Boston Baroque performs Xerxes with all-star ensemble
Under the music direction of Martin Pearlman, Boston Baroque performed a semi-staged production of Handel’s 1738 opera Serse (Xerxes) last night at Jordan Hall. The period instrument ensemble performed the work with quiet dexterity and precision and created an engaging dialogue with the characters by matching the mood and inflection of each distinct singer in their arias. In this semi-staged production, the orchestra served as central object in the action; the characters occasionally interacted with or hid amongst the orchestra for comic effect and the props utilized were largely orchestral, including piano benches, batons, music stands, and a lute.
Handel’s opera tells the story of Xerxes, the King of Persia, and the romantic entanglements in which he and his brother Arsamene become involved. Xerxes is determined to marry Romilda, even though she and Arsamene are in love. Xerxes is engaged to the princess Amastre, who, disguised as a soldier, hears of his new love and swears revenge. Meanwhile, Romilda’s sister Atalanta is in love with Arsamene, but is ignored. Xerxes banishes Arsamene so he can pursue the despondent Romilda, while Atalanta conceives of a plan to make Arsamene hers. Despite a series of intercepted messages and mistaken intentions the lovers Romilda and Arsamene are united, and Xerxes rightfully returns to Amastre and is forgiven. Atalanta swears to find another lover (slyly passing her number to conductor Martin Pearlman) and all is resolved.
The role of Xerxes was originally intended for a castrato, and for this performance the audience had the extreme pleasure of hearing the rare male sopranist Michael Maniaci in the role. In his performance last night, Mr. Maniaci exhibited stunning power and control over his incredible soprano voice, projecting the pomp and pride of Xerxes in an appropriately demanding, sometimes childish manner. His extraordinary range embraced every note as its center, finding the resonant heart of every pitch with warm, velvety tone. His arias ranged from sensitive and affecting to furious and frantic and his voice quality was consistently rich while completely in keeping with the mood of each aria.
Every member of the cast was extremely talented with a distinct and developed voice quality that embodied their character well. Marie Lenormand sang the trouser role of Arsamene with verve, spunkiness, and a good deal of energy and gumption to cope with the jealousy of Xerxes, Atalanta’s eager love, and Romilda’s hurt confusion. Ms. Lenormand had terrific body language and diction, showing boyish frustration and competitiveness in the spirit of a younger brother.
Romilda was sung by Ava Pine; her voice had the purity and grace of a prima donna, elegantly singing the verses that attract Xerxes and Arsamene and dolefully creating her pathetic arias as she copes with Xerxes’ affections and Arsamene’s absence. Amanda Forsythe played the coquettish Atalanta, engaging the audience in her private schemes with expressive eyes and gestures. As she plotted to win Arsamene by exploiting her charms, she truly underwent a vocal and physical transformation; as she doffed her dowdy black frock and shoes to reveal a stunning red dress and new gold shoes, her voice became increasingly dexterous and rich as she embraced her virtuosic aria with mounting confidence.
Amastre, disguised in a chorus of baton-wielding soldiers, was sung by Leah Wool with understated beauty and determination. Ariodate, father of Romilda and Atalanta and captain of the army, was sung by Mark Schnaible in an authoritative and fatherly bass voice. Michael Scarcelle sang the comic role of Elviro, servant to Arsamene. He balanced the role of the mostly sleepy or drunken character with a bold bass voice that captured the careless silliness of his character without sacrificing quality. He was especially amusing the in disguise of an old lady selling flowers (or batons) that he created with a faltering, womanly voice and a hunchbacked stagger.
Paul Peers’ stage direction made effective use of simple props; a duet through cell phones and an aria of advice from a magazine worked well to contextualize the characters’ moods. His use of the orchestra as an interactive object for the characters enabled the characters to disguise themselves as musicians to hide from those onstage, or feature themselves as concert soloists for particularly self-absorbed arias. Several onstage fights took place between characters; strong physical contact and use of all of the space between the walls of the stage gave a sense of physical action and engagement. With such an unusually strong cast of singers and the typically high standard of performance from Boston Baroque, this production of Handel’s Xerxes was a treat.

