Massenet's "Don Quichotte' by AVA

The problem with Massenet's Don Quichotte is that it always has been linked with the Russian bass Feodor Chaliapin. He was a larger-than-life, extroverted singer-actor, while the opera is an intimate piece that works best with a restrained lyrical performance by the title character.

Don Quichotte was conceived for Chaliapin, who possessed a large, deep and expressive bass voice, but Massenet's music asks for understatement and subtlety. Thus he changed his mind and chose the lighter-voiced bass Vanni Marcoux for the 1910 premiere. Marcoux was an elegant performer, just as the chivalrous Don Quichotte imagined himself to be— and, in fact, as Massenet imagined himself to be. The composer was 67 and in ill health at the time but was infatuated with the woman who sang Dulcinée at the first performances.

Closer to our time, Massenet's hero Werther (from his opera of that name) was best impersonated by the unhandsome but elegant tenor Alfredo Kraus, while the role was less successfully assumed by the tall, stunning and big-voiced Franco Corelli.

Audible sobbing

The Metropolitan Opera in New York City performed Don Quichotte in 1926 with the famous Chaliapin as the Don. After devastating reviews, the Met never performed it again. Chaliapin's recording of it is notorious for his audible sobbing.

Massenet was considered the best orchestrator of his era— a meticulous craftsman who excelled at creating diaphanous layers of orchestral sound. He also added a splash of Spanish color and rhythm to his normal Gallic palette. That characteristic of Don Quichotte will surprise a first-time listener.

Another revelation is the importance of Dulcinée in the opera. She's on stage almost as much as the Don, and in a wide variety of numbers— some playful, some seductive— and she dances.

Sultry soprano

In the recent Academy of Vocal Arts production, Burak Bilgili presented a sweetly befuddled Don, singing tastefully. Chrystal E. Williams was a sultry Dulcinée with a voice that maintained its strength over a wide range. Baritone Zachary Nelson was impressive as the loyal sidekick, Sancho Panza.

Stage director Tito Capobianco returned to the AVA to evoke the opera's varied locales, abetted by a field of windmills. The Massenet instrumentation was colorfully presented by the 40-piece orchestra conducted by the AVA's long-time music director, Christofer Macatsoris.

The large cast was filled with talented AVA resident artists, some of whom already sing lead roles in other productions. This experience broadens their education; they may not be cast in revivals of this rarity, but other Massenet operas are frequently staged.