Pittsburgh Opera stronger for Mauceri's leadership
The resignation of Pittsburgh Opera music director John Mauceri is a serious loss for the company, breaking up the artistic leadership team that general manger Mark Weinstein installed in 1999 under the banner of a "bold new voice." Yet he also leaves the company in a far stronger position than when he arrived.
Mauceri was the point of artistic consistency at Pittsburgh Opera. Stagings were uneven, ranging from the excellent "Madame Butterfly" (2002) and "Cinderella" (2003) to the appalling "Don Giovanni" (2001) and "Julius Caesar" (2004). But the musical quality of the company's presentations were transformed by his work.
The orchestra made remarkable improvement during his tenure, in every dimension including stunning stylistic versatility. He conducted 22 operas spanning nearly three centuries of music during his tenure, from the 18th-century "Julius Caesar" by George Frideric Handel to the 21st-century "Dead Man Walking" by Jake Hegge.
The final two productions this season showed how Mauceri's careful attention to detail in limited rehearsal time produced the flavor and aroma true to each composer's score. "Tosca" and "Cosi fan tutte" could hardly be more contrasted operas. The powerful sweep of the romanticism in Giacomo Puccini's "Tosca" was overwhelming in April, while the elegant-yet-pointed nuances of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in "Cosi fan tutte" are emerging with warmth and perspicacity worthy of the Viennese in performances that conclude Sunday afternoon.
There are many other conductors who can be effective in one opera or another, but far fewer who are excellent across the board -- from classical to romantic to modern, and in Italian, German, French, English and American styles.
It was striking during pre-performance interviews that Mauceri's perspective on each opera he conducted was far truer and deeper than any of the stage directors brought in for either new or borrowed productions. Mauceri's strength wasn't limited to possessing the most integrated understanding of the way music and drama actually combine for opera. He also had the firmest grasp of the symbolism employed in the dramas by their creators, and their relationships with other operas, other cultural expressions such as plays and movies, as well as social and intellectual trends.
In some ways, Mauceri's potential was not fully realized in Pittsburgh. When he was invited to conduct George Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess" with Nashville Opera in February, Mauceri insisted on using Gershwin's forgotten revisions -- more than 500 changes the composer made during performances that didn't make it to the score because it was published before the greatest American opera ever hit the stage.
Mauceri's "Porgy and Bess" will be released on a major label, Decca, with which he made many recordings in the 1980s and '90s. Pittsburgh Opera's repertoire priorities hadn't reached "Porgy," if they ever will, when the conductor accepted the offer from Nashville.
Building on Mauceri's accomplishments is now the challenge for Pittsburgh Opera's board of directors and administration. But all opera lovers can be grateful for Mauceri's inspiring work over the past six years.
