FALSTAFF--BEST EVER

Molly Burke, Emily Skilling, Gerardo de la Torre, Nina Mutalifu, Maestro Richard Cordova, José Luis Maldonado, Maria Brea, Te Yu Huang, and John Kim

"It is with no small degree of embarrassment that we confess to not appreciating the charms of Verdi's final opera--not until tonight, that is.  Under the stewardship of Artistic Director Martina Arroyo, the program Prelude to Performance once again provided a matchless evening of entertainment, fun, and artistic merit to a delighted audience as well as performance opportunities to young singers at the cusp of major careers.  Now how does she do all this????

By doing what the Metropolitan Opera, with all its vast resources, cannot.  She hires the best talent in the business to coach and direct the young performers in a concentrated program; the ensemble feeling is evident from one moment to the next. "

The above is a quote from our review of Prelude to Performance's Falstaff ... from 2012, when we had just begun Voce di Meche.  Our opinion of last night's performance is no less enthusiastic. As a matter of fact, one aspect was even better! In the intervening six years we have come to appreciate the opera more and more, having enjoyed productions at Juilliard and at Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble. 

What distinguished last night's performance was the conducting of Maestro Richard Cordova. We were so impressed by his insightful and detailed reading of the score that we went backstage to speak with him. We learned that he studied the score long ago with Maestro Carlo Maria Giulini and it has remained one of his favorite scores. We heard features of the orchestration that we had never heard before, for example, the way the sound of the oboe and the English horn (Slava Znatchenii) knitted and purled around the quartet of female voices in the "laughing" ensemble. Verdi's late life masterpiece revealed similar features in generous measure from one moment to the next.

We have heard moments in Puccini's operas in which the orchestration imitated or underscored the onstage action, but this is the first time we heard it in Falstaff.  Our ears were opened to new insights! The superb musicians were provided by orchestra contractor Marc Szammer.

We began by mentioning our own learning experience but do not mean to shortchange the singers who were uniformly excellent. Falstaff can't work without a larger-than-life artist to portray the titular character and José Luis Maldonado more than filled the bill (and the costume). We think the last time we reviewed him we called him a beast onstage. Great artists need more than a great voice; they need a stage presence that pulls the audience right in and this he did. He was, in turn, arrogant, deceitful, pompous, entrapped, humiliated, and abashed.

The four women who plotted his humiliation were each superb, but together they were outstanding. Nina Mutalifu's Alice Ford was well paired with Molly Burke's Meg Page. As Mistress Quickly, Emily Skilling got to perform one of our favorite scenes, approaching the Fat Knight with ersatz politesse-- "Reverenza!"  This has been running through our head all night long.

In the role of Nanetta, Maria Brea made a fine showing. Her Fenton, Te Yu Huang, stepped into the role at the last minute and truly rose to the occasion.  If it were difficult for Ms. Brea to accommodate to a new Fenton, she did not show it. The pair provided "romantic relief".

And for comic relief we had John Kim as Bardolfo and Christopher Nazarian as Pistola, who created wonderfully funny characters without sacrificing fine singing.

Gerardo de la Torre made a fine Ford and delivered his aria with fine voice and style, earning a big hand. Kyuyoung Lee created a different kind of character, the ridiculous figure of Dr. Caius to whom Ford plans to marry off his daughter.

Ian Campbell's direction was first rate and happily kept the action in the time period and place in which it belongs. We really liked the way he handled the final scene in a somewhat understated manner; it is usually overdone. 

Charles R. Caine designed the opulent and period accurate costumes which we believe we remember from the production of 2012. Steven Horak's wigs and makeup were well suited to the cast.

Sets were simple and augmented by projections on the rear wall, for which no one was credited in the program, but Dante Olivia Smith's lighting worked well.

The excellent chorus was conducted by Assistant Conductor Noby Ishida.

In sum, we can't remember having a better time at this opera than we did last night. We don't need "concept". All we need is a coherent production with great voices and orchestral clarity. We left Kaye Playhouse sort of dancing down 68th St.

(c) meche kroop

IVAI DOES ROMEO AND JULIETTE

Sandra Hamaoui and Nenad Ciča in the Balcony Scene (photo by meche)

 

 

The lavish sets and costumes of The Metropolitan Opera were not to be seen last night; Gounod's luscious orchestrations were not to be heard. What we got instead was a 90 minute adaptation of Roméo et Juliette that was astonishing in its intimacy, immediacy, and Gallic flavor. Truncated as it was, it managed to capture the essence of Shakespeare's tragic tale by virtue of astute casting and committed performances.

In cooperation with The New School Mannes, The International Vocal Arts Institute is winding down their annual New York City training program, which has attracted 80 young artists from 16 countries, all on the brink of major careers,  Over the past three decades, Artistic Director Joan Dornemann and Music Director Paul Nadler have been passing the torch and launching international careers with institutes held all over the world. The three-week long NYC Institute is presently winding down after several master classes and performances, all open to the public.

The libretto of Gounod's 1867 masterpiece, adapted by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Shakespeare's tragedy, wisely focuses on the plight of the "star-cross'd lovers" with several themes from Shakespeare's play eliminated.  Last night's performance trimmed things down still further, eliminating the page Stefano, the favored suitor Paris, and the choruses (although the cast assembled onstage and sang the opening chorus-- and sang it as beautifully as we have ever heard it). The fight scene was replaced by a dramatically affecting narration by the lovely Dietlinde Turban Maazel, holding a bloodied cloth in her hand.

This abridgement brought the titular pair into bold relief and allowed one to concentrate on the gorgeous arias and duets.  Gounod lavished all his melodic gifts on this score and gave us memorable tunes that rest in the memory for a long while.

As Juliette, Sandra Hamaoui's clear-voiced instrument was employed with great artistry and adept vocal coloration. Her prodigious acting skills gave us a totally believable teenager, motivated by youthful hormones, abetted by adolescent recklessness. Her flawless French made every word understood, a great advantage in the absence of titles.

As her Romeo, Serbian tenor Nenad Ciča was youthfully ardent and impulsive and fulfilled his role in a similarly convincing fashion. We would like to hear a bit more "center" in his voice but that will come. His voice balanced well with that of Ms. Hamaoui and the harmonization was gorgeous.

Another voice that impressed us was that of baritone Lawson Anderson whose rich full voice was perfect for the role of Count Capulet, Juliette's father. In spite of his youth, he sang with authority and evinced a strong stage presence.

Baritone Evan Henke did a fine job as Roméo's friend Mercutio, with his "Queen Mab" aria--another singer we would like to hear more of.

Mezzo-soprano Michelle Siemens had a lovely sound and connected well with her role as Gertrude, Juliette's nurse, proving that there is no such thing as a "small role".

This was also the case with tenor Pavel Suliandziga who sang the part of Tybalt and sang it with such unique timbre that we were disappointed when he was killed off so early!

As Frère Laurent, bass Christopher Nazarian acted the part well but sang with a somewhat grainy tone.

Conductor Paul Nadler has beautifully expressive hands and we could imagine an entire orchestra responding; only pianist Dura Jun was there but her playing left nothing to be desired. The portentously grim music of the final scene with its arpeggiated diminished chords were effectively brought out. The recapitulation of the music from the bedroom scene added to the tragedy.

Direction by Omer Ben Seadia was as creative as it could be in a black box theater with nothing onstage but a stepladder and a few chairs. The Venetian masks used for the opening scene (the Capulet's ball) were a wonderful touch. Seeing Juliet hugging the pillow after Roméo departs the nuptial bed was a touch any woman in the audience would immediately understand.

No one was credited with the lighting but we found it absolutely instrumental in creating atmosphere, particularly in the absence of sets. For example, the lighting became somber when Juliet learns that the boy she fell for is from the family of her father's enemy.

If you were so unfortunate as to have missed this wonderful performance, you will have an opportunity to hear Puccini's La Bohème tonight, which promises to be as wonderful. And on Thursday night there will be a rare performance of Leoncavallo's version of the same story, a performance which we are already regretting missing. Hopefully, readers, you will not have a prior commitment and can attend. As for us, we wish we could clone ourselves.  So much culture, so little time!

(c) meche kroop