MISSION

We are here to encourage the development of gifted young singers and to stimulate the growth of New York City's invaluable chamber opera companies. But we will not neglect the Metropolitan Opera either. Get ready for bouquets and brickbats.

Sunday, March 10, 2024

ARCTIC (and other) EXPLORATIONS


 Curtain Call at Arctic Exploration

Contemporary works often leave us bored or annoyed, and it takes something special to attract our attendance. The idea of an opera written about the search for a Northwest Passage aroused our curiosity and the opportunity to see four of the principles after a considerable gap in their New York City appearances presented an additional incentive. We were not disappointed although it was difficult to perceive Michael Dellaira's composition as a "folk opera".  Last week we reviewed an "oratorio" that seemed to us to be an opera and the work we saw last night seemed to be more of an oratorio.

Aside from seeing four artists that we had written about in the past, what we enjoyed most about Arctic Explorations was the theme of mankind's drive for discovery. We didn't need the Director's program notes to draw parallels with contemporary society's drive to conquer space. The price we pay for mankind's expansionist tendencies is the despoiling of nature.

The onstage presence of Inuit dance drummer and storyteller from Greenland (Nuka Alice) gave us something to think about since the survival of Inuit culture is threatened as much as that of the skinny starving polar bears we have all seen in photos and videos. Of course, one of the main raisons d'être of a work of art is to hold a mirror up to us and to make us think about issues.  Lately, current issues have been addressed in unmusical operas with prosy polemic scripts. Arctic Explorations was different.

There was a sequence of scenes telling the story of the mid-19th c. naval officer Elisha Kent Kane (believably portrayed by Colin Levin) . He was, at the behest of Present Zachary Taylor (a persuasive Michael Celentano) persuaded to search for the longed for Northwest Passage. President Taylor was, in turn, prevailed upon by Lady Jane Franklin (Erin Brittain) whose husband had gone in search of this Northwest Passage to connect the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. He had never returned from this ice-blocked part of the world and she persuaded Taylor that the Unites States might succeed where Great Britain had failed, and lay claim to this vital channel that, as we understand it, could avoid the treacherous shipping route of "rounding The Horn".

Also exploring a different aspect of "the unknown" was Maggie Fox (the lovely soprano Nicole Haslett) who explored the world of "spirits" by running séances which were popular in this period of history. Ms. Fox was definitely connected to Kane although it is debatable whether they wed or not. Their letters found their way into the script.

It is to Mr. Dellaira's credit that the work led to a deep conversation with our companion for the evening and, furthermore, a considerable amount of reading online! Apparently, some artistic license was taken but nothing prevented our appreciation for this fascinating story.

Mr. Dellaira's music was pleasing and appealed to us most when it sounded like folk music. The instrumentals were provided by an onstage chamber group called The Harlem Chamber Players, an unusual septet comprising Clarinet (including our favorite instrument, the Bass Clarinet), Guitar, Banjo, Violin, Viola, Double Bass, and Percussion. We enjoyed the music and found the orchestration interesting in its varied textures.

The massive New Amsterdam Singers Chorus, led by Clara Longstreth since its founding 56 years ago ( ! ) did a considerable amount of heavy lifting which is one of the main reasons we thought of the piece as an oratorio. As a curtain raiser, they performed three works, one from the turn of the 17th c. and two contemporary pieces. We enjoyed the pianistic contributions of Pen Ying Fang in "Storyteller" by B.E. Boykin who set the text of a Tlingit poet named Ishmael Angaluuk Hope.

The director of Arctic Explorations was Kira Simring and the effective costuming was achieved by Danielle Hartley. The success of the evening can be attributed to the fine performances and direction that gave life to the story and the Harlem Chamber Players and New Amsterdam Singers Chorus that brought Michael Dellaira's music to life. The presence of Nuka Alice lent authenticity to the evening and we were gratified to learn how much she contributed to the realization.

And this reminds us to share one further thought about the work. The expedition of the British Franklin failed because they had contempt for the people who were native to Greenland.  The exploring party all died. That the American Kane returned alive can be attributed to his acceptance of help from the same people for whom Franklin had contempt. That we are all connected in this world of ours is a most important takeaway. At a time when divisiveness has infected our entire planet, it is vital that we learn to value and trust "the other", to share what we know and to learn to respect the viewpoints of others, even when we don't see things the same way.

(c) meche kroop


Saturday, March 9, 2024

SHORT BUT SWEET

 


Meghan Kasanders

Thanks to Carnegie Hall Citywide, New Yorkers were treated to another lovely vocal recital at St. Paul and St. Andrew United Methodist Church on the Upper West Side. Our only complaint was that it ended too soon. It left us wanting more.

We love what we do to support young singers in New York City, following them through their conservatory years and getting a thrill witnessing their respective stars on the rise. This is far easier when they remain in the area but most of them wind up leaving for Europe which seems to offer more opportunities, or they sing with companies in other cities, or join young artist programs.

And so it happened that our numerous reviews of dramatic soprano Meghan Kasanders are all from 5 to 7 years ago.  Although we missed witnessing the gradual evolution of her artistry, we got plenty of satisfaction from re-reading those reviews (available by typing her name in the search bar) and observing that we recognized her talent even when she was an undergraduate at Juilliard.

This gifted artist has taken everything she learned at Juilliard and all her experience winning awards and prizes, and added them to her naturally ebullient and engaging personality in order to craft an exciting career. Yesterday's recital was a fine taste, but we crave the entire vocal banquet of which she is more than capable of serving.

She opened her program with Sieben frühe Lieder by the early 20th c. composer Alban Berg. These seven songs are nowhere near as accessible as those of the 19th c. composers of art song. The harmonies are strange to an ear accustomed to those of the 19th c. and the melodies wander. With this in mind, we were impressed by the way Ms. Kasanders conveyed the mood. There is one song that always stands out for us--"Die Nachtigall" ;  we like the text by 19th c. poet Theodor Storm so much that we enjoy reading it aloud to appreciate the rhyming scheme and the iambic rhythm. Perhaps that is what inspired Berg to write a melody that remains in one's memory.

Nonetheless, we found much more to cherish in the set of songs by Sergei Rachmaninoff. We got the feeling that the artist really enjoys singing them. There is considerable variety which permitted dramatic interpretation-- from the frisky "The Ratcatcher" to the mournful. "Sing not to me, beautiful maiden", to the ecstatic and timely "Spring Waters". Our companion, who is fluent in Russian, granted a seal of approval.

The program ended with a humorous curiosity that struck a chord with every woman in the audience and gave the artist an opportunity to show off her comedic skills. We are not familiar with the composer Richard Pearson Thomas. who seems to have used as his text some Yelp ratings of hairstylists. He entitled the work Hair Emergency

The work encompasses five songs, each one relating the experience of the writer,  but with music adding another layer, that of emotion.  It was difficult to tell who was having more fun, Ms. Kasanders or the audience. We love to see an artist let go and immerse herself in storytelling; the overall impact was that of a woman telling a friend about her (mis)adventures at a hair salon. The facial expressions and gestures came across as spontaneous; however we suspect it involved a great deal of experimentation and coaching to achieve.

We have yet to say anything about the artist's vocal technique. When the technique is perfect, we get to focus on interpretation and connection. The singer becomes a conduit through which the audience can connect with the music and the text.When one is served a five-star meal, one doesn't think about whisking and tempering and searing!  

We can, however, say that Ms. Kasanders possesses an ample voice, one with pleasing tone and lots of overtones that filled the sanctuary of the performance space. We could definitely see her in Verdi roles and we think she'd make a fine Sieglinde, which just so happens to be our favorite character in Wagner's The Ring Cycle.

At the risk of repeating ourself, it is quite a thrill to hear an artist achieving the potential that was recognized years ago!  We are still smiling.

Collaborative pianist for the recital was Dror Baitel, also a graduate of Juilliard (Doctoral Program) who will probably be familiar to those of you who love Broadway shows.


© meche kroop

Thursday, March 7, 2024

TERRIFIC TUTELAGE PLUS TALENT

 


Curtain Call at Classic Lyric Arts Concert

Just as we love watching young singers develop their artistry, we love watching an institution grow in ambition, reach, scope, and impact. We have been watching Classic Lyric Arts grow for a number of years and attended their gala soirées at The Kosciuszko Foundation. We have been introduced to so many fine young singers and have interviewed them about their experiences at the immersive summer programs in Italy and in France. We have watched them expand their summer programs to include an intensive exploration of Mozart operas in the Berkshires. We have heard nothing but enthusiasm and never heard a word of disappointment.

We have also witnessed the growth of their faculty to include master teacher of dramatic arts Daniel Isengart.  Founder and Artistic Director Glenn Morton is a highly esteemed faculty member of all three music conservatories in New York. The Executive Director John Viscardi was one of their first graduates of CLA Italy in 2009. Enjoying a brilliant worldwide career himself, he is in a unique position to guide young artists toward professional success.

Mr. Isengart, resident stage director and performance coach for CLA, has enjoyed a brilliant career performing cabaret, teaching, and coaching. We have been fortunate enough to observe his coaching, watching singers embellish their performances by means of imagination and involvement.

Last night, in celebration of their 15th anniversary, CLA presented a concert at Merkin Hall of the Kaufman Music Center. An announcement was made that brought us enormous joy. CLA is expanding yet again and initiating a year round academy which will help bridge conservatory training and professional careers for emerging singers.

By now, Dear Reader, you are probably impatient to hear about the concert itself and we will not disappoint you. Everyone onstage was connected with Mr. Morton as a former student, current student, or future student. To inspire the young singers we had performances of two stars of the worldwide stage, both "on loan" from The Metropolitan Opera and both accompanied by Mr. Morton.

Could anyone portray a more beguiling daughter working on her father than Nadine Sierra performing "O mio babino caro" from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi! We loved the way she extended and colored the "pietà".

Tenor SeokJong Baek thrilled the audience with his "Nessun dorma" from Puccini's Turandot. We loved his pianissimo and the manner in which he grew the sound to a dramatic conclusion. 

A highlight of the evening was a chorale work conducted by Michael Sheetz  in which everyone participated. It was the New York premiere of  Le parole dei mesi composed by Raphael Fusco who is on the faculty of CLA Italy. Thankfully, Mr. Fusco was unaffected by the awful tendencies of contemporary composition. The work was gloriously melodic and  had twelve sections, one for each month and involved a delightful interweaving of vocal lines for each fach and sufficient variety to hold one's interest from capo to fine. 

We would love to tell you about all of the sixteen scenes but let us focus instead on the overall picture, created by Mr. Isengart. The young artists entered the stage in pairs or triplets, a few at a time and took up positions that were visually interesting and fluid.  Some sat, some stood. Their attention was directed unwaveringly toward whomever was performing. This focus served to increase the focus of the audience as well.

Since all of the performances achieved excellence it is difficult to choose just a few to illustrate the dramatic impact of the staging but we will try, hoping that none of the dozens of singers participating will feel slighted.

In. "Dunque io son" from Rossini'a Il barbiere di Siviglia, soprano Sarah Fleiss showed great spunk as the wily Rosina, confronting her "jailer" Bartolo played by Jared Bybee. When the scenery and costumes appear in your mind's eye we know the singers are "doing it right".  And this pair succeeded.

The intimate connection between Norina (Yvette Keong) and Ernesto (Philippe L'Esperance) in Donizetti's Don Pasquale was deliciously convincing.

Whilst soprano Eliza Masewicz and mezzo-soprano Monique Galvao were performing the exquisite duet "Dôme épais" from Delibes' Lakme, the facial expression and body language told us everything we needed to know about the warm relationship between the two women.

We must mention the perfect French diction of Sara Stevens and John Viscardi expressing the ecstasy  of "Nous vivrons à Paris"  from Massenet's Manon.

The staging for the famous quartet of Verdi's Rigoletto was particularly well done. We have heard this quartet too many times so it was a distinct pleasure to be shown an iteration that held our interest. Soprano Sofia Gotch, stood on a chair as if she were peering through a window watching the seductive Maddalena (Ms. Galvao) working her womanly wiles on the all too receptive Duke (Mr. L'Esperance) whilst Rigoletto (Suchan Kim) shares her pain, plus anger of his own. 

There were three scenes from Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann, all well staged. The one that lingers in our mind is from the act in which Antonia's mother (mezzo-soprano Alexandra Olson Andersen) is presented as a spirit, standing on a chair with a veil over her head, urging her daughter (soprano Sara Mortensen) to sing.  Of course, her image has been conjured by the evil Dr. Miracle (Mr. Kim). Antonia collapses dead into the arms of two men and is carried offstage. Very powerful!

Another scene from the same opera involved the famous barcarolle "Belle nuit", gorgeously sung by soprano Maia Sumanaweera and mezzo-soprano Rosario Armas, alumni of CLA.

We have run out of room but must mention the scene from Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro in which the suspicious Count (baritone Kevin Douglas Jasaitis) gets outwitted by the clever Susanna (Temple Hammen). and his flustered wife (Johanna Will). Mr. Isengart's staging made full use of the playing area and made it easy to imagine the locked closet and all the shenanigans.

We must here mention the marvelous accompaniment by several pianists in "tag team" mode (Luc Xu Cheng, Shaobai Yuan, Lana Norris, Javor Bračic, Marianna Vartikian, Michael Sheetz, Hong Ziyi, Zihan Wang, and Vladimir Soloviev, reminding us that CLA also trains collaborative pianists!

We always have a quibble. We wanted a second act!!!!  The 90 minute program whetted our appetite for more. We own the sin of greed. We hope. there won't be too long a wait for another concert in which CLA can show off their latest success.

© meche kroop

Saturday, March 2, 2024

ORATORI-OH?

Curtain Call at Premiere of Emigré
(Photo by Chris Lee)
 

The project began with a co-commission for an oratorio by The New York Philharmonic and Maestro Long Yu of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. Emigré  premiered in Shanghai last November and had its American premiere last night in the Wu Tsai Theater at Lincoln Center. Perhaps an oratorio was requested of composer Aaron Zigman and librettists Mark Campbell and Brock Walsh; but what they got was a music theater piece with one foot in the opera house and the other on Broadway.

We think of an oratorio as a sacred work performed concert style without sets, costumes, or acting. The only sacred moments in Emigré  were the first few when the New York Philharmonic Chorus sang phrases from the Hebrew Kaddish and a Buddhist prayer. That the work is dramatic is all to the good since music theater moves us more than music alone.

For this dramatic success, credit goes to Director Mary Birnbaum who did a fine job of telling the story with nothing more than the strip of stage in front of the massive forces of the New York Philharmonic and a small area in front of the equally massive forces of The New York Philharmonic Chorus on the level above, plus the stairways connecting the two.

The story is well worth telling. In two visits to The People's Republic of China, we never learned that Shanghai played host to Jewish refugees fleeing The Holocaust. That China suffered a holocaust of their own at the hands of the Japanese during WW II was, however, known to us from films such as Spielberg's Empire of the Sun and history books describing the Rape of Nanking.

For us there is great appeal in a work of art that meets our "Three E Requirements". We want to be entertained, educated, and enlightened. Emigré hit the mark. However, our preference would be to see it in a medium-sized opera house in which the excellent opera singers could be heard unamplified, with a small orchestra. The piece could also work on Broadway although we detest amplification.

However, that was not what was intended by the commission; it is just our preference. We are well acquainted with some of the singers, somewhat familiar with the others; all deserve to be heard better which is impossible with orchestral and choral forces of such magnitude.

The story concerns two brothers fleeing Germany for Shanghai after Kristallnacht, understandably devastated by leaving their parents behind. Otto (tenor Matthew White) is religious and bonds with a rabbi (bass-baritone Andrew Dwan) whose daughter Tovah (soprano Diana Newman) welcomes him and sings the lovely "In a Woman's Hands".

Josef (tenor Arnold Livingston Geis) is a young doctor who wanders into a Chinese pharmaceutical shop, eager to learn about Chinese medicine. He experiences an instant and mutual attraction with the doctor's daughter Lina Song (soprano Meigui Zhang). Her father (bass-baritone Shenyang) is rejecting but older sister Li  (mezzo-soprano Huiling Zhu) is more sympathetic.

The couple have a lovely courtship in the Yu Garden and an equally lovely song "In a Perfect World". All is well until Shanghai isolates the Jews in a ghetto and, since the couple defied their family's wishes and became man and wife, there is nowhere for them to go.

Here we have a situation just made for opera--political issues driven home and made personal by romantic consequences. Just think of all the situations in the world today in which love is made difficult or impossible by barriers of one sort or another.  Consider the plight of displaced people with nowhere to go.  Think of the heavy cost of cultural insularism and fear of "the other". This work touched so many bases for us and probably had many audience members talking about it afterward.

As far as the music is concerned, there is plenty of variation of styles--what one might call eclecticism. There was nothing excruciatingly "post-modern" about it and we found it accessible. Composer Aaron Zigman has written scores for film and television and has orchestrated for jazz and popular singers.

The libretto by Mark Campbell, whilst not quite as wonderful as the one he wrote for The ( R ) evolution of Steve Jobs,  has avoided the trap of long prosy lines but in keeping the phrases short and rhyming, the effect verged on doggerel at times.  The lyrics contributed by songwriter Brock Walsh were more than usually accessible.

Maestro Long Yu commanded the aforementioned "massive forces" with aplomb and Chorus Master Malcolm J. Merriweather ensured that every word was comprehensible. We consider it rather a miracle to have achieved this degree of clarity  with such a huge chorus.

Projections by Joshua Higgason were notable for being apropos and non- intrusive. There were stills and film clips in black and white of street scenes and battle scenes from China during WW II, as well as colorful Chinese symbols. Titles were projected overhead but rarely needed since everyone's diction was clear.

Our only disappointment was that these excellent singers were not given the opportunity to show their superlative voices. Audience members who had never heard them on the opera stage missed what we cherish in our memories of prior performances.

We walked home deep in thought about all the issues brought up by the work. We had a couple hours of entertainment and quite a bit of education and enlightenment. We enjoy doing the work of seeing something historical and comparing it with what is going on in the world today. So many directors these days deprive us of that participation.


© meche kroop 







Monday, February 26, 2024

A RARE YOUNG ARTIST--A WELL DONE RECITAL


 Joseph Parrish

What can we say about bass-baritone Joseph Parrish that we haven't already said? We were curious to see how many times we have reviewed this gifted artist who seems to be singing everywhere these days, especially after being chosen by Young Concert Artists in 2022. We believe the first time was in Pauline Viardot's Cendrillon with City Lyric Opera as the Baron Pictordu. His gifts were already evident and noted.

Yesterday we heard him again, thanks to Carnegie Hall Citywide at St. Paul and St. Andrew United Methodist Church with collaborative pianist JoyAnne Amani whose fine playing kept up with him every step of the way. There were two instances however, when Mr. Parrish elected to accompany himself, a situation we perceive as rather miraculous. To be excellent in one art is impressive.  To be excellent at two? Astonishing!

The program was untitled but every song was about love! There was plenty of variety from German lied  and French mélodie to songs of The American Songbook. We have learned from our dear Steven Blier that the category doesn't matter. If a song is well written it merits our esteem.

Mr. Parrish opened the program with a pair of songs by Henry T. Burleigh, a composer who, as Mr. Parrish shared with the audience, was the first to record spirituals on paper. But we were not to hear those spirituals yesterday; we heard his love songs--four of them, all of them tender and melodic.

One of Mr. Parrish's most appealing features is the manner in which he addresses the audience, as if he were in a room full of friends, completely natural and without any pretension whatsoever. The sanctuary was packed and the members of the audience were held spellbound.

His fine technique includes the use of rubato and dynamic variation for emotional effect, as well as the generous use of gesture and facial expression to tell a story.  This was most notable in his performance of "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" from Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady in which he created quite a portrait of Henry Higgins.

We have heard him before accompanying himself in "Calling You" written by Bob Telson for the film Baghdad Cafe and we are always happy to hear it again. He sang it simply and played the spare searching accompaniment with depth of feeling.

After a generous program ranging from Schubert, Debussy, and Duparc to Dizzy Gillespie, Cole Porter and Jerome Kern, this versatile artist ended with a more recent song by Adam  Guettel which emphasized the importance of community. We then realized that Mr. Parrish had created a community within the audience. Somehow we think everyone there felt both loving and loved.

An encore was demanded and we believe it was Luther Vandross' "Only for One Night" in which we heard a fine falsetto!

© meche kroop

Saturday, February 24, 2024

JUILLIARD DOES ERISMENA


 The Cast of Cavalli's Erismena

When Francesco Cavalli composed the music for Erismena, opera was in its infancy. The work premiered in Venice in the mid 17th c. and is reported to have been a success. The music is absolutely gorgeous with subtle harmonic touches that could be better described by an expert in Baroque music. The libretto by Aurelio Aureli seems influenced by Shakespeare's comedies with lots of gender bending and unpredictable twists and turns, surprising revelations, and a happy ending.

The credit for the opera's success at Juilliard this week rests on the shoulders of  the nine post-graduate students of the Vocal Arts Department, the performances of the instrumental ensemble led by Maestro Avi Stein, and the heroic work of Director Lisenka Heijboer Castañon who took on a challenge of immense proportion. We never read the Director's Notes until after the opera so we can allow the work to speak for itself. How gratifying it was to not have to read the customary drivel about what the director was trying to say. 

Rather, this artist of the stage employed her notes to describe the Herculean task of assembling an opera from several extant versions and laboring to discover the essence of the opera in a way that would be meaningful for the audience. That we understood the story, in spite of confusing names and an even more confusing storyline, is evidence of her success. Participating in the revision of Aureli's libretto were Mo. Stein, Scenic and Costume Designer Julian Crouch, and Ligiana Costa. One never had the feeling of "too many cooks". Fortunately, the prologue was omitted since it added nothing to the story.

For us, the libretto had many angles and many stories to tell. One of them was about finding out your true identity, another was about the fickleness of lovers, another still about the wanton exercise of power, yet another about accepting the losses of aging, not to mention the value of forgiveness. Yet, it all came together as a meaningful whole.

The aging King Eramante was played by the entire ensemble carrying a model of a kingly head with four arms, manipulated by various cast members who also sang his lines in turn. A frightening nightmare about losing his crown and his power has made him rather testy. He wants to marry the beautiful Aldimira (portrayed by the silver-voiced and appropriately beautiful soprano Song Hee Lee) who has grown up in his court. She already has two lovers--the Iberian Prince Erineo who is disguised as a servant (whose low-lying part was effectively handled by mezzo-soprano Stephanie Bell) and the gallant Orimeno, (terrific tenor Geun-hyeong Han) who pulls feathers from his helmet and bestows them on others.

Aldimira is fickle and toys with her lovers until she meets the titular character Erismena (marvelous mezzo-soprano Tivoli Treloar) who has disguised herself as a male warrior from Armenia who was injured in battle and rescued by two compassionate members of the enemy forces, Orimeno and Argippo (the very fine baritone Dongwei Shen). They take her to Aldimira who, thinking she is a man, promptly falls head over heels in love. (Oh, that naughty child Amor with his bow and arrow!)

The eponymous Erismena was loved and abandoned by Erineo who is really Idraspe. She recognizes him and wants revenge but he doesn't recognize her.
It is interesting how this all turns out. We know how librettists make use of a deus ex machina to sort things out!

Since this is a comedy, we must have our comic relief which comes in the person of the aging Alcesta who once was a wet nurse (we won't tell you who she nursed) and is now bemoaning her loss of beauty. In a directorial stroke of genius, the part, originally written for a contralto, was performed by the bearded baritone Trevor Haumschilt-Rocha dressed in a 17th c. gown, complete with panniers. He was clearly having a great deal of fun with this role, almost as much as we had from watching and listening.

There is also a secondary romance between Argippo and Flerida played by the winsome soprano Gemma Nha. The other roles were also well sung. Bass Younggwang Park sang the part of Diarte, a prison guard. Mezzo-soprano Kate Morton sang the role of Clerio, servant to Erineo/Idraspe. Everyone handled the lavish decoration of the vocal line with aplomb.

We enjoyed the singing all around, especially because the diction was quite clear, making the titles redundant. However, having listened to the video recording from the Aix-en-Provence Festival of 2017 with counter-tenor Jakob Josef Orlinski (an alumnus of Juilliard) as Orimeno, we strongly prefer the Italian version. As one might expect, the rhythm of the Italian language matches the melody far better than English. The English libretto was created for the British public a couple decades after its Venetian premiere and was quite a success there. The language is rather archaic and, we repeat, we think it should have been performed in the original Italian.

The instrumental ensemble. made use of harpsichords, a pair of violins, a cello, a theorbo, and a harp. How gorgeously they played Cavalli's music! We just learned from the program book that Barbara Strozzi, one of our favorite Baroque composers, was a student of Cavalli.

We particularly admired the scenic design and costumes of Julian Crouch. The set was simple but effective--a wide short staircase leading up to the stage. Six Roman shades separated the downstage and upstage playing areas.  Panels were raised and lowered as necessary.  Contrasting with the simple sets, the costuming was lavish and effective in limning the characters. The photo above will tell you more than our words.

We would call the evening a complete success, leaving us smiling broadly and thinking about fate and the vagaries of love.

© meche kroop


Friday, February 23, 2024

I WANT MY COFFEE!


 Bernard Holcomb, Philip Cokorinos, and Christine Lyons
(photo by meche kroop)

No other company we know of does what On Site Opera does; they make a perfect match between an opera and a venue, taking us to many places we have not previously visited. Two of our favorite matchings were their production of Mozart's La Finta Giardiniera in a community garden on the Upper West Side and the production of Puccini's Il Tabarro on a vessel docked at the South Street Seaport.  Well, Dear Reader, we have added a third! Bach's Coffee Cantata taking place currently at The Lost Draft, a charming coffee shop on Broome Street. We regret to inform you that the run is sold out (as all of their productions are) so we will make an attempt to paint the picture for you.

After being welcomed into the premises, we were seated along the wall, the table in front of us set with coffee cups, cookies, and popcorn. Magically, the barista (Bernard Holcomb) became the narrator of the piece, a 45 minute comic opera written in the 1730's by J.S.Bach and (get this!), presented in a coffee house in Leipzig. And here we are three centuries later immersed in a family drama between an authoritarian father (Philip Cokorinos) who wants his rebellious daughter (Christine Lyons) to stop drinking coffee.

Papa uses all manner of manipulations and threats to convince her to give up her addiction. She only agrees if she is allowed to marry; she secretly plans to ensure that the marriage contract contains a clause that allows her to caffeinate herself to her heart's content. It is a simple story and we had no problem with its adaptation  to contemporary times.

Total immersion involved the artists going behind the counter, making and serving coffee, whilst the actual employees of the coffee shop became supernumeraries, although there was no chorus, LOL. Everything was happening in real time and three different coffees were served. We could readily imagine being in a Leipzig coffee house in the 1730's even though dress was contemporary (costuming by Beth Goldenberg) and the work was sung in English, with a very fine loose translation by Music Director Geoffrey McDonald.

We confess that Bach has never been one of our favorites. Aside from this winning piece of fluff, he never wrote an opera and we find oratorios and cantatas ponderous. However, the charming nature of this piece allowed us to recognize his compositional skills, particularly his intricate counterpoint, as it served the witty dialogue perfectly.

The singing was delightful and there were titles available by using one's cell phone but we preferred not to take our eyes off the action, directed by Sarah Meyers. The charming score was performed by a quartet of fine musicians, comprising the American Modern Ensemble-- Violinist Nikita Yermack, cellist Valeriya Sholokova, guitarist Dan Lippel, and flutist John Romero who also played the recorder. Maestro McDonald's orchestration was completely on point. 

We have only one quibble.  It was over too soon. We enjoyed the flirtation between the barista and young lady and all the hijinks of the stage direction. We wanted a second act! We wish Bach had written about the interaction after the young lady gets married!

We raise our coffee cup to toast On Site Opera and the lovely staff at The Lost Draft!  And now, we are going to make ourself a cup of coffee!

© meche kroop