JUNE 2012: THE MARIINSKY THEATRE PRESENTS "VERDI'S MESSA DI REQUIEM"
Verdi's Requiem, the Italian master's only composition of musical drama that is not an opera, has gone down in the history of music as the most theatrical version of the traditional Catholic Mass for the Dead.
Musical Director and Conductor Valery Gergiev; Director Daniele Finzi Pasca; DProduction Concept Daniele Finzi Pasca and Julie Hamelin;Set Designer Jean Rabasse; Costume Designer Giovanna Buzzi; Lighting Designer Alexis Bowles and Daniele Finzi Pasca; Video Projections Roberto Vitalini for BASHIBA.com; Make-up Designer Chiqui Barbé Requiem Photos by Roberto Vitalini on Flickr Mariinsky Theatre
FEBRUARY 2012: THE CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY PRESENTS L'AMOUR DE LOIN
"From the opening moment where a shock of blue silk floats over the audience's heads to the stage we are in a kind of temporal limbo with psychedelic seascapes ultimately suggesting an eternal divide. What is so wonderful about Finzi Pasca’s work, assisted by Jean Rabasse (set), Kevin Pollard (costumes) and Roberto Vitalini (video), is that it opens up the poetic range of a score that has hitherto seemed overly static. That quality didn’t disappear on Friday, but the sensitive use of acrobats, acting as the singers’ spirits, minimised it." Sunday, 5 July 2009 | FT.com | by Andrew Clark Monday, 6 July 2009 | Financial Times Europe | page 11 | by Andrew Clark
"Saariaho's writing works best describing images like the ocean crossing, one of the most brilliant scenes in this production where light images are projected onto waving expanses of silk." Tuesday, 7 July 2009 | Opera Today | Anne Ozorio
MUSICALCRITICISM.com
"The opera thus has a wonderfully delirious character. This is enhanced by the sumptuous prolificacy of Pasca's staging; dancers and acrobats shadow the singers, creating a multiplicity of dramatic horizons that was used to good effect here, suggesting shadings and echoes of a character when they are being invoked by others on stage (much as the music does). Excellent use was made of the full height of the Coliseum, with dancers and singers often being raised up to the heavens on large moons or swings or fabric. The sets were, like the shiny and spangly costumes and make-up, dazzling. Complex and immersive projections (the wispy columns and clouds that overlaid two figures in the distant landscape journeying to Tripoli in the introduction to the second half were particularly effective) sat comfortably alongside simple devices such as the small projection screen managed by the two jesters (who themselves added another element of confusional aesthetics)." Sunday, 5 July 2009 | MusicalCriticism.com | Stephen Graham
THE CLASSICAL SOURCE
"Pasca’s work in acrobatics and physical theatre (which will be familiar to fans of “Cirque Eloize” and “Cirque du Soleil”) cues an awe-inspiring spectacle of cart-wheeling gymnasts, spirits being flown high above the stage, fantastically elaborate stuff involving yards of billowing, diaphanous material, amazing video projections and virtuoso lighting effects. Golly, you might think, as you goggle at someone whizzing death-defyingly through the air or gaze transfixed at the beauty of the floating screens or the video of the sea-journey." Saturday, 4 July 2009 | ClassicalSource.com | Peter Reed
JUNE 2012: THE MARIINSKY THEATRE PRESENTS "VERDI'S MESSA DI REQUIEM"
