The revelation is the conducting of
Pietro Rizzo, a 35-year-old Italian who got a master's in violin from
Southern Methodist University before taking up the baton. From his
American debut here he goes to the Metropolitan Opera for
Cavalleria rusticana and Pagliacci.
Conducting from memory, Rizzo makes the
orchestra the most compelling dramatic personage of all, by turns
excited and anxious, sassy and passionate, tender and finally
heartbroken. The orchestra plays its heart out for him, and the big
chorus, prepared by Alexander Rom, sings rousingly and well.
L'impatto fortunato di questa
Cavalleria - che veniva rappresentata in coppia con i balletti
paganini e Vespri - è dipeso anche dalla vitalissima direzione del
giovane Pietro Rizzo, bacchetta [...] di indubbia carica teatrale.
Davide Annachini, L'Opera, novembre
2008
