Attila: Attila - Ferruccio Furlanetto
San Francisco Opera
Photo: Cory Weaver
Releases
ATTILA -
Orchestra e coro del Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi di Trieste
Conductor – Donato Renzetti
Attila – Ferruccio Furlanetto
Recorded live 2000
DYNAMIC 2001 CDS 372/1-2
2 CD
Attila at the San Francisco Opera: press report
Ferruccio Furlanetto is starring in the title role of Verdi’s “Attila” at the San Francisco Opera in June (performances June 12, 15, 20, 23, 28; July 1). Conductor - Nicola Luisotti, Stage director - Gabriele Lavia. Cast: Lucrecia Garcia (Odabella), Quinn Kelsey (Ezio), Diego Torre (Foresto) and Samuel Ramey (Pope Leo I).
The performances received fantastic response from the public and stellar reviews from the press.
“As the barbaric Hun (more sinned against than sinning in this piece), bass Ferruccio Furlanetto dominated the stage with his dark, rich voice and brooding charisma.”
Mike Silverman, Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle
“Bass Ferruccio Furlanetto gave a magnetic and authoritative performance in the title role, singing with muscular clarity and a darkly heroic demeanor”
Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle
“This year, Italian bass Ferruccio Furlanetto has inherited the Attila mantle, and he inhabited it with tremendous verve. The voice is big, firm-toned and resonant, and Furlanetto deployed it with clarity and fervor. ”
Georgia Rowe, Mercurynews.com
“Furlanetto's performance was breathtaking. Although representing the omnipresent destroyer, Attila is a more sympathetic character in Verdi's interpretation. Furlanetto made all the faces of his character emerge: with great precision and vigour, he portrayed Attila as vulnerable and authoritative, graceful and rough at the same time. In the dream sequence at the end of Act I, in which he has a premonitory dream of Pope Leo's appearance, it was almost as if completely different characters inhabited Furlanetto's body, so intense were the variations in his interpretation: he is the bravest warrior, and yet he confesses to his soldier Uldino (an elegant Nathaniel Peake) of how frightening his vision had been: "L'alma in petto ad Attila s'agghiaccia di terror " ("the soul in Attila's chest is chilled with terror"). At these lines, the auditorium fell into complete silence, on account of of how disarming the confession of Furlanetto's Attila was. Furlanetto definitely had the most imposing vocal and stage presence.”
Marina Romani, Musicalcriticism.com
“You cannot sound like a second-rate warrior in this opera and pull it off with aplomb. Powerhouses such as Samuel Ramey, who recorded Attila with a superb cast in 1989, are hard to come by these days. San Francisco Opera has one, in the form of Ferruccio Furlanetto in the title role. The veteran bass may be 63, but he sings with the rock-solid steadiness, shine, and beauty of someone half his age. A hulking presence onstage, with the bent over posture of a giant approaching defeat, Furlanetto’s magnificent portrayal is a triumph.”
Jason Victor Serinus, San Francisco Classical Voice
“Italian bass Ferruccio Furlanetto sang the evening’s titular character brilliantly. In what is already a long, distinguished career, this singer seems to have found a new stride and his Attila can be safely added to his resume of memorable creations, which includes recent extraordinary turns as Philip II and Boris Godunov. Furlanetto brought the normally two-dimensional character to life as a conflicted anti-hero, capable of fearsome violence and moments of vulnerability. His Act I dream aria, already the dramatic fulcrum of the piece, was a clinic in Verdean style.”
Jeff MacMillan, Bachtrack.com
“This formidable Italian bass Ferruccio Furlanetto is however in his prime, traversing Attila’s emotional poles and vocal treacheries with ease, reaching the high notes of its extreme range with force and security, descending to the suave tones that evoke the sexual allure of a powerful man. In better circumstances the tall, fit and heroic Mr. Furlanetto would have motivated dramatic tensions that lie just beneath the surface, and exploited the hints of Otello and Desdemona that lurk there.”
Michael Milenski, Opera Today
“Seeing Furlanetto’s Attila is like attending a master class in the art of the operatic basso. A full-bodied, powerful, yet elegant cantante, he is also a fine actor, portraying a warrior in his last days, after fears and doubts have eroded the confidence that had made him the master of Central Europe. ”
Operawarhorses.com
“Ferruccio Furlanetto gives to the role of Attila a wonderful bass voice, proud, conquering, very powerful, but lyrical as well. His performance is unbelievable, single-handedly worth the price of admission. ”
SFist.com