LOVE AND DEATH

 Tamara Wilson and Simon O'Neill (photo by Curtis Brown for Santa Fe Opera)

We felt quite a bit of envy last night at the Santa Fe Opera's production of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde; we were envious of the bulk of the audience who seemed enthralled and greeted the artists with thunderous applause at the curtain call which took place a hefty 4 3/4 hours after the disturbing opening chord. Sadly, we were not enthralled.

It was not the length that we objected to; we have sat through Wagner's Ring Cycle a number of times and the hours flew by. It may have had something to do with the medieval legend upon which Wagner based his libretto. The influence of Schopenhauer's pessimism made the love story unlovely. We cannot deem the idea of uniting in some fantasied afterlife as a desirable goal for lovers.

As a matter of fact, the situation between the two titular characters had nothing to do with love but rather with obsession. Who was Wagner to write about love! The philandering narcissistic composer disrespected his own wife! The true loves in this opera are that of the forgiving King Marke for his adopted heir, and that of Kurvenal for his friend Tristan.

Since you, dear reader, have probably already read about the prodigious gifts of soprano Tamara Wilson who used her huge instrument effectively and acted convincingly as the captured Irish princess, we would like to begin by noting the performances that captured our flagging attention.

When bass Eric Owens walked onstage in Act II, our tedium dissolved. In contrast with the wooden performance of heldentenor Simon O'Neill, Mr. Owens has stage presence to spare and a commanding voice, offering a sympathetic portrayal of a childless widower who has been pressured into remarrying the resentful Irish princess. The poor guy got a raw deal, getting betrayed by his designated heir Tristan with his designated bride Isolde. This bring us to our contrarian opinion that this is not so much a love story as a story of the consequences of betrayal.  Not only is King Marke betrayed by Tristan but Tristan is betrayed by his jealous friend Melot, well sung by apprentice Eric Taylor who made such a fine showing on Sunday as Siegfried. We are always happy to hear young voices tackling Wagner!

It helped significantly that Mr. Owens was costumed (by Carlos J. Soto) in regal red, quite a standout against the grey and white geometric set, designed by architects Charlap Hyman and Herrero. One could call the architectonic set interesting in its flexible uses but we found it sterile and more suitable to Schopenhauer's philosophy than to a mythic love story. Costuming for Mr. O'Neill was less successful; the armor made him appear to have no neck. The women, however were graced by long flowing gowns.

Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton made a convincing Brangäne and made good use of her rich middle and lower register. The performance we most enjoyed, however, was that of Nicholas Bownlee in the role of Kurvenal. He showed a deep commitment to the role and wanted for nothing in terms of dramatic effectiveness. His voice was the most successful at cutting through Wagner's dense orchestration and showed an interesting timbre. One might, however, wish for a bit more variety in volume. (His recent recital for Performance Santa Fe's Festival of Song revealed just how deep his artistry runs.)

Speaking of Wagner's orchestration, we are quite aware of the novelty of his harmonic structure and the way he avoided any kind of harmonic resolution until the very end, creating a sense of unease throughout the entire work. What we liked best were the quotations from his Wesendonck Lieder. The rising four note scale passage from "Im Treibhaus"  reveals how a simple four note rising scale passage can produce substantial emotional involvement.

The conducting of Maestro James Gaffigan was excellent and went a long way toward illuminating Wagner's dense orchestration. We were particularly taken with the lengthy searching solos for English horn and bass clarinet, an instrument we don't get to hear as often as we would wish.

It is always a thrill to hear apprentices onstage, making an impact in smaller roles. Tenor Jonah Hoskins sounded great in the role of a sailor, singing a song that Isolde takes as insulting. Tenor Dylan M. Davis appeared as a shepherd responsible for playing  a tune when Isolde's ship arrives to heal the dying Tristan. Baritone Erik Grendahl sang the role of the Steersman.

Although this particular production of this particular opera did not resonate with us, we admire Santa Fe Opera for tackling it and for bringing so much satisfaction to so many opera lovers. How gratifying that very few people left early. Although not overwhelmed we were left with some satisfying memories of King Marke and Kurvenal, the afore-mentioned woodwind solos, the play of John Torres' lighting on the set, and the formidable voices of Ms. Wilson and Ms. Barton.

Although we were not inspired to read more of Schopenhauer's philosophy, we were moved to think upon the heavy cost of betrayal. We did wonder how Wagner felt about his own bad behavior, betraying his wife and betraying his patrons by seducing their wives.

(c) meche kroop

 

APPRENTICE SCENES AT SANTA FE OPERA

Nicholas Newton, Amanda Lynn Bottoms, Lucy Evans, Ben Brady, Magdalena Kuzma, and Justin Burgess in a scene from L'Italiana in Algeri

What a delightful evening we spent watching and listening as this year's crop of apprentices showed their stuff.  And what stuff they showed! Nothing thrills us more than discovering new major talents and witnessing the ascendancy of their stardom. Last night, all of the apprentices sounded great but a few stood out, perhaps because they were given the right role to suit their unique gifts.

We chose the above photo of a scene from Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri because of its superlative ensemble work. Of course, Rossini is known not only for his comedic genius but also for his ability to combine several vocal lines into a tapestry of sound, almost always composed to bring an act to a rollicking climax. If anyone starts complaining that this opera is not politically correct, we will gladly stare you down!

In this case, marvelous mezzo Amanda Lynn Bottoms created a character with wondrous spunk; her Isabella used all her ingenuity to beguile bass-baritone Ben Brady's Mustafa. No one could doubt that she would secure the release of her lover Lindoro (tenor Andrew Turner) whom Mustafa had convinced to marry his cast-off wife Elvira (soprano Magdalena Kuzma). Rounding out the well-matched ensemble were mezzo-soprano Lucy Evans as the servant Zulma, bass-baritone Nicholas Newton as Taddeo, and baritone Justin Burgess as Haly.  James Robinson's astute direction created sense out of all the confusion.

Another charming ensemble piece, directed by Cristal Manich, was a scene from Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos. We cannot recall enjoying this scene as much as we did last night. Soprano Amber Norelai created a flirtatious Zerbinetta who teases all the members of her troupe (tenors Thomas Cilluffo and Jordan Loyd, and bass-baritone Peter Barber) before running off with the patiently waiting Harlekin of baritone Luke Sutliff. Once again we marveled at the superb vocalism and acting skills of the entire cast.

On a more serious note, we were impressed by the ensemble work of the cast of Verdi's Don Carlos as they performed, in the original French, the scene in which Elisabeth de Valois (soprano Murrella Parton) confronts her husband Phillippe II (bass Griffen Hogan Tracy) about her missing jewel box. He in turn confronts her about his suspicions of her adultery.  Never mind that he has been committing adultery with the Princess Eboli whose entrance on the scene leads to her guilty confession of betraying her beloved Queen out of jealousy. And here, we get to the meat of the scene in which the Princess sings the famous aria "O don fatale". It was exciting to hear these fine artists being given the rare opportunity to tackle Verdi and, under the direction of Kathleen Clawson, to succeed so admirably. Mezzo-soprano Sarah Saturnino's Eboli was heart wrenching as she summoned a panoply of emotions and accepted responsibility for her misdeed. This is one voice we will definitely watch for future greatness!

Another serious ensemble piece was equally filled with confrontation. Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor is one of our favorite operas, filled with glorious bel canto singing, luscious melodies, and a gripping story. No, we did not get Lucia's mad scene; rather we saw a scene of confrontations. Poor Lucia (Ms. Kuzma) has been forced by her desperate brother Enrico (baritone Sejin Park) to sign a marriage contract with the politically useful Arturo Bucklaw (tenor Tianchi Zhang). Her beloved Edgardo of Ravenswood (tenor Kevin Punnackal) arrives on the scene and confronts the victimized Lucia. Enrico challenges Edgardo and only the intervention of the family minister Raimondo (Mr. Newton) forestalls bloodshed. But we know that no one gets out alive. Lucia will murder Arturo and die of madness, Enrico's fate is not a good one, nor is Edgardo's. Everyone handled the bel canto lines with grace and accuracy. Ken Cazan's direction brought everything together.

Ken Cazan's direction of the scene from Mozart's Cosi fan tutte was somewhat less successful in that it tried too hard and wound up appearing excessive to the point of losing the humor. We thought it was a mistake to set the scene in what appeared to be the 1950's, as remote to us as da Ponte's time. (What's with the recent popularity of that unattractive period????)  Nonetheless, we enjoyed the singing of soprano Emily Richter as Fiordiligi, mezzo Sophia Maekawa as Dorabella, tenor Anthony León as Ferrando, baritone Kyle Miller as Guglielmo, Mr. Brady as Don Alfonso, and the Despina of soprano Amanda Olea. Conductor Robert Tweten brought the voices together into a satisfying whole.

Regular readers will recall our fondness for zarzuela and will understand how pleased we were to see a scene from Torroba's Luisa Fernanda on last night's program.The selection was brief but affecting with Ms. Oleo portraying the eponymous heroine and Mr. León filling the role of Javier Moreno. What gorgeous vocal lines! And Spanish sings so beautifully!

Another duet was staged by Ms. Clawson--the confrontation between the eponymous heroine of Puccini's Suor Angelica and her cold aristocratic aunt, the Principessa, in a stunning performance by contralto Lauren Decker, another artist marked for stardom by virtue of the unique timbre of her voice and intense delivery. We couldn't help thinking about the mores of Puccini's time and the rigid morality of Italy's declining aristocracy. Poor Angelica (affecting soprano Ardeen Pierre), having given birth without benefit of marriage, had been sent to a convent, presumably to lessen the impact of social opprobrium. For years she has longed for contact with her family.  Finally her aunt visits but only to get her to sign away her inheritance. The ultimate insult to her mental state was learning that the son she bore had died. Ms. Pierre sang movingly and was as convincing as a victim as Ms. Decker was as a rigid unfeeling tyrant.

The only contemporary scene on the program left us as cold as the Principessa. Next to all the passion and confrontation of 18th and 19th c. opera (and even into the 20th c.) Gregory Spears' Fellow Traveler lacked the intensity and melodic interest of the other seven scenes on the program. Nonetheless, the performances of Mr. Sutliff as State Department official Hawkins Fuller and tenor Jonah Hoskins as a milk-drinking young reporter were believable and vocally excellent. We just want to hear these excellent voices performing something less "conversational".

In sum, it was a stellar evening with plenty of variety. We enjoyed the piano accompaniment and never missed the orchestra. We are sure the young artists enjoyed performing with professional staging, direction, and costuming--all of which were of the highest order.

© meche kroop