BEETHOVEN'S ONE AND ONLY

Alex Penda and Paul Groves (photo by Ken Howard)

How is it that Beethoven only wrote one opera and spent a dozen years doing it?  It must not have come easily to him.  Indeed, he rewrote the overture to Fidelio several times and the opera as well.  It premiered for the first time in 1805 in Vienna which was, at that time, under French rule.  Largely influenced by the ideals of the French Revolution it was denied performance by the censors and only achieved production due to the intervention of Hapsburg Empress Maria Theresa.

This was an unusual choice for the Santa Fe Opera.  Although it is considered an opera, it has a great deal of spoken dialogue.  Although it has a happy ending it is not a comedy.  It has two major themes: the sacrifices of marital love and freedom from tyranny.  It's message is as valuable today as it was 200 years ago.

The orchestral music is as ravishing as anything Beethoven ever wrote and the Santa Fe Orchestra under the baton of the illustrious Harry Bicket (newly appointed Chief Conductor) did it justice with clean textures and rhythmic thrust.  The vocal lines are memorably melodic but challenging to sing; the game cast managed to carry it off with style.

The staging began even before the overture and introduced Leonore, disguised as Fidelio and serving as assistant to the jailer Rocco.  We also get to see Rocco's daughter Marzelline fussing about the kitchen of Charlie Corcoran's two-story set.  Jaquino, Rocco's other assistant, is importuning Marzelline to make marriage plans but she has fallen out of love with him and fallen into love with the recently arrived Fidelio.  One by one the voices join for a stunning quartet.

As Marzelline, the strong and silky soprano of Devon Guthrie (seen as an apprentice in 2010 and 2012) contrasted well with the sharper-edged soprano of Alex Penda as the titular Fidelio.  Ms. Penda was totally convincing as a young man but she is also very petite and at least a head shorter than Ms. Guthrie.  Yes, it is true that sometimes very tall women fall for very short men but it did look rather unbelievable onstage.

As the nice-guy jailer Rocco, Austrian bass Manfred Hemm sang with intensity and created a believable character.  As the spurned Jaquino, tenor Joshua Dennis used his fine voice and dramatic skills to make more of the role than is customary.

Leonore's husband does not appear until the second act but tenor Paul Groves made up for it, giving his all to his difficult aria and still managing to look as if he'd been in a dungeon for two years, imprisoned by his vicious enemy Pizzaro, portrayed with nasty gusto by bass-baritone Greer Grimsley.

Appearing at the end as a deus ex machina, Don Fernando comes to free all the prisoners.  The powerful and imposing bass-baritone Evan Hughes filled the shoes well.  Two members of the Apprentice Program made fine showings in brief solos as prisoners: the marvelous young tenor Joseph Dennis and the astounding bass Patrick Guetti.  We fully expect to see both their careers advancing rapidly.  So much talent at such a young age!

Not enough fine things could be said about the chorus, enacting prisoners desperate for freedom. Susanne Sheston gets big props as Chorus Master.

In spite of the superb orchestral and vocal performances we found Stephen Wadsworth's concept and direction to be distressing.  It is true that oppression exists everywhere and in all epochs but we fail to see how the Nazi holocaust has much to do with the political imprisonment of a small group of people. The concept was revealed gradually.  At the beginning it seemed to be anytime/anywhere but then a portrait of Hitler was exposed and Nazi uniforms appeared.

We found this to be at odds with the intentions of Beethoven and his librettists.  (There were several as he continually revised the opera.)  It seemed to be a graft that did not take.  We would have preferred a less specific setting that would have allowed us to make our own connections.

Furthermore, there are references to "the King".  Huh??? Which King?  And British soldiers coming in to liberate the prisoners and to hang the Union Jack? We don't like to see operas manipulated to fit into a Procrustean bed.

We liked Mr. Corcoran's realistic set.  On the ground floor were Fidelio's room and across a passageway, the kitchen.  Behold Ms. Guthrie as a drab German hausfrau! (Costumes were by Camille Assaf).  On the upper level were Pizzaro's office and some kind of waiting room.  Colors were all grey.

Duane Schuler's lighting was effective.  We liked the torches illuminating the dungeon and the sunlight when the prisoners were freed.

German diction was so perfect that subtitles were scarcely necessary.  Even the spoken dialogue was crisp and clear.

(c) meche kroop

COSI FA JUILLIARD

       


We cannot seem to get enough of Juilliard.  From undergraduates trying out their performing wings at the Liederabends to fully professional rising stars, performances are invariably of the highest quality.  Last night's opening of Così Fan Tutte is a case in point.  In cooperation with The Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts at The Juilliard School presented a performance of Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte that would be a winner in any big city in the world.  It was astutely cast with gifted young singers from both houses and directed by the esteemed Stephen Wadsworth.  The superb Juilliard Orchestra conducted by Alan Gilbert, Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, did credit to their training and also to Maestro Gilbert's intense guidance and rapport with the instrumentalists.  Mozart's melodies were handled with both sensitivity and gusto.  The harpsichordist was Bryan Wagorn.

What about this strange story, libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte? It is strange because it is funny and tragic at the same time.  What makes it amusing is the moral and actual blindness of the two sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella who fail to recognize the disguises of their fiancés and their servant Despina.  What makes it tragic is the resulting moral uncertainty as to which of the two men each young woman really loves as well as the price paid for confusing love and lust.  In these dark times of ours, Director Stephen Wadsworth has chosen to emphasize the dark side of the opera which is generally played as a piece of fluff.  Even the comic antics have an edge of disturbing hysteria.  There is no happy ending here as the four lovers are literally brawling at the end.  There is also a great deal of anger in Mr. Wadsworth's concept, manifested by overturned furniture and thrown objects.  Yes, love is painful and happy endings are not realistic.  So we must accept our failures and disappointments.

The two sisters were well cast.  Soprano Emalie Savoy brought Fiordiligi to life as the more conflicted of the two.  Her "Per pietà, ben mio, perdona" was beautifully sung and the trace of tightness in her Act I "Come scoglio" was gone.  Mezzo Wallis Giunta portrayed Dorabella, the somewhat more adventuresome of the two; she is as lovely to look at as to listen to.  We especially enjoyed her "Smanie implacabile".

Mezzo Naomi O'Connell was pure delight as the wily servant Despina, seemingly evolved from the commedia del'arte tradition.  She was full of lively energy and exhibited fine technique in "Una donna a quindici anni".  Her advice to her two mistresses kept the audience giggling and her mannerisms firmly established the differences in social class.  She managed to portray the doctor and the notary with a minimum of "shtick".

The two friends fared equally well in both vocalism and dramatics.  Tenor Alexander Lewis was a charming Ferrando who sang a lyrical "Un'aura amorosa".  Baritone Luthando Qave gave a fine performance as Guglielmo who lords it over Ferrando after having seduced Ferrando's fiancée Dorabella; after Ferrando seduces the reluctant Fiordiligi, he "sings a different tune".

Bass Evan Hughes was most convincing as Don Alfonso and succeeded in establishing his character during the overture.  He charmed us in his aria "Oh, poverini, per femmina giocar cento zecchini?" in which he mocks the two young men who accept his wager.

The entire cast, a symmetrical one to be sure, operated successfully as an ensemble and created believable characters.  Duets, trios and ensembles were beautifully balanced.  The size of the house was perfectly matched by the size of the voices.

The Scenic Design by Chalie Corcoran and the Costume Design by Camille Assaf were true to period (18th c.) and place (Naples) adding to the verisimilitude.  Lighting by David Lander was spot on, without calling attention to itself.

DON DONE DIFFERENTLY

Mozart wrote Don Giovanni for a Prague premiere in 1787; when he brought the production to Vienna he had a new cast to consider and made some changes.  Perhaps he wanted to please these house favorites or exploit their gifts.  He added a comic scene in Act II for Zerlina and Leporello who is tied to a chair; he expanded Donna Elvira’s grand scena; he wrote “Dalla sua pace” to replace “Il Mio Tesoro”.  According to Stephen Wadsworth who directed the fine Don Giovanni just seen at Juilliard, there is even evidence that the epilogue, in which the morality of the piece is reiterated and the characters announce their future intentions, was occasionally omitted.  Truth be told, we were surprised and delighted by the addition of the Zerlina-Leporello scene (which we had never seen before), largely due to the sprightly talent of the adorable soprano Ying Fang and the comic gifts of baritone Alexander Hajek.  But we sorely missed “Il Mio Tesoro” (being greedy, we want both tenor arias) and felt that the ending, while very well-staged, seemed abrupt.  We do understand that this a a long opera and that no edition is considered set in concrete.

The cast, mostly students in the Artist Diploma in Opera Studies at Juilliard, sang and acted with great distinction, as is generally the case.  Baritone Jeongcheol Cha made a splendid Don and created an anti-hero of some complexity.  As a matter of fact, all the characters were more complex than is usually seen, which must be attributed to the fine direction.  Leporello was not just comic foil to the Don but seethed with the Rage of the Abused just under the surface.  Donna Elvira, as portrayed by the lovely soprano Devon Guthrie, was not just a whiny victim but seemed a fierce champion of her gender and even took up sword at one point!  The soprano Karen Vuong used her brilliant soprano to great advantage as Donna Anna and, as her fiancé Don Ottavio, sweet-voiced tenor Yujoong Kim managed to avoid the cliché of wimpiness.  Soprano Ying Fang created a wily yet tender Zerlina who grows in dimension as the story unfolds.  Her sposo Masetto, as performed by baritone Takaoki Onishi also avoided the clichés to which we are generally exposed and made us care about his character.

On loan from the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, bass Ryan Speedo Green impressed us mightily as The Comendatore.  He sang and acted with great authority.  In the graveyard he is seated but when he enters Don Giovanni’s dining hall he grabs Don G and pulls him off to hell.  Again, let it be noted that the cliché of falling through a trapdoor with flames emerging was wisely avoided.  Mr. Wadsworth’s direction illustrated how one can take an old war horse and make it fresh, without resorting to elaborate sets and without imposing ridiculous concepts.

The simple but effective sets were designed by Charlie Corcoran; the costumes, designed by Camille Assaf were lovely and true to the time and place.  Choreography by Jeanne Slater added much to the party scene.

Gary Thor Wedow led the youthful orchestra without a baton and used his hands to shape the music.  At no time did the intensity and forward movement flag.  Elllliot Figg played the harpsichord with a lovely delicate touch.  It was another fine evening thanks to the amazing folks at Juilliard.

© meche kroop