Roberto Alagna

Roberto Alagna

CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA / PAGLIACCI - BERLIN

 

Opera

 
 
Cavalleria rusticana 
Opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from a  short story of the same name in 1880
Considered one of the classic verismo operas, it premiered on 17 May 1890 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. 
Since 1893, it has often been performed in a so-called Cav/Pag double-bill with Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo
 
 
Pagliacci
 Opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It is the composer's only opera that is still widely performed.[1] Opera companies have frequently staged Pagliacci with Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni, a double bill known colloquially as "Cav and Pag".
 
Pagliacci premiered at the Teatro Dal Verme in Milan on 21 May 1892, conducted by Arturo Toscanini
 
 
 

Performances

 
Deutsche Oper Berlin 
 
September 13th 2019
September 16th 2019
September 20th 2019
 
 

Cast

 
 
Aleksandra Kurzak - Nedda
Roberto Alagna - Turiddu/Canio 
Carlos Alvarez - Tonio, 
Eva-Maria Westbroek - Santuzza
 
 
Paolo Arrivabeni - Direction Musicale
David Pountney - Mise en scène
 
 
Orchester and Choorrs Deutsche Oper Berlin 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Revue de Presse

 

Opera Journal - Václav Bečvář - 20/09/2019

 

“Roberto Alagna’s dazzling evening, an extraordinary musical and scenic experience” 

 

EXCERPT (from Czech): “The 40th performance of David Poutney's production at Deutsche Oper Berlin has contributed to such a successful experience to the maximum extent thanks to the excellent vocal cast. […] The main triumph of the evening was the appearance of Roberto Alagna in both main male characters (Turiddu, Canio). Alagna had a really stellar evening, his focused and perfectly relaxed performance represented the absolute top of his vocal type. He dazzled with brilliant singing as well as with an absolutely spontaneous and convincing acting.”

 

 

klassiker.welt - Manuel Brug - 16/09/2019

 

“Idiomatic, sublime, a great deal of charisma” 

 

EXCERPT (from German): “[There is] a juicy Italienità in this far above average performance. Roberto Alagna is both an idiomatic sublime, cleverly focused Turiddu as well as a Canio, who gets out of control, with sobs and a great deal of charisma. The murdered man becomes a murderer, the victim becomes an offender. His real life wife Aleksandra Kurzak is a poignant heart-reaching Nedda - musical, playful, friendly when playing with the children, braving Canio effectively.”

 

 

Operalovvers.pl - Magdalena Grzybowska - 16/09/2019

 
"The dream pair Roberto Alagna and Aleksandra Kurzak shone in Berlin, in a real vocal feast. Alagna dazzling, a fantastic vocal form, flawless top notes, his performance as an actor makes the artist the hero of the evening"
 
EXCERPT: "In Cavalleria Rusticana, the sparks between Turiddu and Lola were almost palpable thanks to the fantastic performances by Roberto Alagna and Anna Buslidze. Alagna appeared simply dazzling, he sang beautifully and with great ease and flawless top notes.
 
Touching and heartbreaking in the famous aria "Ridi, Pagliaccio", Roberto Alagna is terrifying when trying to get at all costs the name of her lover out of his wife. In a tremendous vocal form, his actor's performance filled with passion and jealousy also made the artist the hero of the evening."
 
 

Das Operngas - Ursula Ehrensberger - Dec. 2019

❝ Clear and easily issued top notes, expressive medium, exemplary pacing, dominating stage presence at each appearance, Roberto Alagna left no doubt that he is still at his peak ❞
 
EXCERPT (from German): "Roberto Alagna, reviving here the two main roles of the tenor was fully ardently committed in both pieces. In the voice of the Italian-French tenor, time really seems to have passed almost without a trace. We would have had to keep a very sharp ear out to perceive some scratches in his warm and sunny tone, slightly darkened over the years. With clear and easily issued highs, an expressive :edium, an exemplary pacing and last, a stage presence which dominated the action at each appearance, Alagna left no doubt that he is still at the peak of his abilities. He obviously wanted to give the troublesome character of Turiddu traits of sympathy by making him appear overwhelmed by the situation rather than really bad. According to Alagna, Turiddu's feelings towards Santuzza were far from cold.
 
As Canio, Alagna added even a few more degrees of intensity and rendered an impressive profile of the title-hero, that contained a successful mix of sorrow, tearful sentimentality and jealous outbursts. His "Vesti la giubba", which has been differentiated and deeply felt to the smallest note, became, in addition to the Prologue, the second highlight of the performance."
 
 

Toute la culture - Paul Fourier - 16/09/2019

"Outstanding performers, unparalleled vocal and dramatic commitment. At the forefront of this success is King Alagna. Many great tenors of the past have shone in both roles, from del Monaco to Corelli. Our age is privileged to have Roberto Alagna, a master in this field” 
 
 
EXCERPT: "Amazing, both casts give us an exemplary demonstration. They are, we can say, united, and even led, by Roberto Alagna’s energy and staggering credibility, who masterfully proves his adequacy for this repertoire.
 
It is noticeable (and paradoxical when we know the kindness of the man) that the tenor is comfortable with this kind of violent heroes stuck in jealousy. Probably from his roots in this land of passions that is Sicily (also the place of Cavalleria Rusticana's storyline), he was able to draw this art that allows him to interpret these fantastic lovers and jealous characters that are Don José, Otello, Turiddu and Canio, and to express almost naturally their excesses and pains. Vocally, both parts feed on accents of anger, and even on murderous madness that require a more resolutely convincing voice than in search of the Bel Canto.
 
In this area, Roberto Alagna glows, getting sometimes close to the razor’s edge with a voice pushed to the extreme in the passages of dark passion, while affording the luxury of radiating with a solar voice the moments when the lover, often swaggering, holds forth in front of the ladies. His gesture of a staggering realism is matching the barking of the brute. But it's not just that. He is, at the same time, the minstrel who goes from city to city, proposing his art of the Commedia dell'arte and charms the girls, the man wounded by his inner fights and the monster of violence, lurking and ready to spring up.
 
Is it possible to hear a crude suffering more appropriately expressed than in this "Vesti la Giubba" that was given to us tonight, arising from the depth of a painful soul, and for which the artist received a superb ovation?
 
It is obvious that these two works (especially when they are combined) rest above all on the necessity that an epoch finds its Turiddu and its Canio. Many great tenors of the past have shone in both roles, from del Monaco to Corelli. Our age is privileged to have Roberto Alagna, king and master in this field. "
 
 
 

Gallery 

 



02/10/2020