Rossini’s Il Turco in Italia
Juilliard Opera
November 21, 2014
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| Il Turco in Italia at Julliard |
From the very overture of Juilliard’s Il Turco in Italia we
are introduced to Prosdocimo, a handsome and sleek author going through a
creative crisis, chewing up and scattering to the wind handwritten notes and
tormentedly pulling out his hair. When the curtain rises, a bright and peaceful
Italian spa (terme) is unveiled, with a disparate cast of characters
(nuns, priests, fancy bourgeoisie, doctors and nurses) leisurely strolling
through the white marble backdrop and palm gardens and drinking water from
crystal mugs. The look is late 1950s down to the last detail. Prosdocimo stands
out, now donning a pair of dark sunglasses and looking more annoyed and lost as
ever, making it very clear that director John Giampietro had a genius
Fellini’s 8 ½-inspired take on Rossini’s Turco. Our operatic
Prosdocimo as the cinematic Guido works brilliantly and effortlessly, since the
original libretto already uses this character in a very meta-theatrical way as
the alter ego of the composer/librettist who is stuck on his newest dramma
giocoso (Ho da fare un dramma buffo / e non trovo l’argomento!) and
functions throughout the opera as narrator punctuating key plot points with
hilarious commentary.
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| Geronio complains to Prosdocimo Photo credit: Ruby Washington/NYTimes |
From the get-go Prosdocimo tells the public that he cannot find
the right plot idea, some are too sappy, others are too flat (Questo ha
troppo sentimento, / quello insipido mi par). This character was played by
the amazing Polish baritone Szymon Komasa, who proved to be not only a
strong expressive singer, with a manly smooth tone and power to match, but also
an extraordinary actor with charismatic stage presence. Mr. Komasa embodied
Prosdocimo with intense energy, portraying him as the puppet-master who pushes
the rest of the cast to serve his plot points and enthusiastically becomes more and more pleased with himself for how the opera is playing out. Whenever
Mr. Komasa was on stage, even if not singing, he was always doing something
character specific, now taking notes, now coaching and coaxing some other
singers on the side, now intently observing how his ideas play out.
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| Geronio gets his aura read by the "gypsies" Photo credit: Ken Howard |
It is Prosdocimo who introduces (and comments on) the rest of the
cast to the public: there’s a group of gypsies (in this production immigrant
spa-workers) among whom the beautiful and sweet Zaida sings of her lost love.
Next is Fiorilla, a spitfire of a coquettish liberal wife bored after six years
of marriage and flirting left and right, to the despair of her jealous older
husband Geronio. At this point the author rejoices at the great opportunities
offered by a dumb husband and a capricious wife (Un marito-scimunito! / Una sposa-capricciosa! / No: di meglio non si dà). The plot thickens with the arrival of Selim, a sexy
and exotic Turkish prince who immediately attracts (and is attracted by)
Fiorilla but also happens to be Zaida’s long lost lover. The love
triangles and vignettes that gush out of this setting are extremely juicy –
think of the confrontation between Geronio and Selim, where the Turkish prince
tries to convince the cuckold Italian husband to go the Turkish way, where
husbands simply sell off annoying wives (to which Geronio responds that in
Italy it’s customary for the husband to punch the wife-buyer in the nose):
SELIM
D’un bell’uso di Turchia
forse avrai novella intesa:
della moglie che gli pesa
il marito è venditor.
GERONIO
Sarà l’uso molto buono,
ma in Italia è più bell’uso:
il marito rompe il muso
quasi sempre al comprator.
Or else consider the cat fight between Zaida and Fiorilla and the
Act I finale with the two women in a bitter rivalry for the favors of Selim and
calling each other all sorts of names (pettegola, civetta, frasca, sciocca,
impertinente). This was one of the most hilarious scenes of the evening,
when all characters try to placate the women, except for Prosdocimo who is
delighted by the fight and actually incites them to hit harder (Seguitate...via...bravissime… / qua...là...bene; in
questo modo… / azzuffatevi, stringetevi, / graffi...morsi...me la godo…), in this production he even teaches each of them
complementary boxing moves to enhance the drama.
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| Fiorilla plays hard to get Photo credit: Ken Howard |
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| The philanderers consort Photo credit: Ruby Washington/NYTimes |
The contrast between the duets between the two potential lovers
competing for the Turk’s heart are indicative of the types of love explored in
the story. The sentiment of the “Io mi voglio divertir” duet that
initiates the romance between Fiorilla and Selim is light hearted and selfish. All either of them want to do is have fun. That Selim ends up settling for the deeper long lost love he once had with
Zaida in the duet, “Per la fuga è tutto lesto,” is paralleled to the
eventual breaking down of headstrong and selfish Fiorilla whose husband has to
break her of her philandering flirtatious ways in order to bring her back into
the marital fold. Call it: the taming of the slut.
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| Fiorilla is free as a bird Photo credit: Ken Howard |
Korean soprano Hyesang Park as Fiorilla was terrific. Her
role entails the most challenging and spectacular singing of the opera and Ms.
Park displayed vocal agility, sheer power and sensational acting as the flirty
yet ultimately repentant wife. Ms. Park’s Italian was excellent and she
distilled the most coquettish tone even in recitatif when saying things like “lo
zucchero e’ bastante?” (is the sugar enough? – for Selim’s coffee). She was
a lot of fun to watch and impressive to hear, delivering a range that went from
comic to tragic, though the comic flirty bits were the best parts, such as when
she punches her husband for being a jealous bore and tells him she’ll punish
him by getting a thousand lovers and by fooling around night and day (Per punirvi aver
vogl’io / Mille amanti ognor d’intorno, / Far la pazza notte e giorno, /
Divertirmi in libertà!), all while blowing kisses to the spa pool boys.
In the scene of her deepest darkest cave in Act II, when Geronio threatens to
leave her and she realizes that as a divorcée she would lose her honor, Ms.
Park poured her heart out and then completely collapsed. Still on the ground
after a long and well-deserved round of applause, she raised her head and
bounced back belting out her next lines. The force of her re-attack here was
arresting and the power of her voice, after such a long aria, was
extraordinary, particularly coming from such a petite frame.
Bass-baritone Michael Sumuel was
also impressive as Selim. He seemed to be the most experienced singer on stage
(among other things, he sang Masetto in Lyric Opera of Chigago’s season opening
Don Giovanni) and it showed. His was the most extensive role after
Fiorilla’s and he rose to the challenge singing with expressiveness, agility
and great comic tempo. Selim’s duets with Fiorilla were probably the most
enjoyable bel canto singing of the evening. Mezzo Kara Sainz as Zaida
was pure romantic sweetness and rendered her reunion duet with her long lost
love Selim particularly touching and heart wrenching. Bass Daniel Miroslaw
as Geronio delivered a solid performance, with great stage presence and the
right amount of slapstick fun.
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| Maestra Speranza Scappucci |
This, our first outing at
Julliard Opera, was a revelation. With the youthful, energetic and gracious Speranza Scappucci at the helm, the whole show ran like precision clockwork. It was
not only impressive but also utterly entertaining and pure Rossinian exuberance.
The prestigious school really showed that it is worth its salt. I’ll take
another dose of these healing waters anytime.
- Lui & Lei
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