SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Cast:

Ariodante—Susan Graham
Ginevra—Ruth Ann Swenson
Polinesso—Sonia Prina
Dalinda—Veronica Cangemi
Lurcanio—Richard Croft
Odoardo—Andrew Bidlack
The King of Scotland—Eric Owens
Polinesso's Squire—Anders Froehlich

Production:

Conductor—Patrick Summers
Director—John Copley
Choreographer—Kenneth von Heidecke
Set Designer—John Conklin
Costume Designer—Michael Stennett
Lighting Designer—Duane Schuler
Chorus Director—Ian Robertson


A sensational cast delivered one terrific vocal turn after another, which is exactly what all those da capo arias need in a Handel opera that runs more than 3 1/2 hours. In San Francisco's War Memorial Opera House, Handel's Ariodante flew past, thanks in part to Patrick Summers' brisk conducting, but mostly due to the vocal splendors of Susan Graham, in the title role, Ruth Ann Swenson, as Ariodante's intended, Ginevra, and, in her U.S. opera debut, Sonia Prina, as Ariodante's scheming rival, Polinesso.

The tale of deceit and, at least in this production, how easily men can think the worst of their women, isn't strong enough to carry the evening. But John Copley's directing, or perhaps believable acting by Graham and Prina, had a curious effect. As applause-worth as the singing was, at the end of most arias I actually found myself wanting to see what happens in the next scene rather than stopping to clap.

Graham's performance was simply staggering. First of all, the tall mezzo-soprano looks like a prince in her lavish costumes, carries herself like a youthful nobleman, and sings with tremendous power and laser-like accuracy. Most impressively, she puts all these forces as much in service of character as the music. In her big Act II lament, after witnessing what she thinks is Ginevra's infidelity, she sings the final repeat not just on her back but curled in a partial fetal position, losing nothing vocally in the process. If anything, the sound rang out even more clearly.

She seemed to gather steam as the evening wore on, like a soccer player wearing down the defense to get one open shot after another. Her Act III curtain raiser, "Cieca notte," was a glorious stream of sound, and the climactic aria, "Dopo notte," another tour-de-force of acting and singing. When her voice and Ruth Ann Swenson's finally mingled in a duet after their reuniting in Act III, the sound of the moving thirds and sixths was nothing short of ravishing.

Swenson, who excels in Handel roles such as Semele and Cleopatra, shows more heft in her lyric soprano voice these days but loses nothing in the pinpoint coloratura and naturalistic-sounding trills that have always characterized her singing. Having sung sparingly in the past couple of years as she battled breast cancer, the voice has a youthful freshness and purity. Her high points included the two Act II laments, "Mi palpita il cuore" and the curtain aria, "Il mio crudel." The gorgeous sound in the middle range, always her strong point, poured out like liquid gold.

Swenson's sincere acting paled, however, next to the nuanced performances of both Graham and Prina, who showed herself able to create character with her voice alone. The contralto Ewa Podles was meant to sing the low-voiced role of Polinesso, but withdrew because of illness. Prina doesn't have Podles' rich sound, but she made up for it with some extraordinary coloratura singing. I can't imagine anyone nailing the incessant rapid-fire triplets of "Spero per voi," her big Act II aria, with more precision. She just tossed them off en route to a thrilling performance of the aria.

The rest of the cast featured good work by tenor Richard Croft as Lurcanio, Ariodante's brother, and Veronica Cangemi as Dalinda, Ginevra's lady in waiting. Both have lovely lyric voices, and if they lacked the the three stars' power or sheet beauty, they executed their music with impressive skill. The one weak point was Eric Owens as The King of Scotland, whose vocal production sounded strained and coloratura labored uncomfortably.

Summers, playing harpsichord on some of the recitatives, conducted the modern instruments with plenty of verve and flair. The overture set the tone, with rhythmic spring and excellent transparency in the sound. The music never lagged, and time after time there seemed to be just enough variation from one repeat to the next to keep the arias lively.

John Copley, who has staged the majority of Handel operas at San Francisco over the years, mined as much naturalness as the rather stuffy story could deliver. In John Conklin's sets, designed for Dallas Opera, several large rectangular walls, painted as dark marble and topped by crown molding, moved around to create the various spaces, and a framed area at the back changed with each scene as well. Michael Stennett's costumes were lavish.

(Clips from the dress rehearsal can be seen and heard on San Francisco Opera's website, sfopera.com. Click on Ariodante and then the video link.)

Harvey Steiman