Review: Oh, what a lovely war!: La fille du régiment at Winter Opera

Donizetti wrote so many popular operatic tragedies that it's easy to forget that his long list of operas includes a fair number of comedies. His 1840 opéra comique (i.e. an opera with spoken dialog) La fille du régiment is one of the most popular, and the Winter Opera production last weekend (January 24 and 26), despite some obvious flaws, demonstrated why that's the case.

Andrew Potter, Isaac Frischman, Gina Galati

Originally written as a quick replacement for a delayed opera by another composer, La fille was initially greeted with indifference by the Parisian public and hostility by Berlioz (then music critic for the Journal des débats)--mostly because he was annoyed by what he saw as Donizetti's domination of the Parisian opera scene. Audiences quickly came around, however, and over the years the title role has become a favorite of high-flying sopranos from Jenny Lind to Joan Sutherland.

Marie, the titular daughter, is a war orphan adopted as a baby by the rather tender hearted French soldiers of the 21st Regiment. Now a beauty with the voice of an angel and a colorful military vocabulary, she loves and is loved by Tonio, who saved her from toppling off an Alp. Their love is opposed initially by her guardian, Sergeant Sulpice, and the other soldiers (who mistake Tonio for a spy), and then by the snobbish Marquise de Birkenfeld who, in a classic comic opera revelation, turns out to be Marie's long-lost mother. All ends happily, of course, with plenty of rousing ensembles and solo vocal fireworks along the way.

Andew Potter and Gina Galati

Make no mistake, a production of this work depends heavily on the singing and acting skills of the singers in the three principal roles of Marie, Tonio, and Sulpice. Fortunately for Winter Opera, they had a strong trio in those parts.

Tenor Isaac Frishman was a fine Tonio. He handled the demanding air "Pour mon âme,” with its (in)famous nine high Cs, with real polish, and proved equally effective in the more dramatic "Pour me rapprocher de Marie" in the second act. Winter Opera General Director Gina Galati was a convincingly tomboyish Marie. When I saw the show on Sunday afternoon, though, her voice seemed less strong than it has in the past and she seemed to strain for some of the high notes-of which there are quite a few in this demanding coloratura part.

Still, she and Mr. Frishman blended well vocally and had convincing chemistry on stage. And given Ms. Galati's exemplary work in the past (most recently in Union Avenue's Glory Denied last August), I'm inclined to treat this as an outlier.

Gina Galati, Andrew Potter, Joy Hermalyn

Bass Andrew Potter, who has done plenty of first-rate comedy work for Winter Opera in the past-most recently as the wily Dulcamara in their 2018 L'elisir d'amore--once again demonstrated that infallible combination of vocal authority and comic timing that has apparently made him the company's "go to" guy for basso buffo roles. His imposing stature (he's well over 6 feet tall) also had the advantage of making Mr. Frishman and Ms. Galati look, in comparison, like the youngsters they are supposed to be.

Mezzo Joy Hermalyn's broadly played Marquise of Berkenfield might not have been to everyone's liking, but I found her willingness to sacrifice vocal purity for the sake of theatrical effect refreshing and very effective. Baritone Gary Moss, another Winter Opera regular, turned in yet another fine bit of slapstick comedy as the Marquise's fussy butler Hortensius.

Members of the chorus

The chorus was small but mighty as it so often is at Winter Opera. Since no choral director is listed, I assume the credit must go to conductor Edward Benyas and, of course, to the company's stalwart ensemble singers.

Winter Opera's equally small but cohesive orchestra played very well, with especially fine work by Tricia Jostlein and Nancy Schick on horns. Their solo at the beginning of the overture was perfect. Trumpets Jason Harris and Dawn Weber deserve praise as well. Mr. Benyas's tempi felt a bit on the slow side at times, but overall his account of the score felt right.

Scott Loebl's brightly colored set and Felia Davenport's equally vivid costumes helped contribute to the comic atmosphere, giving everything the look of a 1950s Warner Brothers cartoon.

Joy Hermalyn

My biggest issue was with Audrey Chait's direction. For reasons which escape me, she had the cast singing in the original French but speaking in English, which made little sense and tended to induce a kind of linguistic whiplash. The pacing of the spoken interludes also felt sluggish and some of the comic business felt more intrusive than funny. All of which is a bit surprising, considering what a great job she did with the aforementioned L'elisir d'amore.

Winter Opera's season continues March 6 and 8 with Puccini's rarely-seen La fanciulla del west (usually referred to as "The Girl of the Golden West"), which will be getting its St. Louis premiere. Set in the American west circa 1850, it's a work I've always wanted to see staged, so it looks like I'm finally getting my wish. For more information, visit the Winter Opera web site.

Review: The fool on The Hill

Gina Galati and cast
Photo by Wylde Brothers Productions

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When I saw my first Winter Opera production back in 2012, I wrote that the company "stands poised to be an important player in the growing opera scene locally" and that "we can expect great things from them." If their production this past weekend (March 9 and 11, 2018) of Donizetti's comedy "L'Elisir d'Amore" ("The Elixir of Love") is any indication, that prediction has come true.

Based on Eugène Scribe's libretto for Daniel Auber's popular comedy "Le philtre" from 1831, Felice Romani's book for "The Elixir of Love" is the story of Nemorino, a humble peasant smitten with the wealthy and beautiful landowner Adina. She, though, is more taken with the macho Sergeant Belcore. In desperation, Nemorino buys a love potion (actually just some cheap wine) from the traveling quack Dr. Dulcamara. Complications, as they say, ensue. But all ends happily for everyone-including Dr. Dulcamara who, as the curtain descends, is still fleecing the suckers.

Winter Opera's cast was one of the strongest they have come up with to date, with solid voices and acting skills to match. Tenor Peter Scott Drackley was an outstanding Nemorino, with a powerful tenor voice (including some remarkably strong low notes) and a winsome character that reminded me of Lou Costello (of Abbot and..). Winter Opera General Director Gina Galati was a lively and charming Adina, with a bright and flexible voice.

Bass Andrew Potter, who was so hilarious as Don Magnifico in Winter Opera's "La Cenerentola" last year, once again stole the show as the wily Dulcamara, complete with top hat, cape, magic wand and blonde assistant. His voice was solid right down to the bottom and his comic timing was impeccable.

L-R: Christopher Holloway, Gina Galati, Peter Scott Drackley
Photo by Wylde Brothers Productions

Equally adept at comedy was baritone Christopher Holloway as the self-admiring Belcore. Soprano Karen Kanakis turned in a strong performance as the Giannetta, lighting up the stage with her gossipy "Saria possibile" number at the top of Act II.

Donizetti and Romani intended "The Elixir of Love" to be somewhat remote from its original Milan audience from the start, setting it in Basque country late in the previous century. Winter Opera director Audrey Chait moved the action to St. Louis's Italian "The Hill" neighborhood in the early 1940s, which put it at about the same remove chronologically and culturally, in addition to injecting some local color.

Conductor Darwin Aquino led the small but robust orchestra in a fine account of Donizetti's appealing score. As is so often the case, they sounded bigger than ther modest size would lead one to expect.

"L'Elisr d'Amore" concluded Winter Opera's 11th season. Season 12 pick up in November with Strauss's "Die Fledermaus." At this point, my biggest criticism of the company is that they only present two performances of each show. Work this good deserves more exposure. I hope they get it some day.

Review: The spectacular singing of Chicago Lyric's Lucia di Lammermoor

This review originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Albina Shagimuratova and Piotr Beczała
Photo: Todd Rosenberg

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Bel canto opera stands or falls on the strength of the singing, and by that standard Lyric Opera of Chicago's new production of Donizetti's 1835 tragedy Lucia di Lammermoor stands very tall indeed. From the starring roles down to the chorus, this is a cast that can handle the most demanding material with ease.

And a good thing, too, because the score is one of Donizetti’s richest and most dramatic. From the teeth-rattling choruses that conclude the second act, to the often imitated and even more often parodied aria "Il doce sono" (a.k.a. the "mad scene"), to the legendary sextet—a piece so famous that even the Three Stooges and the Warner Brothers cartoon crew knew they could make fun of it without losing the audience—Lucia provides a treasure trove of great music. The Lyric cast does it full justice with a great performance.

Albina Shagimuratova
Photo: Andrew Cioffi

Soprano Albina Shagimuratova is a radiant Lucia, handling Donizetti's most demanding passages with ease. Her mad scene was a thing of vocal beauty, wonderfully controlled and yet thoroughly expressive. Matching her in power and dramatic conviction is tenor Piotr Beczała as Lucia’s tragic lover Edgardo, as effective in his tender love duets with Ms. Shagimuratova as he is in the violent Act III tower scene (which is, by the way, as good an example of testosterone poisoning as you’ll find anywhere in operatic literature).

His opponent in that tower scene is Lucia’s scheming brother Enrico, sung with menacing force by baritone Quinn Kelsey. I don't think director Graham Vick's decision to make him a shambling drunk adds anything useful but it doesn't really detract either, so overall I can't complain.

Somewhat less credible is Mr. Vick's decision to make the small role of Arturo—whom Lucia is forced to marry, with tragic results—into a kind of foppish scarecrow with his arms permanently outstretched as though posing for a painting. It turns his sword fight with Edgardo into inappropriate low comedy. Tenor Jonathan Johnson looks and sounds great in the part, though, which helps.

Adrian Sâmpetrean
Photo: Andrew Cioffi

Bass Adrian Sâmpetrean puts a sympathetic stamp on the role of the chaplain Raimondo. The character is the moral center of the opera and needs to be credible, especially in "Ah, cedi, cedi!" the Act II aria in which he persuades Lucia to agree to the arranged marriage with Arturo. Mr. Sâmpetrean fully delivers the goods.

Tenor Matthew DiBattista, who has done such great work here at Opera Theatre of St. Louis, once again rises to the occasion as the scheming Normanno, whose forged letter from Edgardo helps persuade Lucia to accept the marriage contract with Arturo. Mezzo Linsday Metzger has less vocal power than her fellow cast members, but is otherwise a very appealing Alisa, Lucia's confidante.

L-R: Piotr Beczała, Jonathan Johnson,
Albina Shagimuratova, Quinn Kelsey
Photo: Todd Rosenberg

In his director's note in the program book, Mr. Vick says that he sees Lucia as "a late-classical work". It's an interesting point, but given that the Romantic movement in music was well underway in 1835, I'm not sure I buy it. In any case, his implementation of that view appears to involve fairly static staging and a monochromatic set by designer Paul Brown that consists largely of multiple levels of gray flats that are used to represent all the indoor scenes, from the Great Hall at Lammermoor Castle to the tower of Edgardo's Ravenswood.

Behind them is a "blasted heath" that Macbeth would have recognized, complete with a eerily crooked tree and an unnaturally large, featureless, and sometimes distractingly mobile moon. Mr. Vick seems fond of that heath, placing much of the opera's action there, even in scenes that are explicitly indoors, like the Act II wedding contract and Lucia's "mad scene." It's especially odd in the latter, since Lucia is supposed to be hallucinating the heath, not wandering about on it.

Mr. Brown's costumes, though, are right on the money. I thought decking the entire Bucklaw clan in blinding white and gold was a nice touch, contrasting strongly with the earth tones of the Lammermoors and Edgardo.

The wedding party
Photo: Todd Rosenberg

At the podium is Enrique Mazzola, an Italian conductor who, to quote his program bio, is "[g]reatly admired internationally in bel canto." If his work here is any indication, that admiration is richly deserved, as he leads the Lyric Opera Orchestra in an assured and well-paced reading of Donizetti's score.

Donizetti assigns an important narrative role to the choir, so Chorus Master Michael Black also deserves praise for the powerful and articulate sound of his singers.

The important point is that if bel canto is your thing, you can't go wrong with a production like this one in which all the musical elements are so strong. And despite my misgivings about some of Mr. Vick's decisions, there's no denying that this Lucia packs a real wallop overall. Performances continue through November 6 at Lyric Opera's home in the magnificent Civic Opera House in the Chicago Loop. Information on Lucia di Lammermoor and the rest of the current season is available at their web site.

Lyric Opera of Chicago does bel canto right in "Anna Bolena"

Photo: Robert Kusel
Courtesy of Lyric Opera

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In the 1830 tragedy "Anna Bolena" ("Anne Boleyn"), the second of Donizetti's four operas dealing with Tudor England and a classic of the bel canto operatic style, the composer and his librettist Felice Romani put the title character through hell—and aren't that much easier on the singer playing the role. She's on stage for most of the opera (which, in the Lyric Opera of Chicago production that opened this past weekend, runs three and one-half hours with intermission), finishing up with not one but two "mad" scenes and an execution scene that is almost as harrowing.

Not surprisingly, the role has become associated with some of the world's great singing actresses over the years, especially since the late Maria Callas caused such a sensation in a Lucino Visconti-directed production at La Scala in 1957. Other big names associated with the role are Renata Scotto and the great Joan Sutherland, who played the part in Lyric Opera's last presentation of "Anna Bolena" in 1985.

I don't think it's too much of an exaggeration to say that Lyric's current Anna, soprano Sondra Radvanovsky, should feel right at home in that pantheon, judging from her heroic performance on opening night. Expertly sung and superbly acted, her Anna moves easily through the wide dynamic and emotional range of this role. Like Callas, Ms. Radvanovsky is not afraid to sacrifice a little technical purity here and there if it enhances the drama. Which, on opening night, it always did.

Sondra Radvanovsky and
John Relyea
Photo: Todd Rosenberg
Courtesy of Lyric Opera

Nor is hers the only impressive portrayal here. She's evenly matched by bass John Relyea's vocally powerful and dramatically on-point Henry VIII. Granted, the role has less depth than that of Anne—he's pretty much a rotter through and through—but Mr. Relyea makes the most of it, demonstrating flashes of the charisma that helps to explain how Jane Seymour (beautifully sung by mezzo Jamie Barton) could fall for him.

The "pants" role of Smeton—the young page whose infatuation with Anne is manipulated by Henry to undo them both—may only be a supporting part, but mezzo Kelley O'Connor brings a depth and humanity to it that makes it truly stand out. There was no scene stealing involved here, mind you; just solid technique and theatrical smarts. And an impeccable "Ah, parea che per l'incanto" in Act I.

Tenor Bryan Hymel is a passionate Lord Percy and bass-baritone Richard Ollarsaba an appealing Lord Rochford. Tenor John Irvin rounds out the named roles and a chilling Lord Hervey, Henry's hatchet man.

Director Kevin Newbury is, perhaps, overly found of placing his principals in static poses and lighting them starkly from behind in primary colors, but on the whole the overall look of the production is striking. Neil Patel's set contributes substantially to that with its imposing Tudor ceiling from which walls and set pieces descend for the scene changes. The illusion of massive weight is convincing and reminds us of how these characters are, in some ways, imprisoned in the splendor of their surroundings. D. M. Wood's lighting design is dramatic, but there seemed to be technical issues with some of the instruments on opening night.

Sondra Radvanovsky and Kelley O'Connor
Photo: Todd Rosenberg
Courtesy of Lyric Opera

Mr. Newbury has chorus master Michael Black's powerful and precise ensemble on stage more often than is called for in the libretto—sometimes merely to offer mute witness. The idea, according to his program notes, is "to bring the tension of private and public space to life... Are a kind and queen ever truly alone?" I thought it mostly worked, as did the conceit of adding Anne's toddler daughter, the future Elizabeth I, to some key scenes. Having the child quietly observe the cruelty around her adds an element of poignance.

Conductor Patrick Summers has an fascinating note in the program about the difficulty of performing Donizetti's music with modern wind instruments, which are louder and more resonant than those available back in 1830. The balance seemed fine to my ears, and the overall sound of the orchestra perfectly supported the singers throughout.

Lyric Opera of Chicago's "Anna Bolena" runs through January 16, 2015, in the company's opulent and comfortable theater in the Chicago Loop. It alternates with "Porgy and Bess" through December 20. For more information, visit the company web site

The food (and drink) of love

(L to R) René Barbera as Nemorino, Tim Mix as Belcore,
and Susannah Biller as Adina
Photo: Ken Howard

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Who: Opera Theatre of St. Louis
What: Donizetti's The Elixir of Love
When: May 31 – June 25, 2014
Where: The Loretto-Hilton Center, Webster Groves

I can sum up the Opera Theatre production of Donizetti's 1832 romantic comedy "The Elixir of Love" in one word: bravi. Or maybe that should be "bravissimi," since every aspect of this funny, endearing, and beautifully sung show deserves heaps of praise.

Based on Eugène Scribe's libretto for Daniel Auber's popular comedy "Le philtre" from 1831, Felice Romani's book for "The Elixir of Love" is the story of Nemorino, a humble peasant smitten with the wealthy and beautiful landowner Adina. She, though, is more taken with the macho Sergeant Belcore. In desperation, Nemorino buys a love potion (actually just some cheap wine) from the traveling quack Dr. Dulcamara. Complications, as they say, ensue. But all ends happily for everyone—including Dr. Dulcamara who, as the curtain descends, is still fleecing the suckers.

René Barbera

Directors tackling theatre pieces remote in time and place from their audiences face a tough choice. Do you retain the original setting and risk having it come across as a museum piece, or do you update it and risk distorting character relationships? It's a major question for opera directors, since the vast majority of the works in the mainstream repertoire are up to four centuries old.

Fortunately, Donizetti and his librettist Felice Romani intended "The Elixir of Love" to be somewhat remote from its original Milan audience from the start, setting it in Basque country late in the previous century. That gave James Robinson and his team, who created this production for Opera Colorado back in 2007, an inspiration: why not move it to small-town America in the early 20th century? In particular, why not set it in a time and place reminiscent of Meredith Willson's classic musical "The Music Man"—a work which, as Mr. Robinson points out in his program notes, "Elixir" somewhat resembles?

The decision makes good dramatic sense. The setting of (as it says in the program) "a small American town in 1914" is remote enough to seem as quaint to a modern audience as Basque country no doubt did to the original Milanese, yet familiar enough to still resonate. Nemorino is now a small businessman—he owns an ice cream truck—instead of a peasant, and Adina, while she wields a lot of influence, is less clearly a member of the landed gentry. Nevertheless, the difference in their status is still obvious enough to drive the story.

Susannah Biller

As Mr. Robinson noted in an article for Boulder's Daily Camera back in 2007, productions of "Elixir" are often driven by great singing (as befits the opera's status as a bel canto classic) but a real sense of character and human relationships is sometimes missing. The great strength of the OTSL cast is that they are not only great singers, they're also solid actors. Their characters are credible and their emotions believable. This is Opera Theatre doing what it does best: real theatre with splendid voices.

When I first saw tenor René Barbera (our Nemorino) three years ago in OTSL's "Daughter of the Regiment," I observed that his voice was clear, powerful, and pretty much seamless throughout the wide range called for in the role. It still is. His little aria of despair, "A furtive tear" ("Una furtiva lagirma") in the second act was such a thing of beauty that shouts of "bravo" followed hard upon it.

Back then, though, I wasn't much taken with his acting ability. This time around I have no such qualms. From the moment he appeared on stage, Mr. Barbera's Nemorino was an instantly appealing mix of passion and vulnerability. He means well, but he's shy and easily bullied. He's sympathetic from the get-go—which he must be if the opera is going to work.

Patrick Carfizzi

Soprano Susannah Biller's Adina is just as perfect. Like Mr. Barbera, she has the kind of powerful, flexible voice required for coloratura roles like this one. When she and Mr. Barbera are in full flight in one of the score's many duets, it's sheer opera heaven. Her acting skills are equally fine. She establishes her character as soon as she appears on stage and remains "in the moment" throughout.

Baritone Tim Mix is the swaggering Sergeant Belcore, the role he played in the 2007 Boulder production. He, too, has a big, accurate voice that easily navigates the rapid patter Donizetti often assigns to his comic villains. His gets the character's absurdly inflated self-regard just right, which makes his eventual comeuppance as satisfying as it should be.

Bass-baritone Patrick Carfizzi has the plum role of the wily Dr. Dulcamara, peddling his patently fake patent medicine from a vintage motorcycle. The role is written for a bass, but Mr. Carfizzi sounded entirely comfortable with the low notes and rattled off the patter songs with ease and accuracy. Dulcamara is a rogue, but essentially a likeable one, and Mr. Carfizzi's performance captured the man perfectly.

Tim Mix

The role of Adina's friend Gianetta isn't a large one, but the character's voice is prominent in the opening crowd scene. Soprano Leela Subramaniam (a Gerdine Young Artist) makes a powerful first impression in that number, with a big voice the soars effortlessly over the top of the chorus. The libretto doesn't give her much to work with in creating a character, but Ms. Subramaniam has found a charmingly coquettish woman in there nevertheless.

The orchestra of (mostly) St. Louis Symphony musicians under Stephen Lord sounded gave Donizetti's music the snap and precision it needs, with some especially impressive playing from the flutes, led by Mark Sparks. This repertoire is familiar territory for Mr. Lord, and he clearly loves it.

Stage direction by Jose Maria Condemi, based on Mr. Robinson's original, is crisp and clean, creating effective stage pictures and moving the large cast on and off the unit set (with its massive bandstand) quickly and easily. That keeps the pace brisk and the action fluid. I think his decision, in the final scene, to remind us of the impending horror of The Great War is somewhat out of keeping with the sunny tone of the opera overall. But that's a minor complaint.

Designer Allen Moyer's set design, based on his Opera Colorado original, colorfully evokes the Americana of Grant Wood and Thomas Hart Benton. And that working ice cream truck is a gem.

Leela Subramaniam and Chorus

Kelley Rourke's English translation of the libretto generally works well, but includes some turns of phrase (particularly for Belcore) that seem a bit too contemporary for the 1914 setting.

Opera Theatre's production of "The Elixir of Love" runs through June 25th in rotating repertory with three other operas. To get the full festival experience, come early and have a picnic supper on the lawn or under the refreshment tent. You can bring your own food or purchase a gourmet supper in advance from Ces and Judy's. Drinks are available on site as well, or you can bring your own. For more information: experienceopera.org.

Love potion number 9

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Disgusted with the way your Facebook friends are cheerfully spreading bogus news items without bothering to fact check them?  Convinced that the Internet is turning us into a nation of credulous chumps who will buy anything?  As Opera Theatre is demonstrating this weekend, P.T. Barnum's observation about a sucker being born every minute is nothing new.

This Saturday, Opera Theatre opens its second production of the season, Gaetano Donizetti's 1832 melodramma giocoso (that's "comic opera" to us Anglophones) "The Elixir of Love."  Based on Eugène Scribe's libretto for Daniel Auber's popular comedy Le philtre  from 1831, Felice Romani's book for "The Elixir of Love" is the story of Nemorino, a humble peasant smitten with the wealthy and beautiful landowner Adina.  She, though, is more taken with the macho Sergeant Belcore.  In desperation, Nemorino buys a love potion (actually just some cheap wine) from the traveling quack Dr. Dulcamara.  Complications, as they say, ensue.

Two and one-half hours and much singing later, all ends happily for everyone—including Dr. Dulcamara who, as the curtain descends, is still fleecing the suckers. 

The opera proved to be a huge hit for Donizetti and is still, according to the Operabase on-line database, one of his most popular works, outpacing even his big tragic hit, "Lucia di Lammermoor."  That's partly because, as the late British opera scholar Julian Budden has written, "Donizetti created a pastoral comedy that fulfills the Romantic ideals of its day" and partly because the story of the gullible rube being taken in by the sharp con artist was as much of a comic gold mine nearly two centuries ago as it is now.

Photo: Ken Howard

Even so, the opera's immediate success was a bit of a surprise.  Donizetti—who had a reputation for being able to crank out operas under a deadline—had to brew his "Elixir" in just over a month in April of 1832 when a previously contracted work for Milan's Teatro all Cannobiana failed to materialize.  "On May 12," writes Francis Rizzo in the OTSL program, "despite inadequate rehearsal and a mediocre cast, The Elixir of Love had a triumphant opening."  Few people were more surprised than the composer.

Donizetti's opera was originally set in a small Basque village at the end of the 18th century—that is, in a somewhat exotic rural setting in the not-too-distant past.  The OTSL production moves the action to "a small American town in 1914," which would seem to be a reasonable parallel for a modern urban audience.  Besides, as director James Robinson points out in his production notes, both the setting and the basic plot elements are not dissimilar from those of a classic American musical theatre piece: Meredith Willson's 1957 hit "The Music Man." 

Classic Americana is the source of the production's visual elements as well.  "The works of Grant Wood and Thomas Hart Benton provided a delightful inspiration" for the look of the production, writes Mr. Robinson, "and quickly our rural Italian landscape became Anytown, U.S.A—on the eve of World War I."

The essentials: "The Elixir of Love" opens on Saturday, May 31, at 8 PM and runs in rotating repertory with the other season opera through June 25th.  For the full festival experience, come early and have a picnic supper on the lawn or under the refreshment tent. You can bring your own food or purchase a gourmet supper in advance from Ces and Judy’s. Drinks are available on site as well, or you can bring your own. For more information: experienceopera.org or 314-961-0644.

Show stoppers

Copyright: Ken Howard, 2011

Who: Opera Theatre of St. Louis
What: The Daughter of the Regiment
Where: The Loretto-Hilton Center
When: May 28 through June 26, 2011

Donizetti’s 1840 romantic opéra-comique romp The Daughter of the Regiment has always been popular with audiences and performers alike, but it’s unusual to see two first-rate professional productions within a year of each other. Union Avenue Opera gave us a delightful Daughter (in the original French) last July, and now we have an equally entertaining English version from Opera Theatre. For those of us who admire this cheerful bit of musical fluff, it has been a pleasant coincidence.

The circumstances that led Donizetti to write a French romantic comedy were, ironically, less than joyous. His wife Virginia died in 1837 and the broken-hearted composer fled Italy for Paris where, as historian Herbert Weinstock notes, “he began a new life”. Originally written as a quick replacement for a delayed opera by another composer, Daughter was initially greeted with indifference by the Parisian public and hostility by Berlioz (then music critic for the Journal des débats). Audiences quickly came around, however, and over the years the title role has become a favorite of high-flying sopranos from Jenny Lind to Joan Sutherland.

The titular daughter, Marie, is a war orphan adopted as a baby by the rather tender-hearted French soldiers of the 21st Regiment. Now a beauty with the voice of an angel and a colorful military vocabulary, she loves and is loved by Tonio, who saved her from toppling off an Alp. Their love is opposed initially by her guardian, Sergeant Sulpice, and the other soldiers (who mistake Tonio for a spy) and then by the snobbish Marquise de Birkenfeld, who is determined to marry Marie off to the son of the pompous Duchess of Crackentorp and who also, in a classic comic opera revelation, turns out to be Marie’s long-lost mother. All ends happily, of course, with plenty of rousing ensembles and solo vocal fireworks along the way.

Although a former Gerdine Young Artist and therefore still in the early stages of her career, soprano Ashley Emerson, as Marie, has an understanding of comic acting (both physical and vocal) and a light, nimble voice that would do credit to a more experienced singer. Petite and energetic, her Marie is perhaps the very embodiment of the adjective “feisty”. She is sometimes overpowered by her male co-stars, but her performance is so completely right that I, at least, am willing to cut her a lot of slack in the volume department. Besides, coloratura and comedy are difficult enough individually; in combination they can be a major challenge.

As Tonio, tenor René Barbera is not, perhaps, the strongest actor on the stage, but there’s no doubt that he’s one of the strongest singers. His voice is clear, powerful, and, as far as I can tell, pretty much seamless throughout the wide range called for in the role. Besides, this is a part that is mostly about singing beautifully and accurately hitting those high Cs in the bravura air “Pour mon âme” – a song reckoned to be one of the most difficult in the repertoire. Mr. Barbera’s performance on opening night brought on a spontaneous ovation and cries of “bravo” that were well deserved.

Baritone Dale Travis completes the strong leading trio in the buffo role of Sulpice. A big actor with an equally large voice, his mere presence on the stage with the diminutive Ms. Emerson can’t help but provoke a smile in the best “Mutt and Jeff” tradition, and his gruff-but-lovable performance is just perfect.

Mezzo Dorothy Byrne is the self-consciously upper-crust Marquise. It’s normally a contralto role and didn’t seem to be the best fit for her voice, but she certainly made the most of her one and only solo. As the Marquise’s snooty servant Hortensius, bass-baritone Jason Eck is appropriately fussy and the two work well together on stage.

Given that director Seán Curran is also a choreographer, you might expect more than the usual amount of scripted movement and dance, and you’d be right. There is even a small corps de ballet which is so neatly integrated with the singing cast that the overall effect is more like a Broadway musical in which everyone sings and dances to some degree. The women of the corps have a particularly funny bit with Ms. Emerson at the opening of the second act as Marie tries (and hilariously fails) to execute classic choreography (think Swan Lake or Les Sylphides with Carol Burnett’s Princess Winifred thrown in).

In his director’s notes, in fact, Mr. Curran acknowledges that his chief source of inspiration for this production is Broadway stage – especially “tomboy” shows such as Annie Get Your Gun, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, and Once Upon a Mattress. There is, as a result, a fair amount of knockabout farce to supplement all the dancing. Personally, I found much of it a bit too broad – with comedy, less is usually more, in my view – but the music and libretto easily support it and the opening night audience seemed to enjoy it immensely.

This production of Daughter of the Regiment incorporates another element of the Broadway stage, at least as it existed in the early 20th century: the show-stopping star turn. The role of the Duchess of Crackentorp is normally a spoken part, which has often, in recent years, been taken by retired or semi-retired singers with high name recognition. Casting noted soprano Sylvia McNair in the role falls right in with that tradition. Giving her an interpolated song and accompanying it with a fair amount of extra gag lines, however, is straight out of 1920s Broadway.

The added song – “A Word On My Ear” by the great British comic songwriters Flanders and Swann – is a hilarious send-up of tin-eared (but LOUD) singers in the Jonathan and Darlene Edwards vein. As with much of the rest of the evening’s comic business, I found it a bit overplayed, but the audience loved it and seemed perfectly content to let the entire show come to a halt while Ms. McNair did her bit.

Down in the pit, St. Louis native John McDaniel – a gent with an impressive Broadway and cabaret resume of his own – leads a polished performance of the score, played with the usual professionalism by musicians from the St. Louis Symphony. Chorus Master R. Robert Ainsley and English Diction Specialist Erie Mills have done their usual fine job of keeping everything crisp and comprehensible.

Set and costume designer James Schuette has given the whole production a bright, comic book look, complete with a whimsical fleur-de-lis–inspired false proscenium and imitation footlights in the shape of drums. Christopher Akerlind’s lighting nicely compliments it all and does a find job of signaling the applause points.

This is, in short, a solid production of a lively and tuneful score by one of the masters of bel canto. If you love comic opera and like your humor broad, you can hardly go wrong with this Daughter of the Regiment. It is, as they say, “family friendly”, and as an introduction to opera for those who might otherwise find the genre intimidating it’s hard to beat.

Performances of Daughter of the Regiment continue at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University campus through June 26th. For more information, visit experienceopera.org or call 314-961-0644.