Any show that shapes a production number on the nonsense word “Pappataci” must have something going for it. Rossini’s youthful opera, “L’Italiana in Algeri” (“The Italian Girl in Algiers”), does.
“L’Italiana” is quite an entertainment, full of froth and, of course, music that bubbles and bursts as only that of Rossini can. The score bulges with delights: arias, duets, trios and larger ensembles. At the end of the first act, it features a finale of seven soloists and the choral ensemble, built for the most part on cascading repetitions of nonsense syllables, with no two singers singing the same line of music.
In moments of such chaos, in ensembles, the Indiana University Opera Theater production currently on view at the Musical Arts Center shines. Both casts, as seen and heard on opening night Friday, and on Saturday, seem to have mastered the art of assemblage, tying together the strands of expression, sometimes complementary, often contradictory, that Rossini used to musically tell his opera’s story.
And surely, the production’s music director, Arthur Fagen, veteran of opera productions worldwide now on duty at the Jacobs School as integral member of the conducting staff, was a major factor in that achievement. One heard the results of his leadership also in the work of the pit musicians, the concert orchestra, which handled the score’s bustle and lyricism with an impressive level of assurance and grace.
As soloists, the cast members deserve praise for what they were able to do with material that often taxed them beyond their current level of expertise. The demands — continuing runs up and down scales, trills and warbles added to individual notes, passages that pushed the singers to the extreme highs and lows of their range, and speed as an often added complication — were not always fully met. Still, the performers were able to supply sufficient pleasures and, thereby, serve the opera and those who came to experience it.
Helping theatrically was the knowing veteran Vincent Liotta as stage director. He maneuvered all through the manic happenings, also contriving, with considerable success, to mold characters out of what easily could have emerged as stock comedic figures.
The story involves a self-centered Bey of Algiers, Mustafa; the beleaguered wife, Elvira, he’s trying to rid himself of; the captain of the Bey’s corsairs, Haly, ordered, under threat of impalement, to find Mustafa an Italian wife; Isabella, the shipwrecked Italian intended for that function, a woman not about to accept it because of an independent nature and love for Lindoro who, due to circumstances, is Mustafa’s slave. One also meets Taddeo, Isabella’s befuddled admirer, and Zulma, wife Elvira’s confidante.
When curtain falls, thanks to Isabella’s plotting, she and Lindoro are reunited and ready to return to Italy, along with Taddeo, while Mustafa finds renewed attraction in the calm of his submissive Elvira.
For comedy, much depends on Mustafa, and this production was particularly fortunate, on opening night, to have Aubrey Allicock in that role. He can be the clown by natural talent and surely was, portraying a Bey all bluster on the surface and jelly-cake underneath. Allicock revealed a keen sense for comedic timing and movement. He also commands a fine bass-baritone that met Rossini’s stiff vocal requirements. Saturday’s Joseph Beutel was not quite so natural a Mustafa, either dramatically or vocally, but certainly held his own, to the benefit of that night’s performance.
Laura Wilde’s Isabella on Friday featured personality aplenty and a mezzo with promising agility and a booming top. Amanda Russo was a close match in giving validity to this commanding operatic heroine. Both Elizabeth Pearse and Kelly Kruse had the measure of poor Elvira although their voices differed, Pearse supplying a more robust soprano and Kruse a lighter instrument.
Casting the tenor role in a Rossini opera is always difficult: flexibility and bel canto sound are needed, a combination hard to come by. Friday’s Lindoro, Anthony Webb, had some of each when not stressed, but the voice tended to flatten out and whiten at the top. Joshua Whitener did not produce quite as lyrical a quality but usually managed to sustain the texture of his voice high up.
Baritone Marcelo Ferreira proved a believable Taddeo; Daniel Scofield, vocally, an even better one. Antonio Santos and Daniel Lentz added dependable baritones to the mix as Haly. Mezzos Carrie Reading and Christina Zimmer contributed as Zulma.
The production plays out amid sets designed for Opera Company of Philadelphia. They’re fanciful and colorful, now belong to IU Opera Theater, and were effectively lit by Patrick Mero and his crew.
If you go
WHAT: Rossini’s “L’Italiana in Algeri.”
WHO: IU Opera Theater, its season opener. Two casts alternate.
WHERE: Musical Arts Center.
WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
TICKETS: $15-$35 for adults, $10-$20 for students.
