by Marvin J. Ward

Northamton, MA, 22 November 2009.  This weekend, Commonwealth Opera launched its reincarnation as a completely professional company, after 33 years as an amateur one with pros hired to sing the lead roles, by offering 2 performances (this afternoon and last Friday evening) of a production of Mozart’s 2-act, 2.5 hour comic chamber opera Così fan tutte that can only be described as brilliant if one is asked to characterize it in a single word.

The company announced its transformation in June when it named a new Executive Director, Joseph Summer of Worcester, and his daughter Eve of Arlington as Assistant ED.  She was the stage director of this production, and her extensive experience in theatre and ballet made itself vividly evident.  Several regional opera companies have recently closed their doors as a result of the current economic recession: Connecticut Opera in Hartford, Opera Providence in RI, and Granite State Opera in Concord, NH.  So it is a bold action for this organization to attempt to head in the opposite direction.

The 30-piece orchestra in the pit was that of Arcadia Players, a period instrument band under the baton of Ian Watson, its Artistic Director, that is based here and regularly gives historically informed performances.  Watson was musical director of the production, and conducted from the harpsichord, the 31st instrument.  We had, therefore, an “authentic” performance of the music in a building that opened in 1891, when the 1790 work was already 100 years old, building whose acoustic was designed for opera, and it served this one well.  Everything was crystal clear without the need for amplification to project the sound to the 800 seats, unfortunately not all filled.

Everything else about the production was 100+ years younger still: early 21st century.  When the curtain went up in the Belle Époque interior of the theatre, we found ourselves poolside in the Italian villa of sisters, Fiordiligi, sung by soprano Andrea Chenoweth, and Dorabella (Glorivy Arroyo, mezzo-soprano), replete with chaises longues, bar, and table with rolled bright gold towels on its lower shelf, whose décor is distinctly modern chic.  So are the costumes, from mini-skirts to platform shoes for the ladies and shorts and sporty white pants for the gents.  The set, designed by Julia Noulin-Merat, was created for this production.

The story involves 2 engaged couples whose men Ferrando, sung by tenor Joshua Kohl, and Guglielmo (Paul Soper, baritone), are discussing the fidelity of their women.  The gent of a 3rd pair, Don Alfonso, sung by tenor Philip Lima, turns the debate into a bet by saying all women are unfaithful – the title translates literally “All women do that,” and that the sisters are no exception.  His accomplice, Despina, sung by soprano Mary Ellen Assue, is a servant of the sisters.  It was a brilliant stroke of casting that Don Alfonso towered over Despina, thus adding another level to the comedy of the somewhat outlandish story and the humor of the text.  To test the opposing theories, the 2 gents pretend to be called away to the military, leave after the women swear to remain faithful, then return disguised as Turks or Indians visiting the region, and attempt to seduce each other’s fiancée, both of whom ultimately fall into the trap.  A fake consumption of poison helps the men make the women succumb.  Despina, disguised as a doctor, accomplishes a miraculous cure; the sisters accept marriage proposals and tie the knot with Despina, disguised as a justice of the peace, reading the nuptial contracts and performing the ceremony.  A band announces the return of the militia; the Turks/Indians disappear and return as their former selves, confronting the sisters with the contracts.  The ladies ask forgiveness and all ends well.

The performances were all excellent.  Voices were well matched, with none overpowering the others, and blended well.  There was much more developed acting than in most productions of this work, very modern and very natural, with some subtle gestures, others quite broad, that nonetheless never ventured into the slapstick, as some productions that I have seen were wont to do.  Each character had her/his moment to shine in this domain as well as in the vocal, and each was individualized; none were treated as stock characters or stereotypes, stereotypical plot conventions notwithstanding.  It was up-to-date, but tasteful.

The English surtitles, translated from Lorenzo da Ponte’s Italian libretto by Eve Summer, used clever, witty, hip 21st century colloquial expressions and slang.  A couple of examples: gorgeous eyes were “pretty peepers”; the disguised gents invited the ladies to “take us for a test drive.”  The audience was often in stitches over the sexy, yet not a bit vulgar, language, which startled at first, because it was so different from what you usually get, but ultimately seemed as natural as the sense of the original, and fit the music well, the set and production to a T.

It was thus in many ways a performance full of anachronisms and fun, yet nothing seemed forced, exaggerated, or out of place.  The cast was multi-cultural with an Hispanic-American and 2 African-Americans.  It was all very un-18th century Viennese, but not an abrasive or jarring update.  A final detail: the Academy of Music has just advanced into the 21st cent itself, with a newly added marquee and a message board beneath it at its rear, flush against the building.  It is very tastefully designed, simple and elegant but not obtrusive, neither detracting from, or defacing of the neo-classical European-opera-house type façade.