Review: San Diego Opera’s back at the drive-in, and it’s a feast for the eyes and ears

San Diego Opera's parking-lot production of "The Barber of Seville" expands beyond the outdoor stage.
San Diego Opera’s parking-lot production of “The Barber of Seville” expands beyond the outdoor stage.
(Courtesy of J. Kat Woronowicz)

Colorful ‘Barber of Seville’ and pandemic-inspired concert are upbeat and technically well-produced

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San Diego Opera returned to the Pechanga Arena parking lot over the weekend for a spring festival with a pandemic-themed recital and a colorful production of “The Barber of Seville.”

The festival — which continues with two more performances of “Barber” later this week — takes place in the same spot as the company’s last drive-in opera last fall, “La bohème,” but it improves on the formula.

This time there’s better video screen placement, more live close-ups of the singers, a performance area that expands beyond the stage and the ability for audience members to view program notes and English translations on their cellphones mid-show. Artistically, it’s a feast for the ears, with many fine vocal and musical performances.

Baritone David Pershall plays Figaro in San Diego Opera's "The Barber of Seville."
(Courtsy of J. Kat Woronowicz)
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Festival conductor Bruce Stasyna not only leads the San Diego Symphony in fine and diverse performances over the weekend, he also co-conceived with Alan E. Hicks the opening concert, which drew 425 cars on Saturday. As in past “One Amazing Night” recitals, opera was just one of the genres explored. Subtitled “Unmasking the music of notorious pandemics” may sound like dreary fare, but it was fascinating.

Actor James Newcomb served as a rumpled historian, narrating the history of epidemics and pandemics and the music they inspired, starting with the mournful leprosy outbreak-inspired Bach Cantata No. 25, sung plaintively by San Diego Opera Chorus bass singer Shelby Condray. Soprano Tasha Koontz wowed with a knockout performance of “Dieu quel frisson” from Gounod’s opera “Romeo et Juliette,” based on a play with a bubonic plague twist. Allison Spratt Pearce and Abigail Allwein soared in songs from “Secret Garden,” a musical about a girl orphaned by a cholera epidemic in India. And tenor Victor Morris surprised with the little-known 1930s-era protest song “The 1919 Influenza Blues.”

While most songs in the 90-minute concert clearly related to major health crises, like “Seasons of Love” from the AIDS-themed musical “Rent,” some were born during the bursts of artistic creativity that often follow pandemics, like Erich Korngold’s 1920 aria “Mein Sehnen, mein Wähnen,” sung with subtlety by baritone Michael Sokol, and two German torch songs by Friedrich Hollaender, passionately sung soprano Angelina Réaux.

Mezzo-soprano Emily Fons plays Rosina in San Diego Opera's "The Barber of Seville."
(Courtesy of J. Kat Woronowicz)

By contrast, the free-wheeling “Barber” production is light, fluffy family entertainment with kooky exaggerated performances. Directed by Keturah Stickann, the production moves the 18th-century comedy to the 1960s, where the titular barber, Figaro, makes his entrance on a bicycle in a Sgt. Pepper’s-inspired bandleader coat.

The groovy scenery and costumes and many of the show’s sight gags were inspired by the late ‘60s TV show “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In.” Heroine Rosina go-go dances in a not-too-mini skirt, and the impoverished man she loves, Lindoro, starts out in hippie attire and ends up in a fancy leisure suit when he tells Rosina he’s actually the wealthy Count Almaviva in disguise. In a comic nod to social distancing, the lovers exchange letters by wadding them into balls and throwing them at each other and Figaro gives his boss a shave with a razor attached to a three-foot telescoping rod.

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The opera has been trimmed to 90 minutes, with much of its recitative plot exposition trimmed out. Miss a few subtitles or don’t get the “Laugh-In” jokes and you might get lost. There are also head-scratching moments involving knitting needles, a rubber chicken and a pool float, but the sense of play is infectious and the singing is sublime.

Carlos Enrique Santelli plays Lindoro and Count Almaviva in San Diego Opera's "The Barber of Seville."
(Courtesy of J. Kat Woronowicz)

The show’s standout was mezzo-soprano Emily Fons as Rosina. She’s charming and girlish in the role and her coloratura vocal performance of “Una voce poco fa” was as crisp and breezy as the bracing night air on Sunday. Baritone David Pershall gave a larger-than-life performance as Figaro, filling the stage with his robust singing and comic personality.

As Almaviva, tenor Carlos Enrique Santelli sang with controlled ease. Rich-voiced bass singer Peixin Chen made an impressive company debut as music teacher Don Basilio. And as Dr. Bartolo, bass-baritone Patrick Carfizzi aced the notoriously difficult patter aria “A un dottor della mia sorte.” Completing the principal cast in trimmed-down roles are bass-baritone Joshua Arky as Almaviva’s servant Fiorello and mezzo-soprano Alexandra Rodrick as Bartolo’s servant Berta. Members of the San Diego Opera Chorus perform their vocal roles from cars in the parking lot lined up at the foot of the stage.

It’s not always clear what’s going on in this “Barber,” but the brief length of the show keeps the fizz in the comedy from deflating, and the singing is concert-hall quality.

“The Barber of Seville”

When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday (gates open at 6 p.m.)

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Tickets: $200 and up (cost is per carload)

Where: 3500 Sports Arena Blvd., San Diego

Phone: (619) 533-7000

Online: sdopera.org

San Diego Opera's "The Barber of Seville."
Peixin Chen, left, and Patrick Carfizzi in a scene from San Diego Opera’s “The Barber of Seville.”
(Courtesy of J. Kat Woronowicz)