Roberto de biasio biography of william

We felt a bit of cognitive dissonance at seeing more than 200 musicians on stage for a Bellini opera, and though we know that Wagner admired Bellini, what was Wotan, in the person of James Morris, doing there? Well, what they were all doing was providing nothing less than high drama for the 6,000 opening night gala attendees in the Koussevitzky Shed—gala and generous the performances were!

James Levine “proposed” and Charles Dutoit “disposed” the overture and first act of Bellini’s Norma for the entire first half of the concert. The amazing Tanglewood Festival chorus was on hand for something like its 900th BSO engagement. Performing from memory as is their wont, they were hair-raising when in full cry, to the extent that they covered the opening utterances of James Morris. But their introduction of Norma’s “Casta diva” was masterful, and soprano Angela Meade was able to soar above the combined forces of chorus and orchestra with ease. Her singing in fact banished recollections of Joan Sutherland or just about any other diva in the role.

Even more ardent was the Pollione, Sicilian tenor Roberto De Biasio. His was real bel canto singing, but with power and deep dramatic involvement, and he sounded like a young José Carreras. One would like to see De Biasio on stage. The polished contribution of the dramatic mezzo Kristine Jepson as Adalgisa was wrenching.

Rossini’s Overture to William Tell isa chestnut that the BSO has been trumpeting  since its second season in 1883. Jules Eskin made the most of the solo cello introduction, even though the audience was taken a bit by surprise by his quiet eloquence. Perhaps a better signal for the audience from the conductor was needed here. By the time cellist Martha Babcock joined him for their bel canto duet, decorum was restored.  But when the trumpet intoned the familiar da-da-dum  da-da-dum, da-da-dum-dum-dum theme, there were many elbows, titters and guffaws in the audience —though one assumes those were from

Opera by Gaetano Donizetti

Lucrezia Borgia is a melodramatic opera in a prologue and two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italianlibretto after the play Lucrezia Borgia by Victor Hugo, in its turn after the legend of Lucrezia Borgia. Lucrezia Borgia was first performed on 26 December 1833 at La Scala, Milan.

Performance history

19th century

Because of its scandalous subject matter, Lucrezia Borgia was taken up slowly in Italy and presented in many Italian theatres with altered titles and, in some cases, altered character names. It was given in Florence, beginning on 12 November 1838, as Eustorgia da Romano, in Trieste in the autumn of 1838 as Alfonso Duca di Ferrara, in Ferrara on 14 April 1841 as Giovanna I di Napoli, and in Rome on 26 December 1841 as Elisa da Fosco.

The first London production was at Her Majesty's Theatre on 6 June 1839 with Giulia Grisi and Mario. When the opera was staged in Paris (Théâtre des Italiens) in 1840, Victor Hugo obtained an injunction against further productions within the domain of French copyright law. The libretto was then rewritten and retitled La rinnegata, with the Italian characters changed to Turks, and the performances were resumed.

The first English-language production was in London on 30 December 1843. The English tenor Sims Reeves was a noted Gennaro. Lucrezia was first presented in New Orleans on 27 April 1843 and then at New York's American Theatre on 11 May 1843 and later at the Palmo's Opera House in 1847: with Giulia Grisi in 1854; and with Thérèse Tietjens and Brignoli in 1876. It was given at the Academy of Music, Philadelphia, in 1882, and at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, in 1904, with Enrico Caruso as Gennaro and Arturo Vigna conducting.

20th century and beyond

A famous performance of Lucrezia Borgia presented by the American Opera Socie

Bizet’s “Carmen” was the opera chosen for the 2014 Santa Fe Opera season’s opening night. It’s a dressy night, one the ritual occasions for tuxedos and subtly colored bow ties. Parties abound both in town, and “on campus”, including the elaborate parking lot tailgate parties for which the Santa Fe Opera is famous [Review: Stephen Lawless’ Creative New “Carmen” Production Opens 2014 Santa Fe Opera Season – June 27, 2014].

One knows instinctively that the Santa Fe regulars are already planning their menus and table decorations for next year’s opening night (July 3, 2014 of Santa Fe Opera’s first ever performances of Donizetti’s “LA Fille du Regiment”.

Having reported on the opening night weekend operas, which included the Carmen of Daniela Mack [see ], I returned for the “rest of the season’s operas”. Dressed in Southwest casual rather than formal wear, I also attended another performance of “Carmen”, this time starring Puerto Rican soprano Ana Maria Martinez.

[Below: Carmen (Ana Maria Martinez, front left) attracts the attention of Don Jose (Roberto De Biasio, right) as the cigarette factory girls look on; edited image, based on a Ken Howard photograph, courtesy of the Santa Fe Opera.]

I had promised in my previous review to discuss further the elements of Stephen Lawless’ inspired new production, which has been time- and place-shifted to somewhere in late mid-20th century North Central Mexico (I nominate the Mexican State of Chihuahua) which borders Texas and New Mexico.

Although there are several references to celebrity culture (Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Amy Winehouse, some urban cowboy’s mechanical bull) one need not be distracted by any of these pop culture ideas.

What is fundamental to Bizet’s “Carmen” is fundamental also to Lawless’ staging. Carmen fervently believes in predestination

Opera by Giuseppe Verdi

Attila is an opera in a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on the 1809 playAttila, König der Hunnen (Attila, King of the Huns) by Zacharias Werner. The opera received its first performance at La Fenice in Venice on 17 March 1846.

Ezio's act 2 aria of heroic resolution "È gettata la mia sorte" (My lot is cast, I am prepared for any warfare) is a fine example of a characteristic Verdian genre, and it achieved fame in its own time with audiences in the context of the adoption of a liberal constitution by Ferdinand II. Other contemporary comment praised the work as suitable for the "political education of the people", while, in contrast, others criticised the opera as "Teutonic" in nature.

Composition history

Verdi had read the ultra-Romantic play in April 1844, probably introduced to it by his friend Andrea Maffei who had written a synopsis. A letter to Francesco Maria Piave (with whom he had worked on both Ernani and I due Foscari) had included the subject of Attila as opera number 10 on a list of nine other possible projects, and in that same letter, he encouraged Piave to read the play, which musicologist Julian Budden describes as having "sprung from the wilder shores of German literary romanticism [and which contains] all the Wagnerian apparatus – the Norns, Valhalla, the sword of Wodan [sic], the gods of light and the gods of darkness." He continues: "It is an extraordinary Teutonic farrago to have appealed to Verdi."

Verdi works with Solera

But, as Attila was to be the second opera Verdi would be writing for Venice, he appears to have changed his mind about working with Piave as the librettist and then convinced him to relinquish the project, seemingly preferring to work with Solera, who had been his librettist for both Nabucco and I