It took some time to gather everyone onstage for the curtain call of Los Angeles Opera’s lavish revival of Charles Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet on Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
Then, in a blur of white, soprano Amina Edris, the production’s Juliet, ran on from one side as tenor Duke Kim, her Romeo, ran on from the other. In a moment of exuberant joy, Edris threw herself into Kim’s arms, spinning around in an embrace.
It’s a shame that the revival’s director, Kitty McNamee, wasn’t able to inspire that degree of charismatic chemistry throughout the performance. But perhaps it was unrealistic to think that LA Opera’s third presentation of Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet would ignite the kind of incendiary passion that had people gasping in 2005 when Rolando Villazón and Anna Netrebko took on the title roles and again in 2011 when Vittorio Grigolo and Nino Machaidze did.
But there was Edris, in her company debut, who proved to be a magnetic Juliet. She delivered a performance that combined dexterous, pinpoint coloratura with lilting lyricism, an abundance of youthful romantic verve, and just the right touch of naive innocence. And in the climactic final aria, she manifested a level of emotional maturity that has long been the signature of great Juliets.
Northern California audiences had the opportunity to experience what Edris is capable of as a Shakespearean heroine when she starred in San Francisco Opera’s production of John Adams’s Antony and Cleopatra in 2022. And judging by the strength of Saturday’s performance, one hopes her future includes many subsequent appearances in Los Angeles.
Would that her Romeo was capable of producing the same dramatic fervor without all the emotive cliches. Boyish he is and ardent, rather like a puppy. His light, clear-voiced tenor is produced without strain for the most part, and he is capable of navigating Gounod’s challenging score. What Kim lacks is an aura of bravado — the type of heartthrob intensity his predecessors produced in abundance.
Bass Wei Wu is a resonant Friar Laurence, but the motivation behind his willingness to participate in the young lovers’ conspiracy is vague at best. Tenor Yuntong Han is more puffed up than fiery as Tybalt.
Baritone Justin Austin captures the freewheeling spirit of Mercutio, and his “Queen Mab” aria, with its jesting portrait of men bewitched, was a first-act highlight. His death scene, however, was awkwardly directed, ignoring Shakespeare’s explicit description. And what kind of Romeo brings a gun to a knife fight?
Never one to pass up a chance to inject a pants role into an opera, Gounod and his librettists introduced the volatile Stephano, here sung with a keen edge by mezzo-soprano Laura Krumm. Bass-baritone Craig Colclough comes off as a blustery, pompous Lord Capulet, while Margaret Gawrysiak sings nicely but plays rather clueless as Juliet’s maid, Gertrude.
Opening night was conducted by Domingo Hindoyan, who imbued Gounod’s score with its requisite French richness, fluctuating between romantically passionate passages and dramatic outbursts that were decidedly rough around the edges.
Romeo and Juliet has proved to be one of Shakespeare’s most flexible creations — any period will do. LA Opera’s staging places Gounod’s work in the 1860s, the era of the opera’s premiere — a conflict-ridden Verona with women gowned in voluminous hoopskirts and men in swallow-tailed coats and elaborate military finery, all costumed by Tim Goodchild. The multi-unit set by John Gunter, with its skeletal abundance of arches and staircases, serves well, but it would serve equally well for any of 100 other operas.
LA Opera’s production of Charles Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet runs through Nov. 23.
