BWW Reviews: Heigh Ho, Silver. GUGLIELMO TELL Rides into Carnegie Hall from Turin with Soprano Meade under Noseda

As 'king of the overture,' Rossini certainly knew how to put an audience in a good mood and his GUGLIELMO TELL--better known as WILLIAM TELL--is no exception. The opera's elaborate introduction, which most Americans over a certain age know from "The Lone Ranger" serials and other themes used in decades of cartoon features, it's still dazzling and great fun to hear. It's particularly so, when it's in the hands of an exciting ensemble like the orchestra of Turin's Teatro Reggio Torino, under music director, Gianandrea Noseda. (A special shout-out to principal cellist Relja Lukic for his solo work in the overture and elsewhere.)

GUGLIELMO is a landmark of several kinds--a grand opera originally written for Paris and a monumental work that in many ways outdid the 35 operas that preceded it. Mostly notably, however, it was Rossini's final opera, even though he lived for another 40 years. It's considered one of his best, though you'd hardly know it from its performance record, certainly in New York. The last major performance was with Opera Orchestra of New York and Eve Queler at Carnegie in 1972. (The only staged performance in this country

Why the poor performance record? Well, it doesn't have a string of hit arias and there certainly aren't any of the laughs that Rossini is best known for providing. (See: BARBIERE, CENERENTOLA, L'ITALIANA.) But perhaps most daunting is the tenor role, Arnoldo, which is one of the great challenges in non-Wagnerian repertoire. American tenor John Osborn gave it all he had--with the high notes in place, thank you--but he seemed a size too small for it, pushing his voice for all his worth. It was an able performance, nonetheless, especially his Act IV aria, "Amis, amis, secondez ma vengeance." (Four performances of the opera in five days, in different cities, might help account for some stress in his voice.)

The great performance of the afternoon was soprano Angela Meade. She was in top form, easily sailing over the large chorus and orchestra. More importantly, she was fully engaged: This is not always the case with this major voice and in the past she has seemed dull, despite powerful singing. (The best performance I'd heard from her was in FALSTAFF at the Met, as Alice Ford.) But she was thrilling on this occasion and gave me hope for more exciting performances to come. I particularly liked her entrance aria, "Selva opaca."

Unfortunately, this Italian company didn't quite live up to expectations on the singing front. Baritone Luca Salsi, as Tell, showed great acting skill but a rather dry voice with little resonance and the rest of the cast was pretty uninteresting, at best. On the plus side, bass Fabrizio Beggi brought dignity and fervor to the wise old Mechtal and sweet-voiced soprano Marina Bucciarelli excelled in the pants role of Jemmy, Tell's son (the human target with an apple perched on his head). Even better was the Teatro Reggio Torino's chorus, under Claudio Fenoglio, which was terrific from start to finish.

Music director Noseda has worked hard to put the company on the map, though working in Italy is an ongoing challenge due to arcane rules and regulations affecting what can and cannot be done in an opera house. His success has been notable in building an orchestra and chorus to be reckoned with. Judging by this performance, attention should be paid to the home-grown soloist part of the equation.

###

Photo: Teatro Regio Torino Orchestra and Chorus, Gianandrea Noseda, Music Director and Conductor (center). Left to right: Angela Meade, Soprano (Matilde); Marina Bucciarelli, Soprano (Jemmy); Anna Maria Chiuri, Mezzo-Soprano, (Edwige); Luca Salsi, Baritone (Guglielmo Tell); Fabrizio Beggi, Bass (Melchtal); John Osborn, Tenor (Arnoldo)

Photo by Jennifer Taylor

To post a comment, you must register and login.