Brilliant singing, emotional staging bring "Iphigenia" to life

Producing an opera that will go on to New York's Metropolitan Opera is a daunting concept for any regional company. But in the new co-production of Gluck's "Iphigenia in Tauris," Seattle Opera can feel considerable pride in the quality of the show they're sending on to New York next month.

Full of glorious and moving music, "Iphigenia" still is not an easy opera to bring to life. It's all about feelings, connections, intuitions; most of the action has already taken place before the span of the libretto. The opera is full of lengthy set pieces in which characters sing of foreboding, terror, love and determination. But most of the elements we associate with opera are missing; the love, for instance, is between siblings and lifelong friends, not conventional romance.

Fortunately, this production has a charmed cast of brilliant singing actors; a beautifully sensitive orchestra under the direction of Gary Thor Wedow; and emotionally intelligent staging by Stephen Wadsworth (who also will stage the production in New York, with a different cast). Wadsworth added a lot of punch to the action by staging the dreams and interior thoughts of the characters, as in the opening sequence, which made Iphigenia's disturbing dream quite real — not just a narrative of recollection. Wadsworth is a master at extracting meaningful drama from every scene, even where the libretto does not specify much action. Gesture, attitude, and interaction all work together to make the audience care about the characters.

The Thomas Lynch set, depicting the temple of Diana at Tauris, is cleverly constructed with a small antechamber to the side, which does double duty as a prison (for Iphigenia's unrecognized brother Orestes and his friend Pylades), and also as a meeting room for the temple priestesses (who apparently do their needlework while life-and-death events unfold next door in the temple). Neil Peter Jampolis' lighting is on the dark side, though with some splendid effects in the sudden revelation of highlighted characters hidden behind scrims or screens.

As Iphigenie, Nuccia Focile is a revelation: powerful of voice and of theatrical presence, and always deeply affecting. Her brother Orestes is sung by Brett Polegato, in a performance so beautifully drawn that it's hard to imagine it being bettered anywhere. William Burden's Pylades is deeply moving and eloquently sung. All three principals are physically perfect for their roles, which doesn't hurt.

The smaller roles are equally well taken. Phillip Joll, who sang the major role of Wotan in an earlier Seattle Opera "Ring," brings his stentorian voice and presence to the role of King Thoas with considerable impact. Ani Maldjian, Leena Chopra and David Adam Moore do remarkable work in supporting roles, and Michele Losier's Diana is a theatrical marvel.

There always are a few things that don't work so well. The dancers, with their odd windmill arms and supplicating gestures, are confined to a tiny space on the stage. The women chorus members, required to stand motionless at the back of the temple for what seems like ages, are wearing turbans, which didn't look good even on Gloria Swanson. (Fortunately the turbans did not impact their excellent singing.) And Wedow moved the orchestra forward at such a brisk pace that the audience — which clearly wanted to applaud at the end of various scenes — wasn't able to do so. The tumultuous ovation that greeted the final curtain, however, made the listeners's thumbs-up very clear.

Melinda Bargreen: mbargreen@seattletimes.com