United States Vivaldi, The Seasons: Soloists, Commonwealth Youth Choir, Opera Philadelphia Refrain and Orchestra / Corrado Rovaris (conductor). Perelman Theater, Philadelphia, 21.12.2025. (RP)
Vivaldi’s best-known composition, The 4 Seasons, was on the coronary heart of Opera Philadelphia’s exploration of the connection between climate and emotion. Entitled The Seasons, the work was conceived by countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo and poet and playwright Sarah Ruhl. It’s within the type of a pasticcio, a preferred style within the Baroque period, during which musical numbers from a number of composers are woven collectively to suit a brand new storyline. The shape broadened the attraction of composers’ music by turning it into lighter leisure with a development of favourite arias and a whimsical storyline. Plot-wise, there was little gentle and entertaining in The Seasons. It was nonetheless a feast of Vivaldi’s music, particularly the selection choices from his operas, that are seldom staged in America.
The Opera Philadelphia Orchestra beneath the baton of Corrado Rovaris performed with rhythmic incisiveness and tonal brilliance. Costanzo headed a solid that spun magic out of the florid vocal traces within the arias and ensembles which supplied the story’s artfully crafted and compelling dramatic arc. This efficiency, nevertheless, was memorable for incomparable musical moments of astonishing magnificence and profound emotion.
Ruhl is understood for shaping a libretto from her play Eurydice for Matthew Aucoin’s opera of the identical identify, which premiered on the Los Angeles Opera in 2020 and was offered on the Metropolitan Opera the next 12 months. For The Seasons, she mixed the arias’ authentic Italian texts with newly written English ones right into a name to motion on local weather change intertwined with love tales. Ruhl’s libretto is earnest when addressing the environmental points however not with out wit. Nonetheless, the love scenes, particularly between the Poet and Painter, are emotionally scorching.
The story facilities on a poet, a former actress-turned-farmer, a efficiency artist, a choreographer and a painter who retreat to a distant farm in hope of discovering inspiration in nature to get their artistic juices flowing. Two {couples} kindle amorous affairs as turbulent because the climate. All are buffeted emotionally and bodily by making an attempt to outlive and thrive in a world the place the seasons are out of whack. The artists come to be saved by nature however develop to understand it’s the planet that should be rescued.
Zack Winokur’s manufacturing is straightforward and stark, however the imagery is highly effective. Mimi Lien’s stage is commonly naked however by no means feels empty. When fires rage, your entire stage is awash in crimson, however more often than not, it’s black and foreboding. Easy steel rods suspended from the ceiling present texture. When Costanzo’s Poet bares his soul in despair, numerous steel tears envelop him, creating a visible bleakness as intense because the ache in his voice.
Precipitation is the place this manufacturing excels. Snow, mounds of ice and bubbles are conjured from dish cleaning soap. Lien conceived and developed this environmentally acutely aware resolution in collaboration with MIT and Supplies Technologist Jack Forman. The machines are seen on the stage however are unobtrusive. This visible sleight-of-hand is because of John Torres’s evocative lighting which transforms the ersatz pure phenomena into luminous, fascinating imagery.
Intentional or not, there’s comedian aid in The Seasons. In a yellow raincoat, John Mburu’s wind-lashed Cosmic Weatherman evokes numerous tv scenes of meteorologists risking their lives to provide a first-hand account of an impending hurricane. His singing is equally bravura.
Whitney Morrison was magnificent in one among Vivaldi’s nice rage arias, proclaiming nature’s fury. With environmental catastrophes consuming the land, she was fairly a sight perched on an electrical scissor elevate that doubled as a modern-day Noah’s Ark. Her concern that it wasn’t massive sufficient to carry everybody prompted smiles
Costanzo, attired in a darkish sweater and slacks, was a nerdy poet who fell for Kangmin Justin Kim’s flamboyant painter. The verbal fight of their lovers’ quarrel was electrifying. Costanzo – misplaced in a blizzard, mendacity alone, fetal-like, expressing his ache as softly as possible – was unforgettable.
Abigail Raiford’s Farmer was smitten with Megan Moore’s Choreographer, however her love was unrequited and ill-fated: the Choreographer perishes within the fireplace that devastates the farm. Their duet was a research in managed emotion and refined vocalism, however there was no depth to their relationship, which was one among The Season’s shortcomings. Moore, having so little to sing, was one other.
Pam Tanowitz’s choreography equaled the beautiful visible parts and additional amplified the emotional affect of the efficiency. Ruhl’s libretto will not be seamless in its dramatic leaps and bounds, however music from The 4 Seasons stitched them collectively. The dancers had been at their most evocative and expressive on this music. Equally transfixing, visually and musically, was flutist Emi Ferguson’s swish enjoying and motion. Big bubbles had been her solely companions on the stage.
The Seasons ends with the Efficiency Artist arriving on the boat, accompanied by Cosmic Weatherman and a refrain of kids. The ultimate music heard was the Et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis (a Latin phrase which means ‘and on earth peace to folks of excellent will’ from Vivaldi’s Gloria). It emerged as a mournful prayer, not the joyous singing of the angels on the beginning of Jesus.
Rick Perdian
Featured Picture: Anthony Roth Costanzo (The Poet) in The Seasons © Steven Pisano
Manufacturing:
Conception – Anthony Roth Costanzo & Sarah Ruhl
Libretto – Sarah Ruhl
Director – Zack Winokur
Choreographer – Pam Tanowitz
Units – Mimi Lien
Costumes – Carlos Soto Costume Design
Lighting – John Torres
Make-up – Carissa Thorlakson
Solid:
Poet – Anthony Roth Costanzo
Farmer – Abigail Raiford
Painter – Kangmin Justin Kim
Efficiency Artist – Whitney Morrison
Cosmic Weatherman – John Mburu
Choreographer – Megan Moore
Flute soloist – Emi Ferguson
Dancers – Maggie Cloud, Marc Crousillat, Taylor LaBruzzo, Brian Lawson, Stephanie Terasaki
