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L'amore dei tre Re Reviews"A Breathless eroticism pounds through Montemezzi's L'Amore dei tre
Re... its impact is shattering. Holland Park's production is faultless. A
startled audience sat gripped for the intense 95 minutes. Peter Robinson
generated a performance of surging energy from the City of London Sinfonia, cast
and chorus. As Fiora, Amanda Enchalaz had graceful, brooding passion and
thrilling force. Julian Gavin, as her lover Avito, had heroic, ringing tone and
their love - or, rather, sex - duets were downright blue. Mikhail Svetlov was
chilling as the embittered, groping father. Director Martin Lloyd-Evans and
designer Jamie Vartan used the wide stage skilfully, containing all within an
Escher-like grey fortress. Unmissable." "It?s not often that a ?lost masterpiece? turns out to be the real
deal but Montemezzi?s forgotten work L?amore Dei Tre Re is a wild,
90-minute, lust?n?poison gorefest that hits every mark it aims at. The music
throbs with big, romantic tunes and high-powered orchestral surges, and is
expertly handled by conductor Peter Robinson. Soprano Amanda Echalaz is vocally
luminous as the doomed Fiora, Julian Gavin and Olafur Sigurdarson burst with
passion as her lovers, and bass Mikhail Svetlov is powerfully threatening as
Fiora?s blind strangler. I?m begging for a revival." As this scintillating score, with the magisterial Peter Robinson conducting
the City of London Sinfonia, proved, any notion of Montemezzi as some kind of
lesser Puccini won't wash. Svetlov's cataclysmic solo aria burst out of seamless
orchestral lines and torrents of nasty ostinati like an ear-shattering
bombshell. Olafur Sigurdarson produced a splendid outburst in the last act,
before knowingly kissing his murdered wife's poisoned lips. But it was the
massive duets between Gavin (lustrous) and Echalaz (glorious) that swept all
before them. Peter Robinson's laid-back pit-management and mastery of balances,
plus haunting flute, viola and double bass playing added to the evening's
delights. A palpable hit. "Martin Lloyd-Evans?s production for Opera Holland Park is properly
strong and unfussy... the set?s grey death only highlights the tortured
passions shrieking through Amanda Echalaz?s Princess Fiora. However much her
heart throbbed, the voice stayed musical; and dressed in silky white night
things, she looked as passionate as she sounded. A grim, gripping evening. Go if
you can." "It's a silent-movie bodice-ripper of a plot, unremittingly pitched at a
level of boiling intensity, with everyone's emotional torment semaphored by a
highly chromatic and febrile score. No holds are barred, no bars held... full of
explosive orchestral effects and vocal lines. Amanda Echalaz (Fiora) and Julian
Gavin (Avito) provide some thrillingly full-throated singing in their orgasmic
love duet. Peter Robinson conducts presto and fortissimo, generating
considerable sound and fury." "Beg, steal or borrow ? do anything you can to get a ticket for this,
the opera event of the summer. This felt like nothing short of a landmark event.
The crowd on opening night greeted the cast with the loudest cheers I think I?ve
ever heard at this venue. Amanda Echalaz's projection was strong, even over an
extensive orchestra, and the stamina of her phrasing was incredible. Julian
Gavin was also excellent... there was true heartbreak in his closing monologue.
Mikhail Svetlov, a mesmerising singer... Olafur Sigurdarson was as vocally
polished as always. An exemplary performance by the City of London Sinfonia." "London's Holland Park hasn't seen anything like it before. It's not
often that a 'lost masterpiece' turns out to be exactly what it says on the
box... The cast is excellent. South African soprano Amanda Echalaz brings spinto
power and a full-throated richness to the role of the doomed Fiora. Julian
Gavin, a tenor, and baritone Olafur Sigurdarson burst with passion as her lover
and husband. The conductor Peter Robinson handles the climaxes expertly, with
the City of London Sinfonia surging though not drowning the singers." "A triumphant production. It thunders through like an express train, the
tension never letting up for a moment. The cast is terrific. As the lovers,
Amanda Echalaz and Julian Gavin are as committed and passionate as Montemezzi's
whirlwind score demands. Manfredo is strongly and sensitively sung by Olafur
Sigurdarson. As his father, the one true villain, Mikhail Svetlov is powerful
and convincing while Aled Hall is rock solid as Flaminio. The City of London
Sinfonia under Peter Robinson is magnificent, as good as almost anything I've
heard at the major houses this year. Opera Holland Park have wanted to produce
this work for some years and they should now feel proud that they have done it
justice and helped bring a minor masterpiece back into the public
consciousness." "There is a febrile intensity to the score that is hard to resist,
especially in the fervid central duet for the two lovers, Fiora and Avito... a
splendid central couple in the Fiora of Amanda Echalaz, a young South African
soprano who gives her all, and the Avito of Julian Gavin, a tenor at once
romantic and heroic." "Martin Lloyd-Evans's production is a great success. Both Julian Gavin's
Avito and Olafur Sigurdarson's Manfredo impress with their vocal cut and thrust.
Amanda Echalaz's doomed heroine is sensational. Peter Robinson and the orchestra
deliver a thrilling account of the piece, which Holland Park certainly
re-establishes as a viable work." L?amore was magnificently performed. Peter Robinson conducted with utter
conviction, and the City of London Sinfonia played superbly what must be an
exhausting score. Amanda Echalaz was a tireless, pure-toned and ecstatic Fiora,
and her adulterous beloved was Julian Gavin, just as intense and with a rich
tenor voice. Mikhail Svetlov made an alarming and dark-toned Archibaldo, and
Olafur Sigurdarson a bleak, expressive Manfredo. They are all accomplished
actors. This was as convincing an account of an opera which deserves to be heard
more often as one will come across. |
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