Past Production Reviews
4The new staging of "Madama Butterfly" offered by Pittsburgh Opera for the first time on Saturday night employs some unusual musical and dramatic turns on the path to the excruciating pathos composer Giacomo Puccini created in this popular opera. The production features an effective cast led by soprano Maria Luigia Borsi, who gave a stunningly dramatic and well sung performance of the title role, Cio-Cio San. While the production originated with Boston Lyric Opera and the costumes were designed for Utah Symphony and Opera, Crystal Manich's new stage direction had great impact and was mostly convincing.Mika Shigematsu was superb as Cio-Cio San's servant Suzuki, a fine singer with personality who showed surprising spunkiness in her first interactions with Pinkerton and Sharpless, the U.S. Consul in Nagasaki, Japan, where the opera takes place in the late 19th century. Tenor Bryan Hymel as Pinkerton showed his vocal strength most impressively at the end of the opera in the brief passage after Cio-Cio San has committed suicide. Secondary roles were generally well handled, including Joseph Gaines' colorful marriage broker Goro and Dwayne Croft's agonized Sharpless. Manich was masterly in presenting the dramatic confrontation between Cio-Cio San and her community after she renounces Japanese culture to become an American wife. She was imaginative in using the minimalist set and achieved strong character definition and interactions throughout. Cindy Limauro's lighting design was exceptionally creative, adding many looks through geometrically highlighted areas of the stage and changes of lighting angle and tint.
The sets for the Pittsburgh Opera production are quite magnificent. In Act II there’s a Paris street scene replete with tall buildings and even some snow falling, as Parpignol (tenor Terrence Chin-Loy) pushes his cart of toys through the street, captivating a group of children. In the Cafe Momus scene of Act II we are also introduced to a whirling dervish of a character, Musetta (soprano Sari Gruber) and her sugar daddy, Alcindoro (also played by Glavin). During the scene, a past love affair rekindles between Musetta and Marcello to humorous effect. The Cafe Momus set is quite striking, too, with decorative lighting, wooden booths, and tables. The entire cast of La bohème does a fantastic job of acting and singing their arias. There are many light touches of comedy throughout. One especially funny scene comes when Colline (Zimmerman) sings about having to sell his nice coat. The talented orchestra in the pit, led by Conductor Jean-Luc Tingaud, beautifully played Puccini’s score. Scenic design by Michael Yeargan and costume design by Zack Brown help to set the 1800s Paris mood. Lighting is by Andrew David Ostrowski and James Geier is wig and makeup designer. The production is stage managed by Cindy Knight and Mark Trawka is the chorus master.
The Pittsburgh Opera staging by Stephanie Havey, which opened Saturday evening at the Benedum Center, captures the spirit of that novel remarkably well. The lithe and supple cast, though not in fact particularly young, looks and acts like young people – students and aspiring artists – just barely keeping the wolf from their door. The ensemble scenes came off best: the antics of the four Bohemians at the start of the first and fourth acts, the Christmas Eve revelry at Café Momus (with excellent choral work prepared by Mark Trawka), the Act 3 quartet in which one couple separates while the other reunites. Among the solos, Mimi’s arias, deliciously vocalized by Ms. Cabell, took first honors. She is a beautiful singer who acts with her voice as well as her body. Her timbre was slender but nonetheless luscious, her shaping of every phrase that of a seasoned artist. Her Act 3 farewell to Rodolfo was the evening’s vocal highlight. Mr. Panikkar, too, is an admirable artist, who phrases exquisitely and makes every word count. But his lean voice is more suited to Mozart and the French repertory than to Italian “slancio,” which taxes him to his limits. He took the famous “Che gelida manina” down a half step, and even so had all he could do to get through the climactic phrase (here touching high B rather than a C). His best work was in the lyrical late-on duet with Marcello (baritone Craig Verm, dry-voiced but athletic and exuberant). The always delightful Sari Gruber pleased the audience with Musetta’s familiar Waltz aria. Her shriek when the character pretends to have a painful misfitting shoe is the best that I have ever heard on any stage. Another Pittsburgh favorite, Kevin Glavin, delivered his predictable comic wiles in the dual roles of the landlord Benoit and the ludicrous old sugar-daddy Alcindoro.
Fridman was powerful, Konu Kim gave a profound performance filled with different colors and emotions. No one could ever anticipate what Kim would do with the role as he first entered Act one, singing with a bright timbre and giving each phrase a smooth and delicate color. His phrases starting out with a piano sound and would eventually crescendo to a forte with smoothness and facility. That bright optimism could be seen in the aforementioned duet with Sylvia. While Fridman sang with delicacy and darker hues, Kim’s timbre contrasted with gleam, his high notes projecting beautifully into the hall. In the role of the King, Florian Sempey brought an imposing baritone to his character. From the start of the performance, he gave off an air of authority that started to weaken throughout the evening. In the his duet with Sylvia, Sempey brought a refined and controlled timbre that showcased his power over her. He forced Fridman into his arms undressing himself and insinuating forced intercourse. Overall the orchestra was solid but Tingaud sometimes indulged in slower tempi particularly in the ensemble strettas. It may have added to the drama to give more time to the ensembles but it seemed more French in style than the energetic Italian Bel Canto. The chorus led by Fabio Tartari was also part of the success of the evening. The changes in character that were conveyed showed their versatility. At the beginning they were boisterous, animated, joyful and prepared for a party, singing with unending energy. In the third act, the men’s chorus was gossipy, singing in a soft staccato as they were conspiring and entertaining themselves with the secret of Sylvia being the king’s mistress. In the final act the ensemble sang with an angelic tone, bringing the opera to a powerful and heavenly finale. Overall this was an unforgettable evening that thankfully has been recorded for release through Dynamic and presented Lidia Fridman and Konu Kim as promising figures in the opera world.
