Give It A Shot!

I must admit, almost against my will, I enjoyed Opera Atelier's production of Der Freischütz by Weber.  It's the first excursion into the Romantic repertoire for Opera Atelier, but still a good idea simply because live performances of this opera are a rarity in Canada, and it doesn't seem like one that the Canadian Opera Company is likely to tackle!

What concerned me was that OA is apt to take a bit too "joky" of a tone with some of their productions.  For example, I felt their Don Giovanni spent too much time being funny.  Yes, Don G is called by Mozart a dramma giocoso but I just thought the giocoso kept going into scenes where it really wasn't called for by the libretto.

Anyway, Der Freischütz thankfully didn't suffer in this respect.  The funny scenes, especially those involving Agathe's friend Ännchen were great fun indeed.  The serious scenes were played seriously, especially the climactic scene of the casting of the magic bullets.  If some members of the audience were chuckling, I think that was just the reaction aggressive rationalists adopt when confronted with any depiction of supernatural forces.  It was interesting to see how, as the casting of the bullets proceeded, the little giggles gradually died away altogether -- a real tribute to the sheer dramatic power of Weber's music and of the production.

That Wolf's Glen scene made splendid use of digital projection techniques to create a convincingly supernatural atmosphere.  The choreography of the dancers was somewhat helpful, but seemed to me a bit at odds with the staging.  In all other parts of the opera, staging and choreography remained firmly grounded in period.  and, as always, the entire production rested on the firm and secure foundation of the Tafelmusik orchestra, and the thoughtful, accomplished conducting of David Fallis.

The singing was, as always, uniformly strong.  But I felt a couple of singers were not well-suited to their roles.  Gustav Andreassen was just too hale and hearty for the Wise Hermit who provides the reconciliation scene at the end.  Meghan Lindsay sang beautifully, particularly in her quiet but clear high passages, but I found her acting stiff and cold in the role of the heroine, making Agathe into something of a frigid Ice Queen.

Next to her, Carla Huhtanen sparkled and glittered in the comic soubrette role of Ännchen.  Every time I see her play one of these parts, I enjoy her work more and more -- she's a delight!  Vasil Garvanliev's clean, hard-edged characterization of the villainous Kaspar also sparkled, but with demonic fire -- right from his first entry he dominated the stage, moving with the speed and energy of forked lightning. 

In the key role of Max, tenor Krešimir Špicer was solid, able to be powerful and tender by turns.  Of all the cast, he seemed to be most into the ethos of Romanticism, his acting clearly expressing the varied emotions of this tormented man. 

Not a perfect show by any means, but on the whole a very effective one -- and well worth your time if you get a chance to see it this week.  However, I got cold shivers when co-Artistic Director Marshall Pynkoski made a comment about Wagner possibly being on the horizon.  I think that would definitely not be a good place for Opera Atelier to try to go!