There ought to be a law. All opera in English should be performed in
Donald Pippin's translation.

No, check that: "English setting." That's what Pippin calls his sparkling,
intelligent, faithful but not mechanical, and always eminently singable
translations.

My decades-long appreciation for the esteemed founder-director of San
Francisco's Pocket Opera hit a new level of intensity today while listening
to Pippin's new production of Puccini's "Manon Lescaut."

Still nursing the pain of last week's experience with Berkeley Opera's
use of a "standard" translation for "Eugene Onegin," a creaking,
unidiomatic, nonsensical effort without any sense for the music, Pippin's
words came as soothing balm.

The Pippin wit is always welcome - consider the pithy condensation of
Geronte's character, as he speaks of Manon: "She's a jewel to be flaunted,
all I ever wanted" - but the real importance of his work is in making
meat-and-potatoes portions come alive AND stay true to the text AND not
forcing the singers to choose between music or text.

Domenico Oliva's libretto is a rather dim affair, and if you translate
the opening chorus mechanically, it's textually awkward and musically
impossible. There is little you can do with "Ave, sera gentile, che
discendi / col tuo corteo di zefferi e di stelle. / Ave, cara ai poeti
ed agli amanti" - unless you're Pippin.

It's still not great poetry, but Pippin sets the mood and you can actually
sing it in English:

"Let us welcome the evening as it hovers
Laden with stars and cooled by playful breezes,
Ever friendly to poets and to lovers."

Add to that "setting" Pippin's sly, inimitable introductions to opera,
and his programming of an offbeat season, and you have enough reason to
follow the Pocket through the upcoming "Maria Padilla," "Ariodante,"
"Bluebeard," "Stiffelio" and - honest! - "Norma." (Why not "Aida"?)

What do operas sound like, as the eight-member Pocket Philharmonic and
mostly amateur singers try to match expectations of audiences normally
attending productions with "casts of thousands"?

Without fail, the beginning of every single Pocket Opera production I
attended in the company's 26 years evoked for me powerfully the memory
of a warm summer night on the main square of a small Italian town. There,
among people strolling by, eating, drinking and discussing the events
of the day, a small band played music from opera. It was as different
from an evening inside La Scala as anything can be, and yet the memory
is a treasured one.

Pocket Opera quality goes up and down with the times, but that feeling
of intimate, heartfelt music-making is always there. And, in the case
of today's "Manon Lescaut," the Pocket Philharmonic played circles around
the Italian band in my memory. With Pippin at the piano and first violinist
Barbara Riccardi playing beautifully, the musical performance was grounded
convincingly, authentically. Diane Grubbe on flute and piccolo, Kathleen
Conner on oboe, Gregor Pierce on clarinet and Kathleen Johannessen on
bassoon played up a storm, no, produced a great ensemble sound, but
without cranking up the volume, as it were.

And so we come to the singers, and a problem with volume control.

The Legion's Florence Gould Theater is a small, elegant, round jewel
box, all-white, decorated in the Louis XVI style, built in 1924 by George
Applegarth, architect of the museum itself. It seats 300, but feels more
like a large living room than a theater.

In this setting, and with tiny band playing quietly upstage, why would
you belt the music out? They all did, more is the pity. A whole cast of
singers, blowing the opportunity to sing quietly and beautifully.

Bruce Nelson's Des Grieux was the chief offender. He started from forte
and kept getting louder. Singing "big," alas, did not help with a
disconcerting habit of sliding around the notes. Todd Donovan's Lescaut
could have been perfectly acceptable in much larger companies - he has
the voice for a career - but he too joined the huffing-puffing party on
its merry way to blow the walls down (never mind this might have brought
Julio Villa y Prades' mural of "The Apotheosis of the California Soldier"
from the ceiling).

Margaret Genovese, in the title role, stood apart from the cast - in
quality and, unfortunately, in body language. She has a voice big enough
for the War Memorial and her intonation was on a professional level.
There is a kind of stiffness both in her vocal and stage performance,
but more than enough ability for a career in opera.

I don't know if opera audiences require certain production values, even
on the Pocket level, but I am certain this "Lescaut" would have looked
much better without those "costumes." Semi-staged opera doesn't need a
half a uniform here, an awkward-looking gown there. Keep it simple, keep
it "real."

But the biggest change in Pocket Opera I regret is what appears to be a
steep increase in the age of the soloists. It's not that they are "old,"
but everything feels so different from the early Pippin days when most
casts consisted of young students. Or so it seems. It may be a matter
of perspective.

Janos Gereben/SF
www.sfcv.org
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