"The Barber of Seville" rides again at the Capitol Theatre this week, via Utah Opera's third mounting of the Rossini comedy. And not only are Figaro and his merry band of intriguers returning - so are three of the five principal singers, some of them for the third time.
So what keeps bringing them back to Utah? I'll tell you this - it isn't the dryness."I keep the humidifier on 24 hours a day and drink so much water it's coming out of my ears and I still feel dried out," declares bass-baritone Donald Sherrill, who was last here for another Rossini comic opera, "The Italian Girl in Algiers," in 1994 and, before that, "Madama Butterfly" in 1993.
This time Utahns will get to hear him as Dr. Bartolo, a role he has sung nine times previously, in performances running Feb. 24, 26 and 28 and March 1 at 7:30 p.m. and March 3 at 2 p.m.
And on each of his previous visits, Sherrill says, he's been impressed with how well integrated this company's productions are musically and theatrically.
"It's a smaller company, to be sure, but a very comfortable place to come to." For one thing, he says, "they have a lot of respect for the singers. Some companies you go to, the mentality is that the most important thing is the patrons who give the money, and they treat us like the hired help. Obviously there has to be a certain amount of catering to the money people. But here they're good about letting us know in advance that they would like us to go to a couple of dinners and sing in people's homes."
Figaro himself, baritone Mark Pedrotti, another three-timer, agrees.
"I won't mention them by name," he says, "but in some of the larger companies, where they churn out opera to satisfy the tourists, you become a small part in a big machine.
"It's not that I'm looking for star treatment," Pedrotti insists, "but people need to be aware that the voice is a delicate instrument and can be affected by many things physical and psychological. Here they take care of both fairly well by making sure the schedules aren't too demanding on the performers. They also make sure you're well accommodated," he says from his room at the Salt Lake Hilton. "Because fees aren't that high, that's part of the deal here. Often it's not."
Bass Kurt Link, who was last here three years ago for "Helen of Troy," acknowledges there are things you get in the bigger companies you don't in their regional counterparts.
"For example, I'm coming off a three-opera engagement at the Met, which ran from Sept. 25 until two weeks ago. There I sang in `Daughter of the Regiment,' `Pique Dame' and `The Makropulos Case,' and of course the pay is tremendous, as is the organization. I mean, they're constantly calling you with any rehearsal changes and call on the day of the performance to see how you are.
"On the other hand, the roles I was given were all small, which is pretty much what an American singer can expect in that type of house until he's made a reputation abroad. Here in a regional company, by contrast, they're not going to be hiring a full cast of Italians - that's simply not the way they work. So you've got a good opportunity to do the roles that we're all in the business for."
This time for Link that role is the music master Don Basilio, made famous on the international circuit by the likes of Chaliapin and Pinza. (Other principals in this production include mezzo-soprano Carla Wood, singing her first-ever Rosina, and Venezuelan tenor Euro Nava as Count Almaviva, her suitor.)
And though he never sees Utah attaining that level - "there just isn't the money and, frankly, there isn't the population to support the kind of multiple-performance schedule you'd need to bring in big international stars" - Link places the company solidly "in the upper third of regional houses in terms of budget, and probably quality of production."
That, he points out, has to do with the quality of people the company does bring in, "but it also has to do with the experience artists have here."
In that context, he cites general director Anne Ewers' loyalty to singers and conductors - "when they do a good job, she wants them back and they want to come back" - and stage directors. And when it comes to the latter, he says, "if you're going to do `The Barber of Seville,' I can't think of anybody I'd rather have do it than David Gately. He's a master of comic intricacies and ensemble staging and his operas have a lot of charm."
As it happens, Gately is also a three-time Utah Opera veteran, having staged "L'Italiana" in 1994 and "Tosca" in 1991. And he agrees that the behind-the-scenes people have as much to do with his coming back as anything.
"I think Anne being a director herself is what makes it," he declares. "She really paves the way for another director to come in, so that many of the things that are problems at other companies she has foreseen."
Among those, he mentions being able to move rehearsals into the theater fairly quickly - "usually that doesn't happen until the final week, because of the expense of renting the facility" - giving him and his singers extra time on the actual set. "And she helps me a lot by casting people I know she'd want to direct herself."
This time, he says, it's "a great group of people. The Bartolo, for example - I think he's the greatest young buffo around." It's also a cast Gately believes will help him keep the opera fresh, for himself and the audience.
"The other day I was trying to figure out how many times I've heard this opera - this is my 19th `Barber' - and it must be a thousand. And quite frankly the basic framework has been the same since I first directed it in 1977, which is to say a very physical approach, very aggressively funny."
There was a time, Gately observes, when the typical "Barber of Seville" was not so aggressively funny. "By the '50s and '60s things had gotten so slapsticky that in the '70s and early '80s there was a counter-revolution of sorts in which people decided it was really a very serious piece, or tried to make it into a comedy of manners. But to me the music is very buoyant and evocative of comedy, so I did kind of a counter-counter-revolution, wanting to demonstrate that, yes, `Barber' can be very funny as long as the comedy is based in the characters and the situations."
As to reports that this production is virtually sold out - as of this writing, only a few scattered seats remain - Gately has an explanation for that, too.
"It has to be because people are buying it based on the company's reputation. They must be having a really good time at the opera."
As, one gathers, are the people who put it on.
"The Barber of Seville" will be sung in Italian with English Supertitles. Chris Nance will conduct the Utah Symphony, with resident Utah Opera designers Susan Memmott-Allred, Cynthia Mc-Court and Nicholas Cavallaro responsible for costumes, make-up/wigs and lighting. Sets for this production have been purchased from Opera Carolina.
For ticket information call 322-ARTS.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Preview events
Two more preview events take place this week for Utah Opera's production of Rossini's "The Barber of Seville," opening Saturday at the Capitol Theatre.
Tonight at 6, the Ogden Opera Guild will present a symposium at Ogden's Eccles Art Center. Included will be excerpts from the opera, a discussion and a light buffet. Cost to non-members is $5; for reservations call 771-9460.
Then on Thursday, Feb. 22, at 12:15 p.m. the Capitol Theatre will be the site of an OperaBites Symposium. Featured will be the stage director, conductor and costume and lighting designers. Admission is free, with box lunches from Ruby's available for $6 or bring your own. Call 323-6868 to order.