A 'Mona Lisa' of little weight

Amilcare Ponchielli's most famous opera is hardly defensible. Leaving aside the intensity of some arias, The Mona Lisa It lacks the dramatic appeal necessary for a staging that transcends the most blatant historicism. Arrigo Boito's pretentious libretto, disguised under the pseudonym of Tobia Gorrio, offers nothing more.

Member of the scapigliatura (a 19th-century Italian musical movement that sought to forge a modernity opposed to the Verdian tradition), Ponchielli is only relevant as a key to the return of the future Giovane Scuola (or verismo). And little else. Thus, The Mona Lisa It is only justifiable if there are six voices with real qualitative weight to sustain three hours of music with its fair share of ups and downs. the two casts scheduled for these performances at the Liceu They get stuck halfway. In the second of these chasteEkaterina Semenchuk demonstrates that she has everything necessary to tackle the title role without problems, with expressive intensity and good arguments for a Suicide! with all the emotional weight of a piece on which Maria Callas, Elena Suliotis, and Ángeles Gulín delivered unforgettable performances. Meanwhile, a singer with an interesting voice like Martin Muehle—reminiscent of tenors— di forza of past generations – resolves the aria Sky and sea with unrestrained vocal production and a lack of phrasing. Not to mention the muffled or clearly muffled sounds in her scene with Laura. This role is taken over in the second cast by Varduhi Abrahamyan, a mezzo-soprano from whom we expected much more and who didn't seem particularly engaged in the part, despite a good start to the third act. Much better, on the other hand, was the splendid contralto Anna Kissjudit in the role of La Cieca.

Apart from Muehle, the male cast was rounded out by two deep voices. On the one hand, there was Ángel Òdena, simply masterful, splendid in The monument He was fully committed to the role, embodying a textbook example of villainy. The baritone from Tarragona demonstrated professionalism and ease in every aspect, just as Alexander Köpeczi's Alvise lived up to expectations.

Daniel Oren also shone with the resident orchestra, which, like the members of the Cor del Liceu and the Orfeó Català Children's Choir, was outstanding. Oren skillfully accompanied the voices and drew out the full potential of the rich instrumentation in a score that only truly shines at specific moments. For example, in the celebrated Dance of the Hours, well resolved thanks to the choreography of Vincent Chaillet.

The Liceu's co-production with the San Carlo Opera House in Naples is appealing at certain moments—especially in the third and fourth acts—with sumptuous costumes by Christian Lacroix and set design by Etienne Pluss, well lit by Valerio Tiberi. But Romain Gilbert displays little imagination in telling the sinister story based on a drama by Victor Hugo. Character development is nonexistent, and the direction of the actors is poor, with cringeworthy scenes like that of Alvise and Laura in the third act. Ultimately, it's a weak effort to serve an opera that also doesn't carry much weight within the history of the genre.