Word: cherubino
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...deterred the Summer School from underwriting a professional operatic production. Thomas S. Crooks, dean of the Summer School, said yesterday that it was nobody's business how much the School had given for the production, but it must have been thousands of dollars. It's nice to have a Cherubino sing Voi che sapete--particularly as well as Susan Larson sings it. But we also know that student artists at Harvard--though their performance wouldn't be as good as the New Opera Company's--could find good uses for some money, uses that involved larger numbers of students...
Barbara Winchester's Cherubino left me uneasy, partly, perhaps, because of the concept of a woman playing a young man. But Miss Winchester failed to establish much credibility in her role, and was, throughout the evening, all too obviously a woman in a man's role...
...Curzio, melted smoothly into the ensembles (his aria was wisely omitted, as was Marcellina's). David Cornell's Bartolo was strong but a little clumsy and headstrong. Angus Duncan as Antonio was marvellously and bitterly ironic. He also had one of the most brilliant lines of the translation: describing Cherubino's leap from a window, he testifies, "I'm sure that he wasn't on horseback, for no horse from the window came down." But of all the minor roles, Juliet Cunningham's Barbarina was best. Her fourth act cavatina ("I'ho perduta, me meschina") had just the right touch...
John Adams coordinated the ensembles perfectly. The duets between Figaro and Susanna were all well balanced and blended; Susanna and Cherubino's "Aprite, preste aprito," one of the most bubbly spots in the score, came off with the proper mixture of fright and humor...
John Lithgow's staging was restrained (for Lithgow) and stylized. His blocking moved well, and the choreography had moments of brilliance without upstaging the music. The panic preceding Cherubino's leap from the window, the third act choral dance, and the intricate comings and goings of the last scene were the best...