SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL OPERA REVIEW
 

Mascagni, Cavalleria Rusticana / Leoncavallo, I Pagliacci: Soloists, Hamburg State Opera Orchestra and Chorus,Simone Young, conductor, 9.7.2010 (BM)

 

Even if you’re not exactly an opera buff, this is a production which just might catch your fancy. Staging those terrible twins Cavalleria and Pagliacci can be a tall order, in that there are so many other past performances to compare them to and the danger of ending up with a tired double bill is very real. The fact that this version has been selling out since 1988 is a tribute to its enduring appeal, most likely a result of director Gian-Carlo del Monaco’s decision to focus on conveying the italianità of both tales, with a little help from Michael Scott’s stay-at-home sets and costumes, thus allowing the audience to engage in a bit of risk-free, alternative voyeurism.

Of course it’s no longer politically correct to wish death on a person you are jealous of, but it’s OK to watch those quaint Sicilians with their old-fashioned customs take revenge on each other! It’s almost as gratifying as seeing Robert De Niro whip out a gun (in Tarantino’s Jackie Brown) and shoot Bridget Fonda because she’s been talking too much. Or, if I may indulge in just one more reference to the cinema, Americans might refer to their marital relations by remarking that It’s Complicated – the title of Meryl Streep’s new film -  to which our mule-driver Alfio in Cavalleria would no doubt reply that it certainly is not… However, the good news is that turn of the century Sicily has nothing to do with us  of course, so we needn’t feel guilty about those ‘exquisite, sterile emotions’ that vendetta evokes in us – or ‘purpose-free thrills’, as reads the marvelous German translation of this Oscar Wilde quote in the program notes (which contain a great deal of interesting reading – provided you can read German, that is. ) Granted, there is far too much inertia in parts of the Cavalleria production by comparison to Pagliacci, notably ruining the duet scene between Santuzza and Turiddu, which has the pair standing still and thundering away practically the entire time (if at least they were shouting at each other and not the audience, it would make more sense), but overall this does not detract too much from the beauty of ensemble scenes such as the Easter chorus (chorus master: Florian Csizmadia).

Having said all of this, let us not forget that the bulk of the credit for enduring appeal must go to the composers of these two succinct operas. Who ever said that ‘serious’ music can’t make you want to sing along? So many of the melodies in both achieved pop status in Italy – and beyond – during the composers’ lifetimes that memorabilia such as postcards featuring a picture of Mascagni and the opening bars of ‘Lola’s Song’ were on sale in Germany, for instance. Even as severe an authority as Adorno referred to the music as that of a semi -- dilettante – presumably a compliment coming from him – its intensity engendered by its association with imminent death. Indeed, Santuzza knows perfectly well (as does Tonio in Pagliacci) that betraying the object of her desire is tantamount to a death sentence, hence the sheer force of the intermezzo scene, which shows her prostrate in front of the village church – the intermezzo’s melody being the most famous of all from this opera, its nuances brought out sensitively by Simone Young, despite what might strike one as a somewhat larger-than-life conducting style on the prompting screens. Not surprisingly for a pronounced Wagnerian, she was even more in her element during Pagliacci, for which Leoncavallo drew on the art of his German idol (e.g. with respect to the orchestration of Nedda’s balatella and the parallels between the love duet and Tristan and Isolde), so that clearly this music is right up Ms Young's alley.

As to the singers, Johan Botha’s tenor certainly is voluminous and rings true in the high register. Due to his considerable girth though, he was alas much less physically suited to the role of Turiddu than that of Canio. Violetta Urmana as Santuzza was at her best, producing beautiful phrases in one of her signature roles (watch out for Waltraud Meier in this part next season!) and of the many understudies called upon for this performance, Marco Vratogna stood out as a particularly fortunate choice as Alfio, his compelling baritone and stage presence all but stealing the show, a feat he topped off by delivering a striking Tonio to boot.

The other contender for star of the evening would have to be the lovely Alexia Voulgaridou as Nedda with her light but velvety soprano, which has become just a tiny bit more dramatic but never shrill. She made a name for herself in Hamburg as Blanche in the production of Les Dialogues des Carmélites which literally brought the house down up until last season (and has just been released on DVD), and the city now has a new production of Gounod’s Faust to look forward to next year in which she will sing Marguerite alongside Ukrainian bass Alexander Tsymbalyuk as Méphistophélès – another young rising star who is not to be missed.

Interestingly enough, Hamburg audiences bear no resemblance to the stereotype of the reserved Northern German, rising to the occasion of this evening of Italian opera with enthusiastic applause following almost every single number, although by all accounts they are just as capable of boos and catcalls as the loggionisti at La Scala in Milan when the singers fail to please, the recent premiere of Aida being a case in point.

So there you have it. It’s not complicated, and diamonds are still a girl’s best friend, judging by the glossy ad for ostentatious rings on the back of the program – similar to Alfio’s wedding gifts to Lola? Thank heavens at least some things have changed since the beginning of the past century, because others certainly haven’t.

Bettina Mara

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