Cavalleria Rusticana and Sister Angelica

Opera Theatre of St. Louis

This year Opera Theatre is presenting two classics of “verismo” opera: Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Puccini’s Sister Angelica. “Verismo” is, literally, the Italian for “realism” and the verismo libretti deal with the joys and sorrows of ordinary people. Verismo arose as a kind of reaction to the mythic and historical subjects favored by Verdi and earlier masters. Naturalistic language and realistic settings are the hallmarks of versimo operas.

You wouldn’t know that from the way Stefano Vizioli has staged these two one-acts, though. Stage directions in the libretti have been almost completely ignored, even when the composer has written music clearly intended to accompany those directions. Instead Vizioli has lumbered these modest little tales of domestic tragedy with vast piles of surrealism and plodding, ritualistic movement. The load is especially heavy in Sister Angelica, eventually causing the whole thing to collapse into absurdity.

That’s not to say that moments of inappropriate silliness don’t crop up in Cavalleria as well. Early in the opera, as the villagers prepare to enter the church for Easter service, they gather for one massive hymn of praise to the Almighty. It’s a stirring moment – or was, until two children in rustic angel costumes were flown in on ropes to drop flower petals on the chorus. It turned the entire tableau into something not unlike one of Terry Gilliam’s animations for Monty Python and neatly undercut the scene.

Mark McCullough’s consistently dim lighting doesn’t help any, either. Actors’ faces are almost constantly in shadow. As a result, the bright Easter morning of Cavalleria looks more like Easter evening, and night falls considerably earlier that it’s supposed to in Sister Angelica.

Musically, the situation is much happier. Lisa Daltrius is an impressive Santuzza in Cavalleria, as is Brian Davis as the betrayed husband Alfio. Both have a tendency to over-act, but their voices are splendid. In the title role of Sister Angelica, Kelly Kaduce steals the show in a stunning display of vocal fireworks. This is all the more impressive when you consider the bizarre postures Vizioli places her in during her “mad” scene. As he did with a similar scene in Lucia di Lammermoor here in 2002, Vizioli seems unwilling to let the music and text speak for themselves.

Jennifer Powell is a surprisingly effective Mamma Lucia in Cavalleria, despite being a few decades too young for the role. Katherine Ciesinski has the roughly corresponding supporting mezzo role of The Princess in Sister Angelica. Her voice is rich, dark and powerful. Her character is rather one-dimensional, but that’s more due to Vizioli’s staging than her acting.

Sandra Horst has done her usual fine work with the chorus; the big crowd scenes in Cavalleria are especially impressive. Stephen Lord conducts the orchestra with a sure hand and gets generally fine playing from them throughout the evening.

If you’re the sort of person who goes to the opera primarily to hear great singing, you’ll find much to admire in this Opera Theatre double bill. If, however, you expect great theatre as well as great music, you might want to give this one a miss. Performances continue through June 27th; call 314-961-0644 for tickets.

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