Teatro Grattacielo
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10023
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La Farsa Amorosa

OperaNews Online by Eric Myers

Teatro Grattacielo gives New York opera buffs an annual autumn treat—one concert performance per year of a rare verismo-era work unlikely to be staged by the city's major companies. This time it was Riccardo Zandonai's decidedly obscure La Farsa Amorosa (seen November 12), which received its world première at the Teatro Reale in Rome in 1933 with Mafalda Favero, Nono Bertelli and Salvatore Baccaloni in the cast. The last time it was heard anywhere was in Trieste in 1954. Grattacielo's performance marked its North American première, and a delighful surprise it was.

Best known for the hothouse, Dante-inspired Francesca da Rimini, Zandonai was a master of orchestral color, but his operas were often short on memorable tunes. La Farsa proved a happy exception: it's full of catchy melodies that arise organically from the vivid, witty orchestration. Zandonai's comedy, with a libretto by Arturo Rossato, is based on Pedro Antonio de Alarcòn y Ariza's Spanish play The Three-Cornered Hat.

...As Don Ferrante, the mayor, baritone Peter Castaldi made the most of his comic moments, but the rôle ideally wants a more imposing sound. Tenor Todd Geer and soprano Monica Yunus both had stage presence to burn and made a charming pair of newlyweds. Geer has a gorgeous, soft-grained spinto; the news that he is to sing his first Canio next year gives cause for concern that he may be rushing things. Yunus specializes in light lyric roles, but her soprano has a huge, healthy bloom on top that effortlessly overrides Zandonai's large orchestra. In the small but telling role of Donna Mercedes, the mayor's wife, Anna Tonna wielded a firmly-projected, oaken mezzo sound that made one wish Zandonai had written more for her character.

In the supporting cast, character tenor Steven Goldstein was a standout as Don Gerrante's weasley lackey, Frulla. Goldstein is not only a singer but an actor who was a founding member of David Mamet's Atlantic Theater Company, and his theatrical experience showed in every phrase and gesture. Bass Eric D. Johnson and tenor John Tiranno were amusingly annoyed figures as the mayor's accomplices, and Tracy Rhodus, in the sketchy role of a wet-nurse, lent a silvery soprano gleam to several ensembles.

I Cantori New York Chorus sang lustily under the direction of Mark Shapiro and David Wroe's conducting proved delightful, not only to hear but to watch; his alert involvement, clean, sharp movements and obvious emotional connection to the score enhanced the feeling that La Farsa Amorosa had lain undeservedly forgotten far too long.

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