Opera Hamilton’s production of Georges Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers opened on Saturday and received two good reviews. There are three performances left: tonight (Mar. 12), Thursday and Saturday (Mar. 16).
The two reviews I’ve seen praise the principal cast and the overall effort, while suggesting that the chorus could definitely do better, but that conductor Peter Oleskevich has done with with his last Hamilton opera.
Writing in the Hamilton Spectator, Leonard Turnevicius wrote in his review:
Certainly OH’s Pearl Fishers cast had all the bases covered. One of Canada’s best baritones, Brett Polegato, turned in an extremely fine performance as Zurga. Polegato had it all, from the tenderness of O Nadir tendre ami to the momentary ferocity fuelled by jealous love in his Act 3 duet with Léïla.
Tenor Edgar Ernesto Ramírez is a musician who has clearly thought out the why and how of every note he sings. Not only was his Je crois entendre delivered with touching poignancy, his high Bs alternately sung in head and full voice, but his rendition of the Au fond du temple saint duet with Polegato brought goosebumps.
Soprano Virginia Hatfield’s Léïla was given a red carpet entrance by stage director Brian Deedrick, singing with a clear, bell-like tone all night long, beguiling Nadir and audience alike in her aria, Dans le ciel sans voile.
Bass-baritone Stephen Hegedus played Nourabad as the heavy, firm in tone and firmly in command of the French language.
According to Opera Going Toronto:
Opera Hamilton’s touching production of The Pearl Fishers movingly captures the tragic irony of an opera profoundly undervalued by history. With its stellar cast of fine young featured singer actors and its enthusiastic staging, a work long considered underwhelming by critics and musicologists alike, is given a much welcome revisit. The production challenges are great for the tenacious Hamilton company. The city’s 750-seat Dofasco Centre for the Arts is decidedly opera unfriendly. Orchestral sound is almost swallowed whole in the depths of its sub-stage pit. Direct line-of-sight contact between conductor and performers, essential for basic musical communication, is questionable. Technical resources are sparse. And yet, despite everything, an acoustically unforgiving venue, limited stagecraft, modest set, this irresistible, wholehearted production effectively triumphs on stage.
Also:
As Opera Hamilton’s Zurga, popular Canadian baritone Brett Polegato gives an astonishing performance, an unforgettable co-mingling of authority and vulnerability, grit and tenderness. His voice is quite simply extraordinary with its towering top and resonant depth, his middle range smooth and lustrous. Like a pearl.
Tenor Edgar Ernest Ramirez sings the role of Nadir with a gorgeous warmth of tone and exquisite phrasing. This is an artist clearly comfortable working within the classic vocal tradition of French grand opera where lyricism generally trumps show-off virtuosity. This fine young talent can, of course, thrill and does so in virtually each and every one of his many genuinely affecting appearances spotted throughout the Hamilton-originated production. The great landmark tenor-baritone duet Au fond du temple saint (“In the depths of the holy temple”) is performed with an engaging bittersweetness by Ramirez and Polegato, a potent quality that gives the justifiably cherished piece its compelling emotional reverberation.
The Pearl Fishers’ priestess, Léïla, as depicted by soprano Virginia Hatfield is a woman of formidable strength and dignity. Miss Hatfield is a singer actor of great versatility, equally at home in early opera as well as more verismo-inclined nineteenth century repertoire. In Bizet’s plugged-in, highly charged work, the goal is to sing with an absolutely clear sense of emotional purpose, honestly, directly, with great engagement. Hatfield hits the mark with seeming effortlessness. Léïla’s enchanting cavatina in which her love for Nadir overflows in a wave of heartfelt expression, Comme autrefois dans la nuit sombre (“As he used to in the dark night”) becomes a moment of intense beauty in Hatfield’s meticulously focused rendition.
Bass baritone Stephen Hegedus portrays his Nourabad, the opera’s quick-to-condemn high priest, as the dangerous fanatic he is. Mr Hegdus voices his performance in dark sonorous shades. Chilling.
The outstanding ability of its principal cast is clearly this Pearl Fishers strong suit. But the production is not without musical issues. The men’s chorus sings with a profound lack of tunefulness. Conductor Peter Oleskevich could lead with more vitality and dynamism on occasion. Orchestral playing — the rare times it can be clearly heard — could benefit from a bolder depiction of Bizet’s brightly coloured harmonies. But perhaps this is splitting hairs. If a production is ultimately to be judged by the sheer volume of tears glistening in opera goers’ eyes, then Opera Hamilton’s sincere, eager to please Pearl Fishers has to be declared a resounding, standing ovation-worthy success.
You can read the full Hamilton Spectator review here and the Opera Going review here, and get production details and ticket information here.
John Terauds
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