Conductor: Nicola Luisotti
Choir Master: Fabrizio Cassi
Pene Pati: Tenor
Caterina Piva: Mezzo-Soprano
John Relyea: Bass
Pretty Yende: Soprano
Any excuse for a little excursion out of town is a good one, and attending a performance of Verdi’s magnificent Requiem in Naples’ magnificent Teatro di San Carlo is certainly a better one than most. Add to that the presence of South-African soprano Pretty Yende, whose much lauded talent I had never gotten a chance to check out before (not for lack of trying though), and I grabbed some tickets for my Neapolitan friend Vittorio and me as soon as they went on sale last year.
After an uneventful trip and timely arrival under the Parthenopean City’s famed bright sunshine last Thursday afternoon, things went somewhat downhill with a dreadful combination of overcast skies, low temperatures, and a temporarily out-of-service heater, but things perked up again on Saturday evening with a delicious sfogiatella and a delectable performance in downtown Naples, where we eventually showed up reasonably scrubbed, adequately fed and fully ready at the totally civilized time if 19:00 PM.
Once we had happily settled in the first row of our premium box—Never mind the little space for the knees before us and the invasion of French tourists behind us—we watched the spacious stage gradually fill up with the large orchestra, who were later joined by the equally sizable choir, the four soloists, and the conductor Nicola Luisotti. In the end, the space was unusually crowded, but it also was a real treat to see the faces of the musicians that we by default hear, but not see, when we attend an opera there.
Fact is, the impressive number of performers felt more than justified when, in due time, the thunderous Dies Irae movement repeatedly took the entire audience by storm with irrepressible force and remarkable focus. Verdi obviously wanted to make sure that this Day of Wrath would not be denied or avoided, and I, for one, can never get enough of it. And sure enough, on Saturday evening, the brilliant Teatro San Carlo’s orchestra and choir unleashed their take-no-prisoners power and announced the upcoming biblical destruction with all the terrified intensity it deserved every single time.
The rest of the performance went swimmingly too. The composition’s operatic grandeur and emotional intimacy were beautifully conveyed through gorgeous—Dare I say “divine”?—melodies and dramatically shifting rhythms that were commendably handled by musicians and singers. The choir demonstrated a strikingly unified front, the four soloists fulfilled their substantial parts with admirable technique and commitment, with Miss Yende effortlessly meeting my sky-high expectations, and the orchestra, for which Verdi has to be an old friend, kept everything going with predictable expertise and efficiency.
That was a prime example of the kind of dazzling accomplishment impeccably timed teamwork can create (Grazie, maestro Luisotti!), and the memorable experience made dealing with the rowdy Saturday night crowds totally worth it.
