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# Verona, Teatro Filarmonico, LA GIOCONDA - Amilcare Ponchielli, IOCO Kritik, 04.11.2022
- URL: https://www.ioco.de/verona-teatro-filarmonico-la-gioconda-amilcare-ponchielli-ioco-kritik-04-11-2022/
- Published: 2022-11-04T15:49:27.000Z
- Updated: 2023-09-06T13:11:41.000Z
- Author: Janet Banks
- Tags: Liederabend, Kritiken, Oper & Operette, Konzert & Liederabend, Verona

![Teatro Filarmonico in Verona © Ennevi](https://storage.ghost.io/c/38/f5/38f5739d-f8a2-4e7b-96ed-d56cfbedb61b/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/theater-verona-gut-otello-fotoennevi-neu1.jpg)

Teatro Filarmonico in Verona © Ennevi

[Teatro Filarmonico](https://www.arena.it/de/teatro-filarmonico?ref=ioco.de)

## ***LA GIOCONDA* \- Amilcare Ponchielli**

#### **Orchestra and Choir of Fondazione Arena di Verona / Francesco Ommassini**

von **Janet Banks** (**IOCO** UK correspondent)

It was a warm and sunny afternoon in Verona on October 23, 2022; the fabulous[ **Arena di Verona**](https://www.arena.it/en/arena-di-verona/program?ref=ioco.de)\-season was long over and opera performances moved indoors to the sumptuous **Teatro Filarmonico** for this new production of **Ponchielli’s** four-act showstopper of **La Gioconda.**

It's hard to think of a worse misnomer than **La Gioconda,** "the *cheerful woman",* for the central character in **Almicare Ponchielli'**s opera: betrayed by her lover ***Enzo*,** beset by plots on her mother’s life and lusted after by a villainous spy of the Inquisition, her is hardly a bed of roses. Moreover as a member of the lower social order, a street singer, **La Gioconda** is never given the dignity of a birth name, but is known only by her nickname, as is her mother **La Cieca** (the blind woman).

****La Gioconda - Teatro Filarmonico di Verona**youtube Trailer Sery Operaclassica **\[ Mit erweitertem Datenschutz eingebettet \]**

This new production at the **Teatro Filarmonico,** Verona was overwhelmingly traditional, with no surprises. **Carla Galleri’s** costumes set it firmly in the time it was written (1876) - dresses with bustles, long, swirling greatcoats, the colours mostly monochrome with flashes of red and blue – rather than in the 18th century, when the story is set.

**Filippo Tomi's** attractive set was suitably architectural, although not specifically Venetian. A huge horizontal crack across the back stone wall suggested the impending disaster in the main character’s lives as well as the underlying threat of the Inquisition.

A Roman pillar, see foto below, was often very effectively used to divide the stage in half, for instance in Act I when **La Cieca** sat alone with her rosary on the left while silently witnessing the action on the right. Further internal walls descended in Act 3, giving a feeling of fate closing in on the characters. Actual flaming torches and a huge blaze when **Enzo** sets fire to his ship felt a rather risky from a health and safety point of view but certainly packed a punch.

![Teatro Filarmonico in Verona / La Gioconda hier das ensemble © Ennevi](https://storage.ghost.io/c/38/f5/38f5739d-f8a2-4e7b-96ed-d56cfbedb61b/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/lagioconda-231022-ennevifoto-0170neu.jpg)

Teatro Filarmonico in Verona / La Gioconda hier das ensemble © Ennevi

Without a doubt it is **Ponchielli’s** sublime music, especially his writing for orchestra, that is the highlight of this work, and from the opening cello quartet in the overture, **Francesco Ommassini** drew the best from his players. Of course everyone was waiting for the celebrated Dance of the Hours, whose delicate ebb and flow they captured beautifully as three white-skirted ballerinas moved with alternately sinuous and more blocky, modern moves in Valerio Longo’s choreography.

**Monica Conesa** as **La Gioconda** very much looked the part, and really came into her own in Act 4 with a splendid *‘Suicido!’* aria, strong in all its ranges and effectively portraying her inner torment.

Mezzo-soprano **Agnieszka Rehlis,** her rival in love, was a fine **Laura,** but of the female singers it was **Agostina Smimmero** as **La Cieca,** dressed in black and with circular dark glasses to emphasise her blindness, who most captivated the audience with her rich, fruity voice and powerful stage presence – in Act I her ‘*benedizione*’ was still sounding when spontaneous applause broke out.

![Teatro Filarmonico in Verona / La Gioconda © Ennevi](https://storage.ghost.io/c/38/f5/38f5739d-f8a2-4e7b-96ed-d56cfbedb61b/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/lagioconda-231022-ennevifoto-0400neu.jpg)

Teatro Filarmonico in Verona / La Gioconda© Ennevi

The three male singers complete the six-voice (soprano, mezzo, contralto, tenor, baritone, bass) soloist set. Tenor **Angelo Villari** had no problems with the top Bb at climax of ‘*Cielo e mar*’ in Act 2, and played a convincingly tender lover to **Laura.**   **Agostina Smimmero** acting as the spy **Barnaba,** as he charmed the chorus and persuaded them he was one of them, was exceptionally well done, and his ‘*Parla!’* as he kissed the huge lion’s mouth on the floor of the stage, into which he had posted his denunciation of **Enzo** and **Laura,** really thrilling. **Simon Lin’s** powerful and full-toned bass in the role of **Alvise, Laura’s** husband, made up for a rather wooden stage presence.

The large and well-drilled chorus, including 16 fresh-voiced children, broke up the intensity of the action with its rumbustious ensembles, blissfully unaware of the central chracters’ problems.

An announcement before the performance asking audience members to turn their mobile phones off would have been useful – there were a couple of instances of prolonged ringing.

#### [**ARENA DI VERONA - Saison 2023 - performances, dates - click, link HERE!**](https://www.arena.it/en/arena-di-verona/calendar?ref=ioco.de)

\---| IOCO Kritik Teatro Filarmonico Verona |---