Spain Donizetti, Roberto Devereux: Soloists, Generalitat Valenciana Chorus, Comunitat Valenciana Orchestra / Francesco Lanzillotta (conductor). Palau de Les Arts, Valencia, 18.6.2025. (JMI)
Valencia’s Palau de Les Arts has concluded its opera season with this work by Gaetano Donizetti. It is the final opera of the Bergamo composer’s so-called Tudor Trilogy, which also includes Anna Bolena and Maria Stuarda. I have always found that the first two are more complete and musically superior, which is not to disparage Roberto Devereux.
As far as the Tudor Trilogy in Valencia is concerned, Roberto Devereux was the least successful overall, with a fine cast but a disappointing new staging by Dutch director Jetske Mijnssen (a coproduction with Dutch National Opera and Teatro San Carlo) and uneven musical direction. The action is brought into modern times which has become fashionable but is not necessarily for the better.
In the first act, Queen Elisabetta is in her bedroom accompanied by her maids and staff. Elisabetta leaves the bedroom and, surprisingly, it continues to serves as the setting for the rest of the act, which seems totally absurd. In Act II, we move to a large space surrounded by chairs which seems to be the palace hall. Strange things continue to happen, even more so when, in Act III, we are in the same room where the Duke and Duchess of Nottingham are playing with their children and an electric train. In the final scene, the stage from Act I is lowered from above but without a bed, which gives a little more meaning to the plot. Overall, it is clearly a dissatisfying production.
The musical direction was in the hands of Francesco Lanzillotta who has returned to the Palau de Les Arts after a five-year absence. I found his conducting insufficient overall, beginning with a soulless, boring overture, followed by a routine first act in which emotion is nowhere to be found. Things improved as it went on, and I liked his conducting in the final act where everything was more in line with expectations. He was fortunate to be leading the excellent Comunitat Valenciana Orchestra, and the Generalitat Valenciana Chorus did well too.
Although the opera is entitled Roberto Devereux, there is no doubt that the main protagonist is Queen Elisabetta or Elizabeth, played here by soprano Eleonora Buratto. Her voice is perfectly suited to the demands of the role: she has a wide, attractive center and no problems in the high range. Her adequacy in Donizetti’s bel canto style is another matter, and this showed in Act I where there were the most open sounds. Things improved greatly in the second act, and in Act III, in particular, she was convincing and moving.
Tenor Ismael Jordi as Roberto Devereux gave a complete performance in every sense. He is always an excellent bel canto artist, although his voice is not of extraordinary quality. I found it to be more wide-ranging here than before, which is an advantage for Jordi’s role in this opera, although I should also add that he avoided traditional – or even written – high notes, especially in his grand scene in Act III.
The Duke of Nottingham was sung by Lodovico Filippo Ravizza, a young baritone making his Valencia debut. His voice is broad, runs easily and has a high-quality sound in the middle range, but his suitability for bel canto is quite different. He too had a tendency to open up his sounds and try to show his instrument, so there are no nuances or pianissimos in his interpretation. Ravizza’s singing in Act I was more worthy of verismo than bel canto.
Finally amongst the solid supporting cast, mezzo-soprano Silvia Tro Santafé stood out as Duchess Sara. She has done the part on several previous occasions, and it really shows – she sang with gusto and gave a good performance.
The audience was quite enthusiastic, with the greatest ovation going to Ismael Jordi after his aria in the third act. The final applause was very warm, with Eleonora Buratto and Jordi receiving the biggest applause.
José M. Irurzun
Production:
Director – Jetske Mijnssen
Set designer – Ben Baur
Costume designer – Klaus Bruns
Lighting designer – Cor van den Brink
Dramaturgy – Luc Joosten
Chorus master – Jordi Blanch Tordera
Cast:
Elisabetta – Eleonora Buratto
Roberto Devereux – Ismael Jordi
Lord duca di Nottingham – Lodovico Filippo Ravizza
Sara – Silvia Tro Santafé
Lord Guglielmo Cecil– Filipp Modestov
Sir Gualtiero Raleigh – Irakli Pkhaladze
Page – Xavier Galán