Vincenzo Bellini’s final opera, first produced in 1835, the year of his death at age 33, was telecast today by the Metropolitan Opera. This new production was staged by Charles Edwards who also designed the sets.
If you ask any singer or conductor what their artistic goal is, they will say that it’s to realize the composer’s intent. Directors seem to believe that their role is to go beyond the composer’s vision, into outer space if they so wish. This directorial delusion is why almost all new productions of opera are awful. Mr Edwards’ presentation of Bellini’s melodic opera is only middlingly awful on the awfulness scale. But it’s bad enough that the Met would have been better advised to save their money on sets and costumes and to have presented a concert version of I Puritani. They had the singers; Edwards should have stayed home.
A few examples of his lack of operatic and theatrical sense: The entire opera was staged in a unitary set that resembled a late 19th century surgical amphitheater with a pulpit. It was decomposed in Act 2 to show the ravages of war. Act 3, which is set outdoors, was indoors. Before the Puritan warriors went to battle, they smeared themselves with paint. Edwards must have thought the Puritans had recruited a host of Comanches. Giorgio tore off his shirt allowing for a larger paint surface. Elvira was fixated on drawings for an unspecified reason. Her pictures littered the stage like fallen cherry blossoms. Two new silent characters were introduced – young Artur and young Elvira. Arturo appeared in Act 3 in the same blue Lord Fauntleroy costume he was wearing in Act 1, set more than three months earlier. It was appropriately soiled and grimy as were the clothes and bodies of everyone else. Arturo and Elvira did not get back together at the opera’s conclusion. Arturo sought comfort in the arms of his daddy rather than in Elvira’s. Maybe he was put off by her batty behavior during the opera’s three acts. There’s more, but this is all I can handle now.
Bellini is more about singing than acting and the Met had the right artists able to meet the high artistic demands of the Sicilian composer. Lisette Oropesa as the mentally unstable Puritan in love with a Royalist has all the technique and emotional transference needed to realize Bellini’s heroine. Her second act mad scene, ‘Qui la voce … Vien, diletto’, was a tour de force. A handsome woman who can act, she did as well as Edwards’ staging would allow. By the opera’s end she was covered with dirt and paint, but still managed to look appealing.
The tenor part is even more demanding than the soprano’s, even though he doesn’t appear in Act 2. Lawrence Brownlee has all the notes, including a high F. He managed them with ease, even if his solid sound is not the luscious tone Di Stefano and Gedda brought to the role. The high F was produced without resorting to falsetto, though it had no real musical value being more of an athletic accomplishment. There are very few tenors who could have managed this part with the ease that Brownlee did.
Riccardo Jose Rivera is a young Puerto Rican baritone who was a last-minute replacement for an indisposed Artur Ruciński. He has a sound that is well produced. He did very well save for the concluding high note of ‘Suoni la tromba’ which he lost well before its scheduled end.
Christian Van Horn has a pleasant bass-baritone. He made a sympathetic Giogio, Elvira’s uncle who is more like a father to her. At times he sounded a bit woolly, but he was very good for the most part.
As Enrichetta (the hiding widow of Charles I) Eve Gigliotti displayed a fine mezzo-soprano. Why she was clad in a bright yellow outfit among a posse of black and white dressed Puritans as she wished anonymity is a mystery known only to director Edwards.
Marco Anrillato is a stylish and sensitive conductor. He supported his singers with grace and insight. The ensembles and choral parts were all delivered with skill. He knows exactly how to lead this bel canto gem.
Gary Haslvorson’s video directing was restrained, at least by his standards.
Is it worth catching the rerun? I’d say yes, provided you bring a mask to the show. We have three more new productions to go. Only The Shadow knows what they’ll bring.
I Puritani
Vincenzo Bellini | Carlo Pepoli
Elvira……….Lisette Oropesa
Arturo……….Lawrence Brownlee
Riccardo……….Riccardo José Rivera
Giorgio……….Christian Van Horn
Enrichetta……….Eve Gigliotti
Gualtiero……….David Pittsinger
Bruno……….Tony Stevenson
Young Arturo……….Addison DeAundre
Young Elvira……….Taylor Massa
Lord Talbot……….Richard E. Waits
Conductor……….Marco Armiliato
Production and Sets……….Charles Edwards
Video Director………Gary Halvorson
