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The Barber of Seville @ OperaCleveland 3/29 The older, sometimes foolish guardian who wants to marry his lovely young ward is a standard plot line in opera. Sometimes it works better than others. When it's The Barber of Seville by the precocious Italian master Gioacchino Rossini, the audience can generally relax, knowing that musically, at least, the result should be excellent. When the characters are well-cast, and the director has a firm grasp on the situation, well -- you end up with pure pleasure.

Such was the case on Sunday afternoon as OperaCleveland's 2009 season opener offered the second of three performances. The gorgeous and colorful sets and costumes were from Edmonton Opera, having been created there, respectively, by Dipu Gupta and Marie Anne Chiment. Lighting by Benjamin Pearcy amply furthered the notion that the setting was sunny Seville, Spain, rather than cool, rainy Cleveland. (I know, it’s still March. But not for long...)

Director Linda Brovsky kept everyone moving rapidly around the huge State Theatre stage, and must have spent a good bit of time choreographing movements, in order to prevent traffic jams or collisions among the sometimes frantically-paced actor-singers. It was busy-busy, all the time, but not distractingly so—every movement or bit of business had a reason for being, and thus came across as entirely natural. There were more laughs than I can recall at other comic operas I’ve seen. The clever English captions were by Jonathan Dean for Seattle Opera.

The barber here is Figaro, and baritone Brian Leerhuber was an amiable conniver in his efforts to help the young lovers. He was also generous with the laughs and pranks as he went along, using his large dark eyes and big smile to good advantage. His interaction with the children was pure delight.

Tenor Alek Shrader was a most convincing Count Almaviva, Lindoro and Don Alonso (depending on the scene). His tenor soars with a gorgeous ringing quality throughout. He’s also good on the guitar, accompanying himself in the serenade to his love, the Rosina of mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack. She was appropriately winsome or steely as required, but it was easy to see why the Count desired to make her his Countess.

One could easily believe that bass-baritone Thomas Hammons has made a career of singing Dr. Bartolo, so expertly did he convey every sneaky movement and hilarious prank. Of course, he also had his darker moments, when he decided he would marry the fair Rosina, whether she would or no. His housekeeper Berta, sung by soprano Susan Wallin, was at times dithery, while still keeping her eye on the houseman, hoping not to end up an ‘old maid’.

Bass Andrew Gangestad came very close to stealing the show as the music teacher Don Basilio. At times he appeared to be on roller skates (not really) moving around the huge stage so rapidly, in spite of his long coat and extra long scarf trailing behind him. His voice has a beautiful quality throughout his entire range.

Artistic director Dean Williamson did double-duty: conducting the orchestra and playing the harpsichord continuo. Two local singer/actors did well in their comprimario roles: Peter Bush and Robert Masseria. The five children who flocked to Figaro also helped move sets and props. They were Jacob Darvas, Ryan Vincent, Sarah Burbridge, Ava Levin, and Hannah Woodside. Wigs & Make-up were by Alison Mizerski, and stage manager Sarah Stewart kept the production moving smoothly.

Next up from OperaCleveland is Verdi’s Falstaff in June, followed by Mozart’s Don Giovanni in November. A special subscription offer is available by calling 664-6065, or visit http://www.OperaCleveland.org for details.

From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz artswriterATroadrunner.com
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