A DIFFERENT "MOSTLY MOZART"

Charles Gray, Jennifer Zamorano, Allegra Durante, Hannah Madeleine Goodman, and David Serero

Opera fanatics might have gotten their knickers in a twist at last night's production of Mozart's Nozze di Figaro but everyone else, ourself included, had a grand time. Gone were the lengthy intermissions, missing were a few characters, and lengthy recitativi were replaced by English dialogue that advanced the action. We are happy to report that most of the major arias were retained, giving us the opportunity to appreciate some fine singing.

This adaptation was written and directed by baritone David Serero, a larger-than-life character with a larger-than-life personality. Mr. Serero himself took on the part of Figaro and played to the (nonexistent) balcony. If we had been at the Met, his voice would have reached the Family Circle and his acting would have successfully limned his character to the audience thereof.

Mr. Serero likes to put his own spin on things and the dialogue he wrote was peppered with Yiddish expressions. A mysterious figure appeared from the wings at one point, accompanied by a theme from the film The Godfather. This presence represented the sneaky Don Basilio; a photo of this character (actually Mr. Serero with a mobster accent and mafioso costume) can be seen in the carousel of photos on our Facebook page (called Voce di Meche). At another point, Charles Gray's Count Almaviva appeared dressed as Darth Vader, accompanied by appropriate music. That's one way to threaten a wife!

At another point Mr. Serero interpolated the "Figaro Aria" from Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Forget the "fourth wall". Mr. Serero does everything he can to engage the audience and they all adore him; they even sang along at his bidding. A Tom and Jerry cartoon of this aria was projected and reminded us of our very earliest exposure to opera.

If this sounds like your cup of borscht, we urge you to go and have a good time. Make sure you bring an opera "noobie". The one we invited had a swell time.  Not only will you have a great time but you will hear some fine voices.

As the sprightly Susanna, we heard Hannah Madeleine Goodman who was completely convincing as the practical problem-solver, a fine match for her Figaro. She deftly illustrated quite different responses to her beloved fiancé and toward the importuning Count. In what would have been Act IV, her "Deh vieni, non tardar" was beautifully rendered and quite moving, by virtue of some exquisite dynamics.

As the neglected Countess Almaviva, Jennifer Zamorano made her entrance in sunglasses and shopping bags. It was easy to accept her as a woman of dignity, reduced to seeking help from her servant Susanna.  She shone in both arias--"Porgi amor" and "Dove sono", eliciting compassion in the midst of all that hilarity. Her instrument has a lovely vibrato and opens up beautifully in the upper register.

Equally convincing was the Cherubino of Allegra Durante who did justice to both of her arias "Non so piu" and "Voi che sapete". The scene in which the Countess and Susanna dress Cherubino up as a girl wound up on the cutting room floor, along with Marcellina, Dr. Bartolo, and Barbarina. It seems to us to be quite a challenge to retain the thread of the story whilst eliminating all the subplots--but it worked just fine.

As Almaviva, Charles Gray also evinced a different relationship with Susanna and with his wife. He sported a cockeyed white perriwig and satin coat. It was interesting that the male characters were in period dress whilst the female characters were in contemporary attire. Notes to the Count were handled by text with appropriate sound effects, bringing this costume drama right into the 21st c. and adding to the general merriment.

There was no set to speak of but projections sufficed to establish the setting.

The piano score was well played by composer Felix Jarrar who switched readily from Mozart to cinematic score.

Once more, Mr. Serero has done his part in bringing opera to new audiences with his creative slant. This production was held in the comfortable theater of the Center for Jewish History and was presented by The American Sephardi Federation which generously supports these works. He shared with the audience information about Lorenzo Da Ponte, who was Jewish. He related how Da Ponte brought opera to New York City--a tale which was well told by Divaria Productions which we reviewed in May of 2018; it can be read at this link if you are interested. http://www.vocedimeche.reviews/2018/05/don-giovanni-in-new-york.html

There will be a couple additional performances and we hope you will take advantage of the opportunity for some hearty laughter.

We are looking forward to the production of Anne, a musical about Anne Frank which will take place in September.

(c) meche kroop

SHAKESPEARE SURVIVED!

Matthew Zimmerman, Lisa Monde, David Serero, Ashley Brooke Miller, David Mohr, Patrick Clark,
and Felix Jarrar

Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet has survived post-modern productions, filming, ballet, West Side Story,and marionettes. The story is timeless and impresario/baritone David Serero has put his unique individual Jewish spin on the tale of star-crossed lovers, moving the action from Verona to Jerusalem, and pitting the Sephardic Capulets against the Ashkenazic Montagues. Contrary to our pre-performance expectations, they were not hurling matzo balls and falafel balls at each other! 

Frankly, we never thought the two branches of Judaism had any animosity toward one another and an interesting conflict might have been between a Jewish family and an Arab family. But that would have deprived the audience of the pleasure of hearing folk songs from both cultures--the Ashkenazic family sang in Yiddish (which our knowledge of German did not help us understand), and the Sephardic folks sang in what we took to be Ladino, because we caught a few words that sounded at times like Italian and other times like Spanish. There was even a lovely song in Russian which we did not understand but liked a lot.

That Mr. Serero has a devoted audience is undeniable; the entire run was sold out and the standing ovation was generous. Mr. Serero is well known for abridging the classics (both opera and theater) and if this brings people into the theaters and opera houses to get a deeper exposure that is all to the good.

Most of the important speeches were there and Mr. Serero made sure that the basics of the story were told. Minor characters were eliminated as well. Although we didn't understand the music, the interpolated non-Shakespearean dialogue was mostly in Yiddish-peppered English. In any case, we all know the story. The production reminded us of a singspiel.

The costumes were gorgeous, giving Mr. Serero some funny lines at the curtain call about most of the budget going toward the costumes. In place of sets there were appropriate projections. Well known composer/pianist Felix Jarrar slid easily between his own improvisations and the various types of music.

No one minded the injection of humor into this tragedy and most of it came from stereotypes. The very elegant Lady Capulet (portrayed by Lisa Monde) donned a wig and became Romeo's guilt-inducing cheek-pinching Jewish mother. Matthew Zimmerman did double duty as the pugnacious Tybalt and Juliet's stern controlling father who had picked out "the wealthy Mordechai" to be Juliet's husband. Paris was booted right out of the play.

Friar Laurence became Rabbi Laurence who prayed a lot. The role of Romeo's friend Mercutio was well performed by Patrick Clark. And as for the fair Juliet, Ashley Brooke Miller was convincing in her innocence and willfulness.

Mr. Serero himself took the role of the ardent Romeo and garnered most of the laughs with his English dialogue. The sword fights between Tybalt and Mercutio were well executed and ended in Mercutio's death (of course) and the retaliatory fight between Romeo and Tybalt ended in Tybalt's death (of course). We didn't quite get the part where Romeo stabs himself after being banished, but then reappears in the next scene. Neither did our companion.

Mr. Serero made sure that everyone had a great time. What more could one want after all that tragedy, leavened with laughter and tunes? Well, there was more. The evening ended with the cast performing a popular song which was just as unknown to us as the Ladino, Yiddish, and Russian ones; disco dancing filled the stage. That was the one thing we could have lived without as it seemed to undercut the tragic ending.

But Mr. Serero wants everyone to have a good time!  And they did!

Watch out for an upcoming Nozze di Figaro next month, also presented by The American Sephardi Federation at the Center for Jewish History. Mr. Serero was quick to point out the Jewish connection. Lorenzo DaPonte was indeed Jewish. But David, tell us, was he Sephardic or Ashkenazic?

(c) meche kroop

NABUCCO ABBREVIATED

Robin Bradley, Leslie Swanson, David Serero, Javier Ortiz, and Michael Celentano
onstage at the Center for Jewish History in Verdi's Nabucco

That warm feeling we get when hearing Verdi's "Va Pensiero", also known as "The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves" is largely due to Verdi's stirring music and the poetic words of librettist Temistocle Solera. Last night, at the Center for Jewish History, we heard the chorus performed by the five members of the cast of an abbreviated version of Verdi's Nabucco. The opera premiered in 1842 at La Scala, established Verdi's reputation, and has been a part of the repertory ever since.

Presented by The American Sephardi Federation and directed and adapted by baritone David Serero, we heard some fine singing and accompaniment by Shawn Chang, substituting for the orchestra. Although die-hard opera goers might complain about the cuts and lack of orchestra, we enjoyed this version and so did the audience which happily included some youngsters. What a great way to introduce someone to opera. This version was direct and to the point, emphasizing the major arias, eliminating extraneous characters, and telling the story well without any longueurs.

Mr. Serero himself used his powerful baritone well and created a Nebuchadnezzar to be reckoned with. His mad spell, which in the bible lasted for seven years, lasted only about seven bars of music-- but was very convincing! For purposes both dramatic and romantic, operatic libretti take huge liberties with history, much as the stories in the bible take liberties with historical facts.

Nebuchadnezzar was the most long-lasting and powerful king of Babylonia five centuries B.C.E. He did in fact conquer Jerusalem and destroy the temple. In the Book of Daniel, by virtue of Daniel's dream interpretation, he converted to Judaism-- but that is not supported historically. Every culture creates its own legends.

Even the popularity of "Va Pensiero" is surrounded by legend. Indeed it was sung at Verdi's funeral in 1901, but it was not a spontaneous demonstration. It was orchestrated for political reasons. As a matter of fact, its patriotic status probably originated after Italy's reunification. Still, it's an attractive myth that the work motivated Italy's attempts to throw off the yoke of foreign domination. To each his own myth!

The creation of the masterpiece by Verdi and Solera incorporated, as so many operas do, a romance. The Babylonian princess Fenena, well sung last night by mezzo-soprano Robin Bradley, and Ismaele (nephew of the King of Jerusalem) equally well sung by tenor Michael Celentano are having theirs. In the opera, Fenena is used by the Judeans as a hostage, so when Ismaele frees her he is accused of treason.

By far the most difficult role in the opera is that of Abigaille, supposed daughter of Nebuchadnezzar but actually the child of a slave. She has been scorned by Ismaele and wants vengeance. She seizes the crown from Nebuchadnezzar when he has his lapse of sanity. 

By now, dear reader, you must have realized what a challenge this role offers! The gauntlet was taken up by dramatic soprano Leslie Swanson who exhibited the depth of texture of a mezzo-soprano in the lower register and the flexibility and power for the high notes. It was an exciting performance.

The cast was rounded out by the fine bass Javier Ortiz who played the role of Zaccaria the High Priest of the Jews. There were no titles but reading the summary of the plot and picking up a few words in Italian gave us a clear picture of the dramatic arc.

We are always interested in what Mr. Serero has in the works and we heard about a Nozze di Figaro in the pipeline, as well as a Romeo and Juliet based on a Sefardic family at odds with an Ashkenazi family. For those who may not know, these are two branches of the Hebrew tradition created during the diaspora. Forgive us our feeble attempt at humor but we are seeing matzo balls being hurled from one side and felafel balls from the other! We can scarcely wait.

(c) meche kroop

NON GIOVANNI

Charles Gray, Javier Ortiz, Jennifer Allenby, David Serero, Anna Cley, and Pablo Veguilla

We wish we'd been able to review David Serero's Don Giovanni earlier in the run; we'd have advised you to bring all of your opera newbie friends to this 80 minute abbreviated version of our favorite Mozart opera. There were laughs aplenty provided by Mr. Serero's adaptation with recitativi eliminated in favor of English dialogue, replete with jokes.

As a matter of fact, although the music was all Mozart and nothing but Mozart, Lorenzo Da Ponte's libretto received short shrift, which was curious in light of the fact that Mr. Serero's operatic productions favor stories about the Jewish people or which were written by Jewish people. (We don't, however, expect to see Verdi's Nabucco on the modest stage of the Center for Jewish History--not even with the "Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves".) So, the Jewish connection  was based upon the libretto of the Jewish Da Ponte. To honor him, Mr. Serero moved the setting from Seville to Venice, Da Ponte's birthplace. However, he also changed the story a bit.

Mr. Serero is quite a showman and the moment he stepped onstage we immediately thought of POTUS.  Therefore we were not surprised when he did outright imitations of our Liar/seducer in Chief; and they were very good imitations at that, providing lots of laughs for the audience. (There were other references to popular culture as well, but most went over our high-browed head--something about Lady Gaga and Starwars.)

In any case, he threw himself into the part, portraying Don Giovanni as a smarmy cad. He surrounded himself with some excellent singers, ensuring that the brief evening of the major arias, connected by English dialogue, was of musical value to those of us who are not newbies. Sometimes, we girls just want to have fun!

Charles Gray made a very funny Leporello, Don Giovanni's servant and side-kick, bearing an iPad on which he swiped, in order to show Donna Elvira all of his master's conquests in the "Catalogue Aria".  Mr. Gray not only sang well but put all kinds of physical comedy into his portrayal.

The women singers were all excellent.  We heard the strong voiced Anna Cley as the very angry Donna Elvira and Jennifer Allenby as Donna Anna, and a very fine Donna Anna she was. In the role of Zerlina, Yi Wang portrayed her as more innocent than most, making Mr. Serero's vile seducer seem even more vile. He said he was "reeling her in like a fish", which he mimed. 

Her sposo Masetto was portrayed by Javier Ortiz who did double duty as the Commendatore.  There was a funny bit when he was slain and lying on the stage until the next scene and was told by Mr. Serero to get up and get out because his scene was over, and Mr. Ortiz replied that he had fallen asleep.

And finally, Pablo Veguilla took the role of Don Ottavio and did a fine job with "Il mio tesoro". We particularly enjoyed the trio of Donna Anna, Donna Elvira, and Don Ottavio.

The piano reduction was perfectly performed by composer/pianist Felix Jarrar, right from the overture until the end when Mr. Serero jumped offstage into the waiting fires of hell whilst Disney's "That's All Folks" was projected on the rear wall. A good time was had by all.

(c) meche kroop