Il viaggio a Reims Barcelona

The Gran Teatre del Liceus 20172018 season opened with Rossinis dramma giocoso Il viaggio a Reims the event piece written exclusively for the coronation of Frances Charles X in Reims in 1825 Apart from the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro one of the coproducers this otherwise infrequently performed work has received a bright yet perhaps overminimalist staging by Emilio Sagi A fixed set portraying the sun deck and furnishings of a spa hotel using only the stage front provides the operas eclectic group of European aristocrats an unexpectedly informal aspect from the outset replete with bathrobes towels and slippers This is novel but confuses the audience as to who is who in the story Not until the end of the second act an hour and a half into the performance does the cast change to more formal dining attire and the audience has a minimally clearer idea of the different nationalities and idiosyncracies portrayed