In the New Opera Company of Boston production of Puccini’s rarely heard operatic gem Le Villi at the Dante Alighieri Society on Sunday under the direction of Nathaniel Meyer, the SATB chorus Coro-Dante played the villagers (the Villi), fairies who punish unfaithful men by dancing them to death. Stephanie Pfundt, soprano, Robert Kleinertz, tenor and Asatur Baljyan, baritone sang Anna, Roberto, and Guglielmo. The chamber sized orchestra (41 musicians) was made up of local professionals.
The performance took place in the Society’s medium size auditorium, with audience, chorus and orchestra all on the main level. A small, lightly decorated stage was set up behind the orchestra. Costumes were vest and pants for the men, and a country dress for Anna, which she covered in black for the second act. The chorus sat to the left of the orchestra, behind the violins. Chorus members stood while singing, but never entered into the performance area and did not act out their roles as villagers and Villis. Anna and Roberto sung their final notes at the end of Act 2 from the balcony above the auditorium, but other than that the three principals sung entirely from the small stage behind the orchestra.
The opera opens with a short, dreamy orchestral prelude that presages little of the tragedy to come. Abrupt dynamic and mood changes were executed with ease. Of particularly note were the focused and well-articulated arpeggios played by the harp, and the rising chromatic scales of the winds, each lending color and atmosphere to a mysterious introduction. The first act opens with the villagers celebrating the engagement of Roberto and Anna. At times the balance between orchestra and chorus was not ideal, but overall both ensembles came across convincingly. The orchestra’s dotted rhythms and the effusive, joyful Evivas (“long life”) of the villagers came across with energy and precision. Anna’s father Guglielmo enters, insisting that though he is old he can still dance. Baljyan communicated the father’s happiness with a rich and sonorous sound.
The prima donna, Anna, enters the stage to orchestral music which brings to mind Mendelssohn’s Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A fitting choice on Puccini’s part due to the similar subject matter. The scurrying lines and velvety lightness of the strings evoked fairies and forest. The soaring melodies of Anna’s opening aria communicated her love for Roberto, but an unease lay just beneath the surface (“forget me not”). Roberto enters and asks Anna for a smile (“Un soriso “). A gorgeous love duet follows. The bright, ringing quality of Kleinertz’s voice lent optimism to the moment. Pfundt and Kleinertz maximized the emotional impact of their interwoven lines (“doubt your God but never my love”) through responsiveness to one another’s facial expressions and vocal gestures. A distant bell tolls four notes as the duet ends. A prayer is sung by all as Roberto departs to claim the inheritance that awaits him in the town of Mainz. This finale came together beautifully with Pfundt soaring above her male counterparts (she took the high C) while the chorus and orchestra provided balance and a cohesive sound.
Act II begins with the orchestra and chorus intoning Anna’s burial. She has died while awaiting Roberto, who was seduced by the sirens of Mainz. The burial scene is followed by “La Tregenda” where we meet the villis for whom the opera is named. The dance is a tarantella meant to communicate the wildness of a Witches Sabbath. Although accurately played, the rendition was a bit staid and lacking in menace. Enter Guglielomo, mourning his daughter. Baljyan captured the father’s agony through beautifully phrased rising and falling motifs. The tender father/daughter relationship recalls that of Gilda and Rigoletto in Verdi’s namesake opera. Baljyan was at ease in the upper registers of the baritone’s range and brought full volume and focus to the fury he vented at Roberto, employing much rubato as he asked who invited him (“rascal”) into their lives.
Roberto, now a damned man makes his way through the woods while the ever-present villis harass him. Roberto’s shame is on display as he ponders every note in a rising chromatic scale followed by a falling seventh (“Strange voices in me”). His solo, a combination of recitative and aria, reveals a deeper character than we have heretofore seen. We particularly note the contributions of the timpani, the oboe lament that accompanies Roberto’s musings on whether Anna still lives, a solo cello line played by the principal, and the swirls of the strings so illustrative of mental torment.
Anna, now a villi appears. She reminds Roberto of his declarations of love. Pfundt, choosing the elevated vocal path offered by Puccini, showcased the upper range of her voice to the fullest. The result was a heart-rending pathos (“I suffered in silence”).
The chorus provides its commentary, and now music from the Witches Sabbath invokes the fatal dance of the Villis. Their cries to Roberto of Gira Balza (whirl, dance) seal his fate. As Roberto dies, the opera closes with the villi’s triumphant Hosannas.
The audience responded enthusiastically. Conductor Nathaniel Meyers said a few words on New Opera Boston’s continuing mission. Musicians and audience members mingled in the foyer, then exited to a beautiful spring evening.