Reviewed by James
Karas
Opera Hamilton tackled a big one for its fall production: Verdi’s comic
masterpiece and last opera Falstaff. The rich music and
orchestration test the mettle of the best orchestras; there are some fine vocal
passages but no show-stopper arias; the action takes place in five different locales
that require five different sets including a set for Windsor Park.
How much of that load can a small regional company carry? In the case of
Opera Hamilton, the answer is quite a lot. No doubt there were some obvious
places where the production showed the strain of lack of funds and some issues
with directorial choices. But in the end the production was quite enjoyable.
The thirty-piece Opera Hamilton Orchestra under David Speers was quite
effective in tackling the score. The Opera Hamilton Chorus was not taxed by the
score but it did its job well.
The singing was uneven but there were some highlights. Canadian baritone
John Fanning played the fat knight of the title to excellent comic effect and
vocal splendour. He has a fine, mellifluous voice that rolled out effortlessly
and a fine command of the comic business of the lecherous and cowardly Falstaff.
His lechery has two targets in the lovely-voiced Mistress Meg Page (Ariana
Chris) and the lively Alice Ford (Lynn Fortin). The name Mistress Quickly
conjures marvelous images but in Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor
on which the opera is mostly based and in Falstaff this is a misnomer. She is
another middleclass woman rather than a lady of easy virtue for pecuniary
emolument as she appears in Henry IV.
The three ladies sang well as they ran around comically conjuring tricks to
humiliate Falstaff.
The best singing was produced by soprano Sasha Djihanian as Nannette Ford,
the sweet and pretty girl who is in love. Djihanian has a sweet and pretty
voice reflecting the role she is playing and she gave us some beautiful singing.
Her lover Fenton (tenor Theo Lebow) was not quite as effective vocally and appeared
more oafish than ardent. But when he sang “Dal labbro il canto estasia” and the
two sang “Labbra di foco!” we heard some beautiful sounds.
Bass-baritone Jon-Paul Décosse and lyric tenor Jeremy Blossey were used for
broad conic relief as the lowly servants Pistola and Bardolfo.
Canadian baritone James Westman played the jealous, scheming, stupid Ford
who wants to catch his wife in flagrante delicto and marry his
daughter to an older man. Westman is funny and fuming and delivers his Jealousy
Aria “E sogno? O realta” with fervour.
Director Allison Grant takes a conservative and sensible approach to the
opera. She eschews cheap gimmicks in order to get laughs. (for a funny opera,
it has very few belly laughs). The humour does develop naturally and there is
no reason for gimmicks for the sake of laughs.
Grant chooses to underplay the final scene to the point where it becomes
almost static. There may be good reason for that but there is also a missed
opportunity to generate energy and humour before the curtain falls. This is the
scene where Falstaff is humiliated by the townspeople disguised as elves and
spirits. Thrashing an old rascal may not be very funny and Grant did not find
the happy medium between cruelty and humour and settled for a rather sedate
approach.
The set designed by Troy Housie consists of a series of panels hanging from
the ceiling and a few essential props on the stage. The panels are manipulated
to indicate locale changes but don’t look for Herne’s Oak in Windsor Park. All
is left to the imagination.
The costumes were traditional Elizabethan and they were rented from
Malabar.
Falstaff is not any easy opera to produce
successfully. With its lack of traditional arias, its fast movement and rich
music, it is anything but an easy comic piece to sit back and enjoy. This
production started slowly in the steely Dofasco Centre but picked up speed and
energy in the more broadly comic scenes. When Falstaff got his first
comeuppance and was dumped in the Thames there was genuine laughter.
_____
Falstaff by Giuseppe Verdi opened on October 19 and was performed
four times until October 26, 2013 at The Dofasco Centre for the Arts, Hamilton,
Ontario.
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