SAN DIEGO OPERA 2012 SEASON

Jan 16, 2012 by admin

San Diego Opera’s four-opera 2012 season in one of contrasts- two intensely dramatic operas, two classic Italian comedies. Of course, the big news is the San Diego premier of Jake Heggie’s Moby Dick, a work that received good and even rave reviews when staged in Dallas and Adelaide, Australia. In addition, San Diego Opera is presenting superstar soprano Renee Fleming in concert with the San Diego Symphony on March 24.

In chronological order, the upcoming operas are Salome, Moby Dick, Don Pasquale and The Barber of Seville (Il Barbiere di Siviglia). So you can see the season is divided in half between the serious and the comic, although serious lessons can be learned from the comic operas. The following are my thoughts are each opera:

Salome Based on a play by Oscar Wilde, this work is a real shocker, featuring a sexually obsessed teenage girl (Salome), her decadent and vengeful mother (Herodias), her dirty-old man stepfather (Herod) and of course, Jochanaan, better known as John the Baptist, whose incorruptibility costs him his head.

The Wilde/Strauss version of this story is quite different than that found in the Bible and resulted in the work being banned at the Metropolitan Opera for many years after its 1907 premier. The stars of the upcoming performances include Lise Lindstrom (Salome), an excellent Turandot here in 2009, who is attractive and certainly has the big voice needed for the role, and Greer Grimsley, last season’s Mephistopheles, who should excel as John the Baptist. The last fifteen minutes of this work contain some of the most intense and powerful music in all opera. In some productions of Salome, the soprano has been known to do the “Full Monty” (Maria Ewing DVD) or “Half Monty” (Catherine Malfitano DVD) at the end of the Dance of the Seven Veils. I understand that will not happen here, but that should not detract from the opera’s power.

Moby Dick Composed by Jake Heggie (best know for “Dead Man Walking”) with a libretto by Gene Scheer, this take on the Herman Melville’s classic novel received good to rave reviews at its premier at Dallas Opera and second staging in Adelaide, Australia. After attending an interview with the composer, which included excerpts from its original performance, it looks to me that this opera is well worth attending. both for its spectacular high-tech staging and evocative music.

Most members of the original Dallas cast are repeating their roles here, including heldentenor Ben Heppner, as Captain Ahab, substituting for Jay Hunter Morris, who was released from his contract to sing Siegfried at the Met. According to reviews Heppner sang well in Dallas; however, last season, in the Los Angeles Lohengrin, he had terrible problems with cracking. We can hope that Moby Dick better suits his voice.

Don Pasquale This 1843 Donizetti opera buffa, like The Barber of Seville, is another variation of the “old- man- wants -to marry- young- chick” plot that goes back a couple thousand years. Originally set in 19th Century Rome, this version, last staged here in 2002, is set in the American West. The cast is probably as good as you can get with John Del Carlo as Pasquale, Charles Castronovo as Ernesto, and Jeff Mattson as Dr. Malatesta. The big news; however, is Danielle de Niese’s debut as Norina. Having seen her as Cleopatra on DVD in the Glyndebourne staging of Handel’s Giulio Cesare, (she has mainly sung Baroque opera with some Mozart) I can say we are in for a treat. She is sexy, beautiful and charming.

I am hoping against hope that director David Gately does not make the Philistine-like mistake he made last time of interrupting the two beautiful tenor arias (sung by Matthew Polenzani, no less!) with guffaw-producing comic gimmicks. Although Don Pasquale is a comic opera, it is not totally about yucks, and what is opera, if not about beautiful singing?

The Barber of Seville There can be no doubt that The Barber of Seville is the most famous comic opera of all time and that Figaro’s entrance aria “Largo al factotum” is the most famous comic aria of all time, beloved by Bugs Bunny fans everywhere. This opera contains many gems; however, from the delightful overture (is there a bad Rossini overture?) to the tenor’s sometimes cut “Cessa di piu resistere” in the finale. Of course, like any opera buffa, some of the best stuff lies in the ensembles. My personal favorite of all the Barber numbers is the tenor’s graceful opening aria “Ecco ridente in cielo,” so beautifully sung last time by now superstar Rossini tenor, Lawrence Brownlee. There is an old saying by actors that “tragedy is easy, comedy is hard,” so the staging and comic timing can make all the difference in enjoyment. At least the sets should be fun, based on the drawings of the Belgian surrealistic artist Magritte.

Renee Fleming in Concert Renee Fleming is appearing at the Civic Theater one night only on March 24, 2012, in what is basically a fundraiser for the Opera with tickets priced accordingly. After attending the “moviecast” of her Met Rodelinda, I can safely say she still has what it takes. Unlike most recitals, which are accompanied solely by piano, Ms. Fleming will be backed up by the whole San Diego Symphony on the stage. After having seen her in recital several years ago in Escondido, I sincerely pray that she sticks to operatic and classical repertory and eschews jazz, in which she sounds like an opera singer singing jazz, unlike, let’s say the great 1950’s diva Eileen Farrell, who sounded like a completely different singer in the jazz or “Great American Songbook” repertoire.

So in conclusion, with one classic dramatic opera, one new dramatic opera, two classic comedies and a recital by a genuine superstar, San Diegans (and visitors) can look forward to a good operatic 2012.