San Francisco Classical Voice

Pergolesi's comic intermezzo La serva padrona is a perfect remedy for overwrought emotions, as was proven Sunday. After an hour-and-a-half odyssey through the Bay Bridge traffic, I arrived at Saint Gregory Nyssen Episcopal Church in San Francisco for Magnificat's presentation of La serva padrona. Flying through the church doors seconds before the 4:00 p.m. curtain, I tried to settle myself into a receptive mood. But my arms ached from gripping the steering wheel with latent road rage, and I needed to use the restroom. Calculating the number of minutes before intermission, I was pleasantly surprised when two members of the ensemble announced in Italian and English that the show would be delayed slightly to allow for latecomers. Shortly after, when the performance began, I was eager to partake of a nerve-soothing divertissement. Happily, Pergolesi and the players of Magnificat served up an aptly refreshing blend of silliness, song, and somersaults.

Originally featured between the acts of one of his serious operas, La serva padrona is, as the program notes indicate, a kind of aesthetic palate-cleanser. The story is simple: a headstrong and beguiling servant girl (Serpina) cleverly maneuvers her master/guardian (Uberto) into marriage. Add one voiceless and dull-witted manservant (Vespone), and you have a dependable, if somewhat corny, recipe for laughs. If, however, your Vespone is Paul Del Bene, a professional clown who uses gesture as effectively as his fellow players use music and words, you may find that he steals the show.

An award-winning street performer and founder of Inner Movement Theatre, Del Bene graduated from the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College and has studied and performed movement theater throughout the world. As Vespone, he used his body with amazing skill, making every facial expression, every body contortion count. A cross between Harpo Marx and a Commedia dell'Arte buffoon, Del Bene had the audience guffawing at his mental confusion and gasping, literally, at his physical comedy. In one scene, where an indignant Serpina womanhandles her hapless peer, Del Bene flipped around in the air and crashed down noisily with amusing exaggeration.

But comic opera is still primarily a musical affair, and both soprano Jennifer Ellis and baritone David Newman offered excellent singing and a satisfying degree of comic flare as well. Newman's lanky build and Ichabod Crane postures were well suited to the role of the bumbling Uberto. His flexible, buoyant voice was ideal for Pergolesi's basso buffo creation, and his clear enunciation of, and emotional connection to the Italian words almost made the supertitles a mere convenience, especially in his aria "Sempre incontrasti con te si sta" ("I am always at odds with you"). Ellis expressed Serpina's edgy energy and changeable mood with an uninhibited, colorful singing style: brash, even harsh, tones in her imperious recitatives and a sweet-as-chocolate lyricism in the seductive aria "A Serpina penserete" (Think a moment of Serpina").

Perhaps the most dramatically convincing musical numbers were the final duets, when Serpina and Uberto have finally agreed on marriage. A more obvious chemistry between Ellis and Newman bubbled up during these dialogues. The lightly erotic reference to the "little hammers of love" beating in their breasts reduced the house to giggles. I was only sorry that the punch line was reached too soon. As is customary for librettos of this time, sections of text are often restated. Everyone laughed heartily the first time a titillated Uberto approached Serpina's ample breast to hear better the "tip, tip" of her heart. But after the fourth time, with no real alteration or progression in the dramatic gestures, the chuckles were more forced. In this respect, stage director Susan Harvey might have looked to Del Bene as a perfect example of how to choreograph this kind of comic opera: make every gesture count.

The Magnificat instrumental chamber ensemble accompanied the action with plenty of verve and sensitivity to balance. Two other Pergolesi selections, a concerto and a sonata, showcased very uneven playing by violinist Rob Diggins.

(Kristi Brown received her Ph.D. in musicology from the University of California, Berkeley. She is currently a Contributing Editor for the Music section of the Encyclopedia Britannica Internet Guide. She spends the rest of her time lecturing about music, singing, and playing with her two children, Caterina and Stefano.)

©1999 Kristi Brown, all rights reserved