Feb. 22, 2005. 01:00 AM
Seven doors of understanding a 19th century Spanish zarzuela
History of a minor sort was made on the stage of the St.
Lawrence Centre's Jane Mallett Theatre over the weekend, when Toronto Operetta
Theatre, as part of its 20th anniversary season, presented three performances
of what was advertised as the first full-scale production of a zarzuela mounted
anywhere in Canada.
Considering that this indigenous form of Spanish operetta
originated nearly three and a half centuries ago, the wait has been
considerable. Not without reason. Like other continental European operetta
genres, the zarzuela is rooted in local musical idioms and theatrical
traditions and doesn't always travel well.
Its first trip under Toronto Operetta Theatre's auspices took
place in 1999 in the form of Thomas Bretón's La Verbena de la Paloma,
presented in concert with piano accompaniment.
This year's arrival took the form of a fully costumed, sung and
acted presentation of Francisco Barbieri's El Barberíillo de Lavapíes (The
Little Barber of Lavapies), accompanied by an 11-piece orchestra.
Sometimes cited as the greatest of all 19th century zarzuelas (it
dates from 1874), El Barberillo takes place in 1766 during the reign of
Carlos III, and is set against the background of a plot to restore to the
king's favour, in the role of reformist first minister, Count Floridablanca.
Floridablanca doesn't actually appear on stage but he is a real
historical figure, the subject of the Spanish painter Francisco Goya's first
important official portrait. The principal figures in the plot are the
eponymous barber Lamparilla (every bit as much a factotum as Rossini's), his
seamstress sweetheart La Paloma, and a pair of aristocratic lovers unlucky
enough to be on opposite sides of the political situation.
Since zarzuelas characteristically mix dialogue, music and
dancing, Guillermo Silva-Marin, the company's and the production's director,
fashioned a loose English translation of the spoken text to facilitate audience
comprehension of the drama, while understandably retaining Spanish for the many
musical numbers.
As modern producers of Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas often do,
he also updated some of the political commentary, making the barber sound
almost like a revolutionary anarchist.
Indeed, there was a curious contrast between the serious tone of
much of the dialogue and the jolly tone of almost all of Barbieri's tuneful,
rhythmically infectious, altogether lightweight musical score.
La Paloma's entrance song is the score's most popular number,
along with a couple of the barber's patter songs, a jota and a seguidilla, and castanets
entertainingly accent the dance sequences to enhance local colour.
But as enjoyable as the music was to listen to, some of it proved
just as easy to forget.
The production was simply staged, making maximum use of seven
doors and not much else, with a spirited cast including Giselle Fredette as La
Paloma, Meredith Hall as Estella, Colin Ainsworth as Don Luis and the
energetically dominating presence of Alexander Dobson, an accomplished baritone
in the tenor role of Lamparilla.
Although undersized and a little scrappy, the orchestra responded
gamely to José Hernandez' guidance, contributing to a worthwhile introduction
to a landmark work in the history of zarzuela, a genre whose later, sometimes
more substantial works still await comprehensive scrutiny on the local front.
To paraphrase Oliver Twist, please sirs, we want some more.
February 21, 2005
Toronto Operetta Theatre – “El Barberillo de
Lavapies”
Toronto Operetta Theatre broke new ground with its
first staged Spanish zarzuela. “Francisco Barbieri’s “El Barberillo de
Lavapies” debuted in 1874 and contains all the sparkling music of the genre,
along with the complicated plot about a lowly barber who helps get rid of a
tyrannical councillor of the king.
Plot aside, music director José Hernàndez led a
lively chamber ensemble, while director Guillermo Silva-Marin had fun with a
simple set made up of many doors for all the comings and goings. Baritone
Alexander Dobson as the barber was sensational, and his voice just keeps
growing more lush. As the noble lovers, the very talented soprano Meredith Hall
and tenor Colin Ainsworth graced the work with their lovely voices, while up
and coming baritone Matthew Zadow continued to show great promise as Don Pedro.
Mezzo-soprano Gisele Fredette sounded a bit restrained, as if the role would
not let her voice soar. Two to watch are baritones Sean Curran and Vincent
Thomas.
I’m Paula Citron, arts reviewer at CLASSICAL 96.3
FM.
El Barberillo de Lavapiés
by Francisco Asenjo Barbieri, directed by Guillermo
Silva-Marin
Toronto Operetta Theatre, Jane Mallett Theatre,
Toronto
February 18-20, 2005
by Christopher Hoile, Principal Reviewer for Stage
Door
“Olé! for ‘El Barberillo’”
With
its production of Francisco Asenjo Barbieri’s zarzuela “El Barberillo de
Lavapiés”, the Toronto Operetta Theatre has added another feather to its cap.
The TOT has presented excerpts of zarzuelas or zarzuelas semi-staged with piano
accompaniment, but this TOT production marks the first appearance in Canada of
a fully-staged zarzuela with orchestra. The event is important enough as a
milestone in Canadian music theater history, but the fact that the show proves
to be highly enjoyable on its own is even more important. Toronto owes the TOT
a debt of gratitude for opening a window onto what for many will be an
unfamiliar musical genre.
Like the
German “Singspiel” or French “opéra comique”, the Spanish zarzuela alternates
song with spoken dialogue. Unlike its German and French counterparts, however,
the zarzuela has a much longer history extending back to back to 1657 when a
comedy by Pedro Calderón de la Barca, with music by Juan de Hidalgo was
performed for Philip IV of Spain and his court. The new genre became known as
La Zarzuela after one of the king’s hunting lodges surrounded by “zarzas” or
bramble bushes. Francisco Asenjo Barbieri (1823-94) began the revival of the
zarzuela in the 19th century to counteract the influence Italian opera with a
uniquely Spanish musical form.
“El
Barberillo de Lavapiés” (1874) is considered Barbieri’s greatest comic
zarzuela. Set in the low class Lavapiés district of Madrid in the time of
Carlos III (1759-1788), the operetta tells two parallel love stories. On the
one hand, Lamparilla, the “little barber” of the title, is in love with the
seamstress La Paloma, whose devotion to the Virgin and her doves seems to
preclude the idea of marriage. Meanwhile, Estrella, the Marchioness of Bierzo,
lady-in-waiting to the Infanta and friend of La Paloma, is in love with Don
Luis. The problem is that Estrella is part of a conspiracy plotting the
downfall of Grimaldi, the repressive Chief Minister of Spain, and Don Luis is
his nephew. The fact that Estrella can tell Don Luis so little of her doings
only makes him increasingly jealous.
A
serious political storyline is characteristic of zarzuela, but that doesn’t
prevent the music from being joyous. One Spanish dance-inspired melody follows
the next seeming to grow only more inventive and infectious as the operetta
progresses. Baritone Alexander Dobson has always made a good impression in
minor roles, but the role of Lamparilla really gives him a chance to shine. He
is naturally at home on stage and his ebullient good humour enlivens every
scene. Add to that the resonance and unerring precision and vigour of his
singing and one could hardly imagine the role better played. If any one
performance gives the work its zest it is his.
Mezzo
Gisele Fredette as La Paloma was clearly under the weather and her voice grew
hoarser and weaker throughout the show. But, trooper that she is, she projects
much of La Paloma’s genial nature through the sheer force of her personality.
Last
year soprano Meredith Hall and tenor Colin Ainsworth took a break from their
usual realm of baroque opera to enliven the TOT production of Calixa Lavalée’s
operetta “The Widow” with their highly cultured voices. This year they return
to play Estrella and Don 
Luis to
great effect. Hall displays her usual purity of tone and clarity of diction,
but the stunner of the evening is her duet with Fredette “Aquí estoy ya
vestida” in which La Paloma instructs the noblewoman how to act like a
commoner. Here Hall unexpectedly deploys a lustrous lower register of
surpassing beauty and allure. Her baroque repertoire so favours sparking
heights, this is the first time we’ve had a chance to hear these enchanting
depths. Ainsworth displays his usual crystalline tone and proves himself a fine
actor. It’s too bad Barbieri didn’t think to give this ambiguous character a
solo aria, but he did provide some compensation in the lovely duet for Estrella
and Luis, “En una casa solariega”.
Sean
Curran as Don Juan, a co-conspirator with Estrella, is much more effective as
an actor than as a singer, while Arlene Alvarado and Tamara Rusque as two of La
Paloma’s seamstresses lend their lovely voices to a seductive ode in praise of
camisoles that opens Scene 2 of Act 2.
Multi-talented
TOT Artistic Director Guillermo Silva-Marin not only directed the show, but
translated the dialogue and designed the set and the very effective lighting.
The set, consisting of seven unframed doors, is one of the cleverest ever seen
at the TOT. What one feature is most essential to a tale of spies and
counterspies but doors to be searched or hidden behind? Silva-Marin uses them
to great effect on the many occasions Grimaldi’s Walloon guards invade the
district in search of conspirators. Conductor José Hernández led the 11-member
band in his own special orchestration of the score bringing out all of its
verve and rhythmic vivacity.
In
the programme Silva-Marin lists at least ten more classic zarzuelas he is
interested in. Let’s hope the success of “El Barberillo” encourages the TOT to
explore more examples of the genre, an enterprise that would both educate and
delight by providing the Toronto music scene with even greater variety.
©Christopher
Hoile
Stage
Door: 3 March 2005
Visit www.torontooperetta.com