Reviews 2003
Reviews 2003
✭✭✭✩✩
by Gioacchino Rossini, directed by Alison Greene
Opera Ontario, Hamilton Place, Hamilton
October 4, 9 & 11, 2003;
Centre in the Square, Kitchener
October 17, 2003
"Sparkling Debuts Save 'Barber'"
Opera Ontario's production of Rossini's "Il barbiere di Siviglia" is most notable for introducing to Ontario audiences Aaron St. Clair Nicholson, an exciting young singer from British Columbia. With a rich yet agile voice, a charismatic presence and great comic timing, he seems born to play the role of Figaro. He connects with the audience the instant he strides on stage and lights up every scene he's in. Besides this, he really does play the guitar during Lindoro's serenade and can juggle three oranges while singing a fantastic "Largo al factotum". Nicholson is a talent to watch and I hope Opera Ontario already has him booked for another appearance.
Nicholson is one of an excellent all-Canadian cast that Opera Ontario has assembled. Shannon Mercer, also debuting with Opera Ontario, is a delight as the spritely Rosina. She, too, creates a immediate link with the audience, forged with a beautifully sung "Una voce poco fa". The combination of her bright, clear soprano and effortless runs with the ability to project a natural, attractive persona makes her a pleasure throughout. Let's hope she's been signed up for a future season at Opera Ontario.
There is fine work from the rest of the cast. Benjamin Butterfield is an appealing Almaviva, with a light tenor and graceful sense of line perfect for this role. Sean Watson's Bartolo is more befuddled than menacing, but he is gifted with a strong, warm baritone. The venerable bass Joseph Rouleau seems more like the local tramp than a music teacher, but his singing is full of character. Melissa Schiel's alluring mezzo seems at odds with the doddery maid she plays, but she vindicates the inclusion of the often-cut maid's aria of Act 3 by making it lovely moment of reflection and a welcome respite from the manic goings-on. Nelson Sierra makes a positive impression in his two small roles as Fiorello and an Officer.
Allen Moyer's set, co-owned by three companies including Minnesota Opera, places a 19th-century style proscenium, complemented with a rank of faux footlights, within the stage opening. The sets are flats, or more often two-dimensional drops, painted to simulate engravings of early stage productions. I assume the jarring Day-Glo colouring is meant to make us aware that this is a playful allusion to past performance practice not a dutiful recreation of it.
With such a strong cast and such a pleasantly whimsical set design, little would have been needed to make this production a solid hit. Unfortunately, inept stage direction and conducting with little feeling for the music continually conspire to drag down the best efforts of the cast.
Alison Greene's blocking not only looks clumsy but often distracts from a focus on the singers. She repeatedly errs in trying to make the opera funnier by adding stage business unrelated to what the characters are doing or singing about. In the Act 2 finale she has an old man enter waving a huge blunderbuss, forcing us literally to look away from the tight group of singers in the centre stage where we should be focussed. During Rosina's Act 3 music lesson, Greene gets so involved in creating a comic interchange between Almaviva and the conductor in the pit that she totally neglects what is supposed to be the humour of the scene that Almaviva and Rosina woo each other via the words of the song they sing right under the nose of the jealous Doctor Bartolo. It would have been better to leave the singers to their own devices than inflict such distractions on them.
The conducting is another major problem. Lior Shambadal bludgeons his way through Rossini's score beating what should be whipped cream into a lump of butter. Rossini's airy rhythms turn to heaving plodding and all forward momentum is lost in painfully slow pacing and overly sustained orchestral chords at the end of each number. One senses that all the singers are chafing to sing their solos at a more natural pace but are held back by Shambadal's leaden approach.
The combination of poor direction and conducting would normally sink an opera. But such is the professionalism of this gifted cast that their talent and commitment shine through despite everything to buoy up the evening.
Christopher Hoile
Note: A version of this review appeared in TheatreWorld (UK) 2003-10-14.
Photo: Aaron St. Clair Nicholson as Figaro. ©2003 John Rennison.
2003-10-14
The Barber of Seville