Movie description
An operatic whodunit with gravitas: Francesco Cilea's 'AdrianaLecouvreur'. It is said even Giuseppe Verdi briefly gave consideration to writingan opera based on this whodunit, when Cilea decided to set thematerial to music in 1899. The opera's world premiere in Milanin 1902 was a triumph, due in no small measure to a stellar castof singers that included Enrico Caruso as Maurizio. For a decadethe work was performed regularly throughout Europe and America;thereafter it increasingly disappeared from the repertoire. Afterrevisions to the score and plot and the introduction of significantcuts, Adriana Lecouvreur made a successful comeback and established a presence once again on the international stage. Thepremiere of the definitive version took place in Naples in 1930. Since this time the three main roles of Arturo Colautti's librettohave regularly been filled by great artists.In the present stylised production by Lorenzo Mariani, which features reduced décor but magnificent rococo costumes, the 'violet-perfumed murderess' is taken by mezzo-soprano Marianne Cornetti, one of the most in-demand representatives of her vocalcategory. Opposite her, in the role of Adriana, is a soprano who as a Verdi and verismo specialist also appears regularly at all themajor international opera houses, Micaela Carosi. The 'cock-of-the-walk' role is sung by the world-class tenor Marcelo Ãlvarez.His timbre, velvety smooth yet robustly virile, is ideally suited to a vocal characterisation of the idolised Maurizio. Conductor RenatoPalumbo is very much at home with Cilea's operatic masterpiece, since the Italian Romantic and verismo periods are at thecore of his extensive repertoire.