Editor’s note: The role of the Old Baroness was performed by Diane Scoff.
The Toledo Opera’s spring production of Samuel Barber’s Vanessa is, in short, art with a capital “A.”
This riveting drama lays, brick by brick and note by note, a masterful framework of musical genius that leaves the listener at curtain call wondering whether to sit weeping at its pathos or stand speechless at its beauty.
The evening is a dark and seething morass of intrigue and tension. Stage director Kristine McIntyre has made brilliant artistic choices which underscore why the 1958 musical drama won the Pulitzer Prize.
The production is a staged concert rather than a full grand opera. The Toledo Symphony, under the baton of conductor Sara Jobin, sits on stage in full view of the audience with the Toledo Opera Chorus behind.
The action takes place on the stage apron. The extremely minimalist set consists of one wingback chair, an ottoman, a small table, and two side chairs. Video projections designed by Michael Baumgarten create the illusion of space and mood.
The music begins and within two minutes the mind fills in everything that is missing. The orchestra disappears. As if by magic, the audience finds itself lost in a mansion somewhere in the middle of Europe. Snow and ice are everywhere, both on the ground and in the hearts of those whose lives we are soon to plumb.
The drama unfolds and the lack of stage decoration pushes the emotional grinding forward with a palpable intimacy, demanding the audience’s attention.
The all-star cast, only seven singing roles, interacts with ferocious tension that can be cut with a knife.
Vanessa is sung by Ohio native Jennifer Rowley, who on Monday heads off to the New York Met. She stopped off this week to sing her inaugural Vanessa in Toledo. She exquisitely crafts Barber’s excruciatingly difficult vocal lines into emotional vehicles which at times border on neurotic madness. She is brilliant.
Foil to her is Christine Amon singing Vanessa’s naive-but-soon-to-know-better niece, Erika. She performs the most famous aria from the opera, “Ah! Must the Winter Come So Soon,” with heartfelt purity. Her slow transformation into the tormented lover betrayed by her own inner struggles is conveyed in a sea of vocal timbres which move expertly from simple and lyric to darkly dramatic.
Tenor Sean Panikkar plays the rakish Anatol with a panache that is heartbreaking for its effect on Vanessa and Erika. His ability to milk every high B for the drama it deserves is outstanding.
Complimenting this trio are three characters who add depth to the story. The Doctor, Kenneth Shaw, is a robust basso with the ability to conjure ennui and nostalgia with touching sadness. The Old Baroness, Diane Scoff, a last-minute addition to the cast, has an evil eye which could drop a horse at 50 feet. Nicholas, the major domo, provides comic relief with his passionate love of fur coats over women.
Particular mention should be made of two exquisite dramatic moments: the second-act scene where Vanessa and Erika share the glory of grand ballroom dances gone by, and the quintet finale that prophetically reveals the awaiting fate of each of the principals.
Conductor Jobin’s musicianship at the head of the orchestra is sensitive and balanced, to the point that the ensemble dissolves into the web of the evening’s spell.
There is the occasional video image that approaches the edge of puerility, and vocal and instrumental lines that suffer from the sheer difficulty of their own execution. Yet the whole of this Vanessa packs an aesthetic impact that approaches artistic perfection.
Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. today and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Valentine Theatre, 400 N. Superior St. Tickets are $40-$90 and available from the Toledo Opera Box Office at 419-255-7464 or toledoopera.org.
Contact Wayne F. Anthony at:classics@theblade.com.
First Published March 31, 2017, 4:00 a.m.
