The Canadian Opera Company dispels Toronto’s winter blues with a
delicious production of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. There may
have been the odd, minor glitch but this was a highly enjoyable and splendid
production.
The opera has a vocal, musical and comic momentum that can be built on
with sufficient changes of pace that can take and keep the audience entertained
in the wonderful world of Seville of no particular era. There we find Dr.
Bartolo, an old fool who wants to marry his lovely ward Rosina for her money
and much more. There is Almaviva, a handsome count who is stricken by Rosina’s
beauty and has fallen hopelessly in love with her. There is Basilio, a foolish
and corrupt singing teacher and, of course, the incomparable, versatile,
ever-inventive town barber and factotum Figaro.
Emily D’Angelo as
Rosina, Joel Allison as Fiorello, Santiago Ballerini as Count Almaviva
and Vito
Priante as Figaro in of The Barber of Seville, 2020. Photo: Michael Cooper
Rossini provides some incredible music, arias and ensemble pieces
integrated with comic scenes nonpareil. All you need is the musicians and cast
to deliver. Let’s start with the highly alluring Rosina in the hands and vocal
chords of mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo. A Toronto girl! We get to know her (and
love her) when she introduces herself in her cavatina “Una voce poco fa.” With
energy, panache and sumptuous singing D’Angelo’s Rosina tells us that she is in
love with Lindoro and swears that she will have him. She has a thousand tricks
up her sleeve and she will not be trifled with by nobody, no how. And the music
lesson where she and Lindoro practice an aria is a scrumptious love scene. Clear?
Lindoro is the Count Almaviva in disguise and Argentinian tenor Santiago
Ballerini better be good to deserve a woman like Rosina. Ballerini rises to the
occasion with a mellifluous midrange and well achieved high notes. At the
beginning, we had a few worrisome moments when we thought we may not be able to
hear him (we have to hear you even if you are singing pianissimo) but that concern
was dissipated quickly and he turned in a fine performance.
The ardent lovers have opposition to overcome but they also have a
powerful ally and the most famous facilitator in opera, Figaro. Italian
baritone Vito Priante as Figaro gets one of the most famous entrances with his
“Largo al factotum,” a tongue twister of a cavatina that reflects the master
schemer. He is far more than a mere factotum. Priante displays comic talent,
vocal versatility and gives a superb performance.
Doctor Bartolo is the old geezer who wants the young beauty. He is a
comic figure who brings the laughs and has some sonorous singing to do. Italian
baritone Renato Girolami does both in a hugely creditable performance. He sang
the role in the 2015 production of The Barber of which this is a
revival.
His not-too-reliable partner is Basilio done exceptionally well by
American bass-baritone Brandon Cedel. He is a reprehensible chap, a master
slanderer and a treacherous friend and Cedel sings the role with vocal resonance
and agility.
Canadian mezzo-soprano Simona Genga kicks butt in her performance as
Rosina’s old maid servant Berta. It’s a small role but she has the beautiful
aria that parodies love as a crazy mania in “Il vecchiotto cerca moglie” (The old
man seeks a wife). She did a wonderful job and the audience loved her.
The chorus was impressive
and the COC Orchestra equally good. The conductor is Speranza Scappucci, a woman. Regretfully and shamefully, we
are a long way from not noticing the gender of the conductor but at least there
is some progress.
Santiago Ballerini as
Count Almaviva (right) in The Barber
of Seville, 2020.
Photo: Michael Cooper
The production
is directed by Joan Font with set and costumes by Joan Guillén. The directing
was excellent for the reasons stated above. But what was the woman sitting on
the right side of the stage during the opening scene doing? She never really
leaves the stage and she goes from a minor annoyance to being ignored but Font
no doubt had something in mind when she put her on,
The costumes were
mostly appropriate if not time sensitive. The military uniforms did the job,
Rosina wore a nice white dress and the rest were of little concern. But what
were those growths on the top of the heads of some of the servants? Are they
tufts of hair or Italian sausages?
The set at the
beginning shows a vaguely black background and a structure on one side. Change
of lighting turns it into Rosina’s residence. Once we are inside her house, the
music and singing carry us through and the set becomes of secondary interest.
The gripes are
minor compared to the thoroughly enjoyable production that got a well-deserved standing
ovation.
_________
The Barber of Seville by Giacomo Rossini with libretto by Cesare
Sterbini is being performed eight times between January 19 and February 7, 2020
at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145
Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario. Tel: 416-363-6671. www.coc.ca
James Karas is the Senior Editor - Culture of The Greek Press
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