Chailly's "Attila" seduces La Scala audience at season opening

[rooster59]

Chailly's "Attila" seduces La Scala audience at season opening

By Sara Rossi

 

The opera cast after their performance at La Scala theatre during its season opening in Milan, Italy December 7, 2018. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo

 

MILAN (Reuters) - An opera based on the 5th century conquest of Italy drew wild applause on the opening night of La Scala's 2018-19 season on Friday - not least for President Sergio Mattarella.

 

It was the first time Mattarella, who took office in February 2015, had attended the prestigious first night of shows at the Milan opera house that has become a tradition for the country's high society.

 

Mattarella, seen by some in the business community as an advocate of dialogue with Brussels when the anti-establishment government is locked in a dispute with the European Union over its 2019 budget, received a standing ovation as he arrived.

 

But the biggest plaudits were reserved for principal conductor Riccardo Chailly and Russian bass Ildar Abdrazakov, the main character in Giuseppe Verdi's "Attila", who were given a 14 minute ovation with the cast at the end of the performance.

 

Spanish soprano Saioa Hernandez made her debut at La Scala with the portrayal of Odabella, who vows to avenge her father's death at the hands of Attila.

 

Based on the play "Attila, King of the Huns" by German dramatist Zacharias Werner, the opera revolves around the hated Huns' conquest of Italy.

 

Director Davide Livermore set "Attila" in a grey landscape, a "dystopian" version of the 1900s without reference to the play's 5th-century framework to make it more relevant to today.

 

The staging of a scene that was meant to include a falling bridge was changed after the collapse of a motorway bridge in Genoa in August that killed 43 people.  

 

    The opera debuted in Venice in March 1846 and is part of a trilogy of La Scala premieres - including "Giovanna d'Arco" (Joan of Arc) in 2015 and "Macbeth" that will be performed probably in 2020 -- that Chailly decided to dedicate to Verdi's earlier works.

 

    "I loved this 'Attila', I appreciated the singers, the scenes ... everything," said James Bradburne, the director of Milan's Brera art museum.

 

    "Attila" will be performed at La Scala until Jan. 8.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-12-08

[Odysseus123]

Ah Chailly..

 

I never was convinced by his Bruckner but his Brahms is splendid and his Beethoven is noteworthy even if I prefer Zinman and Abbado.

 

Nevertheless he has transformed the Leipzigers..they are a marvel once again.

 

The opera is his true metier..well done maestro!

 

La Scala is truly awesome.I saw/heard 'Il Trovatore' there.

 

Wonderful night.

Edited December 8, 2018 by Odysseus123

[blazes]

As for Beethoven, it all depends what or whom you are talking about.  If, say, you want to compare versions of the 9th, there can be no recording that comes anywhere near Furtwangler's 1954 Lausanne version with the Philharmonia, a mere six weeks before he died.

If you haven't heard the explosive ending of that version, you have not lived .....!

Edited December 9, 2018 by blazes

[Proboscis]

Words fail me - Thai Visa has a discussion on Italian grand opera!!!!