Reviews

"A triumphant evening, supported by superb work by adult and junior choruses, and by orchestral playing under Antonio Pappano which faithfully reflects the brilliant colouring of these verismo classics." (Independent ★★★★)

"Damiano Michieletto has surely won new fans with this intelligent updating... The Royal Opera orchestra was on magnetic form for both operas, with Pappano holding all in tight rein yet letting the music breathe... the Greek baritone Dimitri Platanias came into his own as the hideous, rapacious Tonio, with Antonenko expansive and pathetic as the maniacally jealous clown Canio. His famous aria Vesti la giubba – when he puts on his motley to act out his own destiny – had the right balance of chill and misery, helped by Michieletto’s clever staging. The audience roared approval, for Damiano Michieletto and his team too." (The Guardian)

"Carmen Giannattasio’s Nedda made us feel the longing for freedom behind her illicit desire for Silvio (the ardent Dionysios Sourbis). Antonio Pappano has spoken of the way this music runs through his southern Italian veins and it certainly throbbed with authentic passion. If he responded faithfully enough to the shameless vulgarity of the two scores, he was also sensitive to their generosity of lyricism and subtleties of orchestration." (The Evening Standard ★★★★)

"Antonio Pappano conducts: being of Campanian ancestry, this music is mother’s milk to him, and he coaxed the orchestra into a lush, uninhibited reading of the scores, feeding the climaxes with plenty of whatever the Italian is for welly. Terrific triple fortissimi blasted from Renato Balsadonna’s chorus too; and Cav’s rapturous Easter Hymn was uplifting." (The Telegraph ★★★★)

"This is a gentle updating - to the last decade or so of the 20th century, at a guess - that displays plenty of clever detail and witty touches, as well as some virtuoso stagecraft. Of his ideas, none of them controversial, the most significant is probably that of intertwining the two halves of the double bill. Pag's Silvio works in the bakery that forms the centrepiece of Cav's revolving set, and we see the early stages of his seduction of Nedda in the intermezzo. During the Pagliacci intermezzo on the other hand we see Santuzza finding forgiveness from a priest and consolation from Mamma Lucia... The production is packed with telling details... Antonio Pappano conducts with customary passion and warmth." (Gramophone)

"This Opus Arte DVD of opera’s most-durable double-bill of ‘Cav and Pag’ is of well-received productions that are especially cohesive given that characters from each of the operas make appearances in the narratives of the other. Thus Silvio from Pagliacci is seen in Cavalleria rusticana working in the bakery owned by Mamma Lucia, and during the orchestral ‘Intermezzo’ steals some illicit time with Nedda from the visiting theatrical troupe (for Pagliacci). Likewise, there is reconciliation of Santuzza and Mamma Lucia during the interlude of the second opera. Dimitri Platanias is terrific as a thuggish swaggering Alfio, dealing dodgy merchandise from the boot of his flashy car, and better still as the twisted, malevolent Tonio in ‘Pag’. The Prologue of the latter opera is one of the highlights – Platanias’s gorgeous voice at best advantage, and he has a memorably trenchant way with the text. Antonio Pappano, as ever singer-friendly and theatrically alert, provides sure-footed tempos and relishes the verismo idiom perfectly; the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House responds superbly and with lavish care. The DVD is nicely presented, with some helpful extra features including Pappano providing illuminating introductions to both of dramas. The booklet is informative also." (Classical Source ★★★★★)