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OPERA REVIEW August 24, 2002
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By George Thomson
We are fortunate in the Bay Area to be able to enjoy opera on both the grandest and
most modest scale. Big or small, the same things matter: vivid, communicative
singing and acting, effective movement and design, as well as expressive musical
accompaniment and direction. Sometimes the most elaborate, artsy Europroduction can
leave the audience cold, and the tiny company in a little theater can make magic
with next to nothing. Last Saturday's performance of Donizetti's Don Pasquale at
Petaluma's Cinnabar Theater — the last of a run of seven — delighted a
sold-out house by getting the things that matter right.
The work was performed in the English version of Donald Pippin. It is good to see
Pippin's "versions" (he himself eschews the word "translations") making a name for
themselves in the wider world, and it's easy to understand why. For all their
cleverness of rhyme ("scruple" with "loophole"!) they preserve an essential clarity
and directness without the visual distraction of supertitles or the decoding of
excess poetic artifice. When sung well, they wire the listener right into the
action.
Not that Don Pasquale is overburdened with action, of course. Its delightfully slender plot concerns an elderly bachelor's vain desire to marry, his machinations against his young nephew, and the exquisite comeuppance he receives at the hands of the bride from Hell. Cinnabar veteran Stan Case played the pompous Pasquale, using his mellifluous bass and crisp diction to instill his character with the right combination of bluster and utter helplessness. His nemesis, the saucy Norina, was sung with agility and verve by Kimarie Torre. Torre, a soprano with a broad comic gift, had voice to spare for the small theater, sometimes letting loose to thrilling effect. Occasionally her pitch wavered in the high register, but her kinetic stage presence trumped such moments. In one farcical instant she transformed herself from shy convent-dweller to riding-crop-bearing dominatrix, carrying off both personae with equal aplomb. As her true love-interest Ernesto, tenor Andrew Truett negotiated Donizetti's notoriously treacherous high tenor writing with appealing sweetness and without strain. Their lyrical moments together were graceful and provided a needed respite from all the bouts of physical comedy. Rounding out the cast was tenor Michael Fontaine as the somewhat preposterous Dr. Malatesta, whose scheming puts the sputtering engine of a plot into motion. Fontaine's bio was perhaps overly modest about his singing, emphasizing his experience as an actor. Nonetheless his tenor voice is clear and confident, his diction excellent, and his stage presence engaging in his unbearably green-and-blue costume. Only an occasional Sondheimesque diphthong intruded. The modest but appealing design by John Connole made good use of the theater's tiny stage; the use of shadowplay behind scrim to accompany numerous scenes was a clever conceit if not always technically successful — too often we saw too much through the scrim. Fred Curchack's stage direction was witty and purposeful, and the costumes by Geri Beam were very attractive. One cavil, though — there was often a jarring disparity between historic period garb and some very up-to-date hair. The small chorus, doubling as stage crew and shadow players, was spirited and acted vividly. Driving it all was the crisp musical direction of Nina Shuman at the piano, accompanied by a small orchestra of single winds and a few strings. The combination worked well; the wind solos in particular were eloquent, while the string section might have benefited from just a bit more courage. Given the geography of the stage, with the band off to stage left, the ensemble between singers and orchestra was remarkably true, save for the odd moment, and the balance excellent. The rhythmic decisiveness of Shuman's playing held all sides together. One audience member, on exiting, very correctly caught the spirit of the evening; to her companion she said: "This is opera. I like it!"
(George Thomson is a conductor, violinist and violist, Director of the Music
Conservatory, San Domenico School, living in San Rafael.)
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