“Wheelchair” Barber of Seville now on DVD

[whipped guy]

The “Wheelchair” Il Barbiere di Siviglia – London July 2009

 

At the beginning of this Virgin Classics DVD instead of seeing music director Antonio Pappano give the downbeat to commence the overture to Rossini’s popular comedy, we see him onstage appearing before the curtain of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden to announce that Joyce DiDonato will be performing the role of Rosina in a wheelchair! Having had an accident during opening night shortly after “Una voce poco fa”, and being quite the trooper, she decided not to cancel her run of performances. Considering that the staging would have to be modified in a very short time the results are nothing short of amazing… and boy can Miss DiDonato act... and spin around in a chair… and actually use the chair as a prop to the character’s advantage. Plus the girl can sing as well!

 

Now when librettist Cesare Sterbini has Rosina say that she has a cramp in her foot I am quite sure that he never ever expected the line not only to get a hearty laugh, but a warm round of applause as well! At any rate, DiDonato steals the show and that is not an easy feat considering that her Almaviva is the celebrated Juan Diego Florez… and it is normally his job to pilfer the limelight from the title character. In fact, the cast is strong from top to bottom with Pietro Spagnoli a robust Figaro, Alessandro Corbelli a conniving Bartolo, and Ferruccio Furlanetto as a slimy Basilo… with only the later considerably sacrificing vocal accuracy for dramatic effect. If anything he is the weak link in the cast from a purely vocal standpoint, but visually and histrionically he gives a tour de force performance. Even the Berta is quite good. Plus Pappano knows his way around the score which is performed in the relatively new critical edition published by Barinreiter.

 

As for the production itself, the sets and costumes abound in bright colors with the stage riotously tilting and slanting to good effect signifying the confusion that ends the first act… with the by now infamous wheelchair effectively and energetically joining in the action as well… albeit while remaining on terra firma. If this had all been planned for months on end the final results would not have been any finer…

 

So, heartily recommended… and destined to become a classic. In fact I transferred the audio portion not only to my iPod, but to CD as well. As such, it has become my current Barber of choice.

 

Run… or wheel yourself to your local DVD outlet to get it!

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[+ Italiano]

The “Wheelchair” Il Barbiere di Siviglia – London July 2009

 

At the beginning of this Virgin Classics DVD instead of seeing music director Antonio Pappano give the downbeat to commence the overture to Rossini’s popular comedy, we see him onstage appearing before the curtain of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden to announce that Joyce DiDonato will be performing the role of Rosina in a wheelchair!

 

I saw DiDonato Singing Rosina at La Scala (with JD Florez) 5 years ago at La Scala in Milan.

 

I honestly went to see the show because of him, I had never seen him live before, and I knew about her only that she was a very good American mezzo.

 

At the end of the show, even if of course I loved the performance of the peruvian tenor, I was absolutely blown away (and so was the not easy La Scala audience...) by fantastic Joyce DiDonato!

 

Last year, a couple of months prior to the Covent Garden accidented performance you are talking about, I had the absouletly amazing experience of working with her in a production of Barber of Seville!

I watched her closeby rehearsing and performing for 2 weeks with a special energy and charisma, which is something that happens vere few times especially among opera singers, and on top of that, she is a charming, funny, hearthy, delightful human being!

[whipped guy]

...on top of that, she is a charming, funny, hearthy, delightful human being!

Everything that I have read about her confirms the fact that she is a special and wonderful person... and that includes the cover story in the May issue of Gramophone.