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Static "Anna Bolena" animated by Anderson's voice
Monday, October 16, 2000 By Andrew Druckenbrod, Post-Gazette Classical Music Critic
For those of us eager for the new leadership of the Pittsburgh Opera to bring fresh creative blood to the company, Saturday night's season opener was destined to be a false start. Staged at the Benedum Center, the opera was Donizetti's lesser-known "Anna Bolena," a piece of historical fiction surrounding the tragic tale of King Henry VIII's second wife.
What: "Anna Bolena,"
Where: Benedum Center, Downtown.
When: 7 p.m. Tomorrow; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m. Sunday.
TICKETS: $10-$94. 412-456-6666
Like a relief pitcher who has to deal with runners already on base, artistic director Christopher Hahn and music director John Mauceri have to work this season with operas that were picked before the two were hired. Though "Anna Bolena" offered the Opera debut of Mauceri as conductor, we are not getting the true new look of the Pittsburgh Opera this year.
Thank goodness, because "Anna Bolena" was a plodding production, conservative and similar to those that former artistic director Tito Capobianco used to stage.
The production was geared to emphasize strong singing and engaging characterization. To start, Ming Cho Lee's gray, drab set, originally built for the New York City Opera, forced attention downward on lavish costumes and individual talent. It was designed to let the singers take over -- a legitimate strategy when it comes to bel canto works.
But this minimalist approach works best with great singers; anything less and the cast, like this one, is unable to support the entire opera on their backs. Where director Fabrizio Melano should have created visual interest through creative movement on stage, the scenes were static; where the lighting might have helped guide the audience through the relatively obscure piece, it was dim and ineffective.
The singers weren't disagreeable Saturday night, they were just put in a situation beyond their abilities. Only one singer in the cast, soprano June Anderson in the title role, was able to consistently draw in the audience.
Anderson may not have the vocal strength she once possessed, but in her role debut as Anne Boleyn, already she has an uncanny feel for the part. Anderson centered on a fascinating, fully human portrayal of the Queen, bringing to the fore the myriad emotions this poor woman goes through, either caused by her past mistakes or by the cruel hand of Henry VIII. Disbelief, fury, guilt, panic and serenity were just some of the emotional states Anderson cultivated with artful accuracy through body language and a flexible voice. In the Tower scene, her singing of "Al dolce guidami" was spectacularly done, flooded with deep, complex emotions.
The rest of the cast had its ups and downs. Manfred Hemm as Henry exhibited a gorgeous, grainy basso voice and was an imposing figure on stage. But he presented himself too stoically most of the time. David Miller's voice continues to grow nicely, though his diction could improve. He played Lord Percy, Boleyn's former lover, in appropriately hot-headed fashion. Phyllis Pancella as Jane Seymour, on the other hand, sang too monochromatically and with a thin timbre. Maria Zifchak (Smeton), Stephen Morscheck (Lord Rochefort), Matt Morgan (Sir Hervey) and Elena Corcoran (Elizabeth I) filled out the supporting roles.
One good sign for the future was the energized performance of the pit orchestra. Mauceri carries himself with ease and aplomb with the baton in hand, and it was easy to hear those qualities translating to the orchestra.
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