Thursday, December 02, 2021

Adriana Lecouvreur (1989)

 Opera performance. Music by Francesco Cilea; libretto by Arturo Colautti based on the 1849 play Adrienne Lecouvreur by Eugène Scribe and Ernest Legouvé. First performed in 1902.

The plot is inspired by the rumors surrounding the death of a real actress (same name as the source play's protagonist's). It's one of the bizarrest operas I've seen, though I confessedly haven't seen that many. I kept expecting the appearance of one Miss Duclos which never happened. The third act is comprised mostly of a ballet and a recitation of a scene from a play. The protagonist dies from smelling or kissing a poisoned flower (it must have been a very potent poison). The singing here sounded stupendous, though I am not really the most qualified person to give such assessments. The sets, too, were stunningly beautiful.

I don't give ratings to this kind of spectacle.

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