MOZART FOR YOU; MOZART FOR ME; MOZART FOR EVERYONE

Christa Hylton, Georgios Papadimitriou, John Schenkel-photo by Steve Faust

We never tire of Mozart and Nozze di Figaro may just be our favorite.  Otherwise why would we have spent an hour on the subway (each way) to catch Regina Opera Company's final performance?  Was it worth the trip?  Yes it was.  The opera was presented in its entirety with every line of recitative intact.  The opera itself is a perfect marriage of music and text with an endless stream of melodies, marvelous opportunities for singers to show their stuff in glorious arias, sympathetic characters and trenchant social commentary.    Although several characters created by Lorenzo da Ponte seem derived from commedia del'arte, the master's hand is evident as he limns their humanity, flaws and all, and develops their respective characters over the course of the opera.  If any reader has read or seen the Beaumarchais plays from which Da Ponte derived his libretto, we hope you will comment below.  We saw his Marriage of Figaro last season at the Pearl Theater and enjoyed it thoroughly but still prefer the opera.

The Regina Opera's sets (by Director Linda Lehr) were simple but workable and the same could be said for the costumes.  The casting was astute and there were some fine performances to enjoy.  As the eponymous hero, bass-baritone Georgios Papadimitriou was outstanding, both vocally and dramatically; he created a Figaro who was charming and wily, completely focused on outwitting Count Almaviva (baritone Julian Whitley) who was intent on obstructing Figaro's marriage. Clever Susanna was sung by the adorable Jenny Ribeiro whose "Deh vieni non tardar" was incredibly beautiful and taken at a slow tempo; the audience burst into applause prematurely and nearly missed her magnificent cadenza.  The sad and neglected Countess Almaviva was well sung by Christina Rohm who deserved the large round of applause she got for "Dove sono".

Another splendid performance was turned in by mezzo Danielle Horta as Cherubino, pleasing the audience with her "Non so più" and "Voi che sapete".  As Marcellina, mezzo Christa Hylton  had us giggling every time she came onstage with her ridiculous hat with yellow feathers and her expressive face.  She handled the transition from the vengeful creditor who wanted her "pound of flesh" from Figaro to his generous loving mother without missing a beat.  Another hilarious performance was given by tenor Alejandro Salvia as the foppish Don Basilio, sporting a bright pink wig and turquoise satin breeches--a vision to be sure.

Bass-baritone John Schenkel was a most convincing Dr. Bartolo but had some problems projecting his voice.  This might be due to the split-level pit, an unfortunate situation due to a lack of space (strings at conductor-level and winds buried behind and below) .  Another consequence of this situation was a degree of imbalance in the orchestra which was conducted by Maestro Scott Jackson Wiley. There was, however, no imbalance among the voices in the gorgeous duets and ensembles.

Antonio was played by Gene Howard and his daughter Barbarina by Nicole Leone.  Don Curzio was performed by Brian Ribeiro.  Special mention must be made of the fine chorus.

© meche kroop

THREE HYSTERICAL WOMEN

Leading off Opera Manhattan's triple bill of one act operas was the 1959 solo piece by Francis Poulenc entitled La Voix Humaine, starring lustrous voiced soprano Kala Maxym as an abandoned woman speaking on the phone with her ex-lover.  The libretto, based on a 1930 play by Jean Cocteau, is a monologue in which a woman pretends at first that she has been out for the evening and is feeling fine-- but we soon learn that she is completely distraught following a suicide attempt.  Ms. Maxym convincingly portrays every shade of emotion in the piece with stunning vocalism, convincing acting and exquisite French diction.  We may not have fallen in love with Poulenc's music but we were dazzled by her performance which built to a fine climax as the woman's shaky composure unraveled.  The piece was directed by Sarah Frazer and Tristan Cano performed the piano score.

Just as "Elle" was undone by love, Madame Flora in Menotti's 1946 work  The Medium was undone by greed, alcohol and guilt.
For years she has run phony seances and taken money from believers desperate to contact their dearly departed loved ones.  To this purpose she has enlisted the services of her daughter Monica and a mute Hungarian gypsy boy named Toby whom she rescued from the streets.  While under the influence she begins to hallucinate the "ghosts" and blames Toby.  She becomes fearful and then hysterical with tragic results.  Director John Schenkel has staged this opera simply but imaginatively while Kathryn Olander did justice to the piano score.  Elizabeth Moulton was vocally and dramatically successful in the contralto role and sang a moving "Afraid, am I afraid?".  Soprano Megan Candio was equally fine as Monica and delighted the ear with "Monica's Waltz" and "Black Swan" in which Ms. Moulton's voice harmonized to great advantage.  Soprano Sheba Buckley sang the role of Mrs. Gobineau with fine lyricism and was quite convincing as a woman grieving a baby she lost long long ago.  Baritone Greg Kass portrayed the husband effectively but one was left wondering about the verissimilitude of an interracial couple in that epoch.  Mezzo Anna Petrie was excellent as Mrs. Nolan who tries to contact her daughter and is so ready to believe the "ghost" that Monica creates.  In the non-speaking role of Toby, Parker Scott acted well but appeared at least 20 years too old for the part as much as he tried to act like a youth.

The causes of Suor Angelica's decompensation in the eponymous 1918 opera by Puccini (libretto by Forzano) are family and society.  Having disgraced her aristocratic family by bearing a child without benefit of matrimony, the poor young woman had been hustled off to a convent to repent for the rest of her life.  Desperate for some family contact, she becomes overjoyed when learning that her aunt has come to see her.  But the aunt hasn't come for a pleasant visit; she has come to get Angelica to sign over her financial assets.  Angelica craves news about her young son and is told he has died.  As one can imagine the news is devastating.  Soprano Kristi Bulot succeeds admirably in the role whereas Anna Yelizarova falters as La Principessa, a contralto role.  Dramatically, in spite of her youth, she effectively portrays an elderly woman struggling with a cane to hold herself aristocratically erect; but she seems to have artificially darkened her voice.  All of the nuns sang well but at times reminded one more of sorority sisters.  We were especially moved by the sweet voiced Elana Gleason who portrayed Sister Genovieffa who missed her life as a shepherdess.  Italian diction was quite good.  Sarah Fraser directed and Tristan Cano accompanied at the piano.

Opera Manhattan excels at giving singers an opportunity to add new roles to their repertoire and also at giving the audience an opportunity to get "up close and personal".  St. Clement's Church has a fine theater and we urge you to attend the remaining performances and to fill it up.

(c) meche kroop