SHORT AND SWEET

Carson Cook

The singer is tall but the program was way too short. We acknowledge that it's a good idea to leave your audience wanting more but Carson Cook's recital was just a bit longer than an hour and we would have happily enjoyed another hour. When we think of what makes a recital a hit, we would have to put audience engagement at the top of the list, right next to vocal quality. Mr. Cook's audience was attentive and met his engagement with their own.

One would do well to wonder what creates audience engagement in a vocal recital. Evidence is that audience members are not looking at their cell phones or nodding off. They may even lose interest in the provided translations because the singer conveys the meaning of the song by means of facial expression and gesture and also vocal coloration. From the standpoint of an audience member, one may feel that the singer is telling us a story in a highly personal way. Mr. Cook has a relaxed demeanor and addressed the audience directly with a minimum but adequate amount of information about each song.

The all-too-short program managed to achieve considerable variety and showcased the artist's facility with languages as well as fine vocal technique with a fach that we can only describe as baritenor. We will stay tuned to see how things shake out in the future. When singers change teachers there are often shifts, both profound and subtle. We have heard Mr. Cook several times in the past but this recital marked a major leap forward. 

The first half of the program gave us a taste of Mr. Cook's facility in Italian aria and canzone,  French chanson, and German lieder. Diction was equally fine in all three languages and we never had to look at the translations to understand the text. "Bel piacere" from Händel's Agrippina revealed some fine fioritura. Even in English we understood every word of the very sad "Oh loss of sight" from the same composer's oratorio Sansom.  A spirited canzone by Durante "Danza Danza Fanciulla" lightened the mood.

Reynaldo Hahn's gentle "A Cloris" was marked by some lovely legato phrasing, whilst Gabriel Faure's "Mandoline"  involved some painterly storytelling, bringing a visual aspect to the singing.

Three very different lieder demonstrated other aspects of Mr. Cook's artistry.  From our favorite Schubert song cycle Die schone Mullerin, we heard "Am Feierabend" in which we could actually see the young miller seated near the hearth in the evening with his boss and the tempting boss' daughter. This would be a great cycle for Mr. Cook to learn since he has the wherewithal to create the character of the hero. Kenneth Brown's skillful pianism created the rhythmic mill wheel reflecting the labor of the preceding day.

Gustav Mahler's "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen" involved a totally different change of color. The composer is telling a story of withdrawal from the world and Mr. Cook succeeded in creating a stillness by means of a delicate delivery and a fine vibrato. Brahms' "Vergebliches Stänchen" involves a dialogue between an importuning young man and his resistant sweetheart. We think a little bit of work on a duality of body placement and alteration of color from one character to the other would take this performance to a higher level.

The second half of the program was a song cycle in the making, one with text by Rachel Joy Scott who died in the Columbine massacre. It was with great surprise that we actually enjoyed a work in English. What was particularly interesting was that each entry was set by a different composer. The text comprised Ms. Scott's diary entries and was definitely not prosy or pedantic. Her optimism must have inspired each composer to write a lovely melodic vocal line.

We enjoyed. the four songs we heard composed by Brandon Zhou, Chris Cooley, Dina Pruzhansky, and Chris Cooley who took over from Mr. Brown and played his dense complex score himself. We were very happy to learn that there are composers writing singable music!

Two hits from Rodgers and Hammerstein ended the program and confirmed our belief that Broadway songs, sung without amplification by a good singer, are really 20th century American art songs. Who doesn't love Sound of Music and The King and I!  Mr. Cook gets an "A" but the audience flunked! Invited to whistle along in "I Whistle a Happy Tune" not one person came across, thus defying the message of another song which Mr. Cook should have offered first--"Anyone Can Whistle"!

A cheerful encore of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" left the audience in a joyful mood.

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A GIFT FROM SPAIN

Enriique Torres Dominguez and Lucia Iglesias

Carmen Larios and Eduardo Pomares

Brought to New York City by Musica Viva, an important organization in support of the arts, the young artists from Teatro Real of Madrid presented a most satisfying concert of favorites from the world of opera and zarzuela. Regular readers can guess what excited us the most. In light of the facts that we get to hear a lot of arias and duets from the operatic canon but rarely get a taste of the delicious works from the world of zarzuela, it was the end of the program that captured our heart, and the encore which left us ecstatic.

Readers who are unfamiliar with this traditional Spanish art form and its evolution in the New World would do well to learn more than we have space for here. Let us just mention that zarzuelas involve elaborate and convoluted plots mostly about (like Italian operas of the 19th century) love and patriotism. What is outstanding about zarzuelas is the presence of gorgeous melodies, similar to works of that period, even those that were composed in the early 20th century. What is unique is the presence of a very large cast including dancers, a feature that makes zarzuela a costly and difficult art form to produce here in the United States. We must content ourselves with the occasional aria or duet.

The singers from the young artist program of Teatro Real made a fine showing also in the operatic genre but please allow us in our enthusiasm to wax rhapsodic over the zarzuela portion of the program. Morena Torroba's Luisa Fernanda was produced here in NYC a couple years ago by Opera Hispanica and it is a real winner. From this work we heard "Lucha la fe por el triunfo" performed by lyric baritone Enrique Torres Dominguez who surely conveyed the aspect of the dashing military man Xavier.

Following this we heard the familiar "No puede ser" from Sorozabal's La tabernera del puerto, sung by tenor Eduardo Pomares. Even more striking was a surprise encore featuring all four singers in the Habanera "Todas las mananitas" from Manuel Penella's Don Gil de Alcala--and what wouldn't we give to see this zarzuela performed in its entirety!

We already knew how beautifully integrated were the four voices because the program had ended officially with "Libiamo" from Verdi's La Traviata which always sends the audience out on a high note-- so to speak.

Speaking of high notes, we enjoyed both sopranos --Lucia Iglesias and Carmen Larios. We were particularly impressed by Ms. Iglesias' apt interpretation of the role of Musetta in "Quando m'en vo" from Puccini's La Boheme. She captured every nuance of Musetta's teasing of Marcello without tawdry overacting. 

Carmen Larios delivered Juliet's waltz "Je veux vivre" from Gounod's Romeo et Juliette in fine French. The program notes provided a clear answer to the question of both soprano's musicality. They each studied piano from an early age; that may be a clue. Their duet "Sull'aria" from Mozart's Nozze di Figaro with Ms. Larios enacting the Countess and Ms. Iglesias taking the role of Susanna was a highlight of the evening. The different colors of their respective voices made the duet particularly appealing.

The two men also had a duet--everyone's favorite of course being "Au fond du temple saint" from Bizet's Les pecheurs du perles. In spite of the well chosen and well performed program, it is the zarzuela pieces that we will remember and hold closest to our heart. The accompanist for the evening was Gonzalo Villarreal who opened the program with a piano solo from Manuel de Falla's The Three Cornered Hat.

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GILBERT AND SULLIVAN MEET TOLKIEN

The Mikado presented by Utopia Opera and Forbear! Theatre

What a gloriously entertaining evening! Regular readers will recall the distaste we have for ill advised transpositions of the classics of the operatic canon. Fortunately we have no such reservations about more lighthearted and comedic works. We don't mean to imply that Gilbert and Sullivan's works are trivial. As a matter of fact, W.S. Gilbert tackled important topics such as Great Britain's complicated legal system, peculiar politics, class structure, and artistic pretensions; and he did so with the cleverest of lyrics. So the transposition of The Mikado from Japan to Middle Earth did not trouble us, although the names of the characters only hinted at the original designation.

In Forbear! Theatre's founder and artistic director Rachel Gianesse Middle, William Remmers, founder and artistic director of Utopia Opera, has met his match. Each is prodigiously gifted and successful at bringing beloved works to the public in unique and original ways.  For example, Remmers, with his rubbery long limbs and mobile face, brought new elements to the role of Klok-Cow, the lowly tailor promoted to Lord High Executioner. Middle brought a bright soprano and a winsome attitude to the role of Mna-y'um.  Middle also directed the drama whilst Remmers directed the music. 

And what great music it was with the winds taking a strong position, giving all 24 (!) of Sullivan's gloriously tuneful musical numbers their due. Also impressing us was Dan Cavendish as the Mikado of Pa'gaen who delighted the audience with his list of miscreants and the corresponding appropriate punishments. John Faal ably handled the role of the hapless wandering minstrel AEthel-Run. 

Although much of the cast was British and unknown to us, we were happy to see the familiar face and hear the familiar voice of the enormously funny Matthew Wages in the key role of P'fugal Fa, the possessor of infinite titles, each with its own responsibilities and privileges. Kathleen Brenner did a fine job as the shrewish Kottilska, although far younger and more attractive that the usual Katisha.

All of the smaller roles were similarly well handled, and the costumes were colorful and inventive, especially those for the chorus. The staging worked well, especially in view of the limited playing area. Much of the excellent 24-piece orchestra occupied stage left. With such compelling musical and dramatic aspects, we can have no greater wish than that each and every one of our readers could score tickets to the remaining performances Saturday and Sunday.

Lingering in our memory, from among all 24 delightful numbers is "Three Little Maids from School", The Mikado's "I've Got a Little List", Remmers' courtship of Kattilska in "Tit Willow", and Middle's solo "The sun whose rays". There was also a brilliantly composed sextet in Act II that was given a fine performance.

To close we would like to mention that no people of the Japanese nationality were degraded or insulted. 😂 Furthermore, we received no writing help from AI.  We own everything we spelled wrong or misidentified.  Never mind.  Go see it!!!!!

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A TRIBUTE TO STEPHEN SONDHEIM

 

Curtain Call for SAS Performing Arts Company's Sondheim Tribute Revue

When we think of opera of the 19th century, a number of giants come to mind--Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, and Verdi. When we think of the 20th century we think of Puccini, Richard Strauss, and Stephen Sondheim.  How does Sondheim fit into this illustrious group? We haven't even mentioned Rorem or Britten. 

We take full responsibility for our opinion that no one has spoken to us as Sondheim did.  No one entertained us as Sondheim did. No one had us leave the theater humming his tunes with such pleasure. An evening tribute to his vast repertory, presented by SAS Performing Arts, left us completely satisfied.

What is unique about SAS Performing Arts is their embrace of three cornerstones of performing arts: opera, musical theater, and drama. Beginning a company at the time of Covid, as Stephen Scovasso did, was a brave act and is likely the reason that we were unaware of their (mostly virtual) productions until recently. We are happy to report that this season promises to be an exciting one, with productions of Grecian's Dracula, Menotti's The Medium, Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, Thornton Wilder's Our Town, and a night of Rodgers and Hammerstein. Sounds ambitious!

We avoid drawing a line between opera and music theater when neither is amplified. It's all about telling a story with music. Hopefully, the story resonates with us and the music stays in our ear, giving us pleasure long after the performance ends.

What is unique about Sondheim is the fact that he wrote both lyrics and music, allowing an uncommon fit between clever rhymes and melodies that captured the emotional intent and rhythms of the phrases. Of course we are aware that he was a successful collaborator, writing music for other lyricists and providing lyrics for other composers' music, most notably for Bernstein's West Side Story. But what we heard last night comprised works that were totally his.

The revue was produced and directed in a most satisfying manner by Mr. Scovasso (we see that there are lots of S's in both names), an experienced musicologist, conductor, director, and author. The cast of ten artists were seated onstage at café tables so that the artists performing a particular song could rise and join one another as called for. They worked well as an ensemble and we will name them all before ending our review.

Sondheim's greatest hits were each given a few songs and we particularly enjoyed renewing our acquaintance with Sweeney Todd, which, we insist, is an opera by virtue of its serious consideration of morality and fate, along with a most arresting score. Who but Sondheim could tell such a dark tale with flashes of humor as in "Try a Little Priest"--reminding us of Shakespeare's tendency to leaven some of his tragedies with humor.

Another favorite of ours is A Little Night Music with its sharply drawn characters and romantic entanglements that a 21st century audience can relate to. The poignancy of missed connections in "Send in the Clowns" is so intense that the work has become a favorite of cabaret artists. As a matter of fact, most of the selections chosen for the evening's entertainment were stand alone favorites.

Of course, knowing the entire work always makes the individual numbers more deeply felt; "Into the Woods" from the work of the same name, took us back a few months when we saw the work performed by students of Manhattan School of Music. We enjoyed it so much we saw it twice and if you, Dear Reader, care to know more, enter the title of the show in the search bar.

Participating artists, in alphabetical order, were Brian Alvarado, Tyler Ayala-Van Tassel,  Jorge Blakely,  Janice Hall, Dan Drew, Daryl Glenn, Elisabeth Ritscher, Emily Samuelson, Veronica Shea, and Deborah Surdi.  Accompanying on the piano was Nick Stamatakis.

And now, Dear Reader, since nothing is perfect, we have come up with a few quibbles. An unnecessary microphone made a couple unwelcome appearances, as did the loathed music stands. The acting was, on the whole, a major contribution to the success of the performances which were most relatable when the music stands disqppeared. Sondheim's clever text would have benefitted from some clearer enunciation. Surprisingly, it was in the ensembles that the words came across most clearly. (We have noticed in the opera world that enunciation of English is best by artists from other cultures who work hard to get the words across clearly.)

We were overjoyed to make the acquaintance of Sondheim's works that were less familiar to us than Sweeney Todd and A Little Night Music. We were delighted that our foreign born companion enjoyed the evening almost as much as we did. There is something about Sondheim's melodies and the cadence of his  rhymes that delight the ear; and there is something quintessentially New York about his storytelling, even when the stories take place in London, Sweden, Rome or Paris. Sondheim was indeed an American treasure whose music will endure in the same way as Verdi's.

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A BARGAIN WITH THE DEVIL

 Maria Brea as Marguerite in Village Opera's production of Gounod's Faust

We have given this a lot of thought lately. When we began writing about small opera companies and young opera singers about a dozen years ago, Manhattan was home to a dozen small opera companies that provided performance opportunities for these young opera singers. They operated on a shoe string, transforming church basements and black box theaters into makeshift playing areas. Costuming was equally improvisational but storytelling was generally excellent and imaginative, ticket prices were affordable, audiences had a great time, and a considerable number of people were introduced to the art form.

So, what happened? Part of the answer can be found in the Covid epidemic which kept people at home and then forced them to wear uncomfortable masks in public places. Other companies dropped out for other reasons, often financial. Sometimes it was just the inability to break even or gross financial mismanagement;  in one case, a too rapid New York Times induced fame led to premature arrogance and self-satisfaction. Other times, a successful production team disintegrated when one partner jumped ship or moved away.

What is left, other than the successful long-established Regina Opera Company in far flung Brooklyn, and the equally distant Bronx Opera Company and The Lighthouse Opera, both of which attract sizable audiences. Here in Manhattan we have Heartbeat Opera which can be wonderful but often goes off the rails, and the struggling Amore Opera which badly needs a better venue.

We do get annual two-day visits from the superb Teatro Nuovo, which presents marvelous bel canto discoveries performed by young singers for a packed house; and we had a one day major success from Classic Lyric Arts Vocal Academy who gave us a vocally superb and dramatically powerful production of Puccini's Il Tabarro. What we need is a small company to perform the classics on a regular basis, giving performing opportunities to young singers.

But never fear, Dear Reader, if anyone can accomplish this, we place our bets on Felix Jarrar, well known as a composer, conductor, and pianist. Although the early efforts of his Village Opera just came to our attention, we found his concert version of Gounod's Faust to be promising. There was much to enjoy that Sunday afternoon and enjoy we did.

The lion's share of our pleasure can be attributed to the stunning performance of soprano Maria Brea in the role of Marguerite. We have been following Ms. Brea since her performance as Marie in the much missed Prelude to Performance's production of Donizetti's Fille du Regiment. Her performance was not only vocally admirable but she did not let the music stand of this concert version prevent her from relating to her fellow cast mates.

This feature was also notable in a vocally powerful and dramatically connected performance of William Clay Thompson in the role of Mephistopheles. He also reached beyond the limitations of the concert production style and gave us a snarly and scary character.

Maestro Jarrar performed a piano reduction of the score that captured all the colors of an orchestra and gave necessary support to the singers, which included tenor Eric Botto as Faust, Joseph Canuto Leon as Valentin, Christina Marie Esser as a believable Siebel, Evan Fleming as Wagner, and Brooke Larimer as Marthe. There was good support from the chorus which comprised the cover cast.

It was a very short while ago that we attended a rather overproduced and concept driven production of this same opera, a production that distracted us from Gounod's gorgeous melodies. The Village Opera production, minus titles, allowed us to focus on the music and singing.

It would be our dearest wish if Mo. Jarrar could work his way toward  traditionally staged productions of other masterpieces of the operatic canon, giving young singers an opportunity to learn a new role and giving Manhattan residents an authentic operatic experience. We could do without elaborate sets and a minimum of costuming would suffice. What we really need are sound musical values and some good storytelling . Where there's a will there's a way!

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THE BUTTERFLY LOVERS

 Ma Renjie and Xuan Cheng

(photo by Rosalie O'Connor, courtesy of Hong Kong Ballet)

It comes as no surprise that The Butterfly Lovers is one of China's four major folk tales. Dating back to about the 3rd or 4th c. AD, the poignant story of star-crossed lovers has inspired plays, films, a violin concerto, music videos, a figure skating act, and several operas, although we could find no evidence of it being performed by the Peking Opera.

Storytelling has been part of human culture since the dawn of speech, long before the alphabet and written language. Mankind has always loved stories, sharing them by means of music, song, and dance, and eventually through books and film. There is a commonality between opera and ballet in that both performing arts drive straight to the emotions, often bypassing the critical thinking part of the brain. And therein lies their special value.

Last night we had the privilege of attending a performance of the Hong Kong Ballet which was formed in 1979, fortunately escaping the meretricious intentions of The Cultural Revolution. Judging by their repertoire, they are firmly in the camp of classical ballet as exemplified by the choreographers whose works they perform. We are glad, however, that our first experience of their repertoire was The Butterfly Lovers, since we are a great devotée of Chinese culture.

The themes of The Butterfly Lovers are universal--forbidden love, gender inequality, classism, societal norms, and the transcendence of love. Although similar stories can be found in many cultures (Romeo and Juliet, Yentl) here the story is told through a Chinese lens with concept and choreography by Hu Song Wei Ricky and librettist/associate choreographer Mai Jingwen. The story is told episodically with sequential scenes illuminating the relationship of the heroine Zhu Yingtai with her aristocratic parents, her gender secret admission to an academic institution, her meeting with fellow student Liang Shanbo, their developing relationship (including their awkward mutual sexual awakening) and the tragedy which follows her being called home for a forced marriage.

A particularly lovely scene was the sexual awakening when Liang discovers that Zhu is a girl. The set designer Tim Yip (who also designed the stylized but period authentic costumes) had our romantic couple side by side on a nearly vertical bed, giving the audience full view of their awkward and playful interaction. Meanwhile, in a most effective directorial and choreographical gambit, a different pair of dancers created a sensual and tender pas de deux. 

The New York City Ballet Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro Lio Kuokman, performed the varied score of Tian Mi. Did we hear strains of the violin concerto entitled Butterfly Lovers, composed by He Zhanhao  and Chen Gang whilst students at the Shanghai Conservatory? We were inspired to listen to the work performed by Joshua Bell and a group in Singapore playing on Chinese instruments instead of the Western orchestra it was written for. It is a splendid piece of music that was composed in 1959 and was repressed until the Cultural Revolution ended.

As for the dancing, we found it satisfying in every respect. Relationships between characters were made very clear. Zhu's pas de deux with her father was completely different from her pas de deux with Liang. Choreographic combinations flowed with what in opera might be called legato technique. Lifts and carries were exciting and sensual. 

For purposes of variety there were large ensembles in colorful costumes, at times dancing aggressively to aggressive music. There was only one scene that seemed off to us.  It involved a corps of female dancers in white tutus, looking as if they wandered in from another ballet. We just shrugged that off as an anomaly or something that went over our head.

Finally, we would like to mention how the lighting by Yeung Tsz Yan added visual interest to the simple but effective scenic design. We hope that The Hong Kong Ballet will return soon and hopefully perform one of the other four famous Chinese legends. Regular readers will recall our distaste for the didactic and the abstract. Story ballets are what we want to experience, and an Asian company is best suited to introduce us to Asian stories!

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SLEEPWALKING

 Abigail Lysinger, Abigail Raiford, Teresa Castillo, and Christopher Bozeka

"Nothing with kings

Nothing with crowns;

Bring on the lovers, liars and clowns"

The clever lyrics of Stephen Sondheim from the 1962 hit musical Something Happened on the Way to the Forum came to mind, contrasting Teatro Nuovo's production of Bellini's 1831 La Sonnambula with the prior evening's performance of Verdi's Macbeth which we just reviewed. Will Crutchfield's instructive program notes call this work an opera semiseria, differentiating it  from opera buffa, a genre we are all familiar with, thanks to the earlier creations of Rossini.

It is serious because it deals with real human emotion but the comic designation comes from the fact that it has a happy ending. (Truth to tell, it didn't seem so happy to us that the sweet and innocent young Amina (sung  by soprano Teresa Castillo in sensational coloratura form) would be shackled for life to the immature and narcissistic land owner Elvino (played by tenor Christopher Bozeka). 

He is so mistrustful of his bride that he is ready to abandon her on their wedding day and so fickle and vengeful  that he plans to immediately marry another woman. Well, autre temps, autre moeurs. Amina seems a forgiving sort and we hope that the immature Elvino will grow up. It might have seemed less dire if the role had been played by a jejune youth who seemed ready to grow up.

What thrilled us about this performance were the musical values of this period-correct orchestra . Elisa Citterio served as Primo Violino e Capo d'Orchestra often conducting with her bow; Mo. Crutchfield served as Maestro al Cembalo; Derrick Goff was Maestro del Coro.  Bellini's long lyrical lines melded with Felice Romani's flowing poetry to excellent effect. The vocal artistry was nearly perfect, which we will get to later.

What bothered us most was the lack of staging and costuming. At the previous night's Macbeth, we scarcely noticed these deficiencies but there was something a bit "off" about the staging and acting in this Sonnambula. It seemed as if the characters were each performing in a different mode and time period. At times we perceived a sly "meta" wink at the story; at other times a period appropriate sincerity. All in all, the women came across better than the men.

The villager Alessio (bass-baritone Vincent Graña) is in love with the inn-keeper Lisa (soprano Abigail Raiford) who is pursuing the afore-mentioned Elvino, who is about to marry Amina. Amina's somnambulism is not understood by the villagers and, when accused of unfaithfulness, only her mother Teresa (mezzo-soprano Abigail Lysinger) stands by her side. It is the arrival of the long absent Count Rodolfo (bass-baritone Owen Phillipson) that both precipitates and then resolves the crisis.

Ms. Castillo's performance was impeccable with stunning execution of the difficult fioritura; no doubt some of the cadenzas were devised by the artist herself but there were some outstanding embellishments of the vocal line that had been written by Bellini himself but never performed! We invite you, Dear Reader, to hear Mo. Crutchfield's demonstration online in a brief clip including Ms. Castillo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSX8kuNc6l4.  We would love to hear your comments below.

Unfortunately, we have no equivalent encomia to offer about Mr. Bozeka's performance. He seemed to be having a bad night, particularly in Act II when challenged by the high tessitura. The work was performed in its original key which is higher than that which audiences have previously heard.

Both Abigails performed their parts well with Ms. Raiford playing Lisa for contemporary laughs. The audience loved it and, if the comic emphasis had been consistent, we might have loved it as well. Still, the story is so not contemporary by virtue of the villagers' ignorance and belief in specters that we doubt it would have worked. Sometimes it's best to treat an historical work with authenticity and leave out the irony. 

In sum this was a rare and rewarding opportunity to hear the work as Bellini meant for it to be heard. With appropriate Swiss peasant costuming and a firm directorial hand, this production would put that of any famed opera house to shame.

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