A Barber with Style

 

The Barber of Seville

Opera San Jose

November 11, 2023

It’s pretty rare to find an opera production that checks off absolutely every box, but Opera San Jose’s definitely got one. Their Barber is vocally scintillating, brilliantly funny, and madly entertaining.

Beginning at the beginning, the overture just makes me smile. Regardless of certain (ahem!) animated connections, or the fact that it was appropriated from Rossini’s earlier opera, Aureliano in Palmira, those familiar, playful passages warm up an operagoer’s heart in the most delightful fashion.

First thing, we’ve got a gang of street musicians, skulking about as if they’re about to pull a bank heist. Their maestro, Fiorello, is bass-baritone Joshua Hughes, the first of many solid supporting players, which has become an OSJ trademark. After a comically loud tuning up from the large orchestra fifteen feet below them, this modest octet does a fine job mimicking their parts as their client, the Count Almaviva, sings a serenade to his mysterious ladylove.

And what a voice Almaviva has! For ‘tis Joshua Sanders, the selfsame tenor whose lyric tones graced OSJ’s recent Romeo et Juliette. Sanders plays Almaviva in a nicely assertive fashion, diving into the screwball personae he uses to sneak into his lady’s place of residence. The best is a hippy-dippy rendition of the music teacher Don Alonso.

And then, as if that weren’t enough, in comes this barber guy to brag about his many skills and connections. Baritone Ricardo Jose Rivera performs the famed “Largo factotum” as if he were merely conversing, making it up on the spot. It’s the perfect approach to a probably-overexposed piece, and just breathtaking to watch. Rivera performs similar tricks throughout the evening, persistently pushing his high-speed patters to the red line.

At this point, a little tired from laughter, I’m thinking, Come on, OSJ! You’re running up the score. You’re showing off. Ah, but things are just beginning.

Because in comes Nikola Adele Printz, the gender-fluid mezzo so fondly remembered for OSJ’s first post-pandemic, in-person production, the 2021 Dido and Aeneas. Printz’ vocal weaponry is almost impossible to describe, ramping gradually from the delicate lyricism of “Una voce poco fa” to its pointed cabaletta, “Io sono docile.” Rosina declares herself to be a meek, submissive lamb, but one who can grow tiger’s claws when crossed. (That all-important “but,” or Italian “ma,” is the center of the piece, and delivered this time with a stab to Rosina’s needlework.) Printz’ cadenzas are moderate, but their top notes are anything but, so assured and stunning that they send chills down one’s spine. Printz also exhibits a superhuman range, dipping into baritone in a later scene to make fun of Rosina's male pursuers.

A more gradual appreciation comes for Dale Travis as Bartolo, the creepy guardian hell-bent on scamming his young ward into marrying him. Travis is opera royalty, recipient of the San Francisco Opera Medal Award, and has been playing these kinds of parts at least since 1987, when he sang Don Pasquale at OSJ. His portrayal of Bartolo is first-class schmuckery, delivering lines of patter that would send the layperson into a coma all while pretending to be a frail old man.

The other star of the production is Adrian Linford’s set, a series of sliding walls that act as a kind of travelogue. A few seconds of tugging and you’re at Figaro’s barbershop, a village square, Bartolo’s front door, Bartolo’s interior. One of the more brilliant moments has the beleaguered Bartolo nudging aside one wall of the village square while the other follows him from behind like an eager puppy.

This all matches well with Stephen Lawless’s innovative direction. Lawless and lighting designer Thomas C. Hase take the stock Rossini device of the shock-frozen cast (singing of their confusion while standing mannequin-still) and turns it surreal. Lawless’s chaos-theory approach reminds one of the Marx Brothers, except for the Act I finale, the sliding panels closing in on the performers from all sides, which recalls the dumpster scene from Star Wars.

The strong supporting players continue with bass-baritone Vartan Gabrielian, who plays con artist Basilio as a bedraggled Father Guido Sarducci (younger readers, ask your parents). He makes his entrance as a “blind” beggar, shaking down the locals. Mezzo Courtney Miller continues her stellar work in the domestics field, and how beautifully democratic is it that Rossini gives the disapproving maid Berta her own aria, “Il vecchiotto cerca moglie”?

Linford’s costume designs are all impeccable, but the clear standout is Rosina’s dress, butter-yellow with blue piping, tiers of lace descending gracefully to the floor. Wig designer Y. Sharon Peng, meanwhile, gets her own one-woman exhibition as Figaro shows what wonders he has worked on his male customers.

Through Nov. 26 at California Theatre, 345 S. First Street, San Jose. $55-$195. 408/437-4450. operasj.org. In Italian with supertitles in English and Spanish.

Michael J. Vaughn is a 40-year opera critic and author of 29 novels, the most recent of which, Punks for the Opera, is available at Amazon.com.

Image: Joshua Sanders as Count Almaviva, Nikola Adele Printz as Rosina. Photo by David Allen.