Lucrezia Borgia, San Francisco Opera, Oct. 2 2011

For the first time in its history, San Francisco Opera is presenting Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia, written less than two years prior to Lucia di Lammermoor and sounding very much like that opera, though without any actual overlap. Lucrezia also lacks the musical and dramatic impact of Lucia. It rates only a short writeup in Grove’s Dictionary and no mention in Sir Denis Forman’s A Night at the Opera, but it was worth including in The Book of 101 Opera Librettos. We have Renee Fleming to thank for bringing this opera to our attention, which in turn brought a couple of fine singers to our attention.

This production begins with a staged overture. Lucrezia stands over a smoky (or steaming) grate with a spotlight on her, with the rest of the stage fairly dark. But we are able to make out men fighting with swords in slow motion, reenacting the incident to be described later in Act 1 in which Gennaro saved Orsini’s life. When the lights come up–it’s night in Venice–we see the outer walls of two buildings, constructed from wide but short light-colored stone. Between the buildings the “street” is built from shallow steps running all the way across the stage, and most of the way front to back. In back we can see the night sky to the right, and a tall narrow archway to the left. In Act 2 the buildings and steps remain, but now in the background there is a plinth supporting a sculpture of a charging bull. On the vertical face of the plinth is the Borgia family crest, above the word “BORGIA” in well-executed Roman capitals. It is this “B” that Gennaro removes to leave the word “ORGIA,” thus insulting the Borgia family and earning himself a death sentence. When Gennaro is brought before the Duke to answer for this crime, the building walls close in to become the inner walls of the Duke’s palace. Only a portion of the plinth and bull remain visible. Later a massive pair of steel-grate doors close in front of the plinth. In Act 3 the movable walls open up a bit to reveal more night sky, punctuated by three or four poplar trees. They are replaced by the tall narrow archway of Act 1, this time directly facing the audience. When Lucrezia expels everyone but herself and Gennaro from the room, a pair of doors close the archway.

Our cast:
Lucrezia Borgia: Renee Fleming
Genarro: Michael Fabiano
Duke Alfonso: Vitalij Kowaljow
Maffio Orsini: Elizabeth DeShong
Conductor: Riccardo Frizza
Director: John Pascoe

Lucrezia Borgia was brought to San Francisco as a vehicle for Renee Fleming. It’s unfortunate when the star soprano gets upstaged by her leading man. Michael Fabiano, a winner of the 2007 Metropolitan National Council auditions (as documented in the movie The Audition) sang with considerable power and presence, though some of my neighbors expressed reservations about the quality of his voice. In comparison, Fleming was rather subdued. Kowaljow sang a convincing Duke.

With music that is pleasant but hardly memorable, uninspired staging, and a star who seemed to be off her game, this performance fell somewhat short of a beta.