The last time I went to Catalonia, it was to see one of the three most beautiful performances of 2024, namely La Forza Del Destino! A few months later, here I am again in Barcelona at the Gran Teatr Del Liceu that I love so much for the premiere of La Traviata! This year two casts follow one another, on one side Nadine Sierra, Javier Camarena and Artur Ruciński, and on the other Ruth Iniesta, Xabier Anduaga (the main reason for my trip), as well as Mattia Olivieri (whom I was eagerly awaiting to see again in a Verdi work after his triumph at the Teatro San Carlo in Napoli for I Vespri Siciliani in January 2024, almost a year to the day).
If the famous production of La Traviata at the Royal Opera House remains one of the best known today, today’s production is not too far from it with its magnificent dresses, its crazy costumes and its heart that still makes the walls of the Liceu tremble!
My main expectation tonight was to see Xabier Anduaga again, this Basque tenor so young that I have seen several times in Bel Canto roles, notably a sublime Puritani in Naples with Lisette Oropesa opposite him, or in Lucia Di Lammermoor in London, or even in Vienna for the Elisir d’Amore (yes I am talking about 3 theaters in the world top 10), I remember that during COVID he had shown us his personal selection of Verdi vinyls, and I was very curious to hear him in the register of the greatest composer of all time!
Well… Xabier Anduaga delivers a really good performance for a first! We feel at many moments that he comes from the Bel Canto school but his love for Verdi resurfaces especially in the most dramatic moments, bravo! A presence on stage and a complicity with Papa Germont and Violetta that is without doubt! Speaking of Violetta, a rise in power throughout the opera with Ruth Iniesta, and to finish a truly amazing act 3, she really holds the stage all by herself, in this big bed, alone on stage it is truly poetic and magnificent to see.
And to finish … good surprises after good surprises! Mattia Olivieri who excels in this baritone role and who confirms his status as a rising singer who will make (and who already makes), the happiness of the greatest opera houses in Europe.
To sum up it was a beautiful evening with a lot of complicity, choristers in great shape and music conducted to the millimeter by Giacomo Sagripanti!
CASTING
Ruth Iniesta
Xabier Anduaga
Mattia Olivieri
Gemma Coma-Alabert
Patricia Calvache
Albert Casals
Josep-Ramon Olivé
Pau Armengol
Gerard Farreras
Carlos Cremades
Jose Casanova
Pau Bordas
Alessandro Vandin
Conductor :
Giacomo Sagripanti
