Amilcare Ponchielli - La Gioconda DVD

From the renowned opera house in Barcelona, TDK presents a new production of Ponchielli's Romantic opera La Gioconda, realised in cooperation with the Arena di Verona and successfully shown in the famous opera festival's 2005 programme. The Barcelona production features internationally acclaimed singers as well as acclaimed soloists and ballet dancers from the Gran Teatre del Liceu. The Title role is sung by American Deborah Voigt, one of the most important dramatic sopranos of her generation. As her blind mother Polish Contralto Ewa Podles spreads the overwhelming... warmth and broad range of her voice while convincingly conveying the character's suffering. Canadian tenor Richard Margison as the exiled nobleman Enzo and Italian baritone Carlo Guelfi as the spy and agent provocateur Barnaba excel opposite the two female characters. The overall approach is simplicity and clarity - the costumes are dark and elegant with only some recognisable and significant colourings. The atmosphere of the city of Venice is depicted as the harbinger of death - in director Pier Luigi Pizzi's words, Venice is 'metaphysical and cold, moving us to tears. ...The carnival is not associated with pleasure and illusion but is felt to be a way of exorcising the fear of death. [show more]

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