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I Capuleti e i Montecchi (The Capulets and the Montagues) from the 2006 Martina Franca Festival.

This is a DVD of a live performance using the 1830 La Scala version, where Bellini transposed the music of Giulietta down to a high mezzo soprano range (though she is sung here by a soprano). This performance also uses the tenor option for the usually bass role of Lorenzo, and Romeo is sung by a soprano. I’m not sure if the music has been transposed up (Romeo was, after all, written for the soprano Giullia Grisi), but the Romeo here always goes up the scale when she decorates his music (and even interpolated up many non-decorative notes), so much of the role sounds higher than usual.

I don’t like this music version as much as I do the original ‘Venice’ version, but this show presents one of the rare occasions where the curtain doesn’t fall upon the death of the lovers (after Giulietta’s ‘O Dio!’), but finishes as originally written with Lorenzo, Capellio, and the families entering to discover the bodies and assigning the blame in a brief ensemble instead.

The story is indeed of the tragic love between Romeo and Giulietta (Juliette). The libretto (text) by Felice Romani was not based on the Shakespeare play, however (they share the same ancestor). There are significant differences such as the total absence of Mercutio, Benvoglio, the Lady Capulet, and the nurse from the opera, which focus exclusively on the lovers and their conflict with Tebaldo (Tybalt), portrayed here as Giulietta’s fiancé.

The opera starts with the Capulets being all upset that Capellio(the leader of their clan)’s son was recently killed in a battle by Romeo. Romeo then enters incognito as an envoy from the Montagues offering a peace treaty to be sealed by the marriage between Romeo and Giulietta (Capellio's daughter). Needless to say that the treaty is rejected with the announcement of the engagement between Giulietta and Tebaldo instead.

After having refused to elope with Romeo, Giulietta decides to get out of having to marry Tebaldo by playing dead (with the aid of a sleeping potion) while counting on her pal Lorenzo to tip Romeo off about the plan. But Lorenzo gets detained by the Capulets and never gets around to contacting our romantic hero, who then does what romantic heroes do, swallowing a bottle of real poison in order to follow his beloved in death. It is a gesture of fidelity that literally annoys Giulietta to death when she wakes up to find out about it.

Story-wise, I’m not into this soap opera of a story much, but musically this thing is a wonderful piece of work with something for everyone. If you love orchestral music, the overture is a rousing number that gives hints to some of the music that would follow in the opera proper. And there are some really gorgeously beautiful instrumental solos as well (like the cello solo in the Act II prelude or the clarinet solo that leads to the Romeo/Tebaldo duet, ‘Deserto è il luogo,’ in Act II).

If you are into poignantly graceful soprano aria, you will love Giulietta’s Act I ’Oh! Quante volte. If you are into rousing bravura number, you will enjoy Romeo’s introduction 3 parts aria ‘Se Romeo t’uccise un figlio/ La tremenda ultrice spada’. Tenor fans can enjoy Tebaldo’s Act I cavatina, ‘È serbata a questo acciaro’, and lovers of ensemble pieces are in for a real treat in this ensemble-galore of a show.

CAST:
Romeo (hot-headed leader of the Montecchi) ::: Carla Polito (soprano)
Giulietta (his hot-hearted lover & Daughter of Capellio) ::: Patrizia Ciofi (soprano)
Tebaldo (her pompous fiancé) ::: Danilo Formaggia (tenor)
Capelio (Giulietta's dad, leader of the Capuleti) ::: Federico Sacchi (bass)
Lorenzo (the Capulets' priest) ::: Nicola Amodio (tenor)
Conductor ::: Luciano Acocella / Orchestra Internazionale d'Italia
Chorus Master ::: Pavlon Procházka / The Slovak Chorus of Bratislava
Stage Director ::: Denis Krief, Video Director ::: Marco Scalfi

This staging modernized the story to the early 19th Century Italy with a mostly bare set in the courtyard of the Palazzo Ducale (this is an open-air venue, which makes for some ghastly lighting work), and distressingly static stage direction. You may call me a dinosaur, but I do think having Romeo and Tebaldo threatening each other for 5 plus minutes at a time with pistols rather than swords just look plain ridiculous...

And it doesn’t do to have the singers face the audience when they’re supposed to be talking to another character either (for one, it takes all the romance out of the love duets when the 2 love birds just stand there facing the audience with all the emotionally loaded lyric pouring out of their mouth, you know... I watched the thing thinking, 'Well, that’s nice, but why are you singing your love to me and not to that pretty little Giulietta standing right next to you?'). Despite of all this, a few cast members manage to be convincing in the portrayal of their role. Bravi to Patrizia Ciofi, Danilo Formaggia, and Nicola Amodio

To see some photos from this production, go to: http://gallery.festivaldellavalleditria.it/view.php?gid=5
And video clips from this DVD at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSbd98f3UxI (Clara Polito sings Romeo’s Act I cabaletta)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjQQe2pAdDI (Act I finale: 'Soccorso, sostegno', 'Se ogni spemme')

This show probably looked better in live setting, but it wasn’t well captured on video. I’m afraid the out-door stage made it more complicated to place the camera and spot lights at the most effective locations. The opening scene with all the shadows of cast members getting blown up against the back stage is quite distracting to me. And there are far too many scene where one character is blocking the view of another for prolonged period of time. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy getting long looks of Pat Ciofi’s backside just as much as anyone would (ahem!), but it just gets a bit weird when that’s all I can see for minutes at a time when Romeo is singing from behind her somewhere....

On the Acting/Singing Front:
The Italian soprano Patrizia Ciofi is the undisputed star of this show. She sounds entirely at home with the down-transposed music of Giulietta (it is almost a mezzo-soprano role now), and even manages to use her innate expressiveness to defeat the static stage direction in getting her character across. Nothing seems ever forced, and she even conveys vulnerability in her acting (if not much in the voice itself. The husky timbre of it doesn’t help, I guess). Giulietta’s famous Act I cabaletta, ‘Oh Quante volte’ is a highlight of the show, and in duets, she is the party that holds my attention (though it is weird that this Giulietta is more husky-voiced than her supposedly male counterpart ).

Her on-stage lover, the Romeo of soprano Clara Polito is not as good a natural actress and spends most of the time singing to us audience instead of really reacting to her co-stars. Coupling this with the very soprano turn of his music, this Romeo is a foot-stomping brat worth poisoning to me. I keep seeing a tomboyish soprano singing at me instead of a Romeo living out his final day on-stage. Vocally, I have some trouble figuring this voice out. Sra Polito has a nicely imposing, top-spinning dark soprano voice with a rather prominent quick vibrato (it pulses on held notes). It has good dramatic potentials, but the drama she projects here is rather one-dimensional. I don't think she is very comfortable with the Bellini style. Compared to the likes of Giulietta Simionato, Jennifer Larmore, or Vesselina Kasarova, a certain Bellini elegance is missing in this performance. And I wish she would sing piano (softly) or pianissimo (very softly) sometimes. The volume is always loud or louder with this one.

As Tebaldo is the Italian tenor Danilo Formaggia. He has a very large stage presence in spite of his very short and plump physique. It’s amazing how his sheer conviction draws attention to himself even when standing among the chorus members who tower over him. Vocally he is quite nice, too A very beautiful and well projected voice, and he uses it well in his characterization of Tebaldo. The only glitch is in the rather choppy legato. A well performed legato singing would give you very smooth singing line that moves between notes up and down the scales seamlessly, like a very smooth silk scarf. This one doesn’t do that very well yet and there are bumps that can be a bit distracting for enthusiasts of bel canto/Mozartian singing.

The other roles and the chorus are competently sung and acted, also. Federico Sacchi looks a body double of Alan Rickman from the Die Hard movies as Capellio and Nicola Amodio’s Father Lorenzo might remind some of Orlando Bloom’s Legolas from the Lord of the Rings movies. Neither of them have much stage time, since the story really focuses on Romeo and Giulietta, but both make what camera time they have count. I wish the voices of the 5 principals would mix a bit better for the Act I ending ensembles (beginning with the quintet ‘Soccorso, sostegno accordagli), however.

Maestro Luciano Acocella leads a nicely brisk read from the orchestra, and keeps the volume down well during the singing part. I am thankful to him for the curiosity treat of getting to hear this rarely performed version of the opera, but I still don’t like it nearly as much as the original Venice version.

This is one of the only 2 commercially available DVDs of this opera. It isn't bad, but I can't help wishing for a better performance of it. Recommend for fans of Patrizia Ciofi and collectors of Bellini opera. This staging maybe boring for new opera-fans, though.

1 DVD. Sung in Italian with subtitle in: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian.

Some other recordings of Bellini opera:
I Capuleti e i Montecchi CD set (R Abbado: Kasarova/Mei/Vargas) using the Venice 1830 version with an extra CD of the Vaccai (Malibran) finale as well, Norma DVD (Munich 2006: F Haider: Gruberova/Ganassi/Todorovich)

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12