Opera Reviews
29 March 2024
Untitled Document

AVA presents a vivid and exciting Un Ballo in Maschera


by Steve Cohen
Verdi: Un Ballo in Maschera
Academy of Vocal Arts, Philadelphia
April 2013

Paul SirochmanBecause Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball) came from the crowded middle period of Verdi's career it's sometimes treated routinely. In this bicentennial year of his birth we've been seeing revivals of Verdi's earliest works, like Oberto and the Met is lavishing its resources on a new production of his final work, Falstaff.

The AVA took this mid-stream opera and turned it into one of my most exciting evenings of music-drama in recent years.

This was done with gripping conducting and playing by Christofer Macatsoris and the 31-piece AVA orchestra, sharp directing by Tito Capobianco, and a fresh crop of superb singers. The AVA seems to come up with emerging stars as quickly as its graduates are hired by the Met and other famous companies.

Originally called Una vendetta in dominò, Un Ballo in Maschera was written during a period when Verdi was extraordinarily prolific (eleven operas in the decade leading up its 1859 debut.) With a libretto by Antonio Somma based on a story by playwright Eugène Scribe, the opera concerns the real-life assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden who was shot while attending a masked ball in 1792. Scribe invented a romance between the king and a fictional Amelia, wife of the king's best friend.

The king is urbane, fun-loving and has a sense of honor; a thoroughly-engaging central figure. Though he loves Amelia, he resists entering into an affair. But Amelia's husband Renato suspects infidelity and agrees to join an assassination conspiracy. Gustav refuses to heed the warnings of a fortune-teller and goes to the party where he is murdered. As with some Shakespearian protagonists, we care about him despite the fact that he may have killed people and seized property on his way to power, thus providing motive for assassins.

Without the embellishments of pageantry, as in Aida, Don Carlo and La Forza del Destino, this opera focuses on its human drama about romance and murder. The lack of big crowd scenes has an added benefit: because of its small student body the AVA lacks personnel for large choruses.

Verdi in Ballo complemented passionate vocal melodies with an unusually rich orchestral score. Darker instruments like oboe, cor anglais, cello and bass accompany the arias. Because the orchestra sits on a level with the audience in the AVA's home venue, its sounds came through with special impact. The singers were so strong, and so well-prepared, that they never were swamped by the wall of sound in front of them.

Macatsoris's conducting had propulsive urgency as it pushed the drama inexorably towards its climax. The instrumental interjections were crisp and explosive, and the orchestra was a true partner in the drama, not mere accompaniment to the singing.

William Davenport was outstanding as the king. He has progressed since his successful Philadelphia debut in The Tales of Hoffman in 2011 when I reported that he showed "innocence and lyricism." Now he is coming to resemble Pavarotti, whether your eyes are open or shut. His face is full, and his voice displays freedom and resonance.

Marina Costa-Jackson, a first-year resident artist, was an Amelia with gratifying dark low tones as well as bright high ones. Baritone Zachary Nelson sang excellently as Renato, but his voice and presence lacked its full tragic potential. Shelley Jackson as Oscar revealed a complete full voice rather than just chirpy coloratura.

Margaret Mezzacappa was ideal as Ulrica the fortune-teller With her dramatic presence, large voice and wide range she is ready to portray this role in the world's major opera houses. The two conspirators were cast with bass-baritones who have starred in other operas, Musa Nsqungwana and Patrick Guetti. What an abundance of riches!

Tito Capobianco directed with clarity and nuance and no distractions that called attention to the auteur. Large mirrors added glamour to the king's court while making the ensemble appear to be more numerous. The scene of Gustav and Amelia's meeting was vivid with the shadow of bodies hanging from gallows. Ulrica's fortune-telling den was especially spooky.

One of the best things in Capobianco's direction had a small downside. Act II ends with Renato escorting his wife back home, as the plotters laugh because Amelia had a rendezvous with the king. Normally, Act III starts the next day in Renato's living room with him denouncing his wife. Capobianco made that action follow right after the Act II denouement. We saw Renato and Amelia coming in their door and they were wearing the same clothing. A great idea; it connected the scenes and gave immediacy and propulsion to the story.

Then the couple were interrupted by a knock on the door. It was the co-conspirators. Problem is that Renato, just before the end of Act II, told the conspirators to come to his house "tomorrow." So what were they doing there in the middle of the night?

I have a solution. When the English captions are shown near the end of Act II, leave "domani" untranslated. Have Renato simply tell the conspirators to come to his house. This would not be the first time that a caption was not a complete rendering of the Italian original.

Text © Steve Cohen
Photo © Paul Sirochman
Support us by buying from amazon.com!