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Director: Ilio Catani
Conductor: Riccardo Muti
Stars: June Anderson, Rockwell Blake, Chris Merritt, Martine Dupuy.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0194439/
Premiere 1819
Place: Scotland
Time: First half of the sixteenth century
Very disappointing. June Anderson is supposed to be a big deal, as is La Scala.
But this suffered from poor direction and/or lack of appropriate camera lenses: most shots were of the entire stage from the back of the house. People looked small. If they changed costume, I wasn't sure who it was. Very rarely did we get as close as the poster would lead you to believe.
The set and costumes were dull, but the time and woodland setting might dictate nature-based colors and simple backdrops. The actual image and sound quality was technically good, but a clear picture of a far-off stage is not what I want to see.
There's no real action or movement here, just stand up and sing. The plot is not terribly interesting, so you need some good acting and visuals to help it along. A maiden, her father, her betrothed, her beloved (en travesti) and an incognito king meet in the woods. Everybody loves her, she's not sure about anyone, maybe not even the beloved. No one important (or at all?) dies despite the war/battles offstage, and it ends with a wedding, or the promise of one, so it's not a tragedy. But it's no comedy either, at least not the way it's played here.
I really liked the 2015 Met production with J.DiDonato & JD.Florez, even rated it higher than the IMDb avg; wonder if I really watched it carefully enough to make that decision. My comment: the intermission interviews made the plot sounded interesting. I shoulda just bought that, but today it's $17.50 and that's a lot cheaper than the sold history. Had already saved a search for $13. Hmm.
OperaLaScala, cond. Muti; 7-
