<< -- 3 -- Roderic Dunnett MOLDOVAN MAGIC
Visually this Cav looked good from the start : a subtly designed
roofline of Sicilian village houses, church, a cart (presumably Alfio's),
a well, just enough of a scattering of pitchers and baskets to create atmosphere
without clutter, an effective fixed blue-orange dawn backcloth and some
good traditional costuming (though Alfio's just a mite more Romanian than
Roman). The orchestral prelude -- matching a well-staged visual vignette
of Turiddu's Easter serenade of Lola (Zolia Zabelina) -- was magnificent
(and impacted marginally more than the celebrated midway intermezzo);
as so often, the (locally recruited) children's entries were better than
the adults'. But this rustic scene sported the same chorus as Chisinau's
memorable Aida : the full choruses were, almost without exception,
superb, with the women yet again outstanding (particularly divisi,
when the seconds stand out), and the tenor line, too, strikingly strong.
Several of the climaxes were of recording quality. Only one chorus occasion
fell short: the start of the church scene, folded into by subtle woodwind
transition, with the altos tuned to the orchestra but the other voices furnishing
two, if not three, noticeably different pitchings. Yet the next chorus was
dazzling, and dead in tune.
Busuioc's exchanges with Turiddu and Alfio were first-rate, not least
the frantic unison on which the Santuzza-Turiddu duet culminates. The Turiddu,
Igor Macarenko, is an Italianate Russian tenor with power across the range,
and a romantic flair coupled with forceful delivery, though a tendency to
distinctly un-Italianate (albeit aptly Sicilian) gulped-back vowels, and
with hints of unevenness in the mid-range. The Alfio, Petru Racovita, is
yet another of Chisinau's most effective character performers, his forceful
though natural, unaffected presence matched by a vocal cutting edge and
steely timbre which he can switch on at will -- a match in ensemble for any
steely tenor.
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Copyright © 10 February 2001
Roderic Dunnett, Coventry, UK
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