(Credit: Javier del Real)

The Spanish opera coliseum opened its 2024-25 season with the worldwide recognized production of Francesco Cilea’s “Adriana Lecouvreur” by David McVicar and two excellent casts, streaming a live performance on Live Screens all over Spain (on the 28th of September) and on a wide screen in the back facade of Teatro Real.

David McVicar’s Production Perspective

David McVicar is one of the most acclaimed and proliferous stage directors nowadays. His productions are seen at major opera houses all over the world. This production of Cilea’s masterpiece, which premiered at the Royal Opera in 2010 with the operatic stars Angela Gheorghiu and Jonas Kaufmann, has been seen in theatres such as the Met, Paris Opera, Milan, EL Liceu and the San Francisco Opera.

McVicar began his career as a “concept director” with abstract and modern productions, including his Royal Opera “Rigoletto”. His style has developed into staging big classical period productions, similar to Zefirelli’s style, but with a modern realistic acting approach, and his “Adriana” was no exception. It includes beautiful luxury period sets and costumes paired with detailed and realistic acting. He played with the profusely done “theatre within theatre” which is perfectly justified in this occasion as the first act happened backstage, in the wings of the stage of the Comedie-Française, and the titular role is an actress.

He set the four acts within this big eighteenth century stage made of wood, inspired by the baroque theatre at Bayreuth, and with sets made of painted canvas which presides the stage. This wooden theatre appears completely bare and empty for the last act. Most of the action and singing happens in front of this stage, which places the singers at the very front, supporting them in their projection and making the acoustics ideal. The sets by designer Charles Edwards are beautiful and very detailed. It is such a pleasure to be able to see period productions well done today, instead of the abstract and conceptual productions which are usually presented.

A Singer Who Acts or an Actor Who Sings?

There are very few times when one can see such an electrifying and powerful performance, as it happened at Teatro Real when Ermonela Jaho and Elīna Garanča were on stage together. Despite all the melancholic love and drama moments, the highlight of the performance was the third act when the two singers barely sing a few lines. They stayed in character with precise determined emotions, stealing the attention from the ballet or even the tenor narrating his battle in the middle. Garanča stayed authoritarian but cynical. It was amazing how she gave air to Adriana with her fan after she fainted and how she kept the wicked mood, trying to read Adriana’s thoughts, but always full of malice. Ermonela on the other hand tried to hide her love feelings for Maurizio and stayed calm, dissimulating her real emotions until the very end where she finally defends herself by attacking the princess through the monologue of Fedra. It is magical, and rarely seen, when such tension and chemistry like this happens on the stage.

Ermonela Jaho as Adriana transformed completely into this eighteenth century actress, full of passion. Jaho is the type of artist where one would not know if she is a singer who acts or an actress who sings. Her implication and dedication to her roles is outstanding, and Adriana was no exception. She has already performed the role in Oviedo and Sydney, and would have more opportunities if this opera were programmed more (it is rarely performed). I am sure that Adriana will become one of her signature roles, such as Violetta or Butterfly.

Jaho’s first spoken lines were a sign of how her performance was going to be. She began “Io son l’umile ancella” in a soaring mezza voce which continued throughout the whole aria before finishing in a dramatic crescendo to a forte high A flat. She began portraying a secure diva, but she delineated perfectly the dramatic arch from the actress in love to the woman who feels betrayed and abandoned. But she doesn’t play the obvious, you could tell that she tried to keep her dignity during the whole third act while the Princess is testing and provoking her. Her chest register’s strong line “la mia rivincita” was hair-raising. Her interpretation of her fourth act aria, “Poveri Fiori,” was full of pianissimi, mezza voce, in contrast with chest register lines and forte high notes, finishing with a soaring pianissimo. It was a lesson of vocal characterization and how to put all the emotions to the service of the music. From the moment she inhales the poison as she opened the small chest with the poisoned violets, one could see how she deteriorates gradually, before hallucinating and finally dying in her lover arms. Her way of singing “Quale amore? Costei me lo ruba” with a suffocating voice was incredible, as was her raising her line “Scostatevi, profane! Melpomene son io.” She was physically crying for most of the fourth act, which is a challenging thing to do while singing as crying tends to close the throat making voice production weak or non-existent. She was really devastated during her last act, and you could tell how she was emotionally affected during her curtain call.

Illuminating Moments

Maurizio, Adriana’s lover, was performed by the American tenor Brian Jagde. He has a modest middle range with a strong top ringing high range, where his voice grows up in volume and carries over the orchestra like thunder. His high notes are really outstanding, but you cannot sustain a role only with good high notes, especially when the part is written mostly in the middle register with few ascensions to high notes. His first aria, “La dolcissima effigie sorridente,” showed his inability to sing dynamics in the passaggio or higher. Cilea demands mezza voce, and singing “dolce” for the line: “Bella tu sei,” but the tenor can only sing diminuendo when singing below F inside the stave, so he mostly sings forte, showing off his top ringing high notes. And this was his standard for the rest of the show: strong high notes (up to B natural) and heroic singing with very few dynamics. His intent to sing his final high B flat “Morta!” with pianissimo sound turned out to be a weak white sound close to cracking and with dubious pitch at its attack. I couldn’t tell if the note was emitted in mezza-voce or falsetto as the timbre changed a lot getting a white quality (which is one sign of singing in falsetto). His acting was lacking in depth, with stock gestures and posturing contrasting with the rest of the cast’s more immersive interpretations.

It is a luxury to have an artist such as Elīna Garanča singing such a small part as the Princess of Bouillon, although it is a very important character in the plot. Garanča has a beautiful dark timbre, completely even from her lower register up to her high register. Her voice is powerful, gains volume as it raises up in her tessitura, and her projection is mesmerizing. Her interpretation of her second act aria “Acerba voluttà!” showed her vocal and acting flexibility to switch from rage and fury to regret and abandonment, with rotund low passages and top ringing high G and A. Her short duet with Maurizio was ardent and her final scene with Adriana was thrilling and full of tension. As I mentioned before, it was in the third act where the mezzo soprano barely sings, and all her dramatic potential was put the test as she kept a defying attitude, confronting Adriana with constant irony before the final out burst as Adriana verbally attacks her from the stage.

Both Jaho and Garanča received strong standing ovations at their curtain calls.

More Cast Highlights

The Italian baritone Nicola Alaimo played the role Michonnet. He has a warm timbre with a natural emission. His voice production is completely effortless from his bottom range up to a high F sharp (which is the highest note he has to sustain in this role). His first solo intervention, “Michonet, su! Michonet, giú!”, showed his immaculate Italian diction and perfect phrasing. And the interpretation of his first act aria, “Ecco il monologo…” was exceptional, especially his vocal qualities and his use of dynamics. The rest of his part is mostly in ensemble. One could see that he was noticeably moved during the fourth act, matching the emotions of the soprano, as he was in tears during the last part of the act.

Mikeldi Atxalandabaso played the short supporting role of the Abate. I will never understand why an artist with such an exceptional voice, technique, projection and acting skills has been delegated to play secondary roles. And he is an expert in this field. But the opera world is missing an outstanding tenor. Nevertheless, it was a pleasure to see his funny characterization full of mannerism and hear his beautiful projected voice.

Nicola Luisotti conducted while controlling the volume of the orchestra (although the orchestra was formed by a small ensemble of musicians, which is less than they use when performing Puccini or Verdi). This made it was possible to hear all the singers, for once (it is Luisotti’s trademark to play as loud as possible). It made the performance very enjoyable. Luisotti is very good with the expansive Italian lines, and although he reinforced the timbral richness of the joyful moments in act one and three, it is in the pathos and sadness of the fourth act where the orchestra succeeded the most. Outstanding as usual is the work of the orchestra and the very few interventions of the choir of Teatro Real.

This was an unforgettable evening, seeing the confrontation of two amazing artists such as Ermonela Jaho and Elina Garanča, with David McVicar’s beautiful classical and detailed production.