THE DON AND THREE COMPLEX WOMEN

Parker Drown, Zina Ellis, Matthew Gamble, Samarie Alicea, John Taylor Ward, Leela Subramaniam, Felicia Moore, Barrington Lee, and Keith Browning
in Heartbeat Opera's Don Giovanni

There is just so much to say about Heartbeat Opera's Don Giovanni which opened last night at the Rose Nagelberg Theater at the Baruch Performing Arts Center! Where shall we begin? Let us save the spoilers for the end so that prior knowledge will not affect your astonishment when you attend--and we truly hope you will! This production had a great deal of buzz last night so do not delay.

We are generally dissatisfied when a director undercuts the meaning of an opera with a self-serving concept. Dear readers, if you have been to the Metropolitan Opera in the past few years you know exactly what we are disparaging. 

But what if a director completely reimagines an opera that we know and love, sweeps away the ingrained clichés, and sheds new light on the drama. A museum piece, adapted by the right hands, can take us to new places with new insights and relevancies. Director (and Co-Artistic Director of Heartbeat Opera) Louisa Proske has the right hands.

Daniel Schlosberg is credited with arranging Mozart's music for Cantata Profana, Heartbeat's resident chamber ensemble. The five strings (string quartet plus bass) were augmented by the clarinet of Gleb Kanasevich and the harpsichord of Aya Hamada. This produced a very interesting sound, but we sometimes felt like something was missing although we don't know enough about orchestration to identify it. For the party scene the musicians joined the action onstage. Conductor Jacob Ashworth played first violin.

Because opera is about the voice, let us tell you how splendidly the cast sang. The astonishingly versatile bass-baritone John Taylor Ward made a superbly seductive Don and used his fine instrument to illuminate the character of a narcissistic sociopath, reminding us of the pussy-grabbing POTUS. Furthermore, his expressive long lean frame added significantly to his performance.

The three women achieved new status in this production. The Donna Elvira of soprano Felicia Moore, whom we know very well from her extraordinary work at Juilliard, was not a comic figure played for derision. Her work was authentic and sincere; she created a believable portrait of a woman who genuinely cares about a worthless man and also cares about rescuing Zerlina from his clutches. The timbre of her voice and her astute phrasing convinced us of her value as a human being, the kind of woman we know as a "rescuer". Her "Mi tradì quell'alma ingrata" was superb.

The Donna Anna of soprano Leela Subramaniam, whom we well remember from her fine work at Manhattan School of Music, was particularly fine, using a fine bright tone to explode the tried-and-true characterization of the virginal young aristocrat. This characterization was a creation of Ms. Proske and Ms. Subramaniam fulfilled it perfectly. Details will follow.We loved the way she sang "Non mi dir".

Soprano Samarie Alicea, well remembered from her work with the International Vocal Arts Institute three years ago, not only sang splendidly but demonstrated major chops as a comic actress. Whatever she felt about the Don came across in her mobile face as well as her flexible voice. Her "Batti, batti o bel Masetto" was beautifully sung and had a twist.  Keep reading!

Baritone Matthew Gamble, whom we remember from IVAI and also from Martina Arroyo's Prelude to Performance, showed his stuff as the much put-upon Leporello. There was a traditional and well sung "Catalogue Aria".

Barrington Lee used a wonderfully rich bass-baritone to enact the Commendatore and also Masetto, managing to color his voice differently in such a successful manner that we thought it was two different singers! This casting strategy was also used at the opera's Vienna and Prague openings in the 18th c.

Don Ottavio was portrayed by tenor Keith Browning who was deprived of both of his arias.

The ensemble singing was notably wonderful.

If you have not seen this production yet, we recommend that you stop reading here and resume after you have seen it.  And see it you must!

Director Louisa Proske has reimagined the story to focus more attention on the women of the #MeToo generation. Each one approaches her sexuality in a different manner. Perhaps you might even recognize yourself in one or more of them. They may be victims or survivors or masters of their own destiny but they are not ciphers.

We have always had a problem with the opening scene of this opera.  If Don Giovanni is raping Donna Anna why does she pursue him? We have always believed that she is in love (or lust) with him and will never ever marry the kind supportive Don Ottavio. But we are not a theatrical director and had to wait for Ms. Proske to make this clear.

The two lovers are going at it hot and heavy in a bedroom when Donna Anna's father the Commendatore bursts in on them.  The girl cowers in shame while the Don kills her father. She cannot admit this to her fiancé Don Ottavio and concocts a rape story.  False news?  LOL.

Neither is Zerlina an innocent. Ms. Alicea's face and body limned her initial scorn and her later willingness to be seduced. She too must put on a show for Masetto and pretend to be innocent. But everything changes when the Don decides that rape is easier than seduction. The sardonic slant and sexual innuendo of her "Batti batti" might have delighted the randy Mozart as much as it delighted us.

Donna Elvira truly wants to save Don Giovanni, as we mentioned above.  She is the "rescuer" and we all know women like that who fall for bad boys and try to reform them.

In Ms. Proske's version (BIG SPOILER HERE) the three women and Don Ottavio gang up on Don Giovanni, strip him naked and beat him. He is left quivering on the ground at the end of Act I and if you want to see some amazing acting, just look at Mr. Ward's feet!

At this point, the orchestration became very very strange. You will just have to hear it for yourself.

In Act II, he is in some kind of hospital room, totally hebephrenic. Measurements are being made, tests are being performed and disturbing appearing treatments are being administered. The other characters are in what appears to be a hospital waiting room, signing documents and comforting one another. Don Giovanni hallucinates; the doctor is perceived as the Commendatore.  He is in a hell of his own making. The horror of this scene is so intense that even the final ensemble cannot relieve it.

The major feature of Kate Noll's set is a large cube with a plate glass side. This served as bedroom and hospital room. What confused us was that there was a neon sign on it reading "MOTEL".  Perhaps the Commendatore saw his daughter's car out in front? Well, there were a couple similar inconsistencies but the transmogrification of plot elements worked for the most part.

Beth Goldenberg's costumes were apt, especially that for the gum-chewing Zerlina whose white wedding dress barely covered the essentials, so to speak. "Come fuck me" shoes completed the fashion statement.

We could go on and on but we hope that by this time you have seen it for yourself. Since a picture is worth a thousand words at least, we will put a carousel of photos from the production on our Facebook page Voce di Meche.  Enjoy!

(c) meche kroop

A GOOD TIME! NO, A GREAT TIME!

The splendid cast of Orlando Paladino (photo by Carol Rosegg)

We have never taken kindly to updating the tragedies of the classic repertory but to take an all-but-forgotten opera and to dress it in new clothes (so to speak) can be not only forgiven but celebrated.

We have never seen/heard an opera at Manhattan School of Music that we haven't enjoyed but their production of Joseph Haydn's Orlando Paladino absolutely blew us away with its originality and creativity.  The chorus has been eliminated along with extraneous characters and the entire affair has been tightened up to a brisk 2 1/2 hours that absolutely flew by.

The libretto by Nunziato Porta was based on another libretto by P. A. Guglielmi which was, in turn, inspired by Ariosto's 16th c. epic poem Orlando furioso.  Poor Ariosto would not have been able to recognize his own work.  But the music is a constant.

Astute director Robin Guarino settled on a concept of presenting the work as a reality show.  She was inspired by an article in the New Yorker by Andrew Marantz describing the impact on our culture of technology, surveillance, reality television and instant celebrity, particularly as it affects psychosis.  If you recall a film called The Truman Show about a man who lives his life inside a TV show, you will get the concept.

So...gone are the shepherds and palaces and woods.  Scenic Designer Laura Jellinek has created the set of a reality TV show with cameras in place and techies running around setting things up.  Some of them are characters in the opera.  This provides an opportunity to skewer the cult of celebrity as the stars preen and pose or sulk and look bored between "takes".  We wouldn't want to spoil the fun by telling you about all the sight gags.

Lighting Designer Mark Barton has used brightly colored washes of light to highlight the content of each scene and Gabriel Berry's costumes are witty and a propos.

The story is simple but made complicated.  Angelica (the divine soprano Leela Subramaniam) is in love with Medoro (excellent tenor Thomas Mulder).  Rodomonte (big beautiful baritone Kidon Choi) also cares for her and would protect her from the certifiably crazy and delusional Orlando (terrific tenor Elliott Paige). 

His squire Pasquale is, in this case, one of the techies and performed by the incomparable scene-stealer baritone Cameron Johnson whose body is as flexible as his voice.  He has a romance going with Eurilla, no longer a shepherdess but here the script girl; soprano Kerstin Bauer creates a winsome character with a lovely voice.  The sorceress Alcina has been transformed into an elegant and powerful player who solves all the problems, including ordering ECT for the uncontrollably mad Orlando.  This is a perfect role for the stunning soprano Margaret Newcombe. The final scene takes place in a mental hospital.

This hilarious silliness is accompanied by Haydn's gorgeous tunes.  Conductor Christian Capocaccia brought the fine MSM musicians to a peak of performance with Marcello Cormio providing the continuo.  Vocal performances were universally superb with arias, duets and ensembles to add variety.  The frantic septet made one think of Rossini and the final moralistic summing up reminded one of Mozart.

The same superlative cast will perform at the Sunday matinee but if you are inclined to attend Friday night, you have our assurance that you won't be disappointed.  We had the opportunity at the pre-performance presentation to hear Jessica Grzanna and Terence Stone sing a tender love duet and baritone Xiaomeng Zhang give a different but equally wonderful interpretation of the combative Rodomonte.  We also heard cover Paul-Anthony Keightley sing a wonderful Pasquale with a great deal of personality.

It was interesting to learn how Ms. Guarino evoked such authentic performances from the singers.  She had them translate their parts and to speak them in contemporary lingo.  It apparently worked incredibly well.

To anyone who doesn't believe that opera can be fun, we recommend this production as a remedial experience.  Were we not otherwise committed, we would return for the next two performances.  We recommend that you beg, borrow or steal a ticket.  Performances of such high value do not happen every weekend!

© meche kroop

COURAGE BEATS TRADITION

Kamala Sankaram (photo by Carl Skutsch)

Presented by Prototype for their second annual festival of new chamber works, Thumbprint is a profoundly moving work dealing with social justice for women.  An illiterate peasant woman named Mukhtar converted a tragic event into an advantage for herself and other young women; composer Kamala Sankaram (performing the lead role herself) and librettist Susan Yankowitz have converted her story into a most effective work that is musically and dramatically valid.  If dramatic liberties were taken it matters not.  There is such a thing as dramatic truth and Thumbprint has it in spades.

Mukhtar is a Pakistani woman from a small village who does what women do in that culture.  She stays indoors with her mother and sister, embroidering and cooking.  The women discuss finding a good husband who won't beat them; mama tells them that they cannot expect a man to be attractive or young since they have no dowry.

Bad news arrives; their 12-year old brother has been accused by a girl from a wealthy powerful family of "touching" her.  That this is a falsehood is of no consequence.  As is said so poetically in the libretto "Truth dies in the mouth of power".  He will be whipped perhaps until death.  The family is told that their only recourse is for a woman of his family to go to the girl's family and beg for forgiveness.  This is apparently a trick.  Her pleas are ridiculed and she is raped by four men of the powerful family.  She survives by detachment in a heart-breaking aria "This is me; this is not me".  The consequence is that she is disgraced and shamed; the only avenue left to her is suicide, which is something such victims are encouraged to do.

But Mukhtar's mother will not accept this.  She reminds her daughter that Mukhtar means courage.  The girl goes where none of her kind have gone before, having also been encouraged by the local imam.  She goes to the police and the case is brought to trial.  The wealthy family defends their position as one of tradition.  If someone dishonors your daughter, you dishonor theirs!  It is difficult for us 21st c.  Westerners to believe that people still live by such archaic codes.

Mukhtar wins the case and decides to get educated so she doesn't have to rely on a thumbprint in place of her signature.  She becomes an advocate for other women and promotes their education.

Ms. Sankaram's music is haunting and original.  Conducted by Steven Osgood, piano, harmonium, violin, viola, bass, flute and percussion are employed to create an Eastern-Western soundscape of memorable beauty.  The eminently singable vocal lines, marked by melismatic singing, are perfectly handled by the composer, by mezzo Theodora Hanslowe as the mother and soprano Leela Subramaniam as the sister.  The father was sympathetically portrayed by Steve Gokool and the other male roles by Kannan Vasudevan and Manu Narayan who were convincing in their arrogance.

Rachel Dickstein directed with a fine hand, emphasizing the concept of the heroine being on a pathway.  Kate Fry's costumes were appropriate; set design by Susan Zeeman Rogers was minimalistic.  Full attention was focused on the dilemma of the individuals.  There were video projections which we found innocuous when they were not distracting; the screen might have been put to better use for surtitles.

Anyone who reads or goes to the cinema is aware of the dreadful indignities and crimes to which women are subjected under sharia.  Can these tribal customs be fought?  Can those battles be won?  This work gives us hope.  Clearly this work earns its place by virtue of its storytelling and artistry but one cannot deny the superimposed political value of exposing evil and illuminating the courage to overcome it.

© meche kroop