Verdi based Un Ballo in Maschera upon the actual assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden at a masked ball in 1792, but, faced with the impossibility of getting a story of regicide past the censors in Austrian-controlled Italy, he switched the location to Boston c1700, changing the identity of the King to that of the local governor, Riccardo.
There is therefore always the question of where to set the piece—especially as Gustav was unlikely have fallen for the wife of his best friend, as in the libretto, His Majesty being otherwise inclined.
I once heard a director explain his three options: to set the piece in the designated period, in the age of the composer, or in any period after the latter. Not, however, Vincent Boussard.
For this 2017 Barcelona production, he chooses all three, and more. Piotr Beczała’s Riccardo appears, as do other cast members, variously in costume of the early 18th and 19th centuries as well as in modern dress, sometimes in the course of a single scene, and even in ruffs, which went out of fashion around 1620. The result is a timelessness, albeit with a sense of incongruity. Having the page Oscar play with a radio-controlled racing car while dressed in a Mozartian wig is maybe a step too far.
There is no attempt at naturalism. The action takes place on a bare stage, mostly in shadow, within a square of white lighting strips. Riccardo and Keri Alkema’s Amelia perform their only love duet in concert style, and the former supposedly recites the contents of a letter warning about his planned assassination without the bother of having to read it.
Beczała commands one of the widest repertoires of any tenor on the scene today, but the demanding role of Riccardo seems particularly suited to his talents. I think of him as a superb craftsman rather than one simply gifted by the gods, getting to the heart of the drama without histrionics and mastering the angular melodic lines so that they flow like conversation.
Alkema makes a perfect partner, her creamy low soprano never losing its clarity even in a magnificent cry of anguish at the end of her big act 3 aria.
Carlos Alvarez as Renato and Dolora Zajick as Ulrica are dramatically effective, with Katerina Tretyakova as a lively Oscar. Among the minor characters, Damian Del Castillo impresses as Silvano. The orchestra under Renato Palumbo plays adroitly, and the chorus, director Conxita Garcia, makes an impact throughout.