Copyright Catherine Ashmore
Oh dear! I had hoped that my first opera excursion of 2015 would be something to inspire and kick the year off in fine style! Despite the dark rumblings of discontent following the first (and subsequent) nights, I hoped that inspiration and a Christmas miracle might have intervened. Alas, and sad to say, it has not.
Un Ballo in Maschera (to give the opera its full title) is fabulous middle-period Verdi and full of wonderful if tricky arias, duets and ensembles. Verdi's original version was set in Sweden with the story portraying King Gustav III's assassination at a masked ball, Of course, the censors would not allow this on stage and so he was forced to change both character and location - Gustavo eventually became Riccardo the Governor of Boston. In this latest production however, all is a bit more vague. While the Boston version names are retained, the location appears to be some Ruritanian middle-European location prior to World War 1 - none of which really has any impact on the story telling.
I really have nothing positive at all to say about the physical production and direction on display. The sets and costumes looked cheap and old-fashioned, the choreography dismal and singer-direction non-existant. My initial tweeted reaction was to use the word inept. Today I would add amateurish - except that would be an insult to some fine amateur performances I have seen.
There was conversely too much action in places and yet not enough in others. Focus was constantly pulled from the lead singers by distracting stage business going on around them. The overture was of course staged - to no real effect. More annoyingly there was a side-show with Amelia's little boy constantly in and out of bed and Oscar (the page) having a bit of hanky-panky with the maid - all while the lead singers attempted to focus audience attention - and failed for the most part. It really looked as though the director Katherine Thoma, had concentrated her attention on the peripheries and totally abandoned any attempt to direct the lead singers.
On paper the cast certainly appeared to have the vocal goods, although in my pre-season round up I did express doubts about their dramatic abilities. Joseph Calleja, Liudmyla Monastyrska and Dmitri Hvorostovsky are very fine singers - great actors they are not. Casting all three in the same production is unfortunate as even one great acting performance might have enlivened the evening. But it was not to be and unfortunately they received no help at all from the director. They were all at their best when left alone singing solo arias and the audience rewarded those efforts appropriately.
Joseph Calleja is a fine tenor but his vibrato heavy voice is an acquired taste and I haven't really acquired it. I don't think he's quite got the measure of this particular role but that may come in time and with better direction may well be a success. I don't think pairing him with uber-dramatic soprano Liudmyla Monastyrska particularly helped his cause. She has a magnificent voice it has to be said, although I did feel at times that her lowest notes were completely disconnected from the rest of her voice. I've now seen her in three roles including a previous Lady Macbeth and Abigaille and unfortunately I've seen no dramatic engagement on any of those occasions. She faired slightly better here it has to be said but only slightly. Hvorostovsky is pretty much a known quantity at this stage in his career and there were no surprises pleasant or unpleasant.
Real dramatic engagement and some vocal allure was provided by both Serena Gamberoni as Oscar and Marianne Cornetti as Ulrica the fortune teller. The conspirators as played by Anatoli Sivko and Jihoon Kim were also well within their roles dramatically and vocally.
Daniel Oren in the pit managed to suck the life out of what should be music of sparkling wit and hidden depths. Combined with the directorial ineptitude of Katherine Thoma this Ballo really had no chance at all.
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