Watching the dress rehearsal of the new production of Verdi´s Les vêpres siciliennes yesterday at the Roya Opera House was a great way to celebrate Giuseppe Verdi´s bicentenary. All four main soloists excelled in their roles and will stay in my memory.
Since my first ever Verdi (Macbeth in Madrid in 1980) 33 years have gone by..., and I have had wonderful experiences listening to his operas and witnessing phenomenal singing. Here is a list of performances which really have stuck in my memory:
Forza´s Leonora (Montserrat Caballé), Trovatore´s Leonora (Leona Mitchell), Manrico (Plácido Domingo and James MacCracken), Violetta (Edita Gruberova, Cristina Gallardo-Domás, Catherine Malfitano, Angela Gheorgiu...), Germont pere (Dimitri Hvorostovsky), Duca (Alfredo Kraus), Gilda (Mariella Devia), Rigoletto (Leo Nucci, Matteo Manuguerra) Don Carlo (Jaume Aragall, Jonas Kaufmann), Elisabetta (Mirella Freni), Philip II (Nicolai Ghiaurov, Paata Buchuladze, Ferruccio Furlanetto), Aida (Rosalind Plowright), Radamés (Luciano Pavarotti), Luisa Miller (Ricciarelli), Rodolfo (Luisa Miller) (José Carreras), Miller (Leo Nucci), Otello (Plácido Domingo), Desdemona (Katia Ricciarelli, Pilar Lorengar), Iago (Justino Díaz), Falstaff (Juan Pons, Bryn Terfel, Renato Bruson, Ambrogio Maestri), Ford (Thomas Allen, Carlos Álvarez), Nanetta (Barbara Hendricks), Abigaille (Julia Varady, Liudmyla Monastyrska), Nabucco (Matteo Manuguerra and Plácido Domingo), Simon Boccanegra (Juan Pons and Plácido Domingo), Amelia Grimaldi (Hanja Harteros and Ilona Tokody), Riccardo (Ramón Vargas), Lady Macbeth (Liudmyla Monastyrska), Attila (Samuel Ramey) and even a wonderful Don Carlo/Rodrigo duet with José Carreras and Piero Cappuccilli.
Believe me, I have witnessed plenty of unsuccesful attempts by well-known singers who succumbed to Verdi´s demanding vocal lines. But I prefer to forget those...
And what about conductors? James Levine, Carlo Maria Giulini, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Jacques Delacote, Colin Davis, Edward Downes, and...Carlos Kleiber (Otello and Traviata). Can´t complain!
Times seem to be good for Verdi sopranos: it is really a relief to hear such fantastic performers as Hanja Harteros, Lianna Haroutounian, Liudmyla Monastyrska, and María José Siri. Tenors don´t seem to fare so well nowadays, but I have to take my hat off to Bryan Himmel for his fabulous Henri (top Cs and all, and even a healthy top D).
Finally, dear Giuseppe, you were my father´s favourite operatic composer. He just loved "Bella figlia dell'amore" above any other ensamble.
You have provided me with endless hours of beautiful and moving, music, singing and drama.
Grazie, Maestro! Here is to the next 200!
