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“It’s not the destination, it’s the journey” (Ralph Waldo Emerson) Pesaro
Auditorio Scavolini
08/16/2024 - & August 19, 2024
Gioachino Rossini: Il viaggio a Reims, ossia l’albergo del giglio d’oro
Chiara Boccabella*/Viktoria Shamsnska (Corinna), Aleksandra Meteleva*/Yiqian Heng (Marquise Melibea), Nanami Yoneda*/Marina Fita Montfort (Countess Folleville), Elenora Hu*/Kilara Ishida (Madame Cortese), Aleksey Kursanov*/Bryan López González (Chevalier Belfiore), Alikhan Zeinola*/Marcelo Solís (Count de Libenskof), Irakli Pkhaladze*/Francesco Leone (Lord Sydney), Giuseppe de Lucca*/Aleksey Makshantsev (Don Profondo), Carlos Reynoso*/Gonghao Zhang (Baron Trombonok), Maxim Lisiin*/Dario Sogos (Don Alvaro), Aleksey Makshantsev*/Giuseppe de Lucca (Don Prudenzio), Bryan López González*/Aleksey Kursanov (Don Luigino), Kilara Ishida*/Elenora Hu (Delia), Yiqian Heng*/Aleksandra Meteleva (Maddalena), Marina Fita Montfort*/Nanami Yoneda (Modestina), Marcelo Solís*/Alikhan Zeinola (Zefirino, Gelsomino), Gonghao Zhang*/Carlos Reynoso (Antonio)
Orchestra Sinfonica G. Rossini, Davide Levi (conductor)
Emilio Sagi (stage director & sets), Matteo Anselmi (reprisal stage director), Pepa Ojanguren (costumes), Fabio Rossi (lighting)
(© Amati Bacciardi)
Rossini’s last Italian opera, Il viaggio a Reims, ossia l’albergo del giglio d’oro, was a ceremonial pièce d’occasion originally conceived for the coronation of France’s King Charles X, during the brief period of the restoration of the monarchy. First performed in 1825, Rossini, never expecting it to be played beyond its first four performances, later cannibalized much of it for his bittersweet comic opera Le Comte Ory.
The idea of restoring an ode to the monarchy at a time when France had long been republican may seem risible to many. The manuscript, long thought lost, was found and restored by Rossini musicologist Philip Gossett. The venerable Pesaro Rossini Opera Festival witnessed its rebirth in 1984 with a stellar cast that included Katia Ricciarelli, Cecilia Gasdia, Lella Cuberli, Lucia Valentini-Terrani, Francisco Araiza, Edoardo Giminez, William Matteuzzi, Ruggero Raimondi, Leo Nucci, Enzo Dara and Samuel Ramey. Under such circumstances, the meager plot, with an absurdly high number of protagonists (eighteen), makes sense.
In any theatrical performance, it’s acknowledged that audiences cannot easily navigate a plot if the number of protagonists exceeds eight, but allowances can be made when the cast is composed of easily identifiable superstars. This is precisely the problem with recent productions of Il viaggio a Reims: they’ve featured limited star power. For the audience, only in Act II, with its songs of the native lands of the noble guests at Albergo del giglio d’oro did one figure out the intricate characters and their relationships. The marvelous dramatis personæ include the French Countess Folleville; German Baron Trombonok; the Polish Marquise Melibea; the Russian Count Libenskof; the English Lord Sydney; the Italian antique dealer Don Profondo, and the Spanish nobleman Don Alvaro.
Forty years after its revival, plucked from oblivion by the great maestro Claudio Abbado at Pesaro, Il viaggio a Reims continues to be an annual event, albeit with students and recent graduates of the Pesaro Festival’s Accademia, bringing young singers together, not unlike the cosmopolitan guests of the Albergo del giglio d’oro.
The storyline is quite thin. A group of cosmopolitan bons vivants are at a country inn awaiting transport to Reims to attend the coronation of Charles X, the restored Bourbon King of France. Among the inn’s guests is a fashion-crazed Parisian, the aptly‑named Madame Folleville. Japanese soprano Nanami Yoneda excelled in embodying Folleville’s histrionics, managing to evoke sympathy, despite her demeanor.
Russian mezzo Aleksandra Meteleva was the Polish Marquise Melibea, ardently pursued by two men: the Russian Baron Trombonok (played by Mexican baritone Carlos Reynoso) and Spanish nobleman Don Alvaro (Russian baritone Maxim Lisiin). The latter brilliantly portrayed the Spaniard, dancing a spiritedly sensual fandango with Melibea. The velvet-voiced Russian mezzo displayed ample magnetism to entice the two rivals. It’s almost certain that the Marquise Melibea is not fortuitously Polish. She alludes to a Poland partitioned between Russia, Prussia and Austria. The country’s definitive division took place in 1815 at the same Congress of Vienna which restored the Bourbons to the French throne. Poland did not reappear on the map until the end of WWI, in 1918.
Italian lyric soprano Chiara Boccabella was the Roman poetess Corinna. Her beautiful soprano was memorably haunting in her Act I aria “Arpa gentil.” An Englishman, Lord Sydney, sung by Georgian bass Irakli Pkhaladze, is in love with her. He sang the maudlin aria “Ah! Perché la conobbi?” with convincing emotion.
Don Profondo, a scholar and lover of antiques, performs, “Medaglie incomparabili,” a charming account of the personal effects of his cosmopolitan fellow-travellers at the Albergo del Giglio d’oro. Italian baritone Giuseppe de Lucca sang the amusing aria with the needed panache. The young singer courageously carries the name of legendary Italian baritone Giuseppe de Lucca (1876‑1950).
Corinna has another admirer, the vain Chevalier Belfiore, brilliantly portrayed by Russian tenor Aleksey Kursanov. Despite a non‑aristocratic demeanor, he was a convincing serial seducer in his unsuccessful flirtation with the poetess, “Nel suo divin sembiante.”
Bad news reaches the inn: there are no horses to buy or rent to reach Reims for the coronation. Mercifully, Madame Cortese receives a letter from her husband in Paris announcing festivities in the French capital upon the return of the monarch. Countess Folleville invites the entire group to her home in Paris. The funds reserved for the trip are used for a celebration at the inn, and the remaining funds are to be given to the poor. This rather disdainful charitable spirit is in tune with the anti-revolutionary restoration imposed by the Congress of Vienna.
All the other singers were sufficiently adequate, managing to convey the lighthearted spirit of the work. The Spanish director’s concept of poolside lounge chairs for the inn’s guests created a quasi “opera in concert,” à propos for an opera lacking in plot.
Previously unknown, Il viaggio a Reims is now well-established in the repertoire. Its success gives hope for other forgotten operas. This is my third Il viaggio, the previous two being in Florence and Barcelona, and both had star power. Astonishingly, this “student” production had more panache than those productions. To experience any production of the master’s work in Rossini’s birthplace is inspirational, but its success is also thanks to the utter professionalism of both the Accademia and the Pesaro Festival.
Exceptionally, in celebration of its fortieth anniversary at the Rossini Opera Festival, a concert version of Il viaggio closes the festival on August 23rd with a star‑studded cosmopolitan cast that includes Jessica Pratt, Vasilisa Berzhanskaya, Karine Deshayes, Dmitry Korchak, Erwin Schrott, Nicola Alaimo and Vito Priante. Now that’s a true coronation!
Ossama el Naggar
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