ARTS NET, Tampa Bay*

So, a spoiled socialite in Paris grows tired of her rich but icy boyfriend, and yearns for a wild night out, which she finds… and she finds true love in a bar, then leaves the rich but icy boyfriend.  They run out of money.  Her new flame offers to marry her and whisk her off to a bucolic life in the country after she receives a message from the rich guy that he is willing to do anything to get her to return.  What does she do?  She goes back to the rich guy!  She tells the poor guy that she can’t marry him because she has a “past.”  Of course, nobody in the audience buys it… and the extinguished new flame lies weeping on the stage.  The end.  Did I spoil it for you?  HARDLY!

No one wrote tragic opera like Puccini.  No one.  Ok, Wagner had bellowing athletic tragic goddesses who hurled themselves on flames for love, and Donizetti had his impish tragic heroines who were misled and marked by love… but Puccini seemed to understand cruelty and emotion… and in La Rondine, the one who’s left weeping on the stage in this drama is the charming hero.

I do not speak Italian.  I’ve watched enough subtitled movies to understand some simple phrases, but you could tell me that I’m standing on a land mine in Italian, and I’d smile politely and say, “Grazie,” thinking you were paying me a compliment (I’m just like that).  The only way I can get through an Italian opera is to pre-read any of the many excellent librettos (operatic synopses) online.  When I searched for librettos for La Rondine (which means the swallow in Italian by the way), I found few.  Strange.  I also looked through my archives for arias from La Rondine.  None.  I began to think that maybe my archives weren’t as complete as I had thought, and looked online for MP3s of arias from La Rondine.  Ok, there are a few but they’re all really expensive.  Why?  The answer was provided in the Center Bill provided by the Straz Center (formerly the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center before a major contributor conceitedly named it after himself to garner undue attention… don’t places usually get named after someone after they die?).  Anyway… in the Program Notes, written by Gene Cropsey, we come to understand that the opera fell into disfavor in the 1920s because Puccini employed modern (for the time) orchestral motifs and mechanisms into a classic opera form.  How dare he!

My lack of Italian proved a problem during Act I.  The super-titles were going along just fine, providing an excellent translation… then they stopped.  Not only did they stop but a blue screen from the video projector, far larger than the size of the super-title screen, spilled across the stage, and a message saying “No Signal” was accompanied by a digital clock that began counting down from four minutes.  Suddenly, focus was completely drawn away from the brilliant performance onstage while the audience wondered, “What happens when the four minutes elapse and we reach 0:00?”  There were guffaws, one of which came from me, and non-Italian speaking patrons like me were totally lost… but rapidly we all realized it did not matter.  The music, provided by the Opera Tampa Orchestra, was flawless and breathtaking.  I found myself completely mesmerized and moved by the music; not only Puccini’s writing but the execution of the music by the orchestra under the direction of the brilliant Anton Coppola.  Coppola, the uncle of director Francis Ford Coppola, is now in his 90s and still a brilliant conductor.  Wow.

I sat two seats away from a woman who was talking about Anton Coppola knowingly… maybe she was his wife, or daughter, or assistant… I do not know.  I loved the insight that she gave one of her friends seated behind her that Coppola likes Grey Goose vodka with a twist of lime after a performance.  I thought to myself, “That sounds good!”  (No, Grey Goose is NOT a sponsor but please make them aware them that I can be plied with good vodka.)  I sincerely hope I am able to enjoy good vodka into my 90s!

Anyway, back to my review:  Suffice it to say that I was simply overwhelmed.  Completely.  Aside from technical difficulties with the super-titles, which were fixed fairly rapidly, there were no problems evident.  That, coming from someone as overtly critical as I am, says a great deal.

Part of my sensory overload came from my unfamiliarity with the work.  I am quite certain that the majority of the patrons there on Friday night, most of them well over sixty and way overdressed (or was I just woefully dressed-down?) had likely never heard this opera in their lifetime.  It is an opera I would like to become more familiar with, and I intend to download one of those expensive MP3s and study it further.  All of the singers could have sung all of the wrong words and hit all the wrong notes and I wouldn’t know.  But whatever they did sing and whatever notes they did hit were brilliant and beautiful and brought forth emotion.  Rochelle Bard, in the key role of Magda de Civry, was beautiful and charming and sang beautifully.  Her voice, although not yet developed in tone sufficiently to be considered excellent, is certainly not far from that mark.  Diana McVey, as Lizette (the maid), was sweet and funny and animated and also sang beautifully.  She was well-cast in the role, and I have no doubt we will hear much more from her.  Bruce Reed, as Prunier (the poet), was quite good, and in good voice.  Gerard Powers as Rugero (the interloper) sang masterfully and wore a wonderful toupee.  His acting in the final scene truly was excellent.  Marc Schnaible, as Rambaldo (the rich guy) really didn’t have much substance to work with in the opera but played an excellent singing mannequin, which was really what was required.  (I would have liked to hear more of his voice, actually).

Act II took place in a restaurant (or cabaret or public house)… a bawdy place with drink and food and can-can dancers and students.  The Opera Tampa Chorus had a chance to chime-in, and the staging was actually quite brilliant.  The backdrops for all scenes were a combination of simple physical set elements with digitally-projected backgrounds that were simply wonderful.  The Oceanside projected for Act III was so good that it caused members of the audience to gasp when the curtain opened.  I am suddenly a big fan of “virtual sets.”  I thumbed through the Center Bill to find out who was responsible for the excellent virtual sets, and couldn’t find a credit.  They deserve much credit.

What can I say… I found the entire evening to be completely entertaining and inspiring.  Why were there so few young people in the audience?  Why was the entire audience elderly, perfumed, hair-spray coiffed and poorly overdressed?  Anyone with an ear would enjoy such a performance, which should not be missed.  Opera doesn’t have to be a dress-up event of pretension and pomp any more than an art gallery opening needs to be an opportunity for people to impress each other.  The reputation of opera should not dictate who attends.  This opera should interest you, and it is an experience that is appropriate for everyone who has an appreciation for music.  Interested?  Put on something, buy a ticket, and watch… and listen.  Be overwhelmed.

Puccini’s La Rondine will be performed again on Sunday, April 25 at Carol Morsani Hall at the Straz Center (Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center) in Tampa.  Click HERE for the Opera Tampa website, ticketing, and further information.