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Wednesday, September 10, 2003
Last night, I went to see Alcina on its opening night at the NYC Opera. I must say it was a noble effort, but ultimately, I'm not sure it was a successful one.
There were some difficulties in the direction. I was sitting in the orchestra section off to the side. While I don't normally expect every vocalist to be facing way all the time, there were an inordinate number of times when the performers' backs were turned to me. It didn't help that some of the performers had trouble with the material, and consequently had trouble, at times, projecting. There were a great number of scales in the arias, as well as calls for tremlos in the voices. Some of the vocalists seemed better able to handle it than others. In particular, the tenor seemed to be in over his head.
There was also a problem with one of the props. The mirror, which was used in about half the scenes, had a very reflective back. It was a large, rectangular mirror that many of the actors held up as they moved around the stage. This caused the back of the mirror to reflect the stage lights into the audiences eyes. If this was done intentionally for some kind of effect, the effect was to annoy me.
Overall, the set design, costumes and lighting were spectacular. There was an excellent example during the first act of how you can refelct the light into the audience and make it work. There was a small house made of glass that the cast members spun around during a song. The twirling glass shimmered light throughout the theater. It was breathtaking, and more importantly, it was not irritating.
I should also point out that the subject matter and the libretto were both rich and textured. The good guys aren't always good, and the bad guys aren't always bad. These characters are people, as flawed and heroic as anyone can be.
Some of these issues, like the direction mishaps and the annoying mirror, will be handled as they get more comfortable with the opera (this was, as I understand it, the first time the NYC Opera performed Alcina). Others, like the tenor in over his head, might not go away with time.
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