ROH La donna del lago - the conductor speaks

"Rossini’s La donna del Lago at the Royal Opera House boasts a superstar cast. Joyce DiDonato and Juan Diego Flórez are perhaps the best in these roles in the business at this time. Yet the conductor Michele Mariotti is also hot news. He has only just turned 34, but has extensive experience. He conducted Rigoletto at the Met. “You know,” he smiles, “the Rat Pack Rigoletto”"
 
"Rossini expresses feelings in a more abstract, intellectual way. The structure is almost completely vertical, not contrapuntal. It can look quite ‘frozen’ in theory, but it’s a very different way of expressing feelings. For example, in the Act Two trio, "Qual pena in me gia desta", Elena and her two suitors are singing short, sharp high C’s. But these notes bear swords!” “In the ‘King’s aria’, “O fiamma soave”, you can hear that Uberto cannot be a shepherd because the coloratura is so elegant, so royal that only a king could sing like that. He’s wearing a disguise as a shepherd, but the people in the audience can hear who he really is.”


Read the whole interview here in Opera Today
 Michele Mariotti conducts La donna del lago  (Full review to come)

Above: Michele Mariotti [Photo by Amati Bacciardi (Pesaro) courtesy of Columbia Artists Music]