The second opera presented this year at the Rossini Opera Festival is Aureliano in Palmira, written for La Scala in 1813, where it received a lukewarm reception. The plot is based on historical events: the Roman emperor Aureliano’s conquest of the Middle East in the third century A.D. and his war against Queen Zenobia. The military and heroic themes are intertwined with the love triangle between Aureliano, Zenobia and Arsace, the head of the army defending the city of Palmira, the only role Rossini ever wrote for a castrato (Giovanni Battista Velluti).
Rossini composed a completely original score for this serious opera, which became the source for several auto-thefts in works presented in the following years. In particular, the overture and the melody of the first scene became the overture and serenade in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and the great scene of Arsace in the second act became Rosina’s cavatina, in the same opera. It is uncanny to hear the exact same music from Rossini’s most famous work in such a different context. It is a testament to the abilities of conductor Georges Petrou that the overture sounded martial and pompous, as it should do. Rossini’s music, in the right hands and voices, somehow manages to transcend the plot and the emotions displayed: it becomes like a transversal thread that keeps vastly different stories together.
This year the Teatro Rossini is not available, due to damages from the last earthquake in Pesaro, so all the performances are held at the Vitifrigo Arena: the 2014 production by Mario Martone has been restaged and adapted to the Arena’s much wider space by Daniela Schiavone. Filmy translucent panels are lowered to create mazes, shepherds’ tents, prison cells; Pasquale Mori’s lighting turns them into solid walls or transparent veils. An elevated walkway behind the dark backdrop is lit at times to reveal soldiers or priests. A fortepiano is on stage, hidden or revealed by one of the filmy panels, and is used as a random prop by the singers, who lean on it or sit on its stool. Concert master Hana Lee played it (admirably) from the stage during the recitativi secchi and at times discreetly interacted with the action.
Petrou led the Orchestra Sinfonica G. Rossini with a strong hand, his Baroque expertise evident in some brisk changes of dynamics and tempi. There was a slight blunder in the overture: during the first crescendo the cymbals came in slightly late and were out of rhythm for quite a few measures, with Petrou desperately trying to rein them in, the cellos turning around glaring, the violins getting also a bit confused in the rhythmic precision. It was only a moment, quickly resolved, but this overture is one of the most famous pieces of music on Earth, so it was unfortunately easy to spot, at least from the first rows of the stalls. The overall performance of the orchestra was tight and intense, the pace fast and emotionally charged.
Sara Blanch was Zenobia; her very high, silvery soprano was a delight in the many coloratura passages, her super-high notes secure and brilliant. Her queen was proud, haughty, passionate and fierce. The role would require a bit more substance in the middle register, but Blanch managed to go around the lower passages without forcing, using her voice at its best. It was a brilliant, exciting performance. Her lover Arsace was Raffaella Lupinacci, whose mezzo is suitably bronzed in the mid-low register, with smooth, round, beautiful high notes. Her coloratura was spotless, and her interpretation of the unfortunate warrior (he loses every single battle) was believable, helped by a considerable physique du rôle. Zenobia and Arsace have perhaps the best music of the opera in their three duets (precursors of the soprano-mezzo duets in Semiramide); Blanch and Lupinacci were remarkable in those, showing great chemistry in the last one “Mille sospiri e lagrime,” where the two lovers really came to life.
Aureliano was Alexey Tatarintsev, whose tenor had secure high notes and good coloratura. Globally, his performance was a bit subdued, but still successful, with great clarity of sound and diction. Marta Pluda was Publia, the roman woman in love with Arsace, a role which we wish will bring her luck (Lupinacci was Publia in the 2014 ROF performance). She made the most of her aria di sorbetto with her deep, mellow, sensual mezzo.
The opera has a happy ending: Aureliano forgives Zenobia and Arsace, leaving them to reign in Palmira as long as they submit to Rome (and pay taxes, one guesses). During the final happy chorus, a message on a panel informs us of what happened in real life: Zenobia never surrendered, Palmira was captured by Aureliano, and the queen was dragged in golden chains in the triumphal procession in Rome.
