The Barber of Seville
Presented by Nashville Opera
Oct. 11-19 at TPAC’s Polk Theater
For some half dozen years, Nashville Opera has been mounting splendid productions of masterworks—including Der Rosenkavalier, Madame Butterfly and Turandot—that have undergirded its growing reputation as one of the country’s superior regional companies. The upcoming season promises more of the same.
The opener is the brilliant Il barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville), which Giaochino Rossini knocked out in three weeks in 1816. He was 24. He would complete nearly three dozen operas before he was 40 and live nearly 40 years after that without writing another one. Critic Philip Gossett says no other composer of his day had more prestige, wealth, acclaim or artistic influence. Not until Verdi (1813-1902) would he be replaced at the center of Italian operatic life.
Il barbiere, Rossini’s undisputed masterpiece, is a brilliant romp, and it’s the marriage of musical wit and sophisticated theatrical comedy that makes it such a gem. The situation is ancient and archetypal: Rosina, a lovely fanciulla with money, has no living parents; her guardian is Bartolo, an older doctor who, desiring both her beauty and her money, keeps her a virtual prisoner until he can marry her himself. She has, however, been seen by the handsome young Count Almaviva, who hires a band to help him serenade her. She takes a peek at him, and the two of them yearn to become one flesh.
Since Dr. Bartolo holds the keys to the de facto jailhouse, the young couple’s situation would be hopeless, but for the town barber Figaro, a classic master-of-all-trades. Figaro’s Act 1 aria describing his own entrepreneurial virtuosity is one of the great comic moments in all theater: You need something, Figaro can get it for you—at a price.
Rossini’s libretto, based on a French comedy by Pierre de Beaumarchais (1732-99), pokes lighthearted fun at a venal society in a way that does not gloze over the underlying reality. Will Rosina and Almaviva live happily ever after? Is Rosina better off with the young count than with the older doctor? No sane adult would bet on either, but the exuberant comedy dazzles nevertheless.
As is their wont, opera directors John Hoomes and Carol Penterman have assembled a talented cast of singer/actors: They look right, and sound right, for the roles they play. Rosina, sung by Anna Christy, is perfectly cast as an exotic, petite young beauty with a preternaturally lovely voice; whoever “wins” this lady’s hand will have his hands full. Count Almaviva, dashingly sung by Curt Peterson, pretends to be a nobody to find out if Rosina can love him for himself alone, but nevertheless flashes his noble credentials whenever his ass is at risk. And John Davies as Dr. Bartolo is a keen original. Bartolo is sometimes played as a pompous buffoon, but Davies plays him as a handsome older man with charisma and a rich, virile voice; his interest in Rosina is not merely lust and greed. The resourceful Figaro-of-all-trades is smashingly sung by Don Davis. Matthew Lau nails Don Basilio, the thickish music teacher, and the Nashville Symphony is adroitly led by Knoxville Opera’s general director, Francis Graffeo.
This promises to be another splendid event from Nashville Opera. The set looks richly authentic; the gorgeous period costumes come right out of Goya and Velázquez. And the comedy here is less Lucille Ball-and-Desi Arnaz than Emma Thompson-and-Kenneth Branagh—brilliantly funny, but not in the least frivolous. For folks who’ve never seen an opera, this is perhaps the one to start with.
A unique moment
No matter how much recording technology enriches our lives, unrecorded live performance offers a special enjoyment—simply because once the sound fades away, it is gone forever. Moreover, live performance often offers masterful music that would otherwise languish in dusty archives. Groups like Belmont University’s Camerata Musicale bring such music to life. The Camerata, directed by violinist Elisabeth Small, is a sponsoring authority that assembles small groups of musicians to perform a wide range of repertory, for voices as well as for instruments. It offers concerts three or four Monday evenings during the academic year.
This is chamber music in the strict sense—suitable for a large living room that can seat about 100 people. The people who gather in the Grand Salon of the Belmont Mansion to hear a duo or a quartet or an octet are a diverse aggregation, ranging in age from the elderly to the very young, commingling Belmont faculty and students with the general public.
When the Belmont Camerata Musicale performs next Monday, Oct. 14, the selections will be by Mozart, Mendelssohn and Bruckner, canonic masters all. But the music is scored for a combination of instruments scarcely heard these days. To the standard string quartet (two violins, a viola, a cello), these compositions add a second viola to give additional dark-roast richness to the musical brew. The opening selection, the Viola Quintet in B Flat Major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91), is an example of quintessential classicism. The closing selection is by another prodigy who died young, Felix Mendelssohn (1809-47); his very early Viola Quintet in A Major, op. 18, infuses classical form with Romantic emotional force. Between these two comes an Intermezzo by Anton Bruckner (1824-96), scored with masterful craft and discovered among his papers after his death.
Joining Elisabeth Small in this performance are violinist Kristin Frankenfeld and her violist husband Paul Frankenfeld, both from Cincinnati, along with violist Harold Levin from Ball State University, and cellist Benjamin Karp from the University of Kentucky. The audience will want to listen carefully: This rare music in this incarnation will never be heard again.
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