Mariella Devia, the Queen again!

As it is,  Summer's gone and with Autumn we are now in rather rainy episodes.
We did a short escapade to Madrid which was very summary last week, and I caught my beloved Mariella Devia in Roberto Devereux at Teatro Real on Monday 28th sept.

She was as always very musical and stunning with precise singing and phrasing but did less coloraturas than the smashing Marseille renditions where she went over the top in exquisite vocal trills at the very end. Here she was staged in a heavy red dress with an outrageously high leathery black belt, and it looked like a carceral garnment which kept her Queen's power in a physical prison.  The setting  was rather neutral, which permitted the singers to sing without being bothered, unless Mariella felt disturbed at the last scene by this articulated spider she sat on as her  moving throne ? The symbolic was good but this long legged silvery spider had a gadget effect, the Spiderwoman.....
She did not chance the high variations like Edita Gruberova did at the Bayerische Staatsoper in July ( really sounded rather screaming at times, but the effects were overwhelming ) and did not touch me as much as she did at the concert renditions in Marseille. It was such beautiful singing which is always a treat from her ! I was glad to be there and promised myself to try to see her again in Gênes this time with Sonia Ganassi who was singing with Edita Gruberova at the BSO.
Gregory Kunde was in top form and also very safe in his singing of this role. His voice was ever so clear and loud, too much  to my taste. He had a thrilling evening and seemed to get more applause and cheering than Mariella Devia did. He also did not chance the high C but had a rather long and catching variation which I had never heard before and it suited his voice. That is what is amazing in these Donizetti's works, this possibility of adding a personal touch with the coloraturas variations. I would have liked to be more musical myself to be able to note what they both did that monday night!
It might be possible to find this Sept 28th  rendition on the net. (https://vimeo.com/140766182)
 Here are the highlights and it brings me tears when I listen to Mariella again in this terrible aria at the end. ( there is not the last cry after 'uscita'). As I was sitting nearly at the top of the house I discovered two screens with the filmed production actually on stage. I was surprised but glanced at the faces of the singers I could see so close... very moving indeed.

It was a great night to be remembered with this wonderful cast. The Spanish mezzo,  Silvia Tro Santafé, was also very involved and moving  in Sara and the baritone, Marco Caria, made a fine job too in Lord Nottingham. Donizetti knows how to blend voices and the ensembles were so musical (rather rare in this opera but wonderful arias). I enjoyed Bruno Campanella's vision at the orchestra and what he does to accompany voices in such terrific arias. He has a real touch with singers.

Production Team & Cast

• Musical director: Bruno Campanella (Sep. 22, 25, 28 · Oct. 1, 4, 8)
  
•   Andriy Yurkevych (Sep. 24, 27, 30 · Oct. 3, 7)
  
• Stage director: Alessandro Talevi
  
• Set and costume designer: Madeleine Boyd
  
• Lighting designer: Matthew Haskins
  
• Choreographer: Maxine Braham
  
• Chorus Master: Andrés Máspero
  

· - ·

• Elisabetta: Mariella Devia (Sep. 22, 25, 28 · Oct. 1, 4, 8)
  Maria Pia Piscitelli (Sep. 24, 27, 30 · Oct. 3, 7)
  
• Earl of Nottingham: Marco Caria (Sep. 22, 25, 28 · Oct. 1, 8)
  Ángel Ódena (Sep. 24, 27, 30 · Oct. 4, 7)
  Alessandro Luongo (Oct. 3)
  
• Sara, Duchess of Nottingham: Silvia Tro Santafé (Sep. 22, 25, 28 · Oct. 1, 4, 8)
  Veronica Simeoni (Sep. 24, 27, 30 · Oct. 3, 7)
  
• Roberto Devereux, Earl of Essex: Gregory Kunde (Sep. 22, 25, 28 · Oct. 1, 4, 8)
  Ismael Jordi (Sep. 24, 27, 30 · Oct. 3, 7)
  
• Lord Guglielmo Cecil: Juan Antonio Sanabria
  
• Sir Gualtiero Raleigh: Andrea Mastroni 
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