{"id":116397,"date":"2025-07-30T15:03:31","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T19:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=116397"},"modified":"2025-07-31T14:00:02","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T18:00:02","slug":"scrutiny-bel-canto-virtuosity-franco-fagioli-versailles-musicians-evening-acrobatic-music-making","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/07\/30\/scrutiny-bel-canto-virtuosity-franco-fagioli-versailles-musicians-evening-acrobatic-music-making\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | Bel Canto Virtuosity: Franco Fagioli & Versailles Musicians In An Evening Of Acrobatic Music Making"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Countertenor
Countertenor Franco Fagioli performs with Orchestre de l\u2019Op\u00e9ra Royal de Versaille and conductor Stefan Plewniak at Toronto Summer Music 2025 (Photo: Lucky Tang)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Toronto Summer Music: Franco Fagioli \u2014 The Last Castrato, Arias for Velluti. Rossini: Sinfonia from Tancredi; Nicolini: \u201cAh se mi lasci o cara,\u201d Traiano in Dacia; Bonfichi: \u201cQual mi circonda e agghiaccia \u2026 Dolenti e care immagini \u2026 Vedrai quest\u2019anima,\u201d Attila; Rode: Concerto No. 1 in D minor for Violin, III. Polonaise; Nicolini: \u201cEcco o numi \u2026 Ah quando cesser\u00e0 \u2026 Lo sdegno io non pavento,\u201d Carlo Magno; Rossini: Sinfonia from Aureliano in Palmira; Rossini: \u201cDolci silvestri orrori \u2026 Ah! Che sento \u2026 Non lasciarmi in tal momento,\u201d Aureliano in Palmira; Zingarelli: Overture from Giulietta e Romeo; Mercadante: \u201cDove m\u2019aggiro \u2026 Era felice un di \u2026 S\u00ec bel contento in giubilo,\u201d Andronico Franco Fagioli, countertenor, Orchestre de l\u2019Op\u00e9ra Royal de Versaille. July 29, 2025, Koerner Hall.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

It is rare in a vocal concert for the conductor to draw more attention than the singer; especially when that singer is the Argentinian star countertenor, Franco Fagioli.<\/p>\n

But, in this much-publicized Toronto Summer Music concert at Koerner Hall, it was Stefan Plewniak, conductor of the 2019-founded Orchestre de l\u2019Op\u00e9ra Royal de Versaille who came across as the more flamboyant artiste. He cut a Billy Connolly-meets-Rasputin-meets-Paganini figure, with his long, disheveled hair that grew ever wilder as he bounced across the stage, and with his windmill conducting technique.<\/p>\n

The theatricality award of the night also went to the orchestra, for its entrance and exit, accompanied by excerpts from Lully\u2019s Bourgeois gentilhomme, and Rameau\u2019s Les Indes galantes, respectively.<\/p>\n

\"Countertenor
Countertenor Franco Fagioli performs with Orchestre de l\u2019Op\u00e9ra Royal de Versaille and conductor Stefan Plewniak at Toronto Summer Music 2025 (Photo: Lucky Tang)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Program<\/h3>\n

But the main program left the French Baroque behind and moved to late-18th and early-19th century Italy. The concert was conceived as a celebration of and homage to Giovanni Battista Velluti (1780-1861), the so-called \u2018Last Castrato\u2019 of the subtitle, and subject of a recent recording by Fagioli and Plewniak\u2019s team.<\/p>\n

Technically speaking, the last castrato was actually Alessandro Moreschi (1858-1922), of whose voice we even have a scratchy recording. But Velluti was admittedly the last castrato with starring opera parts written for him by the leading composers of his time. In any case, it makes for an attractive concert title.<\/p>\n

Much of this repertoire is primarily a vehicle for an extraordinary voice, and accordingly it scores low on substance. Tripartite scenes, such as from Nicolini\u2019s Carlo Magno, Bonfichi\u2019s Attila, or Mercadante\u2019s Andronico, trace a routine trajectory from dolorous ruminations through melancholic reverie towards raging or jubilant defiance, the last of these accompanied by stratospheric vocals and audience-massaging exaltation.<\/p>\n

It took two contributions from Rossini to show what a first-rate composer can do with these clich\u00e9s.<\/p>\n

\"Countertenor
Countertenor Franco Fagioli performs with Orchestre de l\u2019Op\u00e9ra Royal de Versaille and conductor Stefan Plewniak at Toronto Summer Music 2025 (Photo: Lucky Tang)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Franco Fagioli<\/h3>\n

If the lyrics or the contexts had more to offer, the Koerner Hall audience had no way of knowing. A short paragraph on Velutti was all the program had to vouchsafe: nothing on the composers or the works, no lyrics, no synopses.<\/p>\n

It was left to Fagioli\u2019s vocal prowess to guide us through the labyrinth of embellishments and vocal somersaults, and for us to trust his acting out of the operatic personae.<\/p>\n

His is a voice that falls somewhere around a full-bodied chesty mezzo-soprano, with occasional exhilarating ventures into high coloratura and baritonal deep dives. As exciting as it is to hear all three octaves on display, the transitions between registers are not always smoothly negotiated, and the lowest register is more masculine-timbred than that of other leading countertenors.<\/p>\n

Still, the clarity and agility are exemplary, as is Fagioli\u2019s breath control, even in the most devilish roulades.<\/p>\n

\"Countertenor
Countertenor Franco Fagioli performs with Orchestre de l\u2019Op\u00e9ra Royal de Versaille and conductor Stefan Plewniak at Toronto Summer Music 2025 (Photo: Lucky Tang)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Final Thoughts<\/h3>\n

Vocal numbers were interjected with purely instrumental ones, where the orchestra\u2019s intense, characterful musicianship shone forth, especially in numbers by the never-failing musical jester, Rossini.<\/p>\n

The all-Italian program received another Gallic boost from the manic Polonaise finale of Pierre Rode\u2019s first Violin Concerto \u2014 also an occasion to admire Plewniak as a prancingly emancipated violinist.<\/p>\n

He returned with his violin for the concert\u2019s second encore, after an aria from Rossini\u2019s Semiramide, to accompany a rather loosely experimental \u2018Lascia ch\u2019io pianga\u2019 from Handel\u2019s Rinaldo.<\/p>\n

For such a starry concert with a European orchestra, honouring the former TSM Artistic Director, Douglas McNabney, it was a shame not to see the hall packed out. But, those in attendance, much as they may have grumbled about the lack of program notes, were treated to an evening of entertaining virtuosity.<\/p>\n

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The crowd at the Toronto Summer Music presentation of Franco Fagioli: The Last Castrato treated to an evening of entertaining virtuosity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":117,"featured_media":116399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[41660,74,76,19,41496,43,52,63],"tags":[908,5218,42046,4026,3356],"yst_prominent_words":[38939,15153,15149],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/07\/Copy-of-REVIEW-16.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-uhn","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116397"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/117"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116397"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116419,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116397\/revisions\/116419"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116397"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=116397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}