The Westmont College Music Department will offer a video of their new production of Gaetano Donizetti‘s comic masterpiece “The Elixir of Love,” 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19, at www.westmont.edu/music.
The production features stage direction by alumna Christina (Farris) Jensen; musical direction by Michael Shasberger, Adams professor of music and worship; and vocal direction by Sara Rockabrand.
Senior Jessica Lingua (soprano) tops the student cast as Adina, with sophomore Sibo Msibi (tenor) as Nemorino, senior Justin Sharp (baritone) as Sargent Bellcore, freshman Sean Ryan (baritone) as Doctor Dulcamara, and senior Hailey Hoang (mezzo-soprano) as Giannetta; plus a full chorus and the Westmont Chamber Orchestra.
It’s not easy producing a full-scale opera during a pandemic. Preparation for the video involved “months of socially distant rehearsals,” before moving into Center Stage Theater at Paseo Nuevo Mall for “three days of challenging but safe videotaping.”
“I’ve never worked with such an outstanding group of professionals and students, completely devoted to creating a moment of artistic beauty in the midst of such challenging times,” Jensen said. “I don’t think any of us has worked under such tenuous conditions, when the future of the project hangs in the balance every day, even every minute.”
Rigorous testing was the order of the day, every day, and several students voluntarily self-quarantined after possible COVID-19 exposures.
“We had our ups and downs, with students coming in and out of the production,” Jensen said. “Under such strange circumstances, we were able to work together to create a piece of art whose historic roots continue to live in the bodies and souls of Westmont students, and to speak relevantly to a new generation of art lovers. That sweet moment of completion is my greatest reward.”
“We have interesting stories to tell, and an interesting time in which to tell them,” said Shasberger. “The story focuses on a peddler selling a magic elixir that does almost anything including solving problems of love — and possibly a cure for COVID-19.
“The opera is best known for the famous tenor aria ‘Una furtiva lagrima’ (sung in the original Italian), its charming choruses, brilliant soprano arias and the comic baritone roles.”
Jensen decided to film “The Elixir of Love” out of sequence. “We wanted to give the students an additional challenge and opportunity to work in a more film-like environment where order is irrelevant,” she said. “We also hoped to keep contact at a minimum. The students rose to the challenge of performing in such a different way.”
The Center Stage staff removed several rows of audience seating for the socially distant orchestra, and cooperated with efforts to hang fabric and lights, provided by the video team of Verité.
Interesting staging, handsome costumes, and innovative art direction are always welcome, but not even David Hockney’s brilliant sets and costumes could save a recent production of Richard Strauss‘ “The Woman without a Shadow” from its pretentious tedium.
Several years before he became prime minister of the U.K., Lord Salisbury attended the London premiere of Wagner‘s “Tristan und Isolde.” His report of the event, written to a school chum, read, in part: “Four and a half hours, Dicky, and not a tune in it.”
Now, it must be added that Lord Salisbury’s taste in just about anything — music, painting, literature, food … —was notoriously unadventurous. (At one state dinner, he was presented with dish after dish of exquisite French cuisine, which he greeted with an indifferent shrug. Then, someone came by with a plate of roast beef. “At last!” he cried, “Something to eat!”
Nevertheless, if an opera was to survive in the repertory, it had to have at least one unforgettable tune, and preferably half a dozen. Since a successful opera was one of the best ways for a composer to make real money, many tried their hand. Most such efforts have disappeared without a trace, after one or two performances: no tunes.
Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848), on the other hand, wrote more than 70 operas, and most — comic (“Don Pasquale,” “The Elixir of Love,” …) or serious (“Lucia di Lammermoor,” “La Favorite,” …) — made money; “The Elixir of Love” and “Don Pasquale” made him rich.
The comic operas had silly, comemdia dell’arte plots; the serious were melodramatic in the extreme; no matter, he was as full of tunes as Gershwin or Berlin.
— Gerald Carpenter covers the arts as a Noozhawk contributing writer. He can be reached at gerald.carpenter@gmail.com. The opinions expressed are his own.