OPERA NEO PERFORMS A MOZART RARITY
Mozart's late operas — “Marriage of Figaro,” “Don Giovanni,” “Così fan tutte” and “The Magic Flute” — are some of the most beloved in the repertory. We imagine him tossing off music, perfectly formed as pen hits the paper. But consider that Mozart wrote 13 stage works before “Figaro.” By then, he was an experienced theatrical composer.
Companies sometimes produce Mozart works that pre-date “Figaro,” but “La Finta Giardiniera” (“The Pretend Gardener”) is rarely seen. Mozart composed this, his eighth stage work, when he was 18. The memorable tunes of his late operas may be lacking, but it has deft musical characterizations, harmonic changes beyond anything in his instrumental music at the time, and effective finales in Acts I and II that look ahead to “Figaro” and “Così.”
Opera Neo, in collaboration with the Hungarian State Opera, made a strong case for its musical merits at Bread & Salt on Saturday. It assembled an excellent cast, chief among them soprano Öznur Tülüoglu as a noblewoman (Violante) stabbed and left for dead by her lover (Count Belfiore), now posing as a gardener (Sandrina) to enact revenge. Mozart's music reflects her changing roles as either nobility or servant, requiring stylistic versatility and acting chops.
Tülüoglu's ravishing voice never faltered. Her compelling stage presence was complicated by Eszter Lázár's hand-jiving choreography and director András Almási-Tóth's conception of Violante as a vampire (more on this later). She took it all in stride.
Artúr Szeleczki was a radiant tenor. His Belfiore was a serial groper, an ignobleman as it were. Andrea Jorös, a darkly lustrous soprano, was the Count's fiancée, Arminda. In most productions, she keeps Belfiore at arm's length, demanding to be treated as a noblewoman before she will marry. Here she was a pushover.
Baritone Kyle White was Violante's servant, Nardo. His ample low register supported this bass role. Boglárka Brindás charmed as Serpetta, the prototype for later Mozart sassy servants like Despina. Her runs were dazzling and high notes she popped out in her final aria were brilliant.
The part of Ramiro was originally for a castrato, perforce sung by mezzos these days. Anna Trombetta's powerful, pearly voice was well-suited to her part, which for this production was provocatively gender fluid, abruptly trading heels and trousers for a skirt, and referred to by others as “they.”
Tenor Eric Laine was the flustered, bumbling mayor who winds up partnerless at the end and decides, like Cary Grant in “Bringing Up Baby,” to “just go gay all of a sudden.”
Peter Kozma conducted an ensemble that included period horns, trumpets and timpani. The strings and winds valiantly fought the stifling humidity in Bread & Salt, but sometimes lost.
The set design featured three enormous flowers, whose stamen were frequently stroked and smacked suggestively. I could buy that, but why were Nardo and Violante vampires?
I don't know. Transylvania used to be part of Hungary. Maybe Hungarian State Opera puts vampires in everything.
It was a ludicrous concept that only really worked at the end of Act II. In the libretto, Belfiore and Violante suddenly go mad, believing themselves to be mythological figures. It makes little sense to modern audiences.
Instead of madness, Violante bit Belfiore and turned him into a vampire. Nardo sucks Serpetta's blood. Here the vampirism lent something to the plot, but try not to think too hard about it.
I prefer thinking about Öznur Tülüoglu, who hopefully is destined for bigger things.