LOVE TRIANGLE AT THE SAWDUST

Davone Tines, Anthony Roth Costanzo, and Ambur Braid

We are accustomed to gender bending at National Sawdust (Heartbeat Opera's Mozart in Space) but we confess to being rather confused by this production.  Let's see if we can get this straight. The role of Aci (a man in the ancient myth which inspired the story in Book XIII of Ovid's Metamorphoses), was sung by soprano Ambur Braid. The role of the (female) sea nymph Galatea was sung by counter-tenor Anthony Roth Costanzo. No wonder we were confused. There was no confusion about bass-baritone Davone Tines in the role of the monster Polifemo.

If Director Christopher Alden wanted to make a point about gender stereotypes, he did not succeed. The result in our case was to stop trying to figure out who was whom and to just relish the gorgeous Handelian melodies so well played by the Ruckus Ensemble and so well sung by the three artists.

Handel composed this one-act work in impressive Italianate style when he was but 23 years old in 1708. He would go on to compose another more famous version ten years later with an English language libretto. We are glad to have heard the Italian version in which the music and lyrics are as beautifully committed to one another as Galatea was to Aci.

The devotion was so strong that when the jealous Polifemo kills Aci,  Galatea transforms him (her?) into a stream. The musicians, including two theorbos (theorbi?), not only played music but created the most dazzling sound effects. We were not close enough to them to witness the method but the results astonished us. Or perhaps it was the sound design of Mark Grey.

The singing was sensational all around. We first heard Mr. Costanzo about 9 years ago at Manhattan School of Music, before we began writing about opera. He starred as the eponymous Griffelkin and we were totally taken with his startlingly beautiful instrument, the way he employed it, and his stage presence. We have written about him several times since then and his gifts have grown. The unique timbre of his voice ignites all kind of molecular vibrations in our head.

Soprano Ambur Braid is new to our ears but a welcome onstage presence with equivalent facility in her fach. We would be happy to hear her sing again. The timbre of her voice is brilliant and crystalline with great flexibility in the ornamentation.

Bass-baritone Davone Tines, on the other hand, is well known to us from Juilliard where we enjoyed his sturdy voice in numerous productions and particularly appreciated his operetta and zarzuela singing with Stephen Blier's New York Festival of Song. We recall that he also played the violin! What is impressive about his voice, beside the coloration, is the range. At the bottom of the register, the bass is rich and full but there is no shrinking when the tessitura is high.

All three singers provided variety to Handel's music by keen control of dynamics. There were times when the vocal line was spun out like a fine silken thread, causing us to hold our breath. So we would have to declare the evening 100% successful in its musical values.

As far as the production goes, we had difficulty relating to it. As it opened, Aci and Galatea were two janitors wearing what appeared to be surgical scrub suits. Costuming was by Terese Wadden. They were pushing brooms and polishing the back wall of the set (design by Paul Tate dePoo III) which was a projection of tiny squares with designs related to the sea--boats, fish, etc.  There was nothing else onstage but a large bathtub. Mark Grey is credited as sound and video designer.

If we failed to appreciate the perplexing concept of Mr. Alden, it did not spoil our pleasure in hearing three magnificent voices filling our ears with music.

(c) meche kroop

A NIGHT AT THE OPERETTA

Steven Blier and Friends

Steven Blier's artistic generosity and modest demeanor hide the fact that he is a most successful impressario; indeed his many NYFOS evenings have broadened our own appreciation for works at the fringes of the opera world.  Last night at Henry's on the Upper West Side,  he put together a delightful program of songs from operettas both native and foreign, using the wealth of talent available at The Juilliard School.  One would never suspect that the singers are students; we have seen and heard professionals whose talents fall way short of what we heard last night.  The good news is that next season Henry's will play host to an entire NYFOS series!

Raquel González portrayed the femme fatale in "Ich schenk' mein Herz" from Carl Millöcker's Die Dubarry, captivating the audience as well as the five gentlemen of the cast.  Next she sang a duet with Nathan Haller from Lehár's "Die lustige Witwe".  Miles Mykkanen sang "There Isn't One Girl in the World for Me" from Jerome Kern's Sitting Pretty, subtly coloring his timbre and varying his vibrato to sound like a recording of that period.

"Je suis Lazuli" from Chabrier's L'Etoile was sung in the best of French from the very French Virginie Verrez.  Philip Stoddard donned a silly rajah's turban for the amusing "Chant birman" from Messager's  L'Amour masqué; what was most remarkable was that he gave the rajah's nonsense language a French accent.  Absolutely hilarious.

Rachel Wilson infused her zarzuela number with a pinch of sazón; Barbieri's El barberillo de Lavapiés is a zarzuela we long to hear in its entirety.  A splendid duet with some lightning fast patter was performed by Kyle Bielfield and Davone Tines from another zarzuela entitled La del manojo de rosas by Sorozábal; it involved a humorous dispute between two men courting the same woman.

Simone Easthope sang "The Amorous Goldfish" from Sidney Jones' The Geisha and Kyle Bielfield sang "Je suis gai" from Offenbach's La Belle Hélène, perhaps the most famous of the operettas on the program.  The seasonal duet "April Snow" from Romberg's Up in Central Park was sung by Rachel Wilson and Nathan Haller.  The program ended with John Philip Sousa's humorous "Against the Spanish Army" from El Capitan.  Somehow we never knew that the famous composer of marches wrote an operetta!

Throughout this generous evening, Mr. Blier narrated from the piano, letting the audience in on the plot and characters.  It was just one of those evenings that you wish would never end.  Sadly, it is over and these talented performers are leaving for summer programs elsewhere.  But Mr. Blier is not going anywhere and we will be enjoying his exploration into unusual vocal music tonight and on May 13th.  You should as well!

© meche kroop

RAMEAU BY JUILLIARD 415

Jean-Philippe Rameau

Our sole exposure to Rameau's operas had been a delightful performance of Platée at the New York City Opera in 2004 and a somewhat less delightful one at the Santa Fe Opera in 2007.  We had enjoyed the music and therefore looked forward to hearing more of it last night when Juilliard 415, a period instrument group directed by Robert Mealy (who plays first violin in the ensemble) presented excerpts from two of his other operas.  The first half of the program was devoted to the 1737 Castor et Pollux and the second half to the 1739 Dardanus, both having been written before Platée.

The ensemble comprises mostly strings with a harpsichord, a pair of flutes, a pair of oboes and a pair of bassoons, none of which resemble their modern counterparts.  A theorbo was also featured which resembles nothing.  Rameau was considered radical in his day and made notable advances over the music of Lully.  He produced a wealth of instrumental music but did not start composing operas until the age of 50.  We found much to like in his daring harmonies and wide variation of mood in the dance forms which made up much of the sequence of numbers.  We confess to ignorance of Passepieds, Tambourins, Rigaudons, Gavottes and Chaconnes but would have been happy to have seen one of the city's baroque dance companies illustrate them.

There was no such lack in the vocal department.  Sopranos Pureum Jo and Mary Feminear, baritone John Brancy and bass-baritone Davone Tines performed with skill and emotional investment.  Most of the arias were laments but some were joyful.  The end result was a most pleasant evening and a feeling of having only scratched the surface of this major musical force.

(c) meche kroop

JUILLIARD'S BLACK BOX

There are a number of small opera companies in New York that would do well to consider producing chamber opera but Juilliard Opera actually presents them in the small Rosemary and Meredith Willson Theater.  Artists from Juilliard Opera, mostly graduate students with ample performing experience and enough talent to have won multiple awards and grants, have the gifts and the enthusiasm to bring to light some works that are rarely seen and heard.

Last night two very unusual works were presented--Benjamin Britten's 1964 work Curlew River and Ralph Vaughn Williams' 1927 work Riders to the Sea.  Britten wrote Curlew River as one of three church parables; it is a story of healing and redemption.  The libretto by William Plomer is based upon a Noh play written by Sumidagawa in the 15th c. about a Ferryman who transports a group of pilgrims, a traveler and a madwoman across the river to the grave of a child who died there; the grave has become a sacred spot and famous for healing.  Britten's music is highly original and influenced by Japanese instruments. 

The Madwoman, a "skirt" role created for Peter Pears, was sung by tenor Kyle Bielfield; his sweet voice and dramatic skills emphasized the woman's pain, sorrow, bizarreness and outsider status, a favorite theme of Britten's.  The composer's use of the flute (here played by Daniel James) to represent her character reminded us of Lucia di Lammermoor's mad scene.

The role of the Ferryman was taken by baritone Tobias Greenhalgh whose rich baritone and ease in acting were more than adequate to create a believable character.  The instrument who represented him was the French Horn, played by Jordan James.  The Traveler was sung by another excellent baritone Emmett O'Hanlon, of whom we hope to hear more.  Bass-baritone Davone Tines used the depth of his voice to fine advantage as the Narrator.

As is traditional in Noh theater, all the major roles were taken by men with the exception of the spirit of the dead boy which was movingly sung by soprano Ying Fang.  The chorus of male pilgrims had such fine diction that one couldn't complain of missing a single word.

Aside from the flute and horn, the work was scored for viola (Sara Ordonez),  double bass (Zachary Green), percussion (Jeremy Smith), organ (Julius Abrahams) and harp (Margaret Davis)--all member of the outstanding Juilliard Orchestra.

Alexis Distler's simple setting, which served for both operas, was spare and effective.  Performed in the round, there were two low platforms; one served as the ferry, the other as a gravesite.  Costumes by Sydney Maresca were simple casual street attire with bare feet.  Only the spirit of the boy had a strongly Japanese look with long pants legs that trailed off behind Ms. Fang as she walked.

The second opera, Riders to the Sea, made use of a libretto based on J.M. Synge's play of the same title.  It was clear that Mr. Williams' attempted to create a vocal line that reflected the peculiar sentence structure and lilt of the Irish dialect but this was not entirely successful.  Mark Shapiro conducted the work and the lone piano was played by Adam Nielsen.  We wondered whether the music might have sounded better with the orchestral colors intact.  As performed, it felt more like a play with music than an opera.

The powerful singing compensated for the lack of interest in the music.  Mezzo Lacey Jo Benter has a wonderful chocolatey sound and sufficient acting chops to involve us in the unremitting grief of a mother who has already lost husband, father-in-law and four sons to the sea--and in the course of the work is to lose her last two boys.  Her wordless lament and the ending dirge, in which she is joined by a female chorus, left us close to tears.  Her two daughters were portrayed by sopranos Simone Easthope and Laura Mixter and they too sang superbly and conveyed the tragedy that left us feeling devastated by the end of the work.  The last son was finely sung by the aforementioned Mr. O'Hanlon.

The evening was directed by John Giampietro whose blocking was always effective and never obvious.  These were risky works to put on stage and could not have been done better.  Although done in the round, there was never a time when we felt behind the action.  Rather we felt a part of it.  Perhaps that's why we left with tears in our eyes.

(c) meche kroop