I Masnadieri is nowhere near among Verdi's best, in fact if there was a contender for his weakest opera it would be between this and Il Corsaro. The story is never really engaging, and while the score has some good moments and a very Verdian structure there isn't that much that is particularly memorable or inventive. This production doesn't do anything to change my feelings of the opera unfortunately. There have been opera productions before that have done quite well with what little they have, but that is not the case with this production of I Masnadieri.
From a visual and dramatic standpoint, the performance is a failure. Granted, the drama of I Masnadieri leaves much to be desired, but everything on stage seems so static, mainly because there is so much melodramatic posturing and stand-and-deliver quality and little else. There is very little interaction between the performers, any action only succeeds in confusing the story and there is hardly any character relationship development. The production values were not just ugly but I didn't have a clue what time or place the production or opera was supposed to be set in. The mixture of Victorian/Edwardian, punk, gangster, Halloween costumes proved to be grossly mismatched and just looked awful, while the sets are limited, postmodern in style and thoroughly unappealing to look at. Nothing visually matches with one another, instead it was messy and confusing.
The production is better musically though. The orchestra play with a warm sound, powerful in the more dramatic moments and graceful in the more lyrical ones. The chorus don't have the most inspired music to sing and have little to do dramatically, but they nonetheless sing beautifully and stirringly. But the star is Nicola Luisotti, who turns out to be a highly musical and sensitive conductor, whatever the music is lyrical, lively or dramatic he just enhances the mood the music is trying to convey. Ana Lucrecia Garcia is the best of the principals, who were a mixed bag(though none were disastrous). She, remarkably for a young soprano, meets all the vocal requirements for Amalia, singing with fresh warmth and flexibility and technically she is very good. As an actress, she is one of the more involving performers on stage, this was an example of an intelligent, elegant and deeply felt performance but also from somebody who has some way to go in terms of artistry and individuality(something that will come with more experience). Dario Russo is a promising Moser, and Walter Omaggio is adequate also as Armino.
Acquiles Machado may be too lyric for Carlo, and has a tendency to bleat in the more forceful moments. He is also a very stolid and unexciting actor, which is not entirely his fault as he was given very little to work from. However, this is an example of a tenor who does understand Verdi. While he isn't perfect perhaps vocally, there is much to like in his beautiful phrasing, sturdy lyric tone that shows little signs of strain, incisive articulation, convincing dynamic range in his singing and good musicianship. Giacomo Prestia is appropriately dignified but while he has better sustaining of phrases he has never had a particularly steady voice and not much here is different. Francesco is made to look and seem like a less complex characterisation of Rigoletto, which is perhaps a little too on the extreme side, but Artur Rucinski's interpretation of bitterness is largely convincing. His tone colour however is not very varied or striking, which while the sound is strong makes the voice a little too bland-sounding.
Overall, Luisotti's conducting and Garcia's performance are the main high points, but the static staging and the horribly mismatched production values really bring things down considerably. 5/10 Bethany Cox
From a visual and dramatic standpoint, the performance is a failure. Granted, the drama of I Masnadieri leaves much to be desired, but everything on stage seems so static, mainly because there is so much melodramatic posturing and stand-and-deliver quality and little else. There is very little interaction between the performers, any action only succeeds in confusing the story and there is hardly any character relationship development. The production values were not just ugly but I didn't have a clue what time or place the production or opera was supposed to be set in. The mixture of Victorian/Edwardian, punk, gangster, Halloween costumes proved to be grossly mismatched and just looked awful, while the sets are limited, postmodern in style and thoroughly unappealing to look at. Nothing visually matches with one another, instead it was messy and confusing.
The production is better musically though. The orchestra play with a warm sound, powerful in the more dramatic moments and graceful in the more lyrical ones. The chorus don't have the most inspired music to sing and have little to do dramatically, but they nonetheless sing beautifully and stirringly. But the star is Nicola Luisotti, who turns out to be a highly musical and sensitive conductor, whatever the music is lyrical, lively or dramatic he just enhances the mood the music is trying to convey. Ana Lucrecia Garcia is the best of the principals, who were a mixed bag(though none were disastrous). She, remarkably for a young soprano, meets all the vocal requirements for Amalia, singing with fresh warmth and flexibility and technically she is very good. As an actress, she is one of the more involving performers on stage, this was an example of an intelligent, elegant and deeply felt performance but also from somebody who has some way to go in terms of artistry and individuality(something that will come with more experience). Dario Russo is a promising Moser, and Walter Omaggio is adequate also as Armino.
Acquiles Machado may be too lyric for Carlo, and has a tendency to bleat in the more forceful moments. He is also a very stolid and unexciting actor, which is not entirely his fault as he was given very little to work from. However, this is an example of a tenor who does understand Verdi. While he isn't perfect perhaps vocally, there is much to like in his beautiful phrasing, sturdy lyric tone that shows little signs of strain, incisive articulation, convincing dynamic range in his singing and good musicianship. Giacomo Prestia is appropriately dignified but while he has better sustaining of phrases he has never had a particularly steady voice and not much here is different. Francesco is made to look and seem like a less complex characterisation of Rigoletto, which is perhaps a little too on the extreme side, but Artur Rucinski's interpretation of bitterness is largely convincing. His tone colour however is not very varied or striking, which while the sound is strong makes the voice a little too bland-sounding.
Overall, Luisotti's conducting and Garcia's performance are the main high points, but the static staging and the horribly mismatched production values really bring things down considerably. 5/10 Bethany Cox
