By ANDREW POWELL
Published: February 20, 2013
MUNICH — Bavarian State Opera this month dusted off (sort of) Ferruccio Soleri’s drab staging of Il barbiere di Siviglia. The Italian actor’s action scheme has devolved in his absence into an unfocused free-for-all, permissive, at its saddest, of impromptu bopping and weaving to Rossini’s tunes by principal members of the cast. Mesa, AZ, mezzo-soprano Angela Brower saved the Feb. 9 performance (sort of) with articulate roulades, cheerful trills and neat messa di voce, embellishing a poised but resolute Rosina. Her star turn here as Nicklausse in 2011 (under the deft leadership of Constantinos Carydis) raced agreeably back to mind. A Glimmerglass Young Artist, Brower joined the Munich company’s Opera Studio in 2008 and the company itself in 2010. (She is pictured with Nikolay Borchev.) Fellow company member Levente Molnár, as Figaro, found chemistry with the mezzo, leading to a comedic highpoint in Dunque io son, tu non m’inganni? Elsewhere he tried too hard theatrically and, though firm of voice, slid through vital Italian consonants. Javier Camarena coped gracefully as Almaviva, a few ungainly fortissimos notwithstanding, but his interpolation of Bésame mucho paid Rossini no compliment. Tiziano Bracci made an entirely-at-home Bartolo, irked on point for A un dottor della mia sorte. More volume to his patter would have been welcome. Ildar Abdrazakov seemed looser than his usual lumbering self, the voice projecting well, but he reduced Basilio to caricature in La calunnia è un venticello and danced obtrusively while the tenor negotiated Cessa di più resistere. Lombard conductor Riccardo Frizza provided unwitty, poorly balanced accompaniment.
Photo © Bayerische Staatsoper
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