Lindell Carter, Robert Garner, Jihye Seo, Christopher Trappani, Manya Gaver-Holmes
Regina Opera Company in Brooklyn offers what Manhattan cannot manage to provide--authentic productions of beloved operas with full live orchestra and casting that is at the very least adequate and often stellar, giving opportunities to emerging young artists. We have witnessed a highly gifted young soprano tear into the role of Lucia (Makila Kirschner) and yesterday a formidably talented soprano (Jihye Seo) make more of the role of Cio-Cio San than one might have hoped for.
Our appreciation of opera was preceded by a deep love for drama and storytelling. Believability is crucial. No matter how famous the soprano is, her excessive avoirdupois will distract us from her consumptive Violetta, no matter how precise her fioritura. Similarly, a middle aged Caucasian soprano in a black wig will not succeed in convincing me that she is a 15 year old Japanese geisha. Of course acting comes into play but that can go just so far. And it is here that Ms. Seo has an advantage; she looks the part and has mastered the art of coloring her voice and making her gestures not only modestly Japanes but also innocent. We do not know whether the artist actually worked on her character's maturation or whether it was unconscious but it lent verisimilitude.
Oddly enough, in this production, directed by John Schenkel, six years are supposed to have elapsed which makes the heroine's maturing more evident. We cannot imagine the reason for the doubling of Pinkerton's absence unless it was to put someone's child onstage in the role of Sorrow, Cio-Cio San's child. Said child appeared older that five by several years and failed to show a shred of stage presence or connectedness with his adoring mother. Go figure! We wouldn't expect a toddler of two to have much reaction but a child of five????
Otherwise, Mr.Schenkel did a satisfactory job in telling the story. This is not a love story Dear Reader. It is a story of an unfortunate teenager who idealizes her abuser; and yes Pinkerton is not only a jingoistic narcissistic cad with his performative grief and regret in the final scene, but also a child abuser. Convince me otherwise! If tenor Christopher Trapani's voice was somewhat less than beautiful it certainly avoided the prospect of the audience liking him too much and not seeing him for the slimeball that he is. Lest you think that we would like to see a more romantic telling of the tale, we firmly deny it. Tell it like it is!
As the American consul Sharpless, veteran baritone Robert Garner brought his years of experience to bear on the character, creating a believable moral foil to Pinkerton's immorality. If his character is less than expert on Japanese customs, at least he has a moral compass and Mr. Garner made his disapproval of Pinkerton quite clear.
As the loyal Suzuki Manya Gaver-Holmes projected the right mix of disapproval, disappointment and compassion. Lindell Carter was just right for the part of Goro. His mugging has interfered with his performance of serious roles but was just perfect for this detestable character, the Japanese equivalent of a pimp. He seemed to survive on commissions, providing "wives" the same way he provides real estate.
He clearly would like to get a commission for providing a succession of wives for the wealthy Yamadori, and it is here that baritone Handong Fu made a fine impression in a brief period onstage His voice and bearing reflected the personality of an aristocrat who buys wives as it pleases him. He made his entrance on an invisible sedan chair, toted by servants--a chairless sedan chair! His characterization was a lot more successful than making Yamadori a fool and thereby too easy for the heroine to reject. Her rejection of this option is on a par with her rejection of returning to her former life as a geisha. Hara-kiri is her only choice. Dying with honor is better than living without honor.
In the thankless role of Pinkerton's American wife, Lauren Stokke left us rather curious about her willingness to travel to Japan to help her husband adopt a racially mixed child which would have been a difficult situation in America a century ago. But that's another opera and someone should write it!
We have no clue as to how audiences of the early 20th century might have perceived the story. What we do know is that the version that was presented initially was not successful and it was revised four times! We are left wondering what the audience found wanting. All we know for sure is that an intermission was inserted to break up the second act. At the performance we just saw, a lovely dancer (Yoko Yamashita) performed a graceful dance in which she manipulated the sleeves of her kimono as if they were butterfly wings. We suspect that she choreographed it herself and we suspect that someone mistrusted the audience to listen to music without eye candy. No complaints from this quarter since we love dance
So Puccini made several changes to the score but did librettist Giuseppe Giacosa make changes to the text or did subsequent translators? We could be mistaken but every time we see this opera we see different words projected which certainly changes the way we perceive the characters. Note that Luigi Illica created the dramatic structure, although neither librettist was credited in the program.
Production values were successful all around with a modest set and excellent costuming. There are two more performances next weekend Dear Reader and a trip to Brooklyn for a matinée will make your weekend worthwhile. The cast we saw will be performing on Saturday and the cast on Sunday is familiar to us and, we assure you, well worth seeing and hearing.
© meche kroop
No comments:
Post a Comment