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A Gradual Maturing
GIUSEPPE PENNISI describes the recent
performance history of Rossini's 'William Tell'
and reviews Palermo's 2018 production
On 23 January 2018, Teatro Massimo di Palermo opened its challenging opera, ballet and concert season with Rossini's Guillaume Tell, a very difficult opera to stage, both for its duration and for the demands on the singers and orchestra. I was in the audience; this review is based on this opening performance.
It is useful to recall that in 1988, Riccardo Muti opened La Scala's season with a new, almost complete version, but in Italian (the 'Paolo Catetellan version'); the resulting DVD shows that it was half a disaster, also due to the poor stage sets and direction by Luca Ronconi.
To the best of my memory, in modern times, the full Guillaume Tell has been staged only at the Rossini Opera Festival (ROF) in 1995; Gianluigi Gelmetti was the conductor, and Pier Luigi Pizzi the stage director, also responsible for the sets and costumes...
Copyright © 27 January 2018
Giuseppe Pennisi,
Rome, Italy
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