The DVD competition for Bellini's I Capuleti e I Montecchi- a retelling of the Romeo and Juliet story, with lovely music, especially the Romeo/Giulietta duet and Giulietta's big aria, a favourite among sopranos at Birmingham Conservatoire, but also a very static story- is scarce (three as far as I'm aware (the others featuring Patrizia Ciofi and Valentina Farcas, the former being the best of the three), and it's a case of all of them having some flaws but also a number of strengths.
All three are worth watching but none of them are definitive. Of the three, this one fares the least despite having the most potential, considering that it does Joyce Di Donato, Nicole Cabell and Eric Owens in it and that San Francisco Opera have been responsible for some great productions. While it's superb musically, the visuals and staging are a real turn-off, even for someone who doesn't mind non-traditional productions.
Di Donato and Cabell are the highlights of the production. Have yet to see a bad performance from Di Donato, and she is as magnificent as ever. As ever she sings with gorgeous burnished tone, great musicality, phrasing and meaning and envious flexibility, and she is a very gifted actress, convincing fully in a male trouser role. Cabell makes for a lithe and touching Giulietta, with a voice that's gleaming in beauty, agile and capable of both heft and nuance. The two are wonderful together, and their duet, ethereally blended, is the vocal highlight of the whole performance. Eric Owens stands out in support as a rich-voiced and authoritative Capulet, and Ao Li manages to bring a sympathetic edge to an 'interfering old fool' sort of character that could easily have been irritating.
They are brilliantly supported by the orchestra, who give Bellini's beautiful music style and depth as well as lots of graceful flowing lines and strong but intimate tone. The chorus' stage direction is rather static, but they do make an effort to look involved and they sing with a rich warm blend and nice tone colours. Riccardo Frizza's conducting is accommodating, allowing the singing to resonate and the music to breathe while also giving life and pace to the production. Technically, the DVD can't be faulted, the camera work is dynamic and the picture and sound quality is excellent.
Sadly, the production does have shortcomings. Saimir Pirgu is the weak link in the cast, not that he's bad but he is not as impressive or as committed as everybody else. He has a fine voice and is every bit as good technically, considering that I know him better for his Mozart the dexterity he had in his voice and how he used it was really pleasing. Unfortunately, his acting consists of standing there looking not very interested.
Visuals and staging were far bigger problems however. The sets are rather drab and stark, which gave the production a cold look and a real lack of time and place. The costumes are bizarre and quite ugly, not adding anything and actually take away from the quality of the musical values. Lastly, the staging does nothing to make the story less static and more interesting, apart from the duet between Di Donato's Romeo and Cabell's Giulietta there is a real emotional disconnect and some touches are irrelevant (like the senseless ending and the touch with the sink in Giulietta's aria, which took away from the intimacy of the aria and distracted even from Cabell's wonderful singing), lack coherence and would have veered in poor taste if played up even more.
In conclusion, a disappointment, but certainly watchable because it is so good musically. 6/10 Bethany Cox
