Don Pasquale

Lyric Opera

I am trying to catch up. Posts are so much better, when you write them one or two days after you see something, and I'm ages behind on the last several months. But, I'll try to reflect on what we've seen...

The casts have been very strong at Lyric all season, thus far. This is exciting. We upgraded our seats this year, which I'm sure I've mentioned and the sound quality in the auditorium still isn't what I would like, but it's a bit better from the orchestra. A little bit better.

We caught Don Pasquale a couple of weeks ago. Clearly old sets, but those can be nice sometimes. Lots of faux stone, faux flowers, little cobblestone streets. Romantic moonlit gardens. You've seen it all a few times.

The singing was superb. René Barbera is one to watch. He's already made it big, but he could be headed for the even bigger time. He has lung power, musicality and that rarest of all things - a distinctive and memorable voice. Listening to him is interesting and a joy. Listening to Barbera reminds me a bit of the joy I get from listening to one of my favorite tenors, Ben Heppner.

Marlis Petersen was prepared. The last time I saw a singer this prepared at Lyric was
René Pape in Faust awhile ago. She was in full control, vocally magnificent and I use this word as a compliment - athletic. She was absolutely in control of all her movements and she was so well-prepared she was just playing on stage. You got the feeling she could have done the part a thousand different ways, she knew it so well. I almost forgot what it was like to watch someone who was a master of their art, in complete and absolute control of their performance.

The opera is something of a star vehicle. The story is fine, but you don't go to this opera for the semi-comic story of an older man deciding to take an initially sweet, but later very troublesome wife to produce an heir late in his life, when his nephew has refused to marry well. As in comic opera, it all works out as it should in the end, with character reveals, plot untangling and a short moral to the story. 

The singing keeps getting better through the season. The productions sort of swing back and forth, hither and thither. There is a lack of continuity between the presentations, to some extent. Lyric doesn't exactly have its own voice, so to speak, in what it performs. The productions have the feel of a closet full of hand-me-downs. But, I won't care about that so long as the singing is excellent. And, as the quality has been really, really good this year - I am a fan of the 2012-2013 season. We are skipping Hansel and Gretel, as I saw it in New York maybe five years ago. I think La Boheme is next. Looking forward to it.