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!

© meche kroop

OPERA AS EVENT

The cast of Dido and Aeneas in the Catacombs of Green-Wood Cemetery
(photo by Kevin Condon)

On the front cover of the program for Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, producer Andrew Ousley (of Death of Classical and Unisom Media) expressed his feelings about death and remembrance as eloquently as one could have imagined, giving us a clue about his regular musical presentations in crypts and catacombs. More appropriate than macabre, these radical stagings leave us feeling that life is finite and music is one of the best means of celebrating it.

The conclusion of Purcell's opera would be familiar to most opera goers. Queen Dido of Carthage kills herself but asks her handmaiden Belinda to "remember me but forget my fate". It is arguably one of the best Baroque arias in the canon. Here it was movingly sung by mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack whose prodigious vocal chops are matched by dramatic ones. Belinda was portrayed by soprano Molly Quinn whose instrument is a finely focused one that reaches to the stratosphere and tickles the ceiling. Their overtones bounced around the walls of the catacombs of Green-wood Cemetery where 120 guests were privileged to share a unique collective experience.

Purcell composed the one-act opera for performance at a girl's school in the 1680's with libretto by Nahum Tate, based on Book IV of Virgil's Aeneid. We have seen it at least four times in the past two years and every time certain liberties have been taken. In this iteration, director Alek Shrader (best known for his terrific tenor) has incorporated additional text by Christopher Marlowe and introduced the character of Iarbas (the low resonant tones of Paul Greene-Dennis) whose attentions toward Dido are consistently rejected.

We have noticed a tendency, in the last few versions we have seen, to portray Dido as a strong independent woman, not a victim of Aeneas' abandonment. Here Aeneas was finely performed by Paul La Rosa. It is interesting how stories evolve with the times!  

The unfortunate Trojan Prince Aeneas is led astray by a Sorceress (Vanessa Cariddi) and her two witches (Erin Moll and Alyssa Martin) who reminded us of nothing more or less than Macbeth's "weird sisters". We never find out why they have it in for Dido but they do. They employ base trickery to fool Aeneas into believing that the gods want him to go to Italy and establish Rome. And they do this with intensely valid vocalism.

Dido's sister Anna was sung by the excellent Brooke Larimer and the cast was rounded out by Marc Molomot and Kannan Vasudevan as Trojans accompanying Aeneas.

The musical values were undeniably magnificent with these gorgeous voices accompanied by expressive music. Leading from the harpsichord was Music Director Elliot Figg. Adding to the string quartet was the haunting viola da gamba.

Dancer/choreographer Liana Kleinman added some graceful modern dance to the mix.

Production values contributed a great deal to the overall effect. The catacombs themselves provided the setting with the action taking place at one end of a long tunnel; entrances and exits occurred through side doors which led to crypts occupied by the deceased of various families from the 19th c. There was a small raised platform for the performers and Tláloc López-Watermann's evocative lighting was perfect. Fay Eva's costume design was also perfect with Dido wearing a slender red gown contrasting with Belinda's white one. The three witches wore black with suitably terrifying makeup by Ivey Ray. They created a stunning stage picture.

With such splendid musical and production values, it is sad that so few people will have the privilege of witnessing this stunning sold-out event. It is also a shame that the long narrow space does not lend itself to good sight lines. We see no way around this dilemma. The tenebrous space creates a mood like no other and the acoustics are beyond wonderful.

Mr. Ousley's events are always greater than the sum of their parts, the parts in this case including a pre-opera whiskey tasting and a post-opera torch lit stroll down from the heights of the cemetery. Lest you, dear reader, imagine that my enthusiasm for the evening was colored by inebriation, rest assured that we left our share for the angels.

(c) meche kroop