‘Roméo et Juliette’ charming despite glitches in singing
Vocal coaching of soprano in lead role mars performance
One often hears that it’s unfair to compare the operas of “Romeo and Juliet” or “Hamlet” with the original plays. Well, yes and no. Comparisons are inevitable, fair or not. Any adaptation of the plays by the author who wrote under the name Shakespeare will decidedly, sometimes overwhelmingly, come up short.
But does that make them unworthy of notice?
In the case of Gounod’s “Roméo et Juliette,” which opened at the Santa Fe Opera on Saturday night, certainly not. The opera has an integrity unto itself, as well as some beautiful melodies.
Gounod’s version is clearly a 19th century Romantic interpretation of the story, and for one thing, the humor and especially the bawdy jokes with which the original play is replete have been thoroughly excised. The exchange at the lovers’ first meeting, filled with contemporary innuendo, becomes a tame madrigal, for example. Beyond the literal translations of famous lines, much of the libretto is pure soap opera in quality.
There can be no doubt soprano Ailyn Pérez, recently having starred at the Metropolitan Opera, has an exceptional natural instrument. However, on opening night her technique proved insufficient to the production of high notes she attempted to deliver. Too many came out shrill or illformed, and that certainly should not be. Her vocal coach should be punished for crimes against humanity. She was most effective in the short, meditative passage after she learns that the mysterious stranger, to whom she is irresistibly attracted, is Romeo of the rival Montague family. Here she sings sweetly and naturally, and the effect is entrancing. Would that had continued through the entire evening.
As Roméo, tenor Stephen Costello brings to the stage a voice both strong and with razor-sharp intonation. But over-singing results in a harshness of tone that needn’t be there. The voice even began to crack at the end of the first half. He was at his best in the final tomb scene where, at a lower volume, the stridency all but disappeared.
Tim Mix launches a strong portrayal of the haughty and arrogant Lord Capulet. Raymond Aceto occasions command in the role of Frere Laurent (Friar Lawrence), though why he seemed to be running a medical clinic in the third act was more than a little odd. Emily Fons as Stephano, Roméo’s page (a trouser role), has an memorable moment in the aria “Que fais-tu” in which he likens the Capulets to vultures.
SFO Music Director Harry Bicket conducts the excellent orchestra, well-mitigating the moments of over-sentimentality that pop up now and again.
Staging is generally effective and efficient, especially considering the many scene changes involved. For example, the opening funeral costumes for the female chorus are quickly stripped off to reveal party clothes underneath. The following clandestine scenes take place in front of rows of movable coat closets.
But particularly puzzling were the hundred or so memorial names, neither Capulet nor Montague but mostly English, in squares along the semicircular wall that opens the opera.