‘Otello’ finally has its Desdemona
What a difference a Desdemona makes.
Los Angeles Opera’s new production of Verdi’s “Otello” opened Saturday night in trouble. James Conlon’s conducting was vigorous; the orchestra and chorus sounded good. But the evening proved weak theatrically and scenically, and the singers were disappointing. Making matters worse, the Chilean soprano Cristina Gallardo-Domas became ill at the time of the dress rehearsal. Elena Evseeva flew in from New York on the day of the performance to replace her.
The good news is that Gallardo-Domas has recovered and sang the second performance of the run Thursday night in Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. One diminutive Desdemona couldn’t fix everything, but she sure could help.
Evseeva saved Saturday’s show, but one knew, of course, she was faking it. The director, John Cox, had already left town. The Russian soprano did her thing and carefully watched her footing on a treacherously curved stage. She won our sympathy and gratitude, but circumstances made a convincing interpretation all but impossible.
In her company debut Thursday, Gallardo-Domas gave the evening the radiance it desperately needed. Desdemona, in Shakespeare or Verdi, is seldom the center of attention. Even the jealous Moor, wronged by Iago’s devious trickery, tends to get more sympathy than the innocent wife he murders. She’s frail, he’s strong, so his fall means more.
The soprano -- who starred last season in Anthony Minghella’s new production of Puccini’s “Madame Butterfly” at the Metropolitan Opera in New York -- is petite, but her Desdemona is hardly fragile or docile. Cox sets the opera, oddly, on a frigate, but the visual perspective could be interesting, with her sometimes appearing taller than her tormentor, the tall and strapping British tenor Ian Storey. She sang tall as well, standing up to Otello with animated outrage. Hers was a temper more impressive than his.
Most important, Gallardo-Domas is a stunning Verdi soprano who sounds splendid when she is loud and angry and just as splendid when she is all sweetness and purity singing her Ave Maria. Her death is shocking. She is such a strong presence on stage that you would think somehow she could outwit Otello.
As he had on opening night, Storey still sounded tight and tense Thursday, but not quite as tight or tense. With a convincing Desdemona, he started to come to life, to open up. There is still lots wrong, even embarrassing, with this “Otello,” but thanks to Gallardo-Domas it is no longer a disaster.
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‘Otello’
Where: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A.
When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday; 1 p.m. Wednesday; 2 p.m. March 2; 7:30 p.m. March 5; 2 p.m. March 9
Ends: March 9
Price: $20 to $238
Contact: (213) 972-8001,
www.laopera.com
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