If the horrors of war had the final say in last night’s Two Women, then tonight’s Wexford Festival Opera billing of Zoraida di Granata had a more cheerful message: love triumphs in the end. And it wasn’t the only thing that was triumphant: this whole production charmed from start to finish. Zoraida di Granata is a very early work of Donizetti and his first major success. Alphabetically, it occupies one of the last places in the operatic canon, but musically it’s a cracker and shows the sophistication of the young Donizetti at his craft.
This being Donizetti, we expect a typical melodramatic plot and we get it. The opera is set in 15th century Granada where the Almuzir, the King of Granada, attempts to separate the beautiful heroine Zoraida and her beloved Abenament, a general in the King’s army, but his machinations come to naught. After many vicissitudes the king repents and the lovers unite forming a happy end.
Director Bruno Ravella moves the Moorish kingdom of Granada to nowadays and since the politics which inform the plot are incidental, this works perfectly well. The sets by Gary McCann are simple and show a war-torn Moorish castle, replete with arches several stories high. A huge wooden contraption descends and ascends regularly throughout the opera, though its function remains somewhat a mystery. The costumes, are effective: King Almuzir is in a sleek presidential suit, while the soldiers are dressed in contemporary military gear. Zoraida sports a simple blue dress for the most part, changing to white in the dream-like sequences.
The principal trio of singers are all top-notch, with Irish soprano Claudia Boyle giving an excellent portrayal as the eponymous heroine. Donizetti sets the tessitura for the soprano high, at times scarily high, though that did not daunt Boyle as she soared with great technical brilliance to the high D. She captured both the innocence and passionate intensity of Zoraida with her highly nuanced and expressive voice. She possesses a golden tone and finely graded dynamic control; what impressed most was her ability to use both of these things to deeply move us. Her aria in Act II, as she laments her fate in the orange grove, was heart-melting, while the brilliance of her coloratura whether alone or with others was always exhilarating.
Matteo Mezzaro was a solid Abenamet. If his acting was slightly wooden at times (such as the opening and the dungeon scenes), he made up for it with the sweet heft of his tenor voice. His voice was at its best with his impassioned declarations of love or when bemoaning his beloved’s fickleness.
On a vocal and acting level, Zoraida would have done well to have cast her lot with the villainous king Almuzir (Konu Kim). Right from the start Kim displayed a fiery spinto that was capable of keeping its power and tone quality throughout the evening. Between harrumphing with rage as his machinations were foiled and pleading with affection to try and win the immovable Zoraida, menace lurked behind every note Kim sang. He also possessed excellent comic timing, consequently making us rather sympathetic to his cause.
Zoraida’s maid, Ines, is a more minor role, but rising Irish star Rachel Croash did get a chance to shine as she laments the Moors attack on her people. She displayed a silky lyricism and an equally fine capacity to reach the stratospherically high notes.
The opera contains many wonderful trio and quartets which grow in intensity as the action progresses, but the musical highlight was in the final section of Act I where the mellifluous tapestry of the three main voices against the back drop of the chorus made for an exhilarating and memorable end to the first half. The male half of the WFO chorus were the only ones in action tonightand they sang with gusto as soldiers, at times confused as to why they should arrest Abenamet, at other times why they shouldn’t just overthrow Almuzir and elect Abenamet king.
As the melodramatics continued apace on stage, conductor Diego Ceretta was holding it all together in the pit. If there was the odd infelicity of intonation in the woodwinds, on the whole, the orchestra of WFO made the music fizz with energy and excitement throughout.
