AS THE SCREW TURNS

Ashley Emerson and Jennifer Check

We have just had an experience that compares with most operagoing experiences as a dinner at La Grenouille would compare with a fine dinner at home. It was way more than delicious and nourishing; it was one of those evenings that will be indelibly etched in our memory. It was Britten's Turn of the Screw performed on the beautiful estate Wave Hill.

Eric Einhorn's concept for On Site Opera is to produce just such experiences that add up to more than the sum of their parts. There is always a location that amounts to way more than seats in an audience facing a stage with sets. There is always an intimacy with the story and the singers. It must be quite a challenge to find just the right location for any given story but it always works.

There was not enough space for more than a fortunate few and we count ourself among them. Because you, dear reader, probably did not make the cut (the show having sold out within minutes of its announcement), we would like to cut right to the chase and describe the experience. Trust our judgment on the point that the parts were superbly cast and magnificently acted and sung and that Geoffrey McDonald's conducting of his chamber orchestra made the most of Britten's score, adding layer upon layer of anxiety and suspence. 

A team of guides handed each one of us a lantern and guided us through the pathways until we reached a gothic looking building with a balcony from which a narrator introduced us to the story. The opera is based upon a gothic ghost story--a novella by Henry James. Myfanwy Piper wrote the concise and effective libretto.

Next we met The Governess in the person of soprano Jennifer Check, in perfect period costume, who led us to the front door of the country house where she was to take care of two orphaned children, without ever bothering their uncle who had hired her. She shared her excitement and anxiety with us and even asked someone to hold her suitcase whilst she opened the front door.

From then on we felt like a fly on the wall, observing her meeting the housekeeper Mrs. Grose (mezzo-soprano Margaret Lattimore) and then her two charges who stood holding photographs of the former governess Miss Jessell and the valet Peter Quint, both of whom had died recently. 

The children had been instructed by Mrs. Grose to bow and curtsy but we knew instantly that something was wrong. One couldn't have seen the subtle facial expressions underlying their politesse at the Met but it was obvious from a few yards away.

It seemed clear to us that The Governess is not going mad when she sees the ghosts of Mr. Quint and Miss Jessell. (We have seen a film in which she is portrayed as hysterical and the children as needing to be rescued from her care.)

As Mr. Einhorn has so astutely directed the action, moving the audience from one room of the large mansion to another, the illusion of knowing the characters took hold and gripped us by the throat. We lost the concept of ambiguity from James' novella and identified strongly with the terrified Governess as she faced the two ghosts.

Dominic Armstrong was completely riveting as Peter Quint; the way Mr. Einhorn directed his scenes with Miles (counter-tenor Jordan Rutter) we were convinced that Quint had seduced the boy whilst he yet lived and was trying to snatch his soul now that he had died. We rarely see such a portrayal of evil onstage with Mr. Armstrong coloring his voice to match the text.

Adriana Zabala made a rather more sympathetic Miss Jessell. In a directorial coup,  there was a parallel scene with the current Governess and Miss Jessell walking the same pathway in tandem. This added to the gothic element of the storytelling and gave us the shivers. We wondered whether the poor (unnamed) Governess would also die. It is a mark of great storytelling and great acting that we were so caught up that we wanted to know what happened to her! Ms. Check made us feel on her side from the start.

As Flora, Ashley Emerson acted the part of a young girl with considerable success. As Miles, Mr. Rutter was totally convincing. He is small and slender of stature and his treble voice lent considerable verisimilitude. Both "children" gave evidence of secrets and secret lives.

Even Mrs. Grose, portrayed by mezzo-soprano Margaret Lattimore, seemed to have secrets, only some of which were shared with The Governess. At one point we saw her drop something in a cup of tea but were not sure for whom it was meant or whether it were poison or sedative. Ambiguity was everywhere and we believe James wanted us to be puzzled by unanswered questions.

The chamber orchestra was as Britten intended, comprising a string quartet plus a bass and one each of the necessary winds. The versatile instrumentalists seemed adept with the flutist handling piccolo and two registers of flutes; the oboist doubled on English Horn and the clarinetist switched to the Bass Clarinet, one of our favorite sounds in the orchestra. There was also a French Horn, a Bassoon, and a marvelous harpist who created quite an atmosphere. 

The pianist and the percussionist added to the texture; there were chimes, some soft Kettle Drumming, and what might have been a celesta. We meant to inspect the percussion section after the curtain call but we were still in some kind of state that lasted until we got home. The atmosphere of the performance was so intense that at one point we accepted what occurred onstage as reality and felt as if we were a ghost.

The costuming by Amanda Seymour was perfect and completed the illusion that we were back in the 19th c.  What a completely strange experience! Talk about total immersion!!!

On Site Opera's contribution to the New York opera scene is valuable and unique. Our only regret is that his productions cannot accommodate more people.

© meche kroop

GOTHIC HORROR AT JUILLIARD

Joan Hofmeyr, Britt Hewitt, Charles Sy, and Rebecca Pedersen 

(photo by Rosalie O'Connor)

 Chance Jonas-O’Toole, Anneliese Klenetsky, Charles Sy

(photo by Rosalie O'Connor)

Some riveting performances by students of Juilliard Vocal Arts Department (both graduates and undergraduates) brought to life a strange production of Benjamin Britten's The Turn of the Screw.  Henry James' gothic horror novella of the turn of the 20th c. was adapted by Myfanwy Piper for Britten.

The lack of vowels in her name seems to match the dearth of melody in Britten's music. What happened to melody after Richard Strauss?  What we are left with are plays with music. As such, this one worked out as well as could be expected.  The drama held our attention and kept us guessing. The music had a great deal of color and reminded us of the atmospheric music written for film. As a matter of fact, the entire production had a filmic quality.

We have learned that the longer the Director's Notes, the more obscure the production will be. As is our wont, we don't read them until after seeing the production because we believe a work of art should speak for itself. We were not always sure what was going on in John Giampietro's confusing production and reading his notes afterward succeeded in baffling us still further. There was a great deal of symbolism which we failed to grasp.  Frankly, we prefer realistic storytelling.  We are familiar with Jungian psychology but our familiarity did not help.

Chance Jonas O'Toole colored his tenor suitably for the role of the narrator, not only introducing the action but moving furniture in and out of the unit set, a large empty period room with peeling wallpaper, a broken ceiling, and several secret panels for entrances and exits.

As the innocent (or maybe not so) Governess, soprano Anneliese Klenetsky could not have been better. One could not tell if her ghostly visions were "real" or not but it was obvious that she cared for her juvenile charges. She had the closest thing to an aria in the well sung "How beautiful it is".

As the juveniles, soprano Britt Hewitt in travesti was believable as Miles who was "bad" or else "possessed". As his sister Flora,

soprano Joan Hofmeyr was similarly effective. Their playing together was always a bit unsettling.

The two "ghosts" were remarkably portrayed. Tenor Charles Sy was chilling as Peter Quint, using voice coloration and gesture to portray pure evil.  As the prior governess Miss Jessel, soprano Rebecca Pedersen, made a strong impression. She was strangely swathed in butterflies.

As the housekeeper Mrs. Grose, soprano Katerina Burton was warm and real, the only non-puzzling onstage presence.

If we have said nothing about their voices, it is because this type of work doesn't have the long lyric lines of Italian opera that enable us to appreciate phrasing, timbre, and all that other good stuff.  Suffice it to say that their diction was uniformly superb making the titles rather unnecessary.

Alexis Distler's scenic design matched the spookiness of the story and Kate Ashton's lighting design helped immeasurably to create the mood. Audrey Nauman's costumes were suited to the period.

Maestro Steven Osgood led the chamber orchestra in a finely wrought performance. The musicians were all members of the Juilliard Orchestra. A string quartet was augmented by a double bass, a flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn, percussion, harp, and piano.  The winds were particularly effective, as was the harp.  Was that a celesta we heard or chimes in the Churchyard scene? It was very effective, whichever.

Given the choice of seeing this work again or reading the novella, we would probably opt for reading. There were others in the sold out house whose enthusiasm exceeded ours. The great thing about opera is that there is something for every taste. Mid 20th c. opera in English just isn't ours.

(c) meche kroop

THE SCREW HAS TURNED

                     Julia Teitel (L)                        Anna Noggle (R)

A riveting performance of Benjamin Britten's 1954 chamber opera Turn of the Screw was presented last night at Symphony Space by the innovative young company Opera Moderne.  The libretto my Myfanwy Piper, based on the 1898 novella of the same name by Henry James, concerns a naive young woman employed by the owner of Bly House to care for his niece and nephew, Flora and Miles; she is instructed never to abandon them, never to ask about the history of the house and never to bother him.  The groundwork for this gothic tale has been laid--and who doesn't love a good ghost story!

The ghosts involved are Peter Quint, a former valet, and the former governess Miss Jessel.  The newly employed Governess can see the ghosts; the housekeeper Mrs. Grose cannot; we are never sure about Miles and Flora.  Still, it is undeniable that something is up with the two children who behave strangely.  There seems to be a battle between evil and innocence; there are hints of pederasty in the past.  Have the children been corrupted?  Literary scholars have argued the point of whether all this is taking place in reality or in the mind of the Governess.

Soprano Anna Noggle, fetchingly attired in late 19th c. style, sang the role of the Governess with brilliant quality of tone and apt phrasing; her acting was flawless and scored high in believability.  Mezzo Julia Teitel handed in a fine performance as Mrs. Grose.  Tenor Glenn Seven Allen lent his fine tenor to the role of Peter Quint and was absolutely chilling in his interpretation; mezzo Elspeth Davis made a scary Miss Jessel.
And what can one say about the treble voice of the supremely talented Benjamin Perry Wenzelberg who brought Miles to life in a most convincing fashion!  Flora was well sung by soprano Vivian Krich-Brinton who almost convinced us that she was a child.

Director Luke Leonard took many risks in staging this work.   At times the action took place behind the onstage orchestra, but mostly in front; somehow this worked.  The interaction between the characters always felt motivated. Actors with faces swathed in black doubled the ghosts. We are not fond of explications of what creators intended and believe that ultimately it is the effect on the audience that matters.  Since we had goosebumps for two hours we can safely say that the production was effective.  Much value was contributed by the lighting design of Marie Yokoyama and the costume design by Angela Huff which put us right into the appropriate epoch.  Although we found some of the sculptures by Maggie Hartzell perplexing we are sure that those in the audience who love symbolism had a good time figuring them out.

Conductor and Music Director Pacien Mazzagatti elicited a fine reading of the score from his thirteen musicians.  Those who are familiar with our musical taste will know that 20th c. music is not our favorite due to a preference for melodic vocal lines.  In spite of this, we found the music most interesting from the standpoint of the textures of the orchestration; we particularly loved the use of chimes, harp and winds in the creation of an atmosphere of suspense.  It was a rare instance of our experiencing 20th c. music as contributing to the drama.

We are impressed with the way Executive Director Rebecca Greenstein has pulled together all the necessary elements to create an unforgettable work that definitely deserves a longer run than the single night it was accorded.  The house was packed and opinions were as enthusiastic as ours was.  People will be talking about this one for some time to come.  We wish Opera Moderne the very best of luck with next season's productions.  This will be a tough act to follow!

(c) meche kroop