Photo by Todd Higgins for the Duluth News Tribune
Twin Citieans are regular visitors to Duluth, escaping to the shores of Lake Superior, cooled by the big lake, maybe in search of a semi-wilderness experience “up the shore,†accompanied by fresh fish and fine local brews. I can give you another great reason to get outa town: Lyric Opera of the North, aka LOON. And don’t tell me you’re not an opera fan, because that’s irrelevant in this case.
LOON’s most recent production, Don Pasquale by Gaetano Donizetti, is anything but stuffy, high-brow music. Silly plot, conniving characters, first-rate singers and crazy schtick make this a completely delightful evening’s entertainment. First, a caveat. The founders and directors of LOON are my niece and her husband. Both are accomplished performers and committed arts administrators – and that’s just a fact. I’m still going to do what I always try to do in my reviews: give you my take on what to expect.
This Donizetti classic is the last of a genre termed “opera buffa,†a frothy mixture of seriously challenging arias and duets, flavored with “aw-c’mon, don’t-take-yourself-so-seriously†syrup. For the record, Giovanni Ruffini is credited with the libretto; this is the English version by Phyllis Mead.
Set in a modern city for this production, an elderly bachelor, Don Pasquale (bass Rod Nelman),  is easily duped into marrying his doctor’s “sister,†The young widow Norina, (soprano Sarah Lawrence, LOON’s co-artistic director) – all part of a scheme to separate the old shiester from his money and fund Norina’s Kardashian-style tastes.
Moreover, she intends to get enough of it to sustain a Kardashian-West-inspired lifestyle with her beloved Ernesto, Pasquale’s nephew, who is good at tennis, perhaps, and that seems to be about it. But he’s cute, and tenor Gennard Lombardozzi has a voice that’s at least as smooth as the scotch Pasquale downs to calm his excitement over pulling one over on his nephew. Lombardozzi is a charmer in this doofy role, although I had a little trouble understanding all his lyrics.
Baritone Jeffrey Madison plays the scheming Dr. Malatesta, Don Pasquale’s physician (who is addicted to his smart phone) with confidence and just the right amount of tongue in his cheek. Nelman is a solid bass with crisp diction, nuanced phrasing and acting chops to boot. His Don Pasquale is so phony that he abandons his walker and oxygen tank when things are looking up and resorts to hobbling around when the circumstances suit him to be old and decrepit. It’s a bit that should have gotten funnier as it got more ridiculous and didn’t quite happen, but it still works well enough.
Lawrence, the only female lead, sails through her frilly runs and nails the high musical buttons every time. She’s also adept at using her expressive face for punctuation and maneuvering a tiered stage in three-inch platform heels.
Carlino, Malatesta’s cousin and a supposed lawyer (bass, Eric Meyer) is hilarious and I’m not giving it away. The servants, who make up the chorus, have their shining moments in Act II. Well worth waiting for, too, and great fun.
There’s more to the plot, but don’t worry about it. What matters is that the right characters get their comeuppance, just like the stock stories and characters of the commedia dell’ arte Renaissance theater tradition anchoring the story. (Nope, you don’t need to know this to enjoy it, but why not? It’s fun back story.) Pasquale is the aging and easily-duped Pantalone; Ernesto is the lovesick Pierrot; Malatesta the clever servant Scapino, and Norina is the wily and equally duplicitous Columbina. The almost useless, but pivotal lawyer, so cliché’d in comic opera, gets a fresh and very funny take in this one.
Most notably, this is top-notch music, performed by instrumentalists and singers who really know what they’re doing. The orchestra, members of the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, led by their conductor Dirk Meyer, played with finesse and had such a warm, intimate sound that it was something more than accompaniment; the orchestra truly contributed to the cohesive feel. It was one show, with those on the stage and in the pit just at the right scale, balancing each other in a unique way. Meyer joined the cast on stage for the curtain call – somewhat unusual – but in this case, I almost felt the whole orchestra belonged up there, too.
Director Robert Neu, who has a substantial resume amassed in the Twin Cities, updated the ridiculous premise so skillfully, that it doesn’t come off as a remount of a dated piece, but a reimagined classic for modern audiences, which is what a director is supposed to do. The denouement was a little pesky – too static for the antics that preceded – but getting the full stage back for the finale kicked it back into action.
The quirky update might have been a risk if this company wasn’t so darned good at it. There just are no false notes and weak links. So, Twin Cities, you might have to move over and make room. Yes, we are a great theater town and we have opera companies of our own of which we are and should be proud. But we are not alone. Up the road a piece is a company that will do more than hold its own in the Minnesota arts community. Bookmark them, check their Tweets. And OMG, enjoy!
You might miss this one; there’s only one more performance and that’s Saturday night, June 14. But there will be more, so schedule in the next one. It’s a brave and adventurous couple that decides to make their living running an opera company in Duluth. Lawrence has performed with Skylark in the Twin Cities, and is booked for appearances with the Minnesota Orchestra this fall, but they may wish to venture forth as a company, and I hope they do. The state’s music and theater scene will be richer for it.