The old adage about buses coming in threes holds true of the main operas at Wexford Festival Opera this year. Tonight’s production of Donizetti’s Le Convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali is a third riotously funny opera in a row and with its superlative cast and highly creative production, justly brought down the house.
Originally crafted as a one-act farce in Neapolitan dialect, part of the challenge for the director is the absence of a definitive edition of this opera. Even as Donizetti extended the opera into a full length work the principal singers were expected to insert their own showpieces by other composers. Director Orpha Phelan constructs her own “Wexford Version” with pieces from Bernstein and Rossini inserted into the score resulting in a unique and sometimes discombobulating experience. One notable moment occurs in Act 2, when Bernstein’s “Glitter and be Gay” from Candide makes a surprise entrance, challenging the audience to adapt to its sudden stylistic shift. Phelan’s decision to expand the role of the impresario is a sound one giving the opera an added dramatic focus while her change of role for The Tenor is inspired. Nods to The Sound of Music elicited knowing chuckles, and the 1960s setting smartly complements the opera’s playful intertextuality.
Madeleine Boyd’s set and costumes further enrich the experience, vividly portraying the backstage hustle and bustle of a theatre, with an upright piano and impresario’s desk setting the scene for Act 1. Classical columns and antique decor frame the opera within the opera, Romolo ed Ersilia, and the bohemian 1960s attire, punctuated by the absurdity of Roman togas and the tenor’s Lederhosen, enhances the comic atmosphere of Act 2. While the performance was an exhilarating success, the second act struggles with pacing as the characters’ bickering feel repetitive. Even Phelan’s inventive conclusion cannot entirely dispel the impression that the piece, at its core, remains a one-act farce.
The outstanding cast offered an array of musical highlights. The opera, sometimes more aptly dubbed Viva la mamma! after its formidable matriarch, features Paolo Borgogna in this principal role. Sashaying onto the stage, his Agata bullies, chides and manipulates the entire company in order that her daughter is given a more prominent role while all the time gaining several new roles for herself. Possessing perfect comic timing, Borgogna was masterful and utterly hilarious in his depiction of this odious woman, pouting petulantly when crossed and not afraid to slap and intimidate physically. Vocally too, Borgogna entertained and delighted in equal measure while his balletic pirouettes and dancing was surprisingly Njinsky-like!
Agata’s nemesis, the Prima Donna Daria, was portrayed by the captivating Sharleen Joynt. Donizetti sets Daria’s tessitura punishingly high at times yet Joynt soared up to her top notes with power and finesse. Her acting too was a joy to behold with terrifically catty, solipsistic behaviour. Her husband Procolo, sung by Giuseppe Toia, was every inch the uxorious spouse always defending his “Madame” and exuding a slimy Mafioso vibe. As he took over the role of the missing tenor, his bass voice impressesed in his aria inserted into this Wexford edition.
Alberto Robert shone as the spinto tenor while Matteo Loi and William Kyle delivered commendable performances as the composer and librettist respectively. Paola Leoci, as the retiring Seconda Donna Luigia, was in the shadow of her mother for much of the opera though in Act 2 she entered the spotlight as she vamped the impresario in a distinctly lurid attempt at getting the leading role, a moment which veered uncomfortably into the realm of gratuitous imagery.
Under the baton of conductor Danila Grassi, the orchestra exuded energy and sophistication, deftly navigating the musical shifts infused by Phelan’s directorial choices. The chorus sang with heartfelt energy adding greatly to the evening’s buoyancy and jived as well as any modern pop idol.
Andrew's trip to Wexford was partially funded by Wexford Festival Opera.
