Did anyone else out there see Nathan Gunn's Figaro in the new San
Francisco production of Barbiere? This is a very "busy" production
of Barbiere with lots of non-libretto props and stage business --
Figaro, for instance, enters on a motorcycle and gives a homeless
person a total make-over during the "Largo al factotum"! Nathan
proved a very assured, charismatic Figaro, even though his usual
facial expressiveness was hampered by having to wear an old-fashioned
leather motorcycle helmet during much of Act I (the knee-length
leather motorcycle coat worked much better). He seemed to be
enjoying himself onstage and together with veteran Paul Plishka made
the opera what it should be, a duel of wits between Figaro and
Bartolo. Vocally he sounded in good form with vivid Italian, though
the rapid-fire portion of the "Largo" didn't seem comfortable for him
and for some reason his voice didn't seem to fill the War Memorial
Opera House the way it does Chicago or the Met. Instead there were
places, especially in ensembles, where he was much less audible than
I expected, but I'm wondering if the sets, which didn't seem designed
to project sound outward, weren't to blame.

In sum, this was not the most congenial role or production in which
I've seen Gunn (his superb Billy Budd still leaves everything else in
the dust, I think), but he had Figaro's engaging rogueishness down
pat and this Barbiere definitely made for an enjoyable evening at the
opera. I also got to speak with him after the performance, which is
always a pleasure -- he's so unassuming and approachable that there's
no intimidation factor, as there is with some singers.

Gunn now moves on to perform his Guglielmo in Dallas toward the end
of November, will sing the Messiah in San Francisco for the holidays,
and in the spring is doing Pearl Fishers with Bill Burden in both
Philadelphia and Detroit. He will be bringing his Billy Budd to San
Francisco next fall and said backstage that SFO may also do Pearl
Fishers in their summer 2005 schedule.

Christopher Weimer