“Medea” is full of gothic horror

There are many celebrations in Athens around the centenary of Maria Callas: At the acclaimed opening, Anna Peruzzi debuts Callas’ iconic role as Cherubini’s “Medea”. Effectively organized by David McVicar.

Finally horror piles on horror. And the huge mirror that dominates the background of the stage is increasingly transformed into an image of Medea’s soul. During the music of the thunderstorm launched by Luigi Cherubini as an introduction to the third act, it not only reflects the haze of dry ice, but also the storm pushes dark clouds into each other through the projections. And long before Medea, as the last atrocity, set her on fire, a fire was burning there. It is the revenge that burns inside her.

During these last steps of the Colchian princess into fatal madness, Anna Peruzzi pulls back all that stops the art of singing. In Vienna, she had already achieved success in Verdi’s ensemble as Abigaille and Lady Macbeth: in her characteristic piercing voice, grace and lightness are combined with the necessary reserves of drama. Above all, however, its timbre has a strict direction and a certain penetrating angle—admittedly a good dose in that this excessive tone does not disturb as a general acuity, but rather more clearly delineates the vocal line and the character as a whole.