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This Girl Shines Philadelphia
Academy of Music
11/14/2008 - & November 16, 19, 21, 23, 2008
Gioacchino Rossini: L’Italiana in Algeri
Ruxandra Donose (Isabella), Lawrence Brownlee (Lindoro), Kevin Glavin (Mustafa), Daniel Belcher (Taddeo), Keith Phares (Haly), Kiera Duffy (Elvira), Tammy Coil (Zulma)
Chorus and Orchestra of the Opera Company of Philadelphia, Corrado Rovaris (conductor)
Stefano Vizioli (stage director), Paul Shortt (set designer), Richard St. Clair (costume designer), Drew Billiau (lighting designer)
Lawrence Brownlee (© Dario Acosta)
The Opera Company of Philadelphia is putting its season back on track with a winning production of L’Italiana in Algeri. Rossini’s giocosa bubbles buoyantly under Corrado Rovaris’ incisive baton. Adding visual charm are Stefano Vizioli’s deftly comedic staging and Paul Shortt’s color-filled sets. A fine cast provides most of the vocal charm Rossini’s score demands.
Ruxandra Donose and Lawrence Brownlee head the cast. A popular favorite in Philadelphia, Donose made her local debut as Rosina in 1999 and several seasons ago returned to sing the title role in La Cenerentola. A resourceful singer, Donose knows how to craft an elegant vocal line and dominate an ensemble. Her slender mezzo-soprano lacks the weight of tone in the contralto range, but her singing is unfailingly elegant and poised. Donose is not a virtuoso singer – she tends to skim over, rather than define, the florid passages - but she crafts a melting performance of “Per lui che adoro.”
Brownlee makes a charming Lindoro. His pinging tenor soars through the lyrical lines and never loses its poise in the florid embellishments. He won the audience’s immediate favor with his elegant account of Lindoro’s first-act cavatina. Bass Kevin Glavin (Mustafa) owns all the buffo roles in Philadelphia. He knows exactly how to pace the music and play up the comedy even when his voice thins out and loses its quality. Kiera Duffy makes a shrill-sounding Elvira, but she caps the first-act finale with brilliant high Cs. Rounding out the cast are Daniel Belcher’s appealing Taddeo and Keith Phares’ assured Haly.
Rovaris takes charge of the music from the opening measures of the overture. The musical forces may be meager – the orchestra barely numbers 30 musicians in the pit – but the musicians play stylishly. Rovaris knows how to build the finales to an exciting climax. So does Vizioli. The stage director plays up but never overdoes the fun. For the fizzing finale to act one,Vizioli puts the singers on boxes that roll merrily across the stage in formations that reflect the comic fun in the music. Shortt’s settings open up like illustrations from a child’s story book. The bright colors – blue, gold and red – catch the eye. So do St. Clair’s vivid costumes.
Robert Baxter
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