Bellini

I Puritani (DVD) Ana Durlovski, René Barbera, Gezim Myshketa, Adam Palka, Diana Haller, Roland Bracht, Heinz Göhrig; Stuttgart State Opera Choir; Stuttgart State Orchestra/manlio Benzi; dir. Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito (Stuttgart, 2018)

Naxos DVD 2.110598-99 191 mins You’ll need stamina for this DVD, which clocks in at 191 minutes. This production of I puritani, filmed at the Stuttgart Staatsoper in 2018, claims to be the first staging since the Parisian premiere to contain all of Bellini’s original music. Interesting in this respect as a historical document, the production also features some striking vocal performances.

Most notable is the bright tenor of René Barbera as Arturo. His voice is consistently a delight to listen to, and he delivers the aria ‘A te o cara’ – staple of many a tenor’s greatest hits album – with exquisite control. (What a pity about the dropped item of staging or similar that crashes jarringly at the end.) Impressive, too, is soprano Ana Durlovski as Elvira, who floats her top notes with particular ease. Solid support is provided by Adam Palka as Giorgio, Gezim Myshketa as Riccardo and Diana Haller as Enrichetta, and both male and female choruses sing with precise diction. The sound balance between orchestra and singers is perhaps initially set a little too much in the orchestra’s favour, though seems to stabilise as the performance progresses.

Jossi Wielder and Sergio Morabito’s production is rather lacklustre, amplifying the opera’s longueurs. Large swathes are relatively static, interspersed with occasional passages of amateurchoral-society-style choreography. For the most part the costumes are appropriate to the period (flamboyantly dressed Royalists and pudding-bowl haircuts). Inexplicably, however, Giorgio is dressed in quasi-1920s garb and by the third act Arturo’s clothes have also leapt forward three centuries.

Odd bits and pieces of stage business involving a ventriloquist’s dummy, a dolls’ house and a young

girl are presumably intended to convey some sort of opaque message about Elvira’s childhood. Overall, despite the creditable efforts of the singers, there is little here that is sufficiently dramatically engaging to make this production speak powerfully to the contemporary viewer. Alexandra Wilson PERFORMANCE ★★★

PICTURE & SOUND ★★★