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SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL
OPERA REVIEW
Stage Director: Martha Collins
Scenic Designer: Jeffery W. Dean
Costume Designer: Howard Tsvi Kaplan
Lighting Designer: Ken Yunker
Wigs and Make-Up Designer: Georgianna Eberhard
Chorus Master: Roger L. Bingaman
Assistant Conductors: Gary Casity, Jamison Livsey
Surtitle Supplier : Words for Music
Surtitle Translator: Victor DeRenzi
Cast
Arvino : Mathew Edwardsen
Pagano: Kevin Short
Viclinda: Lindsay Ohse
Giselda: Abla Lynn Hamza
Oronte : Rafael Dávila
Pirro: Benjamin Gelfand
Acciano: Jeffrey Beruan
Sofia: Sarah Larsen
The Prior of Milan: Heath Huber
The Act II Finale - Picture
© Rod Millington
I Lombardi, Verdi's fourth opera, was first performed at La Scala in 1843. It was quite well received, and became the first of his operas performed in the United States (1846). Why was it so popular? Just look at some of its features:
- Not one but two prayers for the
prima donna
- A thundering cabaletta for the prima donna
- An incredibly beautiful tenor aria sung from heaven
- A blockbuster tenor aria " La mia lètizia infondere"
- A spectacular trio which ends Act III
- A patricide accompanied by a sinister chorus
- A conversion of the tenor from Islam to Christianity by the holy man (a hermit) who had committed the patricide
- A Muslim king surrounded by his singing and dancing harem
- Wonderful choruses culminating in a praise to the Lord that brings down the final curtain
- Stunning sets including
a Moorish palace, the hermit's cave, and a splendid view of
Jerusalem.
Yet, I Lombardi is very
rarely staged these days.
Why?
First and foremost, it is a very difficult opera to produce.
The cast is huge. Not one but two excellent tenors are
required. Inasmuch as most tenors want to be numero uno, it
is not easy to cast Arvino, the second tenor.
Giselda, the prima donna, must possess both lyricism
for her prayers and love duets, then shift into a highly
dramatic prophetic cabaletta. Two additional sopranos-Viclinda
and Sofia- have important arias.
Three basses must be cast. Pagano,
murderer, would be adulterer, hermit , and ultimately
holy man, is written for a
bass who must not only have a wide vocal
range, but the ability to act. The
other two bass roles, Pirro, confidant and turncoat,
and Acciano, king of Antioch, are also
interesting and demanding.
On top of all this, oth large and
small choruses must be deployed and the
multiple sets test the skills of scenic ,costume and
lighting designers.
The second reason for I Lomabardi's
rarity is the strangeness of its
plot. Temistocle Solera concocted the four act
tragedy from an epic poem by Thomasso Grossi (the only time
Verdi used an Italian text as the basis for his operas).
Act I begins on a happy
note. Arvino is chosen to lead the First Crusade
and his brother Pagano has returned supposedly to
reconcile with Arvino. (Pagano had
been banished, because he tried to take Arvino's wife
Viclinda for himself.) But
Pagano has his own ideas
for the future. He plans to kill
his brother and abduct his wife. Unfortunately
within the
plot's darkened chambers he
manages to kill his father
instead. Both Viclinda and her daughter Giselda plead
for Pagano's life and he is banished again.
As Act II opens, the
audience is presented with Acciano the tyrant of Antioch
raving against the Christians and their crusades. His son
Oronte has eyes on a new captive,
none other than Giselda. Sofia,
Oronte's mother and a
secret Christian, encourages her son to convert to
Christianity and woo Giselda. Oronte is more than happy to
do so.
The scene then shifts to a cave
where Pagano is engaged in penitence. Incredible as it may
seem, his former squire Pirro, and his brother Arvino do not
recognize him. Pirro has renounced the Crusaders and joined
the Muslims but Pagano convinces
him to double cross the Muslims and open the gates of
Antioch to Arvino and his followers. Pirro does
this and the Crusaders storm
Antioch. ....
..... Meanwhile in the harem,
Giselda sings her second prayer asking her dead
mother for consolation. Arvino and the Crusaders rush in
but Sofia cries out that Arvino has slain both
Acciano and Oronte. Giselda is aghast and berates Arvino
saying that the Lord doesn't want blood. Arvino is prepared
to kill his daughter for blasphemy, but is restrained.
Act III is set outside Jerusalem. Giselda wanders
around aimlessly and stumbles into Oronte.
Inasmuch as she thought he was dead, she readily agrees to
join him in love, and he says he will convert. Arvino learns
that Pagano is near the Crusader camp and vows to kill him
once and for all. How he might do
this is not clear, because he has already
failed to recognize Pagano in Act II.
The battles between the
Crusaders and Muslims continue.
Oronte is eventually fatally
wounded buy still has enough
strength to participate in a magnificent trio with Pagano
and Giselda. Pagano somehow has acquired
the authority to perform conversions. He baptizes the
dying Oronte who says he will
await Giselda in heaven.
By Act IV,
he Crusaders have run out of water, and all
seems lost. But Giselda has a vision.
In an achingly beautiful aria,
Oronte tells her from heaven
that fresh water will be found. The Crusaders drink
from the pool of Siloam and gain strength to attack the
walls of Jerusalem. Arvino and Giselda lead the charge, but
Pagano is fatally wounded. He seeks forgiveness from his
brother, and, surprise, surprise
his brother embraces him. Pagano asks to see Jerusalem and
the flap of Arvino's great tent is opened
so that he can have his wish. The pilgrims sing the
majestic "Te lo diamo, gran Dio di vittoria"
as Pagano dies
and the curtain falls.
I am happy to report that for the most part Sarasota's I
Lombardi was very satisfying. The star of the production
was Kevin Short as Pagano. His "Sciagurata! Hai tu creduto"
saved what seemed to be a lackluster Act I,
he was excellent in the Act III trio "qual
volutta trascorrere" and superb in the Act IV finale. His
acting made the multifaceted (if unbelievable) character of
Pagano come alive and the
audience rewarded him with
tremendous applause. Short 's career includes performances
at the Metropolitan Opera and seven appearances at Sarasota.
Rafael Dávila sang the lead tenor role of Oronte. He
attacked the famous " La mia lètizia infondere" with great
vigor although there was a bit of a strain in the higher
notes. His duet with Giselda,
"Oh belle, a questa misera"
was beautifully sung. One of my favorite moments in the
opera was his wonderful Act IV "In cielo benedetto" where
clothed in a blue haze he assured Giselda that the Crusaders
would find water and conquer Jerusalem. Dávila is a favorite
at Sarasota who was also
enthusiastically applauded.
Abla Lynn Hamza sang the difficult role of Giselda. In 2008,
2009, and 2010 she was a Studio Artist at Sarasota Opera,
thus I Lombardi represented a major step upwards in
her career. She handled both the lyric and dramatic
requirements of the part well enough,
although I felt she could have demonstrated more emotion in
her two prayer arias. She had no trouble singing above the
choruses in her blood and thunder arias and cabalettas
and also received a warm round of applause.
Mathew Edwardsen sang the secondary tenor role of Arvino
quite nicely but I believe
he could have brought more emotion to the music and his
acting. The others in the
large cast were all fine.
I was particularly impressed with Sarah Larsen as
Sofia, by Benjamin Gelfand's
Pirro, and by Jeffrey Beruan as
the King of Antioch. Beruan's spirited rendition of
Acciano's only aria got Act II off to an excellent start.
Sarasota Opera is known for
its excellent choruses and there were no disappointments in
I Lombardi.
Ken Yunker's lighting was incredible, especially during
Oronte's aria from heaven. Howard Tsvi Kaplan's costumes
were a pleasure as usual, and I wondered if he had seen the
Moorish attire in the Bergamo production of Donizetti's
Sancia di Castiglia. Jeffrey Dean's scene designs were
appropriately spectacular with plenty of banners and other
Crusader paraphernalia. I particularly liked Arvino's
monster tent in Act IV which opened to the view of
Jerusalem. The choruses
moved well, but at times I thought the principals were a bit
wooden.
I am often concerned that
the orchestra plays too loudly in opera
and often drowns out the principals but
this was not the case
with I Lombardi. Indeed, I would have preferred a bit
more volume from the brass and percussion at appropriate
intervals. Act III features a
unique mini violin concerto as a prelude to Oronte's death
scene, and Concertmaster Liang-Ping How dazzled the audience
with his technique.
All in all this was a wonderful
event. Even though Act I was somewhat disappointing, Acts
II, III, and IV were on the mark. The odds of my seeing I
Lombardi staged again remain
poor but fortunately I'll be able
to remember Sarasota's excellent production.
Lew Schneider