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The Opera Critic, 23 October 2013 |
by Moore Parker |
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Puccini, La fanciulla del West, Wiener Staatsoper, 17. Oktober 2013 |
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A gem to be treasured |
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This production ranks in the top echelons of Vienna's current opera
productions, largely due to the logical, sensitive, and wonderfully detailed
direction by Marco Arturo Marelli and the superb reading from the pit by
Franz Welser-Möst.
While the setting and concept may not be totally
original, "Containerland" is put to good effect in Puccini's Wild West, well
utilizing the State Opera's vast space horizontally and vertically, and
offering cleverly considered potential to accommodate all three acts grandly
yet succinctly.
A string of garish party lights adds colour to the
grey atmosphere of the miners' routine of whisky and poker. A cassette
recorder on the counter of Minnie's kiosk bar dates the period while lulling
the diggers into a sentimental mood in Jake's Act I lament, and an elevated
caravan houses the Act II tryst and ensuing drama, allowing visual contact
with the surrounding space to heighten effect as the plot unfolds. Act III
opens up the set to include a railway terminal whose buffers serve for
improvised gallows, and the happy end sees Dick and Minnie carried off into
their future in an enormous hot air balloon. This was a touch of kitsch, but
a clever and inoffensive card (rather like Harold Prince's enormous sun for
the finale in Vienna's 80's Turandot) to bring down the curtain with aplomb.
Marelli (in his first verismo production) has evidently worked
meticulously with the entire cast, and the overall direction is testimony to
an all-too-rare ability (both technically and interpretively) to harmonize
with - and underscore - the music.
All three leads are monstrously
testing - ideally requiring voices of Tebaldi, Corelli, and Guelfi calibre.
Nonetheless, the current Vienna lineup manages to score with their mixed
palette of assets.
Nina Stemme establishes a multifaceted and
sympathetic Minnie. It is a delight to see the character develop as she
moves from the dungareed tomboy to the passionate charmeuse and sly
trickster with aplomb - full of subtle touches, and much vocal finesse.
Jonas Kaufmann makes an attractive, rather introvert bandit - perhaps a
little too refined and squeaky-clean to be totally credible - but
demonstrating lithe physical agility and a certain boyish charm. Not an
Italian spinto by nature, he nevertheless negotiates the role with dexterity
(if not reserve), playing his aces well in Dick's two big scenes where,
above the stave, the true quality of his voice comes to light.
Tomasz
Konieczny is much the modern sheriff, with a touch of a Yankee Scarpia who
just occasionally exceeds the limit in musical taste and physical gesture.
Undoubtedly, a Jack Rance to be reckoned with, and one with potential in all
respects.
The male members of the State Opera chorus constitute the
fourth "lead" in this work and appear totally in their element - emotionally
touching in their sentimental scene with Jake and Larkens in Act I, and
rising effectively to the heights of the dramatic finale.
The
remaining cast included Norbert Ernst (Nick), Paolo Rumetz (Ashby) Michael
Roider (Trin) and Clemens Unterreiner (Happy) - with particularly strong
contributions from Boaz Daniel as a stalwart Sonora, Alessio Arduini as a
vocally pristine Jake, and Jongmin Park as a sonorously black-timbred Billy.
Franz Welser-Möst evidently enjoys great affinity with the score,
commanding an uncanny sense of timing and dynamics throughout. If not quite
indulging his stars, his baton allows them to perfectly milk the moment - be
it in Minnie's intimate reading lesson with the miners, or in the great
romantic and dramatic outbursts of Acts II and III.
100 years have
passed since the work debuted in Vienna, and 25 years since it was last seen
here. This production has the ability to catapult Fanciulla into the list of
Puccini favourites - and not just with the current cast. A gem to be
treasured.
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