Opera Score Card:  Pasha Selim 1, Otello 0

By Truman C. Wang
Monday, October 21, 2002

Otello

Opera in four acts by GIUSEPPE VERDI
Libretto by Arrigo Boito
Sung in Italian with English titles

Donald Runnicles, conductor
Emilio Sagi, director
Zack Brown, designer (Washington Opera)

Performance of Saturday, Oct 19, 2002

Die Entführung aus dem Serail

Opera in three acts by MOZART
Libretto by Johann Gottlieb Stephanie
Sung in German with English titles

Peter Schneider, conductor
Stephen Wadsworth, director
Thomas Lynch, designer

Performance of Sunday, Oct 20, 2002

All photos by KEN FRIEDMAN, courtesy of San Francisco Opera

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF –  How do you put on an Otello without an Otello?  The answer is simple – You can’t.  In a house that has heard such illustrious Otello’s as Domingo, Del Monaco, Vinay and, the greatest of them all, Martinelli, last Saturday night’s cast seemed almost sacrilegious. 

Patricia Racette as Desdemona, Act IV

Otello is a role a tenor must live with for years, hoping the voice will retain its flexibility and sheen whilst at the same time acquiring fresh colors with which to meet new demands, new insights.   This is something that eluded tenor Jon Fredric West, who, having sung the role only twice previously, possessed the clarion tone of a great Otello but none of the subtleties.  Soprano Patricia Racette betrayed her inexperience in the role of Desdemona as she struggled with pitch problem and technical demands too great to be concerned with interpretation.  Sergei Leiferkus has sung Iago for over ten years but here, the Machiavellian puppeteer seemed to be operating in a void without a puppet.  Conductor Donald Runnicles will not garner any Verdi awards with his bloodless, dramatically inert pacing of the score.  Raymond Very’s lyrical, happy-go-lucky Cassio was the only memorable thing in this ill-fated Otello.  The production from Washington Opera and stage direction by Emilio Sagi are both conventional and unobtrusive to the drama.  The only ‘drama’ for me occurred during the intermission, when a tuba player in the pit sounded a few bars of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” to celebrate the Giants’ victory over the Angels.  Esultate indeed!

Regina Schörg as Constanze, Paul Groves as Belmonte

If there are few great Verdi singers today, Mozart singers are in abundant supply, as they always have been historically.  The Mozart style emphasizes the young, light, flexible voice that is easier to cultivate than the heavy, vibrato-laden Verdian voice which typically does not reach maturity until age 30.  Moreover, a Mozart opera is easier to stage because it’s ensemble-driven and less dependent upon star power, making it perfect for college and community theaters.   For its revival of Entführung aus dem Serail, last seen in 1990, the San Francisco Opera assembled an attractive young cast that is short on starry names but long on lyrical charms.  Best of all, the three Viennese members in the cast helped bring an idiomatic feel to the opera, which premiered in Vienna’s Burgtheater in 1782. 

Viennese soprano Regina Schörg’s Constanze alternated between tender and fiery passions in her fine rendition of “Marten aller Arten”, sung with fluid coloraturas and dramatic verbal and musical inflections.  Jennifer Welch-Babidge’s soprano sports a quick vibrato that gave Blondchen a rare combination of sauciness and warmth, and she dispatched her lines (in two languages) with delightful insouciance (“I am an English girl talking to a Turk in German!”)  Tenor Paul Groves’ Belmonte displayed elegant vocalism and ample passion in his throbbing-heart aria “Wenn der Freude”.  Michael Eder was a fine but rather lightweight Osmin, whose low G was barely audible.  Tenor Peter Bronder was a lyrical Pedrillo.  Viennese actor Frank Hoffmann delivered Pasha Selim’s dialogues with great flair.  Also sprung from Vienna, conductor Peter Schneider showed deep affection and sensitivity for the music. 

Michael Eder as Osmin, Jennifer Welch-Babidge as Blondchen

The great Act Two finale was a fine example of ensemble playing in the dizzying range of emotions that it conveyed – from the joys of lovers reunited, to jealousy and anger, to the final resolution and forgiveness (anticipating Le Nozze di Figaro) – it was Mozartian ensemble singing at its best.  The pretty, Turkish-flavored mosque and harem sets and imaginative stage direction by Stephen Wadsworth complemented the handsome cast nicely, and sent the audience home grinning from ear to ear

Truman C. Wang is editor of Classical Voice.

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