed. Giacomo Prestia (Filippo II) acts in a very touching way. If the voice sometimes seems a little tired, the...



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