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4.0 out of 5 stars
A Slightly Odd Gala Concert for the Reopening of La Fenice, July 1, 2005
This review is from: Gala Reopening of the Teatro La Fenice / Ciofi, Ganassi, Mingardo, Sacca, Pertusi, Rivenq, Allegretta, Guadagnini, Muti, Venice Opera (DVD)
Teatro la Fenice, Venice's gloriously beautiful and historically significant opera house, burned to the ground in January 1996. An eventually successful international effort to rebuild it started immediately and although it took more than seven years, with fits and starts, for the building to be rebuilt exactly as it had been before the fire, it re-opened with this gala concert featuring soloists, chorus and orchestra of La Fenice under Riccardo Muti in December 2003. The concert itself features, aside from Beethoven's second-drawer 'Consecration of the House' Overture (de rigueur in these sorts of occasions), music by composers associated with Venice. After the Italian national anthem and the Beethoven, the chorus and orchestra present Stravinsky's 'Symphony of Psalms.' Stravinsky is buried in Venice, and his Mozartean opera, 'The Rake's Progress,' was premièred at La Fenice. The three-movement Symphony is here given a lovely performance; the Fenice chorus sings radiantly, particularly in the last movement, 'Alleluja. Laudate Dominum.'
One might expect something by Vivaldi to have featured on the program; he was after all probably the composer most associated with Venice. But it is a ten-minute 'Te Deum' by his close contemporary, Antonio Caldara (1671-1736), that is presented. It is a ten-minute hymn of praise that features two quartets of vocal soloists, chorus and orchestra. It is pretty but not terribly distinguished music. The double-quartet -- which includes such emerging stars as soprano Patrizia Ciofi and contralto Sara Mingardo -- doesn't have much of interest to do.
The concert concludes with two marches by Wagner. Wagner's primary connection with Venice, as far as I know, is that he died there. The 'Kaisermarsch,' written for the dedicatinon of Bayreuth, is Wagnerian boilerplate bombast but the 'Huldigungsmarsch' is a stirring seven-minute Tristanesque tone poem, played here in its less familiar full-orchestra version; it is more generally heard as played by wind band, as it was at its première at a birthday celebration for Wagner's patron, King Ludwig of Bavaria. The performance is splendid.
The visuals of the rebuilt Teatro la Fenice show off its exquisite interior to great advantage. The gala crowd are dressed to the nines, and the audience includes the President of Italy as well as a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church in full regalia.
Originally broadcast on television by RAI, 14 December 2003. Sound (Dolby 5.1, DTS 5.1 or LPCM Stereo) is adequate but not overwhelmingly rich. There are no subtitles and no extra features. Liner notes are in German, English and Italian. TT=66 mins.
Scott Morrison
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2.0 out of 5 stars
La Fenice served cold., January 2, 2010
This review is from: Gala Reopening of the Teatro La Fenice / Ciofi, Ganassi, Mingardo, Sacca, Pertusi, Rivenq, Allegretta, Guadagnini, Muti, Venice Opera (DVD)
As the previous reviewer already noted, this performance is bizarre - one would expect the reopening of La Fenice would feature Venetian composers, as Monteverdi, Cavalli and Vivaldi, and probably some exerts from operas that were premiered there - Rigoletto, Ernani to name a few. However, there was nothing of that sort except for Antonio Caldara's always religious piece; the whole event sounded and looked as inauguration for a church, maybe reopening of San Marco, as Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms was performed in the splendid basilica; or, the sound was as a laudation for a king, since two Wagnerian marches were played - the only reason for such mediocre music, obviously composed for a function, could be the presence of the president of the republic; but what on earth did it have to do it the reopening of the opera theater?
The presence of a catholic cleric in president's box was also quite upsetting for a state which claims the separation of church and state. Why would there were not protestant priests, together with a rabbi and a mullah? Obviously, such questions are relevant only to America, and this footage provided some glimpse in not so glorious reality of modern Italy, with a certain religion obviously being elevated above others; the choice of music - Te Deum and other religious pieces only confirmed it.
The whole thing sounded as liturgy, which is so inappropriate for an opera theater gala.
It was also funny to note the poor manners of the president and his wife, who kept their programmes on the balustrade, covered with red velvet, although everyone who attends theaters knows that it is a strict no-no, since these programmes can fall on the heads of those who sit below in parterre (orchestra). Naturally, no one would whisper to Italian president that his manner in the box was revealing of how often he attends such performances for his own pleasure. The presence of so many Italian nomenclature was pathetic - the event should have been festive, fiery and entertaining, as the bird La Fenice implies, not chilling as a church crypt.
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