THE TORONTO STAR
Mar.
18,
Opera that offers peals of pleasure deserves praise
Geoff Chapman
Music Critic
Semele is silly, Jupiter's a jerk, Juno's
just jealous.
But their antics long, long ago in a land
far, far away where gods and mortals dallied were more than enough to tempt
composer G.F. Handel and librettist William Congreve (better known for his
comedies such as Way Of The World) to come up with an opera that offers
peals of pleasure and, in the version presented Saturday night and yesterday at
the Jane Mallett Theatre by Opera In Concert, deserves paeans of praise.
Semele began life in the mid-18th century as an oratorio
and its opening overture might suggest another Messiah is imminent. This
lustful mix of humanity and gods was hardly part of 18th century Christian
belief, however, and subsequently the work received very few performances.
Deemed by some unsuitable for the stage, it was not given a professional
production for more than 200 years.
The plot may be absurd but the music is
often profound, with buoyant Handelian melodies and melodramatic moments
aplenty as it tracks familiar earthly emotions. It's a solid bet few could name
Semele as the source of "Where'er You Walk" and "O sleep,
why dost thou leave me," just two fine arias among the many.
With eight significant roles, a chorus of
32 and the 18-strong Aradia Ensemble playing baroque instruments under Kevin
Mallon's direction, the opera's vocal weight was well-distributed, though
pacing lagged at times. The composer inserted splendid duos, trios and
quartets, but the emphasis on solo recitative and aria is very strong, many
wonderful moments coming with voice accompanied by just cello and harpsichord,
sometimes adding double-bass, sometimes adding violin.
The general excellence of the singing made
up for the wacky plot, in which Princess Semele abandons her betrothed prince
Athamas to be with Jupiter, king of gods, who has forgotten wife Juno who gets
revenge, exploiting Semele's vanity with the aid of Sleep God Somnus (really!).
Semele dies, but from her ashes comes God Bacchus, which seems to assert that
drinking wine beats making love.
No matter, the artists were on top form,
with the chorus singing roles as "priests, augurs, zephyrs, nymphs and
swains" equal to everything demanded of them.
The star turn was gleaming soprano Tracy
Dahl in the title role, who delivered a series of demanding but genuinely
dazzling coloratura pieces without once faltering. When she sang of
"endless pleasure" that's clearly what she gave the full-house
audience.
Other singers also impressed, clear-voiced
mezzo Catherine Robbin as Juno well exploiting her part's heated feelings,
fellow-mezzo Mari van Pelt as Ino, Semele's sister, showing excellent
enunciation and pitch, soprano Renés Winnick lively as Iris, and bass-baritone
Giles Tompkins discovering much hilarity as Somnus.
Tenor John Tessier as philandering Jupiter
was a powerful presence, technically secure and warm-toned, Alain Coulombe's
runaway train of a bass voice admirably suited King Cadmus, and counter-tenor
David Dong Qyu Lee as Athamas, with stunning high notes, has enormous promise.