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OPERA REVIEW
The Italian Girl Joins The Circus
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By Janos Gereben
I cannot prove this, but feel comfortable
with the assertion that Saturday's Merola performance was the first time in the 186 years since its premiere that Rossini's The Italian Girl in
Algiers featured--in one evening--a prancing pasha, a
rubber chicken, a snake in a basket, the chorus doing the
wave, falling down, falling down some more, parmesan and
ground pepper on spaghetti, the heroine literally wrapping
herself in the Italian flag, and the chorus falling down.
Director David Edwards doesn't trust Rossini's ability to hold audience interest. Even when somebody is singing somewhere else on the stage, Edwards has everybody else doing cartwheels, his amusing three-ring circus undermining the music. This busy, busy man usually hangs
his hat at Covent Garden where coat hangers were in
short supply for the past two years.
Now for the good news: another English chap, William Lacey, exhibited all the restraint, discipline, and respect for the work that was missing in the delightfully funny, if destructive, stage direction. Lacey conducted the San Francisco Opera orchestra almost to perfection, the musicians playing
beautifully, principal clarinetist Phil Fath among
the stand-outs.
This Italian Girl in the College of Marin Theater had another newsy thing about it: in the 45-year history of the SFO Merola Program, this was the first "indoor" production. Participants in the training-apprentice
program invariably perform in Stern Grove and Villa Montalvo. This time, the Marin appearance was in addition to the Stern Grove production, scheduled for next Sunday and also in English, using David Parry's translation.
Edwards may "diss" the singers with his rubber-chicken tricks, but when you hear them, you will not. The Merola Class of '99 is a remarkable
group with young singers you will hear from and about for many years to come.
Bruce Sledge, a powerful lyric tenor with great projection, good diction, and A voice that cuts through the orchestra, sang some amazing passages in the
role of Lindoro. From Southern California, Sledge is very young, both in years and in experience. He may well become a major tenor. In the title role, Allyson McHardy offered a strong soprano, confident stage presence, and, with some exceptions, accurate singing. The Ottawa native has been singing with
the Canadian Opera Company.
Philip Horst carried out most of the director's physical comedy brilliantly. With Lawrence Pech's movement direction, Horst's Mustafa was a combination of one-man track-and-field competition and Groucho dancing the tango all night long. Coming from Michigan by way of the Cincinnati Conservatory, this bass also sings... very, very well, and that's amazing, considering
the physical demands made on him.
Suzanne Ramo, from Washington State via UT-Austin, has recently been heard in San Francisco's Ring cycle. Her Elvira was hearty in singing and appearance. Baritone Vladimir Shvets, from the Ukraine, and recently with
the Peabody Conservatory, sang Taddeo. Brooklyn native and
Oberlin Conservatory graduate Oren Gradus was Haly.
In the small role of Zulma, Diane Rae Schoff, another UT-Austin grad,
made a big impression. She and Gradus were the victims of Edwards' worst transgression, a pointless borscht-circuit routine without any apparent
connection to the opera.
As customary in Merola, all program participants take part in the production, if not in a role, then singing in the chorus. This was an Italian Girl with a chorus of soloists, that was terrific in every way, even as they kept falling down, including: baritone Brad Alexander, tenor Brian Anderson, baritone Kevin Burdette, bass Judd Ernster, bass Kyu Won Han, bass Ricardo Herrera, tenor John Tessie, among others. But they will all be up again when "The Italian Girl Joins The Circus" is repeated Sunday at 2 p.m. in Stern Grove.
(Janos Gereben is arts editor of the Oakland (CA) Post Newspaper Group.)
©1999 Janos Gereben, all rights reserved
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