A VERY GALA GALA

 Sophia Baete, Shiyu Zhuo, Kate Morton, Yoonsoo Jang, Grace Ryan, Sarah Rachel Bacani, 

Adam Catangui, Jihye Jang, and Clothilde Benard

If any of our dear readers have yet to be introduced to Opera Index, let us begin by telling you of our long term and rewarding relationship with this fine organization. It is well known for supporting young opera singers at the early stages of their careers, as well as for bringing together a group of opera lovers who share in their mission. Last night was the special event we members have been eagerly anticipating, the annual awards ceremony.

The event was held at The Metropolitan Club in their spacious formal dining room, with cocktail hour held in the anteroom. This is a valuable part of the evening when members and their guests are able to circulate, to meet and greet, whilst enjoying plentiful libations and tasty passed hors d'oeuvres. The energy level was scintillating as we connected with fellow citizens of Planet Opera and rubbed elbows with some very famous singers, including Ryan Speedo Green. 

At the appointed hour, the dining room was opened. We are pleased to relate that dinner was served after the entertainment, which comprised a recital given by nine top prize winners. This allowed us to focus on the singers without the interruption of food service. As is our wont, we will not say which singer was awarded how much money but we will tell you that the sum of $59,000 was awarded to twenty young artists, chosen by means of audition from a large pool of applicants. We would have liked to have heard the winners of Emerging Artists Awards and Encouragement Awards and we hope that we will in the near future.

A warm welcome and introductory comments were made by President Jane Shaulis and a well deserved Distinguished Achievement Award was given to the  renowned mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves whose glamorous appearance belies her four decades on the opera stage.

But, Dear Reader, you want to hear about the program so you can watch out for these gifted young artists, all of whom are pursuing advanced degrees and/or performing in major roles around the country. Indeed it was a wonderful program, encompassing several languages and styles. Providing lots of vocal thrills to begin the program was French soprano Clothilde Benard who dazzled us with vocal acrobatics in Marguerite's aria from Gounod's Faust--"Ah, je ris de me voir" sung as only a native born French woman could sing it. Trills were thrilling; leaps successfully conveyed the character's excitement.

Although we do not speak nor understand Czech, we do understand the legato  phrasing, vibrato, and dynamic control found in soprano Jihye Jang's interpretation of the water sprite's yearning in "Song to the Moon" from Dvořak's famous opera Russalka . Her silvery tone reminded one of moonlight and the performance took us out of the ballroom and into nature. We liked the highly dramatic ending.

Taking us into Mozartean territory was tenor Adam Catangui who gave an impeccable performance of Don Ottavio's moving tribute to Donna Anna in "Il mio tesoro" from Don Giovanni. Mr. Catangui has a sweet tenor so we particularly enjoyed the way he darkened his voice when singing about vengeance. We further appreciated the embellishments of the vocal line. 

We wish that soprano Sarah Rachel Bacani had chosen a different aria than the one she did which was "Laura's Song" from Copland's The Tender Land. We have nothing negative to say about her performance and, although we are not fond of mid-20th century American opera, Ms. Bacani did a fine job of creating the character of a simple young woman. It is just that her repertory, as related in her biography, has several more melodic and more dynamic roles to offer. We would love to hear her Juliette or Micaëla.

The role of Rosina in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia is one of our favorites and Grace Ryan did not disappoint. With a true mezzo sound, she brought the character to life and engaged the audience by descending from the stage and "working the room", showing us Rosina's personality as well as her own. We particularly enjoyed the cabaletta with its elaborate rapid fire flourishes.

Our ears always perk up for bel canto and the Rossini was followed by some Donizetti. Baritone Yoonsoo Jang made an effective Doctor Malatesta describing the perfect woman he was proposing to Don Pasquale in the eponymous opera. "Bella siccome un angelo" is a splendid vehicle for the artist to create a character not so far removed from commedia dell'arte. Furthermore we enjoyed the rich texture of Mr. Jang's  instrument.

Mezzo-soprano Kate Morton performed. "Nobles seigneurs, salut!" from Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots. We confess our ignorance of this opera but rest assured, Dear Reader, we made significant efforts to understand the plot to learn at which point this aria is sung. We admit utter failure. We could not even find a role for a mezzo-soprano in the cast list. What we did learn is that this opera, although rarely performed, was a hit in its day. The plot is Byzantine! Let us content ourself with having enjoyed Ms. Morton's singing and a most artistic descending scale passage.

A more familiar French entry was "Non monsieur mon mari" from Poulenc's Les Mamelles de Tiresias, Poulenc's surrealist opéra bouffe that we did see years ago as a student production. Soprano Shiyu Zhuo charmed the audience by offering a verbal introduction to the piece which involved not only some fine singing but successful creation of a character--with an assist from collaborative pianist Kamal Khan who portrayed her husband! It was fun!

Bringing the program to a stunning close was mezzo-soprano Sophia Beate who performed Dorabella's challenging aria "Smanie implacabile" from Mozart's Cosi fan tutte.  It was a flawless performance which, as such performances tend to do, allowed us to create the scene in our mind's eye, forgetting all issues of technique and just enjoying the performance.

Opera Index does a fine job of finding and fostering young talent and giving them a career boost. We are proud to be a long term member. We are looking forward to the Spring concert which we will certainly announce on our Facebook page.

© meche kroop

TIERGARTEN

 Kim David Smith as Master of Ceremonies 

"Come to the Cabaret!"  Well Dear Reader, we did so and are mighty glad we did. If you were unable to get tickets (which is likely since any event produced by impresario Andrew Ousley and Death of Classical generally does sell out early) we hope to give you the flavor of the event. Imagine the supremely talented Australian cabaret artist Kim David Smith as Master of Ceremonies, taking the audience backward through time to visit various points in history that involved turning points or crises.

The program was conceived, written, and directed by Mr. Ousley himself; it included opera, musical theater, spirituals, instrumental works, visual arts, costuming, and even shadow puppetry. Working backward we began with Weimar Berlin, a time period that has interested us since the very first time we heard  Mr. Smith perform in the upstairs room of a gay bar in the theater district. This Australian "boy wonder" was new to NYC and we were new to cabaret. We became a regular, swooning over his interpretations of cabaret numbers in German and French.

Our favorite selection from this act was "Pirate Jenny" From Kurt Weill and Berthold Brecht's Three-Penny Opera. Mr. Smith put the right bitter edge on this ballad of retribution, accompanied by some clever shadow puppetry by Foreshadow Puppetry.

The next act featured the disturbing song "Strange Fruit" by Abel Meeropol given an admirable interpretation by Amara Granderson, and John Dickinson's "The Liberty Song" sung by Miguel Angel Vasquez. If the chronology was a bit off, it didn't seem to matter because it made artistic sense.

Representing the Salem Witch Trials, we were thrilled to hear Ariadne Greif singing Azucena's rivetingly bitter "Stride la Vampa" from Verdi's Il Trovatore. Even more thrilling than the performance was the enthusiastic response of the crowd which was decidedly not opera folk. We hope some audience members were so taken with the performance that they will seek out more opera experiences.

If that aria didn't do it, Ms. Greif's performance of "Piangeró la sorta mia" from Händel's opera Giulio Cesare  surely did. This was from the section The Fall of the Roman Empire and was so moving that we are still dealing with an ear worm. Mr. Vasquez followed somewhat ironically with Renato Rascel's "Arrivederce Roma".

In the next section Ms. Granderson gave a highly emotional performance of the spiritual "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord" the strophic nature of which has resulted likewise in yet another ear worm. In a burst of irreverence, there was a female Jesus (Pearls Daily) with a beard and red sequined pasties and if you are imagining audience members clutching their pearls you would be mistaken. We will try to include some racy photos on IG and FB, hoping that they will not be censored, LOL.

Indeed it was a wild evening, filled with contradictions, with something for everyone. We have grown accustomed to singers using amplification for everything except opera but we still prefer the natural voice. This is just our preference. No one else seems to mind.

Toward the end of the evening there was a sexy pas de deux performed by Liana Zhen-ai and Dylan Contreras representing Eve and Adam.

The evening of traumas was brought to a healing close by Mr. Smith singing George Gershwin's "Love is Here to Stay" which hit just the right note, so to speak, and the audience left smiling.

Let us give credit to the instrumentalists who did such fine work backing up the singers: pianists Mila Henry and Tracy Stark, accordionist Will Holshouser, and percussionist David Silliman. Everyday Fay created the costumes.

Any cabaret lovers out there would do well to watch carefully for Mr. Ousley's next extravaganza and book promptly!

© meche kroop

MAKE AMERICA GREAT (BRITAIN) AGAIN

 New York Gilbert&Sullivan Players' production of H.M.S. Pinafore

We wish the title of this review had been our own creation but it is not. It is just an example of the clever approach taken by New York Gilbert&Sullivan Players in adapting a Victorian work of quintessential British flavor to the tastes of 21st century New Yorkers.  W.S.Gilbert's clever lyrics may contain a few words that are outside of our vocabulary but the rhymes tickle our brain whilst Arthur Sullivan's memorable tunes tickle our ears to the point that we are suffering from what is known as "ear worms". If we are going to endure this malady it may just as well be caused by good tunes as by boring jingles.

Contributing to the rapturous response of the appreciative audience were a number of contemporary interpolations, not so very different from the liberties taken in The Mikado with "I've got a little list". Lest we deprive you of the surprise effect of these liberties, we will confine our mention to just one. Dear Reader, you must be aware of the nonsensical meme of "6-7" and you will enjoy a good laugh as the cast drives that one into the ground. The schtick were abundant in this iteration of the company's frequent revival; if some were groan worthy, let us not be the one to say so. We smirked, chuckled, and guffawed right along with the rest of the audience. That the gloom of this rainy evening failed to dampen the high spirits of the audience was obvious.

To those readers who have never seen this delightfully entertaining show, we will tell you that Gilbert and Sullivan made their reputation in Victorian England by skewering British society, especially politics and class structure. In the case of H.M.S Pinafore, the exalted reputation of the British navy and the limitations of class structure are the butt of their humor.

A "lowly" British seaman (Cameron Smith) falls in love with the Captain's daughter (Michelle Seipel). The Captain (David Auxier) hopes she will wed the aging and awkward First Lord of the Admiralty (James Mills) who boards the ship with his very controlling Cousin Hebe (Victoria Devany) as well as a singing and dancing chorus of "Sisters, Cousins, and Aunts". Not exactly the villain of the piece is one Dick Deadeye (Matthew Wages) who brings a very funny negativity on board. The denouement rests upon the shoulders of the (not so) Little Buttercup (Angela Christine Smith). Filling out the cast are David Wannen and Quinto Ott.

Maestro Albert Bergeret conducted the orchestra and it is they whom we blame for the "ear worm"; we cannot get those tunes out of our head, nor do we wish to.  Listed as Director was Mr. Mills himself with Mr. Auxier listed as Co-

director and Choreographer. The production moved swiftly and the stage business, which was abundant and bordering upon excessive, never interfered with the singing. We also enjoyed the choreography (originally by Bill Fabris) which involved lots of hornpipes for the crew and some delicate dancing by the Sisters, Cousins, and Aunts. Indeed the production is a beautiful one with a most realistic set (the Quarterdeck) by Albère and sensitive lighting by Benjamin Weill.

Although this work premiered in 1876, it has held up as well as those by the contemporaneous Verdi, although the comic style reminded us more of Rossini. Now here's the anticipated quibble. Although theater goers of today are accustomed to amplified voices, this opera lover is not. Whilst enjoying the performances, the acting, the directing, and the libretto, we feel unable to comment on the voices. Not one stood out as remarkably good or bad, just serviceable.  With comprehension varying from one performer to the next, and from one moment to the next, some of Gilbert's clever dialogue did not come across. Subtitles would have been welcome.

The performances of the romantic couple were overshadowed by the larger than life performances of the rest of the cast who are company regulars. We have come to expect these winning performances and would settle for no less. We had a marvelously entertaining evening and we hope you will too, if you are able to secure tickets. The show runs through the weekend and continues next weekend at The Kaye Playhouse of Hunter College. 

We are already anticipating the company's production of Utopia, Limited in April.

© meche kroop