Star-Studded Singfest

Handel's Italian operas live through great singing, more so than many of their bel canto brethren. The subject matter and sensibility of their stories can seem foreign to us, and the arias are founded on emotions and metaphors that recur in every one of the operas. So if we're to appreciate the singular intensity of the music Handel composed in his operas, we need to hear them sung by superb artists who can thrill us with their virtuosity and make each aria dramatically specific.With its production of Ariodante, which opened on Sunday afternoon, San Francisco Opera brings together a near dream cast, all of whom faced down the score's challenges and portrayed full-blooded characters.

All photos by Terrence McCarthy

Ariodante was the first new opera that Handel produced in his new digs at the Covent Garden Theater, premiering on January 8, 1735. While it was forgotten for two centuries after its successful first run, it has proved to be one of the more popular works in the ongoing Handel revival, possibly because of its vocal variety. Handel wrote important parts for a tenor and a bass in this work, because most of his talent from the previous season had been signed away by the new Opera of the Nobility company, ensconced in the King's Theater, which Handel's company had occupied for years before. Like two other Handel operas, Ariodante is based on a story from Ludovico Ariosto's 16th-century epic poem, Orlando furioso. The knight Ariodante is set to marry the princess Ginevra and inherit the throne from the King of Scotland, who has no male heir. The evil Polinesso, spurned by Ginevra, convinces her handmaiden, Dalinda, to dress as her mistress and admit him into the royal apartments in order to trick Ariodante, who secretly observes the scheming. Much woe ensues, but, as usual, the opera lifts toward a satisfactory conclusion in the third act, with the deceiver suitably punished and virtue rewarded.

The show belongs mainly to Ariodante and Ginevra. SFO scored by engaging Susan Graham and Ruth Ann Swenson for these roles. Graham took the full measure of Ariodante in a commanding performance. "Scherza infida" (The unfaithful woman jests), the aria by which we have come to judge modern interpreters, had the weight and power it needs, but without undue heaviness in tempo or rhythm. By the middle of the aria, Graham had curled up practically in a fetal position, singing brilliantly with her face nearly buried in the floor. But Graham also tossed off the fireworks of "Con l'ali di costanza" (With the wings of constancy) with aplomb, and gave a sumptuously lyrical account of "Cieca notte," Ariodante's sorrowful third-act aria. She also was the most vivid actor onstage.

Past Mistress Takes on a New Role

Swenson is now an old hand at Handel, though this is the first time she has sung Ginevra. Her voice has developed richness to go with the bright, lithe qualities it possessed from the beginning. That richness lent depth to Ginevra's brief madness in Act 2, as well as the character's dignified sufferings. Swenson easily flowed through the part's coloratura passages and high notes, blending them evenly into the legato line and without distorting her enunciation. She should be giving classes on that aspect of singing technique.

SFO's general director, David Gockley, obviously intended to score a coup by casting the secondary roles from Mark Minkowski's lauded recording of Ariodante, for DG Archiv. And had the contralto Ewa Podles not been scratched at the last minute, he would have succeeded. Podles' replacement, however, Sonia Prina, is a seasoned pro on the European early music scene, but with enough voice to carry through the War Memorial Opera House, though not without a little audible effort. She made a convincing Polinesso, singing clearly and musically, sprinting through some wicked triplet passagework without faltering. As a late arrival, she did not appear as comfortable in her role as the others, though in later performances she may take more pleasure from Polinesso's self-regarding scheming.

As Dalinda, Veronica Cangemi sang well, but rose especially to the challenge of her angry aria, "Neghittosi or voi" (What will you do now, lazy heavens?). Richard Croft was an excellent Lurcanio, Ariodante's brother, who actually plays an important role in the plot and has a showstopping second-act aria. Eric Owens was luxury casting as the King. Conductor Patrick Summers kept things going at a good clip, drawing rhythmically sharp playing from the orchestra, despite some regrettable flubs from the horns. The new production shows off some highly original and interesting designs. John Conklin's angled unit set defined the space in interesting ways. Michael Stennett's colorful and ample costumes were designed to take over the stage and provide most of the visual interest in an otherwise spare production. The extra fabric was especially useful to the female characters, who created spreading puddles of fabric every time they dropped to the floor. The large, puffy sleeves looked fine on the taller members of the cast, like Graham, but they created an unfortunate foreshortening effect on smaller actors. Prina's costume wore her, making her seem smaller than her actual stature, especially when viewed from above. She tried to make up for it by swirling her cape, but the extra activity made her seem boyish, not menacing. John Copley directed a simple, direct show, which managed, most of the time, to supply character motivation and to keep the opera moving along. For the singing alone, this is a production that has bel canto lovers leaping out of their seats — and with good reason.