Raw Power for a Late Reunion
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In years, opera companies have experimented by pairing Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana” and Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci” with operas other than each other. And in an attempt to cater to diminishing viewer attention span, each has even been offered as stand-alone entertainment. But the operatic twins once thought inseparable were happily reunited by the New York City Opera on Friday night in a new production by Stephen Lawless, with sets and costumes by Ashley Martin-Davis. It was the operas’ first appearance together at the New York State Theater since 1992.
Mr. Lawless is said to have derived inspiration for the production, which updates the action to the 1940s, from Italian film directors such as Visconti and Rossellini. A scrim depicting peasant-workers marching out toward the audience — inspired by Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo’s painting “The Fourth Estate,” which figures prominently in Bertolucci’s film “1900” — introduced each opera and returned at other points. If the indebtedness to the filmmakers wasn’t immediately apparent, perhaps it is because the realism of these “verismo” operas itself prefigures cinema so strongly. In other words, they behave here very much like their normal selves. These are slice-of-life dramas — Tonio in the “Pagliacci” Prologue actually uses the very term (squarcio di vita) to describe what the audience is about to see — and Mr. Lawless ensures that they pack their raw power.
There are many telling details. The downtrodden Santuzza, excommunicated and jilted by Turiddu, is shunned by the women of her Sicilian village but clutches to her breast a picture of the Holy Mother as the people sing their Easter hymn. The details sometimes even serve to tie together the operas, each of which is about a cuckolded husband who murders his wife’s lover (and in “Pagliacci,” the wife as well). Alfio, the husband in “Cavalleria,” and a carter in a corrupt industry (he is seen taking a payoff), has two thugs that help facilitate his killing of Turiddu; likewise in “Pagliacci,” a couple of fellow actors are obviously in cahoots with Canio as he knifes his wife, Nedda, for they hold back her lover Silvio in his attempt to rescue her. (The onstage audience, apparently never realizing that the murders are real, applauds heartily.)
And in an arresting twist, Alfio’s wife, Lola, turns up in “Pagliacci.” Clearly, her marriage is at an end, and she is seen carrying suitcases amid the acting troupe’s prospective audience, apparently leaving town. It is an ingenious idea to stress the operas’ parallels, but it doesn’t do “Pagliacci” any favors. “Cavalleria” was a spectacular success at its 1890 premiere, and many composers, not least Leoncavallo, sought to imitate it. Pointing out the similarities only underscores that “Cavalleria” is the superior work, or so it seemed here. Still, Mr. Lawless’s production gives you more to think about than does the ancient Franco Zeffirelli extravaganza across the plaza, nor did I mind the simplicity of the sets — in “Cavalleria,” three gasoline pumps and a couple of building fronts, with the interior of Mama Lucia’s wine bar visible from the side; no church in sight.
In “Cavalleria,” Brandon Jovanovich offered a swaggering, bigvoiced Turiddu, which he capped with a vivid performance of the famous drinking song. The strong “Cavalleria” cast included three debuts. As Santuzza, the Italian mezzo soprano Anna Maria Chiuri brought a voice of resonant, iridescent luster as well as a dramatic aptitude that ably conveyed the girl’s troubled nature. Another fine mezzo, Rebecca Ringle, excelled in the smaller role of Lola. And baritone Andrew Oakden sang lustily as Alfio, although he had difficulty projecting the words that match the catchy rhythm of his aria.
Fortunately, Mr. Oakden returned as Tonio in “Pagliacci” to offer an expressive, warmly sung Prologue. As Canio, tenor Carl Tanner tended to sound rather dry much of the time but rose impressively to the big moments of the aria “Vesti la giubba” and of the final scene, to which he brought chilling authority. Maria Kanyova, in creamy voice, offered an appealingly flirtatious Nedda, though one feared for her well being when she sang her aria about soaring birds atop the itinerant players’ house trailer. In still another debut, Michael Todd Simpson’s handsome baritone and stylistic assurance made for a first-rate Silvio. Robert Mack sang Beppe’s serenade agreeably.
The City Opera’s music director, George Manahan, ably led both works in this production borrowed from the Dallas Opera.
Until October 27 (Lincoln Center, 212-721-6500).