THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 29, 1996 TAG: 9609280035
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CRAIG SHAPIRO, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 61 lines
PETER MARK is by no means a stranger to ``La boheme.''
As a youngster, he was in the children's chorus for a Metropolitan Opera production of Giacomo Puccini's great tragedy. As general director of Virginia Opera, he's presented it to Hampton Roads audiences more than once.
But this summer in Italy, he saw it differently - on a colossal outdoor stage before 3,400 partisans in picturesque Torre del Lago Puccini. Mark was there by invitation, to conduct the 100th anniversary production of ``La boheme'' at the 42nd Festival Puccini.
``Everyone in town seemed to have his (Puccini's) profile, and was proud of it,'' said Mark, who conducts Friday night's season-opening production of ``Lucia Di Lammermoor.'' ``It was fabulous. I don't know of any other American conductors who have been invited.
``Do I speak Italian? I tried to scrape the rust off of it. I'm certainly better at it than I was at the beginning of the summer.''
Mark learned of the engagement in May and arrived in Italy July 1, leaving just over three weeks to prepare for the July 27 opening-night performance and giving him ample opportunity to practice the tongue - with cast and crew.
He assumed he'd be working with an Italian orchestra, too. Instead, Mark wound up steering the Moscow State Symphony on its maiden voyage into the repertoire. His Italian wasn't much help. Neither was his English.
``They're a great band, but they had never played opera before,'' Mark said. ``Of course, 22 years ago, this orchestra (Virginia Opera) hadn't either. So it was work.''
Good thing he had a nice place to kick back. Mark and his wife, composer Thea Musgrave, stayed in an apartment in the 100-year-old, 32-room Villa Orlando, owned by the grandson of the festival's founder. Puccini himself, who died in 1924, was a frequent guest there.
Besides ``La boheme,'' the festival, which ended Aug. 16, included the Puccini operas ``Manon Lescaut'' and ``Turandot,'' and orchestral works by Ravel, Faure, Debussy, Saint-Saens, Mozart, Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky.
Conducting an opera outdoors, especially on the scale of Festival Puccini, was only part of the challenge, Mark said. The music's fine, but the dramatic focus is more difficult to control. ``It tends to compete with the bugs and hot dogs.''
Then there's the notoriously demanding Italian audiences.
``Their emotions are so close to the surface, but they're not volatile,'' Mark said. ``You just know how they feel. . . . So much of Italian opera depends on that release. It was wonderful to reabsorb it in its natural setting. They loved the production. I was aware it could go either way; another conductor was roundly booed.''
``La boheme'' was just one of Mark's off-season engagements. He also was at the podium for the Cleveland Opera's production of Rossini's ``The Turk in Italy'' and Pacific Opera Victoria's ``Carmen.''
``I loved each of these experiences,'' he said. ``I was only musically and artistically responsible; I didn't have to worry about ticket sales or money raised. But it gave me a chance to re-value what we have achieved with the community here.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
BILL TIERNAN/The Virginian-Pilot file
Peter Mark, general director of Virginia Opera, conducted the 100th
anniversary production of ``La boheme'' in Italy. by CNB