Stay in the Loop
BSR publishes on a weekly schedule, with an email newsletter every Wednesday and Thursday morning. There’s no paywall, and subscribing is always free.
Ravel meets Puccini (with a little help from a projector)
Opera Company's Ravel/Puccini double bill
Steve Cohen
Ravel's opera L'enfant et les sortilèges runs only 45 minutes, and Puccini's Gianni Schicchi barely 55, but in tandem they make a full and satisfying evening, thanks especially to clever staging and excellent performances.
With its artistic director, Robert B. Driver, directing and Corrado Rovaris conducting, the Opera Company of Philadelphia has presented ideal interpretations of two disparate operas. Ravel's piece is a fairy tale while Puccini shows a gritty side of life; Ravel calls for extensive use of scenery, props and movement, while Puccini has nothing distract from a family discussion in a bedroom; Ravel writes with Gallic charm, using impressionism and jazz, while Puccini sticks to his proven crowd-pleasing verismo style. So these two operas have nothing in common except for their brevity and the fact that both were written right after World War I.
Driver emphasizes the early-20th-century aspects of both works, so consequently we wind up with a nicely balanced look at life during that period. Certainly it's a better match than when the Met paired Gianni Schicchi with Elektra in 1938 and with Salome from the 1930s up until 1952.
Fast-forward to Mussolini
Puccini, and his librettist, Giovacchino Forzano, set Gianni Schicchi in 1299, based on a story in Dante's The Divine Comedy. Driver re-set the story in 1933 because he liked the look of that period. I like it, too— but why that exact year, the eighth year of Mussolini's dictatorship? Why not say we're in 1919, when the styles were roughly similar and Italy was enjoying the optimistic, freewheeling aftermath of "the war to end all wars"?
Driver's direction, right from the start, brought out the understandable and amusing reactions of each family member to the death of their rich and miserly uncle. They turn for help to the lawyer Schicchi.
That role is normally cast with a baritone buffo who often mugs and uses a voice that's distorted to indicate that he can't be trusted. If he's not performed as a caricature, he's presented as a "character," rather than as a leading man. That's a mistake: Schicchi is, in fact, the leading man, despite his politically incorrect traits. Yes, he's selfish and unscrupulous. He also is funny and clever. Mark Stone plays him correctly.
Stone sings with an attractive baritone, and he was surrounded with an excellent cast, including Stephen Costello and Ailyn Perez, who met as students at the Academy of Vocal Arts and are now married to each other. Her "O mio babbino caro" aria was a deserved crowd-pleaser. The set is extremely simple, with skyline views of Florence projected behind the action.
Five years before Rhapsody in Blue
L'enfant et les sortilèges, translated as "The Child and the Enchantments," uses a libretto by Colette, the music-hall performer turned novelist. Ravel and Colette originally planned it as a ballet, then added vocal music to create this charming but uneven work. Notice how Ravel uses jazz elements that sound almost like Gershwin, and keep in mind that L'enfant et les sortilèges was written before Gershwin became famous with his Rhapsody in Blue in 1924.
The story involves a boy who becomes angry with his mother, throws a tantrum, hurts his pets and destroys everything in his nursery. These objects come to life and torment him. Eventually the child performs an act of kindness, and the opera ends positively.
Lauren McNeese was effective as the child and Marian Pop moved exceptionally well as the black cat. But the real stars were the video designer, Lorenzo Curone, and the set designer, Guia Buzzi. When I've seen this opera previously, grandfather clocks fell over and teacups clattered across the stage. Here, instead, projections showed the action, neatly integrated with the set. For example, when the child raised a blade and made a slashing movement, we saw rips appear in the magnified projected backdrop of the nursery's wallpaper. This was an ideal example of how electronics can bring a theater-piece to life.
Corrado Rovaris led lively and colorful interpretations of both scores. The apt costumes were designed by Richard St. Clair. â—†
With its artistic director, Robert B. Driver, directing and Corrado Rovaris conducting, the Opera Company of Philadelphia has presented ideal interpretations of two disparate operas. Ravel's piece is a fairy tale while Puccini shows a gritty side of life; Ravel calls for extensive use of scenery, props and movement, while Puccini has nothing distract from a family discussion in a bedroom; Ravel writes with Gallic charm, using impressionism and jazz, while Puccini sticks to his proven crowd-pleasing verismo style. So these two operas have nothing in common except for their brevity and the fact that both were written right after World War I.
Driver emphasizes the early-20th-century aspects of both works, so consequently we wind up with a nicely balanced look at life during that period. Certainly it's a better match than when the Met paired Gianni Schicchi with Elektra in 1938 and with Salome from the 1930s up until 1952.
Fast-forward to Mussolini
Puccini, and his librettist, Giovacchino Forzano, set Gianni Schicchi in 1299, based on a story in Dante's The Divine Comedy. Driver re-set the story in 1933 because he liked the look of that period. I like it, too— but why that exact year, the eighth year of Mussolini's dictatorship? Why not say we're in 1919, when the styles were roughly similar and Italy was enjoying the optimistic, freewheeling aftermath of "the war to end all wars"?
Driver's direction, right from the start, brought out the understandable and amusing reactions of each family member to the death of their rich and miserly uncle. They turn for help to the lawyer Schicchi.
That role is normally cast with a baritone buffo who often mugs and uses a voice that's distorted to indicate that he can't be trusted. If he's not performed as a caricature, he's presented as a "character," rather than as a leading man. That's a mistake: Schicchi is, in fact, the leading man, despite his politically incorrect traits. Yes, he's selfish and unscrupulous. He also is funny and clever. Mark Stone plays him correctly.
Stone sings with an attractive baritone, and he was surrounded with an excellent cast, including Stephen Costello and Ailyn Perez, who met as students at the Academy of Vocal Arts and are now married to each other. Her "O mio babbino caro" aria was a deserved crowd-pleaser. The set is extremely simple, with skyline views of Florence projected behind the action.
Five years before Rhapsody in Blue
L'enfant et les sortilèges, translated as "The Child and the Enchantments," uses a libretto by Colette, the music-hall performer turned novelist. Ravel and Colette originally planned it as a ballet, then added vocal music to create this charming but uneven work. Notice how Ravel uses jazz elements that sound almost like Gershwin, and keep in mind that L'enfant et les sortilèges was written before Gershwin became famous with his Rhapsody in Blue in 1924.
The story involves a boy who becomes angry with his mother, throws a tantrum, hurts his pets and destroys everything in his nursery. These objects come to life and torment him. Eventually the child performs an act of kindness, and the opera ends positively.
Lauren McNeese was effective as the child and Marian Pop moved exceptionally well as the black cat. But the real stars were the video designer, Lorenzo Curone, and the set designer, Guia Buzzi. When I've seen this opera previously, grandfather clocks fell over and teacups clattered across the stage. Here, instead, projections showed the action, neatly integrated with the set. For example, when the child raised a blade and made a slashing movement, we saw rips appear in the magnified projected backdrop of the nursery's wallpaper. This was an ideal example of how electronics can bring a theater-piece to life.
Corrado Rovaris led lively and colorful interpretations of both scores. The apt costumes were designed by Richard St. Clair. â—†
What, When, Where
L'enfant et les sortilèges and Gianni Schicchi. Operas by Joseph-Maurice Ravel and Giacomo Puccini, respectively. Opera Company of Philadelphia production through May 3, 2009 at Academy of Music, Broad and Locust St. (215) 893-1018 or www.operaphila.org.
Sign up for our newsletter
All of the week's new articles, all in one place. Sign up for the free weekly BSR newsletters, and don't miss a conversation.
