Los Elementos: a fascinating whirlwind

(Viel hinreißender Wirbel um die Elemente)

Los Elementos mixed baroque music with a bit of humor in a very lively performance at the Trigonale festival. Le Tendre Amour captivated St. Veit with Los Elementos by Antonio de Literes. Street theater and circus director Adrián Schvarzstein created the framework for directing the tumultuous sequence of twelve arias, which are divided among the four allegorical elements plus time. They charmed the audience with slapstick action while the four singers (the elements) flowingly sang their cascades of sound just as pearls.

Under the direction of Katy Elkin (oboe) and Esteban Mazer (harpsichord), the ensemble performed the accompaniments to the arias and recitatives superbly. María Hinojosa shone as Water and Aurora. Fire was played by the spirited Marina Pardo with a fine voice. The baritone Donato di Gioia embodied Time and together with the factotum Adrián Schvarzstein were clenched between the four feminine characters, but counteracted with masculine presence, giving a touch of erotic tension. Wonderful to hear and see was the Brazilian soprano Luanda Siquiera da Silva, who represented Air in a white dress. A beautiful contrast in a red dress, the sensual Earth Lidia Vinyes Curtis used her fan in a most artistic way. Overall, an excellent, communicative, and much-applauded evening. Fastastic both musically and scenically. -Kleine Zeitung, St Veit, Austria - 18 Sept 2011.

BARBARA EINHAUER