Bravely standing up to Verdi

Authoritative, solid and persuasive, Edoardo Muller’s achievements as a pit conductor are not limited to the 14 operas he has previously presided over at San Diego Opera, or to his many international credits. Yet he added considerably to his already enviable reputation in taking on, for his 15th San Diego assignment, the complex and daunting challenge of Giuseppe Verdi’s penultimate masterpiece, “Otello,” this month in Civic Theater.

A healthy-voiced, skillfully acting cast of principals -- four of them in San Diego Opera debuts -- followed Muller’s musical leadership neatly, while attending dutifully to Sonja Frisell’s practical if uninspired staging on opening night, Saturday. Consequently, the dramatic elements worked, for the most part, to the benefit of Verdi’s and librettist Arrigo Boito’s sung play.

The drama was aided in no small part by Zack Brown’s rich and colorful set and costume designs, originally created for Washington Opera; they were effectively shown off in the lighting designs by Joan Sullivan-Genthe, in her San Diego Opera debut. And they were greatly assisted by the company’s new and easy-to-read supertitles.

In the first Otello of his career, Latvian tenor Sergej Larin sang all of Act 2 and most of Act 3 with the kind of Italianate ring one associates with this part. But those sounds, and Larin’s vocal resonance, were inconsistent. The acting, also, veered between moments of great strength and moments of insecurity. Marina Mescheriakova, the radiant Russian soprano who sings Desdemona at these five performances, may be the next great Verdi soprano some have proclaimed her. Saturday night, she displayed many persuasive reasons: a voice of size and beauty, a technique untroubled by abundant technical or emotional use, a simplicity of acting that eschews affectation and rings true in the eye.

With Muller’s suave assistance, Mescheriakova made the longueurs of Act 4 dramatically cogent and effective, as well as beautifully sung. She did the same for the love duet in Act 1 and the extended solo lines in Act 3. After some of the overwrought performances of other contemporary Russian sopranos, she is a musical refreshment.

Limited in range and acting insights, the Romanian baritone Alexandru Agache gave us only parts of Iago’s complex musical-dramatic persona. The voice is acceptable, if undeveloped at the bottom of the scale, but the acting emerges simply conflicted.

Deviousness, as portrayed by Agache, is a legitimate attribute in Iago. But weakness, as shown in body language and posture, has no place in this character. As a result, this Iago does not control the drama, but simply reacts to it, and the villain becomes a victim. Throughout the uncredible Credo, one thought: Why is he singing this?

Most of the rest of the cast operates from strength. Richard Troxell’s handsome and boyish Cassio sings strongly; Julien Robbins makes an imposing Lodovico--incidentally, he sang the same part in Los Angeles Opera’s first “Otello” in 1986. Joseph Hu is an adroit Roderigo.

Timothy Todd Simmons prepared the solid chorus, which sang lustily in Acts 1 and 3; Steve Rankin staged the exciting and believable fight-scenes. And under Muller, the orchestra played intensely and accurately throughout.

*

‘Otello’

Where: Civic Theatre, 202 B Street, San Diego

When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.; Friday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m.; April 30, 7 p.m.

Ends: April 30

Price: $20-$140

Contact: (619) 232-7636

Running time: 3 hours, 40 minutes