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OPERA REVIEW
Roméo et Juliette
February 23, 2007
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Overpowering the Stage By Janos Gereben
The San Francisco Lyric Opera's new production of Gounod's intimately lyrical, 1867 Roméo et Juliette is mostly not. Lyrical, that is. Instead of hushed melodies on gossamer wings, what goes down in the Florence Gould Theatre at the Legion of Honor (through March 3) is blood and guts — not a Berlioz wannabe, but something halfway between a Verdi revenge scene and Wagner's Valkyries riding high.
As Darwin might have said of opera: "It is not the strongest of the species that succeed, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to the score."
And yet, literally underneath, there was also restrained, consistent interpretation of the quietly beautiful opera at Friday’s performance. It came from where the pit would be, if the Florence Gould had one. If you focused on the orchestra, you could hear sensitive and effective interpretations of Gounod from concertmaster Rita Lee, violist Zamil Sadiq, and cellist Ellen Sanders (and darn good performances from the rest of the small orchestra).
Why "Romeo und Juliet" instead of Roméo et Juliette? The main actors in this transformation were a talented, young conductor (Barnaby Palmer), a fine young, leather-lunged soprano as Juliet (Meagan Todd), and an impressive young bass as the Boris Godunov-sized Friar Lawrence (Kirk Eichelberger). See a pattern here? Yes, "youth" is what they have in common, as the singers tried to blow the Legion's fragile walls down, and the conductor let them. Give them a few more years of experience, and they will accomplish much more with much less. Meanwhile, there was the frustration of experiencing something that could have been and should have been so much more authentic and winning.
Withal, it's an impressive production, especially once you get used to its, ahem, volume. By the second half of the evening (which telescoped Acts 3 and 4), it was possible to give yourself over to the music, especially with the wonderful — if regrettably short — appearance of Anja Strauss as Stephano. One moment in the spotlight, one aria, and Strauss gave the audience an "experience," even without — no, especially without — loud singing. She showed presence, authenticity, good taste, and genuine communication: There are no small roles, indeed.
Anja Strauss as Stephano Part two may have been fine, but the opening two acts presented an hour of waiting for the right sound, which only arrived at the very end of the balcony scene. Todd finally held back her voice and vibrant (or vibrating) movements, stilled her fluttering hands, and for the first time conveyed romance and tenderness. She was well served by her Romeo, Jimmy Kansau, a true lyric tenor, who did well in spite of an announced indisposition, obviously a cold, which forced him to sing some high notes that normally should be a natural for him, in falsetto. Among the casualties of the first half of the evening was Juliet's vivacious waltz, "Je veux vivre dans ce reve," belted out here in the manner of La Merman. Eichelberger, in the relatively minor role of the Friar, made a huge impression, if not necessarily the right one. Tall, handsome, with a huge, beautifully modulated voice, the bass sang as if he were in another opera taking place in another house — a much, much bigger house at that. Here, in the tiny Florence Gould, the basso cantante role came across as basso profondo gigante. Also in the good-but-too-loud department were Roberto Gomez as Mercutio and Richard Mix as the Duke. Reaching a better balance were A.J. Gluekert as Tybalt and Martin Bell as Capulet. Too-muchedness also struck the usually reliable director, Heather Carolo, who must have either encouraged or at least failed to control Todd's Lucia-mad-scene action throughout the evening. Set designer Jean-Francois Revon occupied a good half of the tiny stage with two incongruous, large panels that served no discernible purpose.
(Janos Gereben is a regular contributor to San Francisco Classical Voice. His e-mail address is janosg@gmail.com.)
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