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OPERA REVIEW
June 14, 2005
Photos by Larry Merkle
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By James Keolker
The booklet for the current San Francisco Opera production of Bizet's The Pearl Fishers, features a 100th birthday tribute to the late Kurt Herbert Adler, the most important General Director in the history of the Company. Mr. Adler would have been even more pleased had he witnessed what was taking place onstage: a cast of exuberant young singers, a spirited new conductor, and a bright, colorful production of an infrequently seen opera. It seemed a fitting return to his long-absent legacy.
Les p'cheurs de perles is a soufflé of an opera, more entertainment than challenge. It is essentially the story of a Hindu priestess in ancient Ceylon who compromises her vows of chastity by falling in love; and, thanks to her long-ago kindness to a stranger, she and her condemned lover are set free. But that stranger is now the Chief of the pearl fishers, is jealously in love with the priestess as well, and is the sworn best-friend to the fellow she loves. Bizet was only twenty-five when he wrote his opera, yet talented enough to enrich his score with exotic effects and one of the most enduring melodies in the history of the lyric theatre, the tenor-baritone duet, “Au fond du temple saint,” (At the back of the holy temple), when the two men first see that same priestess.
It was evident from the tenor's entrance, however, that this would be no contest. Young, dashing Charles Castronovo was cast as the forbidden lover, Nadir, and he immediately took the spotlight and won the audience's favor. Castronovo has all the attributes of a romantic tenor: theatrical good looks, musically passionate, a honeyed voice. He is also a suave performer, knowing how to spin a lyrical line, suspending the French vowels, teasing the rubato, commanding his audience to listen. His romance, “Je crois entendre encore” (I discovered and followed her again), was beautifully phrased, with its delicate, undulating accompaniment. Castronovo is a physical singer as well, lithely leaping, standing in authoritative stance, actively relating to those around him.
William Dazeley (Zurga) He was nicely paired with soprano Norah Amsellem, singing the much-sought-after priestess, Leïla. French-born Amsellem also knows the subtlety of her language, using it effectively to float Bizet's more airy traceries. She was effective with her beautifully elongated trills and suspended diminuendos, and her langorous, “Comme autrefois, dans la nuit sombre” (He watches over me in the dark night) was movingly delivered, Bizet's horn accompaniment foreshadowing Mica”la's aria in Carmen, twelve years into the future. Ansellem was a bit kittenish awaiting her forbidden lover in the sacred temple, however, more foxy Thaïs than virginal talisman. Zurga, the second man of the triangle, was sung by baritone William Dazeley, making his SFO debut. Zurga is the more introspective character, often brooding and conflicted. For a tall man with a commanding presence, Dazeley seemed shallow voiced on Tuesday night, having to chop his phrases to make dramatic effect. His anguished “O Nadir, tendre ami de mon jeune âge,” (Oh, Nadir, tender friend of my youth) was not nearly the powerhouse piece it should have been. Veteran bass Mark Coles was a malevolent presence as the priest, Nourabad, and the large chorus of pearl fishers, Hindus, and Brahmans sang rhythmically and vigorously. The choreography by John Malashock attempted to be both athletic and ethnic. Artists in opera are only as effective as their conductor allows them to be, however, and maestro Sebastian Lang-Lessing was an important force in the evening's success. The young German making his local debut sculpted Bizet's often sinuous orchestration with its exotic solos for oboe, flutes, and cor anglais, yet always remaining sensitive to the needs of his singers. He created a wild storm of strings, timpani, cymbals, and gongs with digital thunder rocking the auditorium as it was lit by lightning for the finale of Act Two, thrilling and theatrical.
The storybook production by Zandra Rhodes was a fantasy of color glowing with vermillion, cerise, aquamarine, tangerine, mustard, and saffron. And while this iconoclastic designer of women's clothing and jewelry obviously took the opera's theme of tested fidelity seriously, she was also whimsical, the interior of the temple a sensuous upgrade of Léon Bakst's famed Scheherazade setting for the Ballets Russes, all swirling swags and nude-bestrewn columns. The costumes were likewise opulent, illustrating a fairy-tale Ceylon. The production was originally conceived for San Diego Opera. Andrew Sinclair's direction clarified an often-muddled ending. Bizet originally had Zurga free the lovers but remain standing alone, the fidelity theme repeated in the orchestra. In subsequent productions, Zurga freed the lovers, but was stabbed. In this production he is shot on the command of the outraged Nourabad, the final theme now given a sacrifical association and the opera coming to a more logical conclusion.
(Dr. James Keolker is a frequent lecturer on opera and is the author of Last Acts, the Operas of Puccini and His Italian Contemporaries, available on Amazon.com).
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Charles Castronovo (Nadir) Norah Ansellem (Leila)
