Marc Martinez, Colin Safley, Angela Scorese, Yong Hoon Lee, Victor Jaquez, and Melissa Perry
Lately we have been mourning the loss of the many small opera companies that we wrote about B.C. (before Covid). So, Dear Reader, imagine how excited we felt when learning about a new company. Perhaps the drought is over! It takes courage to plunge into the scene and Director Natan Zamansky seems to have gotten things off to a good start with Opera Picciona.
We thought the name of the company might have been a paradoxical neologism derived from the Italian word for small (piccolo) given a contradictory ending that suggests grand size. Or was it named for the New York City bird we love and hate--the pigeon? No matter! Mr. Zamansky has avoided the trap of presenting grand opera on a diminutive scale, drawing unhelpful comparisons from his audience. Instead, he has chosen two complementary one-act operas of a lighthearted nature, operas that many have not seen/heard before.
Bastien und Bastienne, Mozart's early attempt at opera, written as a pubertal 12-year-old (and what's YOUR 12-year-old up to?) is a comedy in the sense that it has a happy ending whilst Jacques Offenbach's early operetta Le 66 is, under Mr. Zamansky's direction, laugh-out-loud funny.
The Mozart piece served as opener and the cast of three tackled their parts with relish. The story is a simple one in which a couple is reunited after a period of estrangement. There is a great deal of pretense between Bastien, the shepherd with a roving eye (tenor Yong Hoon Lee) and his sweetheart Bastienne, a rather innocent and lovelorn shepherdess (soprano Melissa Perry). This pretense would be as familiar today as it was in the 18th century. A "sorcerer", actually a wise older fellow named Colas (bass Victor Jaquez), counsels the young lady to pretend indifference to win over her erstwhile lover. After much pretense, the lad rises to the occasion and, to quote the Bard, "All's Well That Ends Well".
There is nothing original in that story but Mozart's charming music and some fine vocalism made for a pleasant hour. Additionally, Mr. Jaquez' comic antics overcame the challenging staging in which "offstage" was achieved by singers hiding behind two black screens, since there was no place to go in the otherwise satisfactory performing area. The acting during the musical numbers was fine but we wished for a bit more stage business during the "downtime".
There were no such lulls in the Offenbach which followed after the intermission. Perhaps Mr. Zamansky devoted more directorial effort to a work that generated genuine laughs. He had at his disposal a trio of singers who not only sang well but who also evinced an understanding of comic timing, making use of both facial expression and bodily gesture.
The story, although not as timely as the Mozart romance, concerns a couple hiking through the Austrian alps. Grittly (soprano Angela Scorese) and Frantz (tenor Mark Martinez) are working their way through the alps by singing and playing their guitars (in this case, ukuleles) on their way to Strasbourg to console Grittly's sister who is grieving her husband's death. A dramatic device of an upside down lottery ticket leads to some laugh-out-loud situations with a peddler (baritone Colin Safley), some funny costume changes, some tension between the two wandering minstrels, and a deus ex machina ending that leaves everyone happy.
The story is just as silly as other Offenbach operettas but it provided the opportunity for some charming duets and trios, some Bob Fosse-like choreography, and the clever repurposing of some boxes to create the illusion of mountaineering.
No one is credited with costuming or props but creativity can compensate for lack of resources and so it did. We value good singing over lavish scenery and professional costuming.
As enjoyable as the singing was the performance of the score by an octet of musicians, half strings and half winds. Music Director Eric Peterson provided fine background for the singing.
The spoken dialogue in Mozart's singspiel and Offenbach's operette were easily understood by those of us who are familiar with German and French and for those who were not, projected titles were legible, unlike those of other recent performances we have attended.
Before closing we would like to point out the excellence of the Director's Notes, a sample of which were in the printed program and the more elaborate comments which were available electronically. No arrogant justifications for directorial narcissism, just academically interesting information that made for some good reading.
If you are unable to snag tickets for the rest of the run, at least you can consider yourselves advised to watch out for Opera Picciona's next venture. We certainly will!
© meche kroop
No comments:
Post a Comment