French soprano Norah Ansellem and the other performers singing the principal roles in Seattle Opera's upcoming production of Bellini's "I Puritani" are all on the hot seat to prove their vocal chops. Bellini's final bel canto masterpiece, which premiered in Paris in 1835, the year the composer died at age 33, is seldom done because of the difficulty in finding the right voices for the central characters. "This opera is so tied to the four major characters that if they can't sing with precision, beauty and grace, it's a terrible mess," said Ansellem, who sings the role of Elvira in Seattle Opera's Wednesday/Saturday cast.Until about a century ago, Bellini and other composers wrote their operas to fit the voices of particular singers. "For 'Puritani,' Bellini had a quartet of amazing singers, including a tenor with a very high voice," said Speight Jenkins, Seattle Opera's general director. He said he has waited 25 years to find a suitable cast. The singers must be able to spin a lyrically delicate line in some spots while in other passages employ serious vocal muscle, and all in the bel canto style with its trills and ornamentation that showcase the performers' skills."Bel canto has to be beautiful singing, big romantic love and mad scenes," Ansellem added. "This opera was written right after [Horace] Walpone brought out the gothic novel, and gothic fiction swept Europe with stories full of ghosts, castles and heroines who go mad." "I Puritani" is a Romeo and Juliet scenario, only this time the youthful star-crossed lovers, Elvira and Arturo, are from feuding English families caught in the middle of the 17th-century war between the Stuart monarchy and Oliver Cromwell's puritan rebels. Elvira loses her sanity when Arturo appears to betray her."I see her as a teenager, really happy, gregarious, in love. She doesn't really go mad; she loses her sense of comprehension of reality because of her deep pain and sorrow," Ansellem said.Her strong background in the Italian repertoire includes frequent performances as Violetta in "La Traviata" and Liù in Verdi's "Turandot." In 2004, Seattle Opera joined the companies for whom she has sung the role of Gilda in Verdi's "Rigoletto." Despite that history, this is her first Bellini. The diva is well aware of the demands this role will have on her voice, the need to balance coloratura agility with a more powerful emotional sound. "When you need a cry in the voice, some pathos, it will not work the way it should if the voice is too light," Ansellem said. "In the second act, Elvira's aria can sound happy, but instead you have to feel in that moment she's not well, not happy." Tickets $25 and upVisit www.seattleopera.org or call 206-389-7676 or 800-426-1619Seattle Opera Ticket Office is at 1020 John St. and is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday-Friday. There will also be a Mother's Day Tea at 12:30 p.m., Sunday, May 11 in The Norcliffe Room at McCaw Hall. Tickets are $40 for Adults and $20 for children 12 and under. Tickets are available at the Seattle Opera ticket office.[[In-content Ad]]
