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| Rossini: Il viaggio a Reims - Tara Erraught, Cecilia Bartoli - Salzburg Festival (Photo: Monika Rittershaus) |
Rossini: Il viaggio a Reims; Cecilia Bartoli, Marina Viotti, Mélissa Petit, Tara Erraught, Edgardo Rocha, Dmitry Korchak, Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, Florian Sempey, Misha Kiria, Peter Kellner, Giovanni Romeo, dir: Barrie Kosky, Les Musiciens du Prince-Monaco, cond: Gianluca Capuano; Salzburg Festival
Reviewed 5 August 2026
Rossini's occasional comedy reinvented by Barrie Kosky as hyperactive farce in an over the top performance with strong musical contributions
Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims was written for an occasion, the coronation of Charles X of France, and never performed again, though Rossini's music is of the highest quality. He would, in fact, re-use material in Le comte Orgy and but it was not until the 1980s that the original work was performed again. It is more than an occasional piece, the music ensures that, though companies music field a wide range of Rossini stylists.
Barrie Kosky's production of Rossini's Il viaggo a Reims debuted at the Salzburg Easter Festival and returned to Salzburg's Haus für Mozart for the summer Salzburg Festival, opening on 5 August 2026. Gianluca Capuano conducted Les Musiciens du Prince-Monaco, a period instrument ensemble whose founding was the inspiration of Cecilia Bartoli. She was something of a presiding genius over this production, not only singing Corinna but appearing out of a cake as herself at the climax of celebrations at the end of the opera.
The rest of the cast included Marina Viotti as Marchesa Melibea, Mélissa Petit as Contessa di Folleville, Tara Erraught as Madama Cortese, Edgardo Rocha as Cavalier Belfiore, Dmitry Korchak as Conte di Libenskof, Ildebrando D'Arcangelo as Lord Sidney, Florian Sempey as Don Profundo, Misha Kiria as Barone di Trombonok, Peter Kellner as Don Alvaro, and Giovanni Romeo as Don Prudenzio, with the Choeur de l'Opéra de Monte-Carlo.
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| Rossini: Il viaggio a Reims - Peter Kellner, Florian Sempey - Salzburg Festival (Photo: Monika Rittershaus) |
In the programme book, Barrie Kosky described the work as 'an exquisite confection' commenting that 'the characters are not developed', they have to be 'fleshed out by the performers'. In Rossini's day this probably relied on his distinguished singers (who included Giuditta Pasta and Laure Cinti-Damoreau) bringing out the original Romantic context for each of the set pieces. Kosky's solution was to play the piece as hyperactive farce. His production had many of the elements of farce, not just its pacing and mad-cap activities. There were plenty of entrances and doors - five in the first scene including three revolving doors, 13 in the second scene. There was much bedroom hopping in that second scene, along with many characters stripped down to their underwear. All prime ingredients of farce.
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