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9/10/12 1:07 PMOpera San José Pearl Fishers Dives Deep : San Francisco Classical Voice
Page 1 of 2http://www.sfcv.org/reviews/opera-san-jose-pearl-fishers-dives-deep
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Tenor James Callon as Nadir andbaritone Zachary Altman as Zurga inOpera San José’s The Pearl FishersPhotos by Pat Kirk
Soprano Melody King as Léïla
September 9, 2012
Opera San José Pearl Fishers DivesDeep
BY SCOTT MACCLELLAND (/AUTHOR/SCOTT-MACCLELLAND)
Even if Carmen had never happened, GeorgesBizet’s three-act opera The Pearl Fishersvouchsafes his place in history. Any doubtersshould make their way to Opera San José’snew production, which opened last weekendat the California Theatre. The 24-year-oldformer child prodigy’s brilliance is evidentthroughout the piece as he turned somethingof a sow’s ear of a libretto into a masterfullyorganized and coherent display of musicaltheater.
While most famous for its often-excerptedtenor/baritone duet and its tenor solo aria,both occurring in Act 2, Bizet hangs generousmusical flesh on the thinnest bits of EugèneCarron and Michel Carré’s flash-in-the-pannarrative. The popular melody of the duet,“Au fond du temple saint,” in which the twofriends, Zurga and Nadir, renew their earlierpact to end a competition for the heart ofLéïla, is recalled in new attire each time theirlove for her, and Zurga’s jealousy, arerekindled. The tune tolls like a bell throughout the succeeding acts, restoringemotional focus with each reiteration.
For its first staging at the California, OSJengaged Charlie Smith to design an ancientBrahman temple, partly ruined and overgrown,with Hindu motifs on its wall panels. (Hindumotifs also inform Lise la Cour’s choreography.)With Smith’s boxy, static set, the burden ofmood and times of day falls to Pamila Gray’slighting, which proved especially dramatic in thewild storm scene of Act 2. Andrew Whitfield’sOSJ chorus has much to do both in the outeracts and at the conclusion of Act 2, and deliversit all with gusto.
The three principals — Zachary Altman (Zurga),James Callon (Nadir), and Melody King (Léïla) —made their OSJ debuts Sunday afternoon. (Theyjoin two other new company residents whoappeared in the Saturday cast.) Initially, all three
9/10/12 1:07 PMOpera San José Pearl Fishers Dives Deep : San Francisco Classical Voice
Page 2 of 2http://www.sfcv.org/reviews/opera-san-jose-pearl-fishers-dives-deep
James Callon with the OSJ Chorus
were stiff, but soon warmed into their roles,which allowed their vocal production to bloom. Callon’s light, lyric tenor at firstsounded the smallest. His Act 1 aria, “Je crois entendre encore,” was a thing ofdelicate beauty, ideal for this repertoire, but thereafter grew in amplitude.
King’s richly grained soprano had little chance to warm up before being throwninto coloratura display when her prayer to Brahma (she’s the chaste priestessdu jour) grows to a delirious outburst of love for Nadir. Altman’s resonantbaritone seemed nervous and insecure at the start, but flowered into base hits,then home runs, as his character developed; Zurga is the opera’s mostcomplex. Silas Elash, a veteran OSJ stalwart, was solidly consistent as the priestNourabad.
Stage director Richard Harrell, of theSan Francisco Conservatory,maximized the set’s potential bydeploying action from the stage floorup a steep flight of stairs to a parapet.Anthony Quartuccio, another OSJveteran, conducted the orchestra withseeming ease and no small grace.Except for the hushed, intimatemoments on stage, he let hismusicians play out. (He’s a candidatethis season to replace John LarryGranger at the helm of the Santa CruzSymphony.)
The two casts for The Pearl Fishers continue in alternation through Sept. 23.
For those who can’t get enough quality opera in smaller houses, Hidden ValleyOpera in Carmel Valley has three performances remaining this week (throughSept. 15) of its new production of Puccini’s La bohème. Stewart Robertsonconducts Kenneth Roberts’ reduction of Puccini’s orchestra to nine musicians,which is more than adequate for the lively, intimate Hidden Valley venue.Among the fine cast members are sopranos Rebecca Davis and SaraDuchovnay, plus a startlingly gifted, award-winning tenor discovery, BenGulley.
Scott MacClelland has written on music and, in Monterey County, taught on the subject for more thanthree decades.