Spain Ravel, Puccini: Soloists, Orchestra Comunitat Valenciana / Michele Spotti (conductor). Palau de Les Arts, Valencia, 4.5.2025. (JMI)
Ravel – L’heure espagnole
Puccini – Gianni Schicchi
Valencia’s Palau de Les Arts has offered an unusual double bill (in a coproduction with Teatro de la Maestranza, Sevilla) that combines operas by Maurice Ravel and Giacomo Puccini. Unlike Gianni Schicchi, Ravel’s L’heure espagnole is not an opera that is widely programmed. I can only recall one other time that it could be seen in Spain, at the Oviedo opera.
L’heure espagnole is a comic opera about the infidelities of Concepción, the wife of Torquemada, a watchmaker. Gianni Schicchi, on the second half of the bill, was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience, judging by their laughter and applause.
Both operas have new productions by Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier, and they work very well. The stage for the Ravel presents the living room of the watchmaker Torquemada and his sexually eager wife, and it contains several clocks that play a key role. The stage direction is nicely handled. The action in Gianni Schicchi takes place in a hospital room where Buoso Donato dies, surrounded by all his relatives, and the direction here was truly excellent.
Maestro Michele Spotti offered a solid reading of both operas, taking good care of the singers and drawing a fine sound from the orchestra.
In L’heure espagnole, Concepción, the watchmaker’s wife, is played by mezzo-soprano Eve-Maud Hubeaux, whose brilliant singing and great acting marked the presentation. The muleteer Ramiro was sung by baritone Armando Noguera, who has a well-suited voice and gave a good performance as he carried clocks from one place to another.
Gonzalve was tenor Iván Ayón Rivas, who has a notable voice in terms of both quality and quantity, although he doesn’t have much to sing in this opera. Torquemada was perfectly played by Mikeldi Atxalandabaso, and baritone Manuel Fuente as Don Íñigo Gómez did nicely.
Baritone Ambrogio Maestri as Gianni Schicchi not only plays the character, but he IS Schicchi. In recent years, he has been the protagonist in every production of the opera that I have seen. Today, there is no one better suited to interpreting Schicchi and Falstaff: he has the figure for it (!) and the talent of a great comic actor, and he performs well vocally, even though he is not a leading baritone.
His daughter, Lauretta, was soprano Marina Monzó, who sang an excellent ‘O, mio babbino caro’ with her beautiful voice. Tenor Iván Ayón Rivas again showed his appealing voice in the aria ‘Addio Firenze’, where he was at his best.
Among the supporting characters, the Buoso Donato’s relatives include Elena Zilio who was excellent as Zita, and I would also highlight bass Giacomo Prestia in the role of Simone. All the others performed perfectly, including Mikeldi Atxalandabaso (Gherardo), Holly Braun (Nella), Manuel Fuentes (Betto di Segna), Bryan Sala (Marco) and Laura Fleur (La Ciesca). And I had no problems with the other supporting characters, starting with the amusing Doctor Maestro Spinelloccio (Tomeu Bibiloni) and the Notary (Ser Amantio de Nicolao). The witnesses for the Buoso will, Irakli Pkhaladze (Pinellino) and Javier Agudo (Guccio), were also good.
José M. Irurzun
Production:
Directors – Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier
Sets – Alain Lagarde
Costumes – Agostino Cavalca
Lighting – Christophe Forey
Casts:
L’heure espagnole
Concepción – Eve-Maud Hubeaux
Gonzalve – Iván Ayón Rivas
Torquemada – Mikeldi Atxalandabaso
Ramiro – Armando Noguera
Don Íñigo Gómez – Manuel Fuentes
Gianni Schicchi
Gianni Schicchi – Ambrogio Maestri
Lauretta – Marina Monzó
Rinuccio – Iván Ayón Rivas
Zita – Elena Zilio
Gherardo – Mikeldi Atxalandabaso
Nella – Holly Brown
Gherardino – Damián Augusto Fernández
Betto di Signa – Manuel Fuentes
Simone – Giacomo Prestia
Marco – Bryan Sala
La Ciesca – Laura Fleur
Maestro Spinelloccio – Tomeu Bibiloni
Ser Amantio di Nicolao – Daniel Gallegos
Pinellino – Irakli Pkhaladze
Guccio – Javier Agudo