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Lucas (Singer), Mathurin (Downen), Cléon in disguise (Boley), Colette in disguise (Hoyes) Photo by Tina Buckman, courtesy LOTNY |
The show is double cast, and of the singers in Saturday's performance, there wasn't much to complain about. Even allowing for the typical first-performance-as-final-rehearsal phenomenon, much of it was quite delightful. I especially liked the pair of drunkards around whom the story centers--Mathurin, the young girl's uncle, played by tenor Brian Downen; and his friend Lucas, who also wants to marry the girl, played by baritone Matthew Singer. Both young men inhabited their roles with gusto and great energy, and sang beautifully. Mr. Downen especially had some delightful comic moments, and I liked him vocally very much. (He has some lovely clips at his web site that show more what he can do than this score did.) I first saw Mr. Singer in Opera Omnia's Giasone, and I was further charmed by his fine singing and acting Saturday night. Of all the roles, his seemed to suit his voice the best. And a great accolade for both--I understood every word they sang.
The problem? Every word they sang. My biggest complaint about this production was the English libretto by Mr. Schneidman and Ms. Mestrovic. It lacked poetry and subtlety. With a musical structure so square, one expected actual rhymes in the arias. Much worse, the English lines were very awkwardly set to the existing vocal lines. The effect was jarring and very much hindered my enjoyment of the show.
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Mathurin (Downen) , Mathurine (Tonna) Photo by Tina Buckman, courtesy LOTNY |
Richard Owen led a small ensemble--a string quartet with oboe--through the score from the harpsichord, and the ensemble gained in steam and became quite good. Although at the beginning there seemed to be some timing issues with musical introductions and some nervous acting, for the most part I found the direction by Philip Schneidman adequate, although I was left with some unanswered questions--mostly about some of the the chandelier business. Set design was quite clever, using perhaps a third of the stage as orchestra space, with floor and walls completely black, while the remainder of the stage was a simple period drawing room set. The costumes were quite nice but seemed to suggest late 19th century. One wondered why.
Although I have quibbles, as an informed opera goer does about any show, I don't want to suggest I didn't enjoy the show. My companion for the evening, and indeed for many operas I see, was quite charmed by the entire show. To me that says more than any amount of raving or nit-picking I could do.
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