Review: Verdi’s little-known ‘Foscari’ gets a vibrant production in Palo Alto

Joshua Kosman February 16, 2019 Updated: February 21, 2019, 3:53 pm

Verdi’s early opera I due Foscari was premiered in Rome in 1844, and hasn’t been heard much since. Why would it, when opera companies have the pick of the composer’s works of mature genius to choose among?

That attitude isn’t wrong, exactly, but it’s short-sighted, as the West Bay Opera’s fine new production of “Foscari” demonstrates clearly. Even in embryonic form, Verdi’s burgeoning artistic mastery — his theatrical flair, his harmonic ingenuity, his ability to craft a vocal line that is at once conventional and appropriate to the dramatic situation — is something to witness.

And when a company can muster a cast of singers able to do justice to the score’s demands, as West Bay Opera has largely done, then the results are of more than merely historical interest. The production that opened a four-performance run on Friday, Feb. 15, at the Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto under the baton of General Director José Luis Moscovich makes a vivid and compelling case for this little-known work.

At least, it makes a case for the piece’s musical virtues. From a dramatic standpoint, “Foscari” is something of an uphill climb.

Based on a play by none other than Lord Byron, it’s a murky tale of power struggles and miscarriage of justice in 15th century Venice. The two Foscaris of the title are the doge, Francesco Foscari, and his son Jacopo, exiled from the city on a dubious murder charge; what little drama there is revolves around the father’s inability to use the levers of power to spring his son from legal jeopardy.

If that struggle between honor and self-interest sounds quaint in the context of our Machiavellian day, it rings no truer against a backdrop of the city-states of Renaissance Italy (Verdi had gotten a surer hold on these issues by the time he returned to similar turf in the mature opera “Simon Boccanegra“).

The soprano role belongs to Jacopo’s wife Lucrezia, who basically does little more than bemoan the cruelty of fate. A last-minute written confession serves as a deus ex machina that is both unconvincing and useless, since the opera ends tragically anyway. Even the composer later acknowledged that the gloom suffusing nearly every scene in the opera was a miscalculation.

But if the plot is cut-rate stuff, it’s also largely beside the point. The excitement of “Foscari” is the chance to hear Verdi — in the sixth of his more than two dozen operas — continuing to turn the conventions of Italian opera in the direction of greater depth and expressive intimacy. Whatever the piece’s overall weaknesses, there’s no denying the resourceful brilliance of individual scenes.

Friday’s opening brought its own joys as well, chief among them a bravura performance by soprano Christina Major as Lucrezia. Major has been a welcome presence on Bay Area stages for years now, but I can’t recall hearing her sing with the kind of expressive verve and technical command she displayed here.

Again and again she unleashed powerful, perfectly placed high notes and athletic passagework that underscored the vitality of the vocal writing. She brought beauty and pathos to Lucrezia’s Act 1 aria “Tu al cui sguardo onnipossente” — a formalized aria type known as a “preghiera” or prayer — and railed against her father-in-law with unbridled ferocity that never wavered in pitch or rhythm.

She was well matched by tenor Nathan Granner as Jacopo, singing with sinewy, ringing tone and a splendidly flexible approach to the role’s challenges. Baritone Jason Duika, as Francesco, had the misfortune to be hit with a severe allergy attack just before curtain, but soldiered on through the evening with admirable perseverance. Bass-baritone Benjamin Brady, as Jacopo’s implacable nemesis Loredano, was a robust and villainous presence.

The production, staged by director Richard Harrell, seemed wisely ready to accept the opera’s blood-and-thunder follies at face value, leavening the action with some handsome visual projections by Frédéric O. Boulay and the entertaining frolics — during the Act 3 ballet interlude — of dancers Hien Huynh and Nathaniel Moore. Moscovich, presiding over a reduced orchestra, brought out the main flavors of Verdi’s score, from the ravishing viola-cello duet that begins Act 2 to the ominous shadows of the lower brass.

There’s a perilous tendency, when thinking about the early efforts of established composers (or any creative artists for that matter), to view them exclusively through the lens of the mature work — as though they conferred aesthetic value only by their promise of greater things to come. Yet a piece like “Foscari,” delivered with this sort of conviction, is perfectly capable of standing on its own. The foreshadowing of operas we know better and love more may provide a little thrill, but the pleasures of this production require no excuse.

“I Due Foscari”: 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23. 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24. $35-$85. Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. 650-424-9999. www.wbopera.org

Joshua Kosman

Joshua Kosman is The San Francisco Chronicle’s music critic. Email: jkosman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JoshuaKosman

West Bay Opera’s I due Foscari Conjures Venetian Splendor

BY STEVEN WINN , February 19, 2019

Even in the snug confines of Palo Alto’s Lucie Stern Theatre, Verdi’s 1844 opera I due Foscari has a grand feel in West Bay Opera’s resourceful production (through Feb. 24). The action opens in 15th-century Venice, with a sonorous, somber, and stage-filling male chorus. Members of the imposingly robed Council of Ten are mulling the fate of the hero, Jacopo Foscari, wrongly accused of murder and threatened with exile. For dramatic extra measure, Jacopo is the son of the Doge, who is charged with passing judgment on his beloved offspring.

These two Foscaris of the title are locked in a tragic clinch of family and politics, the personal and political. Francesco Maria Piave’s libretto is freely adapted from a play by Byron.

Director Richard Harrell, in consort with his design team, has fashioned an expansive environment for the piece. The wonderful projections, by Frédéric O. Boulay, conjure the gilded splendor (and gloomy dungeon depths) of the Doge’s Palace as well as the striking contours and watery deep space of Venice in the distance. The city’s emblematic winged lion serves as a powerful visual motif. Peter Crompton’s well-judged set pieces, Steve Mannshardt’s moody lighting and Callie Floor’s fine costumes merge in an impressive mise-en-scène.

But grandeur only matters in opera when animated by the intimate and convincing force of human emotion. In scene after scene, Verdi delivers arias, duets and ensembles aimed at doing just that. Musical motifs etch the distinctive imprint of the principals.

While some of this feels dutiful, especially in the somewhat blunt and episodic first act, Verdi’s vocal lines take hold again and again, soaring here, tangled in transverse motion there, united in sturdy a cappella intervals. Cut away the Venetian trappings, and I due Foscari is a simply but intensely drawn musical portrayal of an agonized father, a wrongly accused son, and the son’s tormented wife, pleading for mercy.

The strongest leg of this triangle at Sunday’s opening-weekend matinee, was tenor Nathan Granner’s superb performance as Jacopo. Right away, with his Act I paean to Venice and his quest for liberty, Granner brought a defiant, heartbreaking earnestness to the hero’s plight. His voice, full of potent fiber and feeling from top to bottom, captured both suffering and the “sweet hope” of aspiration — even a slightly strained reach for a high note felt like part of his struggle.

With his hands chained together and gestures limited, Granner mustered both physical and vocal complexity to the part. He was vulnerable and proud, defeated yet determined. The singer was especially fine in the second act, the opera’s strongest. Seemingly near death in the dungeon, he was pulled back from the brink first by a duet with his wife, Lucrezia (soprano Christina Major) and then by a wrenching encounter with the Doge (baritone Jason Duika).

Regrettably Duika had come down with a vocal ailment as Foscari launched on Friday night. His singing was fractional at best on Sunday, well short of even marking his part. It was commendable of Duika to go on at all, and not send an audience home without the many pleasures this production of a Verdi rarity offered. But it was also hard to witness a singer in such a restricted and tentative mode and not fear for him doing further damage to his voice.

Major made the opposite impression. She sang at full voice, shading into shrillness at times, and without much nuance. Her static acting didn’t help. Bass baritone Benjamin Brady was an appropriately ominous Loredano, the story’s unyielding law-and-order figure.

West Bay’s general director José Luis Moscovich was in the pit, where he led an admirable reading of the orchestral score while ably marshaling the large complement of singers. The reduced scoring showed off some keen and tender passages by the woodwinds, most notably, as well as the strings.

I due Foscari, which follows the more frequently heard Ernani in the Verdi chronology, may not be a major work. But it is eminently worth hearing, as other companies have affirmed from time to time. A 2012 Los Angeles Opera production featured Plácido Domingo as the Doge. Concert versions crop up as well, a testament to the vivid highlights of the motivic score.

West Bay Opera deserves high marks for taking on a piece that isn’t likely to turn up very often — this is apparently a Bay Area premiere — and doing it with such conviction. There was value added everywhere, from Granner’s sterling turn as Jacopo to the projections and orchestral finesse. A pair of dell’arte-clad break dancers (Hien Huynh and Nathaniel Moore), who opened the Act III gondola race scene, supplied another bright note. Nothing, including this sly anachronism, seemed gratuitous. Back there among the masked celebrants somewhere, the sinister Loredano lurked, waiting to bring down the hammer on both father and son.

Steven Winn is a San Francisco based free-lance writer and critic and frequent City Arts & Lectures interviewer. His work has appeared in Art News, California, Humanities, Manhattan, Symphony Magazine and The San Francisco Chronicle.

Uploaded: Wed, Feb 20, 2019, 1:21 pm

West Bay creates magic with Verdi's 'Foscari' 

by Renee Batti / Almanac

Giuseppe Verdi was the most popular opera composer of his time, and perhaps beyond, responsible for enshrining the dramatic "grand" in Italian grand opera. His fans don't have to look far to find live performances or hear recordings of what is widely regarded as his greatest music, including "Rigoletto," "Otello," "Macbeth," "La Traviata" and "Aida."

But the prolific composer also wrote what are thought to be minor works, particularly early in his career, and those operas are rarely if ever brought to the stage. So when West Bay Opera announced the staging of "I due Foscari," which premiered in Rome in 1844 and preceded almost all of his most famous works, Verdi lovers had reason to be gleeful.

West Bay opened its production of the rarely performed three-act opera on Feb. 15, and though the opera itself can comfortably remain in the "minor work" category, this staging – with all its glorious singing, its forceful orchestration, and its revelations of the early steps the composer took on the path toward his major works – is truly a gift to opera and classical music lovers.

The "minor" categorization has little if anything to do with the quality of the music heard in this opera, but rather with the plot: Unlike Verdi's later works depicting grandiose human tragedies in all their twisting and turning complexities – some literally Shakespearean at their core – "Foscari" is a simple story. Father is the doge; son is accused of murder and treason. The Venetian Council of 10 votes to exile son. Wife of son rages and weeps and prays and rages some more. Son is put on a slow boat for a land beyond. And dies. The doge dies of grief. End of story.

But if the plot is uninspired, this production is anything but. West Bay's general manager and conductor Jose Luis Moscovich noted before the opening that he was "pulling all the stops to present this work" within the small company's modest means, and he meant it. In addition to bravura singing that kept listeners at the edge of their seats throughout the night, the dazzling sets depicting Venice of the 1450s and the expanded chorus of strong-voiced singers amplified the excitement of the dynamic live performance in Palo Alto's Lucie Stern Theatre.

A ballet duo – Hien Huynh and Nathaniel Moore – also added to the dynamism of the performance, nimbly and with great comedic skill portraying in acrobatic dance two rivals about to compete in a gondola race, their movements fluid like the water they will launch their boats on.

But the biggest thrills of all are the lead singers' stunning performances.

The dramatic coloratura soprano Christina Major has the voice and depth of expression to rage, weep and rage again with the best. As West Bay's lead singer in "Norma" in 2017, she demonstrated the range, clarity and forcefulness of the bel canto form. In the current opera, which is early enough in Verdi's career to represent a straddling between bel canto and the dramatic form of his later work, she demonstrates impeccable vocal control, and world-class talent.

As Lucrezia Contarini, the doge's daughter-in-law whose husband is facing exile, she also displays an acting range that convincingly flows from tenderness to fury, to near-derangement to dignity.

Tenor Nathan Granner is a magnificent and heart-breaking Jacopo Foscari, the doge's son. In his first appearance on stage, he is already shackled and awaiting a hearing before the Council of 10. When he first sings, it is a love song to Venice, which he delivers movingly and with pure vocal clarity. This was a relatively serene moment for the hapless Jacopo, whose next solo scene is in a dungeon, where he has been tortured and is now in the throws of momentary madness, seeing ghosts.

Granner was heard earlier this season as Rodolfo in "La boheme," and it's no mystery why he was brought back to help pillar "Foscari." His is an expressive voice that easily navigates passages moving from forcefulness to lyricism.

Baritone Benjamin Brady delivers a compelling Loredano, Jacopo's sworn enemy and a member of the Council of 10 that condemns the doge's son. His performance is authoritative, both in his singing and his stage presence.

The opening night performance was marked by an unusual event that could have proven to be a blow of operatic proportion to the audience and to the performers ready to enchant us. It was obvious early in lead baritone Jason Duika's first scene as the doge, Francesco Foscari, that something was wrong. He appeared ill and feeble, and I probably wasn't the only one feeling relieved that he wasn't flat out on the stage floor by the end of the scene, which drew the curtain on Act I.

Just before Act II began, Moscovich appeared from behind the curtain to speak to the audience. A forceful advocate for live performance because of the magic it can deliver, not in small part because of possible unexpected moments enlivening things, Moscovich announced that Duika, a fine singer, had suffered a severe allergy attack, and was unable to sing up to his ability. In this instance, the unexpected did not deliver the magic he had in mind, he suggested.

But magic comes in different forms, and it was felt nonetheless that night. Because of West Bay's limited resources, there was no understudy to take Duika's place. But the suffering baritone, who has demonstrated his singing talent in opera productions across the country and at West Bay – as Marcello in last fall's "La boheme" – agreed to continue in diminished capacity, and the show went on, with the orchestra and his fellow singers accommodating his inability to project his voice as his role called for.

Under Moscovich's baton, the orchestra offers solid support for the singers and actors on stage in this production. "I due Foscari" presents to listeners familiar with Verdi's later works a chance to experience a point of his development at which he was exploring the possibilities of harmonic expression and dramatic force in his orchestration. And Moscovich and the pros in the pit are effective guides for that endeavor.

The mighty behind-the-scenes talent in this production includes stage director Richard Harrell, set designer Peter Crompton, costume designer Callie Floor, lighting designer Steve Mannshardt, projections designer Frederic O. Boulay, chorus master Bruce Olstad, and choreographer Daiane Lopes da Silva.

If you go

There are two more performances of "I due Foscari": Saturday, Feb. 23, at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Feb. 24, at 2 p.m. at Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto.

Tickets are $35 to $85, with group, senior and student discounts available. They can be reserved at 650-424-9999 (preferred) or at WBOpera.org.

by Victor Cordell

In an era of fake news, alternate facts, and trial verdicts reversed because of erroneous testimony, we are well attuned to the corrupting effects of falsehoods. In this adaptation of The Two Foscari, Lord Byron’s play set in the 15th century, Francesco Foscari is the Doge, the most powerful man in democratic Venice. But when his son Jacopo is accused of murder and treason, he finds that his power has limits. In an adventurous programming decision, West Bay Opera has mounted a highly rewarding production of this seldom-performed Giuseppe Verdi opera about the quest for justice against false testimony. The appeal of the opera and this realization of it beg the question why this is only the third fully staged American production ever.

Debuted in 1844, I due Foscari was Verdi’s sixth opera. His librettist was Venetian, Francesco Maria Piave, with whom he would collaborate on ten operas, including two of his most famous, La traviata and Rigoletto. Piave was also the librettist on Ernani, which made Verdi the new toast of the opera world and which immediately preceded I due Foscari.

The landscape for Verdi’s musical dramas is the world of the noble, the rich, the influential. And while many of his pageants are painted on a large canvas, others are miniatures that largely focus on the private conflicts of individuals. I due Foscari is one of latter, even though several lavish chorus scenes appear to enrich the overall composition.

Although the storyline is straight forward and noteworthy, the libretto is somewhat wanting. Jacopo is trying to clear his name for crimes he says he did not commit, and his wife Lucrezia fiercely advances his cause. However, the reasons and specifics of the crimes are unclear. Francesco’s ambivalence about supporting his son is murky as well, but at least that uncertainty creates dramatic tension.

Like much early Verdi, I due Foscari lacks the memorable arias and ensembles that appear on compilation recordings. However, it may be that we just haven’t heard these enough to become familiar with them. But, fear not. Verdi’s thematic strength and melodic sense are very much in evidence, yielding a score that compels from beginning to end. Paradoxically, though most encounters in the opera are intimate, with two or three principals, the singing is robust and the action animated because of the nature of the confrontations. The composer also experiments by breaking some stultifying conventions of operatic form and employing his first rudimentary use of leitmotifs, with each of the lead characters linked to an instrumental section or a riff.

Tenor Nathan Granner is Jacobo, and from his Act 1 cavatina, he stamps his vocal power on the role. He is in a constant state of anguish, and his music calls for coloratura runs and leaps at high volume that he manages with great skill. In Christina Major’s interpretation of Lucrezia, it is hard to imagine a Verdi heroine with greater challenge and vocal fire. Although the dramatic coloratura soprano has performed lyric roles, she attacks this one with exhilarating force and dominates the stage when she sings. Often in a rage, her penetrating voice pierces the air, yet she exhibits great dynamic control and manages the quieter prayer and duets with both male leads with great success.

The Doge, Francesco Foscari, is sung by baritone Jason Duika, and regrettably, he suffered an allergy attack just before opening night. But courageously, and given the absence of an understudy, he soldiered on in a strained sotto voce. While his vocal ability was limited and stressed, his presence as the weakened ruler made a difference. His commitment to ensure that the audience received the experience they came for was appreciated by all, and he deservedly received a standing ovation.

Musical integration by conductor José Luis Moscovich creates a full and balanced sound. A minor defect is that the precision of the men’s chorus did seem to falter occasionally. The look of Peter Crompton’s staging works nicely and is sometimes lush, framed by columns, with a back wall used for Frédéric O. Boulay’s attractive projections conveying the feel of period interiors and cityscapes of Venice. However, steeply-pitched, across-stage step-ups impede mobility around the stage; limit group clustering; and restrict action points so that, for example, the Act 3 ballet is restricted to the apron. Also, the intrusive rear columns steal space without seeming benefit. The stage is best dressed when the chorus is present in the beautiful, rich, and multitudinous costumes by Callie Floor.

I due Foscari with music by Giuseppe Verdi and libretto by Francesco Maria Piave is produced by West Bay Opera, and plays at Lucie Stern Theatre,1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA through February 24, 2019.

Read this and other reviews by Victor Cordell at

http://forallevents.info/reviews/?s=I+due+Foscari

SURPRISE VERDI, SURPRISE TROUPE

February 24, 2019  Paul Hertelendy

PALO ALTO, CA—The miracle here these days is West Bay Opera producing repertory on a par with professional ones in Italian towns. And only a generation ago WBO was still a sleepy troupe presenting mostly honest amateur productions.

Yet more surprises: In the current Verdi staging, the singer who saved the night wasn’t even in the cast. And the New-World conductor in the pit performing like a true Italian maestro, with poetic baton and a passion for cuing singers, also has a master’s degree in transportation engineering from Berkeley.

It all added up to an unforgettable discovery with the neglected Verdi jewel I due Foscari bringing down the (full) house when heard Feb. 23. And deservedly so.

The figure who saved the night was the arresting stand-in baritone Krassen Karagiozov from Bulgaria in civvies at stage left, singing the key role of the Foscari Doge of Venice in backing up the laryngitis-stricken Jason Duika, who was in full costume mouthing the words.

Most responsible for the WBO ascendancy was the Argentinian-born transportation engineer José Luis Moscovich, the conductor and general director who for a decade or so led, simultaneously, the S.F. County Transportation Authority 40 miles away. Just call him yet another miracle-worker in this bucolic college town of nonstop surprises, home of both Stanford University and notable tech firms.

One of Verdi’s early works, this historical review of the noted father-son Foscari pair The Two Foscaris has the elements powering prominent later works: a hero Jacopo who is unjustly framed and incarcerated (like Manrico); a tender dad-daughter scene (like Rigoletto); a lovable older solon (sounding like Germont); and a diva who can spout coloratura (like Violetta, though this one is far more Rossinian in its fury).

Admittedly there are similarities to Rossini’s operatic style, especially in the formal cabalettas and strettos of set arias. But Verdi’s expressive power, linked with his plausible scenario, suggest that here we need to rethink what we categorize as  good-Verdi or bad-Verdi. Perhaps the abrupt deaths of both Foscaris at the final curtain are a downer for audiences speeding mentally toward a happy ending.

In this site where the pit only has room for about half an orchestra, this small-stage production was handsome and Venetian-lavish, with costumes and projections to match. Once the first-act vocal tautness was past, the singers were effective, though straining a bit at the higher elevations. Tenor Nathan Granner playing the son Jacopo Foscari clearly copied the vocal styling of Luciano Pavarotti, whose recordings had clearly been studied in depth. As his wife Lucrezia, coloratura soprano Christina Major took on the most demanding role with panache. The adversary of the Foscaris, councilman  Loredano, brought forth the rich bass-baritone of Benjamin Brady.

Worth noting were both the stage direction of Richard Harrell, and the choreography of Daiane Lopes da Silva, who gave us a rare instance where an (acrobatic) opera ballet made eminent sense, integral rather than interruptive.    

MUSIC NOTES—The work, believed to be a Bay Area premiere, had had its debut in 1844, well before Verdi’s early enduring hit Rigoletto… The historical incidents of the deposing of the Doge and the calumny leading to Jacopo’s incarceration and exile date back to the 1450s… “Half an orchestra in the pit?” Yes. Brass players are on pedestals out in the wings, while percussion is yet more remote, with closed-circuit coordinating the conductor’s beat with the player… Even then, a reduced orchestration must be used… Now in its 63rd season, the WBO performs in the 420-seat Lucie Stern Theatre. It may well have to look for a roomier space one of these days.

WEST BAY OPERA in Verdi’s I due Foscari, in Italian, with supertitles. Two hours and three-quarters. Feb. 23 at the Lucie Stern Theatre, Palo Alto, CA. For info: (650) 424-9999 or go online.

Read this and other reviews by Paul Hertelendy at

http://www.artssf.com/surprise-verdi-surprise-troupe/

“I Due Foscari” Review – West Bay Opera Shines

February 16, 2019

by Barbara Keer

I feel very fortunate that my annual visit to California coincides with the West Bay Opera’s winter production. This is the company’s sixty-third season, a remarkable achievement, bringing high quality performances to a welcoming audience at Lucie Stern Theatre, Palo Alto, an inviting and not overwhelming venue. Jose Luis Moscovich, General Director, always opens the performances with insights about the opera that awaits the audience and he never fails to ask newcomers to this opera company and to opera itself, to raise their hands. At this time there was also an announcement that the next season will be all Verdi.

The current production, I due Foscari, which opened on February 15th, (with performances on February 17th, 23rd and 24th), is an early Giuseppe Verdi opera, and knowing little about this opera, I was very interested in seeing it.  The first night had its ups and downs but mostly ups. Gorgeous music, exquisite voices, sets with realistic projections, impressive costumes, a wonderful orchestra, chorus and dancers more than overcame a few first night bugs and a story that was a bit weak.

Lucrezia (Christina Major) and members of the women’s chorus in the first act,scene 3

The story?  The Two Foscari is the story of three tragic people, Francesco Foscari, the Doge of Venice, his son, Jacopo, wrongly sentenced to exile, and Jacopo’s wife, Lucrezia. This is West Bay Opera’s first production of I due Foscari that is based on Lord Byron’s historical play of the same name.  Foscari’s 34-year rule ended in tragically in 1457. Not being able to prevent the sentencing of his son brings out the conflict between Foscari’s duty as a ruler and needing to follow the law, and his role as a father of a son he loved. Once Jacopo leaves for his exile, he dies and soon after Foscari is forced to abdicate his rule, and also dies of a broken heart, leaving an abandoned Lucrezia. I due Foscari was given its Rome premiere performance on 3 November 1844.  It has been performed infrequently in either the full out version or in the orchestral version in various parts of the world.

A Wikipedia snippet indicates that Verdi might have agreed with my companion and me about the story line. “This gave Verdi the opportunity to re-read Byron’s play and, in doing so, he came to the realization (which he expressed in a letter to Piave) that the librettist had better NOT ‘stick close to Byron’: “…the play does not quite have the theatrical grandeur needed for an opera; so rack your brains and try to find something which will make a bit of a splash particularly in the first act” and he continues by stressing that “it’s a fine subject, delicate and full of pathos”.”[3] Thus, the rather lower key of the original piece stood out in direct contrast to the opera by which it was succeeded”

And later, “In April 1845, in connection with I due Foscari, he wrote: “I am happy, no matter what reception it gets, and I am utterly indifferent to everything. I cannot wait for these next three years to pass. I have to write six operas, then addio to everything.”[

Come to see the unabridged, fully staged production in the splendor of early renaissance Venice and enjoy the beautiful aria, ensemble, choral music and dancing, and mostly the virtuosic singing and orchestral playing.

The Creative team that makes everything you don’t always see, happen.

José Lis Moscovich, Conductor; Richard Harrell, Stage Director; Peter Crompton, Set Designer; Callie Floor, Costume Designer; Steve Mannshardt, Lighting Designer; Lisa Cross, Makeup and Wig Designer; Shirley Benson, Props Designer, and Giselle Lee, Sound Designer.

Along with a large cast that included a chorus and two dancers, the singers were:

Jason Dulka as Francesco Foscari, who won the hearts of the audience, Christina Major as Lucrezia Contarini, reaching notes that seemed unreachable, Nathan Granner as Jacop Foascari, with a voice that was simply exquisite, Ben Brady as the Loredano you would expect, Carmello Tringali as both Barbarigo and Fante, Katia Hayati as Pisana, and John Paul Kiledcdi-Li as the Doge’s Servant.

You still have three opportunities to see this opera.  Don’t miss it.

See this review and others by Barbara Keer at:

https://splashmags.com/index.php/2019/02/16/i-due-foscari-review-west-bay-opera-shines/#gsc.tab=0

Uploaded: Thu, Feb 14, 2019, 9:13 am

West Bay Opera stages rarely performed Verdi work

by Renee Batti / Almanac

Local music lovers are in for a treat with the two-weekend staging by West Bay Opera of the rarely performed "I due Foscari" by Giuseppe Verdi, which opens Friday, Feb. 15, in Palo Alto.

One of Verdi's early operas, the three-act "Foscari" is a retelling of Lord Byron's verse play, "The Two Foscari," loosely based on the real story of the political and moral dilemma faced by the doge of Venice after his son is accused of murder and treason in the early period of the Renaissance.

The West Bay production, which will be the Bay Area's premiere of the work, will be faithful to the opera's original setting and will be sung in Italian, with English titles on screen.

"I due Foscari" is "one of those overlooked gems, and I wanted to give it more exposure," said West Bay's general director, Jose Luis Moscovich, who will conduct the work. But why has it been overlooked if it's such a gem? The first reason, Moscovich said, is that it's hard to cast.

"This is a piece that requires a major Verdian baritone, in the same league with "Macbeth" and "Boccanegra," a major Verdian spinto soprano with a killer coloratura and really expressive voice ... and a major tenor," he said. "Those are casting requirements that are hard to fill, especially in the West."

But, he added, the singers in the West Bay production "are ambitious enough and ready to sing" the challenging roles. Soprano Christina Major, who sang the lead role in West Bay's 2017 "Norma," and more recently at the Teatro Colon opera house in Buenos Aires, will sing the part of Lucrezia Contarini; tenor Nathan Granner, who sang the role of Rodolfo in West Bay's "La boheme" last fall, will perform as her husband, Jacopo Foscari; baritone Jason Duika, "Boheme's" Marcello last fall, is cast as the doge, Francesco Foscari; and Benjamin Brady, who took the top prize at the Metropolitan Opera auditions in San Francisco recently, sings the part of Jacopo's enemy, Loredano.

The opera premiered in 1844 at the Teatro Argentina in Rome. The local premiere is attracting attention nationally in the opera world, with ticket orders "from many places in the U.S.," Moscovich said. "People want to see it, but it doesn't get programmed."

"This is a major score ... (with) wonderful ensemble writing," he said. The chorus for the local production has been expanded to 30 people, he added, to deliver the "grandeur that some of the ensembles demand."

Moscovich said "Foscari" is a work that fits with his determination, during this performance season, to "reclaim the relevance of opera to today's reality. Because I always say that opera, which reflects on topics so inherent to the human condition, like love, ambition, envy, greed, etc., is a slice of life."

Stage direction for "I due Foscari" is by Richard Harrell.

Performances are Friday, Feb. 15; Saturday, Feb. 23; and Sundays, Feb. 17 and 24. The Feb. 17 matinee performance is followed by a discussion with the cast and directors seated onstage.

If you go

When: Feb. 15 and 23, 8 p.m; Feb. 17 and 24, 2 p.m.

Where: Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto.

Tickets: $35 to $85. Group, senior and student discounts. To reserve seats call 650-424-9999 (preferred); or go online at WBOpera.org.

More information: WBOpera.org.

Read this article and others by Renee Batti at:

https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2019/02/14/west-bay-opera-stages-rarely-performed-verdi-work