This was my first bel canto opera experience. I suddenly realize that I
have been criminally deprived.
Giuseppe
Filianoti was loud and hammy, which seemed appropriate for Nemorino. Nino
Machaidze, Nathan Gunn and Ruggero Raimondi all combined fluent singing with
animated comic acting.
The
director Stephen Lawless propelled the drama along with care and restraint;
everybody on stage had something relevant to do and nobody stood around looking anxious.
Doctor
Dulcamara’s midget assistant was the evening’s big shock. I suppose somebody
will complain, but he was hilarious and I’m proud of L.A. Opera for daring it.
(Though I started to get nervous when the priest appeared on stage who was more
than a bit on the leprechaun side, too. Enough’s enough.)
Johan
Engels’s costumes and continually-modified single set gave an appealing Italian
Impressionist-Macchiaioli-Bertolucci-Out-in-the-fields effect. Which suited
this deeply entertaining, deeply theatrical pastoral.