Thomas Atkins (Corrado), Isabelle Moore (Gulnara), Christina Thurston (Seid), Elisabeth Harris (Medora), Te Koki New Zealand School of Music Orchestra, Kenneth Young
Who would've thought that anyone in New Zealand would ever mount a production of Verdi's Il Corsaro? I certainly wouldn't have. But as it turns out, the current director of the New Zealand School of Music, Professor Elizabeth Hudson, is a specialist in Verdi and the editor of the critical edition of Il Corsaro published by the University of Chicago Press and this past weekend I flew down to Wellington to see it, after spending a couple of hours among the impressionists at Te Papa. The Wellington Opera House where Il Corsaro was performed evidently seats over 1300 people, but it seems much smaller and the acoustic means voices carry superbly even at lower volume levels. This was ideal for this student performance and we were treated to young voices in full bloom filling out Verdi's vocal lines.
The plot of Il Corsaro is certainly not the most inspiring to have ever been set to music. In short, the titular corsair Corrado leaves his lover, Medora, to fight some Muslims. He is captured while saving the sultan's harem women from their burning home and then sentenced to death by the sultan. However, Gulnara, one of the women from the harem falls in love with Corrado and murders the sultan so they can escape together. When he returns home, Medora has taken poison thinking that he would never return. She expires and he throws himself off a cliff while Gulnara stands around awkwardly. This NZSM production was pretty aggressively traditional, with director Sara Brodie choosing to emphasise the Romantic (the literary movement) elements of the plot. While sets were minimal (mainly consisting of a divan in some scenes and a rocky outcropping in others) they were always effective in setting the scene. The only liberty was the appearance of the very dishy Jack Blomfield as Lord Byron himself, evidently penning certain scenes as they occurred onstage.
I'd previously heard and quite liked Thomas Atkins in the role of Ferrando in Cosi Fan Tutte but would never have considered him a candidate for Verdi roles outside of perhaps Fenton. However, it was almost as though he was a different singer on this occasion. The voice sounded quite Italianate and had much more heft than in the Cosi. I also really liked the very natural-seeming way in which he shaped Verdi's lines and the way his voice blended beautifully with Medoras in their duet together. In her first appearance as Medora, Elisabeth Harris sounded more mezzo than soprano (the programme lists her as having performed Orlofsky and Thomas' Ophelie among other things!). I hate to think of what it must be like to come out on stage and sing 'Non so le tetre immagini' essentially straight off the bat - Harris seemed a little affected by nerves and some of the higher notes were a shade under pitch. She recovered really well for the ensuing duet with its wide-ranging vocal line. When she re-apepared in the last act she was even better, voice and face full of pained expression. Her warm, full voice simply soared over the ensemble for a stunning close to the opera - it's just a shame that Medora doesn't have more music.
Gulnara was played by soprano Isabella Moore. In her aria she was called on to change costume behind a blanket held aloft by chorus members. She is the one signer I am convinced would have no problems with this role even in a much larger venue. The voice is large and gleaming from top to bottom with a formidable chest register where appropriate. The coloratura in her aria was wonderfully accurate and also very exciting (I usually feel there's a compromise between the two in performances of early Verdi), as was the interpolated high E-Flat (I think) at the end of the cabaletta. This was kind of confident, slightly over-the-top singing I just love to hear in early Verdi! Additionally, she had a fantastic presence on stage that made Gulnara's character seem much more plausible than it probably is in reality. Baritone Christian Thurston was probably the least-suited of the four principals for his role. Nothing wrong the voice per se; it just didn't quite bloom in the upper third of the voice like a Verdi baritone should - he could sound a little dry on his high notes though they were certainly there. I could imagine him being much more at home in a role with lighter voice requirements though.
Kenneth Young brought plenty of swinging vigour to the score which was occasionally a little too balletic for me - I would've preferred a little more depth at times. The orchestra played superbly and the chorus sang with great vigour, if rather odd Italian. The comprimarie were always adequate. I don't think Il Corsaro deserves the bad press it usually gets (not least from Verdi himself). It may be by no means a lost masterpiece, nor even equal to some of the other lesser known works from Verdi's galley years (I'd still take it over Un Giorno di Regno or Alzira any day though). And even though the story is utter crap, there's really never a dull moment (the drama really moves along). A lot happens for such a brief piece of music. Still, though it lacks the last bit of memorability - the only thing that really sticks in your mind afterwards is Medora's first act aria. Nevertheless, I throughly enjoyed this performance and look forward to going back down to Wellington to see whatever opera the New Zealand School of Music produces in the future.
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