THE MARTYR OF ANTIOCH

Alexis Cregger, Adam C.J. Klein, William Remmers, Caroline Tye, and Duncan Hartman

We didn't expect to find much of interest in a dramatic oratorio with a religious theme, especially one sung in English. But.  Big but. Where William Remmers goes, we follow. Such is the cred he has built with us after several years of engaging and stimulating productions by Utopia Opera.

The most impressive part of the performance was seeing what Maestro Remmers could achieve with a full orchestra in the sanctuary of Rutgers Presbyterian Church on the Upper West Side. His conducting is astute and highly energetic, and a bit balletic. 

We couldn't help noticing that The Utopia Opera Choir, having sounded rather muddy in the first scene, became suddenly crisp and clean in the second scene when he left the podium (whilst we were dazzled by an outstanding organ solo, performed by Mary Nelson) and focused his conducting attention on the choir.

The setup in the sanctuary put the strings at audience level with winds elevated on the stage and the choir behind. The splendid soloists sang in front of the strings, and therefore behind Mr. Remmers. It all worked just fine.

Although we knew that Arthur Sullivan had written serious music, we never paid much attention to it, since it is rarely heard on symphony programs. When we think of Sullivan, it is generally in connection with his partnership with W.S. Gilbert, with whom he wrote so many wickedly humorous and satirical operettas--works that are often heard on professional stages, not to mention in schools and summer camps.

What a discovery to hear Sullivan's late Romantic style in its full glory. With the help of Gilbert in adapting the poem of Rev. Henry Hart Milman, a work of musical and spiritual value was created.  It premiered as a piece d'occasion at the Leeds Music Festival in 1880 with Mr. Sullivan on the podium; last night was the United States premiere of the orchestral version.

If, dear reader, you are interested in details about the changes wrought by G&S on Milman's text, we refer you to gsarchive.net. Let it be noted that the text is in iambic pentameter; whereas the original is in blank verse. Gilbert ensured that we would have some rhymes to tickle the ear.

The work takes place in Syria in the 3rd c. and involves the martyrdom of Margarita (the daughter of Callias, the Priest of Apollo) who has converted to Christianity. The poem celebrates the steadfastness of her faith as she sacrifices her love for Olybius, the Roman Prefect and probably her life. With 21st c. cynicism, we see it as the stubbornness of a delusion.

As the martyr Margarita, the stunning soprano of Alexis Cregger filled the nave with clear bright sound that thrilled the ear. The sweet tenor instrument of Adam C.J.Klein was just right for his aria "Come, Margarita, come!" in Scene 1; he became more forceful in Scene 3 when he tried to persuade Margarita, and he darkened the color appropriately for their confrontation when she refused to relent.

Duncan Hartman's dark bass was perfect for the role of Callias, the pompous priest of Apollo, who was understandably stentorian when angry at his daughter's betrayal of the family faith. Their confrontation was rather chilling and made for a fine duet.

Utopia Opera regular Caroline Tye used her rich chocolatey mezzo-soprano in the role of Julia, the speaker of the choir. She colored her voice even darker as she opined that Margarita would die. If we are not mistaken, this role was not in the original poem but was created by G&S. And we are glad they did!

Baritone Kevin Miller sang well in the small role of Fabius, Bishop of Antioch. We liked the mellow sound of his voice.

Except for the choir, all the soloists enunciated clearly so that the text could be understood. We never take that skill for granted.

We enjoyed Evan Chertok's gusto on the timpani as well as Mr. Remmers' picking up some of the percussion by striking the triangle. We have never before seen a conductor do so.

Mélanie Genin's harp solo accompanying Margarita's ode to her lyre was a special treat, as was the cello solo in scene 2.

It was a fine evening, full of surprises and enlightenment. We love to be surprised and we love to be enlightened.

(c) meche kroop

IT WOULD BE A CRIME TO MISS!

Sarah Marvel Bleasdale, Joshua Miller, Duncan Harman, and David Pasteelnick in Utopia Opera's production of Sondheim's Assassins

Stephen Sondheim's 1990 musical Assassins was originally presented Off-Broadway by Playwrights Horizons (we were there) and remounted on Broadway in 2004, garnering 5 Tony awards. It is just as relevant today, if not more so, largely due to the intransigence of the NRA and the vehemence of their followers.

Utopia Opera's decision to present it as their season opener was based, as these decisions are, on votes from the audience. This show got more votes than any other show that was nominated. 

Although some of Sondheim's oeuvre seem quite kin to opera, this one is more like a revue. Although the topic of presidential assassination is a highly serious one, the show gives it a gloss of black humor and Sondheim's music is unmatchable. His dialogue is twice as clever as it needs to be.

With slim biographical data to go on, the characters in the show are fully realized by John Weidman's excellent book: paranoid schizophrenics, disaffected immigrants, woefully misguided idealists, pathetic victims of an exploitative society, and all-around loonies.

The parts were brilliantly cast, effectively enacted, and well sung by a cast that seemed to bring serious vocal training from both the operatic camp and the Broadway camp. Happily, the voices were not amplified.

The versatile William Remmers stepped down from the podium to assume the role of The Proprietor in vaudeville guise, ready to provide guns to the would-be killers. It was a knock-out characterization.

The Balladeer who tells the story of the American Dream and narrates the proceedings was portrayed by Chazmond J. Peacock, in fine voice.

Joshua Miller made a strong impression as John Wilkes Booth--not only in the scene in which he is wounded and tries to justify his murder of President Lincoln, but later when he "inspires" and goads the others to attempt their heinous acts. Of all the performers, his English diction stood out.  We missed not a single word.

Lauren Gismondi made a marvelous Emma Goldman, both looking and sounding exactly right. Her scene with Leon Czolgosz (a fine Duncan Hartman), the killer of William McKinley, was one of our favorites.

For humor we had Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme (Kayla Ryan Walsh) carrying on about her "love affair" with Charles Manson, and Sara Jane Moore (Sarah Marvel Bleasdale gleefully interacting, then hilariously messing up their intended assassination of President Gerald Ford.

Matthew Hughes portrayed the pathetic Giuseppe Zangara who tried to kill FDR, and David Pasteelnick enacted the manic Charles Guiteau who did away with James Garfield. He laughed all the way to the hangman's noose.

Michael Matthias excelled as the patently delusional Sam Byck who failed to rid us of Richard Nixon. Zachary Barnes was fine as John Hinckley, Jr. who tried to kill President Ronald Reagan to make an impression on Jodie Foster!  Jeff Goble was excellent as the weak-willed and suicidal Lee Harvey Oswald, falling under the influence of John Wilkes Booth's spirit.

The 13-piece orchestra, heavy on the brass, was conducted by Benjamin Weiss. Sondheim made good use of the American idiom and at one point quoted Leonard Bernstein. Although the instrumental balance was fine, we felt the volume frequently overpowered the voices, including Mr. Remmers' introduction.

It is also fair to point out that the enunciation was not always as clear as it might have been, particularly on the part of The Balladeer. Sondheim's lyrics are so important that we wanted to hear every word. It occurs to us that surtitles are just as important for English as they are for foreign languages.

Utopia Opera is a perfect example of substituting creativity and imagination for a big budget; they have done so much with paltry resources. There was no scenery to speak of but the costuming (Eric Lamp and Angel Betancourt) seemed quite apropos to the periods. It was quite a challenge to mount a show like this and much credit goes to the company for doing such a fine job. Mr. Remmers himself directed.

It is arguably the job of the artist to hold a mirror up to society and reflect us back to ourselves.  At this performance we felt entertained, enlightened, squeamish, and a bit ashamed of our violent history.  We need to experience our dark side before we can change it. The show has been produced overseas and we can only imagine how Europeans must judge our outmoded infatuation with firearms and revenge.

There will be two shows today, matinée and evening--similarly on Sunday. Can you allow yourself to be entertained and changed at the same time?

(c) meche kroop

THIS MISS IS A HIT but THE HIT IS AMISS

Elvira and Mustafà's Harem in Utopia Opera's L'Italiana in Algeri

Stage Director and Conductor William Remmers had a radical concept for Rossini's first attempt at comedy--his 1813 L'Italiana in Algeri.  He achieved consistency within this concept, that of emphasizing the terrorism and violence, but paid the price of sacrificing the comedy.  In his version, Mustafà is not the corpulent buffone he was meant to be but a lean, mean and violent military dictator.  When Angelo Anelli wrote the libretto, all Europe was fascinated by all things Turkish, which meant the Ottoman Empire, actually already in decline.  Algeria at that time was part of the Empire, hence the title.

But updating the opera to the 20th c. brought it perilously close to our own time and the military costumes and assault rifles became an uncomfortable reminder of the Age of Terrorism, making laughter difficult.  This Bey was not a buffoon; the portrayal made it difficult to accept his being so easily tricked by the wily Isabella.

Sung by the radiant mezzo Caroline Tye, Isabella is emblematic of the modern woman and her feminine wiles contrasted beautifully with the submissive nature of Mustafà's rejected wife Elvira, sung by sparkling soprano Patricia Vital and her handmaiden Zulma, winningly sung by mezzo-soprano Kristin Roney.  

All three women sang superbly with excellent diction and enviable control of the embellishments.  Their skill at bel canto singing was impressive and made the evening a worthwhile one.  We loved the way Ms. Tye sang "Cruda sorte....Amor tiranno" and "Per lui che adoro", which we haven't enjoyed so much since Stephanie Blythe sang it in Santa Fe a dozen years ago!

One male role stood out as well, that of Taddeo, Isabella's traveling companion.  Jia-jun Hong exhibited admirable comedic skills as well as a fine voice which he used well. Still very young (perhaps as young as Rossini was when he composed this dramma giocoso) he is a talent to watch.

We wish we could have enjoyed the other male leads as well.  Bass Duncan Hartman sang reasonably well in spite of a vocal indisposition but seemed cast to fulfill Mr. Remmers' concept. He just didn't match the ridiculous figure we wanted to see. 

Tenor Chad Cygan neither looked like a romantic hero that the desirable Isabella would have gone searching for nor did he have the vocal chops for the role.  He handled the rapid-fire patter quite well and most of the recitativi but the upper half of his register was uncomfortably and unattractively strained.  This is regrettable since Rossini's melodies are so enchanting.

Roman Laba made a fine captain of the army, wearing a red fez.  Eric Lamp and Victor Ziccardi doubled as soldiers and slaves. They made some fine moves in a little dance. Jordana Rose, Erica Koehring and Winnie Nieh played members of the harem.

The manic energy of the ensembles with which Rossini generally ends each act were quite well done vocally but disturbing dramatically.  Act I ended in a virtual bloodbath with characters all attacking each other with guns, knives and robes.  When Act II began, all the characters wore bloody bandages, braces and crutches.  EWWW! Lindoro looked like Quasimodo.

The 17 member orchestra played well for the most part with occasional lapses of intonation.  We loved the pizzicato opening of the exciting overture after which the melody gets tossed around by the winds. Samuel Marques played some fine solos on the clarinet and Susan Morton was superb on the harpsichord. Mr. Remmers conducted with his customary gusto.

With audience-selected operas and a minuscule budget, it is amazing what Mr. Remmers can pull together.  There was, as usual, no set; costumes probably were assembled from the singers' very own closets.  

The feisty Utopia Opera has a most unusual double bill coming up in March.  Watch for it!  You may wish to vote online for next year's operas.  Participate!

© meche kroop