Opera Review: I Puritani

The 2018 opera season at the Liceu opened this week with a generally successful and musically delightful rendering of Vincenzo Bellini’s last opera “I Puritani.” The composer, enormously popular in his, alas, short lifetime was a master, if not the master, of bel canto.

Given that the material was attractive from the outset, the fact that the main roles were sung by the charming South-African soprano Pretty Yende and the well-liked Mexican tenor Javier Camarena was another strong indicator that we were in for a satisfying evening. I, for one, was not disappointed and, judging from the audience’s reaction, neither was the rest of the house.

Of course, I have my usual gripe about the staging. It was a co-production of the Liceu, the Welsh National Opera and the Danish National Opera. I don’t know who was directly responsible for a design that had two versions of the heroine, Elvira, roaming around: one essential and delightful (Yende); and a second, silent and pointless. This isn’t the first time this has happened at the Liceu.  It was less irritating than the double Senta in the 2016 production of “The Flying Dutchman” in which the silent Senta was so endlessly and uselessly present, whereas here in “I Puritani” the second Elvira just popped up from time to time.

It was also unnecessary to the point of crassness to make the political point of connecting the Charles I/Oliver Cromwell Civil War (the actual setting of the story) with the 20th-century discord in Ireland. Such sitting-duck references were too obvious to be enriching. Also, it wrenched one out of a belief in the onstage action to be suddenly transported from a mid-seventeenth-century castle to a drab modern church or school hall for no good reason.

But having said all that, it was a very satisfying performance. I would welcome the young, fresh voice of Yende and the solid Camarena any time and hope and expect to hear much more of them both at the Liceu.

Marius Kwiecien, who was scheduled to sing the role of Sir Riccardo Forth, was unavailable on opening night. But Andrei Kymach, who is in any case alternating with Kwiecien in the role during the run of the opera, was excellent.  

The role of Queen Henrietta of France is a small one, but was notably well sung by Lidia  Vinyes-Curtis, who made her debut at the Liceu in the 2015-16 season.

As ever, Conchita Garcia’s chorus was flawless and the conductor, Christopher Franklin, was satisfactory, if not particularly exciting.

The audience was obviously delighted from beginning to end. It worked hard to get an encore, but persistence did not win out. Nonetheless, the enthusiastic expression of pleasure was self-evident throughout.

“I Puritani” will be followed by two performances of “Candide” by Leonard Bernstein on October 18 and 20, and Leos Janacek’s “Katya Kabanova” with Patricia Racette in the title role, from November 8-22. From December 13, there will be nine performances of Rossini’s not-to-be-missed “Italiana in Algeri.”