Poliuto

Idiotic Staging and Costumes
The singers, orchestra, acting were all outstanding! But, the staging and costumes were ridiculous. The person who did this interpretation probably thought he was a genius, but really demeaned the entire performance. The main characters were dressed like NAZIs who escaped to Argentina. The Roman citizens were dressed like factory workers from the old Soviet Union. I do not think it would have been difficult to find more appropriate costumes, even on a tight budget. How about the tea service? Was it English, could not have been Japanese. Surprised they did not have Japanese Geisha girls serving tea between Servo and Paulina.

I thought that the singers did an exceptional job in acting, focusing on the content of the story and ignoring the idiotic surroundings. They had a few Roman costumes to let you know it was Roman in theme. It would not have taken much to make the scenes look more compatible with the story. What goes on in the heads of these people who do this? They must...

The only choice
This is the only choice for a DVD of this opera, and, fortunately, it's not a bad one.

Gregory Kunde is excellent in the title role. He looks a bit long in the tooth and grey in the head to be an ideal hero, but his singing is splendid and his acting good. He's especially effective in his big second act scena. My reaction to the Paolina of Paoletta Marrocu is more mixed. Hers is a very distinctive voice which she manages with excellent technique. Some of her singing is very fine indeed, but some lines are more etched in acid than limned with honey. Nevertheless, I enjoyed her performance very much, and I'm sure that I'll return to this DVD again. Simone del Savio was more routine than remarkable as Severo. Adrea Papi as Callistene was the weak link in the casting: an odd vocal tone accompanied by incessant grimaces.

The orchestra and chorus of the Bergamo Music Festival perform capably. The production itself is an odd mishmash of ancient and modern...



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