WEXFORD - References to "Die drei Pintos" as a "Mahler opera" make
little sense.  Carl Maria von Weber's fragment of a work was, in fact,
completed by Mahler between 1886 and 1888.  He did mostly organization
and orchestration, and added some music of his own, but if you heard the
opera without knowing who composed it, Mahler would not be among your
top choices.

Weber, definitely, and any number of German singspiel, at one point even
Beethoven, but Mahler?

Wexford is giving the opera a brilliant production, trying to make
something more of it than the tuneful, rhythmically appealing, pretty
good operetta it really is.  Still, unlike the season's other two offerings
- Weinberger's "Svanda the Bagpiper" and Granados' "Maria del Carmen" -
no big "discovery" is made here, no wish to explore the work more, to
hear it again.

Dramatically and musically, "Drei Pintos" is uncomplicated fun, with
very little lurking underdneath the surface.  Three men claiming to be
Don Pinto claim the hand of Clarissa, whose father had promised her to
the son of an old friend, the son he had never met.

Act 1 sets up the situation, in a long, leisurely setting of chorus
numbers and a great deal of physical, not entirely funny, comedy.  Act
2 is the exposition of the love story between Clarissa and one of the
would-be Pintos, Don Gomez.  Act 3 quickly resolves all problems, allowing
a proper celebration.

There are operas with even thinner story, and yet instances of
emotional-musical depth to make up for whatever may be lacking.  "Drei
Pintos" doesn't; it exists all on the surface.  In a poor production,
the work would be simply dreadful.  Here, with a fine cast, excellent
musical and stage direction by the Italian-born English Paolo Arrivabeni
and Poland's Michal Znaniecki, respectively, and with the designing magic
of London's Kevin Knight, the opera works pretty well.

Esteem for the National Philharmonic of Belarus is rising with each
production: the orchestra sounded Spanish enough for Granados, positively
Czech for "Svanda," and tonight, it was difficult to believe that it's
not a German - a good German - band in the pit.  Arrivabeni deserves
much of the credit: he paced both the musicians and the excellent festival
chorus perfectly, getting just the right sound all the way through.
Znaniecki enlivened the thin action with imaginative touches, but never
at the expense of the work.

Knight's work on the sets is difficult to believe, even when you see
it.  On one of the world's tiniest opera stages he created a three-level
"palace" for the last two acts, a Guggenheim-like round structure (albeit
in an unfortunate shade of green), complete with a top level balcony,
the main stage, and a round chute for surprising entrances and exits.
He also covered the walls with glass display cases of intriguing contents,
and imbedded glass-covered containers in the floor.  Were it not for
that outstanding orchestral performance, I might have left the Theatre
Royal whistling the sets.

With all the Don Pintos around, three ladies were the belles of the
ball in the cast: Barbara Zechmeister's Clarissa, with vocal fireworks
and more passion and drama than the opera's creators managed to provide;
Sophie Marilley's commanding and comic maid; and - unfortunately restricted
to Act 1 - Sinead Campbell's lusty Inez.

The real Don Pinto was Alessandro Svab, getting every ounce of value
out of the role.  In the strange structure of the work, Don Pinto No.
2, Don Panteleone, pretty much has all of Act 1 to himself.  Robert
Holzer is one of those rare tenors, who can sing so effortlessly as if
they were having a casual conversation.  Looking and sounding a bit like
Ben Heppner a few years ago, Holzer was impressively, spectacularly
natural and effortless, even if fell victim to what had plagued Heppner
before, the voice breaking unexpectedly, and not necessarily on demanding
high notes.

Peter Furlong sang Don Gomez with youthful vigor, determined acting, and
quite oblivious to the fact that his fly was open - unintentionally, one
may presume - through most of his time on stage.  Considering that the
director introduces the loving couple in a hilarious scene choreographed
under a wildly gyrating sheet, and they spend half the prelude to Act 2
getting dressed, the oversight may be charitably overlooked.

Robert Holzer was the sonorous Don Pantaleone, willing father of the
reluctant bride.  Gunnar Gudbjoernsson sang the role of Don Gaston,
properly dressed, a blessing because the character's main task is a
travesty act, which - through no fault of the singer - falls far short
of the finest German humor.  An open fly just would not have been proper
with those fake breasts.

The festival chorus' excellent work, although mentioned before, deserves
the place of honor in conclusion.

Janos Gereben/SF
www.sfcv.org
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