Lighting strikes from a clear sky… after a drizzle
Last night in Alameda it was proved yet again that opera is one of the most contrary, difficult and rewarding of art forms. When all of the elements come together it can be pure magic. But when they don’t, it can be pretty rough.
On Friday, March 6, Alameda’s fledgling Island City Opera Company mounted two one-act operas, Giacomo Puccini’s creepy Il Tabarro and Gioachino Rossini’s hysterical Signor Bruschino. Held in the venerable Elk’s Lodge of the sleepy island of Alameda (complete with antlered elk heads nodding over oak and red velvet thrones), this was the inaugural year of an opera company that deserves a very long run.
But the Puccini was rocky. Written later in his life (1918) after the successes of his big operas, the music is a sheer fabric that is often supported by just a single instrument. The brass and winds were solid enough to carry the weight of the drama, but the strings often left “holes” in Puccini’s gauzy experiment.
And without that, the voices had no springboard.
Despite this, there were strong leads and a dramatic thrust that sent chills down the backs of many an audience member. Eileen Meredith inhabited the role of Giorgetta with a nimble soprano and wanton hip thrusts. Alix Jerinic’s rich mezzo was compelling as La Frugola, and C. Michael Belle’s bright tenor and devil-may-care acting made him perfect as the secret swain. And baritone lead Michael Rogers was solid while menacing on a barge (which admittedly sounds difficult). But at the opening it was an uphill battle making it all coalesce.
After intermission it was a completely different story (and it was a completely different story – a comedy!), with Rossini’s accessible music easily supporting a superb cast.
After the famous prelude, which the pick-up orchestra managed with the attentive conducting of Michael Shahani, Darron Flagg stole the show with priceless acting and a clean and soaring tenor. But even he was upstaged by the entrance of his cherished Sophia, the young and curvaceous Kelly Britt. In this modern re-imagining of a timeless farce, she entered wearing a low-cut leopard-print mini dress and exaggerated push-up bra – and chewing gum! – and none of that detracted from an astonishing and entrancing soprano.
Then Kiril Havezov staggered in as her guardian Gaudenzia, the now-successful product of a “flowery” past – as in flower child of the seventies – with an aria that turned a graveled bass into nuggets of vocal gold. That low diaphragmatic staccato was perfectly placed for Rossini’s long and decorative runs. Wearing beads and dashiki and “medicinal” herbiage, he even included an “Om” amongst his Italian to calm himself in a vexing moment.
Written two hundred years ago, Rossini’s arias would now be thought of as rather repetitive, but instead of detracting from the drama, it was an opportunity for some great stage business. And in this production, directed with non-stop gags and shenanigans by Erin Neff, it was all stage business.
Neff also appears onstage as the freeloading roommate, speaking out to the audience or translating from the Italian, and even freezing the action once.
The other anchor was Bojan Knezevic, an impressive bass with extraordinary acting chops. In 2010 I heard him as the lead in Opera Parallele’s Wozzeck, where he was terrifying in his descent into madness and murder. But as Bruschino Sr. he was a glorious mix of slyness and buffoonery, showing off a comedic gift for cupidity, self-importance and bullying. In other words, he was having a ball, and so were the rest of the cast.
If you wouldn’t mind being spellbound in Alameda, or would like to support a brand new opera company, you should see this! There are two more performances: Friday, March 13 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, March 15 at 2:00 p.m. at the Elk’s Ballroom, 2255 Santa Clara Avenue, Alameda.
—Adam Broner
Photos: Tenor Darren Flagg and soprano Kelly Britt headed a mad romp in Rossini’s Mr. Bruschino at the Island City Opera in Alameda; photos courtesy of Flagg and Tracy Martin, respectively.