SHAKEN AND STIRRED

Cast of Heartbeat Opera's production of Der Freischütz

We count on Heartbeat Opera to take an opera and shake it up; we count on Heartbeat Opera to stir our feelings. With a very rare exception we enjoy the process and we always leave provoked in some way, ready to reconsider issues that were previously given the "already/always" treatment. (If you are so inclined, dear reader, take a look at our review of their production of Beethoven's Fidelio by entering it in the search bar.)

Last night at the Rose Nagelberg Theater of the Baruch Performing Arts Center we saw Carl Maria von Weber's 1821 opera Der Freischütz, an opera that we had never seen and, therefore, felt no investment in preserving in its original form, as we would with, say, La Traviata. As a matter of fact, we avoided reading anything about the opera beforehand, and especially not the Director's Notes. We firmly hold the position that a work of art should speak for itself! This one spoke loud and clear.

The story is based upon a German folk legend with supernatural elements and contains spoken dialogue which, we posit, puts it in the category of singspiel, like Die Zauberflöte. For this production, the story was moved up from its original setting (as we have since learned) in 1648 Germany to contemporary United States.

It appears to be post-Afghanistan or post-Iraq and takes place in what must be a Red state since all the men are armed and very much attached to their guns. We sensed that the hero Max and his buddy Kaspar are veterans. The townspeople are a nasty bunch and infected with toxic masculinity. The chief forester Kuno of the original has been changed to a sheriff whilst Max and Kaspar seem to be his deputies.

Max wants to marry Kuno's daughter Agathe but Kuno insists that his prospective son-in-law be the best shot in town; Max seems to have lost his groove and suffers humiliation at the hands of the locals; their particular form of torture seems to be a form of waterboarding (learned in Iraq, we presume).

Max is now ripe for the machinations of Kaspar who promises to solve his problems--with a little supernatural help. Let us leave the story here for awhile so we can give credit where it is due. 

Friedrich Kind's original libretto has been adapted by Co-Artistic Director Louisa Proske who, in our eyes, is some kind of artistic genius. Dialogues were written by Michael Attias; we have no idea how closely they hew to the original German but they succeed in telling the story and making it work.

The music is as von Weber wrote it and it is magnificent. Music Director Daniel Schlosberg has scored the work for piano/keyboard/accordion (which he played himself), violin and viola (played by Concertmaster Jacob Ashworth), another set of higher strings, a cello, a guitar, and several winds played by three additional musicians. There was a great deal of sound coming from seven musicians!

Never having heard the orchestral version, we have no basis for comparison but what we heard was glorious to the ear and filled with interesting harmonies and sonorities. From the first wind chorale, we were completely drawn in.

We might add that the supernatural scene taking place in the Wolf Canyon involves some electronic input (credited to William Gardiner) that felt just right. The direction of this scene (Direction by Ms. Proske and Chloe Treat) was the most chilling scene we have ever witnessed at the opera, thanks to some special effects like visions, smoke, and a very talented Butoh dancer named azumi O E who enacted the part of Samiel with twisted body and twisted hands. The entire effect was cinematic and would have been right at home in a horror film.

We realize we have yet to mention the singers who were uniformly excellent in their acting as well as singing. Tenor Ian Koziara made a sympathetic "underdog" and we truly felt for him. Poor Agathe was portrayed by soprano Summer Hassan who excelled at being the tortured bride-to-be, anxious about Max and the upcoming wedding. The scene in which her bridesmaids come to help her with her toilette was a marvel.

We loved soprano Jana McIntyre as her cousin Ännchen; she had quite a lot to sing and sang it well. We enjoyed the contrast between Agathe's heavy hearted singing and Ännchen's cheerful singing.  Von Weber's vocal lines and rhythms beautifully limned each character.

The manipulative Kaspar was powerfully sung and acted by bass-baritone Derrell Acon. Baritone Quentin Oliver Lee sang the role of the Governor, and also that of one of the locals named Kilian. Sheriff Kuno was portrayed with strength by bass Kevin McGuire.

We were happy to see bass Eric Delagrange in a role at the end that puzzled us. As deus ex machina, he is supposed to be a holy hermit but in this iteration he seemed threatening. We are going to have to think about that issue for awhile.

The female chorus was superb, comprising Emily Donato, Jessica Harika, Claire Leyden, and Siobhan Sung. No less superb were the men: Phillip Bullock, Michael Celentano, Cory Gross, Patrick Lord-Remmert, and Anthony McGlaun.

The set by Sara Brown was remarkable. The Rose Nagelberg Theater was converted into a small town with the audience on three sides, making us feel very much a part of the action and therefore complicit. A house was constructed in one corner with shades that rolled up, giving us a view of the action inside. Wolf Canyon was created with "smoke and mirrors", a miracle of lighting by Oliver Wason. Beth Goldenberg's costumes were on point.

The amount of creativity that went into this provocative production impressed us enormously but what really mattered was the effect the production had on us, since it related so deeply to contemporary issues: military PTSD, gun culture, toxic masculinity, superstition, etc.

We were so affected by it that we plan to return to hear the other cast and to sit on the other side to get a different perspective and perhaps some additional insights.

© meche kroop

(RED) HOT MAMA

Curtain Call for Heartbeat Opera's Halloween Extravaganza at Roulette

We have been a fan of Heartbeat Opera since they first started producing opera. We were immediately bowled over by their Daphnis et Chloé, taking Offenbach's silly but bawdy story and telling it in the most creative way. Casting it with fine young voices and creating costuming and sets with far more imagination than expenditure, the work was an immediate hit and won our heart.

Since then, we have watched Heartbeat grow to become a full-fledged opera company producing one hit after another--most often presenting operas with an original take that sometimes thrilled us and sometimes upset us--but always left us feeling involved. Their productions have always been radical, original, and adventuresome; their audience is mainly young. We decided that there must have been something special in the water at Yale School of Drama, where Co-Artistic Directors Louisa Proske and Ethan Heard got their training.

Since we loved theater long before we got interested in opera, we always look at opera productions with an eye for dramatic validity and also for entertainment value. For us, it doesn't matter how famous the stars, how gorgeous the voices, or how well conducted the orchestra is; if the show doesn't work dramatically it doesn't hold our interest.

We are filled with anticipation for their December production of Weber's Der Freischutz, but until then we had our yen for Heartbeat-style entertainment well satisfied by their stunning Halloween show at The Roulette. Using the vital and worthwhile theme of Saving Mother Earth, there was plenty of eye and ear candy to make the bitter pill easier to swallow.

The "plot" followed the line of facing the peril to our planet and reforming ourselves. The theme involved trees ("Ombra mai fu" from Händel's Serse), flowers (the "Flower Duet" from Delibes' Lakme), melting icebergs ("Gelida in ogni vena" from Vivaldi's Farnace), birds ("The Lark Ascending" by Vaughan Williams), global warming ("Too Darn Hot" from Cole Porter's Kiss Me Kate), nuclear peril (John Adams' Dr. Atomic), and so on, right up to the finale of "Make Our Garden Grow" from Bernstein's Candide. Even Stravinsky, Mozart, and Wagner were on board. The cleverness with which the music was pressed into the service of the theme of the show was outstanding.

All the voices were admirable but we were particularly taken with the coloratura of Ariana Wehr who was dressed as a polar bear but still managed to take Vivaldi's vocal lines seriously with admirable ease of fioritura. The always effective John Taylor Ward did double duty as a plant and as the Monster of Climate Collapse.

Patrick Kilbride was covered with flowers and Dustin Ceithamer appeared as Mother Earth.  There was quite a face-off between "her" and the Monster. Clinton Edward and Brendan Henderson danced their way through their roles as birds, choreographed by Eamon Foley.

Words fail us in describing Miodrag Guberinic's elaborate and inventive costumes; we suggest that you see the photos we have posted to our FB page--Voce di Meche where you can also see Maiko Ando's fabulous makeup.

Even the musicians wore wigs and makeup. Musical Direction was by Jacob Ashworth (violin) and Daniel Schlosberg (piano and harpsichord) joined by violist Hannah Levinson and cellist Madeline Fayette. Onstage for the jazzy numbers was saxophonist Michaël Attias.

Props, like the suspended globe, were designed by Corinne Gologursky and Nicholas Hussong provided the projections, mainly quotes from famous people with serious messages consistent with the theme.

Also consistent with the theme was the provision of metal straws with the drinks for guests to take home. We have been using ours!

Significantly, a portion of the ticket proceeds went toward supporting Earthjustice. Heartbeat Opera is known for their socially oriented productions, such as their work with the incarcerated for their production of Beethoven's Fidelio.

This is the kind of work we would be happy to see again; however, like last year's Halloween show, part of the value comes from the knowledge that it is transitory in nature--very much ""of the moment"-- and can be cherished the way one cherishes a flower. The plant which produced the flower, however, is a perennial!

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DRAGUS MAXIMUS--a Homersexual Opera Odyssey

Justin Mock, Nicolette Mavroleon, Sara Couden, John Taylor Ward, Drae Campbell, and Jamilyn Manning-White at Roulette

We didn't even have to think of a clever title for our review. The supernally creative team at Heartbeat Opera did it for us. Conceived by Co-Artistic Directors Louisa Proske and Ethan Heard, and directed by Mr. Heard, the 2018 version of Heartbeat Opera's annual Halloween drag extravaganza left us grinning from ear to ear. What an overdose of imagination we witnessed, surpassing even last year's Mozart in Space.

The overall concept was that of the blind poet Homer, wearing golden winged shoes provided by Mercury,visiting various mythological creatures in ancient Greece.  He encounters one phantasmagoric creature after another, many of whom offered arias of the Baroque period, when operas were written based on mythology.

The entire evening was dazzling and we scarcely know what to write about first. Since our focus is on opera, let us begin with Nicolette Mavroleon in drag as Nerone singing "Come nube che fugge dal vento" from Handel's Agrippina, fiddling on a golden violin whilst Rome burned virtually through projections by Shawn Boyle. Nero renounces love in favor of political power. We confess to being distracted by her golden costume but not too much to miss appreciation of a fine vocal performance.

Similarly, Jamilyn Manning-White's elaborate black and silver costume, complete with snakes coming out of her head almost distracted us from the world premiere of "Feed the Snakes", composed by Co-Music Director Daniel Schlosberg with lyrics by Royce Vavrek. Ms. Manning-White is a riveting performer with equal dramatic and vocal skills.

These two fine artists reappeared as Sappho and her Muse singing "Pur ti miro, Pur ti godo" from Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea, the gorgeous final duet between Poppea and Nerone.

Sara Couden impressed as Dejanira singing "Where Shall I Fly?" from Handel's rarely produced Hercules. Dejanira has gone mad after causing the death of her husband Hercules. She gets many changes of mood, color, and tempi.

The always marvelous John Taylor Ward appeared as the scary-looking cyclops Polyphemus, singing "Fra l'ombre e gl'orrori" from Handel's Aci, Galatea, e Polifemo. Who but Mr. Ward has the vocal range and agility to pull off this buffa aria!

In a totally different role, Mr. Ward created a very tall and very skinny leather-bound fly, a manifestation of Jupiter, buzzing around the lovely Eurydice (lovely Ms. Manning-White) who attacked him with an electrified fly swatter, in the duet from Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld. There was also a performance of the famous "Can-Can" with a Minotaur doing a split at the end.

Drae Campbell was just right as Homer, feeling his way around with a blind man's cane. Justin Mock appeared as the winged Cupid, as Cerberus (the three-headed dog) and as the Minotaur. Aphrodite was performed by Pearl Harbor, whose real name is Wo Chan. This role was lip-synced and the beautiful voice we heard was that of Peregrine Teng Heard who also wrote the show with Mr. Heard.

Co-Musical Directors Jacob Ashworth and Daniel Schlosberg provided the music with Mr. Schlosberg's arrangements for violin (Mr. Ashworth and Mélanie Clapiès), cello (Clare Monfredo), bass (Dara Bloom) and clarinet (Gleb Kanasevich). Mr. Schlosberg conducted from the harpsichord.

The fantastic costumes, hair, and makeup were designed by Fabian Aguilar, Jon Carter, Miodrag Guberinic, and Andrew Jordan. Their contributions were essential to putting the concept across.

Choreographer was Heartbeat regular Emma Crane Jaster. Lighting was by Krista Smith. Props were designed by Corinne Gologursky.

All of these wildly talented people contributed to an evening that made our heart beat faster. We could not imagine a better celebration of the arts and gender diversity/fluidity!

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ALL THE WORLD'S A DRAG!

Miles Mykkanen, Lauren Worsham, Ato Blankson-Wood, Joshua Jeremiah, Sichel Claverie, John Taylor Ward, and Stephanie Hayes onstage at National Sawdust

An ABFAB night like last night can only happen when people of extraordinary talent and imagination pool their resources. Heartbeat Opera, enjoying (and they seem to enjoy themselves as much as the audience) their fourth season, put on a show like no other in celebration of Halloween. We love Halloween because we get to dress up and release our inner spirits.

Last night's festivities allowed those who love opera and those who love Shakespeare and those who love the performers (we can put ourself in all three categories) to gather under one roof and celebrate the arts. If only one aria from each and every opera based on a Shakespeare play had been on the program, we would have been there all night--and never complained. If there was one "flaw" in the evening it was that it was too short. We just couldn't get enough.

Just imagine the splendiferous voices delighting the ear whilst dazzling visuals filled the eye! Anyone who remembers Ira Siff's Gran Scena Opera Company will recall fondly how much fun it can be to send up opera. Last night's production fell into that niche of burlesque.

A script by Co-Artistic Director Ethan Heard, Peregrine Heard, and Sara Holdren was spoken by Ms. Heard and contained multiple plays on the words of The Bard. The Bard himself was portrayed by Stephanie Hayes who rocked a golden Elizabethan costume complete with gloves and pumps. 

Shakespeare's comedies involved much cross-dressing and the performances themselves involved young men playing the parts of women. So seeing Shakespeare portrayed by a beautiful young woman, complete with beard and moustache, seemed absolutely on target.

The band, comprising keyboard wizard Daniel Schlosberg and violinist Jacob Ashworth (Co-Music Directors) with clarinettist Gleb Kanasevich and bassist Sam Suggs, opened the program with some instrumental music. Mr. Schlosberg himself arranged the music for this interesting combination of musicians.

Every aria was delivered with excellent vocal technique but an off-kilter style. Soprano Lauren Worsham made a not-so-innocent Juliet, singing "Je veux vivre" from Gounod's Romeo et Juliette. And later, made a down-right slutty Maria from Bernstein's West Side Story, singing the duet "Tonight" with terrific tenor Miles Mykkanen as her Tony. Mr. Mykkanen was resplendent in fuschia, entering on point (yes he has a dance background but has yet to join Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo).

Baritone Joshua Jeremiah sang a chilling rendition of Iago's "Credo" from Verdi's Otello. Mezzo-soprano Sishel Claverie was just as chilling as Lady Macbeth in the "Sleepwalking Scene" from Verdi's Macbeth. 

Much of the humor derived from the onstage Shakespeare who knew nothing of Brooklyn or Broadway or opera. When he innocently and unwittingly uttered the name of his play Macbeth the stage was filled with menacing projections; it was a moment the audience loved. Another funny moment was the "Exit, pursued by bear" being given a literal manifestation.

From Britten's Midsummer Night's Dream, "Bottom's Dream" was sung by John Taylor Ward in stunning drag, lending new emphasis to "bottom".

Queen Elizabeth herself made a stunning entrance, resplendently gowned and ruffed, in the person of Ato Blankson-Wood. 

It's been a long time since we heard Galt MacDermot's Hair in which he set "What a Piece of Work is Man" from Hamlet.  We also heard something from Purcell's "Faerie Queen". And did we mention the serial lip-synching?

The evening closed with a group sing of Cole Porter's "Brush Up Your Shakespeare" and a very raunchy rendition it was with every double entendre made clear!

Let us give props to some of the other people who contributed so grandly to the success of the show. First there is Co-Artistic Director Louisa Proske who will direct Mozart's Don Giovanni for the Spring Festival next May at the Baruch Performing Arts Center.  This is sure to be revolutionary!

The gorgeous costumes for tonight were designed by Seth Bodie. Choreography was by Emma Jaster. Rachel Padula was responsible for the eye-catching hair and makeup design. Joey Moro lit the show effectively and projection design was by Nicholas Hussong. Great production values like these enhanced the onstage talent.

It was all in fun. A carousel of photos has been placed on our Facebook page--Voce di Meche, since our words cannot convey fully the many delights of the evening.

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CARMEN CONDENSED

Doug Durlacher, Sichel Claverie, Brent Reilly Turner

We had barely recovered from the emotional impact of Heartbeat Opera's Madama Butterfly when we were hit with another wallop by their Carmen. When we planned this "double feature" evening, we were expecting a pair of "Cliff Notes" of the two operas.  After all, how much could one say by truncating an opera into an hour and a half?  Surely we were in for a light-weight experience!

How wrong we were! The right people can say a great deal in a short period of time. By knowing just what to strip away and where to put the emphasis, a revised and abbreviated version of a beloved opera can have a huge impact and take us to new places. Co-Artistic Director of Heartbeat Opera Louisa Proske directed a compressed essence of Carmen that left us feeling stabbed in the heart.

This condensed Carmen took us to a new place, a borderland between two places where anything might happen. Kate Noll's set was a guard house with a chain-link fence surmounted by barbed wire. A very athletic Carmen is creeping on the ground, then climbing up and over the guard house. Was it Chloe Treat's amazing choreography that had her crawling in and out of doors and windows trying to escape the guards? In any case, it was raw and realistic.

There is no cigar factory.  There is no bullfight. There is no card game or mountain passes. No Mercedes, no Frasquita, no Remendado or Dancaire.  No Lilas Pastias' Tavern. There is only the story of four people and two triangles. Micaela loves Don Jose. He is conflicted.  His mother wants him to wed this "good girl" and lovely soprano Jessica Sandidge was perfect in the part. She was most affecting in her aria "Je dis que rien ne m'epouvante". Her body language and voice joined forces to make us feel both her terror and her faith.

But Don Jose (the fine tenor Brent Reilly Turner) has become entranced by this highly intense Carmen, portrayed with wild abandon and stamina by the impressive smoky mezzo-soprano Sichel Claverie. Her infatuation fades when she encounters Escamillo--a bullfighter by libretto, but in this case a hopped-up coke-snorting hoodlum. In this role, baritone Ricardo Rivera gave an amazingly physical performance that had elements of humor that the audience appreciated.

Mr. Ricardo is no stranger to singing this role but we are quite sure he has never performed it like this before. One funny moment occurred as he entered with "You know who I am? Play my song!". The audience roared with glee but hushed as soon as the jazz orchestra (saxophone, guitar, violin, viola, bass, and piano) struck up a unique arrangement of "The Toreador Song".

Daniel Schlosberg was Music Director for this production, both conducting and playing the piano, as well as arranging the score. In the afore-mentioned scene, the musicians have joined Carmen and Don Jose and a generic smuggler (Parker Drown) to dance and swill beer in an improvised fiesta under colored lights.

Ms. Claverie gave an enticing delivery of the "Seguidilla" and we thought we wouldn't get to hear the "Habanera" but she sang it after Don Jose stabbed her as a kind of postlude commentary. After the knockdown dragout fight with the violent Don Jose (Fight Director was Rick Sordelet) we don't know how she found the breath to fill out the phrases so well but she did.

So we got most of Bizet's luscious music along with a fresh look at an old favorite.

Beth Goldenberg's costumes were a propos.

The opera world is becoming increasingly specialized with so many small companies occupying their own niches. Heartbeat Opera has established theirs in presenting radical adaptations of the classics, being both physically and emotionally right in your face. That they are speaking to the 21st c. is evident from the youthful composition of their audience. Their new home at the Baruch Performing Arts Center appears to be just right with ample student input!

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THE BEATING HEART OF OPERA

The talented crew from Heartbeat Opera

There are two kinds of people on Planet Opera--the people who make it happen and the people who support them.  Before we brought our own website into being we wrote reviews for The Opera Insider which aimed to provide a forum for both populations to exchange ideas.  The Opera Insider is no more but we still relish the opportunity to mingle with and exchange ideas with young artists.  Last night at the stunning sky-high apartment of Jill Steinberg (an artist herself in the field of interior design) we got a more intimate look at one of our favorite small companies--Heartbeat Opera.

This is Heartbeat Opera's third season and they have distinguished themselves by their unique approach of including visual artists right from the very start. This team approach is all-encompassing and amounts to a 21st c. version of Richard Wagner's gesamtkunstwerk. Anyone who attends one of their productions is destined to become a loyal fan. We well recall our first exposure to Heartbeat Opera. It was Jacques Offenbach's Daphnis and Chloe and it impressed us with its imaginative staging as well as fine singing. 

Since then we have seen all of their productions and always recognize a special spark that brings the work into the 21st c. without betraying the intentions of the composer and librettist. This is exactly what it takes to bring opera into the entertainment sphere of young people. Affordable tickets and stimulating productions ensure a new young audience.

Last night's soiree introduced a select audience to the fine work of Heartbeat Opera and also introduced two female stars who will be appearing in the Spring Season. If these two young women did not knock your socks off, you must have been barefoot to start out with! Sichel Claverie absolutely sizzled as the gypsy heroine Carmen from the Bizet opera of the same name. Banlingyu Ban touched our heart as Cio-cio San in "Un bel di" from Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

These two operas are favorites that have become cliches. But in the hands of Co-Artistic Directors Louisa Proske and Ethan Heard we feel confident in expecting a fresh look at both and we feel equally confident in urging our readers to get their tickets early before they are gone. We hate to see opera-lovers disappointed.

There was plenty more entertainment last night. Ms. Ban treated us to a very sexy "Meine Lippen sie kussen so heiss" from Franz Lehar's Giuditta and then Ms. Claverie  dazzled us with "Carceleras" from Ruperto Chapi's zarzuela, Las Hijas del Zebedeo which she performed with extra sazon.

There was also a lovely performance of Elgar's "Capricieuse" perfomed by Jacob Ashworth on the violin and Lee Dionne on the piano.

So far, half of the funds needed for the Spring season (May 20-28) have already been raised and if you have been looking for an opportunity to make a difference on Planet Opera, now's your chance to support a daringly innovative company.  It sure beats banging your head on a wall trying to change the current abhorrent political situation.  Make a difference!

And don't forget to read the enthusiastic article in Opera News!

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OUR HEART BEATS FOR HEARTBEAT OPERA

The cast of Queens of the Night: Mozart in Space

Our customary Halloween Party lost out to Heartbeat Opera; when Co-Artistic Directors Ethan Heard and Louisa Proske plan an event, it takes precedence over anything else we might be doing. We know of no other organization in NYC that has its finger on the pulse of opera-curious young people. It gives us great pleasure to hear a sell-out crowd of 20-somethings hootin' and hollerin' for opera.

How does Heartbeat Opera do this?  Somehow, without diluting the art form, they manage to expand it to include elements that appeal to the young. They choose casual venues (this time the wonderful performance space National Sawdust in trendy Billyburg).

They cast excellent young performers (sopranos Jamilyn Manning-White and Marie Marquis, mezzo-soprano Kristin Gornstein, tenor Jordan Weatherston Pitts, and baritone John Taylor Ward). They have a crew of talented designers (Jon Carter, Miodrag Guberinic, Reid Thompson, Oliver Wason, and Joey Moro). They have excellent Co-Music Directors (Jacob Ashworth and Daniel Schlosberg.

The singing is topnotch and Mozart's music was arranged for string quartet plus bass and keyboard-- which worked well in the wide shallow space with a wide shallow stage. The musicians were clustered at one side of the stage with the rest of the stage available for all manner of fun stagecraft. 

The concept was something about aliens in space with the robot being portrayed by the petite dancer/choreographer Emma Jaster. There was liberal use made of the language of space travel in the script--re-entry and lift-off, control panels and pods, aliens and robots. Costuming and make-up (by MAC) was extravagant and candy-colored wigs completed the colorful imagery. There was unlimited imagination and creativity in evidence.

We got fresh takes on many Mozart standards. If the genius were alive today we think he would have gotten a kick out of Papagena and Papageno discovering sex through touching elbows. He would have laughed out loud seeing Tamino in a dress and wig. He would have thrilled to the fantabulous costume of the dragon, portrayed by Taurean Everett.

But what would he have made of the dragon lip-syncing to Aretha Franklin's version of "Nessun dorma"? We were giggling inside imagining him saying something racy about "that Puccini fella".

Well, everything else was Mozart and if the Puccini got a huge hand, Ms. Manning-White's Queen of the Night garnered an even larger one. 

The event was a benefit and even the fund-raising effort was memorable. We watched a captivating performance that raised $2000 in less than 10 minutes! This young company (just over 2 years old) deserves our support. The future of opera lies with young people and they are drawn in by adventure, creativity, color, imagination, and vitality.  Heartbeat Opera has it all.

Bizet's Carmen and Puccini's Madama Butterfly will be re-invented by Heartbeat in May.  We will be there!  See you there!

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GETTIN' HI WITH WILD HEARTBEAT

Joshua Jeremiah, Kristin Gornstein, Jamilyn Manning-White, Emma Jaster, Louisa Proske and Ethan Heard

Nothing Heartbeat Opera does is commonplace. The work of Co-Directors Louisa Proske and Ethan Heard is marked by daring originality and intense creative effort. The results continue to win new friends for opera.

Last night, in partnership with Friends of the High Line, a fabulous free event right on The High Line introduced a vast crowd of New Yorkers to an art form with which many were unacquainted. If some were not opera fans when they arrived, they were surely opera fans when they left.

Heartbeat Opera originated when Yale graduates Ms. Proske and Mr. Heard undertook to take a fresh look at opera--not the way regietheater folk contort an opera to fit their own wacky ideas but rather by bringing out the wackiness of the art form itself.

They have freed opera from the strictures of traditional performance in traditional venues and can be considered a shining light among the new and nimble small companies making opera compelling to young people.  They have established quite a following.

We personally had a blast and, since there were folks sitting on both sides of the thrust stage, we got a good look at other folks having an equally marvelous time.  The cast managed somehow to keep moving so that each side got equal time.  During "The Flower Duet" from Delibes' Lakmé, the "groundlings", seated on mats in front of the chair section, waved flowers back and forth in time with the music. Later, the flashlights on cell phones were similarly waved back and forth. Up close and personal, we all felt like part of the show.

The three singers were well chosen to cover all the bases (except bass and tenor) and each artist was able to choose his/her own material, guaranteeing that heart(beat) and soul would go into each and every performance.  

Wisely, familiar pieces were chosen from the well-known operas of Mozart, Handel, Puccini, Verdi, Bizet, Rossini, and....Rogers and Hammerstein, thus lending authenticity to our dearly held belief that Broadway music represents the counterpart of "opera" in the 20th c.

The composers of Broadway musicals wrote music for the people of their time that was accessible in the way that Verdi was to Italians in the 19th c. Their works appealed to the masses with rip-roaring drama and characters with which the audience could identify, singing memorable tunes.

The three singers were infallibly on point and incredibly entertaining. Although we have favorably reviewed all three before in better acoustics, we somehow didn't mind the amplification made necessary by the outdoor venue.

Soprano Jamilyn White opened the program with "Quando m'en vo" from Puccini's La Bohème and was followed by Kristen Gornstein performing the "Habanera" from Bizet's Carmen.  The two women harmonized beautifully in the aforementioned flower song--"Sous le dôme eépais".

Baritone Joshua Jeremiah wooed the audience with "Some Enchanted Evening" from Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific; he sang it with all the respect given to any operatic aria.  He made a fine Don Giovanni to Ms. Gornstein's overly enthusiastic Zerlina who jumped onto his back in "La ci darem la mano".  We enjoyed his "Largo al factotum" from Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia;  His voice melded beautifully with the women's in "Soave sia il vento" from Mozart's Cosi fan tutte.

Ms. White drew great applause for her dazzling Queen of the Night from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte.

There was no printed program but Emma Jaster, a tiny pixie of a dancer, wearing a flesh-colored leotard and a rainbow wig, bore placards announcing the composer on one side and the opera on the other--giving each side equal time.  Happily, she was granted solo time and her corporeal expression of the ethereal "Meditation" from Massenet's Thaïs was heartfelt and beautiful to behold.

Since we have arrived at a discussion of costuming, let it be noted that the baroque (in one sense of the word) and motley designs of Jon Carter added greatly to the fun of the evening.  There were lots of spangles and spandex, vests and vestments. Wigs were baroque (in the historical sense of the word). MAC Cosmetics provided the materials for the wild make-up. We refer readers to our Facebook page "Voce di Meche" on which we will post an array of photos showing what words can only approximate.

The musical arrangement by Co-Music Directors Jacob Ashworth and Daniel Schlosberg was just as original as the rest of the evening.  A three piece band comprised a keyboard played by Mr. Schlosberg, a violin bowed by Mr. Ashworth, and an array of saxophones blown badly by an unknown musician. A couple sour notes failed to impair our delight.

Producing director for the event was Jennifer Newman. Effective lighting was by Oliver Wason and equally effective sound design was by Harrison Keithline who gets props for not assaulting our ears with excessive amplification.

Balloons were tossed and popped, flowers were waved, cell phones were waved, photos were snapped. We didn't see a single unhappy face.  Yes, Virginia, opera can be FUN!

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LUCIA!

Jamilyn Manning-White (photo by Russ Rowland)

There is a very fine line between bringing new insights to a work from the 19th c. and trashing it. We are pleased to report that Heartbeat Opera, one of our favorite small opera companies,  belongs to the former category.  Last night we marveled at the insightful adaptation of Donizetti's masterpiece Lucia di Lammermoor. More than an adaptation, we consider it a distillation of the essence of Salvadore Cammarano's libretto and a superb introduction to the opera.

The house was packed for opening night of the festival which includes lots of goodies, as you may learn on their website, www.heartbeatopera.org. It did our heart good to see an audience of 20-somethings thrilling to Donizetti's score in a unique arrangement by Daniel Schlosberg featuring a string quartet, guitar, clarinet, and some dazzling percussion by wizard Bill Solomon.

As directed by Louisa Proske (Co-Artistic Director of Heartbeat Opera), crucial scenes of the story are presented as flashbacks or fantasies of the poor heroine who appears in a hospital bed, struggling against her restraints.  Her reality appears upstage behind a sheer curtain with the memories taking place downstage.

All the crucial scenes were there. We loved the scene taking place at the fountain between Lucia and her friend Alisa in which Lucia frightens Alisa with her ghost story.  One can already see the unbalanced nature that will be pushed over the edge by the manipulations of her brother Enrico; he has been alerted by his captain of the guard Normanno of her secret rendez-vous with Enrico's enemy Edgardo.  Her only supporter is Raimondo, the family confessor, but he too has been deceived and abandons her to a forced marriage with Arturo, chosen for political reasons.

As the eponymous heroine, one could not ask for a better interpreter than Jamilyn Manning-White whose prodigious skills with the fioritura of the bel canto period were matched by her dramatic artistry. Our heart broke for this victim of male privilege.

Tenor David Guzman made a fine romantic partner as Edgardo; baritone Matthew Singer conveyed all the brutality of a selfish brother whose deviousness was informed by political desperation. John Taylor Ward was effective as Raimondo and Monica Soto-Gil made an excellent impression as Lucia's friend Alisa.

Maestro Schlosberg conducted from the piano and his arrangement brought out many interesting voices in the score. We were particularly taken by the wizardry of percussionist Bill Solomon who created sounds to rival that of the glass harmonica one never gets to hear.

Scenic Designer Reid Thompson did much with little.  Costumes by Beth Goldenberg were contemporary.

Although the two operas of the festival were presented sequentially on opening night, the rest of the week permits one to see just one at a time. We wish we could be as enthusiastic about Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas but we cannot. The baroque music was gorgeous. Carla Jablonski's Dido sang beautifully. John Taylor Ward's Aeneas fulfilled the promise of his smaller role in Lucia.

However, the English diction was so poor, especially on the part of the women singers, that we felt we were hearing an opera in a language with which we were only slightly familiar.  It was like listening to Russian and recognizing a word here and there.

Nothing about the story was illuminated and the bizarre movements made no sense to us. We sat there totally baffled by the storytelling. There were so-called witches and sorceresses waving branches, occupying a bathtub and masturbating against push-brooms.  This didn't add up to anything meaningful.  Only "Dido's Lament" at the conclusion was meaningful.  We just couldn't figure out what director Ethan Heard (Co-Artistic Director) was going for.

So...we give an unqualified YEA to Lucia and a NAY to Dido. See it at your own risk!

(c) meche kroop

GENDER QUEER OPERA

Kristin Gornstein

Last night we entered a room jam-packed with young people primed to enjoy opera under the most original circumstances.  The occasion was a benefit drag performance of Miss Handel, an evening of (mostly) Handel's music performed by artists who were not only vocally skilled but outrageously and winningly outfitted in period costumes. Sequins, feather boas, powdered wigs, beauty marks, and size 12 pumps were exhibited in abundance but never distracted from the fine musical values.

Heartbeat Opera, founded by Co-Directors Ethan Heard and Louisa Proske, is one of the small boutique opera companies that have been springing up lately, perhaps stimulated by the demise of New York City Opera. Last year we were completely won over by their highly original Daphnis et Chloé (review archived and available through the search bar).

Last night's extravaganza was wildly entertaining and drew a mostly young crowd. We wondered how many of them had not enjoyed opera before; we further wondered if Handel's music acquired some new fans from among the newbies. We tend to think so and applaud any and all attempts to cultivate a young audience.

As far as musical values, we found nothing to criticize. Co-Music Directors Jacob Ashworth and Daniel Schlosberg produced the lovely baroque sounds of violin and harpsichord, augmented by Hsuan-Fong Chen's oboe, Sarah Stone's cello, and Jude Ziliack's violin.

The superb singing was done by Kristin Gornstein, Lauren Worsham, Stanley Bahorek, Scott Mello, and John Taylor Ward. Ms. Gornstein is known to us through her work with Lachlan Glen's Schubertiade and Ms. Worsham through her performances with Steven Blier's New York Festival of Song. The male voices were new to us but everyone excelled in the baroque genre. It is astonishing how the artists could camp things up and strut around in drag while still maintaining vocal quality.

The gender bending mistresses of ceremony were Ato Blankson-Wood (new to us) and James Cusati-Moyer (whose performance last year as the devil in Stravinsky's Soldier's Tale blew us away). The pair introduced each number in oh-so-clever rhymed couplets written by dramaturge Antigoni Gaitana and Mr. Heard. The identically gowned ladies faced each other through a mirror frame and lip-synched "Myself I Shall Adore" from Handel's Semele. It was hilarious.

The other numbers were all sung and perhaps our favorite was "Iris, hence away" from Semele, sung by Ms. Gornstein. Not all arias were sung in English and we particularly enjoyed the one in Italian.

The only non-Handel number was the final duet from Bernstein's Candide, a particularly humorous example of the exchange of clothes and gender roles. It was deliciously raunchy.

Obviously a mountain of imagination was substituted for a molehill of a budget. The production was designed by Seth Bodie, Jon Carter, Reid Thompson, and Oliver Wason.

It is incredibly gratifying to see how much can be done with a small budget and how exciting it is to experience opera up close and personal. The skin tingles and, YES, the heart beats! What a perfect name for this company.

We heartily recommend this production if you can possibly snag a ticket for one of the two remaining shows tonight.

(c) meche kroop

WE HEART HEARTBEAT OPERA

Gary Ramsay, Karin Mushegain, and Nicole Haslett (photo by Christopher Ash)

What could make a veteran opera goer happier than seeing a house full of 20-somethings laughing and cheering at the opera?  We have nothing but accolades for the yearling Heartbeat Opera, the members of which put all their heart and soul into presenting Jacques Offenbach's one-act ribald opera Daphnis and Chloe.  It was a wise choice and high in entertainment value. In spite of claims of minimal means, the production appeared rich in imagination, creativity and color.

Even before the opera began, the audience was serenaded by the chamber group Cantata Profana comprising Nathan Lesser violinist, Colin Brookes violist, Samuel Suggs bassist, Joshua Anderson clarinetist and Andrew Parker Oboeist; the graceful strains of the latter teased our ears with the opening theme. Their motley attire added to the fun. The hands-on batonless conductor was the fine Louis Lohraseb and Offenbach's score was arranged for the quintet by Daniel Schlosberg.

The voices were uniformly excellent with winsome soprano Nicole Haslett (well remembered from Martina Arroyo's Prelude to Performance and from The Ghosts of Versailles at Manhattan School of Music) performing as Chloe, mezzo-soprano Karin Mushegain taking the role of Daphnis, Gary Ramsey (remembered as the lead in Dell'Arte Opera's production of Salieri's Falstaff) playing the raunchy Pan.

The four Bacchantes were excellently sung and acted by Tynan Davis, Kristin Gornstein, Alexandra Loutsion and Molly Netter.  It was a treat for the eye to see the costuming by Beth Goldenberg; the four women were decked out in feather boas, layers of underwear, chains and safety pins and lots of plastic.  Their faces were decorated with paint and their wild hairdos augmented by whatever artistry Jon Carter brought to the table. Perhaps he was also responsible for Pan's goat feet and horns.

The story is a simple one. The shepherd Dafnis and the shepherdess Chloe are sweet on one another but haven't a clue about how to express it.  The god Pan, pretending to be his own statue, is enamored of Chloe and determines to initiate her into the art of love whereas the Bacchantes, all crazy about Dafnis, plot to seduce him with the waters of forgetfulness from the River Lethe.  They succeed and the lovers are then ready to wed.

This silly tale offered the canny Offenbach an opportunity to make lots of rowdy jokes which amused last night's audience as much as they must have amused his 19th c. audience.  You had to be there to appreciate Pan's pipes.

The effective set by Reid Thompson included a backdrop of silver streamers, a floor strewn with flowers and a sequined pedestal to permit Pan to hide his goat feet. Oliver Wason's lighting was effective.  Choreography was by Chloe (sic) Treat (sic).

The entire affair can be attributed to Heartbeat's Co-Artistic Directors Ethan Heard and Louisa Proske who also directed.  The two came out of the Yale School of Drama which has been the source of so many superlative productions and skilled artists.  We love and support their mission to bring opera to youthful audiences in intimate venues.

Our only cavil with the evening was the English translation. Presumably the intent was to make it more accessible but we would have preferred to hear it sung in French with English dialogue.  Some of the singing in English was not clear enough to be understood anyway.  Still, it was not that important since the story was simple and well told by the performers' physicality.  Just sayin'.  We prefer the cadence of French.

(c) meche kroop

OH THOSE MERRY WIVES!

Heather Antonissen, David Morrow and Marie Masters (photo by Brian Long)

The film Amadeus would lead one to believe that Salieri killed Mozart.  This is a lie. But it is the truth that we nearly died laughing over his opera Falstaff as presented by Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble.  The libretto by Carlo Prospero Defranceschi departs from Shakespeare's comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor in many ways but it does preserve the theme of some high-spirited women collaborating to puncture the pride of the womanizing fat guy.  Furthermore, the lively and tuneful music serves to advance the plot.

Readers may have observed how contemptuous we are of "concept" and updating the classics; in this case we applauded it.  First of all, this is not a beloved classic that is rooted in time and place; it comes without baggage.  Secondly, it has no references to period and the only reference to place is Windsor.  Surely there are towns in the USA named Windsor.

Stage director Louisa Proske has chosen to set the opera about a half-century ago, which is nearly as remote as the late 18th c. but a lot funnier--a time when husbands were still possessive and when people could still afford servants.  Stewart Kramer's excellent titles were created by Artistic Director Christopher Fecteau, Karen Rich and J. Spence. The translation from the Italian employed modern American slang without trashing the original language.

Maestro Fecteau had his work cut out for him, lacking a decent manuscript, but the end result was some mighty gorgeous music not very different from Mozart's. With only eleven members of the Festival Orchestra occupying stage left and Maestro Fecteau conducting from the harpsichord, nothing seemed missing.  We particularly enjoyed the frothily charming overture and Samuel Marquez' clarinet solo.

Soprano Marie Masters (a winner of the Osgood/Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble Prize) brought a bright resonant sound to the role of Mrs. Ford.  Her intonation was as secure as her acting.  In this opera, Mrs. Ford is a bit naughty, or rather, mischievous.  She is curvy and dresses provocatively; no wonder Mr. Ford (tenor Erik Bagger) is suspicious.  His friends try to talk him out of his jealousy but he is relentless.

As Mrs. Ford's friend, the excellent Heather Antonissen sang in perfect harmony in her duets with Ms. Masters.  Her voice has the sparkle of a soprano and the weight of a mezzo.  Her character, Mrs. Slender, mostly supports Mrs. Ford's plot to trap Falstaff.  She has a very funny moment with a pair of floral shears in her hand.  Use your imagination!  Her husband was portrayed by baritone Scott Lindroth who was one of the finest male voices onstage; he sang with beautiful tone and phrasing.  His second act aria was superb.

Soprano Joanie Brittingham was a sprightly Betty, servant in the Ford household. Her major moments came in the second act when she imitated Falstaff trying to emerge from the ditch into which he was thrown with the laundry.

Bass-baritone Jonathan Dauermann, sporting a hippie wig, created the character of Bardolfo as an overworked and somnolent fellow.  

As the obnoxious, corpulent and bibulous Falstaff, bass David Morrow created a character that was self-important and self-deluding.  He imagines that he is irresistible to women and means to extract money from them.  In the opening ensemble, he has crashed a party and is making a complete pest of himself.

The ladies spend the entire opera making a fool of him.  But Mr. Ford also suffers the indignity of being proven wrong.  It's a rather feminist opera and way ahead of its time.  

Sets were simple and costumes seemed to be appropriate to the mid 20th c.  Which brings us to the dance moves.  There were entirely too many, not only in the party scene with its line dancing, but all through the production.  There was also an excess of mugging. At times it felt like a sit-com on TV.  But these are tiny flaws in a gem of a production.

We cannot close without mentioning the two female members of the ensemble who portrayed laundry boys.  Sara Ann Duffy and Kristin Gornstein assumed a total deadpan look and were all the funnier for it.  Brave to all the fine women onstage.

There will be one more production on Saturday.  LYAO!

(c) meche kroop