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If you should be strolling near Lucie Stern Theatre and detect the fragrance of lemon meringue in the air, that would be the vocal confections that West Bay Opera is spinning with its production of Bellini’s “La sonnambula.” In its day, this sleep-walking melodrama was almost as popular as Bellini’s better-known “Norma,” but these days it’s rarely produced, so it’s quite an opportunity.
The bel canto style — lighter and more agile than Verdi and Puccini — is introduced by soprano Shawnette Sulker as Lisa, a mountain village innkeeper who has just lost the battle for landowner Elvino to an orphan girl, Amina. In her cavatina (introductory aria), “Tutto e gioia, tutto e festa,” she spells out this disappointment with a tremendous plasticity of tone, and a top note so thrilling that it elicited gasps.
And this is just the secondary soprano! When Michelle Allie Drever enters as the victorious Amina, she unleashes the two-part “Come per me sereno/Sovra il sen la man mi posa,” originally written for the legendary Giuditta Pasta and a staple of recitals to this day. Drever handles this task with aplomb, displaying a sense of dynamic control in her cadenzas (notably her sparkling high pianissimos) that will continue throughout the evening.
When the very popular Elvino shows up for his betrothal ceremony, we’re in for another surprise. Chris Mosz’s tenor is so high-set that it seems like he is singing downward on notes above the staff. This serves him well later, as Elvino is destined to suffer much grief and betrayal. I liked him best, however, in “Son geloso del zeffiro errante,” a delicate duet of forgiveness in which he and Drever travel long a capella passages together. There’s something absolutely magical about two singers leading each other through such intimate spaces (and then, once the orchestra rejoins, coming out on key). It is quite a daredevil feat.
Providing a solid foundation for all these gymnastics are mezzo Courtney Miller as Amina’s foster mother Teresa and bass Casey Germain as Count Rodolfo. Miller’s mezzo is beautifully even and pure. Germain’s bass is rich and noble, and he gives the Count a regal bearing (a nobleman who actually turns out to be noble). The Count’s presence was also helped by a richly embroidered housecoat (Callie Floor, costume designer).
All this super-lyric vocalizing demands careful listening from the audience, but Jose Luis Moscovich does an excellent job of reining in his modest orchestra. The chorus plays an important part in the opera, too, and they come through ably, although I wish the stage direction contained more movement.
Peter Crompton and Frederic O. Boulay continue to refine their set/projection fusion, creating a beautifully animated waterfall. When the villagers sing of the local phantom, a piece of said waterfall breaks away and turns into the silhouette of a dancing woman. It’s an incredibly striking image.
Felice Romani’s libretto contains a few troubling notes. Essentially, Amina sleepwalks her way into the Count’s room at the inn and is found there on the morning of her wedding, leading to all sorts of scandal. This is misguided, but certainly understandable. But why is poor Lisa held to such scorn when she is discovered to have (gasp!) flirted with one of her customers? Silliness, but that’s the 18th century for ya.
Of special interest to the opera aficionado is the similarity of Amina’s final sleepwalking scene to the mad scene in Lucia di Lammermoor (which premiered four years later, in 1835). In both, the gathering stands frozen around the soprano as she pours out her grief in an altered state. Mad scenes were quite the rage at the time, and this one provides the ability to pull it off without insanity or blood. In any case, Drever does a magnificent job of singing as if hypnotized, then wakes to perform the joyous cabaletta “Ah! Non giunge uman pensiero.” Among other qualities, I enjoy the delight that Drever clearly takes in the act of singing.
Feb. 22, 7 p.m. and Feb. 23, 2 p.m., at the Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. $46-$125. In Italian with English supertitles. wbopera.org.
Michael J. Vaughn is a 40-year opera critic and the author of 30 novels, including his latest, “I Look for You in the Crowd.”
