This 1998 production of Rossini's lively comic opera from the Paris Opera House was a bit overwhelming at first, although I grew to love it. Sight gags abound--the flamingoes, the gorilla, the floating size 420 Double-Z breast-balloons, the dancing pizza, the Italian cheerleading squad, and Taddeo flapping his flippers and blowing his stupid whistle.
Taddeo was a sight gag all by himself. I blame his over-the-top schlock on the French love affair with Jerry Lewis. Before their infatuation with the American comedian, the French were famous for having produced one of the most elegant civilizations in history. And after...?
Well, take the visuals during the overture on this DVD. They begin elegantly with a tour of the beautiful, Second-Empire Palais Garnier, which used to house the Paris Opera, and end up panning a cardboard pin-up of Jennifer Larmore sliding down a pole while dressed in a scanty sailor costume.
Actually, I loved some of the schlock: the pirates with their enormous tattooed latex biceps, white singlets, and cami pants; the eunuchs with their fleshy body molds--all tummies, breasts, and bums; the gangster pappatacis complete with snap-brim fedoras and shiny revolvers. The all-male chorus had more costume changes than Jennifer Larmore.
And speaking of American mezzo, Jennifer Larmore, she was a clever, beautiful, impetuous Isabella. Her resounding "Pensa alla patria" with the chorus of Italian slaves (dressed in skimpy red, white, and green track suits) was a true showstopper. Her lustrous voice, with a sexy duskiness in the lower register is perfect for this Rossinian jeu d'esprit.
Bruce Ford was a cheerful Lindoro with a roving eye. Tenors are often kept busy scrubbing floors or plucking chickens during their opening cavatina, "Languir per una bella." Ford 'carves' a nude, gold-plated statue of his beloved Isabella while he sings of his longing for her.
Italian bass-baritone Simone Alaimo actually sings the coloratura role of Mustafà, rather than trying to buffo his way through it. I have a sneaking fondness for a Bey who really eats the spaghetti during the pappatacci scene, as Alaimo did. He usually affected the dress of the late, unlamented leader of Libya, although he wore a Roman emperor's garb for his meeting with Isabella (one of the more uninhibited emperors). He has also sung this role at Chicago's Lyric Opera and at the Royal Opera in London, and it is easy to see why he is in demand.
This cartoonish, over-the-top Italian Girl sports some excruciatingly slow tempi, most notably in "Languir per una bella" and Isabella's beautiful "Per lui che adoro," but otherwise it is very easy on the ear. I recommend it to fellow Rossini fans who are looking for something completely different.