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Written by Harry Cherkinian, Contributing writer
Mar 24, 2011
Soprano Erica Schuller (Elvira), bass Kevin Glavin (Mustafa), baritone Daniel Belcher (Taddeo), tenor Ryan McPherson (Lindoro). Bottom: soprano Daniela Mack (Isabella). – Photo: Richard Brodzeller
The moment they announced the 2011 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording nearly a month ago, Daniel Belcher realized he’d be up there all by himself on stage. Alone. To accept a Grammy Award. He looked around the celebrity-studded auditorium. No one else was moving toward the podium.
His wife, Metropolitan Opera director Kathleen Belcher, asked if he’d prepared anything to say “just in case.” He hadn’t. And now the spotlight was on the 40-year-old baritone from Liberty, Mo.
“I don’t even remember what I said,” Belcher said. “It was completely surreal.”
The award was for the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin’s recording of composer Kaija Saariaho’s “Amour de loin.” The recording took four years from start to finish. Belcher calls it “a labor of love.”
Fresh off his Grammy win, Belcher took the stage as Taddeo in the Florentine Opera’s production of “The Italian Girl in Algiers,” which played March 18-20 at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. Belcher was already a familiar face in Milwaukee, having performed with FO in “The Barber of Seville.” He also worked with “Algiers” director Bill Theisen in a production of “HMS Pinafore” at Lyric Opera of Kansas City.
Nearly 200 years old, “The Italian Girl in Algiers” remains a challenge for performers due to Rossini’s combination of the “opera seria” (dramatic) and “opera buffa” (comic) styles. Set in a palace in Algiers, the physically demanding work involves star-crossed lovers, mixed identities and court intrigues.
“Any Rossini opera is like running a marathon,” Belcher said. “You have to really train your voice and get your flexibility back, vocally and physically.” “Algiers” was also challenging when it was written due to the chords of protofeminism it strikes. Isabella, “the Italian girl,” is not one to sit demurely and pine for her lost love. Instead, she goes out to find and rescue him. In the process, she promises freedom for the Algerian slaves.
“This is a woman who’s very ahead of her time,” said Daniela Mack, who sang the role in the March 18 and March 20 performances. “This is a woman in love with Lindoro and (she) goes to save him. Her feminism is very strong, while there are also moments of vulnerability.”
Mack was at the top of her form in her opening night performance. She sang with an ease and confidence that showcased both her strong soprano voice and natural acting abilities. She moved about the stage with a determination and verve that played well off Glavin’s delightfully imbecilic Mustafa.
Mack recently sang the role at the Opera National de Bordeaux. Born in Buenos Aires, she came to the United States at age eight. She said she finds a commonality with Isabella and with the music of Rossini.
“I’m a bit more demure but I do have Latin blood in me,” Mack said. “So I know the fiery side to her (Isabella) as well. She does know how to get what she needs and wants.”
Mack agreed with Belcher that Rossini demands much of the performer. “It is a very physical show,” she said. “The way the vocal lines are written, the composer demands that the voice do things that are hard to do.”
Despite playing “third wheel” to the main couple, Belcher also proved to be a natural comic in addition to displaying commanding vocals as the “uncle” (read: frustrated lover) of Isabella. As Isabella’s pining true love Lindoro, Robert McPherson (in his Florentine debut) deftly balanced vulnerability and strength in his dual role as captured “slave” and lover, his fluid tenor soaring brightly and seemingly without effort.
The entire production was a musical triumph and comic delight, thanks in no small part to director Theisen’s natural theatrical instincts. Score yet another win for the Florentine and for Milwaukee’s performing arts scene.
