The Opera Tattler

* Notes *

The summer season of San Francisco Opera opened with a busy production of The Barber of Seville last week, with an alternate cast that performed yesterday. The proceedings under Maestro Benjamin Manis were a bit messy, with some synchronization issues between the orchestra and the singers.

Emilio Sagi’s very bright 2013 production has so much going on, what with people entering from underneath the stage and flamenco dancing and streamers being thrown every which way. The set from Llorenç Corbella has some moving parts but is mostly a building with windows, and sometimes we are outside the building and sometimes we are in it. I was partial to Pepa Ojanguren’s costumes, as there were lots of bright colors and flounces and ruffles.

Manis had the orchestra sounding lively, but there were lots of problems staying all together, especially in the first half. I can’t imagine hearing this one at the back of the balcony with the score, it seems like I would simply get annoyed.

The youthful cast (pictured, photograph by Cory Weaver) features lots of pretty, light voices. Tenor Jack Swanson (Count Almaviva) has a lovely sweetness, but does not always cut through the orchestra. Baritone Justin Austin is a charming Figaro, again quite an attractive voice but not a lot of heft. Of the leads I preferred Hongni Wu as Rosina, her clean sound has a dark warmth and I could always hear her.

Bass-baritone Patrick Carfizzi is a very funny Doctor Bartolo, and his physicality was hilarious for this role. Bass Riccardo Fassi, who sings all the performances of Don Basilio, was also perfectly humorous. He did great with his aria “La calunnia è un venticello.” I always love hearing mezzo-soprano Catherine Cook sing Berta, I think she’s the Berta I have heard the most, in fact. Again, she’s a fine singing actor, and her sense of physical humor is spot on.

* Tattling *

A phone rang when the chorus entered at the end of Act II.