Golden Girl

Its California, it’s the Gold Rush. The Cloudy Mountains loom in the background; cowboys on horses pass by on the one street in town or join the miners in drinking, gambling and thinking of home at the Polka Saloon. A trio of miners enter the Polka:

Harry, Joe, Bello: “Hello”, Nick!
Nick: Buono sera ragazzi
Sid and Happy: “Hello”!
Nick: “Hello”!
Joe and Bello: “Dooda, dooda, day”
Harry: Sigari, Nick!
Joe: e whisky!

You could be forgiven for thinking I spent last Friday watching one of Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns without the subtitles but actually it was La fanciulla del west – Puccini’s take on David Belasco’s play The Girl of the Golden West – in a very realistic production by Giancarlo Del Monaco at the Rome Opera. Premièred at the Metropolitan back in 1911 with Caruso (at left with Emmy Destinn and Guiseppe Amato) starring as the bandit-hero – the awkwardly named Dick Johnson – and Toscanini conducting, it never really gained a foothold in the permanent repertoire until the later part of the 20th century.

I have to admit that its not one of my favourite Puccini works so I wasn’t excited when it showed up as part of our subscription for the season. But then they announced that Daniela Dessi and hubby Fabio Armiliato would be starring in the “first” cast and I started praying to the gods of casting. By way of explanation performances are given here on consecutive days and as a result most productions are multi-cast. Specific casts are not announced until a month before the performance, so ya pays ya money and takes ya chances. So far this season we’ve ended up with first cast for the Tosca and the Fanciulla – a big YES to both. I had heard so much about Daniela Dessi from Opera Chic and Flipstinger that I just had to hear her and Fabio.

On the topic of Fabio, let’s get this out of the way first: a YouTube clip of a first night encore of his Ch'ella mi creda libro had the aficionados in certain circles carrying on like a pile o’stepped on rattlesnakes in a sack. I hadn’t seen that much venom spewed since Lucrezia Borgia was plying her trade across the river. Based on what I heard and saw at an entire performance, not just a brief clip, he did just fine. Was he a great Dick Johnson (god they have to do something about that name)vocally? No, but then who has been since Domingo? It was a good performance - of a piece, well thought through and compellingly sung and the Act 3 aria was heartbreaking. And no, he did not get an encore.

If the information on the Internet is correct baritone Silvano Carroli (Sheriff Jack Rance) is almost 70 and sadly in the first act he sounded every year of it. However in the Act 2 Poker scene he and Dessi played off each other vocally and dramatically to make it a tense climax to an act that already been pretty heady in the drama department.

Much of that drama was Dessi, a lyric soprano with astounding powers of communication. She may not have the full vocal power to be the ideal Minnie but she drew a nuanced portrait of a strong frontier woman - mother, teacher and lover. Puccini doesn't give Minnie any great show piece aria but Dessi didn't need one - her saloon keeper with the heart of gold had a golden voice throughout. A lovely little touch - just before she read the Bible to the miners she shyly slipped on a pair of glasses and with them the air of the old maid Minnie could become crept in.

Belasco would have loved Del Monaco's production (on loan from the Los Angeles Opera) - it was filled with realistic detail including a relentlessly falling snow during Act 2. Unfortunately the rescue scene was bungled with most of the action taking place too far upstage right for many of the audience to see. And Minnie did not come galloping in on horseback to save her bandit-lover. Having proven her horseman ship in Act 2 I'm sure that Dessi could have managed it while singing gloriously.

Gianluigi Gelmetti led a well-paced performance - he strikes me as a conductor of the Serfain school - always there to support the singers not necessarily to bring attention to himself. The gentleman of the Rome Opera disported themselves convincingly as cowboys, miners and banditos and even managed a bar room brawl with a fair bit of panache.

Gianluigi Gelmetti and the cast takes their bows last Friday night.

I'm still not a convert to Fanciulla but based on what I saw Friday night I think I'm going to join OC and Flipstinger in becoming a Dessi devotee.

The production photos are from the Los Angeles Opera and are by Robert Millard.

17 aprile - San Giacomo di Campostello

E Avanti a lui tremava tutti Roma!*

*And before him all Rome trembled! - Tosca over the dead body of Scarpia

Well all Rome wasn't exactly trembling a week ago Sunday past (January 20th)but the Teatro dell'Opera had to be moving a bit with all the clapping, stomping and carrying on during the curtain calls at the end of Tosca - why even the orchestra stayed behind to join in the ovation. And when a frail looking Franco Zeffirelli came out, leaning heavily on conductor Gianluigi Gelmetti, the foundations had to have given a few shakes.

So was it really all that great an evening? Well yes... and no. Let's just say it was an evening of marvelous inconsistencies. As I mentioned before as a designer Zeffirelli is a traditionalist - if the libretto says Act I - Church of Sant'Andrea delle Valle that's what we get.

Teatro dell'Opera di Roma - Tosca
Set Design by Franco Zeffirelli Act 1 - Church of Sant'Andrea delle Valle

And as a director he is remarkably faithful to the libretto, if Puccini writes music for a Te Deum and Illica and Giacosa want a procession then we get a procession to end all processions - Swiss Guards, Confraturnities, Priests, Cardinals et al.

Teatro dell'Opera di Roma - Tosca
Act 1 - Te Deum finale

There were the Zeffirelli trademarks - extras wandering through the Church, children, a stripped to the waist muscle fuck in the last act,an elevator scenery change, naturalistic action mixed with outright operatic playing to the audience. It may not have all been logical but after some of the Regie nonsense seen here over the past few months - pax the dreadful Neapolitanized Merry Widow and the Smurf-infested Mose in Egitto- it was good to see a director who'd read the libretto and listened to the music.

As for the music making Gelmetti led a taut performance that burned with a sense of drama until "E lucevan le stelle" in Act 3 when all drama left the stage, but more about that later. Though its was a Sunday matinee we had the first cast from opening night: Martina Serafin, Marcelo Alvarez and Renato Bruson. The veteran baritone Bruson, 71 years old according to Wikipedia, was sounding a little thread-bare and now lacks the dark tones to create a really terrifying Scarpia. And if dramatically his Scarpia seemed an imitation of Tito Gobbi's, it should be best remembered that most of Zeffirelli's direction for Act 2 derives from the Callas-Gobbi 1964 production.

Reports of Serafin's Strauss (Johann Jr and Richard) and Wagner had not prepared me for the Latin-intensity of her performance. She was a many-coloured Tosca - almost child-like in her love-play with Cavaradossi in Act 1, very much the grand singer use to theatre in her over-reaction to the painting and truly frightening and frightened in her Act 2 scenes with Bruson. Her Vissi d'arte was a bewildered cry from the heart not just a big soprano aria. Marceo Alvarez, her Cavaradossi, is a big handsome bear of a man with a thrilling voice if no great ability as an actor. He handled the first act by-play with Serafin in a charming way - one could almost believe he would have hustled her into the Angelotti chapel for a quickie if it hadn't been occupied. His Vittoria! Vittoria! was thrilling without being show-stopping because it turns out he was saving the big guns for that Act 3 aria.

And stop the show he did. Now I must admit the aria was beautifully sung but the audience reaction seemed a bit over the top. Cries of bravo, a prolongued ovation and calls of bis (encore) rained down upon the kneeling figure of the about-to-die Cavaradossi - at which point he looked up with a big smile, acknowledged the ovation and turned to conductor Gelmetti with palms outstretched and a little-boy look of pleading on his face. He mimed "not for me maestro but for them," Gelmetti shrugged, Alvarez (forgetting he was playing Mario Cavaradossi) ran off-stage to ... okay it with Zeffirelli or stage management? get a drink of water? blow his nose?... who knows. But he returned all smiles and nodding threw himself into position and did it all over again. After that point Serafin, the excellent Spoletto (Claudio Barbieri) and the crackshot firing squad could do little to revive the dramatic tension - though the chase and leap from the parapet did have a certain excitement.

But at that point the real drama was being reserved for the curtain calls.

Just in case you'd like to see/hear what the carry on was all about Teatro dell'Opera has posted an edited video of the first night encore here. And my friend Parsi has a complete audio here.

(All photos are courtesy of Teatro dell'Opera di Roma)

30 gennaio - Santa Giacinta