Verdi, caught in the act

As the classical world gears up to mark the 200th anniversary of the Italian composer’s birth, the Israeli Opera stages one of his lesser known works, ‘Luisa Miller.’

By BARRY DAVIS
Luisa Miller (photo credit: Courtesy)
Luisa Miller
(photo credit: Courtesy)
As the man on the podium for the upcoming run of Verdi’s Luisa Miller at the Israeli Opera, Daniel Oren makes no bones about his boundless admiration for the Italian composer’s talents.
“Verdi is the greatest composer who ever lived,” he states unequivocally. “There are plenty of wonderful Italian composers, in the field of bel canto, like Rossini and Puccini, and there are others in other operatic areas, like Wagner and, of course, Mozart, but I think Verdi is the greatest of them all.”
If he were around today, Giuseppe Verdi would doubtless have basked in the warm glow of the 57-yearold Israeli conductor’s kudos.
As 2013 dawns, the classical world is gearing up to mark the 200th anniversary of Verdi’s birth, and there will likely be scores of celebratory concerts, and possibly releases of new recordings of his operas. The Israeli Opera is getting an early start to the birthday festivities with a 12-slot run of Luisa Miller, which started Thursday and is due to end on January 19.
This is not one of Verdi’s better-known works, and is certainly less easily recognized than the likes of Nabucco, Rigoletto or Aida, but Luisa Miller has evidently struck a chord – no pun intended – with the local opera-going public.
“Hanna [Munitz, director-general of the Israeli Opera] has done a wonderful job with this, and she has had to add a 13th concert, and they are talking about adding a 14th,” says Oren enthusiastically. “It is wonderful to work with people like Hanna and [Israeli Opera artistic director] Michael Ajzenstadt, who are true professionals. I work all over the world, but I don’t always have such a wonderful working relationship with the opera house staff. That makes my job so much easier and more enjoyable.”
Indeed, with 12, and possibly 14, operas to conduct in the span of about a fortnight, Oren has his work cut out for him.
Luisa Miller tells a complicated tale of love, betrayal and misdemeanors galore. It is a three-act work to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, and based on a play called Kabale und Liebe (Cabals and Love) by 18th-century German dramatist Friedrich von Schiller. The tangled storyline features, among other characters, a retired soldier named Miller whose daughter, Luisa, falls in love with a young man named Rodolfo, but is admired from afar by mildly nefarious courtier Wurm. The latter asks for Luisa’s hand in marriage, but Miller tells Wurm that he will not force his daughter to marry against her will.
Wurm then wreaks havoc on the unfortunate Miller, while Rodolfo also throws his spanner into the works in an attempt to secure the girl of his dreams.
Oren admits that the audience will have to stay alert to follow the on-stage developments, but says help is at hand.
“Yes, this opera has a very complex story, but the music is so wonderful. It was devised very much in a cabaret style, and to appeal to the Neapolitan audiences, so there are songs which [the audience] can instantly connect with and start to sing five minutes after hearing them,” he notes.
This is not his first bash at Luisa Miller, and he says he is delighted to be the man with the baton for the Israeli production.
“I have conducted this opera before, at Covent Garden [in London] and Paris and at my theater [the Verdi Opera House in Salerno, Italy], and I always enjoy it,” he says.
He is also enjoying working with the singers he has recruited for the project. “We had a few logistical problems getting the cast together because, as you know, there are all sorts of artists who refuse to come to Israel these days, but we have some fantastic singers for Luisa Miller.”
The conductor is particularly happy to have a member of the younger crowd on board.
“There is [soprano] Leah Crocetto from America. She is only 28, but she has a very big sound. And when she hits the high notes, she doesn’t scream. There are singers who do scream in the upper registers, but she holds her notes really well. She is a great singer, and I think we will hear a lot of her in the years to come. I told her how much I appreciate the fact that she agreed to come to Israel.
These days you can’t take these things for granted.”
Italian tenor Massimiliano Pisapia, who performs the role of Rodolfo, also ticks all the right boxes for Oren.
This will be Pisapia’s debut in Israel, although he is not new to Verdi’s work.
“He has just sung Rodolfo in Munich,” says Oren, adding that Pisapia brings the right cultural baggage to the job at hand. “The fact that he is Italian is a boon.
When I cast people in an opera, I don’t check their passports, but he brings something different, something Italian, to an Italian opera.”
Crocetto, who hails from an Italian-American family, also offers the conductor that invaluable upgrade, as does Romanian baritone Ionut Pascu, one of the two singers in the role of Miller.
“The Romanians are very close to the Italians,” observes Oren, adding that chemistry is also an important factor in his work, particularly with a long run in the offing. “I enjoy working with Pascu. He is one of those singers with whom it is a joy to make music.”
Considering there are possibly 14 concerts ahead, the conductor says, “I give everything I have to each performance, which lasts around three to three and a half hours... it is important we all go through the process and develop and enjoy working together.”
Oren is also keen to point out that the composer himself experienced some personal growth during his work on Luisa Miller.
“Verdi of Act 1 is not Verdi of Act 3,” he declares.
“Verdi of Act 3 is the Verdi that we know from his great operas. But the whole opera is wonderful, and I am confident the audiences will enjoy it and the tremendous singers we have brought over.”
For tickets and more information: (03) 692-7777 or www.israel-opera.co.il.