LES ETOILES DE SHAKESPEARE
SHAKESPEARE’S STARS (CANNES 09/04/2015) | REVIEW by Aurore Busser in NICE MATIN (09/08/2015) | « Roberto Alagna conquers the stars : the tenor thrilled the Great Auditorium - Standing ovation! »
"Friday 9pm. The audience of the Grand Auditorium - crowded – of the Palais des Festivals is holding its breath. In a halo of light, in front of the Giuseppe Verdi Orchestra and Chorus deployed on the set, Roberto Alagna appears. White jacket and tuxedo black trousers. The tone is given for an evening dedicated to the passion for opera, off the beaten track of the lyrical recitals where the singers are going rapidly round the vocal mulberry bush and then leave.
And here's this great performer hopped in the conquest of Shakespeare’s Stars, a clever theme as Verdi and Gounod - and others - had the brilliant idea to turn Shakespeare’s monologues into fabulous arias and dialogues into sublime duets!
Standing ovation! The worldwide most celebrated French tenor has first chosen Otello by Verdi and then Gounod's Romeo et Juliette. From the outset, we are thrilled: his voice, of a dazzling vocal density, is as much suitable for portraying the colors of valiance as for those of emotion. The relevance of his musical intelligence discourages from further analysing. The clarity of his diction, the beauty of his tone overwhelm the spectators, just ecstatic about this beautiful dark jealous Otello and this distraught fiery lover Romeo.
One therefore thinks it is no accident that, in 1995, Roberto Alagna was awarded with the Laurence Olivier Award for his performance as Romeo in London. A British theater award rarely granted to a lyrical artist.
His partners shared his triumph: the fine soprano Inva Mula - star of La Scala – as an ideal Desdemona and a Juliet with dream top notes; the young and impressive bass-baritone Stefano Meo; the Orchestra conducted by the Verdean expert hand of maestro Giorgio Croci and the choir directed by Corado Casati.
After long standing ovations, the irresistible Roberto joined his dressing room backstage, delighted, kindly welcoming his friends and unknown "groupies". There was a tremendous amount of people waiting for him at the stage door. At the top of his Art, for his "debut on the Croisette," he finally conquered Cannes as well as his "Shakespeare’s Stars"."
Palais des Festivals, Cannes | #ShakespearesStars