Santa Fe – A tale of gritty realism and a metaphysical fantasy of good and evil. Two classic operas showing humanity at its worst and best.
Sterling productions of “Carmen” and “The Magic Flute,” propelled by stellar performances from two international stars, have launched the Santa Fe Opera’s 50th-anniversary season in grand style.
Beginning as usual with two audience-friendly stalwarts, the company will fill out its season lineup with an American premiere and two less frequently seen works. They will open on three successive Saturdays, starting this week with Jules Massenet’s “Cinderella.”
Too often, “Carmen” productions veer to the extremes, either turning the gypsy and her cohorts into libidinous whores or transforming the Georges Bizet opera into a kind of lighthearted, high-stepping Broadway revue worthy of Florenz Ziegfeld.
But in this fresh and, in many ways, radical production that will not find favor with all audiences, stage director Lars Rudolfsson avoids such excesses and contrivances. He pares the story to its essence – an acidic story of love and obsession.
To accentuate the story’s realism and help distance it from fanciful pageantry, Rudolfsson and scenic designer Neil Patel have adroitly moved it to the darker, less-than-glamorous setting of mid-century Spain.
Instead of a rollicking, ornate showplace as it is in some versions, Lillas Pastia’s Tavern is a faded hole in the wall complete with a vintage Fanta machine.
Proving an ideal fit for Rudolfsson’s minimalist approach is mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, who takes an unusually understated yet wholly effective approach to Carmen, emphasizing her intensity, defiance and brazen manipulativeness.
Using facial expressions more than grandiose gestures and reacting constantly to everything happening on stage, von Otter ably conveys Carmen’s volatile emotions and smoldering sensuality.
With her buoyant voice and precise diction, she handles the role’s vocal demands with a veteran’s ease. In keeping with the singer’s toned-down approach, she tantalizingly lowers her voice at times for emphasis, while still managing to project to the back of the theater.
Baritone David Pittsinger imbues Escamillo with the bravado expected of a toreador, and tenor William Joyner conveys Don José’s clumsy infatuation and ultimate breakdown.
The evening’s revelation was soprano Jennifer Black, a 2005 Santa Fe Opera apprentice. She lit up the stage as Micaëla, with her pleasingly dulcet voice highlighted by nice, rounded tones and an adroit sense of phrasing.
Deserving special mention is Alan Gilbert, the company’s much lauded young music director. Leading the opera’s first-rate pit orchestra, he brings the music to life with zestful conducting that stresses its rhythmic vitality.
As much as Rudolfsson tries to rein in “Carmen,” stage director Tim Albery does everything to enliven the magic, mystery and merriment of “The Magic Flute,” one of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s greatest operas.
Setting the wonderfully zany tone for Albery’s imaginative staging is the first thing the audience sees: Tamino inside the mouth of a giant, fog-snorting robotic serpent, comically trying to slay the beast.
Some of the director’s theatrical gambits fall short, such as the contrived way the central duo face their trials in Act 2. But for the most part, he strikes the right balances in the production, communicating the characters’ basic humanity while reveling in the story’s fantastical elements. He plays up the humor, often using it as a foil to the libretto’s sometimes self-important preachings on good and evil.
Playfully eclectic might be the best way to describe the way Albery and costume designer Tobias Hoheisel have attired the characters in apparel from sharply different periods. Papegano is in ballcap, T-shirt and high tops, while Sarastro and his cohorts look like they stepped out of the the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
As in “Carmen,” the cast is uniformly excellent, starting with French soprano Natalie Dessay, who brings a compelling waifish vulnerability to the role of Pamina. Her pure, lilting voice, with its surprising power, is ideally suited to this role.
Toby Spence, a blond, strapping singer with a commendably flexible, expressive tenor is the ideal embodiment of Tamino. And Andrea Silvestrelli, with his seemingly bottomless, soft-edged bass voice excels as the kindly Silvestro.
Kudos to Heather Buck, whose gleaming soprano is perfect for the vengeful Queen of the Night. Also strong are baritone Joshua Hopkins as Papageno and Sarah Gartshore, Paula Murrihy and Lucia Cervoni as the Three Ladies.
These productions prove there doesn’t have be anything standard about standard operatic fare.
