Norma and Richard Bonynge Celebrate Vancouver Opera’s 50th

What I want to do when I grow up a few decades from now is to be Maestro Richard Bonynge (pronounced BONNing.) Over the next few magical days at the wonderfully re-furbished (very mid-century) Queen Elizabeth Theatre, the Vancouver Opera is celebrating the launch of its 50^th season with a repeat of a Bonynge Norma, Bellini’s tender and yet commanding Bel Canto opera. The last time he conducted it here was in 1963 and it was his debut as a Bel Canto expert. It put him and his now-iconic wife, soprano Joan Sutherland, on the opera map. So he and the original cast have always had a soft spot for Vancouver audiences. They cast a London recording of the opera the next year and there was no turning back. And Vancouver Opera was launched internationally. Catch something of the history of this week’s events with this television production of “Casta Diva” with Sutherland on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ2L_B7VOWs

 Bel Canto Comeback

Is it any wonder that orchestral and opera conductors live very long lives? This is often attributed to their aerobic exercises on the podium, but I think it is their passion and their discipline, something Maestro Bonynge is deeply engaged in long after the average jock has turned out the lights. Bonynge has dedicated his artistic life to the underrated Bel Canto.  Bel Canto, literally “beautiful singing” (please see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bel_canto), made a comeback tonight in Vancouver and so did the irrepressible Richard Bonynge.

 Master Knitter

If you witness this present production you too will dream of being 79 and conducting with the precision of Bonynge, the master musical knitter, casting his musical knit and purl as perfectly and passionately possible for the musical robes of a powerful Druid priestess. The intricacies of Bellini’s Norma are matched by the Maestro’s aplomb, with his focus on the weaving vocal lines, yet never treating the orchestra or chorus as mere accompaniments, but always as equal partners. All his years of study in his native Australia, accompanying singers as an equal at the piano have paid off.

 Bel Canto in 50 BC

Norma is set during the Roman occupation of Gaul, of all places, around 50 BC. The bel cantists thought that the murky and rusty ambiance of Druidic Gaul (Northern France and Belgium) was weird and wonderful. Norma is a Druid priestess who becomes secretly involved with a Roman officer with two children to prove it. How she keeps them secret, no one asks.

 Talk Show Dialogue

Despite religious ethics and mores, patriotic feelings under the Roman oppressors, and a two-timing tenor, the libretto does not really get beyond the talking—which is what Bel Canto thrived on. The stage director is challenged to make dramatic theatre out of talk show dialogue so stage director Tazewell Thompson manages only to conjure up standard action, a perfect set up for Kate Aldrich, singing the role of Adalgisa, who is not a stand-and-sing kind of gal. A star is born right before your eyes—worth the price of admission.

 In this present cast and ensemble you can hear intelligent singing, musicianship that finds a subtle artistic way through all those notes and conversations, a bit of Joan Sutherland, a bit of Callas, a bit of what makes the present cast stars in the Sydney Opera House, Theatro Comunale di Bologna, The Met, and other famed settings.

 Soprano Hasmik Papian in her Vancouver debut embodies the classic Euro-soprano style. She offered subtle, controlled nuance from her voice, but little menace vocally or dramatically—her repeated Medea-like movements: Left arm completely up, right follows, or both extended simultaneously in Etruscan “I give up” sign in both acts causes one to think the Druids have stiff rules about expression and have not heard of letting off a little steam now and then.

Papian has performed Norma in Baltimore and Monte Carlo, and Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux in Dallas. Mezzo Soprano Kate Aldrich, also making her Vancouver debut, has just sung the role of Adalgisa, Norma’s subordinate and troubled-in-forbidden-love priestess, at the Theatro Comunale di Bologna. Lucky Bolognese. Tenor Richard Margison has sung for Vancouver Opera for a million years—he blasted in Act One and calmed down in Act Two, playing the twerp stand-around-stage version of Pollione, the Roman proconsul. 

Takes Us With Her

Of all the singers it is not Norma who wins the audience’s affection. Anyone who attempts this gigantic role, justifiably deserves respect in terms of sheer technical difficulty. Nevertheless, it is Adalgisa who often receives huge honours from an admiring audience. This production is no exception. The singer here is the US Mezzo Soprano Aldrich who embodies both the meaning and the musical mastery of the innocent Adalgisa’s role in life and in music. She has the mastery of her voice, the control and blending of her expressive registers, the flair of a solid and daring actress, and also the ability to convince us that she has a heart of gold. She brings her voice along on the dramatic journey as a companion of high order. This is something one witnesses rarely in opera. It is palpable and stunning. She does not stop to sing and then take up acting again after the high note. She is always acting and always taking us with her.

Orchestra & Chorus

These singers join together in Bellini’s ensemble-driven work with the expert Vancouver Opera Orchestra and the wondrously musical Vancouver Opera Chorus (expert choral singing not something one hears often in opera) with notes in a subtle row of pearls and purls. The master knitter has their respect and they are not so much “under a baton”—besides, Bonynge uses only his hands—as they are at one with the conductor who is in turn at one with Bellini. No wonder even the unlikely Wagner loved this opera.

The chorus achieves greatness, particularly memorably in Act Two with the almost whispered section (as artistically quiet, yet stunningly present and moving as the Humming Chorus from Madama Butterfly) before all operatic hell breaks loose and we end up with a funeral pyre for the two guilty former happy lovers, the Roman Pollione and the Druid Norma.

A Memory Stick?

My mental blogging during the performance was lengthy, but here are the highlights: 

White hair is good in spotlights . . . . Maestro Bonynge looks great in a top spot when he enters the orchestral pit.

The chorus costumes offer a blank canvas upon which lighting moods are projected.

The giant mountains painted on the giant scrim up stage come from what part of Europe? Maybe the Chinese part?

The male sculptural ruins projected upon the giant scrim mountains are more like a Etruscan Mount Rushmore and I wonder at their import.

The opera paid a pretty penny for the set and costumes rented from the Cincinnati Opera folks. Do we need them? No, spend half the money and commission a set (with curatorial guidance) from a great local artist like Jeff Wall or Gathie Falk. You would draw even more diverse audiences.

Orchestra members are waving their bows to the audience during applause for Bonynge at his entrance into the pit for Act two . . . makes me feel like I am in Europe. Great sense of joy this evening. The orchestra must like their conductor.

The new Queen E. refurbishment is good looking. I like the new seats: firm support for the back for long operas . . . the chandelier or lighting installation in the main lobby is either a unique design or just bits of white plastic straws put in place to separate bits of shells that look like parchment paper slightly curved. Still, despite their probably ridiculous cost, they glow very handsomely.

The capacity audiences of the Opera, the Playhouse, the Canucks vs. Some Team, all converge on this area of the downtown tonight. Parking is at a crazy premium and difficult to find. Library is probably best choice since their budget is being cut stupidly.

People think Celine D. puts lots of extra and difficult notes into the song line! Ha! They should listen to Bellini. Lots of technical work here—for the females especially. Always in Bel Canto.

Whenever I experience Norma I think the end of Act One is the first historic iteration of the Sisterhood, then a few scenes later I think it could be more like the beginning of female wrestling. That’s Bel Canto stories for you.

The Opera did something extremely cool last night. When I received my ticket, a memory stick with a great deal of interesting information was handed to me along with it. How 21^st century! Who would have thought the Vancouver Opera would be the first to get involved in blogging, memory sticks, and, of all things, commissioning a manga for Norma?

Opera is usually the slowest form to respond to change. Truly, times are changing. Some of the resources on that Operatic memory stick:

The Vancouver Opera podcast

www.vancouveropera.ca

 www.operalive.ca

 www.vancouveropera.blogspot.com

 www.facebook.com (Vancouver Opera)

 www.flickr.com/photos/vancouveropera

 http://twitter.com/VancouverOpera

 www.youtube.com/user/Vancouveropera