Music is the lifeblood of Leos Janacek's "The Cunning Little Vixen,"
and it flowed splendidly tonight in the San Francisco Opera's premiere
of a production from Bregenz and Geneva.

Alexander Polianichko conducted a strong, confident reading of this,
the most sweepingly, ravishingly beautiful of Janacek's scores, an equal
of Richard Strauss in full bloom.  There were some rough spots and the
shimmering, glowing quality of the music wasn't sustained at times.
During the run, the orchestral performance is sure to improve further:
the basics are all there, and Polianichko seems to have a real feel for
the work.

(In the audience: the lord of the manor, SFO music director Donald
Runnicles, awarded an OBE by the Queen today; he will be an Officer of
the Order of the British Empire.  Also in attendance: soprano Jane Eaglen,
who may soon have an award of her own.)

Dawn Upshaw made her long overdue SFO stage debut in the title role, and
after an initial bout with the challenge of the big house for what is a
precious, but small instrument, she came into her own, projected well,
sang and acted the role well.  (Her long red wig brought to mind Laura
Claycomb, who could sing the role with her own hair.) One wonders why
the role of the Fox was given to a mezzo instead of a tenor, but Dagmar
Peckova handled the task with increasing assurance as the performance
unfolded.

In the musical interludes, Gabrielle Malone and Andrew Robinson danced
the "spirits" of the Vixen and the Forester, in Aletta Collins' affecting
choreography.

The amazing, ageless, ever-excellent Thomas Allen was the Forester, and
except for a few patches of dry sound, he sang - and even more, embodied
the essence of the role - superbly.

There were many names familiar from the past and presence of Opera Center
in the large cast, including Saundra DeAthos (Hen), Ann Panagulias (Cock),
Katherine Rohrer (Owl), Bojan Knezevic (Harasta), Catherine Cook (Dachshund
/ Woodpecker).  Save the program and a few years hence, show it around
to brag about "I saw them when..."

And so we come to the production, both spectacular and excessive.  Daniel
Slater direction was fine, but Robert Innes Hopkins' complex, elaborate
set of interlocking, moving arches took far more attention than it's
right if the purpose of the production is to serve the music.

"Vixen" is a queer duck to begin with.  A dream or fantasy about animals
and humans - often impossible to tell them apart - it is funny and
touching, whimsical and memorable.  Not always easy to follow, nevertheless
"Vixen" is a children's story, a fairy tale, albeit with a lot of "grownup"
subtext.  Of all the productions I've seen, the most effective was BBC's
animated film with Kent Nagano's Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin,
one without the need to suspend disbelief about people as singing animals.

How far a cry is from that is tonight's warning label in sophisticated,
daring San Francisco that "This opera contains adult themes, suitable
for mature audiences." Just how mature do you have to be to know where
eggs come from?

But the complaint is not about the elaborately staged costume malfunction
(and instant surgery) for the cock - rather about the combination of
"adulting" the story, the moving arches (with peeling wallpaper?!),
nonstop lighting effects, etc.  Busy, busy, busy.

With all that, a key point was neglected by Slater: in a mostly comic
setting, the death of the Vixen should be shocking - even Disney had a
clear-eyed view of what happened to Bambi's mother.  In this staging,
there are no grieving cubs, no real appreciation of what happened, and
the Vixen's resurrection and departure have nothing to do with the intent
of the story.

The simpler the presentation, the more effective "Vixen" is.  It's a
good thing that even overburdened with Production Effort, orchestral and
vocal excellence carried the day, and allowed a wonderful opera to be
savored.

Janos Gereben/SF
www.sfcv.org
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