( My) Ernani Live in HD Review

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Finally I am able to sit down and write my review of this Ernani.

First thing I feel like to say is: it was not in the Met standards… I mean, they got us used to great singers and in this production the only singers who fully mastered their voice were Furlanetto and Dmitri.

Marcello Giordani and Angela Meade

The production was huge and great looking! Golden and red velvet were there in huge amount and the two staircases just filled the whole stage. The last scene’s tower covered with flowers was eyecatchy too. And the costumes were just gorgeous.

A glimpse of Act 2 staircase

The musical part deceived more than the visual one!

Marco Armiliato in the pit gave resonance to the heroic tones of the score but much less to the romantic èlans, so that in scenes like ” Ah morir potessi adesso” the elegiac atmosphere that should rise from those notes didn’t transform into that perfect melting of voices and music that should be ( but maybe it wasn’t only Armiliato’s fault! He can’t teach Angela Meade how to sing a mezzavoce!)

And now the singers…

I think Angela Meade who sang Elvira, presented as the new star, compared to the young Joan Sutherland, has a good voice. However unpleasant sounds to me hers is a promising instrument, but she has to control that tight vibrato, otherwise her voice becomes really annoying. Apart from the vibrato I also heard some intonation problems during “Ernani, Ernani involami” and not only… also in ensambles she opened her mouth and breathed out all she had inside towering and not thinking which note she was singing! Music and opera, especially in ensambles, is not a muscle show! You have to create an atmosphere, to stay with others, sticking to the score! Her ” Gran Dio” in the second Act was really horrible to hear! it seemed a scream! Plus many times she breathed where she shouldn’t. Like in the cabaletta “Tutto sprezzo che d’Ernani” she took a breath and divided into two words “l’indugiar” she did something like ” l’iiiiiiiiiiind- uh giar”… Her acting, by the way, was mannered and she conveyed no emotions, she could only cross her hands over her breast! She was really wooden on stage! She is young , at the beginning of her career and it is forgivable, but she has to take seriously the study otherwise her career will not be long! Her voice will soon fade if she continues emitting it in that way!

Hey, but WAIT! During the intermissions it is shown a video of her singing Casta Diva and… that was beautiful! Angela Meade, please, take note, and be careful in choosing the repertoire! Bellini is for you!!!! Not Verdi I am afraid…

Angela Meade as the fierce Elvira

Marcello Giordani who sang the title role is a skilled and not new to the stage tenor. He was singing Madame Butterfly at the Met in the same days as Ernani, plus rumors told he was ill on the 25th. This could explain why this tenor, not more young but still totally in posess and control of his instrument did not have his best performance as Ernani. He delivered some throathy and pushed sounds especially in the cabaletta of the first aria ” Come rugiada al cespite”, “O tu che l’alma adora, vien”. In the Trio with Elvira and Carlo he sang some beautiful “disfidoti o Re” and he seemed to improve during the performance, fourth act scene with Elvira and him sobbing facedown on the stairs divided by Silva was moving! At least he conveyed some emotions, not like the unexpert Angela Meade…

Marcello Giordani as the doomed Ernani

Furlanetto took the role of Don Ruy Gomèz de Silva and he portrayed it with the vocal and acting skill he acquired in all the years of his long and great career. Even if tiredness could be heard in his voice and some sounds he emitted sounded like a lowing the emotional portrayal of his Silva arrived straight through the screen. I must admit his voice now is not the most pleasant to hear. It was especially painful during his aria ” Infelice, e tuo credevi” but the cabaletta “Infin che un brando vindice” was strucking, especially because of the music

Ferruccio Furlanetto as the thirsting for revenge Silva defying Ernani to duel

Now it is Dmitri’s turn!

I now I am partial, but I feel like I can say that this debut of the role of Carlo is really promising! He improved each evening and on the 25th he was really inspired! I felt like a real King was on stage! ( That costumes helped, but he has it in his blood! He sang PERFECTLY! every note was at her place and he gave life to the carachter! His “Da quel di che t’ho veduta” was honey in my ears! In the second act he was authoritative just like a King would have be in ” La vedremo veglio audace” and during “Vieni meco” I was really dreaming somebody could sing that way to me ( uhm… imposible uh? ) … “O de’ verd’anni miei” was a masterpiece, one of the best things I heard him sing. He put in it nostalgy, sadness, regrets,he was a destroyed young men with lot of duties… which suddendly rose to a powerful, young and strong emperor in his prime. His breath control was amazing as always, and his phrasing a dream! I cannot expres what I felt during that aria! I was breathless, and the close ups at the end of it really brought me in another dimension, if I had been in the theater I would have burst into an ovation like the met public of that evening! Even if many criticize him for the size of his voice I feel like saying better having a voice well mannered and techinically perfect lik his than a big voice which cannot be controlled! However, liking his voice is not for everybody! Not everyone can appreciate how he ceasels every note and word and he bounds his voice to what he is singing! it is a really sophisticated process that not everybody can understand and feel, and saying this I don’t want to boast, but when I am told “he sings bad, you are not the adequate person to judge, let me tell you, I know more than you”, than I think, ok, stay with your fav.s, I’ll keep his voice and all the strong emotions it gives me, thanks a lot”

Returning to the performance, I was only sorry he doesn’t appear in the fourth act, but luckily we had intermission and he brought children on stage to greet Grandparents in Russia ( who could see him from the Met for the first time since Live in HD was brought to Russia this season … ) and Switzerland … Maxim and Nina were adorable So sweety! And I think Dmitri was in high spirits for his succesful role debut… CONGRATS DIMA! Continue like this!