Also this issue:

Equal Movement Rights
A new project examines gender gaps in the dance field.
-Deni Kasrel

Razzle Dazzle
-David Anthony Fox

Faith in Freedom
-David Anthony Fox

Ronen Koresh

Ghost World
-Janet Anderson

April 18-24, 2002

opera

Alpha Romeo

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ARCHIVES . Articles

Also this issue:

Equal Movement Rights
A new project examines gender gaps in the dance field.
-Deni Kasrel

Razzle Dazzle
-David Anthony Fox

Faith in Freedom
-David Anthony Fox

Ronen Koresh

Ghost World
-Janet Anderson

April 18-24, 2002

opera

Alpha Romeo

Peter Burwasser

The Capulets and the MontaguesThrough April 21, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Academy of Music, Broad and Locust sts., 215-732-8400

There are countless little-known operas that deserve their obscurity. Bellini’s The Capulets and the Montagues is not one of them. This operatic retelling of the Romeo and Juliet story is not exactly obscure, but it is certainly not a warhorse. On the strength of the Opera Company of Philadelphia’s superbly well-rounded production, perhaps it should be. The work is dramatically cohesive, and the music is hauntingly beautiful.

In all of his music, Bellini speaks with a gentle poetry and elegant construction. Even when he is depicting pitched battle, Bellini never approaches the febrile passion of Verdi, and as a master of using music to underline the narrative of the story, he is surpassed only by Mozart. The score to The Capulets and the Montagues bristles with many instances of ingenious writing, such as polyrhythms reflecting simultaneous but different directions in plot or soulful solo horn and clarinet lines indicating the emotional states of the characters.

For OCP's production, the lead characters are sung by Russian soprano Anna Netrebko, as Giulietta, and Romanian mezzo Ruxandra Donose in the trouser role of Romeo. This pair has received much publicity, not least of all for their striking good looks. But their portrayal of the doomed lovers is vocally attractive as well, as they negotiate Bellini's treacherous bel canto parts with the unforced agility that marks the finest practitioners of the style. The Capulets and the Montagues contains some of the most seductive writing for harmonized female voices outside of Mozart and Strauss, and Netrebko and Donose deliver this material with ravishing allure.

Tenor Misha Didyk has turned in overly strident and emotionally shallow performances in past appearances here, but his portrayal of Tebaldo, Romeo's rival, is surely his finest work yet with the OCP. His usually technically reliable instrument now sounds much more nuanced, and his acting conveys palpable dignity. Mark McCrory and Brian Jauhiainen, as Capellio and Lorenzo, respectively, also produce fully fleshed-out characterizations. Kay Walker Castaldo directed the action with a restraint and subtlety to match the composer's vision. Boyd Ostroff's sets, complemented by John Stephen Hoey's shadowy, atmospheric lighting, are impressive not only for their grandeur and imagination but because they so effortlessly became a part of the production as a whole. Maurizio Barbacini conducts with tender grace. Bravi, tutti; what a triumphant way to end the season.




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