Opera Review: In the pink with Opera Theatre's "Barber of Seville"

The last time I saw Rossini’s comic masterpiece “The Barber of Seville” at Opera Theatre of St. Louis in 2015 under the capable direction of Michael Shell, I described it as “always funny and sometimes inspired”.

L-R: Justin Austin, Hongni Wu
Photo: Eric Woolsey

This year’s “Barber,” with Eric Sean Fogel at the helm, doesn’t quite rise to that level, mostly because Fogel can’t seem to resist the temptation to gild the comedy lily now and then. But it’s certainly fast, funny, and whimsically silly in a sort of cartoon way. So, as the Bard wrote, “’tis enough, ‘twill serve.”

From a purely musical point of view, this “Barber” had me on its side from the first notes of the famous overture. Conductor Jonathan Brandini found levels of nuance in it that I’d never heard before and which made it seem fresh and new—no small trick with music that is so familiar that Warner Brothers could use it for a Bugs Bunny soundtrack (“The Rabbit of Seville,”1950; it you haven’t seen it, you must) knowing that the audience would get the jokes. Brandini’s perfectly paced conducting of the finale was a delightful demonstration of why Rossini was sometimes called “Signor Crescendo.”

L-R: Nathan Stark, Patrick Carfizzi
Photo: Eric Woolsey

Better yet Fogel, unlike most directors at OTSL, resisted the temptation to fill the stage with distracting pantomime and elected instead just let us sit and enjoy the music.  For that alone I could have given him a laurel wreath.

His cast is splendid. Baritone Justin Austin, a powerfully dramatic Scott Joplin/Remus in last season’s “Treemonisha,” displays a radically different musical and theatrical side to his talent as the wily, cheerfully self-assured Figaro. His Rosina is mezzo Hongni Wu, expertly mixing comedy and coloratura in her OTSL debut.

Tenor Andrew Morstein is a perfect foil for them as the moonstruck Count Almaviva, desperate to woo Rosina before she can be forced into a marriage of inconvenience by her pompous guardian Dr. Bartolo.

L-R: Andrew Morstein, Hongni Wu
Photo: Eric Woolsey

Speaking of whom, bass-baritone Nathan Stark does a wonderful “slow burn” as Bartolo—you can almost see him turning purple and shooting steam out of his ears, like a Chuck Jones animation. He sang Mozart’s Bartolo in OTSL’s  “The Marriage of Figaro” in 2019 with equal authority. He rattles off the those sixteenth- and thirty-second notes in Bartolo's Act I (Rossini's Act II) scene with Rosina with aplomb.

Bass-baritone Patrick Carfizzi, last seen on the OTSL stage as the con artist Dr. Dulcimara in “The Elixir of Love” (2014), is equally at home as the shifty Don Basilio, happy to change sides for the right price. He, too, sounds impressively comfortable with the machine-gun patter, notably in the famous “gossip” song ("l vecchiotto cerca moglie") in which he unfurls a plot to use fake news to undermine Almaviva.

Rounding out this fine ensemble are baritone David Wolfe as Almaviva’s servant Fiorello, soprano Chase Sanders as Bartolo’s ancient governess Berta, and bass Jared Werlein as the Officer whose sunflower-wielding cops try to deal with the chaos at Chez Bartolo at the end of Act I.

L-R: Nathan Stark, Patrick Carfizzi, Hongni Wu
Justin Austin, Andrew Morstein, Chase Sanders
Photo: Eric Woolsey 

The continuing popularity of “The Barber of Seville” is remarkable when you consider that the composer dashed it off in three weeks. He didn’t even have time to write an original overture, choosing instead to recycle one he had used for two previous operas, "Aureliano in Palmira" and "Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra." Which is why none of the engaging tunes in that impeccably played overture appear in the actual opera.

But then, everyone needs a good laugh now and then. Especially now.

Performances of this unapologetically silly “Barber of Seville” are sung in English with English supertitles and run through June 29th at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University campus. Run time is around two hours and thirty minutes including intermission. More information is available at the Opera Theatre web site.

Symphony Review: A potent double debut at the St. Louis Symphony

It was a double debut this past weekend (Saturday and Sunday, November 26 and 27) as both conductor Xian Zhang and pianist George Li made their first appearances with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. We’ve had some impressive debuts at Powell Hall over the years, but it’s unusual to be treated to two of such outstanding quality at once.

[Find out more about the music with my symphony preview.]

With three decades of podium experience behind her Zhang, who is currently in her seventh season as Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony, radiated confidence from the moment she strode on to the stage. She approached the opening work—the overture to the comic opera “L’Italiana in Algeri” (“The Italian Girl in Algiers”) by Rossini—with a cheerful gusto that was the perfect match for this lively and appealing piece. She captured all of Rossini’s high-spirited humor and gave the composer’s trademark crescendos plenty of punch.

Xian Zhang
Photo: B Ealovega

The band was in fine form as usual, playing with pristine clarity. There were also high-caliber solos from Associate Principal Oboe Phil Ross and Associate Principal Flute Andrea Kaplan.

Zhang’s approach to the Rossini overture was emblematic of her overall podium style. She had a strong physical connection with the music that recalled former SLSO Music Director David Robertson. Her movements were economical and fluid, and her cueing was precise and unambiguous. I had the impression that she would be easy to follow. Given her generally brisk tempo choices, that struck me as an essential virtue.

This was a concert that simply bristled with energy and excitement. I’d be happy to see her return to Powell Hall in the future.

I’d  be happy to see Georgi Li return as well, based on the excellence of his performance in the next piece, Rachmaninoff’s 1934 “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini,” Op. 49. This set of 24 variations on the twenty-fourth and last of Niccolò Paganini's "Caprices" for solo violin served as a showpiece for the composer’s formidable keyboard skill during his lifetime and has continued to do the same for pianists ever since.

Li demonstrated an admirable variety of tone and a wide emotional range in the “Rhapsody”—crucial skills in a work that encompasses a wide assortment of moods. From the swooning romanticism of the popular 18th variation to the pointillist exactitude of the first three variations,  to the big power chord pianism of the final five, Li proved to be a master of all he surveyed. In addition, he and Zhang were always in synch, even though there appeared to be little direct interaction between them. It was the sort of thing that makes one wonder if there might actually be something to telepathy.

Next was a perfect encore: Giovanni Sgambati's transcription of the ethereal "Melodie dell'Orfeo," part of the "Dance of the Blessed Spirits" from Gluck's "Orfeo ed Euridice." The melancholy lyricism of the piece was an ideal “palate cleanser”.

The concert concluded with galvanizing interpretations of "The Fountains of Rome" and "The Pines of Rome,” the first two of the three tone poems Ottorino Respighi composed between 1916 and 1928 to celebrate the Eternal City.

George Li
Photo: Simon Fowler

Like so many of Respighi's scores, both “Fountains” and “Pines” are virtual textbooks of orchestration, with elements of Debussy, Ravel, and even Richard Strauss all mixed with Respighi's own unique point of view to produce a rich palette of instrumental color. The shimmering violins and Jelena Dirks's elegant oboe set the scene for “The Fountain of Valle Giulia at Dawn”. Roger Kaza’s horns sang out bright golden light for “The Triton Fountain in the Morning” while the play of the fountain's naiads was brought to sparkling life by Allegra Lilly and Megan Stout's harps.  The brass and percussion sections embodied the majestic “Fountain of Trevi at Midday” and the bucolic atmosphere of “The Villa Medici Fountain at Sunset” was enhanced by the birdsong of flutists Matthew Roitstein and Jennifer Nitchman, along with Ann Choomack on piccolo.

“Pines” brought the evening to a big cinematic finish.  Weaving nature painting with bits of Roman history, “Pines” takes us from noisy children running riot at the Villa Borghese (raucous arguments from the horns and brasses, played with spirit and precision), to a haunting “Pines Near a Catacomb"—solemn, slow themes in the low strings, brasses, and piano—where a mysterious chant begins in the trumpet (a perfect solo by guest artist William Leathers from offstage left), builds in the full orchestra, and then cross-fades to a peaceful moonlight night in “The Pines of the Janiculum.” Peter Henderson’s piano and John Estell’s celesta set the mood along with the woodwinds and, finally, the recorded sound of a nightingale.  

The certified rouser, though, was the final movement, “The Pines of the Appian Way,” in which the Roman army approaches slowly to the ominous tread of the percussion, piano, and contrabassoon. Trumpets, trombones, tuba and even an organ (guest artist Andrew Peters) join in and eventually the audience was literally engulfed in sound as the six offstage brass players (placed house left and right in the dress circle) were added to the mix. To work properly, this final section needs to build gradually and inexorably, with close coordination between the onstage and offstage players. It certainly did Saturday night, garnering thunderous applause.

Next at Powell Hall: If it’s December it must be time for Handel’s “Messiah.” Baroque-era specialist Laurence Cummings leads and appropriately downsized St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Friday at 7:30 pm, Saturday at 8 pm, and Sunday at 3 pm, December 2-4. The Saturday concert will be broadcast live on St. Louis Public Radio and Classic 107.3.

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

Symphony Preview: The beginning of the end

Share on Google+:

"Ich bin das A und das O, der Anfang und das Ende, der Erste und der Letzte" intones the bass Voice of God in Franz Schmidt's oratorio Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln: "I am the A and the O, the beginning and the end, the first and the last."

The reference is to Creation, but it could just as easily describe the theme of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra concerts this weekend (January 20 and 21). Because, as Eddie Silva points out in his notes, this time around it's "a program of beginnings and endings in which we find the weave of time."

Rossini in 1865
By Étienne Carjat - harvardartmuseums.org

The concerts begin with a beginning that is also an ending: the overture to Rossini's 1829 opera Guillaume Tell (William Tell). It was the 39th opera written by the 38-year-old composer, and also his last. Shortly after the opera's premiere, Rossini retired almost completely from composing, living (for the most part) a life of ease and indulging in his dual passions for cooking and eating ("tournedos Rossini" is but one of the many gourmet items that still bear his name). He eventually returned to composing in the final decade of his life with fourteen volumes of chamber music that he called Péchés de vieillesse (Sins of Old Age), but he never returned to the theatrical form in which he created his best-known works.

Guillaume Tell isn't often performed these days, but the overture is surely one of the most famous pieces of classical music in the Western world, and not just because its galloping finale (in the opera it's "The March of the Swiss Soldiers") became the closing theme for The Lone Ranger on radio and TV. Bits of the overture show up in cartoons, in A Clockwork Orange, in a famous Spike Jones parody, and (not coincidentally) in the final work on this weekend's program.

But before that, we have another notable beginning: the Piano Concerto in B-flat major, Op. 19, by Beethoven. It's officially his Piano Concerto No. 2 because it was the second of his five concerti to be published, but it was actually his first essay in the form, preceding the Concerto No. 1 by two years. As such, it marks the beginning of his dual careers as pianist and composer of concerti for his instrument of choice.

The Man Himself

"Both the first and second piano concerti bear Mozart's influence," writes Prof. Iulian Munteanu, "and are considered to be some of Beethoven's more 'classical' compositions." And, in fact, the influence of both composers is easy to detect, with Haydn most prominent, to my ears, in the jolly last movement. Beethoven reportedly didn't think much of this concerto, but it has proved popular with audiences nevertheless.

The soloist will be the young German pianist Till Fellner who, according to his bio in the symphony program, "plays with scrupulous musi-cianship, purity of style, and sparkling key¬board command—qualities that have earned him acclaim throughout Europe, the United States, and Japan." He has also recorded the Beethoven Second for Apex with the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields under Sir Neville Marriner.

 After intermission comes one of the most enigmatic endings in recent musical history, the Symphony No. 15 by Shostakovich. Written while the composer was hospitalized in 1971 (he would die of lung cancer four years later), it's a mordant and cryptic work by a composer noted for his elusiveness. As Tom Service writes at The Guardian:

Every bar of the piece demands a variation on the same simple but utterly profound question: what does it all mean? What is that chirruping little tune at the start of the symphony about? Why does Shostakovich quote from Rossini's William Tell in the first movement, from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde and Ring cycle in its last movement? Why does the whole thing end with a coda that on the surface could be a memory of childish things, but is far more likely a musical transliteration of the hum and clatter of hospital machines, the faceless whirring and bleeping that are the grim accompaniments of disease, decline, and death in medical institutions - sounds that Shostakovich was already familiar with at this stage in his life? And why, as Shostakovich surely knew this would be his last symphony when he was writing it, does the piece scrupulously avoid any trace of the bombast and boisterousness of his earlier symphonies?

Dmitri Shostakovich

In the end, as the symphony fades out with that clicking hospital percussion and a sad little chord on glockenspiel and celesta over a string pedal point, no questions are answered and it's not clear whether the music is grinning or grimacing.

Mr. Service's article is worth reading ahead of time, as are Mr. Silva's notes, but if you really want to prepare yourself for the remarkable and often unsettling experience of this music, your best bet is to watch the video of Valery Gergiev's remarkable 2013 Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra performance at the Salle Pleyel in Paris. Because if words were really adequate to describe this piece, we wouldn't need the music.

The Essentials: Andrey Boreyko conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and piano soloist Till Fellner on Friday at 10:30 a.m. and Saturday at 8 p.m., January 20 and 21 in the overture to Rossini's William Tell, Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2, and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 15. The concerts take place at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand in Grand Center. Visit the SLSO web site for details.

Glimmerglass Festival, 2016, Day 1: A double dip of Rossini

Share on Google+:

So, opera lover, still feel the need for a fix after Opera Theatre of St. Louis closes its four-opera season at the end of June? Consider a trip to The Glimmerglass Festival.

The Busch Opera Theater
Photo: Karli Cadel

Located on the shore of scenic Otsego Lake just fifteen minutes north of Cooperstown in upstate New York, the Glimmerglass Festival starts just as OTSL is finishing at the end of June, with a two-month season of four main stage shows (three operas and a musical) along with numerous concerts, master classes, discussions, and other events related to the four core shows. I made the trip to Glimmerglass along with three other members of the Music Critics Association of North America last month to catch three of the four main stage productions (we didn't get to see their La Bohème) and was impressed with what I saw.

Created around the same time as OTSL (their first season was in 1975), Glimmerglass began with a very similar mission: to present operas in English, featuring young, up-and-coming singers. Over the years their approach has changed slightly in that they now allot one of their four slots to a musical and have gone back to performing operas in their original languages (something OTSL might want to consider), but otherwise St. Louis audiences will find the Glimmerglass experience very familiar, right down to the picnic-style food and outdoor tables.

There are differences, of course. The Glimmerglass season is longer, it offers a wider variety of events, and their purpose-built opera house has better musical acoustics that the Loretto-Hilton Center, along with a bigger orchestra pit. Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the auditorium is that right up to show time, the sides are open to the generally very comfortable mountain air, with massive screens to keep out unwelcome winged guests. As the lights dim, massive metal shutters close off the great outdoors and suddenly it's all about the great indoors.

Lost Luggage
Photo: Karli Cadel

Our three-day Glimmerglass weekend began on Friday, July 29th, with a pair of Rossini operas: his two-act opera semiseria La gazza ladra (The Thieving Magpie) [], written in 1817 and revised several times after that, and his rarely-seen one-act comedy L'occasione fa il ladro, ossia Il cambio della valigia (Opportunity Makes a Thief, or The Exchanged Suitcase). While neither is exactly top-drawer Rossini, they both got splendid productions.

Translated into English and re-titled Lost Luggage, the one-act is a typical bit of fluff about travelers stuck in a train station by a massive storm. There's a pair of romances, stolen identities, comic confusion, and, of course, a double wedding at the end. The music isn't Rossini's best stuff, but it's still unflaggingly tuneful and the updatings to the libretto are very funny.

L to R: Meg Gillentine as the Magpie,
Allegra De Vita as Pippo,
Michele Angelini as Giannetto
Photo: Karli Cadel

Lost Luggage got its one and only performance in The Pavilion, a large barn-like structure in which the audience members were seated at tables and/or folding chairs while the actors performed on a small raised stage. Acoustics, as you might imagine, were not optimal, but the very talented cast drawn from the company's Young Artist program nevertheless had no trouble making themselves understood. Alas, I didn't get a printed program and neither the official Glimmerglass program book nor the web site provides their names, so I'll just say that they all had wonderful voices and impressive acting chops.

The evening's main event, La gazza ladra, also got a thoroughly entertaining production from a cast that included six members of the Young Artist program along with the older performers.

Rachele Gilmore as Ninetta and
Michele Angelini as Giannetto
Photo: Karli Cadel

Based on a popular French sentimental play from 1815, the libretto is the story of a servant, Ninetta, who is falsely accused of stealing silverware actually pilfered by the pet magpie of the title. Circumstantial evidence-some of it wildly improbable-appears to condemn her while frankly incredible plot contrivances involving her father Fernando make it impossible for her to defend herself. The morally repugnant Mayor offers her freedom if she'll submit to his unpleasant advances but she refuses and is about to die on the gallows when her young friend Pippo finds the silverware in the magpie's nest and all ends happily.

Soprano Rachele Gilmore heads the uniformly strong cast as Ninetta, handling Rossini's bel canto fireworks with ease. Tenor Michele Angelini soars as her fiancé Gianetto. South African bass Musa Ngqungwana makes a powerful impression as the villainous Mayor. And dancer/choreographer/singer/actor Meg Gillentine is charming in the non-singing role of the magpie, one of the additions to this new version of the opera prepared expressly for Glimmerglass.

The clash between the opera's comic and dramatic scenes still feels a bit odd but under the direction of Peter Kazaras the fanciful production made a good case for it. Myung Hee Cho's arboreal sets and avian costumes added to the whimsy. For a more complete review, I refer you to my colleague Ken Keaton at Classical Voice North America.

Dr. Batolo on the verge of a nervous breakdown: Opera Theatre's "Barber of Seville"

Jonathan Beyer as Figaro
Photo: Ken Howard

Share on Google+

What: Rossini's The Barber of Seville
Where: Opera Theatre of St. Louis
When: Through June 27, 2015

Stage director Michael Shell, conductor Ryan McAdams, and the cast of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis' "Barber of Seville" can all congratulate themselves on a job well done. Kelley Rourke's translation/adaptation of the original libretto and Mr. Shell's visual concepts take a few liberties as they move the action up to (roughly) the mid-1960s, but I felt that none of them violated the intentions of either the original opera or, for that matter, the Beaumarchais play that started it all. The result it a loopy, slightly surreal, and highly engaging take this comic opera classic.

Emily Fons as Rosina and
Dale Travis as Dr. Bartolo
Photo: Ken Howard

In an email interview with me prior to the opening, Mr. Shell—who originally created this production for Opera Philadelphia last fall—said that he set out to create a "Barber" that was "vibrant, energetic, and very Spanish". He took as his point of departure the animated and colorful films of Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, which, as he writes in his director's notes in the program, "have all the elements of a Rossini opera. Almodóvar is brilliant at walking the line between dramatic comedy and melodramatic absurdity. His films, rich with a vintage feel, are also deeply embedded in Spain and Spanish culture."

The updated bits are always funny and sometimes inspired. When, for example, Almaviva enters Bartolo's house in Act II disguised as a singing teacher so he can flirt with Rosina, he does so with a sitar and Yoga poses. Rosina's music master Don Basiliso becomes a smarmy nightclub singer, complete with a mic and an absurd Salvador Dali mustache. And the officer of the watch and guards who enter at the height of the comic chaos at the end of Act I are nothing short of living Warner Brothers cartoons, with wacky choreography courtesy of the ever-reliable Seán Curran.

And then there's the thunderstorm sequence in Act II that Rossini inserted to imply the passage of time between the scene in which Rosina, Figaro, and Almaviva plot Rosina's escape and the actual escape itself. Usually, the stage is bare. In this case, it's filled with the nightmare Bartolo has after downing one too many drinks from his bar. Dancing roosters figure prominently.

Shoko Kambara's candy-colored sets and Amanda Seymour's gaudy costumes add to the vivid cinematic imagery.

Christopher Tiesi as Almavivia, Emily Fons as
Rosina, and Jonathan Beyer as Figaro
Photo: Ken Howard

So, yes, there's plenty of action in this "Barber." And while some of it is only tangentially connected to the story, it's never allowed to draw attention from the singers and it always serves the comedy well. Even when, as in the Act I finale, there's a lot of movement going on, it's kept mostly upstage, so it's easy to keep the focus on the principals. This is a production that respects the intelligence of its audience and doesn't assume that we need to be constantly distracted in order to be entertained.

With the exception of bass-baritone Dale Travis as Bartolo, this cast is entirely new to Opera Theatre. It's always a pleasure to see some new faces on the stage, especially when they're this good.

Baritone Jonathan Beyer is Figaro, the versatile fixer who can arrange an assignation as easily as he can shave your beard. Mr. Beyer created this role in the Opera Philadelphia production, and he clearly couldn't be more comfortable in it. He's a tall, commanding comic presence on the stage with a versatile voice that's more than up to Rossini's demands. His "Largo al factotum" was gracefully done, and without the excessive ornamentation that some singers are prone to give it.

Christopher Tiesi as Almavivia
Jonathan Beyer as Figaro
Photo: Ken Howard

Christopher Tiesi is the lovelorn Almaviva, with a ringing tenor and a feel for comedy that makes him an ideal foil for Mr. Beyer's Figaro. The fact that he's so much shorter than Figaro also creates some amusing "Mutt and Jeff" images in their scenes together.

Bass-baritone Dale Travis is another big actor with an equally large voice, and it serves him well as the comically pompous Bartolo. He delvers Rossini's rapid patter songs with ease and impressively precise diction. South Korean bass-baritone Jeongcheol Cha rounds out the principal male cast as the wily (if ineffectual) Basilio. His "gossip" aria "La calunnia è un venticello" was a first-act highlight.

Mezzo-soprano Emily Fons is Rosina. The role was originally written for a contralto, but sopranos and mezzos have done well with it over the years, and Ms. Fons sounded entirely comfortable with it, giving us an "Una voce poco fa" in Act I that was both beautifully sung and hilariously in character. Soprano Eliza Johnson only has one short aria ("l vecchiotto cerca moglie" in Act II) as the maid Berta, but she makes it a charming little character bit.

There are fine performances as well from baritone Benjamin Taylor as Almaviva's friend Fiorello, baritone Jonathan McCullough as the increasingly rattled Officer at the end of Act I, tenor Todd Barnhill as the Notary, and tenor Geoffrey Agpalo as the servant Ambrogio.

Christoper Tiesi as Almaviva
Emily Fons as Rosina, and
Jonathan Beyer as Figaro
Photo: Ken Howard

Down in the orchestra pit, conductor Ryan McAdams does well by Rossini's infectious score, beginning with a performance of the overture that was both rousing and nuanced. There were a few moments on opening night when the orchestra and the singers sounded not entirely in synch, but on the whole it all came together splendidly.

The projected English text was a bit spotty on opening night, but given how clearly everyone in this cast enunciates I didn't find that to be an issue. The bottom line is that the things that really matter all work very well in this production, making it a lively and enjoyable opener for OTSL's 40th anniversary season.

The Opera Theatre of St. Louis production of Rossini's "Barber of Seville" continues through June 27 in rotating repertory with three other operas at the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University campus. The opera is sung in English with projected English text. For ticket information: experienceopera.org.

Opera Preview: A conversation with Michael Shell, stage director of Opera Theatre's "Barber of Seville"

Michael Shell
michaelshelldirector.com

Share on Google+

Opera Theatre of St. Louis opens its 2015 festival season with Rossini's popular comic opera "The Barber of Seville" on Saturday, May 23rd. The production, which will run through June 27th, will alternate with three other operas on the main stage of the Loretto-Hilton Center on the Webster University campus.

This will be OTSL's sixth production of the opera. In an email interview, I asked stage director Michael Shell (who directed Mozart's "Cosi fan Tutte" for OTSL back in 2012) what to expect in this latest version of the Rossini classic.

Chuck Lavazzi (CL): When this production made its first appearance with Opera Philadelphia last October, the reviewer for PhillyNow praised its "modernist set design and colorful costumes". How would you describe the look of this new "Barber"?

Michael Shell (MS): I would describe the look of new production as vibrant, energetic and very Spanish. The music is vibrant and energetic/rhythmic. I wanted the look and feel of this production and the way we tell the story to match the vibrant rhythmic quality of the music. This is not Beaumarchais's "Barber of Seville." This is very much a Rossini comedy in the best sense. It walks the line between reality and absurdity and I wanted an environment that could sustain and allow for both. The updating of the piece, using the films of Pedro Almodovar as a jumping off point, helped give us a different way to look at the whole. Not to ignore any aspect of what was there, but allow us to go to a variety of different places.

CL: How does that vision of "Barber" influence the way you direct your singers? Is there a particular acting style you're going for that might be different from a more traditional production?

MS: I always come from a place of what does the character want and how do they get it. That is the most important thing. What changes because of this take on the show, is the how. How they go about achieving their goals becomes just as important as what the goals or objectives are. How does Bertha, for example, who I feel really loves Bartolo, go about getting him to notice her. The Count's disguise as Don Alonso allows the meaning of his words at the top of Act II "Peace and joy and understanding" to go to a different place in order to trick Bartolo.

CL: Yes. Actors can never go wrong asking "what's my objective in this scene?" regardless of whether there's music behind them or not.

MS: Absolutely!! I agree completely. Tends to not be the first thing that opera singers ask, but I am fortunate that this cast was very interested in discussing and working towards that so that we could make interesting choices on how to go about achieving their objectives.

Shell's "Cosi fan Tutte" at OTSL, 2012
experienceopera.org

CL: The notion of what's funny varies among cultures and often changes over time. Directors of Shakespeare's comedies, for example, often find themselves faced with a real challenge in keeping the shows funny for a modern audience when the references for so many of the jokes have been lost over the centuries. Do you find a similar challenge in 18th and 19th century comic operas? How do you deal with it, if so?

MS: In terms of comedies, the good comedic operas by Mozart or Rossini for example, have tapped into something that is universal and still relevant to us today. So while my choice of setting for this production is updated, and it certainly allows us to be somewhat anachronistic at times, the whole point was to tap into that universal humor that is intrinsic in the piece. And perhaps by putting it in a setting that is distant but still closer to our time than the original period, it may be more humorous to some people who might not be enticed by a traditional telling. The new touches that make it perhaps more humorous are only able to work because we have found situations that match the ones in the piece. For example - In discussion the characters with my team, we decided that because Bartolo is so blind to not only the fact that Rosina could never love him, but somewhat oblivious to everything that is going on around him, that he should be an eye doctor. And in our efforts to keep the character of Rosina from being just this bored, sometimes petulant girl, in this production, we thought that Bartolo would make her be his medical assistant / secretary in order to keep an eye on her. So in his aria near the end of Act I, we introduce a patient into the mix while Bartolo is fuming with anger at Rosina. So he is having to deal with this patient and Rosina at the same time. The exam gets out of control as he loses his cool with Rosina.

This is in no way saying that a traditional telling of this piece is equally as funny. But I figured that it might be interesting to explore a new side of this piece to do what you said about keeping it funny for a modern audience.

CL: One last question: OperaBase shows "Barber" as the eighth most performed opera in the world right now and the third most performed comedy, right behind Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro." What do you think is behind that continuing popularity?

MS: To answer your question - I think I can sum that up with one word : JOY. There is so much joy in the spirit of the piece that I think that is why it has stood the test of time. There is joy in the story, in the characters and especially Rossini's music. It is just a lot of fun to be in this world. And what I hope our production has done has created a world, that may be different than the normal one, but a world that the audience wants to be in and be a part of.

---

For ticket information on "The Barber of Seville," the season's other operas, and information on the entire OTSL experience (including picnic suppers on the lawn before the shows): experienceopera.org.

Hellraiser

Augustin Hadelich

Who: The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra conducted by Yan Pascal Tortelier with violinist Augustin Hadelich
What: Music of Rossini, Paganini, and Berlioz
Where: Powell Symphony Hall
When: April 12-14, 2013

Share on Google+

As René Spencer Saller points out in her program notes for these concerts, the legendary violinist/composer Niccolò Paganini was the early 18th century equivalent of a modern rock star, with an extravagant talent and matching lifestyle. He made women faint with ecstasy and cheerfully encouraged rumors that he owed his phenomenal talent to a deal with Satan by dressing all in black and riding to concerts in a black coach drawn by black horses. He was, in short, Mr. Showbiz.

You can hear that flash as well as a fair amount of finesse in his Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major. Op. 6, which he first performed in 1816. Like most of Paganini’s music, it demands a high level of technical skill, especially in the opening and closing movements. The soulful "Adagio", though, could almost pass for an operatic aria and demands real musical sensitivity.

Augustin Hadelich appears to have plenty of both. He negotiated the purely showoff material with ease. But he also made that second movement sing and even, in places, weep. In his notes for a 2011 Kennedy Center performance of the concerto, Peter Laki notes that this movement “supposedly depicts a famous actor of the time delivering one of his most heart-rending speeches.” Others have heard the composer’s own anguish over his poor health. Whatever the cause, it’s emotionally charged stuff, and Mr. Hadelich did it well, beautifully supported by Mr. Tortelier and the orchestra.

Unlike Paganini, Mr. Hadelich does not appear to be drawn to the showy or overtly theatrical in performance. Yes, he was dressed entirely in black, but when he started playing his concentration was entirely on his instrument and the conductor. He’s a serious musician, a fact made all the more apparent is his encore, the "Andante" from Bach’s Violin Sonata No. 2 (BWV 1003). Virtuosity of a different kind is called for here, as the performer must sustain both the rocking base line and fluid melody above it. Done well, as it was Friday morning by Mr. Hadelich, the music presents the illusion that two instruments are playing at once.

If Paganini courted a diabolical image, his friend Hector Berlioz perhaps took it a step farther by actually going to Hell in the final movement of his 1830 Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14. Subtitled “An Episode in the Life of an Artist,” the work tells, in dramatic and musically explicit terms, the story of a “young vibrant musician” who becomes sexually obsessed with an “ideal” woman. He dreams of her in the first movement; unsuccessfully pursues her at a ball in the second; and flees to the country to escape his longing in the third. In the fourth movement “March of the Scaffold” (often performed by itself) he overdoses on opium (the LSD of the early 19th century) and dreams he is being beheaded for her murder. The work ends with the hallucinatory “Dreams of a Witches' Sabbath,” in which the protagonist envisions himself at an infernal dance, presided over by the object of his affection, now transformed into a demon.

The idea for the Symphonie came from Berlioz’s own obsession with the Irish Shakespearean actress Harriet Smithson, whom he wooed for years and finally won after convincing her to attend a performance of the piece. The composer never tried to kill her, but he did threaten to kill himself with an opium overdose if she didn’t marry him—which she did. The marriage did not end well, but that’s another story.

Unlike the marriage, the music lasted, although it was fiercely controversial. Parisians had just gotten used to the idea of Beethoven when along came this wildly dramatic bit of excess scored for a massive orchestra and accompanied by a narrative that was, to say the least, lurid. Younger composers like Liszt and Saint-Saëns loved it but traditionalists like Mendelssohn were appalled. Even today, a good performance is still (to quote another concertgoer Friday morning) a “wild ride.”

Watch Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique on PBS. See more from Keeping Score.

In order for that ride to be enjoyable, of course, you need a conductor who can keep it all under control and make the languorous sighs of the first movement as compelling as the histrionics of the last. Mr. Tortelier did all of that Friday morning, and then some. His interpretation was nuanced without sacrificing any of the composer’s high drama. He clearly knows this music inside out—he conducted without a score—and that level of expertise was apparent in every note.

Mr. Tortelier’s conducting style is fascinating to watch. Working without a baton, he uses his very expressive hands to shape phrases. He seems to be all about economy of movement, holding the big gestures in reserve for when they’re really needed—the volcanic final moments of the Symphonie, for example. There’s subtle shading there that parallels his interpretive approach.

The Berlioz offers plenty of solo opportunities for members of the orchestra, and the symphony musicians did not disappoint. Cally Banham, for example, did full justice to the famous English horn solo in the bucolic “Scène aux Champs,” as did oboist Phil Ross with the offstage echo part. Andrew Cuneo and his fellow bassoonists were wonderfully precise in the fourth movement death march. There was also lovely work here by Scott Andrews and Diana Haskell on clarinet, Andrea Kalpan on flute, and Julie Thornton on flute and piccolo. Praise is also due to Harpists Megan Stout and Claire Happel for their lovely sound in the second movement waltz waltz as well as to the entire percussion section, who get a vigorous workout in the final two movements..

The concert opened with a wonderfully jolly performance of the overture to L’italiana in Algeri by another detractor of the Symphonie fantastique, Gioachino Rossini (“What a good thing it isn’t music”). It’s classic Rossini, with those familiar slow builds in volume and pace that earned him the nickname “Signor Crescendo.” Here, as in the Berlioz, Mr. Tortelier found variety and nuance where I have not heard them in other performances, at least on CD. Mr. Ross’s oboe and Ms. Thornton’s piccolo sounded quite fine in their solo passages.

Next on the calendar: Friday and Saturday, April 19 and 20, at 8 PM, Ward Stare conducts the orchestra and chorus in an intriguing program of two rarely heard Brahms choral works, Johann Strauss Jr.’s Artist’s Life waltz, a suite from Richard Strauss’s Rosenkavalier, and Webern’s entrancing Im Sommerwind. For ticket information: stlsymphony.org.