ART TALKS at The Artistic Forum

Stage setting.

THE STORY:

Even though Rusticana predated Pagliacci by two years (1890 and 1892 respectively) the two have been played together from the earliest performances in 1903. They are identified with ushering in the style of Italian opera, verismo, or real life. Both operas are about infidelity, jealousy, abandonment, despair and eventual murder. Pagliacci is about a flirtatious, philandering wife, Nedda; her lover, Silvio; and her husband, the tragic figure Canio, aka Pagliacci.

In two acts, I Pagliacci is brilliant in its simplicity. The first act: we are introduced to a traveling band of actors whose conflicted

feelings, self-doubts, and marital transgressions threaten to boil over leading to a result we know is certain to lead to a tragic ending. In the second act, the performers must put aside their personal grievances and suspicions and put on a show, a comedy, no less. While in the middle of the performance, however, and in line with the character he is playing, Canio, as Pagliacci, overcome with grief, confronts his wife, Nedda, with his accusations of infidelity – this time he is not acting. He demands that she give up the name of her lover; she refuses, resulting in a thoroughly devastated Pagliacci delivering on his promise. When Silvio enters, Pagliacci ends his life too – and the opera concludes with a mourning Pagliacci grieving “La commedia è finita!” – the comedy is finished.

Rusticana follows the same theme, not with a traveling band of actors, but in a simple village setting. This time it is the husband, Turiddu, who is cheating on his wife, Santuzza, with his friend Alfio’s wife, Lola. Love gives way to grief and grief turns to revenge as a sorrowful and abandoned Santuzza comes to the sad realization that her husband will never again return her affection and that, Lola, is without remorse. An off stage duel between Alfio and Turiddu ends in Turiddu’s death, and the opera ends, as these things do, with all mourning the loss.

WHERE I VIEWED IT:

Harwich High School auditorium

The Harwich High School auditorium (theater) is not the Met or Boston’s Majestic. As theaters go it was adequate, inviting and quite suitable for the performance with only mi-nor distractions. At $35 for the best tickets, seating on a first come first serve basis, soon filled the hall. Acoustically, the sound was as good as anywhere. Lighting was well con-trolled and quite effective as was the simple set designs. Prior to the performance Dr. George Arthur, Producer, gave a humorous and informative lecture on the operas about to be performed to a standing room audience in a separate room – I was one of those standing. I would gladly attend in this forum again. Viewing from all places in the hall was good, and seating, in comparison to most opera houses, was roomy.

THE PERFORMANCES:

If Pagliacci and Rusticana are reflective of the kind of opera routinely staged by the Cape Cod Opera, I will state without equivocation that Cape Cod Opera is as good as anything I have seen in the best opera houses in the northeast – and I have been around. These performances, particularly, were delivered in a way that you would expect to see in the major cities. Ray Bauwens as the heartsick Canio in Pagliacci, and the philandering Turridu in Rusticana, was simply astounding. His strong tenor voice contained depth and projection that at one point was so powerful and laden with emotion that his activity on stage in Pagliacci piqued the interest of members of the orchestra. I know I sat in the front row. Specifically, it was the moment at the end of Act One when Canio, as Pagliacci, filled with grief over the abandonment by his wife, Nedda, falls to the stage and weeps, his voice descending from tenor to deep baritone in such a way that his wails overwhelm one’s senses. Magnificent!. Cheryl Medeiros Nancarrow, as his wife Nedda, sang her role beautifully and playfully and, again, in the second Act, specifically, used her body movements and voice expertly to convey the nonchalance of a wife un-aware that her game is about to come undone. Nancarrow, is a powerful soprano who sang with effortless perfection delivering the kind of amazing power, vulnerability and tawdriness that gave her character in two acts, wonderful, full bodied dimensions. Mark Wilson, as Tonio, the jester whose scorned advances to Nedda, drive him to divulge the affair between Nedda and Silvio, is what being a baritone is all about. His voice filled the auditorium without overwhelming, and his every move on stage was studied perfection. He’s quite a good actor. John Whitlesey, tenor, as Silvio, the lover, and E. Mark Murphy, tenor, as Beppe, one of the stage actors, delivered supporting performances that were equally flawless.

In Rusticana, Bauwens again delivered mightily and no more need be said. This tenor, soars! Jodi Karem, soprano, as Santuzza, gave perhaps one of the finest soprano performances I have witnessed, not just stylistically, but in every other way – acting, emotion, facial expression, body movement. She seemed not to perform the role of sorrowful, betrayed wife, but rather became one on stage. Karem clearly has the star quality, depth, power and stage presence that can lead all eyes to her when she is one stage, and that’s to take nothing from the other wonderful cast in this piece. Jena Eison, mezzo, in the role of Lola, performed admirably as did Judith Skinner in the role of Mamma Lucia and Gene Heard as Alfio. Finally, but not last, there is the orchestra, conducted by Dr. Thomas Vasil. Comprised of twelve free lance musicians, the orchestra added body to the soul of what was occurring on stage. It was surprisingly full and deep in its presentation and delivered the wonderful sound that only live performance can meter out. They performed superbly. Kudos to the chorus as well. This fine group of singers may need only to gain in confidence when on stage. There were moments when, it seemed, they held back, both in their delivery and especially in their stage movements. You become particularly aware of this when they are in the presence of such powerhouses as Bauwens, Karem, for example.

The bottom line is this: The best kept secret on Cape Cod may very well be this gem of a professional opera company, the Cape Cod Opera. When the secret is out, they will need an auditorium not suited for 400 but 4,000.

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Our reviewer, Paul Walkowski, is the writer and publisher of OperaOnline.us. His online opera ezine covers topics that may not be found in the mainstream journals, and approaches those subjects perhaps a little differently. OperaOnline.us strives to give its readers a sense of what it was and is like to be a member of an opera audience.