TORONTO -- A generalized reflection on the extremes of opera that may (or may not) be a case of art imitating life:
If the heroine of an opera is dead at the end of a production, you've seen a tragedy. If she's simply married, it's been a comedy.
Czech composer Bedrich Smetana and librettist Karel Sabina leave little doubt as to the direction their work is taking from the get-go, titling their opera The Bartered Bride.
From there, they build a delightfully silly little confection of romantic intrigue in a Bavarian village, as young lovers conspire to skirt the strictures of a traditional arranged marriage, in favour of a more romantic union.
Set to a score richly flavoured with the folk rhythms of Eastern Europe and served up with relish by the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra under the baton of Kenneth Montgomery, it is an opera that delighted a COC opening night audience at the Hummingbird on Friday as much as it did in its last appearance in 1993.
Staged with plenty of romantic nostalgia and fresh wit by director Paula Suozzi and designer Reinhard Heinrich on a set that resembles an oversized pop-up greeting card, it is a production that rarely fails to hit all the right notes.
The romance at the heart of the piece is played out between Jenik (tenor Miroslav Dvorsky), a high-spirited but apparently rootless young man of the village, and Marenka (soprano Eva Urbanova), a determined young maiden whose parents and the village matchmaker (bass-baritone Dean Peterson) are conspiring to marry off to the scion of one of the wealthier families in the area.
But Vasek (tenor Benoit Boutet in a delightful, though slightly overdrawn performance),the groom favoured by the parents and the matchmaker, is hardly a prime candidate for matrimony.
But while Marenka cooks up her own scheme to put herself permanently into the arms of the man she loves, Jenik proves conclusively that he has a few tricks up his sleeve as well.
The entire situation slips precariously close to slapstick when an itinerant circus, led by tenor John Kriter as the Ringmaster, comes to town, and Vasek falls under the spell of a beautiful high-wire artist (soprano Valerie Gonzalez).
It is a big-hearted work that embraces not only a highly talented cast of principals but also gives full rein to the talents of the COC Chorus, casting all of them as the meddling but hugely contented denizens of a village where no one seems to doubt, for even a single moment, that true love will find a way.
Despite the charm of its music and its seemingly simple story, this work cannot boast all the hallmarks of a great Italian or French opera. But by trading on The Bartered Bride's humour and its folksy charm, the COC has made it a delightful evening nonetheless.
And that's a pretty good deal, by anyone's lights.
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