Author : Jos Hermans
Perhaps as a result of its rich choral tradition, South Africa has been producing more and more talented sopranos in recent years. From the small village of Piet Retief to the spotlight of the Metropolitan : for up-and-coming talents, Pretty Yende's career must surely feel like a fairy tale with Yende as a role model. In Antwerp, she sings pieces from her parade roles : the mournful Contessa, the dying Violetta, the coquettish Rosina, the naughty Norina. It is mainly a bel canto recital that also ventures into early Puccini and Verdi from his middle period. This allows her to demonstrate her technique in the lyrical coloratura repertoire. Everything is there : an attractive timbre, agility, stylistic empathy, control of vibrato, great ambitus and the ability to project sunlit top notes into the auditorium with lust. Based on her livestreams of recent years, however, I expected a slightly larger voice. Frankly, I don't see her standing at all in a house the size of the Metropolitan. She certainly should not sing more dramatic roles than Violetta. Nor are they on her agenda for the time being. The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra performed in a large formation with 6 celli and 6 double basses, an overstaffing for this kind of repertoire that was really only needed for Verdi and Puccini.
"Eternal source of Light Divine" (Handel) was a warm-up as well as a duet with the solo trumpet. "La Réjouissance" (Handel) featured the very nice sounding timpani of Pieterjan Vranckx.
Conductor Lorenzo Passerini loves theatricality once he is in front of the orchestra. With his highly agile conducting style-no posture is too small for him to fire up his orchestra-he sometimes resembles a cartoon character. But it works because the orchestra is a model of precision in the overture to Le Nozze di Figaro, and the synchronous interplay of the instrument groups enchants. "E Susanna non vien-Dove Sono" she sings rather restrainedly with fine nuances in pianissimo and with lovely swelling "di cangiar" accents. The orchestra will never overwhelm her, so attentive is Lorenzo.
Both crescendi of the Cenerentola overture are delivered with spartan dynamic control. It would almost make you a Rossini fan. In "Una voce poco fa" she affords herself some quirks with pitch and fermatas. The coloraturas she takes effortlessly as in Donizetti's "Regnava nel silenzio." The Don Pasquale overture had a rather chaotic forte in the middle but the finale was convincing as was the very transparent sounding ballet from Aida, with beautiful soloistic moments.
"E strano-Sempre libera" we got to hear in a concert version without the tenor but with a catchy solo moment for the cello. Very strong was the fusion of tragedy and spirituality in the intermezzo from Suor Angelica. The soprano concluded with "Denaro nient'altro" from La Rondine, the rarely performed Puccini opera that is all over the bill this season (next year is Puccini Year). To me, the aria could not really convince as a composition.
As encores, we got a perfectly placed "O mio babbino caro" and Bernstein's "I feel pretty" that didn't come off well enough.