LIFE, DEATH, SPIRIT, AND ART

 A Night at Greenwood Cemetery with Death of Classical

When Andrew Ousley announces an event we don't think twice before accepting. We did, however, wonder what the connection was between The Metropolitan Opera and Greenwood Cemetery. We are quite familiar with the Mexican Day of the Dead and the manner in which it is celebrated, especially in Oaxaca, on October 3lst and November 1st. We have honored the day in our home with an ofrenda and pan de muertos. We have even dressed up as La Catrina.

Likewise, we have visited museums in Mexico City and the colorful labor oriented murals of Diego Rivera in public buildings. We have marveled over the deeply unsettling paintings of Frida Kahlo that show us the world of a woman severely injured in an accident who transformed her chronic pain into art. And now, we have learned of an opera utilizing contemporary music, a Spanish language libretto, and magic realism to tell the tale of two tempestuous lovers who fought as hard as they loved. This opera will open at The Metropolitan Opera on May 14th and is entitled El Ultimo Sueno de Frida y Diego.

Imagine a panel discussion of said opera in Manhattan, drawing a handful of curious opera lovers. Now imagine a huge crowd packing a central area of Greenwood Cemetery, at least an hour's distance from Manhattan (Culture Central). Imagine paying big bucks to attend.  Who could accomplish this?

Wonder no longer. Who else but impresario Andrew Ousley of Death of Classical who knows how to get people excited about something. This won't be the first event of his that got us to leave the confines of Manhattan! Mr. Ousley manages to pull things together to make people want to participate

In this case, there were Mexican dancers and singers scattered about and many tables of fine tequilas as well as intriguing elixirs for the teetotalers. There was the excitement of waiting in line and experiencing something unique--an EVENT, if you will.

The main event, so to speak, was a panel discussion between composer Gabriela Lena Frank and librettist Nilo Cruz;  they were interviewed by Mila Burns who got them to answer all the questions one might have about a new work of art--the inspiration, the intention, the realization, the difficulty of getting produced. 

The opera, which we hope to see, is a telling of the tale of Kahlo returning to earth on the Day of the Dead, as spirits in Mexico are wont to do, and encountering Rivera. The tale will be told utilizing magic realism, a literary device with which we are familiar from the literature of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It is a device that seems to work best in the hands of Latin Americans; with gringos, not so much.

As much as we enjoyed hearing from the two creators, we enjoyed even more hearing excerpts from the work sung by soprano Vanessa Isiguen who sings the role of Catrina and mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard who portrays Kahlo. We first heard Ms. Isiguen in 2012 as part of a Marcello Giordani concert and in 2014 in a concert at Mannes College of Music. We began writing about Ms. Leonard about the same time period and her superb performances made their way into our blog at least a dozen times until her star rose way beyond the horizon of "emerging artist" that we write about. What a pleasure it is for us to see these "emerging artists" outgrow that designation.

The male artists, on the other hand were new to us. Baritone Carlos Alvarez took the role of Rivera and the spiritual part of Leonardo was sung by Nils Wanderer whose countertenor suited the role perfectly. Renowned pianist Howard Watkins served as accompanist.

We have found a photo of a Diego Rivera mural which portrays the artist walking alongside La Catrina with Kahlo a bit behind. Let us try to put a portion of the very large and detailed mural below. It would seem to summarize a lot of the intention of the opera.

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ALL ABOUT CARMEN

 Final tableau--Don José has murdered Carmen

Carmen is Bizet's most successful opera and also one of the most famous in the canon. There is no mystery to explain. The characters are compelling, the plot moves swiftly, and the tunes are eminently hummable.  France saw its birth in 1875, at which time it was known as an "opéra comique" due to the use of spoken dialogue instead of sung recitativo. 

The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The two librettists made essential changes to the original story, as you can see if you read his novella.

 The story is a tragic one but not equal to the tragedy of Bizet dying without knowing how beloved and enduring his final work would become.  Even folks who know nothing about opera will recognize the "Habanera" and "The Toreador Song".

Another tragedy is the contamination of the work we have witnessed so many times as self-serving directors have tampered with the time and place of the opera, the authenticity of which, we believe, is essential to the story. In its time it scandalized the public and broke ground for future verismo operas.

Last night we saw an authentic production, so authentic that we thought the trek to Brooklyn was worth every mile. Fortunately the good folks at Regina Opera have never succumbed to the fad of "making opera relevant". Opera is relevant because it shows us naked passions expressed through memorable melodies!

The three major figures of this dramatic triangle are a naîve soldier from the countryside, a gypsy who works in a tobacco factory with a side hustle as a smuggler, and a famous toreador. The non human character of the story is the belief in the occult. Probably in the 19th century, audiences would have believed in curses and fortune telling. We had no trouble putting ourself in their place!

The opera is called Carmen but it might as well have been called Don José since it is his tragedy as well. Unlike the Don José of the Merimée novella, this man is a simple country boy who has been enchanted by a bruja. Once Carmen has thrown a flower at him and cast her spell, the plot has been set in motion and his fate is sealed. Think of the "fate theme" expressed so eloquently in the overture, a brilliant overture we might add.

Carmen, often trivialized as a hedonistic "free spirit", is actually a narcissistic sociopath who uses one man after another with no regard for the damage she wreaks. Micaëla, on the other hand, is imbued with a genuine caring nature, venturing into the scary city of Sevilla to relay messages from Don José's mother. She is by no means a wimp because she manages to escape from a group of horny soldiers in Act I, and in Act III she screws her courage to the sticking post, as they say, and makes her way into the scary mountains.

Perhaps it was due to the superb performance of soprano Yujin Zeng that our strongest memory from last night was her aria "Je dis que rien ne m'épouvante".  She may be a shy country girl but she is spunky and loyal and will complete her mission come hell or high water. Her faith in God is as strong as Carmen's faith in her occult powers..

The rest of the cast was effective with the fine-voiced mezzo-soprano Melina Jaharis portraying Carmen in a manner that we found excessively and contemporaneously seductive. This  might be the intention of the director Helen Van Tine. Our perception of the character leans more to an intensity of will rather than overly obvious signaling of sexiness

Tenor Christopher Trapani did a fine job of conveying Don José's  

vulnerability to  Carmen's wiles and his desperation at the prospect of losing her. Veteran baritone Robert Garner (whom we have reviewed many times) portrayed Escamillo,  who is always portrayed as the equivalent of a modern day rock star; we see things differently. In Spain, killing the bull is seen as an art, almost a religious ritual, somehow tied to the martyrdom of Jesus. His casual manner when meeting his rival in Act III is confident but not arrogant and showy. He is a rather good natured chap who enjoys his success with women.

We enjoyed the scene with the smugglers and their accomplices, both musically and dramatically. Frasquita was played by soprano Veronica Mak and Mercedes was sung by mezzo-soprano Grace Verbic. Their card reading scene brought some lightness into the scene, contrasting with the death predicting reading of Carmen. The quintet involving Dancaïro (baritone Daniel Chu) and Remendado (tenor Ethan Ellis) was a musical highlight of the evening. The role of Zuniga was performed by Victor Jaquez and Warren B. Harding sang the role of Morales.

Maestro Scott Jackson Wiley conducted the orchestra with his usual fine hand and we particularly appreciated the wind section. The harp and flute accompaniment to Micaëla's aria was a highlight

We were not impressed with the sets. The stage is a shallow one and their bulk detracted from the playing area. Strangely, there were sets of steps that contributed nothing and looked out of place in every scene. We would have wished for better staging.

Let us close by saying that we attended the dress rehearsal and if the lighting was not perfect it will be by tomorrow. It appears that every performance has a different cast; so you, Dear Reader, will probably not experience the same performances as we did.  You will probably never miss the long parade of the costumed participants nor the cheering crowds of Act IV. This production is a more intimate one, focusing on the relationship between the principals; we do hope you will appreciate the traditional nature of the production as much as we did. And if your interpretation of the characters is different from ours, we hope you will comment below.

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 Maestro Patrick Quigley and Lauren Snouffer

(photo by Jennifer Packard)

It is always an exciting event when the D.C. based Opera Lafayette comes to town. They always introduce us to music with which we are unfamiliar, concentrating as they do on the 18th century. Furthermore, the scholarship is impressive since it puts the music into historical perspective and offers a new way of appreciating it. What a compelling idea it was to compare music written by men for castrati with music written by women for female voices. We confess that we had never heard of any 18th century female composers! What a discovery!

The first half of the program opened with Gluck's "Se mai senti spirarti sul volto" from La clemenza di Tito, based on the same tale which Mozart would later put to good use. Soprano Lauren Snouffer sang with bright clear tone and lovely phrasing, but we yearned for her to step away from the music stand. Although other audience members may not mind, we find it disconcerting when a singer keeps looking down and turning pages.

We remember Ms. Snouffer from small roles in years gone by. Exactly eight years ago we wrote favorably about her role as Amor in another Gluck opera--Orfeo ed Euridice. Even before that we found her charming as a winsome pig (!) in a contemporary opera for children presented at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. But we have vague memories from when we first began writing of her standing out in a gorgeous duet in Strauss' Dafne, perhaps at a summer music festival. So, it comes as no surprise that her career has flourished abroad and at venues outside of New York. It is sad that New York City has no mid-sized opera company or suitable theater to keep emerging artists right here.

Her fine vocal instrument competed with a solo oboe in J.C. Bach's concert aria "Ebben si vada...Io ti lascio". We loved the way they alternated on the same melodic pattern and then "sang" in duet.

The second half of the program introduced us to two female composers who impressed us with their unique voices. Maria Antonia Walpurgis (what interesting associations we have for that name!) was a princess, composer, patron of the arts, and a singer as well. She wrote an opera Talestri, regina delle Amazzoni from which we heard the overture and an aria "Vado, ma il core, o Dio!". In spite of the loathed music stand, the passion of the aria, especially the brief fury of the middle section, brought Ms. Snouffer's involvement with the audience to its peak. 

Maria Martines was a celebrated intellectual in Viennese society, famed for her composition and keyboard skills. Ms. Snouffer performed her concert aria "Berenice, a che fai?" which offered many opportunities for coloration, embellishment of the vocal line, and strength in the lower register.

We should mention how much we appreciated the projected titles which were consistently visible and made linguistic sense. We would love to hear more of the compositions by Walpurgis and Martines and we would love to hear Ms. Snouffer again  without a music stand.

The program also included some fine orchestral writing by (Franz) Joseph Haydn. Maestro Patrick Quigley took firm command of his orchestral forces, comprising mainly strings but also the aforementioned oboe played by Dan Bates, a flute and bassoon doubling on recorder, a pair or horns, a fortepiano, and a harpsichord.

As is true of every visit from Opera Lafayette, we felt educated as well as entertained. There is so much worthy music that the public never gets to hear.

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THE FORGOTTEN VICTOR HERBERT

We have been enjoying and writing about The Victor Herbert Renaissance Project Live, also known as VHRPL!, for several years as the very creative Alyce Mott has been producing his legendary operettas with plot modifications to make them more accessible to contemporary audiences. We had no trouble falling in love with his tuneful melodies and being enchanted by the stories. We watched with pleasure as the company expanded from church to theater and graduated from piano to full orchestra.

Unfortunately, Ms. Mott has decided to move on to other projects so R.I.P. to VHRPL!  Mott ensured that this project would be going out with a bang by means of a concert of Herbert's orchestral music.  That being said, if Ms. Mott changes her mind and decides to resuscitate VHRPL! there will be a big cheer from us and many others who became interested in this turn of the 20th century composer. We have wondered why some of his foreign contemporaries like Puccini have survived while his works have faded into near oblivion.

As a parting gesture, Ms. Mott produced an evening of Herbert's orchestral works at Eglise St.John-Baptiste Catholic Church on the Upper East Side, upstairs from the comfortable mid-sized theater on the lower level where we enjoyed so many Herbert operettas. We were curious about these works and last night's well attended program sampled many of them.  Maestro Steven Byess conducted.

It was indeed a treat to hear works we had never heard before and probably will never hear again. We have never heard them in a concert hall and likely might have enjoyed them more since the acoustics of the very large and extremely beautiful sanctuary did not lend themselves to orchestral music. Textures were often muddied. Furthermore, what we are sure was a very interesting narration by Mott herself was amplified to the extent that little could be understood. We wished that there had been written program notes.

The works presented spanned a time period from 1893, when a youthful Herbert composed Suite for Cello and Orchestra, Op 3 to 1924's Suite of Serenades. The former predated his marriage and move to the United States when he was invited to play the cello in the Metropolitan Opera orchestra. The latter mature work had four sections each representing a different culture, happily avoiding stereotypical tropes. The Spanish movement manifested only delicate Iberian influences; the Chinese movement utilized a vaguely exotic scale and ended with a clash of cymbals; the Cuban movement had a dancelike rhythm; the fourth movement was labeled "Oriental" and we have no idea what image that was meant to evoke.

Herbert seems to have had a great affection for marches, of which we heard several. His 1901 American Fantasia  would be perfect for the Macy's July 4th celebration. It began with much pomp and circumstance, and incorporated several American folk melodies like "Yankee Doodle", "Dixieland", "The Star Spangled Banner" and Stephen Foster's "Old Folks at Home".

His 1892 Irish Rhapsody had both bombastic passages and pensive parts, some of which we thought sounded like a movie soundtrack. Strangely, our mental imagery was that of Tara, the plantation in Gone With the Wind. 

The Auditorium Festival March quoted from "Auld Lang Syne" and filled it out with many variations on the theme.

Our overall impression of Herbert's symphonic output was that of a composer with too many ideas who never quite managed to create a cohesive work. Perhaps someday we will get to hear more and remain open to changing our mind. However, we would be far more eager to hear one of his operettas. Perhaps that is where his heart lay.

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LOVE OF THE ART AND THE ART OF LOVE

 Daniel Jimenez, Diego Fernandez, Amir Farid, Joseph Parrish, and Shelén Hughes Camacho

We cannot recall being as enraptured at a vocal concert as we were last night when artistic "power couple" Shelén Hughes Camacho and Joseph Parrish performed A Love Letter to the Americas at Merkin Hall.  We owe thanks to The George and Nora London Foundation for this gift of love. Love was definitely in the air--not just the love of music and love for homeland, but also the very obvious love this couple has for one another. It was so present that it spilled off the stage and encompassed the entire theater.

Assisted by a trio of excellent musicians--pianist Amir Farid, guitarist Diego Fernandez, and percussionist Daniel Jimenez, our lovebirds shared the stage for 90 minutes, sometimes singing a duet or listening intently to each other's solos. The intensity of the energy held us so firmly that we never once looked at the program nor did we take a single note! Diction was always crystal clear and, if the Spanish language was unfamiliar to you, Ms. Camacho's gestures told the story.

Let us see how much we can recall without benefit of notes. The program began with several duets which, presumably, the couple staged themselves in a manner that was not lifted from some production but rather seemed original. Figaro took measurements while Susanna preened and tried to get his attention.  This scene segued into Belcore's wooing of Adina, which then continued into Suzel's cherry picking aria, and finally into Don Giovanni's seduction of Zerlina. The last one was particularly well staged as the two began from distant parts of the stage with Zerlina being reeled in like a fish. We are so familiar with the vocal artistry of these two artists that we didn't monitor the embellishments or the phrasing or the vocal quality (all of which were superb) but we allowed ourself to just enjoy the various dramas.

Gershwin's Promenade gave pianist Amir Farid a chance to shine and the remainder of the program comprised art songs, folk songs, and spirituals. We agree with Steven Blier that good songs are just good songs with popular music, Broadway tunes, folk songs, and art songs being programmed side by side.

The program continued with welcome contributions from guitarist Diego Fernandez and percussionist Daniel Jimenez adding a latin flavor.

We particularly enjoyed the spirituals, some of which we have heard before and others which were new to us. Moses Hogan's arrangement of "Were You There" gave Mr. Parrish an opportunity to invest each "tremble" with a different color. Lead Belly's "Sylvie" was new to us but Hall Johnson's "Dusty Road" has been on Mr. Parrish's other programs. Both are now favorites.

Latin American music always falls gently on our ear and especially when given voice by Ms. Camacho. We enjoyed some songs in Portuguese by Villa-Lobos and the romantic "Cuando vuelva a tu lado" by Eydie Gormé.

This concert confirmed our belief in the future success of these two very special artists about whom we have written many time. Their stars are on the rise and the many prizes they have won include The George and Nora London Foundation and Opera Index. Their careers are taking them far and wide and we secretly enjoy congratulating ourself on having predicted their successes from the start. They just keep getting better and better with each inspiring the other, as one could see from the program. They even join in supporting the same charity-- Voices for Bolivia. It is by the generosity of those foundations that support young artists that these emerging talents are able to achieve a wider audience and performance opportunities.

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GERDA LISSNER COMPETITION

 

Pianists Arlene Shrut and Francesco Barfoed, singers Anna Thompson, Finn Sagal, Titus Muzi III, Magdalena Kuzma, Jennifer Robinson, Korin Thomas-Smith, and Ben Reisinger

Last night at Zankel Hall we experienced the most memorable vocal competition winners recital in our memory. For once we were in complete agreement with the judges' choices and were thrilled by the performances. As always, host Midge Woolsey did a great job introducing the singers and giving brief but concise summaries of each song or aria. Collaborative pianists Arlene Shrut and Francesco Barfoed provided sensitive accompaniment tailored to each piece. As icing on the cake, we were treated to a delightful performance by honoree Stephanie Blythe, about which more later--just because we know, Dear Reader, that what you want to read about first is the performances of the young artists.

Out of 400 applicants, 34 finalists were chosen, and we fortunate members of the audience got to hear the top winners of the 2025 Art Song Competition and the 2026 International Vocal Competition. Each and every artist shone, not only in terms of vocal technique and linguistic skills, but also in stage presence. Rarely have we seen so many young artists on the same stage at the same time with each one so totally immersed in the character and the meaning of the text that we scarcely paid attention to technique.

Most arresting was the performance of baritone Finn Sagal who showed several aspects of his dramatic chops with very different songs. How readily he changed from  Schubert's spooky "Der Doppelgänger" to the hilarious "Zipperfly" by Marc Blitztein. (Dear Reader, when is the last time you heard us enjoy an American song?) What a storyteller is Mr. Sagal! The Schubert song gave us chills as the artist built in intensity this somber vignette, making superb use of his lower register.

 

We were so lost in that chilling mood that we almost missed the delicacy of the following "Automne" by Fauré. However, the Blitztein was so engagingly delivered that we were pulled into the humor and actually laughed out loud a few times. We should also mention that Mr. Sagal knows how to use the entire stage in service of the drama.

Also in the art song category were two lovely sopranos with very different vocal qualities. We have reviewed Magdalena Kuzma a number of times, most recently as a winner of the Marcella Sembrich competition, and have always thought of her as a fine artist. Last night she showed off her facility in three languages, giving superb dramatic import to Rachmaninoff's "Son", Wolf's "Die Bekehrte", and Sibelius' "Var det en drom?" Aside from the exquisite interpretations we noticed something very interesting about Ms. Kuzma. She seems to taste the words! There was such relish and appreciation of the flavor of each language!

Jennifer Robinson is an artist with different vocal qualities. She connected so well with Ricky Ian Gordon's "Will There Really Be a Morning?" that we discovered an appreciation for Emily Dickinson's poetry, the words of which were sung with clarity and meaning. Following Joseph Marx's gentle "Nachtgebet" we heard Richard Strauss' "Cäcilie" sung with passion--and we confess to loving extravagant emotion, if only onstage.

All three art song winners were accompanied by Mr. Barfoed and for the succeeding opera winners, Ms. Shrut took over. It's been quite a while since we heard tenor Ben Reisinger. The first time was at least seven years ago in Martina Arroyo's Prelude to Performance when he sang a couple of minor baritone roles in Gianni Schicchi. He won an Opera Index award as a baritone and we noted his excellent upper register. And then we heard him in a Joyce Di Donata master class when he was just transitioning to the tenor fach. Ms. Di Donata gave him some pointers about building the intensity of his aria and he seems to have picked it up and run with it, as they say. We loved the way he built "Che gelida manina" from Puccini's La Bohême which he ended with a finely wrought diminuendo.  Even better was "Kuda kuda" from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. The extroverted Rodolfo became an introspective Lensky and every nuance of his looking death in the face was explored. 

It was time to lighten the mood and baritone Korin Thomas-Smith got the audience laughing with a very funny "Come un'ape ne' giorni d'aprile", Dandini's aria from Rossini's La Cenerentola. Thomas-Smith is a most expressive actor and didn't miss an opportunity to create his character. What a surprise then to hear him give such romantic tenderness and longing to the character of Hérode in Massenet's Herodiade as he sings "Vision fugitive".

Baritone Titus Muzi III  demonstrated dramatic facility in creating the character of Count Almaviva in an aria that reveals his narcissism and pomposity--"Hai gia vinta la causa" from Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro. The jealous husband Ford got equally authentic treatment in "E sogno o realtà" from Verdi's Falstaff. The way he used his consonants allowed him to express rage without shouting. Every gesture was on point. 

Soprano Anna Thompson closed the program with lavish histrionics portraying two very different women--the seductive courtesan Thaïs of the Massenet opera of the same name in "Dis moi que je suis belle" and the spirited Rosalinde pretending to be an Hungarian countess in the czardas "Klänge der Heimat" from Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus. Rosalinde is clearly putting on a show for her wayward husband and Ms. Thompson's extravagant acting made it clear throughout both slow and fast sections.

We will not end before sharing with you a highlight of the evening. Superstar mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, accompanied by the incomparable Warren Jones, enraptured the audience with the same type of duo as we heard from the youthful artists. Two very different songs showed off two different aspects of her dramatic gifts. First was the very first song she ever sang--Brahms' "Wie melodien zieht es mir"--followed by  Cole Porter's  very witty "Tale of the Oyster".

What a glorious evening. We have come to have very high expectations of these annual Gerda Lissner Competition recitals but this one exceeded our expectations! Judging by the reaction of the audience we were not alone. How wonderful that one woman's legacy has affected so many young singers at the beginning stages of their careers by providing financial support and exposure. If only we could let her know!

© meche kroop

FALLING FOR FALSTAFF

 

Juilliard Opera Theater's production of Falstaff 

(photo by Maria Baranova)

One can always count on Juilliard Opera to produce a musically superb production with the young singers showing great artistic promise and the Juilliard Orchestra doing great credit to the music. In this case it was Maestro Joseph Colaneri's baton putting the musicians through their paces with a lively interpretation of Verdi's score.

Writing music with a comedic tilt is just as difficult as directing and performing comedy and Verdi's score manages to be light-hearted but never trivial. Much of the comedic influence can be heard in the wind section.

Let us now credit some winning performances. Minki Hong is not the huge mountain of a man that we have come to expect in the role and if he were wearing a "fat suit" it was not very padded. Nonetheless he gave a fine interpretation of a lovable rascal and employed his baritone instrument to fine effect.

As far as those "Merry Wives of Windsor" (from which Shakespeare play Verdi's librettist Arigo Boito drew, along with material from King Henry IV), each one brought something very special to their respective roles. As Alice Ford, Page Michels used her vocal and dramatic skills to create a believable character, as did Sophia Baete who employed both vocal and thespian artistry as Meg Page.

Lauren Randolph created a Mistress Quickly like no other and Shiyu Zhuo made an adorable Nannetta. We completely relished their plotting their revenge against the Fat Knight, as he is called.

The men were equally exceptional with Titus Muzi admirably limning the character of the jealous Ford. Falstaff was not written with any emphasis on arias but his "È sogno? o realtà?" was a special moment.

As Fenton, Adam Catangui was so cute in his duet with the adorable Ms. Zhuo (the photo above shows them together) that one just wanted to see them wed at the end of the opera. And yes, the voices were fine with color suited to the character.

It was difficult to see the young Chester SeungYup Han as Dr. Caius, the unpleasant elderly suitor intended for Nannetta's hand; however he sang as well as everyone else and we have no complaints on that regard. Nathan Romporti took the role of Bardolfo and Pistola was played by Lin Fan--both fine and funny.

Having dispatched our encomia for the superb singers, let us express our distaste for the production. We most definitely belong to the Werktreue camp, and not the Regietheater camp. Director Marcus Shields is entitled to his artistic philosophy; we read his notes following the performance and found them to be self-referential doublespeak. We are not lacking in intellect but his theories made no sense to us. We prefer our performances to be true to the story, including time and place.

In Mr. Shields production we are in a bare white room with a rectangular hole cut into it and a trap door in the floor. There are two nondescript chairs but singers generally sat on the floor, thanks to Scenic Designer Frank J. Oliva. The final scene in Windsor Park was a great relief. It was performed in near-dark allowing us to use our imagination.

Costume Designer Avery Reed seemed to have no concept whatsoever.  Some of the costumes appeared to be of the 1960's but nothing related to the characters or the story.

Several irritating or disappointing moments come to mind. When the women try to hide Falstaff from Ford and the enraged mob, they put him in what seems to be a pillow case, reminding us of the final act of Rigoletto. The Thames is not even suggestd when servants carry him offstage. When Mistress  Quickly comes to manipulate Falstaff with her "Reverenza!" she has been presumably directed not to manipulate but to seduce by means of weird twerking motions. We could go one and on but we won't.

Was it funny? The audience's laughter seemed to line up with the projected titles rather than with the action onstage. We felt disgruntled until the final scene which we did enjoy to some extent. We were moved to consult our prior reviews of Falstaff, going back to 2012 when Martina Arroyo's Prelude to Performance (much missed) gave us a magnificently directed and costumed production which she repeated a few years later. Santa Fe Opera did a decent historically accurate production which suffered only from an excess of stage business. Del'Arte Opera did a minimalistic production that worked by means of dramatic validity. Until last night we had never felt so turned off. The performance was only rescued by the voices.

In sum, the operagoer should not need Director's Notes. The work should speak for itself. Verdi's rich orchestration and Boito's clever lyrics are sufficiently humorous and humanistic to not require such directorial interference.  We would say "Keep your theories in a book and keep your directorial arrogance off the stage!" Oh we feel so much better getting that off our chest!

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