Reviews
|
Coloratura Aline Kutan takes "LakmÉ," to scintillating heightsDramatic sharpening would boost production valuesBy Kenneth LaFave
It's a familiar story: An Occidental military officer becomes involved with an Asian woman, but it comes to no good and the woman commits suicide. It's Madame Butterfly It's also Lakmé. In Lakmé, the military officer is English army, not American Navy, the place is India, not Japan. But the stories have a distinct similarity. Fortunately, stories are not the most important things about operas. (As it is, most opera plots could be told in about 20 minutes.) The singing is the thing, and in Lakmé the coloratura title role is everything. The coloratura on stage Thursday night for Arizona Opera's Lakmé was Aline Kutan, and she was superb, often dizzying in her show of vocal display. Kutan's performance of the famous Bell Song in the second act, with its rapid succession of high notes, was scintillating. Her Flower Duet in the first act, sung with mezzo-soprano Donna Ames as the slave Mallika (an exact counterpart to Butterfly's Suzuki) floated and soared. But most of all, the less spectacular, technically more reticent but expressively more demanding third-act aria, generally translated as Beneath the Sky With Its Stars, was rich and warm - not qualities generally associated with Kutan's voice type. Tenor Daniel Hendrick as Gerald, this opera's version of Pinkerton, was musically resilient and matched perfectly in terms of vocal weight to Kutan's voice. His third-act aria was joyously sung. Ames was polished and sympathetic as the devoted Mallika. Baritone Dennis Jesse displayed a commanding voice and presence as Gerald's buddy, Frederic. Edward Crafts, a k a Wotan to followers of Arizona's recent Ring production, was musically very able but dramatically blunt as the extremist Brahmin priest and father to Lakmé. Come to think of it, most things about this production could have used dramatic sharpening. James Lucas' staging was decent in its general thrust but sloppy in the details. For instance, while Reynaldo Romo as Hadji drew a clear picture of his character when singing to Lakmé, he was all but ignored at other times, when his adoration of Lakmé might have been underlined by better direction. In the Act II crowd scene, the timing of the merchants and police went against the music and caused the audience to wonder, "Should we applaud now?" The final act was mostly a matter of stand-and-sing. And it's no wonder Gerald didn't die from the stab wound inflicted on him at the end of Act II, given the dopey way Crafts was made to hold the knife. Asha Gopal's choreography, set on her own young dancers from among the Valley's Indian community, not only lent some moments of authenticity to a typically Europeanized vision of India, but provided much-needed color and movement variety. The sets and costumes, recycled from the company's 1989 Lakmé, were adequately atmospheric, though hardly opulent. Among the minor roles, soprano Betty Allen's Rose stood out for her strength of vocal and dramatic characterization. Conductor Michel Singher brought out the verve, wit and underrated lyricism of Delibes' score. It's a pity the lower strings in the orchestra took an act and a half to tune up. Lakmé repeats tonight at 7:30 and Sunday at 2 p.m., with Kutan singing today and Robin Lee Parkin taking over the title role Sunday.
|
More Info
Lakmé (Synopsis) |
Copyright © 1996 - 1999, Arizona Opera & Evermore Enterprises, All Rights Reserved
- Contact@AZOpera.com -