BEHIND THE SCENES WITH OPERA IN WILLIAMSBURG

Haeran Hong, Won Whi Choi, and Director Fabrizio Melano

Probably most opera goers realize how much work it takes to develop an operatically trained voice; but few of us give much thought to what it takes to put an opera onstage for us to enjoy. Fortunately, we had the privilege of being invited to attend a rehearsal of Verdi's tragic masterpiece La Traviata which will be performed by Opera in Williamsburg (Virginia), opening on September 12th.

We have always wished that this company were in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, but it is not. Sadly we have not been able to leave New York to attend a performance but Founder Naama Zahavi-Ely kindly gave us an opportunity to witness the creative process.

Director Fabrizio Melano's process is one we could readily understand. Every line was first spoken and then sung.  Psychological motivations were explored and justifications were offered for each stage movement.  The process was meticulous and fascinating.  Here is just one example from the final scene--Violetta, sensitively portrayed by the splendid soprano Haeran Hong, does not read the entire letter from Germont.  She reads the first few lines because she knows it by heart.  She crumples it.  She presses out the wrinkles. These small touches tell us so much about the character.

Alfredo's greeting of his father (baritone Marco Nistico) tells us how much he has grown up over the prior few months. Terrific tenor Won Whi Choi received some very detailed direction which we will not share in case you are moved to attend the performance. We can only tell you that you won't be disappointed.

The role of Dr. Grenvil was performed by Eric Lindsey, whom we just reviewed as Don Giovanni with Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble. He too received some interesting direction; when everyone else is expressing joy at Violetta's apparent recovery, he alone accepts the reality of her impending death.

Megan Pachecano in the role of Annina was given lots of direction for the way she relates to Violetta--when to rush in and when to stand back and give her room.

The rest of the cast comprises some rising stars we know and love--Suchan Kim, Pavel Suliandziga, Kirsten Scott, and William Desbiens.

The conductor is the gifted Jorge Parodi and we mustn't overlook how involved the conductor is from the very beginning of the rehearsal process. We hope you didn't think the conductor just shows up when the orchestra does!

We did not get to experience the final part of the rehearsal process with the orchestra but we did enjoy  Abdiel Vasquez' piano accompaniment.

© meche kroop

UNA VOZ UN MUNDO

Danza Familia Latina

The people of Guatemala, a country we visited and loved, has suffered some dreadful blows in June and July, from volcanic eruptions to earthquakes. So many worthy organizations have come to the rescue.  Last night, Una Voz, Un Mundo, an organization devoted to humanitarian aid, arts advocacy, and the celebration of cultural diversity, presented a concert in support of the People of Guatemala.

There was something for everyone on the program, from lively colorful folk dancing to zarzuela (YAY!) and opera, not to mention jazz saxophone, and classical piano. There was also some amplified shrieking that hurt our tender ears but on that we will not dwell.

Both accompanist and soloist, Abdiel Vázquez delighted us with "Chopin's D-flat Major Nocturne", followed by a welcome medley of Gershwin tunes.

He accompanied three singers that we greatly enjoyed. Soprano Teresa Castillo put a great deal of her own flirtatious personality into "Carceleras" from Ruperto Chapí's zarzuela-- Las Hijas del Zebedeo. Her bright sound and pleasing vibrato were especially lovely in the vocalise portion. There was another song in Spanish the title of which we did not get, since the program was incomplete.  But it seemed to be about the jungle and the shade--selva y sombra.

We don't hear Spanish music as often as we would wish and hoped that more of the program would be in that beautiful language. We had most of our desires met.

After a fine performance of "Anzoleta avanti la regata" from Rossini's La regata veneziana, the excellent mezzo-soprano Kat Liu delighted us with two Spanish songs by Federico Garcia Lorca--the haunting "Las Morillas de Jaën" and "Los Cuatro Muleros".

Tenor Mario Arévalo, Founder and Artistic Director of Una Voz, Un Mundo, put his powerful voice to good use, first in Carlos Guastavino's melancholy "La Rosa y el Sauce", and then in "Dein ist mein ganzes Herz" from Franz Lehar's Das Land des Lächelns. 

He joined Ms. Castillo for the duet "Tonight" from Bernstein's West Side Story which was, for unknown reasons, as cruelly amplified as the performance of the screaming pop singer. Such attractive and well trained voices do not require amplification which distorted the natural sound of their voices.

There was some jazz saxophone music played by Thomas A. Giles on an alto sax; we liked the piece by Astor Piazzolla but have no idea who arranged it for saxophone; there was an interesting contemporary piece by Antonio Truyols involving tapping on the instrument and rhythmic breathing.

We also heard some original jazz piano music played by Francis Hon entitled "Morningstar"--all of which was quite nice. There was also a poetry reading.  

We would call this a highly entertaining and eclectic evening. We are reminded of a benefit performance given some years ago for the Chilean earthquake which was organized by our friend Kala Maxym, an event which launched our career writing about opera!

Instead of whining about how tragic something is or praying for people, it is a far better thing to do something concrete. All of the artists involved volunteered for this concert and this makes us very very happy and proud of the music community.

(c) meche kroop

A FAIRY TALE FOR OUR TIME

Ísis Cunha, Sarah Kim, Javiera Saavedra, Carly Cummings, Abdiel Vazquez, Annmarie Errico, Lisa Nava, Jin Yu, and Erika Straus

A friend we invited to attend Engelbert Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel expressed disinterest in "a children's opera". We couldn't help wondering whether that misconception has kept this marvelous opera from being on the "Top Ten" list of operas. Would we call Cenerentola or Cendrillon "children's operas" because they too are based on fairy tales?

Thankfully, that designation has never dissuaded us, although we find the overblown production at the Met rather dispiriting. This is indeed an intimate family story and rather resonant at this time since children are being separated from their parents at our Mexican border. We couldn't help thinking of that whilst watching Manhattan Opera Studio's excellent intimate production last night at the National Opera Center. 

Fairy tales evolved over centuries, according to psychoanalyst Bruno Bettelheim, and serve to help children deal with psychological issues.  Although the situation in Humperdinck's opera is not as dire as in the Brothers Grimm fairy tale (in which the parents abandon the children in the forest due to a famine), it still offers reassurance to children in that it reinforces sibling cooperation, stresses childhood resourcefulness, and offers the concept of helpful guardian angels. 

This softening of the story was likely due to the fact that the libretto was written by the composer's sister for her own children. Just like Disney, she did not trust the terrifying nature of the original.

From the standpoint of an adult opera lover, our enchantment rests on the melodies lavished by Humperdinck on his sister's libretto. Many of them are based upon German folk songs but the orchestration shows the influence of Richard Wagner. The 1893 premiere was conducted by none other than Richard Strauss. Gustav Mahler conducted it as well.

Last night's production, part of Manhattan Opera Studio's Summer Festival, employed Kathleen Kelly's outstanding reduction of the score for chamber orchestra, comprising a string quartet augmented by flute, clarinet, and horn,with Jestin Pieper at the piano. From this group of splendid musicians, Maestro Abdiel Vazquez pulled a winning performance.

All of the singers were superb. Soprano Carly Cummings made a winning Gretel in pigtails whilst mezzo-soprano Annmarie Errico was convincingly boyish as Hänsel. Like siblings everywhere they had their moments of fun and moments of rivalry. We enjoyed the scene in which they dance together but really enjoyed their duets in which their two voices blended beautifully.

Their very angry mother was sung by Javiera Saavedra and their bibulous father was performed by Jin Yu. After the children are sent to the forest to forage berries, Father returns home drunk but Mother's rage is softened when she sees the abundance of food he has brought, thanks to selling all of his brooms. There's a lot of insight into male/female dynamics there.

The forest scene was lovely. Patricia Billings' clarinet gave us believable cuckoo sounds. A chorus in the rear of the hall echoed Hansel's cries. A charming Sandman (Erika Straus) helps the children find peace in sleep. The physical presence of the 14 angels was created by the audience's imagination. The children are awakened by a rather idiosyncratic and colorful Dew Fairy (Ísis Cunha) sporting a yellow slicker and matching umbrella!

Sarah Kim made a wonderful witch, and the upward stares of the children helped us to see her fly (offstage, of course). She put the children in a trance by means of a spiral design on a twirling umbrella.  She cast a spell with her magic wand, utilizing it to control their movements. We were a bit puzzled however by her flamenco dance!

Stage Director Lisa Nava substituted imagination for money, leaving the audience to do some mental work, a good thing in our book. There was nothing onstage except some brooms and a couple of footstools which were used for important arias.  The witch's death in the oven was suggested by a floodlight and crinkled red cellophane. Elizabeth Harraman's horn announced her demise.  The chorus in the rear of the theater sang the parts of the children freed from her spell.

Manhattan Opera Studio presented this opera two years ago and we enjoyed it enough to catch it again. We had some quibbles about the directing and are happy to relate that Ms. Nava's direction is greatly improved. The characters related to one another and the family reunion at the end brought cheer to our heart as we imagined the reunions that will hopefully recur among our neighbors from South of the Border.

Our other quibble from 2016 was the titles of rhymed couplets which did not reflect a true German translation. This time, there were no titles but the German was quite clear and whatever was missed was made clear by the fine acting and direction.

Under the Artistic Direction of Carlos Federico Tagle and the Music Direction of Benoit Renard, Manhattan Opera Studio is a fine addition to the New York opera scene. There will be another chance to see this production Tuesday night at 8:00 at the National Opera Center.  Although the cast will be different, we are sure that the quality will be as high.

Thursday and Sunday will bring productions of Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and we can scarcely wait. Keith Chambers will be conducting.

(c) meche kroop

TRIFECTA

Julian Milkis, Abdiel Vazquez, and Anastasiya Roytman

Scintillating soprano Anastasiya Roytman generously shared her Carnegie Recital Hall debut with two other superb artists in a compelling program that included not only our favorite Wagner and Mahler songs but contemporary American songs that we actually enjoyed!

The last time we heard and reviewed Ms. Roytman we opined that she needed a larger hall (than Scorca Hall at the National Opera Center) to show off the size of her voice and we are delighted to report that she scaled her wonderful instrument to the size and acoustics of Weill Recital Hall.

And a lovely instrument it is and well suited to the chosen material. No wonder that she has achieved acclaim worldwide! She has a gracious stage presence and makes good use of body and facial expression to get a song across, without resorting to excessive theatrics. It's all in the voice, which is most important.

Richard Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder, WWV91 are settings of the poetry of his beloved Matilda Wesendonck; they are filled with passion and deep feeling which Ms. Roytman successfully communicated with superb control of dynamics and phrasing. The songs offer many opportunities for changes of color, also exploited by Ms. Roytman; she seemed totally present with the text and able to communicate the depth of feeling to the audience. We especially enjoyed "Schmerzen" but also admired the buildup of intensity in "Träume" where Wagner's phrases ascended the scale.

Her astutely chosen piano partner, Abdiel Vazquez, demonstrated a particular resonance with Wagner and contributed a solo piece--Tausig's arrangement for piano of "Isolde's Liebestod" from Tristan und Isolde--an arrangement we had never heard before but long to hear again as it has been echoing in our mind's ear all night.

Gustav Mahler's Rückert-Lieder offer the same opportunities for a variety of moods and colors and delight us no end.  Here, they were given an almost operatic treatment with each song seeming like an aria with all emotional bases covered. Ms. Roytman effectively negotiated the large skips in "Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder!". But our personal favorite was the powerful "Um Mitternacht" which was given a suitably powerful delivery.

Ms. Roytman's diction achieved a remarkable sense of legato in the phrasing, so difficult to achieve in German. Our only small critique is that there needs to be more attention paid to consistency of pronunciation of the "ch", a problem experienced by most non-German singers.

The big surprise of the evening were songs by contemporary composers that were neither "academic" nor derivative. We are always thrilled when our preconceived notions are overcome. Alexey Shor, present in the audience, wrote the music and lyrics for "Coming of Age Trio" and "Ode of Persistence Trio". This world premiere included the stylish clarinet playing of Julian Milkis and gave Ms. Roytman the opportunity to show a different aspect of her artistry.

The first song had an episode in which she performed a vocalise with the clarinet which was remarkable. Mr. Shor's text rhymed and involved the coming of Spring; the music was melodic and strangely melancholic. The second song was playful and the text was about an ambivalent woman who succumbs to a persistent suitor.

The second big surprise comprised some jazzy songs by Stefania de Kenessy, whose music was so fine that we immediately arranged to see her new opera next weekend--Bonfire of the Vanities at Museo del Barrio. "Four Laughs Only" was exactly that--laughing accompanied by clarinet and piano. "Trio in 4 Movements" included humming and nonsense syllables (WA-WA) which completely avoided the problem of making the rhythms of the English language musical.

We would like to commend Ms. Roytman for one more thing. She never used a score! Mostly, when we hear contemporary music, the stuff is so obscure that the singer is on the book.  Not so here! This allowed her to communicate directly with the audience and to express the joy of this original music.

As encore the artists gave us an improvisatory version of "Summertime" from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess in which all three artists let loose.  It was a fine end to a fine evening!

(c) meche kroop