Gioachino Rossini: William Tell – Antonio Pappano

   in Opera Now (Oct, 2017)
Rossini’s Guillaume Tell had premiered at the Opéra in 1829, so neither Dorus-Gras nor Falcon were around to create the role of Mathilde. One can only wonder what they would have made of Damiano Michieletto’s production, filmed at Covent Garden in 2015. What a dour performance this is in its updating to a European postwar conflict: dull costumes, bad lighting, everything pushed to the front of the stage, the cast trogging around on dirt. Thankfully Antonio Pappano’s conducting provides the flair that’s missing on the stage. Gerald Finley’s Tell provides burnished tone, John Osborn’s Arnold pings out his top Cs, though the strain starts to tell. Malin Byström’s Mathilde eludes me, …