The Secret Marriage

Opera Theatre of St. Louis

In music as in all the arts fame is, to quote Ira Gershwin, “a sometime thing”. One era’s great master is often another’s historical footnote.

Take the case of Domenico Cimarosa. In his time – the late 18th century – he was widely admired as a master of comic opera. Emperor Leopold II of Austria hired him as court composer, finding him much more worthy than his uncouth contemporary, Wolfgang Mozart. Cimarosa’s first opera for the Emperor, The Secret Marriage, was such a hit that Leopold offered dinner to all the singers and then had them repeat the entire show for him in a private performance. It lends a whole new meaning to “singing for your supper”.

Fast-forward to the 21st century and Mozart is everywhere while Cimarosa is largely forgotten and The Secret Marriage is almost a secret opera.

Now, however, local audiences have a chance to find out what so entranced old Leo as Opera Theatre presents Cimarosa’s greatest hit in a sparkling and fast-paced production that boasts fine singing and, for the most part, inspired comic acting by a six-member ensemble.

The story is the usual silly stew typical of opera buffa. You take a pair of secretly married lovers, add a lecherous English count, a lusty maiden aunt, a shrewish older sister and a befuddled father; throw in a mix of spirited if undistinguished arias da capo, stir into a state of confusion, and top if off with a rousing sextet finale (“full of words and music and signifying nothing”, to quote Tom Lehrer in a different context) celebrating a double weeding. It’s light, tasty, and won’t stick to the roof of your mind.

Soprano Sari Gruber and tenor Jeffrey Picón are totally charming as Carolina and Paolino, the secret newlyweds. Both were in fine voice on opening night, although Picón had a couple of dicey moments in the first act and Gruber isn’t always comprehensible when Cimarosa’s patter machine goes into overdrive. The same can be said for soprano Christine Brandes, making an auspicious OTSL debut as the self-admiring older sister Elisetta. The age makeup used to convince us that young bass-baritone Evan Rainey Bennett is the middle-aged Don Geronimo isn’t very convincing, but his performance is, and that’s what really counts.

The comic stars of the evening, though, are mezzo Phyllis Pancella as Don Geronimo’s sister, Fidalma and baritone Carleton Chambers as the impecunious Lord Robinson. As she did in The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein in 2001, Pancella demonstrates that she’s a consummate comic actress as well as a fine singer who knows how to make inventive use of her instrument. Chambers, who was so impressive as a lubricious airline steward in Flight last year, is a nimble physical comic reminiscent of the young Red Skelton, although Skelton never had a baritone that solid.

In fact, Skelton never had a baritone.

But I digress.

Director Colin Graham has set The Secret Marriage in the carefree world of the 1930s upper-crust comedy, a la Noel Coward, complete with tuxes, smoking jackets and slinky gowns. It works perfectly, even if it did oblige Graham to make wholesale changes in Simon Rees’ English libretto. That changes make sense, though, and are often funnier than the original. Jane Glover conducts the orchestra in a spirited reading of Cimarosa’s cheerful score, which dances in one ear and out the other without leaving any footprints.

The bottom line is that The Secret Marriage is a classic light summer comedy. Sometime between now and June 25th, grab a bottle of bubbly and take the roadster out to Webster Groves to see it, but don’t forget to call 314-961-0644 for tickets first.

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