Argentina Verdi, Nabucco: Buenos AiresLírica. Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra of Buenos AiresLírica, Conductor:Javier Logioia Orbe. Teatro Avenida, Buenos Aires. 2.8.2013. (JSJ)
Cast:
Nabucco: Lisandro Guinis
Abigaille: Mónica Ferracani
Zaccaria: Hernán Iturralde
Fenena: María Luisa Merino
Ismaele: Santiago Bürgi
High Priest of Baal: Walter Schwarz
Abdallo: Darío Leoncini
Anna: Laura Polverini
Production:
Director/sets/costumes: Marcelo Perusso
Lighting: Rubén Conde
Chorus: Juan Casasbellas
Director/sets/costumes: Marcelo Perusso
Lighting: Rubén Conde
Chorus: Juan Casasbellas
When tunes or extracts assume the almost cult-like status that mass popularity brings directors frequently feel the need to join the wave and such was the case in this new production of Nabucco from Buenos Aires Lírica.
The popularity of the work was evident in the fuller than usual theatre, and in what director Marcelo Perusso had promised was a classic presentation emphasizing the universality of the message, “Va, pensiero” was its turning point.
For one thing it was the only scene with an accompanying projection – composed of uneven quality images taking the viewer over seas and hills to end up facing tanks and guns of war. Then there was the encore – by design rather than by demand, beautifully sung though it was – with the lights turned up for a sing along (few did) with the printed version inserted in the program.
Finally the slaves took off their costumes to reveal underneath modern clothing, and so the work moves to its close, apparently in an era far removed from that in which it had started – the “universality” of the message of persecution and freedom (however relative that may be in this modern era of constant monitoring and surveillance) expressed with the maximum of ambiguity.
For the rest, the production can mostly only be praised – that is the production itself and in particular the chorus already mentioned, and the orchestra under Javier Logioia Orbe.
Hernán Iturralde’s portrayal of the high priest Zaccaria was outstanding, and was both vocally and visually compelling. Conversely Lisandro Guinis, an Argentine who has made his career in Europe, was more monochromatic vocally as Nabucco relying more on his portrayal for expression, while Mónica Ferracani as Abigaille also has a big presence and a powerful voice, which she uses well, particularly in the mid and upper ranges where she is at her best.
Santiago Bürgi as Ismaele and the young Chilean mezzo María Luisa Merino as Nabucco’s daughter Fenena both sung with musicality. The interventions of Walter Schwarz as the High Priest, Darío Leoncini as Abdallo, and especially Laura Polverini as Anna – who is more familiar in Juventus Lyrica’s castings – were also noteworthy.
Jonathan Spencer Jones