![\"Lyric](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/Night-Music.jpg\" "\\"Night")
<\/a>These days two- or three-character musicals are the norm, so it is rare to witness something full-blown. Usually revivals of those that were originally full-blown are mounted with diminished numbers of artists, both on stage and in the orchestra pit.<\/p>\nThe New York Times recently called such a practice \u201cchamberization,\u201d particularly in regard to the Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim\u2019s 1973 European operetta spoof, \u201cA Little Night Music,\u201d which reduced the orchestra to eight pieces.<\/p>\n
The Lyric Opera San Diego production of Sondheim\u2019s rare, amusing and melodic \u201cA Little Night Music,\u201d playing at the Birch North Park Theatre through Feb. 21, uses the original orchestrations, played by 24 musicians conducted by Leon Natker. Sondheim, who turns 80 in March, would be pleased with the sound of brass in the show\u2019s big number, \u201cA Month in the Country.\u201d Suggested by the Ingmar Bergman film \u201cSmiles of a Summer Night,\u201d Sondheim wrote music and lyrics and Hugh Wheeler, the book.<\/p>\n
Beyond the full orchestration, Lyric Opera\u2019s production has additional virtues both dramatic and musical. Perhaps the smartest thing director J. Sherwood Montgomery did was engage esteemed classical actor Kandis Chappell to portray the aged Mme. Armfeldt. With her presence and her melodic intonation of the woman\u2019s free-spirited life and philosophy (\u201cLiaisons\u201d) Chappell grounds the entire piece. She is perfection.<\/p>\n
A middle-aged widower named Fredrik Egerman; his young wife, Anne (still a virgin after nearly a year of wedlock); and his son, Henrik (wildly in love with Anne); spend a weekend at Mme. Armfeldt\u2019s country home. The gathering is engineered by Egerman\u2019s former mistress and Mme. Armfeldt\u2019s daughter, the celebrated actress D\u00e9sir\u00e9e Armfeldt, to win Henrik back. Uninvited guests are D\u00e9sir\u00e9e\u2019s current lover, Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm and his wife, Charlotte. Also present is D\u00e9sir\u00e9e\u2019s teenage daughter, Fredrika. An ensemble of five singers narrates like a Greek chorus.<\/p>\n
As D\u00e9sir\u00e9e, American soprano Andrea Huber, veteran of a European opera career and a resident of Heidelberg who was seen here in the title role of \u201cCountess Maritza,\u201d has just the right amount of sass and road-weariness. She\u2019s ready to settle down with Fredrik, the love of her life. When D\u00e9sir\u00e9e\u2019s plans go awry, Huber turns in the best sung, most heartfelt \u201cSend in the Clowns\u201d in memory.<\/p>\n
Brilliant of voice, the two baritones \u2013 Scott Gregory as Fredrik and Raymond Ayers as Carl-Magnus \u2013 are thrilling. In their duet, Caroline Nelms (as Anne) and Shirley Giltner (a fabulous Charlotte) capture the poignancy of the two cheated-upon wives. Vocally and dramatically, Nelms is lightweight elsewhere and her spoken and sung diction is particularly hard to understand. The character of Anne is vapid, as is Robert Boldin\u2019s Henrik. Special mention must be made of the excellent vocalism and diction of Laura Bueno as Fredrik\u2019s maid, Petra, but one can\u2019t help wonder what \u201cI Will Marry the Miller\u2019s Son\u201d has to do with anything other than to underscore the random nature of lust. Would that the ensemble sang on pitch and articulated more throughout (the only negative).<\/p>\n
Stephen Terry\u2019s lighting design is dark, though he provides a glimpse of Midsummer Night in Scandinavia. Montgomery\u2019s scenic design, which employs images of birch trees, is lovely and effective. Pam Stompoly-Ericson\u2019s costumes are fine, especially D\u00e9sir\u00e9e\u2019s dinner dress. I wish she had provided Fredrick with period underwear and Carl-Magnus\u2019s uniforms the customary kitsch.<\/p>\n
The great thrill of this \u201cA Little Night Music,\u201d however, is its overall musicality and the opportunity to hear the full orchestration without synthesizers.<\/p>\n
\u201cA Little Night Music\u201d continues<\/p>\n
Performance Dates:<\/p>\n
Friday Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
Saturday Feb. 20 at 7:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
Sunday Feb. 21 at 2:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
at Birch North Park Theatre<\/p>\n
2891 University Ave., North Park<\/p>\n
$32-$52 (children 17 and under, half-price)<\/p>\n
l\u00edricaoperasandiego.org<\/p>\n
(619) 239-8836<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lyric Opera\/A Little Night Music By Charlene Baldridge SDUN Opera Critic These days two- or three-character musicals are the norm, so it is rare to witness something full-blown. Usually revivals of those that were originally full-blown are mounted with diminished numbers of artists, both on stage and in the orchestra pit. The New York Times […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":243198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Lyric Opera\/A Little Night Music","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-243197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}