ZEMLINSKYS ZIMMER

Michael Boley, Mary-Hollis Hundley, and Eric McKeever

(photo by Philip Schneidman)

There seems to be a number of options available to opera goers in New York City. We have selections from the canon given lavish productions by the Metropolitan Opera and beloved standards given bare bones productions by an ever diminishing number of scrappy companies like Amore Opera. There is a slow stream of contemporary works with polemic subjects and non-musical music that no one ever cares to revisit as well as exciting productions of newly discovered works from the 18th and 19th century (by Lafayette Opera and Teatro Nuovo respectively). There are the daring companies like Heartbeat Opera that put original spins on the classics, and finally companies that bring to light some rather odd pieces that merit a hearing.

Of course we are speaking of Little Opera Theater of New York, known as LOTNY, which has just brought a rarity to light at The Fisher Center of The Brooklyn Academy of Music. We were pleased to attend opening night of Zemlinskys Zimmer and found much to enjoy--some fine singing in well-enunciated German, an excellent chamber orchestra that gave an admirable reading of Roland Freisitzer's reduction of the Zemlinsky score, and some gorgeous colorful projections by Kylee Loera.

The cultural scene of fin de siècle Vienna was responsible for a number of innovations in the visual and performing arts as well as some socio-sexual experimentation.  One has only to think of the wild adventures of Alma Schindler who threw aside composer/conductor Alexander Zemlinsky for composer/conductor Gustav Mahler, whom she also threw aside for a succession of lovers. One might speculate that Zemlinsky's choice of Oscar Wilde's unfinished play A Florentine Tragedy  (translated into German by Max Meyerfeld) as a subject for the opera we saw last night was based on his experience with the faithless Alma.

The story involves a woman named Bianca (how ironic!) who entertains a nobleman named Prinz Guido Bardi right under the nose of her merchant husband Simone. As directed by Philip Schneidman, the lustful lovers exercise minimal restraint in hiding their feeling. Simone (baritone Eric McKeever) plays a cat-and-mouse game with the Prince (tenor Michael Boley) and Bianca (soprano Mary-Hollis Hundley) who appear to ignore the warning signs of the rage behind Simone's obsequious behavior. The evening ends in a duel and a strangling of the Prince, after which Bianca fawns over her previously despised and disparaged husband. One imagines that Zemlinsky might have wished to strangle Mahler! One wonders whether Mahler and Alma were present at a performance.  Now that would have made a fine opera!

The three cast members are to be complimented on their fine singing as well as their not-so-subtle acting. The adulterous story was prefaced by the lovely Ms. Hundley reclining on a chaise longue, apparently awakening from a dream and singing Zemlinsky's luscious setting of Richard Dehmel's "Maiblumen blühten überall" against that afore-mentioned projected background reminiscent of visual arts of that period. 

This was followed by Mr. Boley  performing "Liebe Schwalbe" from Walzer Gasänge Op. 6,  a setting of text by Ferdinand Gregorovius. It seemed a marvelous opportunity to get acquainted with works by a composer who was quite famous in his time but whose light diminished when he fled the Nazis and wound up in New York.

Costumes by Lara Bruijn were a propos, as were the garments Simone brought out for the Prince to wear. Only one element stood out in a jarring way and that was the black corset worn by Bianca. We thought it should have been white like the other undergarments.

Now what about the score!  Stage left held most of the musicians; strings were joined by sufficient winds to provide color, including flute, clarinets, oboe, horns, trumpet, and trombone. On stage right, thrillingly right under our nose, were a celeste, a piano, and some exciting percussionists. Concertmaster was Stani Dimitrova and Maestro Tiffany Chang brought it all together, filling the space (comprising blessedly raked seating) with thrilling sound.

We will also mention that the titles by Dalia Sevilla were not the ordinary barely legible afterthoughts but made a part of the projections which also did a fine job of establishing time and place.

© meche kroop

 

LUCIDITY

Eric McKeever, Lucy Shelton, Blythe Gaissert, and Cristina Maria Castro

Music and memory were the topics of Lucidity, the outstanding play with music presented by On Site Opera.  Wait a minute!  Wasn't this billed as a chamber opera? Yes it was. We can only report our own opinion. Lucidity worked as theater and the excellent music was fine to hear, as conducted by Maestro Geoffrey McDonald and performed by five fine instrumentalist, about whom more will be said later. But the vocal lines seemed boring and unmemorable; and what is opera if one cannot leave humming an ear worm?  We admit that David Cotes' libretto made excellent dramatic sense but, except for some fine vocal ensembles during the denouement, Laura Kaminsky's vocal lines added nothing to the text.

We would have enjoyed this more as a play with spoken dialogue, augmented by some musical performances where the scene called for them. The singers had fine voices but didn't have anything interesting to sing, just a lot of meandering recitativi. Surprisingly, their acting was superb and totally convincing.

The story concerns a retired opera singer/professor/composer named Lili, magnificently portrayed by Lucy Shelton who is actually a voice teacher at Manhattan School of Music. Lili suffers from dementia and she is dutifully (and resentfully) cared for by her adult adopted son Dante (well portrayed by Eric McKeever). Dante is talented in his own right but gave up his career as a pianist to care for his mother.

Under the direction of Dr. Klugman (portrayed by the excellent Blythe Gaissert), a neuroscientist suffering from writer's block, the young clarinetist/music therapist has been engaged to try to break through Lili's brain fog. Lili's problem is a neurological one, but the other three characters are psychologically blocked. Sunny, the music therapist (a winning Cristina Maria Castro), suffers from parental indifference to her career choice manifested by lack of support. And poor Dante is suffering from a hostile dependency on his mother and has blamed her physical neediness for his failure to thrive in the musical world.

The drama focuses on the effects the characters have on each other and the effect that music has on Lili's brain. We might add that this effect has been scientifically validated, a fact that lends verisimilitude to the story. Director Sarah Meyers succeeded in the storytelling arena and also in her direction of the characters. Fortunately this is not Hollywood and Dante and Sunny did not have a romance!

There was a moment when the story brought us to tears-- partially because we were moved by Lili's breakthrough and partly because she began to sing Schubert's "Der Hirt auf dem Felsen" the music of which touches us deeply, which contemporary music does not. If only Kaminsky's writing had the same impact!

This musical choice probably dictated the writing and directing which includes the onstage doubling of Sunny by clarinetist Yasmina Speigelberg and of Dante by pianist Kyle Walker.

 

By the end of the work, every character has had a breakthrough and in the final scene, Kaminsky's vocal writing became more lyrical as voices joined together in harmony.  Plays and musical pieces profit by a post climax peaceful resolution.

Staging  by Ms. Meyers was original and effective. The audience sat in elevated rows upstage at the Henry Street Theater of the Abrons Arts Center and the acting took place downstage and in the part of the theater where the audience usually sits. Scenic Consultant Cameron Anderson put Lili's home in this downstage space with minimal furniture, bookshelves, and a piano.  The remainder of the theater became Dr. Klugman's office and varying rooms in Lili's apartment. The apt costuming was by Beth Goldenberg.

Let us give props to the fine musicians of the American Modern Ensemble, comprising percussionist Brandon Williams, violinist Nikita Mozorov, cellist Dave Eggar, as well as the aforementioned pianist and clarinetist both of whom moved readily from the orchestra pit to the stage where they doubled the actor/singers.

Once more, On Site Opera has given us a thoughtful and artistic work which we will remember even when the music has been forgotten.

© meche kroop

 

REALISMO ON THE DOCKS

 Eric McKeever as Michele

(photo by Dan Wright Photography)

Giacomo Puccini's Il Trittico comprises three one-act operas. We have seen all three on one long evening and we have seen them separately, often paired with other one-act operas. Recently we have seen Gianni Schicchi , a comedy, and Suor Angelica, a tragedy of victimhood. Last night we saw Il Tabarro, a drama of thwarted love and revenge, presented in riveting fashion by On Site Opera, a company we revere for fitting the opera to the setting,

This has always been the least loved one of the three operas and we confess to not really getting it until last night, staged on the Lightship Ambrose (subbing for a barge), docked at Pier 16 of the South Street Seaport. Singers moved up and down the gangplank carrying heavy loads. Women gathered around the song-seller to acquire the latest sheetmusic. The realism of the setting served to amplify the realismo of the opera. 

As in Leoncavallo's earlier work Pagliacci, a man is rejected by his wife and finds revenge in murder, a story that must have resonated with audiences at the turn of the 20th c.  Come to think of it, one has only to read newspapers to know that the "plot" still exists, although crimes of passion are, in these days, more likely to be accomplished secretly. Fortunately we were not exposed to ridiculous attempts at modernization. Costuming was accurate and served to reinforce the sense of time and place.

Director Laine Rettmer did a superb job of telling the story and Maestro Geoffrey McDonald utilized the smallish orchestra in a manner that supported the singers and yet amplified the emotions of the characters when there was a lull in the singing. Speaking of amplification, we realize it was necessary in a noisy outdoor environment and we credit the sound design for keeping a fine balance. We heard from one of the singers that each singer heard differently and standing in different places often left the singer unaware of the volume. This makes the success doubly impressive. The loss of sound of unamplified voices was more than compensated by the achievement of reality.

Baritone Eric McKeever was outstanding as the captain of the barge, projecting a sense of kindliness both toward the stevedores in his employ and toward his wife, with whom he once shared tender loving moments. He succeeded in arousing our sympathy.  What could be more damaging to a man's sense of masculinity than having his embraces rejected by his wife. 

Soprano Ashley Milanese was fine in this role and also succeeded in arousing our sympathy as she sings of the child that died. Perhaps that was what destroyed the love she once shared with Michele. As she recalls her lovely home in suburban Paris and shares these reminiscences with Luigi, her stevedore lover who came from the same banlieu, we come to appreciate the bond between them and what Luigi represents to her.

The role of Luigi was well handled by tenor Yi Li who struggled with his passion for his boss' wife. Giuseppe Adami's libretto never makes him out to be a villain, just a man led around by his sexual passions who found a partner to return his lust.

With the major roles of this love triangle so effectively portrayed, one could also make note of the success of the subsidiary roles. Jose Heredia injected some humor and fine singing in the role of the bibulous Tinca, one of the stevedores who tries to dance with Georgetta and steps on her toes.

The other stevedore Talpa was sung by Artega Wright who, in contrast with Michele and Georgetta, seems to have a reciprocal relationship with his wife La Frugola, played with marvelous low voice and comic spirit by Sharmay Musacchio. The scene in which she distributes the many treasures of her dumpster diving  served to lighten the atmosphere.

There was a wonderful moment in which the Song Seller distributed sheet music to the gathering milliners and the orchestra played a theme from Puccini's masterwork La Bohême in which we just last week heard Mr. Heredia as Rodolfo! In any event, that Puccini was a clever devil!

Let us now name the members of The Ensemble who contributed so much vocally and dramatically, some of whom we have heard singing at our local conservatories or at competitions. Sopranos Yohji Daquio, Lindsey Kanaga, Theodora Siegel, and Kiena Williams; mezzo sopranos Claire Coven and JoAnna Vladyka; Tenor Daniel Rosenberg; Baritone Paul LaRosa; and bass Brian McQueen.

From the moment the opera began we were totally engaged. There was not a single longueur. It was as if a real event was unrolling before our very eyes and ears. It was an event to remember and cherish.

© meche kroop