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Review: Bryn Terfel Returns Triumphantly In Stravinsky's Rake

Baritone's back problems appear to be behind him.

SAN FRANCISCO — Terfel's back. And both he — and it — are better than ever.

Saturday, Bryn Terfel made his long-anticipated return to the operatic stage in San Francisco Opera's production of The Rake's Progress by Igor Stravinsky.

The renowned Welsh baritone had been sidelined for several months with a nasty back injury that forced him to cancel many high-profile appearances, including recent concert performances of Sweeney Todd at the New York Philharmonic in honor of Stephen Sondheim's 75th birthday.

But you'd never know it now.

Terfel gave a superb vocal and dramatic performance as the malicious manservant Nick Shadow in Stravinsky's allegorical opera about a misguided young rake. The normally affable-looking singer acted the epitome of evil with his highly stylized Kabuki-style makeup and subtly sinister characterization.

Shadow is a physically sedate role, especially compared to others in Terfel's repertoire, such as Figaro, Falstaff and Leporello. But it nonetheless requires a commanding stage presence, and Terfel had that in abundance. Even in the graveyard scene at the end of the opera, the most mobile scene for Shadow, Terfel appeared to have no trouble getting around.

While back injuries can hamper an opera singer's ability to comfortably move about onstage, they can also wreak havoc with the voice, particularly in terms of vocal projection. But in a performance rife with singers who were hard to hear, only Terfel was able to consistently cut through the orchestra with a powerful and pliant baritone voice that sounded as good as ever.

San Francisco Opera's production of The Rake sports whimsically designed sets by British artist David Hockney and is in keeping with the style of the 18th-century Hogarth etchings upon which the opera is based. It was a perfect environment for Tom Rakewell's misadventures, as told through Stravinsky's clever score and poet W.H. Auden's savvy libretto.

This production also offered countertenor Brian Asawa, who gave a surprisingly effective performance as Baba the Turk, the bearded lady whom Rakewell capriciously marries upon Shadow's suggestion.

Asawa's performance marked only the second time in the opera's 50-year history that Baba has been sung by a countertenor instead of a mezzo; but even bearded, with that deceptively feminine voice of his, you never would have guessed the role was being played by a man.

But ultimately, an opera production is only as good as the sum of its parts and, Terfel and Asawa aside, the rest of the musical performances didn't add up to much.

In his debut as Rakewell, tenor Raymond Very gave a solid, though exceedingly bland vocal performance, making it extremely difficult to sympathize in the least with his character. Only in the opera's final scenes, in the graveyard and later in Bedlam, did Very rise to the occasion, offering a heartfelt portrayal of the fallen and forever lost Tom.

Soprano Rebecca Evans also made her debut in the role of Anne Trulove and played the part with the appropriate degree of modesty and innocence. Evans has a sweet voice that is well-suited to the role of Anne but was often too hard to hear over the orchestra.

The most disappointing Rake debut was that of conductor Markus Stenz. Stenz led a lagging, lackluster orchestral performance, unable to keep up the momentum of Stravinsky's fast-paced, stylistically shifting score.

Still, the San Francisco Opera audience is fortunate to be able to revel in Terfel's inspired vocals, and the opera world at large is fortunate to have him back.

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