The Opera Tattler

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Die Entführung aus dem Serail at SF Opera


Entfuehrung

* Notes * 
Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio) opened at San Francisco Opera yesterday evening. The production, designed by David Zinn, features an adorable 18th century theatre and lavish costumes. Director Chas Rader-Shieber did not use the set to its best advantage. There were some amusing moments, as when the Pasha’s ship zipped by in the background, or when a door appeared in the middle of the stage. Unfortunately, for the most part, the opera was just not as funny as it could have been. The choreography was artificial and poorly motivated. The members of the chorus looked and sounded especially uncomfortable as they very carefully synchronized their arm movements.


Under Cornelius Meister, the orchestra was clear, albeit papery and dry. The triangle seemed to have a bit of trouble at the end of the overture and was not with the cymbals or the bass drum. As for the principal singers, everyone sounded perfectly nice, for the most part. The cast fluidly switched from their English dialogue to the German singing, though perhaps it would have made more sense to sing in English as well.


Peter Rose was funny as Osmin, his voice is pleasant, but his low notes are not strong. He was not with the orchestra for parts of “Wer ein Liebchen hat gefunden” or in the trio at the end of Act I, but was better for the rest of the opera. Andrew Bidlack sounded lovely as Pedrillo, he was weak at times during Act II, but was wonderful during the seranade “In Mohrenland gefangen war ein Mädel.” Anna Christy (Blonde) was as cute as ever, she twittered her way through, occasionally with a lot of vibrato, but much warmth. Mary Dunleavy fared less well, the top of her voice is sometimes strained and shrill, particularly in her first aria. Her voice can be angelic and she held up during “Welcher Wechsel herrscht…Traurigkeit ward mir zum Lose.” As our hero Belmonte, Matthew Polenzani looked stiff but sang his arias with beauty.


* Tattling * 
The audience talked during the English dialogue, but were quiet for the music. A person next to us in standing room exclaimed something when he realized the dialogue was to be in English, he seemed rather unhappy.


My companions were asked if they were married by a very pleasant usher who took our photograph. We had a good laugh about this.

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10 responses to “Die Entführung aus dem Serail at SF Opera”

  1. J. Marcher Avatar
    J. Marcher

    So are you saying after three back-to back successes (Porgy, Trov, Trittico) mediocrity has made its return to the War Memorial?

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  2. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    Perhaps. However, I’ll probably go to six of the seven performances.

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  3. Kozmika Avatar
    Kozmika

    Matthew Polezani sang the difficult role of Belmonte with great style. He appeared “stiff” because of the heavy brocaded coat, but this did not distract from his virtuosic singing. I much prefer Miss Dunleavy singing Mozart to Verdi. Yes, the top could be less shrill but I thought highly of her intensity and charactization of Constanze. The less said about Osmin, the better. And what of the vocal fry of the actor hired to portray Pasha? Here were two miscasting steps. Both were enjoyable to watch but their respective vocal shortcomings are not up to standards expected in a first-rate Opera House. As for the conductor, there were stretches of faulty ensemble between the pit and stage ensembles. Again, not up to San Francisco Opera standards.

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  4. Shawn Avatar
    Shawn

    I almost walked out of the opera after Miss Dunleavy first aria. The top notes just way too screaming and squeaky for me. And I wonder why she used to sing Queen of the Night. I guess Queen of the Night has all fast notes on the top, it is much effortless to sing if you have the high notes. I thought her 2nd and 3rd acts were much better though. Just wish she could have lighten up a little bit on the top and just let it flow. It is mot healthy to the voice the way she did it. Well – Easy say than do, I guess.

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  5. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    I have to disagree, I’ve seen Polenzani in his street clothes singing in rehearsal, and he still looks stiff to me. He has a gorgeous voice though.
    I don’t think I liked Dunleavy in Verdi either, though she was really interesting in Der Zwerg at LA Opera. She seems to have some intonation issues that aren’t helped by her shrillness.
    Considering Rose had a loss in his family, I’m impressed he can sing as well as he did, poor guy. At least he was more together for the second performance.
    In any case, I hope things improve as the run continues, as I do love this particular Mozart opera.

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  6. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    The high fast notes were the hardest for her, and that first aria just raised my hackles, it was so painful. The Queen of the Night doesn’t seem like a good fit for her at all. But she was much better in the second two acts!

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  7. upstairs tenor Avatar
    upstairs tenor

    I think the problem isn’t that Polenzani is stiff, but that Belmonte is stiff. It’s an awful role, dramatically: Four arias and all of them are on the subject “I love Constanze.” That’s pretty much his only emotion. He’s Mozart’s most boring tenor (yes, evan worse than Ottavio) and really hard to play convincingly.

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  8. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    That is true, it is a stiff sort of role. I have heard and seen Polenzani in Traviata and Barbiere, and something about his carriage in the shoulders looks uncomfortable.

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  9. Roberto Avatar
    Roberto

    I just came back from the 9/29 performance.
    Silvestrelli rocks!!! We were very lucky that Silvestrelli was in town and could fill in for Peter Rose. So far, this season belongs to him and Sondra Radvanovsky.
    Compared to the Idomeneo from a couple of years ago, I think that this production is a clear winner.
    I agree with you that Mary Dunleavy sang “Welcher Wechsel herrscht…” so beautifully that it really doesn’t matter if I found a problem here or there. Just for that aria, she deserved my respect.
    Of course that Mozart is Mozart, the best composer that ever lived and will ever live. But I don’t think that he was that crazy for tenors. My problem with Belomonte is the same as with Don Otavio, Tamino and other tenor roles: They are boring… It is still great music, don’t get me wrong, but for me it is very hard to be sold to Mozart tenors. A good Mozart tenor, IMO, needs to show strength and poetry. Most of them, including Matthew Polenzani, have a lot of poetry, but not enough of strength.
    The young Andrew Bidlack was all right.
    The duet between Silvestrelli and Anna Christy was extremely well executed, which surprised me because I thought that her voice could be too light for that.
    Overall, I recommend this opera.

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  10. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    I enjoyed Silvestrelli’s performance as well. Dunleavy had her best night so far, in my opinion.
    I love this opera, and I find Belmonte more interesting than Ottavio or Tamino. But yes, I can see what you mean.

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