I Capuleti e i Montecchi, San Francisco Opera, Oct. 16 2012

We saw the fifth of the six scheduled regular performances of Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi on Tuesday evening. To the earlier report of the staging, I should mention that in Act 1 Scene 2, there was what appeared to be a white plaster cast of two intertwined flying figures, suspended high above the stage. In Act 2 Scene 2, the left and right walls and the back wall formed a trapezoid similar to Act 1 Scene 1, while the floor was the triangular shape of Act 1 Scene 2. In the space between the triangular floor and the back wall there was a chord of a circle, perhaps representing a sun that had almost set. At first it was illuminated with white light, and later with pink light. For the final scene, the triangular walls were fit with the triangular floor. Giuletta simply lay limp on the floor, still dressed in her bridal gown, with overclothes lying beside her. At one point Romeo lifted her to her feet, where she remained standing, motionless, with her arms akimbo, for eight minutes. It’s the opposite of athleticism, but holding such a position for such a long time is nevertheless a considerable demand to make of anyone.

Our cast:
Giulietta: Nicole Cabell
Romeo: Joyce DiDonato    
Tebaldo: Saimir Pirgu
Lorenzo: Ao Li    
Capellio: Eric Owens    
Conductor: Riccardo Frizza    
Director: Vincent Boussard   
Set Designer: Vincent Lemaire

Cabell and DiDonato sang magnificently, even better than they had in dress rehearsal. Pirgu displayed a nice clear tenor voice, though it got a bit shrill near the top of his range. Li impressed with his Lorenzo, and Owens did justice to Capellio. Many aspects of the production remained a mystery. I heard from a super that Cabell and DiDonato were “strong supporters” of the production and that the director had spent a lot of time with them explaining its meaning. I wish that we, the audience, could have benefited from some of those insights. David Gockley reported that the production “divided the audience.” I give the production a gamma at best, the women get alphas, and the entire experience a beta or maybe a bit more.