REVENGE OF THE BAT

Stephen Carroll, Devon Guthrie, and Kurt Streit in Santa Fe Opera's production of Die Fledermaus

The other night we enjoyed a delicious "Ile Flottante" for dessert at Olivier.  It was a puffy ball of soft meringue,  light and airy, floating on a pool of delicious sweet custard. It left us smiling and satisfied. It is that image that kept coming to mind during Johann Strauss' delightful opera as presented by Santa Fe Opera.

Credit for this delight can be shared by the exemplary cast, all of whom possessed impressive comic chops, and a delightful production that emphasized the frivolous French farce nature of the work. The preamble to the story is that Herr Eisenstein (tenor Kurt Streit) once played a nasty prank on his friend Dr. Falke (baritone Joshua Hopkins). abandoning the drunken doctor on a park bench one night in full bat costume.

Dr. Falke has arranged an elaborate revenge, inviting Eisenstein to a fancy masked ball hosted by the eccentric aristocrat Prince Orlovsky (mezzo Susan Graham in travesti and very very funny). Eisenstein is quite a flirt and seizes the invitation, even though he is supposed to report to jail for a brief sentence that has been extended by the supposed stupidity of his lawyer Dr. Blind (Apprentice Singer tenor Stephen Carroll).

Dr. Falke's plot will not only exact revenge but will be a source of "innocent merriment" for the bored Prince. He has invited Eisenstein's wife Rosalinda (the superlative soprano Devon Guthrie) who will pretend to be an Hungarian countess and seduce her clueless husband.  He has also invited Adele, the Eisenstein's pretentious chambermaid (splendid soprano Jane Archibald), who will pretend to be a Russian actress.

Ms. Archibald dazzled in her "laughing song" and Ms. Guthrie knocked our socks off with her paean to her "Hungarian homeland". All of the coloratura was finely rendered and as exciting as could be.

Bass-baritone David Govertsen was excellent in the role of Frank, the Warden of the jail.  He also is at the party, pretending to be a French Chevalier and speaking ridiculous pidgin French with Eisenstein who was pretending to be a Marquis.

In the role of the jailer Frosch, we had the bass-baritone Kevin Burdette. We have always enjoyed his singing but never knew how totally hilarious he could be. His performance in the final act was filled with pratfalls and sight-gags.

As the Italian Tenor, Dimitri Pittas serenaded Rosalinda in Act I and went to jail in place of her husband.

Adele's sister Ida was finely performed by Apprentice Singer soprano Adelaide Boedecker.  Everyone performed as a finely tuned ensemble, giving the work a fine unity.

Maestro Nicholas Carter wielded his baton with panache and the lively waltzes kept us swaying in our seat. Ned Canty's direction kept things moving at break-neck pace. Zack Brown and Christianne Meyers' Costume Design was perfectly suited to late 19th c. Vienna when Waltz was King.  Allen Moyer's sets were exactly right.  Act I suggested an upper class Viennese home; Act II recreated a splendid palace ballroom with all kinds of hanky-panky going on.  The jail of Act III was also true to time and place.

Sean Curran's choreography featured a quartet of ballet dancers performing what resembled a Viennese interpretation of the French Can-Can. Risque for sure but not too risque if you want to bring your youngsters. The young man in the row behind us stayed awake, didn't wriggle, and had a wonderful time, as he told us after the performance.

As we have come to expect, Susanne Sheston's chorus of Apprentice Singers performed admirably and looked sensational in the ballroom scene.

Regular readers know that we always have a little quibble, even when we love a performance.  Our quibble for this production is that it was sung in English. We greatly prefer the original German, although we admit that the singers' diction could not be faulted. Our favorite way to hear this operetta is with English dialogue and German singing. The translation and additional dialogue seemed to suit the audience, even when it didn't pass our test!

(c) meche kroop

WEST SIDE STORY COMES TO THE EAST SIDE

Christopher Cano, Dimitri Pittas, and Jennifer Johnson Cano

The final piece on the program of yesterday's George London recital was the duet from Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story with mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnson Cano singing the role of Maria and tenor Dimitri Pittas singing the role of Tony in "Tonight". Stephen Sondheim's words perfectly expressed the rapture of new love and Bernstein's luscious melody felt just right played by the versatile pianist Christopher Cano.

There was no encore but this was the perfect number to send the audience out happily humming. Shall we sulk because this was the end of a season of glorious recitals presented at the Morgan Library by the George London Foundation? No! We prefer to exult over our memories of this terrific season and the exciting program already set for next season, which we will reveal at the end of our review.  Hang in there!

We have been writing about Ms. Cano for at least three years now. Her fame onstage is richly deserved and well-earned. She seems to have a splendid partnership with her husband Christopher; the two share an emotional connection with each other and with the music they choose. It is always a welcome event to hear them together in recital.

The roundness of tone and fine technique have been recognized and celebrated by the Metropolitan Opera National Council, the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, and the Richard Tucker Foundation, as well as the George London Foundation. But what makes us want to stand up and sing (her praises) is her gift for storytelling. The drama is operatic in scope and makes each song a deep emotional experience for the listener.

One of our favorite Hugo Wolf songs is "Der Feuerreiter" and this is the first time there was no doubt about the malicious intention of the subject of the song and his horrific end. Mr. Cano's piano joined Ms. Cano's voice in horrifying reciprocity. We liked the change of color in the final verse.

Another of our favorite Wolf songs is the sorrowful "Das Verlassene Mägdlein" which we just heard two days ago. The artistic couple took it at a very slow tempo, suitable to the depressed state of the abandoned girl. The lighthearted "Begegnung" allowed Mr. Cano to create quite a storm in the piano.

His magic fingers were able to bring the nightingale right into the theater in "La maja y el ruiseñor", a very fine song by Enrique Granados. Ms. Cano's Spanish was just as excellent as her German.

Jonathan Dove did well in his choice of text for Three Tennyson Songs, the settings of which were far more musical than most contemporary compositions. Ms. Cano's English diction and fine phrasing made excellent sense of the text.  Our personal favorite was "The Sailor-Boy" with its A-B-A-B rhyme scheme--an exuberant tale of a young man's thirst for adventure on the high seas.

In an interesting and probably coincidental bit of programming, tenor Dimiti Pittas had as his collaborative pianist his very own wife. If the name Leah Edwards sounds familiar to you, you may have been acquainted with her through the world of gymnastics, dance, Broadway, or opera. Yesterday she wore her pianist hat and we were most pleased with her stylish performance.

We have enjoyed Mr. Pittas onstage at The Metropolitan Opera and The Santa Fe Opera. We still remember his moving performance as Macduff in an otherwise distasteful production of Verdi's Macbeth. We wish we could say that we enjoyed him as much as a lieder singer.

Not every opera singer has the requisite skills for the art song. Mr. Pittas' approach failed to take into account the size and dry acoustics of the theater at The Morgan Library. He seemed to be pushing his voice to reach a non-existent family circle! Furthermore, there was a lack of subtlety in the coloration.

The Quatre chansons of Henri Duparc are mainly fragile things requiring a lighter touch.  Perhaps the best of the four was "Le manoir de Rosamonde" in which Ms. Edwards set the frantic mood in the piano and maintained the feeling of suspense throughout.

We were unable to understand Mr. Pittas' French; our Francophone companion was able to pinpoint the deficiencies in his French pronunciation--both of which could easily be corrected.  Like many Americans he overemphasized the "r" and failed to distinguish between "a" and "o". This would not matter much on the opera stage but does matter in lieder singing where the text is crucial.

His German was better than his French but the simple songs by Brahms also demanded a lighter touch. The gossamer delicacy of "Die Mainacht" was completely overwhelmed.

We promised to give you advance notice of next year's recitals so save the dates! On October 9th, Isabel Leonard will be joined by Jared Bybee and that recital should be a major treat. The George London Competition Finals will be held February 17th of 2017 and that is an event no opera lover should miss.

Fans of Paul Appleby (of which we count ourselves one) must wait until March 5th when he will share his program with relative newcomer Sarah Mesko. April 9th will bring us Amber Wagner and Reginald Smith, Jr.

We can barely contain our excitement over getting up close and personal with these superb artists.
The dates are already on our calendar. The singers that give us so much pleasure have all been recipients of awards from The George London Foundation for Singers. The funds have been well spent!

(c) meche kroop

AHHH-PERA

No star in the sky dazzled with as much brilliance as the glamorous Danielle de Niese at the Central Park Summer Stage last night.  A favorite of ours since her days in the Lindemann program, Ms. de Niese just keeps getting better and better, her voice as sparkling as crystal and matched by some mighty fine interpretations and some gracious hosting of the first evening of the Metropolitan Opera's Summer Recital Series.  Our favorite moment was hearing for the first time a concert aria composed by Mozart to accommodate the wishes of a soprano who wanted to replace his "Deh Vieni" from Nozze di Figaro--as Ms. N. explained before singing--"something with a lot of high and low notes".  She was equally fine in several arias and duets by Donizetti, so light-heartedly perfect for a warm summer evening.  Likewise for her "O mio babbino caro" from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi which surely made all the men in the audience want to satisfy her wishes.  The coloratura was always quick and clean.

Partnered by venerable bass-baritone John Del Carlo in duets from Don Pasquale and L'Elisir d'Amore, not a shred of drama was lost; in the absence of sets and costumes, it is all up to the singers and, so good were they that the mind's eye supplied what was missing. Mr. Del Carlo commanded the stage in "A un dottor della mia sorte" from Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Dan Saunders accompanied and the orchestra went unmissed.  Tenor Dimitri Pittas sang with equal  dramatic intensity and some truly lovely diminuendi.  Sadly, he tended to push his high notes instead of floating them.  Not that the attentive audience had any reservations, judging by the applause for his "Una furtiva lagrima".  His duet from L'Elisir d'Amore with Mr. Del Carlo was hilarious.

These outdoor events are generally plagued by much distraction from munchers, quaffers and texters.  Let it be said that even opera neophytes who applauded in the middle of arias were more than usually attentive.  That's what happens when such stellar beings take the stage.  There are more performances to watch out for.  Take note.  Don't say we didn't tell you!

(c) meche kroop