Review: A sail pokes nonsense. The barber of Seville in Prague is rather average
If you want to have fun and like the humor of so-called crazy comedies for witnesses, you will leave the new production of The Barber of Seville satisfied. The Prague National Theater Opera has prepared the first premiere of the season with a clear intention: it offers the popular title in a straightforward package, which, apart from a few jokes, does not add or invent anything to the work, but also does not look for anything in it.
Above all, bel canto experts will probably wriggle, but there are few of them and, moreover, they have a minimum of opportunities in Czech opera theaters for a real refinement of taste.
However, longing is in vain, just as Dr. Bartol, who wants to marry his young hiding place Rosina, is in vain. After all, the clumsy guardian sighs himself after the old days, when the singers were still singing. He remembers the neuter Giovanni Caffariello and his beautiful aria, which he also adjusts according to the old way to fit him better.
The author of the opera Gioacchino Rossini was a true connoisseur of singing and had a fantastic sense of detail, which unfortunately the new Prague production lacks. On Thursday, conductor Jaroslav Kyzlink paid more attention to fast tempos than to chiseling singing subtleties.
Rossini’s evergreen was first performed in 1816. At the time, it was unusual to watch pure comedies by so many composers, including brilliant ensembles and choir participation – Rossini was a progressive author in this regard.
From a singing point of view, on the contrary, he approached the matter the old-fashioned way. He followed the method of baroque opera and a brief nostalgic look back at the art of castrates has an autobiographical element. Rossini was impressed by their singing, and it is not clear from his operas that the era of heavy tenors, who are burning one tall c after another, is approaching.
At Rossini’s first place are the decoration, the changing color and the noble virtuosity of the voice, balanced in all positions. This is also an ideal that all the singers of the Prague premiere tried to approach.
Jiří Sulženko as Bartolo, Adam Plachetka in the role of Figaro and Petr Nekoranec as Count Almaviva. | Photo: ČTK
Tenor Petr Nekoranec has come a long way, whose lyrical voice and acting type are made for the role of a young and long-thought-out young count. He has a real sense of legato and cantilena – director Magdalena Švecová had his song Se il mio nome broken unnecessarily by comically conducting Adam Plachetka, who sang the title barber Figaro. The audience was obviously more focused on Plachetka’s gestures than on Nekoranc’s singing, really beautiful at the moment.
The barber, the peek, and the indispensable figure of the entire city often drew attention to each other a little more than was necessary – the production, with the original subtitle Vain Caution, could restore a temporary alternative, Sails pokes nonsense. The singer really put himself in the role, played for the audience that obviously loves him, and indulged him as much as possible. But often those jokes and performances were too much.
Of course, it’s hard to complain that the comedy is very funny, but Plachetka’s stage jokes are also accompanied by a monotonous vocal expression relying more on strength than virtuosity.
Icelandic mezzo-soprano Arnheiður Eiríksdóttir completed the central trio of characters like Rosina. A typical Rossini heroine – smart, independent for her time and shorter eccentric – would deserve a little more vocal volume for coloratura and flexible acting. But she was very good in style, which brought her closer to Nekoranec than to Plachetka.
From the singing point of view, the production gave the impression that the conductor Kyzlink leaves the performers to do everything in their own way. But perhaps the general unification of their style would deserve more attention than a constant urge to speed, which in the end will never replace energy and lacks real tension.
Especially from recitatives, sophistication was lost. It acts as a useless text, which the person trying to get rid of as quickly as possible. The Barber of Seville is an intriguing comedy, but above all it is a virtuoso bel canto opera.
On the right is Jiří Sulženko as Bartolo. | Photo: ČTK
A very good bassist, Jiří Sulženko, as a actor and singer, almost bit his tongue as Dr. Bartolo, when they tried to articulate the passage of Signorin, un’altra volta from their key arias, at a devilish tempo. Yes, it must be comical, it should be fast, but the singer should also at least get a chance to understand him.
Bartol’s companion and hypocritical owner, Basil Basil, gradually disappeared in the monotonous performance of bassist Roman Vocel – the gradual amplification of the aria of slander by no proper charge or gradation.
Directed by Magdalena Švecová, they focus on the interactions between the characters, and in the ensembles she sometimes resorted to hints of collective dances – as if she had recently failed to cope with the intertwining of parallel-functioning relationships and individual interests.
The production subscribed to the color of Seville and the genre of comedy dell’arte, from which the characters of The Barber of Seville are clearly derived. David Janošek’s discreet and imaginative scene, framed by traditional artistic motifs, as well as Kateřina Štefková’s sensitively stylized costumes contributed to this.
An excellent joke was Rosina’s skirt in the colors of Harlequin’s traditional clothes – it suggested a lot about the character of the characters.
Unfortunately, due to the musical production, the whole does not stand out above the average, which means that regardless of their level, even individual singers will not be saved. Their quality could be unified into a more convincing whole.
Gioachino Rossini: The Barber of Seville
Directed by: Magdalena Švecová
Director: Jaroslav Kyzlink
The National Theater, Prague, premiere on October 7, the next reruns on October 10, 14 and 17.