GOODNESS TRIUMPHS

 William Hicks, Chelsea Bonagura, Frank Mathis, Mary Beth Nelson, and Kofi Hayford

The title of Friday night's concert at the National Arts Club could be taken several ways--the goodness of the arts? the goodness of the artists?  In any case, a stylish and sizable crowd was ecstatic at the return of live vocal artistry provided in this case by Salon58. Unfortunately Loro Aroyo fell victim to Covid and was unable to attend in person but she was definitely there in spirit.

We got to hear lots of our favorite songs and arias and some of our favorite singers. Let us do the familiar SATB format!  But before beginning we need to get on our soapbox once again to urge singers to commit their songs to memory. The dreaded music stand made its appearance rather frequently and had the effect of hampering our connection with the singers. 

Attempts were made to "act" but the precious connection was broken every time the singer glanced at the score, however briefly. We have been compelled to overlook this lapse on the occasion of a singer being a last minute substitution but there was no excuse Friday night. When there is a duet and one singer has made the effort and the other is "on the book", they cannot even connect successfully with one another. We will give our attention primarily to those selections that were best performed. Enough said!

Soprano Chelsea Bonagura had an enormous impact in her creation of the character of Lucia in the Donizetti tragedy Lucia de Lammermoor. It is important in the Act I aria "Regnava nel silenzio"  that the singer foreshadow Lucia's breakdown by being quite clear about the fragility of her sense of reality. Ms. Bonagura's bright clear voice and facility with fioritura were matched by her acting. We actually could see through her eyes the terrifying hallucinations. There were some delicately spun out notes that had us holding our breath and a killer trill.

We also admire Ms. Bonagura's superb diction in her performance of two songs in English. Every word was clearly enunciated and that is a rare thing.

Mezzo-soprano Mary Beth Nelson won our heart in her performance of "Non piu mesta" from Rossini's Cenerentola. She totally captured the graciousness of the character and utilized a perfect amount of vibrato in her clean fioritura and upward skips in the vocal line. Readers may have gathered that we love a good trill and we got more than one.

In the duet with Frank Mathis--"Only make believe" from Rogers and Hammerstein's Showboat, we admired her strength in the middle and lower register which were appealing in their resonance.

The aforementioned Mr. Mathis was listed as a tenor but we enjoyed the baritonal resonance in the lower range of his voice. He gave a most ironic and chilling laugh in "Vesti la giubba"  from Leoncavallo's Pagliacci  that seemed to foreshadow Canio's capability for the violence that would follow.

However, two of his songs (two of our favorites) suffered from some pushing for the high notes. I wish male singers of whatever fach would learn that "high" doesn't mean "loud". Pushing is distinctly unpleasant to the ear. We do hope that Mr. Mathis learns to float his high notes and that we get to hear Rachmaninov's "Spring Waters" and Strauss' "Cäcilie" again with more delicacy.

Bass Kofi Hayford demonstrated some fine French in his performance of "Vous qui faites l'endormir"  from Gounod's Faust. We enjoyed the sense of menace he projected as well as his full tone and the manner in which he alternated between a lovely legato and a pungent staccato.

Along with that fine showing of deviltry, he used a different color for Ibert's "Chanson à Dulcinée"  which we don't get to hear as often as the Ravel cycle.  

There was some good ensemble work as well. Ms. Bonagura and Ms. Nelson made some beautiful vocal harmonies in "Dome epais" from Delibes' Lakmé.  But the delicious dynamic between the two characters was destroyed by the presence of the music stand.

We always love the first act trio from Mozart's Cosi fan tutte --"Soave sia el vento" --and was glad to see it on the program.

Piano wizard William Hicks always manages to give each singer the necessary support and we were glad to hear him again after the long lull in live performance.

We were still wondering about "Goodness Triumphs" when the program ended but never did figure it out unless it was referring to Cenerentola.

© meche kroop 

GENDER-BENDING LAUGH RIOT

John Callison, Katherine Cecelia Peck, Chad Kranak, Heather Jones, Victor Khodadad, Claire Kuttler, Tom Mulder, and Chelsea Bonagura in Jacques Offenbach's The Island of Tulipatan

If you are reading this in the morning you just might have time to get to Theatre 80 on St. Mark's Place in time for today's matinee; if you have missed this delightful production you can still hear it because Light Opera of New York will be recording it, as they have done for several prior productions.

In either case, you are in for a treat. This tuneful and topical one-act operetta premiered in 1868 at Bouffes-Parisienne at the apex of Jacques Offenbach's popularity.  Bouffes-Parisienne had been delighting Parisian audiences since this prolific composer established it in 1855 for the Paris Exposition. The Island of Tulipatan is a protean work and has been heard all over the world. It's good-natured satire makes it easily adaptable.

Light Opera of New York's adaptation was particularly successful with a libretto by Gregg Opelka and dialogue by Jack Helbig. The fact that we enjoyed the English translation so heartily should tell our readers a great deal! The cleverness of the wordplay and rhyme schemes contributed enormously to our delight. We couldn't help thinking about W.S. Gilbert's way with words.

The story involves a Grand Marshal who is dissatisfied with his tomboy daughter and the Duke of Tulipatan who despairs over his effeminate son. It would be spoiling the fun to tell you how this all works out but there is a lot of Gallic wink-wink. And if you've never seen tall handsome tenor Tom Mulder in a dress you haven't truly lived.

We hold that opera is entertainment (in spite of some not-so-entertaining contemporary misfires). Whether serious or comic, the value lies in taking us out of the daily struggle and showing us a different world.  When we leave a performance, there is ample time to consider whether the tale is relevant to our present day. Surely, parental disappointment is very relevant as is gender dysphoria!

Gary Slavin's direction was superb, just as it was for last week's Ballad of Baby Doe at Utopia Opera.

Offenbach's music comprises an outpouring of tunes to delight those of us who cherish melody. Music Director Tyson Deaton at the keyboard ensured that we did not miss an orchestra.

Mr. Mulder's tenor was as splendid as his acting, which involved his galumphing around the stage as the tomboy Hermosa, to his father's annoyance-- and his trying to teach Alexis, the wimpy son of the Duke, how to propose to a woman.  As Alexis, soprano Claire Kuttler was funny but also moving as she sang about the loss of her pet hummingbird with a bright clear tone tinged with sadness. Good comedy must be performed seriously!

Papa Romboidal, the Grand Marshal, was finely portrayed by tenor Chad Kranak and mezzo-soprano Heather Jones did a swell job as his wife Theodorine. They were convincingly French, arguing the way couples do in French film.  Of course, it is her fault that their daughter Hermosa is so unladylike!  Why isn't Maman teaching her social graces!  Haha.  If Papa only knew!

The Duke of Tulipatan was just as dense as everyone else and delightful in his clueless state. Tenor Victor Khodadad inhabited the role perfectly and sang equally well. We grant a huge round of applause to all the singers who managed to sing English very clearly whilst maintaining a Gallic style. Nothing was lost in translation!

As if this weren't enough entertainment for one evening, we were also gifted with a curtain raiser comprising a number of selections from Offenbach's oeuvre, sung in French. One can never go wrong with duets from Les Contes d'Hoffman and "Kleinzach" was performed by Mr. Mulder and baritone John Callison. Soprano Chelsea Bonagura and Ms. Jones harmonized beautifully in the "Barcarolle", and Ms. Kuttler gave us a fine "Elle a fui".

Unfortunately, all of the above were "on the book" which truly impairs the connection with the audience. It felt awkward particularly when Ms. Bonagura, Ms. Jones, and lovely soprano Katherine Cecelia Peck sang "Ah! Quel diner!" from La Perichole. It was an interesting idea to perform it as a trio but every time someone interrupted the acting by looking down or turning a page, the magic was gone. 

So special credit goes to Mr. Khodadad who committed to memory "Au Mont Ida" from La Belle Helene. and for this reason we would call that our favorite selection from that part of the evening. He was able to relate unimpaired to his three goddesses and to connect thereby with the audience.

Aside from the use of scores for most of the songs, the entire evening was very much worth our while and left a smile. We are so fortunate in New York to have such a plethora of small companies, each staking out a special territory and giving us opera lovers such an amazing variety of experiences. Bravo LOONY!

(c) meche kroop