NABUCCO ABBREVIATED

Robin Bradley, Leslie Swanson, David Serero, Javier Ortiz, and Michael Celentano
onstage at the Center for Jewish History in Verdi's Nabucco

That warm feeling we get when hearing Verdi's "Va Pensiero", also known as "The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves" is largely due to Verdi's stirring music and the poetic words of librettist Temistocle Solera. Last night, at the Center for Jewish History, we heard the chorus performed by the five members of the cast of an abbreviated version of Verdi's Nabucco. The opera premiered in 1842 at La Scala, established Verdi's reputation, and has been a part of the repertory ever since.

Presented by The American Sephardi Federation and directed and adapted by baritone David Serero, we heard some fine singing and accompaniment by Shawn Chang, substituting for the orchestra. Although die-hard opera goers might complain about the cuts and lack of orchestra, we enjoyed this version and so did the audience which happily included some youngsters. What a great way to introduce someone to opera. This version was direct and to the point, emphasizing the major arias, eliminating extraneous characters, and telling the story well without any longueurs.

Mr. Serero himself used his powerful baritone well and created a Nebuchadnezzar to be reckoned with. His mad spell, which in the bible lasted for seven years, lasted only about seven bars of music-- but was very convincing! For purposes both dramatic and romantic, operatic libretti take huge liberties with history, much as the stories in the bible take liberties with historical facts.

Nebuchadnezzar was the most long-lasting and powerful king of Babylonia five centuries B.C.E. He did in fact conquer Jerusalem and destroy the temple. In the Book of Daniel, by virtue of Daniel's dream interpretation, he converted to Judaism-- but that is not supported historically. Every culture creates its own legends.

Even the popularity of "Va Pensiero" is surrounded by legend. Indeed it was sung at Verdi's funeral in 1901, but it was not a spontaneous demonstration. It was orchestrated for political reasons. As a matter of fact, its patriotic status probably originated after Italy's reunification. Still, it's an attractive myth that the work motivated Italy's attempts to throw off the yoke of foreign domination. To each his own myth!

The creation of the masterpiece by Verdi and Solera incorporated, as so many operas do, a romance. The Babylonian princess Fenena, well sung last night by mezzo-soprano Robin Bradley, and Ismaele (nephew of the King of Jerusalem) equally well sung by tenor Michael Celentano are having theirs. In the opera, Fenena is used by the Judeans as a hostage, so when Ismaele frees her he is accused of treason.

By far the most difficult role in the opera is that of Abigaille, supposed daughter of Nebuchadnezzar but actually the child of a slave. She has been scorned by Ismaele and wants vengeance. She seizes the crown from Nebuchadnezzar when he has his lapse of sanity. 

By now, dear reader, you must have realized what a challenge this role offers! The gauntlet was taken up by dramatic soprano Leslie Swanson who exhibited the depth of texture of a mezzo-soprano in the lower register and the flexibility and power for the high notes. It was an exciting performance.

The cast was rounded out by the fine bass Javier Ortiz who played the role of Zaccaria the High Priest of the Jews. There were no titles but reading the summary of the plot and picking up a few words in Italian gave us a clear picture of the dramatic arc.

We are always interested in what Mr. Serero has in the works and we heard about a Nozze di Figaro in the pipeline, as well as a Romeo and Juliet based on a Sefardic family at odds with an Ashkenazi family. For those who may not know, these are two branches of the Hebrew tradition created during the diaspora. Forgive us our feeble attempt at humor but we are seeing matzo balls being hurled from one side and felafel balls from the other! We can scarcely wait.

(c) meche kroop

HAVING A BALL

Chorus of Amore Opera's Un Ballo in Maschera 

Not that it has much to do with Verdi's 1859 masterpiece, but the life of the 18th c. King Gustav III of Sweden is fascinating. Not too many people know that he was an enlightened ruler who championed the arts in Sweden and also made his nation the first to recognize The United States. Whether he was a member of the LGBTQ community (as was rumored) is however of no interested to us.

French writer Eugène Scribe wrote a libretto about him in 1833 for an opera by Daniel Auber; it was called Gustave III; 10 years later Saverio Mercadante wrote another entitled Il Reggente. Giuseppe Verdi used Antonio Somma as his librettist to tell the tale and Somma, as was customary in those days, adapted Scribe's libretto. As one might expect, liberties were taken to make the historical account more stage worthy and to provide a romantic interest.

Verdi's opera had a difficult birth. The topic of regicide was considered too fraught and the censors rejected it. After a lengthy legal battle, the story was transported across the Atlantic Ocean to Boston with Gustav replaced by the Governor of Boston called Riccardo. The names of all the characters were changed as well.

In last night's gripping performance by Amore Opera, the work took place in Sweden with the names of the characters retained from the "Boston" version. The performance was completely satisfying for a devotée such ourself, and also compelling for the "noobie" we brought with us. Anytime we win a convert to opera we feel like celebrating. Several rows of the jam packed Riverside Theater were occupied by high school students who seemed similarly captivated.

What made the performance so special can be attributed to Nathan Hull's finely detailed direction and a a triumph of casting. Verdi asks a lot of his singers and these artists rose to the occasion, giving 100%.

As the conflicted King we heard fast-rising tenor José Heredia whose thrilling artistry revealed both vocally and dramatically the dilemma he faced. Here is a ruler who is light-heartedly basking in the adoration of most of his subjects and in denial about the threat posed by some unhappy ones. He is lusting for the wife of his loyal secretary, here called Renato. From his first aria "La rivedrà nell'estasi" we were captivated. The barcarolle he sang whilst pretending to be a fisherman "Di' tu se fedele" truly rocked our boat.

The object of his passion is here called Amelia and the intensity of Aida Carducci's performance matched that of Mr. Heredia. Her lengthy scene at the gallows gave her the opportunity to color her generous voice from terror all the way to a confession of love in response to the King's pleading. Still, it was in the scene in which her husband vents his rage and threatens her life that we witnessed the full range of her vocal power. We were quite moved when she begged to have a last embrace from her child in "Morrò, ma prima in grazia".

The King's secretary and best friend (here called Renato) was performed by the always excellent baritone Robert Garner, who seems to be getting better and better. His rage at his faithless wife was chilling. We were impressed by the change in voice and body when his affection for the King changed to the vengefulness of a betrayed husband.

As the page Oscar, soprano Allegra Durante played an important role throughout and we noticed her fine acting right from the first scene. Her voice was just right for the part and her teasing "Saper vorreste" was in the spirit of French opéra comique, providing just the right setup for the tragedy to follow.

Furthermore we were wowed by Sarah Knott's performance as the witch Ulrica. The mood in that scene was abetted by Lighting Designer Duane Pagano's lighting artistry playing upon Richard Cerullo's set design, not to mention Verdi's sinister music. Her "Re dell'abisso, affrettati" was powerful enough to summon any demon and the final "Silencio" took her to the bottom of her range without difficulty and made us shudder.

The two co-conspirators Samuel and Tom were played by bass Nicholas Hay and baritone Charles Gray with the appropriate degree of nastiness and the sailor who asked Ulrica to tell his fortune was played by baritone Muir Ingliss.

The always excellent chorus was directed by Susan Morton. The orchestra was conducted by Maestro Douglas Martin and we particularly enjoyed the English Horn which accompanied Ms. Carducci's scene at the gallows. The harp made welcome additions to the aural tapestry from time to time--especially during the duet at the gallows; it seduced our ears just as the King seduces Amelia into confessing her love. The percussion was stirring and effective.

There were so many moments of aural bliss too numerous to mention but one stood out; it was the trio at the end of Scene 2 in which the overtones of each voice built on the others and filled the theater with magic.

We love Verdi and we don't get enough of him. It is difficult to find voices hefty enough to sail through the orchestra and also beautiful; we are glad that Mr. Hull was able to find them. 

There will be two more performances--one tonight and another Sunday afternoon. If you too love Verdi, get yourself up to Riverside Theater!

(c) meche kroop

VIVA VERDI

Mikhail Svetlov, Alla Perchikova, Zoya Gramagin, Jacqueline Quirk, Francisco Casanova, Kristian Benedikt, Natasha Novitskaia, and Gustavo Ahualli

Writing as we do about young artists, most of the voices we hear are light lyric ones. Last night we had the opportunity to hear some seasoned voices of larger dimensions singing the hell out of Verdi. The arias and duets we heard were those from operas that one must hear at the Metropolitan Opera. What was interesting about the performances we heard last night at the National Opera Center was how successfully the artists were able to summon up the entire opera in a single aria or duet.  It was like feeling the ocean in a single wave.

There was something else all of the singers had in common--a very Italianate embouchure--something every voice teacher tries to get her students to emulate. We are not sure how many of these singers studied in Russia but we'd guess at least half. There must be some wonderful training there or else it's genetics!

The arias we heard came from some of Verdi's best operas--Aida, Forza del Destino, Otello, Un Ballo in Maschera, Macbeth, Il Trovatore, and Don Carlos. The "Recordare" from his Requiem reminded us how Verdi can make religious music sound so very secular--very operatic indeed, as sung by sopranos Zoya Gramagin and mezzo-soprano Natasha Novitskaia.

Ms. Novitskaia lent her powerful voice to the creation of the character of Ulrica in "Re dell'abisso, affrettati" from Ballo in Maschera. The way she used the texture of her mezzo instrument created an aura of suspense. We loved the final "Silencio!". In the lower register she has a contralto quality.

She "plays well with others" as we saw in the numerous duets. She was a very commanding and devious Amneris in the duet "Fu la sorte dell'armi a' tuoi funesta" from Aida, tricking her rival Aida. The Ethiopian princess was well portrayed by dramatic soprano Alla Perchikova who showed her character's panic and ended the duet with a delicate pianissimo.

We heard more from Ms. Perchikova's Aida in "Qui Radamès verra...O patria mia". The phrase "mai piu" occurs at least a dozen times and she managed to make each iteration different. She also excelled in "Vieni t'affretta" from Macbeth in which she limned Lady Macbeth's resolute character by judicious use of her fioritura. The last time we enjoyed that aria as much was when we heard Lauren Flanigan sing it.

Our favorite Verdi opera, one seldom heard, is Forza del Destino--mainly for the insistent recurring theme that weaves in and out. Soprano Zoya Gramagin sang "Pace, pace mio Dio!" convincingly with gorgeous tone. There was plenty of strength at the bottom of the register and we enjoyed the fortissimo climax. Craig Ketter, Music director and accompanist for the evening, did a superlative job all evening long but was particularly remarkable in this aria, bringing out the theme that we love so dearly.

With all due respect to the attention paid to women this month, we must move on to the male singers of which there were four celebrated exemplars. Tenor Francisco Casanova is famed for his Verdi heroes. As the remorseful Otello who has killed his dear wife Desdemona in a fit of irrational jealousy, he mined every ounce of torment and remorse in "Niun me tema". As any actor does, he made the most of his death scene. What a performance!

We also enjoyed his resolute Radames in the duet "L'aborrita rivale a me sfuggia" with Ms. Novitskaia as his Amneris.

Another tenor, Kristian Benedikt, used his fine instrument with gravitas as he interpreted "La vita è inferno...O tu che in seno agli angeli" from La Forza del Destino.

Verdi did indeed enjoy writing for the baritone fach and Gustavo Ahualli used his dark instrument in a measured and deeply felt performance of "Eri tu che macchiavi quell'anima" from Un Ballo in Maschera in which Renato expresses his anger and sorrow. Mr. Ahualli achieved characterological complexity by means of dynamic variation.

He was totally different as the Conte di Luna in "Mira, d'acerbe lagrime" a duet from Il Trovatore with Ms. Gramagin as the disdainful Leonora; Ms. Gramagin handled both the low register and the fioritura with grace.

We needed a bass voice to round out the evening and one couldn't have asked for anyone better than Mikhail Svetlov who managed to create "sympathy for the devil", with some help from Verdi of course. King Phillip has stolen his son's intended bride and then feels sorry for himself that she never loved him! How can one feel sympathy for this evil man who will order his son killed!!! We don't know; all we know is that Mr. Svetlov's impassioned but introspective delivery left us feeling pity for a man facing the consequences of a bad decision.

We heard very little of soprano Jacqueline Quirk but would like to hear more. She appeared in the Act IV Finale of Il Trovatore which closed the program, alongside Ms. Novitskaia, Mr. Casanova, and Mr. Ahualli.

Of course we had an encore and nothing beats "Libiamo" from La Traviata which put us in a perfect mood for the champagne reception.

It was a splendid evening and left us feeling grateful for the opportunity to hear such voices up close and personal. Dramatic voices mature rather late and we doubt whether we will hear them in our tours through the local music conservatories.

(c) meche kroop