KATONAH, N.Y. – Mention "bel canto" opera and you might think of Bellini's "Norma" or Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor." But "HMS Pinafore"? Never!
What, never? Well ... hardly ever.
Because that's exactly how Will Crutchfield, director of opera at Caramoor, asked the audience to think about Gilbert and Sullivan's nautical romp as it opened the 2011 International Music Festival on Saturday night at this outdoor venue an hour north of New York City.
With Crutchfield conducting the Orchestra of St. Luke's and a cast of operatically trained voices, the evening indeed fit at least the literal translation of "bel canto," which is Italian for "beautiful singing."
It was a joy to hear this affectionate satire of the class system aboard a British war ship performed with such high musical values, from soloists to chorus to instrumentalists. And the simple but clever direction by Steven Tharp made the concert performance at the Venetian Theater more engaging than many a fully staged production.
Less persuasive, perhaps, is the case Crutchfield made for regarding "Pinafore" as a direct descendant of the "bel canto" style of Italian opera of the 18th and early 19th century, known for its emphasis on vocal technique, including trills, runs and other elaborate decorations.
True, as he points out in a program note, both collaborators were heavily influenced by these operas. Gilbert's first comic verse was a rewrite of an aria from one, and the young Sullivan transcribed piano-vocal arrangements of many of the operas for a music publisher.
Several numbers in "Pinafore," which premiered in 1878 and became the team's first smash hit, do hearken back to a bygone era. Among these are the two arias for Josephine, the captain's daughter who loves a common sailor but is wooed by the first lord of the admiralty.
Still, these efforts are not Sullivan's most inspired, sounding like slightly faded imitations. It's elsewhere in the score that his inimitable gift for melody comes most to the fore — in the captain's song ("I am the captain of the Pinafore ..."); the rollicking trio "Never mind the why or wherefore" or the intricate choral harmonizing of "A British tar."
In a uniformly strong cast, two singers stood out. Tenor Robert McPherson sang with unforced sweetness and impressive power as Ralph Rackstraw, the "common sailor" who turns out to have been nobly born. Vanessa Cariddi brought a burnished, imposing mezzo-soprano — and an alluring physical presence — to the role of Little Buttercup.
Soprano Georgia Jarman sailed through Josephine's difficult role, complete with interpolated decorations and high notes, though her diction wasn't always as crisp as that of her cast mates.
Scott Bearden used his ample baritone and good comic skills to make a memorable figure of Dick Deadeye, the eyepatch-wearing villain.
Baritone Jorell Williams was a smooth-voiced captain, and baritone Jason Plourde was a properly haughty first lord — though his youthful look made it difficult to see why Josephine would find him so repulsive.
After this delightful detour, Bel Canto at Caramoor gets back to its mainstream repertory in its second offering of the season, Rossini's "William Tell," to be performed July 9 and 15.
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