COMMEDIA DELL'ARTE LIVES ON

The cast of DIVAria Productions'  Don Pasquale

This is the third time we have had the pleasure of reviewing a DIVAria production and we left thinking that with directors like Anton Armendariz Diaz on "team opera", we do not have to worry about opera's future. 

Yes, we know that The Metropolitan Opera is trashing its beloved productions and losing subscribers en masse.  Yes, we know that the reborn New York City Opera is floundering due to poor artistic choices and inadequate marketing. Yes, we know that DiCapo Opera went under.  But, big but here, New York is replete with small companies that are redefining opera for new audiences with fresh ideas and presenting them in unexpected venues.

Last night we attended a production of Donizetti's 1843 opera buffa Don Pasquale that had excellent musical values and high spirits to spare, delighting the youthful audience and this reviewer.  Musical Director Fabio Bezuti performed at the piano in a reduced score which included two violins and a cello. The small group captured all of Donizetti's effervescence right from the overture.

Mr. Diaz' direction went a long way toward making up for the lack of titles. With our minimal Italian vocabulary and the dramatic skills of the cast, we knew exactly what was happening. Additionally, there was a narrator invented by Mr. Diaz with dialogue written by himself and Andrew Bell. This was no ordinary narrator but the chief servant in Don Pasquale's home who gossiped about the crazy situation and filled in the points of the plot. This non-singing role was taken by Christen Mathern who did a swell job.

The singing was uniformly up to snuff. Arias, duets, trios and quartets all came off well. Voices were well balanced in every case.

In the title role we had Jorge Ocasio whose resonant bass and fine comic timing excelled. His interpretation of the role was short on "nasty" and "pathetic", rather evoking sympathy for this poor old man who wants to recapture his youth by marrying a young woman. In an invented scene, choreographer Jody Oberfelder had him dancing in fantasy with a quartet of young women in poodle skirts, emphasizing the memories an old man would have of his youth. His performance was the very embodiment of Pantalone.

As Norina, Ashley Bell sang with bright coloratura.  This is the third time we have reviewed her performances and remain impressed. In keeping with the commedia dell'arte origins of the libretto, the acting was over the top. In a plot to get around the "foolish old man" character, she is obliged to masquerade as Sofronia, a shy convent girl who changes into a hellion once the marriage contract is signed. Ms. Bell handled the transformation well with some help by costume changes. She was the embodiment of the wily Columbina.

The "Scapino" role of Dr. Malatesta was wonderfully sung and acted by baritone Jim Wright who conveyed chicanery to spare, and the "Pierrot" role of Ernesto, Don Pasquale's nephew, was well sung by tenor David Guzman. This scheming trio treated Don P. so badly that our sympathies were shifted toward the poor old man.

The original 19th c. librettist Giovanni Ruffini removed his name from the score, so distressed was he by Donizetti's dominance. But the story is a variation of a story dating back to 16th c. Italy and associated with carnevale. And so, in keeping with tradition, Mr. Diaz has interpreted the tale in his own fashion. That it spoke to our need to see ourselves in all of our clichéd glory was made evident by the abundant laughter and applause.

Aren't we all a bit foolish? a bit devious? a bit gullible?

(c) meche kroop

LUCIA!

Jamilyn Manning-White (photo by Russ Rowland)

There is a very fine line between bringing new insights to a work from the 19th c. and trashing it. We are pleased to report that Heartbeat Opera, one of our favorite small opera companies,  belongs to the former category.  Last night we marveled at the insightful adaptation of Donizetti's masterpiece Lucia di Lammermoor. More than an adaptation, we consider it a distillation of the essence of Salvadore Cammarano's libretto and a superb introduction to the opera.

The house was packed for opening night of the festival which includes lots of goodies, as you may learn on their website, www.heartbeatopera.org. It did our heart good to see an audience of 20-somethings thrilling to Donizetti's score in a unique arrangement by Daniel Schlosberg featuring a string quartet, guitar, clarinet, and some dazzling percussion by wizard Bill Solomon.

As directed by Louisa Proske (Co-Artistic Director of Heartbeat Opera), crucial scenes of the story are presented as flashbacks or fantasies of the poor heroine who appears in a hospital bed, struggling against her restraints.  Her reality appears upstage behind a sheer curtain with the memories taking place downstage.

All the crucial scenes were there. We loved the scene taking place at the fountain between Lucia and her friend Alisa in which Lucia frightens Alisa with her ghost story.  One can already see the unbalanced nature that will be pushed over the edge by the manipulations of her brother Enrico; he has been alerted by his captain of the guard Normanno of her secret rendez-vous with Enrico's enemy Edgardo.  Her only supporter is Raimondo, the family confessor, but he too has been deceived and abandons her to a forced marriage with Arturo, chosen for political reasons.

As the eponymous heroine, one could not ask for a better interpreter than Jamilyn Manning-White whose prodigious skills with the fioritura of the bel canto period were matched by her dramatic artistry. Our heart broke for this victim of male privilege.

Tenor David Guzman made a fine romantic partner as Edgardo; baritone Matthew Singer conveyed all the brutality of a selfish brother whose deviousness was informed by political desperation. John Taylor Ward was effective as Raimondo and Monica Soto-Gil made an excellent impression as Lucia's friend Alisa.

Maestro Schlosberg conducted from the piano and his arrangement brought out many interesting voices in the score. We were particularly taken by the wizardry of percussionist Bill Solomon who created sounds to rival that of the glass harmonica one never gets to hear.

Scenic Designer Reid Thompson did much with little.  Costumes by Beth Goldenberg were contemporary.

Although the two operas of the festival were presented sequentially on opening night, the rest of the week permits one to see just one at a time. We wish we could be as enthusiastic about Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas but we cannot. The baroque music was gorgeous. Carla Jablonski's Dido sang beautifully. John Taylor Ward's Aeneas fulfilled the promise of his smaller role in Lucia.

However, the English diction was so poor, especially on the part of the women singers, that we felt we were hearing an opera in a language with which we were only slightly familiar.  It was like listening to Russian and recognizing a word here and there.

Nothing about the story was illuminated and the bizarre movements made no sense to us. We sat there totally baffled by the storytelling. There were so-called witches and sorceresses waving branches, occupying a bathtub and masturbating against push-brooms.  This didn't add up to anything meaningful.  Only "Dido's Lament" at the conclusion was meaningful.  We just couldn't figure out what director Ethan Heard (Co-Artistic Director) was going for.

So...we give an unqualified YEA to Lucia and a NAY to Dido. See it at your own risk!

(c) meche kroop