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Musical surprises aesthetic and thought-provoking should be presented by Sarasota Opera's performance of Verdi's 1865 revision of the opera and the 1847 original.
By JOHN FLEMING, Times Performing Arts Critic
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 2, 2003
Two years ago, Todd Thomas opened the Sarasota Opera season with a memorable performance in the title role of Falstaff, Verdi's last opera and only comedy. His expressive baritone was touching in voicing the pathos of the roguish old knight brought down by the ravages of time.
On Saturday, Thomas once again has the title role in the Sarasota season opener. The opera is another of Verdi's Shakespearean adaptations, but this time it's a tragedy, Macbeth, written relatively early in the composer's career.
"It's a different approach in the two operas," Thomas said. "Falstaff was like a play set to great music. Macbeth is still very much a bel canto type opera. You really have to produce beautiful singing throughout the piece. The biggest challenge is to be fresh and on vocally at the end of a long night."
Macbeth is the latest production in Sarasota's Verdi cycle, artistic director Victor DeRenzi's magnum opus to produce all the composer's operas. The cycle started with Rigoletto in 1989 and is due to wind up with Aida and Jerusalem in 2013.
The productions often have a scholarly twist to them involving the composer's inveterate rewriting of his work. Sarasota will perform two versions of Macbeth: the standard version, which is the product of Verdi's revision in 1865, and in two performances near the end of season, the 1847 original, which is almost never performed anymore.
"There are scholars, music lovers and Verdi lovers who feel the original is better than the revised," said DeRenzi, who will conduct Macbeth and figures about a third of the opera differs between the 1847 and 1865 versions. "I think they both have something to say."
Verdi's revised scores are invariably more sophisticated, but the original versions can yield fascinating surprises. For example, Macbeth's death aria in the original, Mal per me che m'affidai, is potent stuff, but it was dropped in the revision. He's killed onstage in the original, offstage in the revision.
The revision, prepared for a production in Paris, includes a ballet in Act III. Another significant change is La luce langue, an aria by Lady Macbeth (sung by Catherine Murphy), which most people regard as an improvement.
"Verdi understood how he wanted to convey things 20 years later," said Stephanie Sundine, the director of Macbeth. "In the case of Lady Macbeth's aria, he just found a better way to express the mood at that point. The first piece is very showy vocally, but it doesn't have the dramatic weight that the later piece does."
Sundine, a singer turned director (and DeRenzi's wife), has focused on the standard version in rehearsal. The same cast will perform the original.
"Because we open with the standard version and run many performances of it before we go to the original version, we are doing no work on the original version right now whatsoever," she said. "It would be too confusing to go back and forth. Later, it will be much easier to plug in the differences. We really want to be thoroughly immersed in the standard version and then just make the changes for the original version."
Thomas, 41, is singing Macbeth for the first time, and he's getting an extensive initiation into the role. Right after the Sarasota run, he will perform it in a Syracuse Opera production, also directed by Sundine. He sees his challenge as bringing some humanity to the murderous Scotsman.
"I can't think of Macbeth as just a villainous, awful person," he said. "The thing that makes this part difficult and ever interesting is how he vacillates between the dark side and what's good. That's one of the more difficult things to play onstage."
DeRenzi said Macbeth is the biggest production mounted by the company, with its large chorus, numerous scenes and special effects for the witches and Banquo's ghost. The season also includes a new production of Die Fledermaus and the return of the company's popular 2000 staging of Les Pecheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers).
Sarasota has made a name for itself by reviving neglected operas, and this season's rarity is L'amore dei tre re (The Love of Three Kings) by Italian composer Italo Montemezzi. A doomed love story involving a beautiful princess, her husband, her lover and a vengeful king, it premiered at La Scala in 1913 and enjoyed quite a vogue until the 1950s.
"It had a really big history, and then it fell by the wayside for some reason," DeRenzi said. "I knew it from recordings when I was a kid. I have always loved it. It's one of the pieces from this period that I think is worthy of more than an occasional production."
Bass Kevin Short is the king, Archibaldo, and soprano Carol Ann Manzi sings the role of the princess, Fiora.
Several of Sarasota's revivals have been notably successful in drawing attention to forgotten works of merit, such as Nielsen's Maskarade or Cilea's L'Arlesiana. DeRenzi will conduct the Montemezzi opera.
"I really believe in this piece," he said. "I think there are a lot of pieces that have become standard repertoire that are not as good as this. One of the problems is that the opera world will perform a lesser work by a great composer rather than a great opera by a lesser composer."
The Sarasota Opera season opens Saturday with the standard revised version of Verdi's Macbeth, which has 10 performances through March 30. The company is also performing the original version of Macbeth on March 28 and April 2.
The season also includes Strauss' Die Fledermaus in 10 performances Feb. 15-March 30, Montemezzi's L'amore dei tre re in eight performances March 1-29 and Bizet's Les Pecheurs de perles in seven performances March 8-29.
Performances are at the Sarasota Opera House, 61 N Pineapple Ave., Sarasota. Tickets: $17-$82. (941) 366-8450 or www.sarasotaopera.org.