| Portrait of an Elderly Man |
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| Hans Holbein [German School 1497 - 1543] |
On this page you will find selected reviews and articles from the print edition of High and Low, as well as
older pieces from our online edition. We are in the process of sorting through and selecting these pieces and will be posting
more in the near future.
OPERA AROUND THE WORLD
by William Schoell
VIENNA. Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni and Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo.
On Friday June 14th, 1996, the Vienna Staatsoper presented highly memorable performances of Cav and Pag.
If you've ever thought of soprano Eva Marton as the Great Stone Face, you'd have to revise your opinion after seeing her do
verismo opera. Marton really threw herself into the role of Santuzza; coupled with her excellent singing, it added up to the
performance of a lifetime. Luis Lima was also good as Turridu, if not quite up to Marton's level. Fabio Luisi conducted both
operas and only occasionally made a mis-step. Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's staging of Cav (he also did Pag) was
a little different than usual. He has Turridu sing his first aria on stage instead of from the wings, which is traditional,
and in this instance I applaud his breaking with tradition. However, he keeps most of the chorus off stage during the famous
Easter Chorus, which is a little weird. He has no less than three people come running in at the end saying "Hanno ammazzato
compare Turridu" (Turridu has been murdered) when one woman saying it only once was what Mascagni intended. (Indeed this important
spoken line is, in a way, part of the score.) Most egregious is the ending, when Santuzza and the mother stand on opposite
sides of the stage and quiver and rock as if both are being electrocuted by high-tension wires. This can't compare to how
Zeffirelli stages it at the Met. In spite of these flaws, the Vienna version is still very powerful, but -- let's face it—
this is one opera that when done well (which it essentially was at the Staatsoper) will always have a tremendous effect. In
Pagliacci tenor Giuseppe Giacomini took a little getting used to, but won me over with his stunning rendition of
"Vesti la giubba," which tore the roof off the place. His large, virile sound perfectly captured the despair and desperation
of Canio as he sings this most famous of arias. A half an hour after the curtain fell for the final time, most of the house
was still standing and applauding. All in all, it was almost like seeing both operas for the first time.
NEW YORK. Fedora by Umberto Giordano. At the Metropolitan Opera. An under-rated opera by the composer
of Andrea Chenier, Fedora is about a woman who falls in love with the very man who murdered her fiance. However,
it turns out he had a very good reason to do so. Unfortunately, before she learns the truth, Fedora is indirectly responsible
for the deaths of certain of her new lover's family members. It all leads to a touching wind-up. Some critics who pronounced
the opera "corny," seem to be missing the point here. (A case could be made that virtually every opera is absurd and
"corny" in some way.) Giordano's music is melodious and emotional (which, unfortunately, immediately damns it as far as some
anal retentives are concerned), and I found the libretto rather fascinating. The Met production was outstanding, with Placido
Domingo and Mirella Freni singing and acting their hearts out and giving the considerable values of this lovely opera a chance
to shine through. The act two love aria, sung superbly by Domingo, is justifiably famous, but there are many other memorable
musical passages in Fedora. Now if only we can get the Met to stage some long-neglected Mascagni operas!
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