After seeing Un Ballo in Maschera twice, I must say I don't know which interpretation of Count Renato Anckarstrom I like the best; is it the handsome Korean Hyung Yun or the sexy Russian Dmitri Hvorostovsky? I can't decide either way.
Hyung Yun's performance was the one I saw on stage at Overture. Aside from his sexy 18th Century black costume and wig, I loved how he did the role. I was up in the nosebleed section so I could only just see his face.
Dmitri Hvorostovsky was the one I saw perform in the Met simulcast yesterday. This was a new production which set the story in the 1930s (or sometime thereabout). His costume was mostly a grey suit although he donned a burgundy one in the final act. I could see his face clearly.
I think that both were superb in their performance of the aria "Eri Tu Che Macchiavi" ('Twas Thou that Marred the Soul). In it, Renato swears vengeance on King Gustavo for messing around with Mrs. Anckarstrom, and then laments the loss of his marital bliss. I loved how Yun and Hvorostovsky were both able to communicate to the audience not only his bitterness and anger at the king and his grief at his wife's own infidelity. It takes quite an effort to sing this aria. It's not easy to communicate musically both the feelings of anger and sadness. It takes a master singer and actor to execute it properly. And that's what both baritones did.
So I really can't say who is better. Hyung Yun and Dmitri Hvorostovsky are both incredibly talented and amazingly sexy baritones who can pull off any role without much trouble. I don't even think I can compare the two.
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