Rossini: Guillaume Tell (2013)
The hero of this admirably complete August 2013 Guillaume Tell from Pesaro is homegrown maestro Michele Mariotti. The inimitable overture is (mercifully) unstaged and terrifically played, with splendid cello and flute solos: the fine standard never flags. Rossini’s extraordinary 1829 score audibly presages Meyerbeer, Berlioz, Glinka, Verdi and Wagner, among many others. Graham Vick’s direction privileges class conflict, with a clenched fist on the red-and-white forecurtain. The Edwardian costumes place Austrians in white evening garb; the black-clad Swiss polish the floor while the rulers savor a filming (much of that to follow) — the fisherman Ruodi, in a boat with a blonde and fake scenery, with Tell and his family providing tech support. Vick deploys geographical and historical kitsch liberally but not (always) pointlessly. Ron Howell’s pretentious, mannered choreography, however, beggars belief.
Director: Graham Vick
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Nicola Alaimo as Guillaume Tell |
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Simone Alberghini as Melcthal |
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Juan Diego Flórez as Arnold |
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Amanda Forsythe as Jemmy |
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Simón Orfila as Walter Furst |
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Marina Rebeka as Mathilde |
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Luca Tittoto as Gessler |
| Crew | Ron Howell | Choreographer |
| Directing | Graham Vick | Director |
| Writing | Étienne de Jouy | Writer |
| Sound | Gioacchino Rossini | Original Music Composer |
| Art | Paul Brown | Production Design |
