The Pearl Fishers

Some of you who were paying attention may have noticed I endorsed opera as an interest, but that I hadn't posted any entries about opera. Well, I'm about to remedy that. Today, I went to see The Pearl Fishers (Les pêcheurs de perles) by Georges Bizet by the Seattle Opera at Marian Oliver McCaw Hall.

This is a wonderful opera, the music is outstanding, particularly the duets and the choral pieces. You have to give a pass to the weak attempt to be exotic by setting the story in Ceylon--about which Bizet clearly knew nothing. That kind of thing is common in opera, though. Madame Butterfly is hardly evocative of Japan, and La Fanciulla del West is the worst western ever, but a great opera.

In The Pearl Fishers, the motif for the female lead, Leila, is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard. It repeats and is used in duets and even used in variation in a minor chord when the death sentence is announced in Act III. The soprano (Larissa Yudina, Leila) in today's performance was wonderful, and the baritone (David Adam Moore, Zurga) was very powerful. Sadly, the tenor (Brian Stucki, Nadir) was weak. His voice barely left the stage. When he first appeared, I thought someone else was singing offstage for him, his voice was so muted. He couldn't hold his own in the duets, which are the best part of this opera.

As in any French opera, there was a lot of dancing. The dancers in this performance were great. The choreography was athletic, a lot of tumbling going on, and it really worked pretty well.

I was with Gary and Sarah, and they enjoyed themselves. We went out for dinner afterwards, to the Bhan Thai on Roy Street. I had scallops in a curry sauce, very spicy and cooked to perfection, with an excellent Gewürztraminer from Washington.