Caitlin Gotimer / Reviews

The opening set piece is a film montage that sets up the premise of a shipwreck and rescue set to Mozart’s overture. The cinematography is handsomely stylized, but having the vocalists appear onstage to interact with the projection was distracting and unnecessary. The orchestra, conducted by Glenn Lewis, delivered the overture with an almost perfunctory air. Throughout the work, there were consistent intonation problems, balance issues in chords and an uncharacteristic lack of precision and grace. After the overture, the canvas screen lifted and resettled on stage in the shape of a canvas tent surrounded by orange life preservers, presumably to evoke a refugee camp. Soprano Ashley Fabian (Ilia, last surviving member of her Trojan family) opened with a voice that sounded small at first but warmed and became more expressive over the course of the evening. Tenor Terrence Chin-Loy (Idomeneo) was a convincingly distraught and displaced king of Crete. Mezzo-soprano Antonia Botti-Lodovico (Idamente, in a pants role) looked and sounded every bit the spurned prince, and soprano Caitlin Gotimer (Elletra) shone in her finale as she suffers a jealous breakdown. This transformed production uses lyrics from the original libretto, stitched together to create a new tale. It’s an awkward fit, with character motivations simplified to the point of parody and plot developments that feel like they’re appearing out of left field. Still, the vocals were strong. All four cast members belong to Pittsburgh Opera’s Resident Artist program, one of the premiere training programs for developing opera singers. Mr. Chin-Loy and Ms. Gotimer were especially powerful, their solo and ensemble work alike fizzing with tension and nuance. Ms. Botti-Lodovico was superb, increasingly desperate and wild, as her character is repeatedly rebuffed and pushed away by his father. Traditional opera is notorious for its length — some of the staples can easily run three or four hours — and shortening works as evening-length entertainment is a worthy experiment. But this production doesn’t just cut, it adapts. The refugee aspects feel largely tacked on, perhaps as a way to make the opera more “relevant,” and this seems contrived, however well-intentioned.

Mr. Taylor as the older Thompson was superb, showcasing developing acting chops and excellent vocal range. His colleagues were in fine form as well. Soprano Caitlin Gotimer was similarly striking as Older Alyce, angry and unsympathetic yet also soft and despairing at times. Hers was the most conflicting character role by far — believing her husband dead, Alyce took up with another man, constantly proclaiming she’d done nothing wrong and yet clearly tormented. Much food for thought. Terrence Chin-Loy as the Younger Thompson was convincingly anguished during montages of his time as a prisoner, with Ashley Fabian lending a sense of innocence to the work. All four singers are participants in the opera’s two-year young artist program. James Lesniak lead the small opera orchestra in a generally tight performance. With so much genuine drama in Mr. Thompson’s life story (Alyce went into labor on the news that her husband was missing, for example), the operatic retelling felt strangely staid, sticking on details and repeating phrases for effect rather than narrative flow. This was disconcerting in a good way, although it didn’t allow for the full impact of the story to be felt. Still, strong musicianship carried the evening. Mr. Cipullo’s music will never have the mass appeal of Mr. Webber’s. Opera no longer has the popular reach of musicals. Even though the base components are the same, one is more about spectacle and flash, and one is more specifically anchored by the craft of singing. Both are valuable. To each their own.