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Review

Revealing Verdi

Sarasota Opera's production of Stiffelio, which censors shredded in 1850, shows that the work deserves more widespread attention.

By JOHN FLEMING
Published February 23, 2005

SARASOTA - It has been a while since one of Sarasota Opera's productions of a Verdi opera from off the beaten path was much more than a fascinating academic exercise. Il Corsaro, last season's revival, is obscure for a reason.

Now the company's Verdi cycle has yielded a gem in Stiffelio, which was gutted by censors in its 1850 premiere and never really found a place in the repertory. But its score rivals those of the famous trio of operas that immediately follow in the Verdi canon - Rigoletto, Il Trovatore and La Traviata - and its daring story of a Protestant minister struggling to come to terms with his wife's infidelity is compelling, despite a few creaky plot devices in Francesco Maria Piave's libretto.

At their best, Verdi's operas build to a rambunctious, almost brutal force that is tremendously exciting. Stiffelio kicked into high gear in the amazing tumult of sound and fury that wound up Act I.

The company, directed by Brian Robertson, brought a fine sense of coherence to the complex scene in which Stiffelio confronted his wife, Lina, with suspicions of her adultery. But her father, Stankar, tore up a note that would incriminate her. Stiffelio then turned on Stankar, while Lina tried to deflect her husband's rage back toward her. Stankar challenged his daughter's seducer, Raffaele, to a duel in the cemetery. The elderly priest Jorg, other characters and chorus all had their say.

This climax can seem hopelessly over the top in the telling, but it fairly exploded off the stage in Sarasota's realization of Verdi's potent alchemy of music and drama.

Marie-Adele McArthur, as Lina, has a large but well-focused soprano that could be heard with great clarity in even the most frantic numbers. Her high-ranging acrobatics in Lina's prayer to God for forgiveness, A te ascenda, o Dio clemente, were beautifully delicate. She has the sort of voice that the orchestra loves, fitting into its texture with an easy warmth.

Stiffelio is a superb tenor part, and Todd Geer gave an uncanny performance, at once impassioned and full-throated in the big ensembles but also capable of conversational expressiveness in the minister's tortured introspection.

The Stiffelio-Lina duet in Act III was profoundly touching, as she appealed to him to hear her not as her husband but as her minister, dropping to a knee, her vocal line echoed by English horn. Geer was alternately stern and vulnerable in the finale, as Stiffelio took to the pulpit to read the parable of forgiving the woman taken in adultery, and then publicly forgave his wife. It's a rarity, a more or less happy ending from Verdi.

Tim Mix looks much too young to be Stankar - the baritone could be Lina's brother - but he sang the part strongly. He was strikingly good in the rich double aria of Act III. Youthful tenor Vincent Wolfsteiner suggested impressive potential in his portrayal of Raffaele. Brian Jauhiainen's was a burly presence in the classic Verdi bass role of Jorg.

For Saturday's opening, Victor DeRenzi conducted a relentlessly fast-paced performance. Principal trumpet Andrew Kemp had a tuneful solo in the overture. Troy Hourie's sets - castle, graveyard, church - and Howard Tsvi Kaplan's lavish period costumes evoked the Germanic milieu well.

Stiffelio has five performances through March 12 at Sarasota Opera. $18-$89. (941) 366-8450 or toll-free 1-888-673-7212.

[Last modified February 23, 2005, 00:34:19]