<<  -- 2 --  Roderic Dunnett    MOLDOVAN MAGIC

Canio is, however, set up, and needs a context to supply justification for an act he at base desires anyway. For a lot of the time Canio is offstage -- the eminence behind the scenes. The immense impact of this Pagliacci relied on the others. Both the pert, youthful and appealing Nedda/Columbine (Natalia Josan) and the pleasing lyric tenor Beppe/Arlequino (Vasile Cheotenari) proved stylish actors, whose subtlety of movement oiled the wheels of the fatal Harlequinade denouement. The Tonio, Boris Materinco, I have already applauded for his Amonasro in Aida. His character range is astounding -- one thinks of someone like Geraint Evans or Theo Adam for a comparison; his low range is that of a Tomlinson, a Nesterenko: one can just imagine his Wotan, or his Boris Godunov.

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