GESAMTKUNSTWERK AT NATIONAL SAWDUST

 Silvia Santinelli, Ashley Galvani Bell, and Maestro Pedro Halffter

We struggled to find a word to describe Klara, the compelling performance piece we attended last night at National Sawdust, presented by Opera Hispanica. There was very little operatic about it and very little Hispanic. The music and words were those of Pedro Halffter, renowned Spanish composer/conductor. The lead character was portrayed by soprano Ashley Bell, well known to us from her productions at DIVAria Productions, which also collaborated with Opera Hispanica on this work. 

As regular readers are aware, we choose not to prepare for attending a performance, preferring to allow the work to speak for itself. We would say that Klara spoke for itself loudly and (sometimes) clearly. Why it was called "an Opera in four Haikus" we know not. The four haikus on the program struck us as obscure and unrelated to the work we saw.

Some digging around the internet post-performance led us to a prize-winning novel by Kazuo Ishiguro entitled Klara and the Sun; it tells the story of an android purchased by a family as a companion to their daughter, exploring the relationship between the android, the daughter, her mother, and the daughter's male friend. Although we have not read the novel, as we understand it, themes of love and consciousness are explored in a way that is touching and meaningful. We could easily see it as an animated film from Gibli Studios.

Clearly Halffter was inspired by this theme although no attempt was made to follow the story in any literal sense. There was a scene in which Ms. Bell became self-aware and began to mirror the gestures of the three dancers (Laura Henning, Amanda Lamotte, and Jordana Rosenberg) that provided a framework for the story of awakening consciousness. We did indeed feel touched.

We enjoyed Halffter's music which produced some surprising associations. The opening bars brought to mind the opening bars of Wagner's Das Rheingold for reasons we cannot explain. Perhaps a musicologist could. As the music grew in texture and complexity, we were reminded of the repetitiveness and key changes of Philip Glass and Steve Reich. Not that the work was derivative in any way; it struck us as original. Duo pianos were played by Silvia Santinelli and Maestro Halffter himself.

The choreography and direction were by Richard Stafford and, although modern dance is not our first terpsichorean choice, it suited the work well. Eric Lamp's costumes were similarly a propos, with white pants suits yielding, by means of stepwise undressing, to metalicized body suits of different colors.

John Farrell's set design was similarly effective with nothing onstage but an elevated square platform encased in sheer white panels. Ms. Bell only emerged from under a pile of white fabric after the three dancers danced round about the platform. Presumably she represented artificial intelligence and the story Mr. Stafford told was of her awakening to a form of consciousness by imitation. There was another touching scene in which one of the dancers fell and Ms. Bell expressed compassion and physical caring. Ms. Bell has quite the gift for conveying emotion through facial expression and body movement. There were also video projections for which Mr. Farrell is credited but we found them nothing more than a distraction.

We have heard Ms. Bell sing on a number of prior occasions and have had only good things to say about her voice. Last night did nothing to change our positive opinion although this work did not give her much to sing. The tessitura was sufficiently high that we had difficulty making out much beyond "I wish".

Following the performance a panel discussion, organized by Ms. Bell, was held. We had the opportunity to hear some opinions about artificial intelligence shared by the most engaging Mo. Halffter, a thoughtful Hindu monk, and two NYU professors. We have our own opinions which we will not share here so it was stimulating to hear what some experts had to say. In sum, the evening offered both artistic and intellectual value.

© meche kroop

THE STORY OF HARRIET TUBMAN

Lindell Carter, MaKayla McDonald, William Remmers, Markel Reed, Karmesha Peake, and Virdell Williams in Thea Musgrave's "The Story of Harriet Tubman"

The story must be told and who better to stage it than William Remmers' Utopia Opera!  Maestro Remmers has never shrunk from a challenge and audience members who voted for this work never shrink from providing him with these challenges. So this, his eighth season, began with a chamber reduction of Ms. Musgraves grand opera Harriet, the Woman Called Moses, which premiered at Virginia Opera in 1985.

With ongoing assistance from the composer, Julian Grant accomplished the orchestration for three strings, three winds, percussion and keyboard, conducted by Maestro Remmers. Direction by Viktoria I.V. King was effective in telling the story, which left us inspired and moved.

Harriet Tubman was a slave who escaped from slavery and sacrificed her personal happiness and safety to return to the south 18 times to rescue over 300 slaves over the Underground Railroad, aided by the Quaker abolitionist Mr. Garrett, here portrayed by Andrew Dwan.

The work opened strongly with Harriet's father Ben (portrayed magnificently by the deep voiced Virdell Williams) singing the heartfelt spiritual "Go Down Moses". Prose narration was offered by Harriet's brother Benjie (portrayed well by tenor Lindell Carter) and was augmented throughout the work by various other cast members.

The eponymous Harriet was given a superlative interpretation by MaKayla McDonald who elicited both admiration and sympathy by her fine portrayal. As her beloved Josiah, Markel Reed was appealing and completely believable. Mama Rit was performed by Karmesha Peake who held the stage with her excellent presence and fine singing.

The story is told fairly and Caucasians are presented as both bad guys and good guys. The Master, sympathetically portrayed by Tadeusz von Moltke, cares for his slaves as part of the family and does not want to sell them to other masters who might mistreat them.  But his son Preston (nastily portrayed by Luke Jackson) is a wastrel and wants his father to sell off some slaves to pay his gambling debts. We don't want to reveal how this plays out because we want you to see the show! The other bad dude is the Overseer, convincingly acted by Kristoffer Infante who comes across as one scary dude.

The ensemble had voices as strong as the principals. Costumes by Eric Lamp and Angel Betancourt were simple but effective.

Every culture has its myths (i.e. American Thanksgiving) and every country has its shame (i.e. Germany's Holocaust). How one deals with these is relevant beyond words. Our nation is now dealing with the myth espoused by our own Statue of Liberty versus the reality and shame of the way POTUS is dealing with Latin American refugees. Slavery is part of our past and can never be denied.

Art is a wonderful way to confront people with issues in a way far better than hectoring and writing an opera is a fine way to show us our shameful history. We just wish we liked the music and libretto better. The instrumental music is more "interesting" than beautiful and there were no appealing vocal lines except for the aforementioned "Go Down Moses" and "Swing Low Sweet Chariot", beautifully sung by Ms. McDonald. Mr. Reed sang "Lonesome Road" in a tender touching fashion.

Ms. McDonald was given a tuneless aria "Can't Live Without Ben" and we couldn't help thinking of "My Man's Gone Now" from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. There's a reason that Gershwin's opera stays in the repertoire.  There's a reason that singers use the arias as audition pieces and in recital.  That reason is that there is melody. When will contemporary composers realize that melody is memorable!

Although the "book" is excellent, the libretto is less so. Dialect was mixed with what we would call contemporary educated speech and the sentences were too long. We think it would have worked better with short conversational phrases spoken completely in dialect. We were grateful for the surtitles accompanying the singing and would have enjoyed them for the dialogue as well.

In spite of these minor disappointments, we recommend this work highly for its dramatic impact and convincing performances. We would welcome the opportunity to hear any of the singers again; we honor the idea of dramatizing the struggle of Afro-Americans and the reality of giving so many worthy singers an opportunity to perform.

(c) meche kroop

OUR VOTE COUNTED!!!

Nick Miller, Louis Riva, Elizabeth Treat, William Remmers, Caroline Tye, and Roman Laba

Our political votes may not count but our votes for upcoming seasons' performances at Utopia Opera definitely do.  Last year we voted for Friedrich von Flotow's Martha because we never had a chance to see it live. Apparently other fans of Utopia Opera shared my wish and we got to hear and see it last night in Lang Recital Hall at Hunter College. What other opera company allows its fans to determine its season!

We were not disappointed.  As a matter of fact, we were smiling for a couple of hours and danced our way home, our head filled with delicious melodies.  Although the music began as a ballet, von Flotow set this 1847 opera to a German text by Friedrich Wilhelm Reise. The style of it seemed to us more French than German and the setting is in England in the 18th c. We wonder whether there was not a German aristocracy at which to poke fun!

Conductor/Director William Remmers has updated the action to mid-20th c. with nothing lost and perhaps the advantage of getting his cast dressed in period signifiers, like ballet flats, rolled up jeans, and poodle skirts. The story concerns two female British aristocrats who find their lives boring. (Props to anyone who despises empty pursuits and meaningless wealth). 

Lady Harriet (winning sung by soprano Elizabeth Treat about whom we are tempted to make a pun) is courted by the pompous Sir Tristan, effectively performed by Roman Laba. Harriet and her friend Nancy (the superb mezzo-soprano Caroline Tye) are amused and envious of the carefree young women who are going to the Market at Richmond to get hired as farm workers.  They decide to dress as "commoners" and pull a prank.

They get themselves hired to work on the farm of Plunkett (the captivating Nick Miller) and his adopted brother Lyonel (the silken voiced tenor Louis Riva); the prank backfires when they realize that they are contracted for a year and this will be enforced by the Sheriff of Richmond (the convincing Brian J. Alvarado).

The scene in which the two women are shocked that they are expected to work is hilarious.  Just hear the way Ms. Tye rolls the "r" in "arbeit"! They need to be rescued by Sir Tristan--but not before the two women have a chance to bond with the two farmers.  The working out of this romantic foursome is always entertaining and we will not spoil it for you by telling you the ending.

But...on the way to the happy ending, we heard gorgeous duets by the two women and by the two men, a charming trio, a beautiful conciliatory quartet "Schlafe wohl! Und mag Dich reuen", a drinking song for the male chorus "Lasst mich euch fragen", the interpolated Irish folk song "Letzte rose" by Thomas Moore, and the memorable tenor aria "Ach! so fromm! Ach! so traut".

Not only were the five leads excellent but there was splendid support from both male and female choruses, who portrayed farmers and courtiers and hired hands. Andrew Jurden stood out as a page and as a farmer. The female hired hands formed an effective ensemble with lots of clever rhymes based upon their names.

The a propos wardrobe was credited to Eric Lamp (also the Second Page) and Angel Betancourt. Mr. Remmers conducted and managed to pull together the orchestra in which there were some unruly winds. Lochlan Brown did his customarily fine work on the keyboard.

We have no idea why this enchanting comedy has fallen out of the repertory but it's a piece that merits production and we are overjoyed to have seen it staged. Worth noting is that it was translated into Italian and Enrico Caruso performed it many times. The key tenor aria in Italian was "M'appari, tutt'amor" and we are quite sure we have heard it sung on its own.

(c) meche kroop

THE GRANDEST OF GRAND DUKEDOM

Kevin Miller and Hanne Dollase as Dr. Tannhauser and the Baroness von Krakenfeldt

Who else beside W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan could churn out one hit after another with such relevance to their time and place, and yet still feel relevant today! Who but William Remmers and his Utopia Opera could capture the wild and crazy spirit with which they invested their works! Opera (without getting into a discussion of whether operetta and music theater fit under that umbrella) must be both artistic and entertaining. This production of The Grand Duke, alternatively titled The Statutory Duel, definitely filled the bill.  Lucky for you, dear reader, you will have two chances next weekend to enjoy the piece that entertained us so royally (ahem!) last night.

Gilbert and Sullivan began their joint writing career for the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company with a work entitled Thespis in which a theatrical company aspires to political power. How fitting then that their final collaboration in 1896 took on the same theme. No opportunity was lost to skewer political patronage, an issue still dear to our hearts. A further theme, written about so eloquently in Mr. Remmers' program notes, deals with the extent to which one's role in life, echoed by the role the actors assume in the theater, affect the script of one's life and that of other people.

The conceit of the story is that interpretation of the law can alter lives in multiple ways. The so-called law of the (fictional) land of Pfennig Halbpfennig is one of dueling by drawing playing cards, a situation in which the loser is "dead for a day" and the winner assumes all his responsibilities and debts. The law is uncovered by the notary Dr. Tannhauser who later discovers a loophole, a deus ex machina which permits a happy ending in which everyone can marry someone.

Until that time, Ludwig, the leading comedian of the troop (the talented Ben Cohen), was engaged to marry the soubrette Lisa (the beautiful and sweet voiced Kat Liu);  then wed to the British comedienne Julia Jellicoe (the hilarious Hannah Spierman) whom he "inherited" when he trounced theater manager Ernest Dummkopf (the superb Matt Hughes); then to the aristocratic Baroness von Krakenfeldt (the smoky voiced Hanne Dollase) whom he took over from Rudolph the stingy and despotic Grand Duke of Pfennig Halbpfennig (the excellent performer Martin Everall); then to the Princess of Monte Carlo (delightful Allyson Herman) to whom he was betrothed as a child.  Is that clear?

It all centers around a plot to depose the Grand Duke who is none too popular. Much of the audience laughter would suggest a certain contemporary topicality. Gales of laughter also greeted many of the scenes. The late arrival of the Prince of Monte Carlo (the fine David Tillistrand) who paid off his debts by inventing roulette, involved the worst and funniest French accent ever heard.  Come to think of it, how topsy-turvily funny it is that this German (or Austrian) theatrical company spoke in British accents whilst the British comedian spoke with a rather spotty German accent.

The parts were perfectly cast and the voices were all eminently listenable. Duets and ensembles were particularly fine, Gilbert was such a fine wordsmith and Sullivan such a fine tunesmith! That some critical opinion opined that this 14th and final collaboration of the pair was not up to par did not mar our opinion a whit. What we did consider is that the two "smiths" had had a falling out and perhaps that inspired the plot in which the lead comedian takes over the position of the theater manager by means of a "statutory duel" in which no one gets hurt.  Converting daily struggles into art is what the artist is supposed to do.

There was no scenery to distract one from the fine performances. Fortunately there were titles so that none of Gilbert's clever words and rhymes would be missed. All of the players sang and spoke clearly but the words of the chorus did not come through and we were glad to have titles.

Costuming by Eric Lamp and Angel Betancourt added to the fun.

Mr. Remmers conducted the orchestra which occasionally sounded a bit ragged but always brought out the excellence of Sullivan's music, whether it was waltz or march or ballad. Once or twice we heard echoes of Offenbach. At the turn of the 20th century, entertainment was evolving and there would be no more Gilbert and Sullivan. How glad we are to have the oeuvre that we do and to have had the opportunity to enjoy a show that had been unknown to us!

(c) meche kroop