La Favorite

http://www.renaud-bray.com

http://www.renaud-bray.com

*** Résumé en anglais seulement *** One of the composer’s most beguiling scores, La Favorite is Donizetti’s La favorita in its original French form; a tale of love and war that represents a glorious mix of Italian bel canto and 19th-century grand opéra. Today’s scholarly interest in Donizetti’s output has helped bring La Favorite back into circulation, and Vincent Boussard’s arresting Toulouse production does full justice to its renewed masterpiece status, accentuating the work’s intimacy through economical sets and Christian Lacroix’s striking costumes, thus rawing attention to the opera’s three main characters. Three international principals take on these demanding roles: Chinese tenor Yijie Shi is a ‘revelation’ (La Dépêche) as Fernand, with French baritone Ludovic Tézier offering suitably rich-toned authority as King lphonse XI and lauded American mezzo Kate Aldrich – ‘the Carmen of this generation’ (San Francisco Sentinel) – plumbing the emotional depths of Léonor’s music. Conductor and bel canto specialist Antonello Allemandi derives every possible nuance from the score, adding to the passionate proceedings onstage. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in true Surround Sound. Donizetti’s French masterpiece was in the hands of Italian conductor Antonello Allemandi. This maestro, a bel canto specialist, captured the fire and intensity of the passions from the get-go, making the overture a superbly eloquent transition to a musical world based on beautiful lines and colors that elaborate distress and make it compellingly elegant. Allemandi demonstrated a full authority over the stage for the musically complex scenes, and in the arias and duets he demonstrated his confidence in the artistry of distraught singers by establishing ample tempos to support their soaring vocal lines while he concentrated on pulling every possible nuance from the pit players. It was a splendid afternoon of beautifully staged bel canto transformed into great music. (Opera Today)