ACA intimiste

Récital Anna Caterina Antonacci

Piano Donald Sulzen

Opéra de Lyon

Jan.18 2008

Gabriel Fauré - Cinq mélodies de Venise

• Mandoline
• En Sourdine
• Green
• A Clymène
• C'est l'extase langoureuse

Reynaldo Hahn

• Tyrandis
• Phyllis
• Fumée
• L'énamourée
• Le printemps

Alfred Bachelet, Chère nuit [Intermission] Richard Strauss

• Einerlei
• Morgen
• Zueignung

Paolo Tosti

• My memories
• Love me!
• Summer
• Once more!
• Love's way

Pietro Cimara, Scherzo Ballade Ottorino Respighi, Nebbie Arturo Toscanini, Nevrosi Pieradolfo Tirendelli, Amor, Amor! Riccardo Zandonai,"Paolo, cate mi pace!" [Encores]

• ? (spanish lyrics)
• Francis Poulenc, Les chemins de l'amour (texte de Jean Anouilh)
• ? (italian lyrics)

What better way to spend a grey and cold Sunday afternoon than spend it with Anna Caterina Antonacci and her pianist, Donald Sulzen?

I don't especially appreciate this format yet I reckon it has the vertue, in an average-size Opera House, of creating a very intimate atmosphere between the singer and the audience. The charisma, restraint and humility of ACA certainly filled the auditorium, as we embarked on a unique and timeless journey through French, Italian and German melodies from La Belle Epoque.

Despite the numerous coughing crisis due to the cold and polluted air over the city for the past week, the silence between pieces was astonishing, not that the audience didn't appreciate the performance, but ACA's presence was so magnetizing people couldn't get out of it to applause.

She was brilliant and at her best in Fauré's C'est l'extase langoureuse, Hahn's L'énamourée, Toscanini's Nevrosi and Tirendelli's Amor, Amor!. Also very intense were Fauré's En sourdine, Hahn's Le printemps and Bachelet's Chère nuit.

At times though, the expressivity was a bit short, especially in the Tosti's melodies in English; she wasn't able to apprehend the intensity of the text neither in English nor in German as a matter of fact, so clearly I question the selection chosen for this concert (especially since Tosti also wrote quite a few melodies in Italian).


I must also give credit to her pianist, Donald Sulzen, who did a marvellous job, especially with Fauré and Hahn. They complemented each other to perfection. A very cosy and comforting afternoon indeed.

PS. The concert was recorded so maybe it will be broadcast someday on French radio?