steve's notebook

(Nov. 19, 2010)

Got myself back to Lyric tonight for their Ballo in Maschera.  I’d read a synopsis, but was essentially unfamiliar with the music, having only really listening to the overture before getting distracted (by the new Kanye – I like it?) during my preparatory listening.  But it’s often fun to go see something with completely fresh eyes/ears. Nights like tonight, you can be very pleasantly surprised.

Stephanie Blythe was my main impetus for buying a ticket.  I’ve really liked what I’ve heard of her work, especially the recent Met Tritticos (really need to track down a DVD).  Did not disappoint.  That woman is some force of nature.  It’s a big, solid voice that reaches through the ensembles and the whole force of it carries all the way up to the top balcony (where I sit now that I’m paying face – student orchestra tickets spoiled me so much).  Add to this a focused and physically commanding performance and you’ve got a killer Ulrica.  Her Walkure second act already has me excited.  She’ll probably even be enough to get me to go see Lyric’s Mikado.

My discovery for the night was the Amelia, Sandra Radvanovsky.  Pretty sure that though I knew the name, I’d never heard her before.  Again, quite the voice.  Strong center with a sharp projecting edge.  Dramatic lyric. She’s singing some Toscas at the Met in January and it should be perfect for that.  Looks like she’s getting a radio broadcast of that.  Her “Morro, ma prima in grazia” was perhaps my highlight moment, great dynamic and emotional range with some very skillful pianissimos. Hers was also the most consistent acting performance of the three leads.

An announcement beforehand warned that Frank Lepardo Gustavo, was battling a stomach flu, but it didn’t seem to deter him much.  He was maybe a little underpowered on long phrases, but not problematically so, and his upper register is pleasantly bright. Least engaged of the leads, but maybe that was the flu.

I knew that the Renato, Mark Delavan, has sung his share of Germont pères and Cav/Pags, but my only real prior experience was his Sweeney Todd for NYCO in 2004. He was easily the funniest Sweeney I’ve seen, so it was a change to get his dark, dramatic side here.  Anger is where he really came alive; the slap of his “Amelia!,” when she is revealed in the second act, set the tone for his third act rage at Gustavo.  Makes me wish I could have seen his San Francisco Wotans.

And then there’s the fucking adorable Kathleen Kim.  Last season her Olympia was delightful, her Zerbinetta a little rockier.  Oscar is a less vocally tricky role and she handled it well.  It’s still a small voice, still developing and only really carrying with ease in the top of the register, but her physical presence was perfect.  She’s tiny and played the page as a fairly young boy, creating in his innocence a valuable contrast to the surrounding turmoil.

So the singing was pretty strong all around.  My feelings toward the production and the piece itself are more mixed.  This production was a remounting of a Renata Scotto original, in a fairly traditional style. Mme Scotto created some lovely stage pictures and placed everyone nicely within them, but didn’t really dig too deeply into the drama.  I could have used more of an arc to Renato’s turning on Gustavo and heightening of the Amelia’s confusion as she’s torn between her husband and her chaste love for Gustavo, particularly in the final scene.

But a large part of this lack can also be blamed on the libretto.  There isn’t a lot of material to build Renato’s arc out of.  There’s essentially no backstory of significance for how Gustavo falls in love with Amelia or what drives the political coup against him. Instead, there’s lots of “go find this herb to make you fall out of love, but really just give us an excuse for a scene in a remote location.”  And Amelia is hugely underwritten.  Not quite up to Piave.

Still, the singers made a good case for the piece and I had a great time.  And that’s what counts.