LA SCALA DI SETA/GIANNI SCHICCHI
by T.E. Klunzinger
MSU Opera Theatre’s double bill of one-acts provides a sparkling evening of easy-to-take operas, perfect for those who aren’t sure they like the genre, but who will after seeing these humorous shows about, respectively, love and greed.
An historical note: for a long time operas were the only “musicals” of their day and thus were not considered not nearly as highbrow or esoteric as they might be today: there was no broadcast media of any kind, so if you wanted a grand night of singing, you had to get out of the house and go to the opera.
Which is what you should do in this case, if only for the concise illustration of changing opera styles: “La Scala di Seta” (The Silken Ladder) by Gioacchino Rossini premiered in 1812 and features a fairly standard story of young lovers kept apart but ultimately brought together. It might even be described as a drawing-room opera since it’s set in a single room of an Italian villa and has just six singers who are kept very busy during the show’s nearly 90 minutes.
(Production note: both shows are almost completely double-cast, such that the “A” cast performs March 20 & 23, the “B” cast March 22 & 24. This review is based on the “A” cast.)
Soprano Anna Montgomery is brilliant as the young noblewoman Giulia, complemented perfectly by tenor David Anderson as her secret husband Dorvil. In the supporting roles, Alexa Zeremenko, Peter Boylan, Sean Holland Jr and particularly bass-baritone Zaikuan Song as the meddling servant Germano add zest to the proceedings. The costumes and lighting are lush and gorgeous (but watch for the moving plants).
As noted by masterful director Melanie Helton in her pre-show lecture (get there 45 minutes ahead), this opera is an excellent example of Rossini’s signature style of slow-tempo arias about love, crescendo quartets and fast music when the characters are confused.
In a wryly clever bit of staging, “Gianni Schicchi” by Giacomo Puccini is set in the same Florentine villa a century later and the advancement in opera style during intervening 100 years is on full display. (The show actually premiered in New York at the Met in 1918.) This is much more of an ensemble production, with sharper characters and wicked humor.
Inspired by a line in Dante’s Inferno, “Schicchi” gives us eight greedy relatives at the deathbed of an elderly Italian who are devastated to learn that he has left everything to a group of friars. What to do? Call in the eponymous con man, who then impersonates the dead guy and dictates a new will to a visiting notary with surprising if predictable results.
Bass-baritone Brian Major is a commanding figure as Mr. Schicchi who then manages the neat trick of sounding old and weak while dictating the will, from his bed. Soprano Tianxi Wang does full justice to the famous aria “O Mio Babbino Caro” and all of the other 13 performers have great fun with Puccini’s often-soaring harmonies.
Yes, it’s sung in the original Italian, but the Fairchild Theatre has a nifty surtitle screen with the English translation so you can easily understand what’s being sung, and why. The MSU Symphony Orchestra conducted by Steven Mosteller beautifully complements but rarely overwhelms the un-miked singers.
Again, get out of the house and go to the opera: this Friday and Saturday at 7:00 pm, Sunday at 3:00 pm; reservations through MSU College of Music, 353-5340.