Les Pêcheurs de Perles (Washington National Opera)

Last Thursday, I went to my second opera of WNO's season, and saw Bizet's Les Pêcheurs de Perles. I knew almost nothing about the opera, other than passing familiarity with the famous duet between the men, Au fond de temple saint, in the first act. I purposely didn't learn anything about the opera before going in order to allow myself to experience the performance without any pre-conceived notions - whether about the story, the sets, or the singers. Since I'm not the biggest fan of Carmen, however, I didn't have the highest hopes for this more obscure Bizet opera.

I was pleasantly surprised. First off, the visuals were quite often attractive. British designer Zandra Rhodes' costumes and sets grabbed my attention with their hues of pastel jewel tones (if that makes sense), like robin's egg blue, strawberry milkshake pink, light orange, and the like. She offered an interesting juxtaposition of what appeared to be traditional Asian-island looking garb, and modern prints. The sets were semi-abstract; for example, palm trees with riotous color and figurative images in the leaves featured in some of the sets. And to the gay men who saw the performance (such as my friend and me), the many men parading around shirtless weren't hard on the eyes either. Most of them were dancers, but my friend and I also agreed that the tenor, Charles Castronovo, qualified not just as an opera hunk, but as a hunk hunk. (With all due respect, most opera singers are not models of physical fitness.)

The singing was also lovely. Charles' voice didn't disappoint, and neither did the soprano's, Norah Amsellen. I noticed her French diction was particularly good, and then learned why on my Metro ride home: she is French. The baritone's voice was not bad either, although this vocal part rarely moves me, except in a particularly compelling Mozartian role, such as the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro. All in all, although I'm a soprano guy, I found Nadir's aria Je crois entendre encore the most memorable of the evening - it was sung expressively, and with Nadir on a dark stage, against a background of stars and occasional, spotlighted glimpses of Leila. At times, it was hauntingly beautiful.

The plot is a bit contrived and fanciful - in a word, a bit operatic. Things could be worse for an opera.

I'm looking forward to my next WNO experience: Lucrezia Borgia. My friend and I are holding tickets to one of the Renée Fleming performances. I'm intrigued to see this performance, since I'm generally a fan of Fleming's, and Donizetti's operas - although I've never experienced the two together, either in a live or recorded performance. Here's hoping it's worth the wait.