Puccini and Bartók nightmares at the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome

Il tabarro

Luca Salsi (Michele) and Maria Agresta (Giorgetta)

Il tabarro

Michail Petrenko (Bluebeard) and Szilvia Vörös (Judith)

Szilvia Vörös (Judith) and Mikhail Petrenko (Bluebeard, in background)

By Alissa Balocco, 07 April 2023

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“we witness the fulfilment of a feminine downward spiral”

Reviewed at Teatro Costanzi, Teatro dell'Opera, Rome on 6 April 2023

Puccini, Il tabarro

Bartók, Duke Bluebeard's Castle

Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Michele Mariotti, Conductor

Johannes Erath, Director

Katrin Connan, Set Designer

Noëlle Blancpain, Costume Designer

Alessandro Carletti, Lighting Designer

Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Bibi Abel, Video

Luca Salsi, Michele

Sebastian Catana, Michele

Maria Agresta, Giorgetta

Gregory Kunde, Luigi

Didier Pieri, Tinca

Roberto Lorenzi, Talpa

Enkelejda Shkoza, La Frugola

Mikhail Petrenko, Bluebeard

Szilvia Vörös, Judith

Handel’s Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno returns to Rome

Pia Maltri, 7th April

Robert Carsen’s staging of Handel's oratorio arrives, via Salzburg, in the city where Handel composed it in 1707.

****1

Ariadne in Rome: David Hermann’s Strauss staging highlights contrasts

Pia Maltri, 1st March

In an opera rarely staged in Italy, David Hermann skilfully masters the metatheatrical challenges posed by the libretto to Ariadne auf Naxos.

****1

Abandon all hope: Lucia Ronchetti's Inferno receives Italian premiere

Pia Maltri, 19th February

The Italian premiere of Lucia Ronchetti’s Inferno at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma uses Dante’s original verses, but her score fails to match their beauty.

***11

Livermore’s successful Bohème opens at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma

Pia Maltri, 14th January

Originally staged at the Caracalla Baths in 2014, Davide Livermore’s production comes in from the cold.

****1

Wagner’s Lohengrin finally returns – swanless – to Rome

Pia Maltri, 27th November

Damiano Michieletto is entrusted with the first staging of Lohengrin in Rome for 50 years, but his distracting staging is redeemed by the musical side of things.

***11

Peter Sellars directs Italian debut of Kaija Saariaho’s Adriana Mater

Pia Maltri, 11th October

This co-production, previously seen in San Francisco, is more of a semi-staging, convinces thanks to committed performances from a cast led by Fleur Barron.

****1

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Alissa Balocco

Born and raised in Rome, Alissa is an Italian pianist, musicologist and journalist. She graduated at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory and studied Musicology at University La Sapienza. She is now taking a Master’s Degree in Journalism and Communication at Luiss University and her articles have been published on Music.it, ZetaLuiss and HuffingtonPost. Alissa loves Debussy but, if she could, she would like to be reborn as a Mahler symphony. She can’t live without theatre although her friends would say she obsesses even more about her unconditional love for Amy Winehouse and Soul music.