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October 26, 2007 > Arts & Entertainment > Verdi’s Ball a performance of heartfelt story and skill

Verdi’s Ball a performance of heartfelt story and skill

By Brian Reinhart | Thresher staff

Forbidden passion, a grand cast of characters and a love duet in the shadow of a guillotine highlighted the Houston Grand Opera’s season-opening performance of the Giuseppe Verdi’s A Masked Ball (Un ballo in maschera). The inspired acting and singing make this classic opera come to life in a blaze of color, orchestral force and emotional power.

As with many operas, the plot in Masked Ball is somewhat contorted. It involves King Riccardo’s (Ramon Vargas) secret desire for his chief advisor’s wife, a dreadful prophecy by a fortune-teller, assassination plots and a grand climactic costume ball. The busy story makes sense, for the most part, although it relies occasionally on noticeably absurd suspensions of disbelief, as when the advisor, Renato (Carlo Guelfi), and his wife, Amelia (Tamara Wilson), sing to each other in one scene but do not recognize each other’s voices. Viewers are easily able to forgive such questionable writing, though, due to the beauty of Verdi’s music.

The score begins gently and in good humor, but this seemingly cheery beginning should not fool anyone. As the story progresses, the singing and orchestral playing gradually become more intense and dramatic until the scenes in the third act, which are so emotionally charged as to be absolutely gripping. The concluding scene, the zenith of all this build-up, provides a superb emotional catharsis, as one character intentionally shoots another at the costume ball.

The singers’ performances are generally superb, although Vargas, a tenor, is a bit of a letdown in the role of King Riccardo. His voice is refined but not special, and it is occasionally drowned out by the orchestra, which is a bad sign for a lead role in an opera. However, the rest of the cast excels. Wilson brings tremendous sorrow to the role of Amelia, conveying a rare understanding of her character’s inner turmoil. She does a wonderful job with both her singing and acting. Guelfi, as Amelia’s husband, is also a fascinating character, and the Italian baritone conveys Renato’s conflicting emotions successfully through voice alterations and body language.

Amid all of these great performances, contralto Ewa Podles really steals the show as Ulrica the fortune-teller. Taking the role of the predictor of Riccardo’s death, she astonished the audience and awed listeners like no other performer. Podles has a voice that is unique in its depth and richness and has such an enormous range that she can sound more masculine than the tenors if necessary. She regularly shifted from a near-baritone sound all the way up to soprano seemingly without effort, and her emotional power, a crux of the opera’s plot, was astounding.

The performance also sported dazzling set design and lavish costumes, a hallmark of HGO performances. Every scene takes place in a different locale, from the foot of a menacing guillotine where Riccardo and Amelia declare their secret love for each other to Renato’s medieval castle home. The stage is always a wonder to behold, and often the chorus becomes part of the decoration by freezing, statue-like, into positions in the background. Even if there were a dull moment in the musical score — and there is not — the colorful goings-on onstage would be enough to sustain the viewer’s attention.

A Masked Ball makes for wonderful entertainment and a fantastic start to the HGO’s season. Viewers willing to overlook occasional plot implausibilities will find much to love, and the scenes featuring Podles are worth the cost by themselves. Shows like this one are why so many people enjoy “a night at the opera.”

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